//------------------------------//
// New Marais: Train Yard Raid 
// Story: InFamous: The Unusual Conduits 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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Adagio, Aria, and Sonata, despite not being able to tell what time it was when they first woke up, discovered that Cole was still asleep and knew what they had to do, as the first thing Adagio did when the three of them got up was head out of the train car and fly to where Trish was located. The reason that Trish was mostly spending her time in the first part of New Marais that they had landed in, instead of following them through Ascension Parish, until they attacked Fort Phillipe, and following them into Flood Town, was that her experiences in Empire City told her to stay where the injured were and leave the superhero business to the four of them, Zeke, and whoever joined their quest. Fortunately that meant that the Militia would never to be able use her against Cole, like Kessler had gone, and that allowed her to get any information that might be useful to the group, unfortunately Zeke was the one giving them those pieces of information, so whatever she found was mostly void by the time she got around to telling them what she found out. She also had the opportunity to gave some food while she did her work, which she gave part of it to the girls, or in this case Adagio, whenever they arrived, since she knew that Cole would continue with the mission until he dropped from exhaustion.

When Adagio arrived Trish had already prepared the pack that she would take back to her sisters, Zeke, and Cole, so they could have something to eat before they really got serious about their assault on Flood Town, though Trish barely said anything as she collected the pack... though as Adagio started to leave, however, she could have sworn that she heard Trish cough a few times as she headed outside, just like they had heard Zeke cough a few times when he was staking out Fort Phillipe when he was looking for the Transfer Device.

As Adagio flew back to where the others were waiting, and making sure that the train car was safe while ensuring that their enemies didn't find them, she had to wonder if Zeke and Trish might be coming down with the cold, as it was better than thinking that they might have caught the plague. She wasn't sure if Cole could handle both his best friend and his girlfriend suffering in such a manner, and neither of them telling him because they didn't want to distract him from bringing Bertrand to justice and finding the Blast Cores, but since she had no idea what was going on she decided to remain silent for the most part. Aria and Sonata, as she found out, had gone out and taken out one or two of the side missions that were around their area, just to show the Vermaak 88 soldiers and the Militia soldiers that they were still in the area and that they were a force to be reckoned with, though they eagerly returned to the train car when she came back and claimed something for breakfast while she offered some to Zeke, who appreciated the gesture.

The sounds of them eating were what woke Cole from his slumber, induced by the Blast Core, and he took a few seconds to regain himself before he claimed something to eat and joined them, only for Adagio, Aria, and Sonata to notice that he didn't seem alright... as if he had an upset stomach or something similar to that, though at the same time they hoped that using that last Blast Core hadn't done something to him.

"Cole, are you feeling alright?" Adagio asked, because she was concerned for his health, just like Trish was, mostly because he was the only one that could access the Blast Cores, though he was also their friend and that meant that friends was supposed to be concerned about each other.

"No, I'm not good." Cole replied, though at the same time he set down his breakfast and stood up, where he picked up the RFI and walked over to a section of the train car that wasn't crowded, where he stopped and gripped the device that would help them stop the Beast and the plague, "Let's see if I've got enough juice to power this thing."

The Dazzlings, accompanied by Zeke, watched as Cole ran a current through the device and noticed the bits of electricity that gathered around his hands, as well as the device, but as they watched the group came to the conclusion that he still needed more power before he could use the RFI. That was because Cole tried to use the device once and nothing happened, only for him to try a second time and managed to keep the spark up for a few more seconds than the first attempt, but that ended the same way and revealed that Cole didn't have enough power to use the RFI, despite the power that he was already putting out at the moment.

"A couple more Blast Cores and we should be ready to go." Cole said, to which he sighed for a moment as he placed the device back in the container that Zeke kept it in when he was going between hideouts, as it was safer to have him hold onto it instead of risking it being damaged by letting them hold onto it.

"Well, go out there and see what you got from this Blast Core." Zeke stated, as he knew that, after Cole absorbed one of the Blast Cores, his powers increased and he always gained something new in the process, while the Dazzlings only grew in power, not that he personally believed that they needed more power based on what he had seen, "I'll hold down the fort while you go do that."

Cole nodded and headed outside, causing the Dazzlings to follow after him, and they moved to the ramp of the bridge and turned towards the water, where Adagio nodded her head and manipulated the water to form several ice targets that would be used for Cole's target practice. Cole, once the targets were set up, raised his right hand and focused his power for a moment, where he loosed what appeared to be a kinetic rocket of some kind that raced through the space between them and the water, before it slammed into the first target and shattered it into pieces. Cole grinned as he decided to see if he could practice some other types of moves, as he fired one rocket out and let it pass by one of the targets, before he blasted the target with a shock and the rocket redirected into the back of the target, blowing it apart and scattered more ice in the process. The third target he tried something interesting, as the rocket that he fired separated into three smaller pieces and only came back together when they struck his target, shattering another target, before he loosed a rocket that froze the water along it's path and still broke the target in the process.

Adagio, Aria, and Sonata were impressed by the power that Cole was displaying, as this meant that their enemies were already done for when they decided to come after them again, but at the same time they turned towards their friend as he stared at the targets he had broken, as they knew that he had to be pleased with the results he had gotten from the last Blast Core.

"Oh yeah." Cole said, as this was definitely a power that he could get behind, as it would allow them to do great things in the process, before he turned towards the sisters that were standing near him, knowing that they were happy to see that he was pleased with this power, "Yeah, this is going to work out just fine."

"It might be a good time for the four of you to return to the freight car," Kuo said, her voice coming over their phones for a moment, though at the same time that meant that she must have slipped into the train car that Zeke was in a few moments after they had left, meaning that there had to be something that she wanted to discuss with their friend before telling them, "Zeke and I were drawing up some plans when Nix showed up, and uh... yeah, we could use you in calming her down and forming a plan of attack."

Cole and the Dazzlings looked at each other for a few seconds, as they were curious as to what sort of plan Kuo and Zeke could have come up, but since it appeared that their presence was needed they turned around and walked back to the entrance of the train car, where they found Kuo standing in front of a map of New Marais as they opened the door... while at the same time noticing that Zeke was sitting in a chair, already drinking a beer, and Nix sitting on a crate as she stared at Kuo.

"The raids from the ice gang are getting worse, and yet Bertrand continues to go into this train yard all the time." Kuo stated, giving the group some knowledge on what was going on, especially the four she wanted to talk to as they entered the train car and closed to door behind them, before taking some seats around the area they were in.

"Weird... why would a rich bastard like Bertrand want to get his shoes all muddy in a place like that?" Zeke asked, as the more he found out about their foe the more he realized that he didn't understand the man, especially after figuring out that he was a Conduit with a mostly unknown power.

"I am still working on figuring that out." Kuo replied, though her tone revealed that she had no idea what Bertrand was doing there, save for the fact that they heard the sounds of the swamp monsters inside the compound when Cole and the Dazzlings were helping Laroche near that area the previous day.

"Can we get him on one of his visits?" Aria inquired, because that sounded like a reasonable idea, as they could plan an assault that would drive him out into the open so that she or her sisters could fly in and grab him before he changed into his more monstrous form.

"I wish. His visits are completely random and there's no pattern to be found." Kuo answered, though her tone told the group that she wished that it was as simple as Aria suggested, but since the reality was different than what they were thinking they had to come up with a plan before they moved forward.

"I know what he's up to, but she won't listen, Cole!" Nix stated, her tone revealing her own annoyance that Kuo didn't trust her and clearly didn't think that she could contribute to the overall objectives that they set for themselves, and her annoyance that her plans continued to be ignored, as the group hadn't done a single one of her tasks yet.

"Hey, Nix, why don't you let the grownups talk for a little while." Kuo said, as she honestly had no desire to work with Nix, not when she sometimes acted like a child and had some ridiculous ideas and plans whenever she came to these meetings, which was why she was glad that Cole and the Dazzlings didn't agree with her.

"See what I'm talking about?" Nix asked, but at the same time she knew the look in Cole's eyes, as he actually valued the opinions of those around him and would actually listen to what she had to say, even if he might side with whatever horrible plan Kuo came up with.

"I'm listening." Cole stated, though while Kuo rolled her eyes, clearly not liking the idea of listening to anything Nix ahd to say at the moment, Zeke took another drink from his bottle, as he just wanted more information before they figured out their plan, and the Dazzlings just stood there, no doubt as enforcers to make sure things didn't boil over into a fight between Nix and Kuo, "Let's hear it Nix. What's Bertrand up to in the train yard?"

"Okay. You know how Bertrand fights?" Nix said, referring to the Militia and his own powers, especially since she could now add the fact that he was the Behemoth to her mental list, before she revealed what she knew, "Well, he's got other powers as well. Those swamp freaks? They is his!"

"You mean the monsters?" Adagio inquired, as it seemed more appropriate to call them swamp 'monsters' than calling them swamp 'freaks', though Nix nodded her head, showing that she was happy that someone was understanding what she was saying, "Are you suggesting that he's making them?"

"Yeah! I've seen it myself." Nix replied, though at the same time she thought about the memory that she was referring to so the others could know what she was talking about, even if one of them didn't believe a word she said, "They wild at first, but then he works with them for a while... and those monsters are his!"

"So, you're saying that he bonds with them?" Kuo asked, because while she didn't believe most of what Nix was saying, as she had a habit of trying to make Cole and the others go down the path of criminals, she did want to know something that might change how they went about their planning.

"Like a bear and his cubs?" Zeke added, though the thought of Bertrand bonding with the swamp monsters seemed weird, and he wasn't even drunk enough to consider that something like that was even a reality, but that didn't stop him from talking, "Like Bertrand's their mommy?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Nix said, though where she found that Zeke might be making fun of her and Kuo thought she was insane, no surprise since that was a thought she seemed to have all the time, Cole and the Dazzlings were curious as to why she was saying all of this.

"NIx, how... how do you even... how do you even know any of this?" Kuo asked, not that she believed what Nix was saying, but since Cole had already allowed their companion to speak her mind, and Zeke was encouraging her, she figured that she might as well get all the information that she could on the situation.

"I've been there myself! I even tried it out once!" Nix replied, sounding pleased about what she had done for a few seconds, but then her face fell as she remembered what had happened to the creature, "I even had a monster of my very own... poor baby, the Militia got wise as we were attempting to leave, and he died protecting me."

"Well, this is very touching and all, but if what you say is true..." Kuo said, though as she prepared another part of her statement, however, she found a look of anger on Nix's face as the other Conduits got to her feet and growled, only to cause one of the Dazzlings to move.

"Are you calling me a liar, Snow White?" Nix demanded, as she knew that Cole and Zeke, at the very least, had some emotion behind her short story, even if they didn't care about swamp monsters all that much, but being called a liar, if even indirectly, didn't sit well with her.

"Enough!" Sonata stated, to which the wind whipped around both Nix and Kuo, stopping them from getting closer to each other and really attacking the other lady, something that they didn't need at the moment, though she waited for the two of them to calm down before she released them, even though she kept the wind at the ready in case one of them tried anything in the next few seconds.

"Nix, I'm not calling you a liar, but we need to see for ourselves if this is actually happening," Adagio said, though she was pleased to find that Nix was pleased with her statement, as it was better than being called a liar, before she thought about what was going on, "How about we head into the train yard and get some photo evidence while we're there? If we can prove that Bertrand is actually creating the swamp monsters, and that the Militia is willingly helping him to make themselves seem like heroes, we could turn the entirety of New Marais against them without having to expand our own powers to do so... and, at the same time, free as many prisoners as we can find."

"Oh hell no!" Nix stated, her tone revealing that she absolutely hated the plan that was revealed to her, as right now she had a much better and much grander plan in mind, one that would restore her past a little, "We're going to go in and the three of you, and Cole, will guard my ass while I bond with some of the monsters inside the train yard. Just think of the hell we'll raise in the process, if we're able to raise an army of those things!"

"I need a moment to think about this." Cole stated, as he was tired of Kuo and Nix fighting, even if someone came up with an idea that Kuo could agree with since he saw her nodding to Adagio's idea, though as he turned towards the door so he could leave he paused, to look Kuo in the eyes before she nodded, before he and the Dazzlings headed outside the train car and left the container behind.

As the four of them headed out of the area, and left Kuo, Nix, and Zeke to get ready for what was coming next, none of them were shocked when they found Nix calling them and complaining to them that she needed to claim some of the monsters as her own, that it would change her life for the better and that they would make killing Bertrand even easier than it currently was. Despite the pleading tone that was in Nix's voice, showing that she was desperate for them to assist her, Cole and the Dazzlings already agreed on what they were doing and headed out for the coordinates that Kuo had decided to sent them, showing that she agreed with their plan, as it might have been something that she would have thought of on her own had Adagio not spoken up when she had. As they moved through the area that they happened to be moving through, at a slower pace than normal to give the others some time to get into position, Sonata spotted Kuo flying towards a specific building and nodded, as it appeared that she was getting things ready to expose Bertrand. When they reached their destination they came to a stop and waited for a couple of minutes, as they were sure that their target was inside the train yard and were waiting to see if Kuo was ready to go.

"Uh, I'm still running a bypass on the TV antenna, but it's going to take some time." Kuo said, speaking to the four of them for a moment, as they needed to know what they were doing next, though her tone revealed that she was focused on what she was doing at the moment, "You guys had better start without me... and before you start complaining, we're already running out of time until Bertrand departs for the time being. As you no doubt know, there are guard towers posted all around the train yard, but fortunately I found a gap that you guys can sneak through to get inside... you'll just have to take the long way around."

The 'long way around', as it turned out, meant that Cole, Adagio, Aria, and Sonata had to make their way through the Gas Works for a moment, which was powered down still so there weren't any sources for Cole to draw power from, but they didn't have to fight all that much. From what they were able to tell the Militia soldiers that were in the area were currently going to war against the Vermaak 88 soldiers that were protecting the area, so while the two forces declared war on each other the group used that as an opportunity to slip by them and enter part of the swamp to get to the train yard without being seen. As they did that Kuo revealed that they needed to move fast, as she had, somehow, drugged the guards that were in the compound, making them realize that Kuo was great at multitasking and getting things done in a timely manner, before they made their way through the swamp and found the entrance that Kuo had told them about, one that they were surprised that Bertrand hadn't patched up. From there Cole pulled out the camera that Zeke had made special for him, since the others tended to blow up in his hands without the modifications that had been made to it, and snapped a picture of the poor people that were currently trapped inside the train car that was in front of them, though once they had the picture the Dazzlings assured the people that, one they had enough evidence to bring down Bertrand, they would be back to free them from their cell.

Even though they couldn't use their powers, since they would attract attention to where they were located, Cole and the Dazzlings carefully made their way through the area and found their way to a second train car, one that contained a number of the gas type swamp monsters, Gasbags according to the sign, before snapping a picture and heading for another one. Of course as they walked by an area where some unobservant guards were standing they overheard one of them mention that the other guard actually had the plague and that he'd shoot him if he gave him the bug, but that only told them that Bertrand's forces weren't immune to the dangerous plague at all. The third train car that had an opening that they could see just happened to contain a Ravager, one that seemed slightly annoyed about the predicament that it was in, but at the same time it didn't look like it was ready for battle, allowing them to snap the picture and move on more it roared at them and suddenly raised the alarm. The final train car held a trio of swamp monsters that were labeled as 'Corrupted', according to the sign on the side of the door, and Cole quickly snapped a picture of them as well, including a few more of all the other containers in the immediate area so they had a great listing of what Bertrand was up to when they revealed this to the people.

In was when the four of them ran out of targets to take pictures of that Kuo gave them good news, as Bertrand was supposed to be here, at this very moment, and that he was heading towards the biggest warehouse in the area, where the group moved out for the warehouse with the intent of catching him in the process of making monsters, just to seal the deal and turn New Marais against him... though when they reached the roof they found Bertrand standing near a man that seemed scared, where Cole snapped a picture and continued to do so when something interesting happened.

"You're scared, aren't you son?" Bertrand asked, his voice still reaching the roof area as the group looked down in through the skylight, while noticing that the Militia guards weren't even looking at the roof as he walked around the chair and the man that he was talking to, "It's alright, I understand your feelings perfectly... but there's no need for you to be scared anymore. Why don't you have a seat?"

The man looked at the chair and then the guards, clearly worried that something might happen, but in the end it seemed that he was one of those people that clearly believed that Bertrand was good and he took the seat that he was told to sit into, which put a smile on Bertrand's face.

"Alright, let's begin." Bertrand said, to which he stopped when he was behind the man and raised both his hands until they were parallel with each other, lined up with the man's head between them, before his power activated and the man started to twitch, where Cole snapped a picture as the poor man's arms cracked and shifted as they transformed into the bladed arms of a Corrupted, "Don't give up, Nate! We'll gonna get that demon out of you, even if it takes all night!"

Cole, Adagio, Aria, and Sonata watched in shock as Bertrand tortured the poor man, as the next thing to change was his legs snapping and shifting into the form of the Corrupted's legs, with the feet changing accordingly, before the man's chest cracked open and resembled the form they were familiar with, and then his head shifted until the man was no more and a simple monster remained in it's place... but, at the same time, Cole had snapped a picture of every step of the transformation, just to show the people what Bertrand was capable of. Once the transformation was over, and they had all the pictures that they needed, Kuo told them that she was now broadcasting all those pictures to the people of New Marais, along with having them on a backup in case something happened to the area she was in, before telling them to keep Bertrand on ice until she got there. Laroche, who they didn't even know was part of the plan, revealed that half of New Marais wanted to join the Rebels and fight against the evil that Bertrand was spewing, surprising them by how quickly the word had spread, and this time the Dazzlings realized that there was no need for them to even use their Siren powers against their foe... as it was easier for him to make a fool of himself and let them expose him, even though killing him would be their responsibility in the future.

What surprised them was that Bertrand had an escape ability, as the instant that he discovered that his secret had been revealed to the people he surrounded himself in the energy that came when he switched forms and disappeared, but this time the group moved out to free the people that were trapped in the cages around the train yard. From that point forward the train yard became a war zone between the Militia soldiers, the Rebel soldiers, five powerful Conduits as Kuo joined the four that were already there, and even the freed Corrupted that Nix had taken to, behind their backs and had freed while they were causing chaos, and Nix was smug about it as she and her new 'family' escaped. There was even a Devourer guarding the final cage that they were going to open, easily destroyed by the combined grenade power that the group threw at them, and the people were overjoyed to be saved from their terrible fate and thanked them as they headed off into the distance as well.

The group was pleased with their work, as New Marais now knew the true face of Bertrand and wouldn't trust him or his Militia from this point forward, meaning that it was only a matter of time until the streets were safe for the people once more, though they also knew that it would be some time before they dealt with Bertrand... but when they met him again they were going to ensure that Bertrand lost the war that was going on between them, and then they could focus their efforts on preparing for the Beast's eventual arrival.