Melchiah's Saga
By: Kingfish


Disclaimer: All characters, objects, and ideas that were originally in Final Fantasy VIII that are used in this novel are all property of Square Electronic Arts. All characters, objects, and ideas that were not used in Final Fantasy VIII that appear in this novel are all the legal property of the author.

Part 1: Shadow of a Shadow

"I am nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody too?
Then there is a pair of us...don't tell!
They'd banish us, you know."
- Excerpt from a poem by Emily Dickinson


Chapter 1: Preparation

It was indeed a very nice day. In the sky the sun beamed down on the vast green hills of Winhill and a nice breeze swept through the blades of grass that made them shine like little emeralds when the sun hit them just right. The monsters weren't as bad as they were on normal days, since they seemed to like gloomier days better, and the chocobos could be heard chirping cheerfully in the distance. A little dirt road ran straight through the middle of the big green hills and into the town of Winhill. Though it was very tiny, it was had a nice cozy look to it. It had for the most part large buildings made of wood and the streets were paved with cobble stone. But there was one thing that was queer about the cozy little town tucked in the cozy little hills on that perfect day. There was no people.

Well, no residents of the town were there anyway, since those who were now occupying it had chased them out. The man sitting on top of the hill overlooking the whole town didn't care if they were all dead. All he cared about was getting what he had been sent to do done. He was slightly taller then most people, but you could tell there was a good build under that long, black overcoat he always wore. He had short, wavy, white hair that he almost never combed or styled but it always looked presentable. His eyes were a cold blue that would send shivers down your spine just looking at them. And strapped to his back was a long lance that had a dark blue shaft with a long, sharp blade. He stood up and took a long drag of his cigarette before tossing it on the soft grass at his feet.

"It doesn't seem like the right kind of day for this work," he said as he reached behind his back for his lance. "But I'll get over it.".

He brought the lance in front of his eyes and ran his gloved finger along the blade, examining it carefully. As he was doing so a shorter soldier was running up the hill frantically toward him and surprised him when he started shouting. "Captain Kraven, sir! Here are the current reports of the enemy position and the mission papers from Major Thorton, sir! He wishes for you to come into town immediately and give a mission briefing, sir!".

The young man stopped abruptly in front of Kraven and handed him a letter. Melchiah sighed in disappointment. He returned the jumpy corporal's perfect salute and watched the frantic soldier run down the hill and back into town. Melchiah shook his head.

"Rookies...".

He walked casually down the hill towards town in the direction the corporal was running. He didn't have to hurry. The "mission" that was at underway was his to command (well, almost), and he was a man of much greater importance than the other Galbadian Soldiers inside the quiet town. He was under the direct command of General Caraway at the Headquarters. Also, he thought it was nice that he didn't have to wear those awful uniforms and helmets that the other soldiers did. A Genesis soldier could wear anything he wanted. But his fashion sense for long, black pants and heavy leather raincoats was coming back to bite him on the ass that hot, sunny day. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and strolled into the Mayor's Mansion, that was being used as the HQ for the Galbadian occupiers.

The soldiers who were inside who were sitting on chairs and leaning on tables laughing and talking with their fellow troopers stood up in dead silence and snapped to attention, presenting Melchiah with their finest and most disciplined salutes. Melchiah, getting aggravated at the constant saluting, quickly returned theirs back.

" At ease," he said sternly, and continued walking toward the door at the far northeast corner of the room. The reveling soldiers returned to their seats and resumed leaning on the tables. But dared not to say a word until the white-haired warrior was out of sight behind the door of the next room.

Melchiah shut the door behind him and looked around the empty office. There was and big desk in the middle of the royal blue carpet with two sitting chairs on one end of it and on the other end was a huge leather office chair with maps and blueprints sprawled out on the big desk in front of it. The maps caught Melchiah's eye and he walked across the dimly lit room and randomly picked up one of the many maps scattered on the desk. This particular one, mapped out the town of Winhill, looked perfectly normal except the docks, which were circled. There was something written in small print under the circle but the light in the room was too dim for him to make it out.

He was about to reach out for the lamp-switch on the table but the door on the other end of the room swung open and an angry old man in an officer's uniform with gray hair and worn, brown eyes stormed in. He was too angry and old to notice the map in Melchiah's hand, and instead shouted, "Where the hell have you been!?!".

Melchiah shrugged casually. " Out and about. I wanted to survey the land before we begin the mission.".

" Well you could have told us about that before you went wandering off!" the major snorted

"And you will respond to your superior with a 'sir', Captain!".

"Fine, sir. But I thought it necessary to know what kind of terrain we could use to our advantage against the enemy, sir." he explained irritably. He didn't like Major Thorton: One, because he was the only one in Winhill that had more authority than him; and two, because he knew that Thorton didn't like Genesis soldiers at all and he would do anything to make sure that they were miserable while they were under his command.

On this particular mission, Melchiah was directed by General Caraway to go Winhill and oversee a mission under the command of Major Thorton. "I know that Thorton can be a pain," Caraway said to Melchiah before he left, " But what do you want me to do? Threaten to spank him if he's not nice?".

"It's a thought," Melchiah replied sorely. And now he was stuck with Thorton doing what Melchiah thought he'd do. Thorton always chewing him out even if he coughed wrong.

"It's two hours before the mission and you don't know what the hell it is!" roared Thorton, his retinas were red and his flabby jowls were wobbling with anger.

" Don't sweat it," replied Melchiah coolly. "I can handle whatever you throw at me as long as you sent those two other Genesis agents down that requested.". He leaned up against the desk as he said this and looked at Thorton, who was getting angrier. "So where's Wolfe and Sam, anyway?".

Thorton scowled and replied " I did not send for Agents Wolfe and Craft, you will instead use my men for your mission." Melchiah jumped off the desk so quickly that he knocked some of the maps onto the floor.

"W-What?!" he stammered in exasperation, "You want me to use those, those rats out there?!" he pointed to the door that lead out to the lobby that the soldiers were in. "Are you crazy?!".

Thorton relaxed his expression and smiled, pleased by Melchiah's anger. "Did you even read the papers my aide gave to you earlier? It's all explained in there."

Melchiah jammed his fist into his pocket of his overcoat and pulled the letter out. He ripped the seal off and opened the letter. His eyes sped quickly through the words his frown getting heavier and heavier after every one. He finally looked up at the Thorton and said "You've really screwed me over, Major."

Major Thorton's smile darkened.

"I find no reason not to use my men, Captain. And as long as I'm in command around here, you will!"

"And might I ask who the enemy is?" Melchiah replied grimly. "Unless it's a bunch of stuffed animals with lollipops, we don't stand a chance." Thorton's mouth formed back into a smile as the last word that Melchiah wanted to hear escaped his lips.

"SeeD"

Melchiah's eyebrows jumped up two inches above his eyes and his mouth hung wide open.

"Seed? You want me to take a bunch of green rookies out there to defeat SeeD? Even if you send every man you have out there to kill just one, your chances are still pretty slim!"

Thorton grinded his teeth and spoke with an evil hiss. "The fact is, Captain, you don't have a choice. Our scouts reported that they have landed at the docks, you will take a squad of fifteen men to go and meet out the enemy. The SeeD's manpower can't be above 8, so they will be outnumbered."

'So? Our asses are still grass.' thought Melchiah. "Why the hell didn't you get Sam and Wolfe? Killing SeeD's is our frickin' job!" he spat.

"Watch your tone with me, Captain!" Thorton shot back. "I don't care if a Genesis soldier can kill a SeeD doing a handstand! You will use my men!"

Melchiah shook his head and clutched his fists. 'Stubborn old bastard.' "Fine."

"Good," Thorton said triumphantly. "Now those SeeDs had to have been hired by somebody. I want you to find that out as well." Melchiah clutched his fists even tighter and closed his eyes. He wanted to hit Thorton.

"Fine."

"I have already selected the 15 that will be going with you. They are waiting for you outside the mansion. Give them the mission and head out."

Melchiah rolled his eyes and headed for the door.

"Captain, you forgot something."

Melchiah rolled his eyes again and turned around to face Thorton, who had his hand to his forehead in salute. He reluctantly returned it and walked out the door. He hated saluting.

Melchiah closed the door to the mansion and looked at his attack squad. He shook his head. 'Pitiful.' Fifteen men stood in assembly and saluted Melchiah sharply. "First rule of my squad," he instructed, "Never salute me." All fifteen men immediately put their hands at their sides and stood in perfect attention and silence.

'Their uniforms don't even have a scratch on them. They probably haven't even SEEN battle before,' he thought. 'Thorton expects me to beat eight SeeDs with this?!'

"Better check..." he mumbled. "Step forward if you ever been in battle before!"

Five of the fifteen men stepped out of the assembly into line in front of Melchiah. He buried his face in his hands.

"Great, just great."

He raised his head to the five soldiers and asked another question. "Which of you five, if any has ever engaged a SeeD?" One of the blue-uniformed troopers stepped forward.

"I hove, sssir," said the soldier strangely.

Melchiah raised his eyebrows in surprise and folded his arms. "Really? How did you do?" The soldier took off his helmet and revealed an eye patch on his right eye.

"I deed awight," slobbered the soldier. He smiled, and Melchiah saw that he didn't have but two teeth in his mouth.

"By doing well you mean you're still alive, I guess." Melchiah sighed. He turned his back to the squad and rubbed his chin. 'They'll only get in my way. It's better to do this one solo.'

He turned back around to his men and spoke in a loud, authoritative voice.

"The fact is, gentlemen, we are up against SeeD. They are planning to take this town back by force for the people of Winhill. We are one of the only lines of defense for this town, so we'd better make this assault count. Our scouts report SeeD's position is in those hills over there" He pointed to the hills, which was in the opposite direction of the docks, the true position of the enemy. "You are to sneak upon the enemy with your utmost speed and stealth. Use the hills to mask your movement, and then take them by surprise. Any questions?"

A hand shot up from small crowd of soldiers. "Won't you be coming with us, sir?"

Melchiah shook his head. "No. I'll patrol the rest of the town by myself." Several other hands shot up before Melchiah. "And I will not need accompaniment," he added. At this the hands went down.

"Well, if there's no other questions, then you are dismissed. Oh, and he..." Melchiah pointed randomly to a soldier in the crowd, "is in command during my absence."

The soldier looked stunned, but he didn't dare utter a word of objection to Melchiah's delegation.

"Uh, M-move out!" stuttered the soldier nervously. He made a gesture to move towards the hills, and all fifteen headed off, confused and worried. Melchiah watched the party until they were out of sight, and then he began to run through the small streets of Winhill towards the docks, laughing as he went.