Lastland AU: Cybersteam

Prologue

Silver rain fell like a hail of icy bullets from the night sky above, soaking Storm to the bone as her worn, brown boots trudged through muddy grass on the outskirts of town. Thunder rumbled on the horizon, echoing her turmoil within.

A disgraced hacker, a betrayed crew member, a traumatized soldier, a human experiment, physically mutated. Storm was a patchwork, her life story literally stitching her together. The right half of her face was scarred while the left glowed like pale blue lightning, a cybernetic upgrade.

But even beyond the wires that snaked through some of her body, other pieces were made of metal, shiny brass and bronze. Her gait was unsteady because of some of these metal plates, and the wet, uneven ground. She had to get farther away from the town.

I have no home to go back to. No family worth staying for. Years and years of adventure and abuse had shaped her, the winds of fate blowing her around the realm, forcing her into a nomadic lifestyle. Such was the lot of sold swords like her. Mercenaries. Especially in their region.

Informally known as "Cybersteam" because of its location at the juncture of the Cyber and Steampunk regions, it was a hotbed of activity for the same reason, trade routes especially lucrative as they were filled with body parts, cyber, mechanical, and bio.

Storm had fought in every region, left behind pieces of herself everywhere she went, and acquired pieces of the places she adventured. She was tired, though, and neon lights pulsed through her black cloak. Her eye and metal plates were far from her only enhancements.

Now she was seeking magical and divine aid as well as the biocybernetics parts. Hmph. It's funny. I never thought there would be a day I prayed to a god! A sardonic smile spread slowly across Storm's scarred face as she limped on through her namesake. She was almost at the ritual grounds.

At last, Storm reached the crest of a hill far enough away from the nearby little town that no one would see or hear what she was going to do next. She fell to her knees and opened her hands, cybernetic eye glowing and steampunk parts gleaming.

"Gods of Death, Destruction, Decay, and Despair...!" Storm murmured fervently, "Aid me in my quest of revenge if you dare...! Whatever you ask of me of mine, I will surely not deny...!"

It was dangerous to dance with deities like that, but Storm was unhinged, and threw everything she had to the wind, her prayer lifted up on the storm. In her mind, she envisioned a powerful protector and servant-soldier who would perhaps disappear at the end of the quest.

No strings attached, just power! Storm's scarred face twitched as she chuckled darkly. Perhaps she would tame a wild beast, or be blessed to control an elemental. She was willing to pay any price, so surely something powerful would come her way.

Storm was so lost in her own vainglorious daydreams and delusions that she failed to notice the shimmering arch of purple that soared through the darkness over her head. Someone had already answered her prayer.

AN: This is another storyboard/demo fic, meaning that it will be a full story, but short and fast-paced for people like me, who enjoy deep sagas but don't always have the time/mental capacity to invest in long ones. Consider this a collection of highlights and "scene-shots".