28 In Hot Pursui

Seeing Ven's smiling expression, Amon regained a burst of energy and said frantically: "Where do you think they went?

-They most probably fled to the train station. If my guess is correct, they most likely want to escape the city to avoid us and regroup with some of their more powerful units.

-Why not regroup with the city guard instead?

-They're too weak. Some were augmented for the sake of this operation, but they're pretty much all dead. They must have been injured by Bel before they fled. Thus, they need some strong soldiers to ensure their protection.

-That might be true, but I don't think they would abandon their mission just like that, said Amon with an uncertain expression.

-Even if they stayed, there wasn't much more they could do. Our safe house suffered such a blow that they have no choice but to leave the city to avoid further damage. Even though they could eliminate every agent from the Ravens in this city, they've essentially crippled our operations here.

-I see. though that doesn't explain why they would flee by train. Wouldn't a car be more efficient?

-Magnetic trains are significantly faster. The only advantage of fleeing by car would be that they wouldn't have to follow the train lines. However, I would hypothesize that their destination is along one of those train lines.

-Why is that?

-The closest bastion of the Order is the city of London, which can only be accessed by magnetic train. It also happens that there is a merchandise train scheduled to depart in about half an hour.

-When did you have the time to research this?"

Amon was utterly flabbergasted by the depth of Ven's research. She had truly researched the possible escape routes of their enemies and predicted what path they would choose. At that moment, Amon knew that he had made the right choice in accepting her offer.

"Well, I wasn't an intelligence operative for nothing. It's always good to cover your bases when you're doing a mission.

-Right, we should hurry if we want to catch the train before it departs. With their authority, the Holy Knights will have no problem boarding the train, even if it's not a passenger train. We'll have to sneak in there though.

-Luckily, the station isn't far from here.

-Let's got then."

The two Ravens proceeded to make their way towards the train station in the heart of the New-Paris business district. They made sure to use the alleyways whenever possible to avoid being seen in their blood-stained tattered clothes.

The magnetic train was one of the Order's greatest invention and the symbol of their far-reaching influence. To simplify the whole technology, the train was equipped with powerful magnets that glided on top of a similarly magnetic track.

The magnetic poles of the train and the track were the same, creating a strong repulsive force between the two.

The repulsion between the two magnets allowed the train to levitate and since there was no friction between some wheels and a track, the train was able to reach a much higher speed than the trains of old.

The trains were also powered by a hybrid power system, half of it being solar energy from panels installed on top of the train, the other half from a large battery that could be charged when the train was docked. This made the fully electric train quite ecologically friendly.

The convenience of the train made it the primary mode of transportation for long distance travel, seeing as a trip was quite cheap.

The train station was also one of the busiest places in the whole of New-Paris. Hundreds of thousands of people passed through there every day, whether for leisure or work.

After about twenty minutes, the two Ravens arrived at the train station. They made their way into the crowd, disappearing within. Ven led Amon to the farthest platform. All around them were people scrambling to find the right platform, buying tickets or struggling to load their luggage on board.

Thankfully, there were so many people that their attire hardly drew any attention. Even if someone noticed them, they would immediately vanish amidst the sea of travellers. The farthest platform from the main entrance was where the merchandise trains were located. A separate entrance allowed the trains to be loaded, and this entrance was mostly for the employees.

The interior of the station was magnificent. In keeping with the Order's desire the rebuild the old Paris, the station was loosely modelled after Gare Du Nord, one of the largest train stations from before the Great War.

The high ceiling was made of large panels of glass and metal in a striped pattern. This allowed for a large amount of natural light to illuminate the interior. To supplement the sunlight, there were several lamps diffusing a deep yellow light on the marble pillars situated at regular interval.

This mixture of natural and artificial lightning gaze the interior a cozy feeling. When the two Ravens arrived near the gate that blocked the entrance to the platform housing the merchandise trains, they saw that there were only two guards standing on either side. They both looked bored but they were still vigilant as they scoured the crowd in search of any suspicious individual.

Amon and Ven were careful to stay out their sight as they devised a plan to get to the other side. After about five minutes, Amon was starting to get nervous as they didn't have much time before the train left the platform for London.

He was thinking hard when he felt Ven tug on his sleeve. He turned to face her and she stood on the tip of her toes to get closer to his ear. He felt her soft breath on his face and was momentarily distracted before composing himself.

"I don't think we need to overcomplicate this. Do you see the closest train on the platform? It says 'Channel Express' and if I'm not wrong, it should be the train that's headed to London. Magnetic trains have a slow initial acceleration as they power their electromagnet. It should take us about twenty seconds to run from here, hop over the barrier and reach the train. If we time it right, we could wait until the train departs, since they won't be able to stop it at that point, and then forcefully board it."

Amon listened to her plan pensively. At first, it seemed crazy as the metal gate that blocked the entrance to the platform was nearly five meters high, a height impossible to jump over for a normal individual. However, if he executed it perfectly, Amon was confident that he was able to make it over. With the aid of her gust augmentation, Ven would similarly be able to make it over.

From them, they would be able to board the train as it left the station. Since the trains were mostly automated, there would be no conductor to stop the train, allowing them to follow the Holy Knights as they escaped.

This plan was still a major gamble as they had no way to be certain if the Holy Knights really boarded the merchandise train, but it was the only lead they had. After weighing the potential risks and rewards, Amon nodded towards Ven, and they prepared themselves for the athletic feat they would have to pull off when the train would start moving.

Once again, Amon was glad that he accepted Ven's offer to join him. Although he was an accomplished fighter, formulating plans was far from his strong suit. Had he been alone with Bel, it was likely that they wouldn't have been able to push the Holy Knights so far as to flee the city.

After a few minutes, a static ringing sound could be heard from the magnetic train. This signified that the electromagnets were charging and the train was about to depart. Amon looked a Ven, who solemnly nodded her head.

They would only have one chance. If they either missed their jump or couldn't get into the train, they would lose the Holy Knights. There were several entrances on the side of the train to board it, but since it was moving, it would be easy to miss them.

Amon readied himself and focused on the task at hand. He didn't any spare time to worry about Ven and could only hope that she would be able to make it. He crouched down slightly and when the train started moving, he started sprinting towards the five-meter high barrier.

There was a distance of approximately twenty meters between Amon and the barrier, a distance he crossed in about two seconds. The guards at the gate were so surprised when they saw this large man running towards them at breakneck speed that they froze on the spot.

Amon took advantage of their confusion to jump with all his strength over the barrier. He twisted his body in mid-air to reduce the chance of hitting the obstacle and managed to barely make it past. He couldn't readjust his body in the air but managed to land with a somersault to mitigate the impact of the fall.

He didn't look back to see if Ven had made it and started running towards the train. In an instant, he was next to it and took hold of a rail guard next to some stairs. Exerting all his strength, he was able to forcefully send his body towards the stairs, landing safely inside the train.

He looked back at Ven and saw that she also was able to clear the barrier, but she was a bit slower and landed in the next car of the train.