TALE OF BALANCE

TALE OF RUIN

A Novelization of Final Fantasy VI

By: Felix0010

CHAPTER

(-1-)

The Invasion of Narshe

She knew she must resist.

She tried to stop herself from getting into the machine, but she couldn't.

She resisted, then suddenly stopped and jumped into the machine's cockpit. Her conscious mind heard and saw everything as though it were through a blurry lens. Her mind was fogged and getting still foggier. She had no control over her own body. She couldn't even remember her own name.

The machine she was in, MagiTek Armor, buzzed and whirred and hummed as she made its tank-like bulk walk out of the hanger on its two legs next to two other similarly-suited. MagiTek Armor was huge and beastly looking, with spikes and frills poking every which way - and massive, razor sharp, jagged claws, used to tear apart anything in its path. On top of that, it had the ability to use elemental beams that could melt, freeze, or stun anything it wanted. All in all, this armor was the most powerful and feared piece of machinery in the world. The three in the armor walked out of the hanger bay area in the military base in the southern part of the Figaro Dessert and began to make their long journey to Narshe.

Narshe was a small town in the mountains, surrounded with snow, known for its many mined ores. Normally, it wouldn't be counted as much of a threat for the empire, but there were rumors. Rumors of something called an esper. Biggs and Wedge, the two men, weren't exactly sure what this esper was. Was it a single being, or a race of them? They only knew that it was a being with magic. They were ordered by Emperor Gestahl himself to go and retrieve it. The military force of the town was negligible, only a few guards with very little armor to protect them. Evidently, they were meant only to protect the town from wild animals. They marched for days and finally Narshe was in sight.

"There's the town!" Biggs said. "Do you think the esper is still alive?"

"Probably," said Wedge "judging from the urgency of our orders."

"And this woman, this... this sorceress. Why is she here? I heard she fried fifty of our MagiTek Armored soldiers in under three minutes!"

"Don't worry. She's been robbed of all conscious thought. She'll follow orders."

"Well then, move out!"

"Let's go!"

***

Meanwhile, inside the town, the wind whistled between the houses, as if trying to whisper to the rest of the world of the impending tragedy that was soon to happen here. Oblivious to the wind's prophecy, the citizens of Narshe walked around the streets, unaware of the slaughter that was to be.

Suddenly, one of the guards spotted two massive creatures that were made of metal, he turned to his fellow guard and said urgently,"Raise the alarm.", the other guard ran to the alarm bell, while the other guard ran through the streets yelling, "We're under attack! Imperial MagiTek Armor."

"Imperial MagiTek Armor?" Said the captain of the guard, putting his grip on hi sword "Not even Narshe is safe anymore!" By the time the MagiTek reached the gate about nine or ten men had surrounded the gate, waiting for the MagiTek to break through. Just then, the gate exploded. The scantily-armored men with fourth rate weapons charged the heavily-armored men with massive claws. It was useless, before they could even each the Armors they were mowed down like grass. They walked down the main road of the town and as they approached the far side of the city they found about sixteen or seventeen guards, plus a few men with various household tools, and a whole lot of trained attack wolves, called lobos had assembled there.

"Narshe's freedom depends on us!" said one of the guards, "We've got 'em trapped now!" said another. But alas, even though these men fought like lions, they too were shot down. Finally, they got to the mines. As they entered the mines, they found another group of guards and men.

"We must defend the mines!" they shouted. But no soldier without special training could even hope to defeat an Imperial MagiTek Armor, much less three. They went deeper into the mines and found the esper. It was large, green, dragonesque and was frozen in ice.

"We must protect the esper. Whelk! Get them!" shouted another guard. Suddenly, from an adjoining passage, a huge snail-like creature crawled in. Wedge started aiming at it, but Biggs stopped him.

"Hold it, Wedge!" Said Biggs "Think back to our briefing. Don't you recall hearing about a monster that eats lightning..."

"...and stores the energy in it's shell!" Finished Wedge.

"Right." Said Biggs "So whatever you do, don't attack the shell!"

"Alright, Biggs!" Said Wedge as he (in his MagiTek armor, of course) leaped at it, claws extended. He soon found that this was not a smart idea, since the whelk seemed to have a protective lightning shield. Its a good thing this armor has electro-shock protection. He thought, as the force of the lightning launched him back. He smashed into the cave wall, while the strange girl shot at it with a fire beam. It missed. Biggs shot an ice beam at it too, but he also missed.

Then the girl pressed a button and six missiles shot out of the shoulders of the Armor. How come we don't get all the cool gadgets? Thought Wedge, as he waited for the self-repair feature on the Armor to finish it's work.

Then he said "All three of us, shoot at him at the same time." "Got it!" Said Biggs. "Ready. Aim. Fire!" They did, and the giant snail's skin dissolved away, and it shriveled and died.

"Yes!" said Biggs.

"Oh yeah!" said Wedge.

The girl remained silent.

"Its creepy how she doesn't say anything." Wedge said.

"It's because of the slave crown. Now grab that thing and lets go." They approached the esper.

"Stop!" Said a deep, echoing voice within their minds. This startled the two of them a lot. "I will not allow myself to be taken away." The voice was slow and ancient; every word seemed to be filled with wisdom as it spoke. Biggs and Wedge realized that it was the esper. Whatever this thing was, it must be an ancient being. Suddenly, the eject feature on each of their Armors were activated. All three of them landed with a thump on the ground. They stood, but then found that they couldn't move a muscle.

"Wedge, step forward." Said the voice. Wedge stepped forward. "Since it appears that you are the leader, you will be turned into an imp for a year and two months and a day, and will be teleported to your home land, Vector, but you will not be able to communicate with any human until the time has passed, if you survive." And with that, he turned into a little red imp and disappeared.

"Biggs, step forward." Said the voice. Biggs stepped forward. "Since you have been more of a follower than a leader, your punishment will be less severe than that other man. I will send you forward in time exactly a year from the moment you disappear." Then Biggs disappeared, too.

"You, woman, step forward." he said with great respect,the woman, not yet used to her new found freedom, stood still. "I do not sense in you the same malice that was in the two others. I sense that you are a helpless pawn in a massive power struggle. So, instead of cursing you, I will help you. You will fall unconscious, and while you are asleep, a man will find you, a man who will see you for who you really are and will not try to kill you. I cannot promise that your life will be easy at all, for those who have just lost a great amount of power will stop at nothing to get it back, but it will be possible for you to survive. Go to sleep now, young one."

And with that, the woman softly fell to the floor.