A/N:Let me say firstly that although I have played final fantasy 8 and loved it I do not exactly know how the world is made up, (though I think it was something like: Galbadia in the West Trabia in the east and Balamb in between on an Island?) So please feel free to correct me on any Geographical errors.

Secondly; I am not a native English speaker and though I'll do my best in trying to keep the grammatical errors to a minimum all advice/criticism is welcome.

And last but not least, this story will involve (squelphie, OC's and war/ politics, maybe even some God/Demon worship) so if you do not like it, that's too bad but don't flame for it please.

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy because if I did I wouldn't be writing about it now would I? No, I would be trying to make a profitable game out of this story...I do own Marco and Kevin Sha'tar. ( Why such common names I hear you ask? Well, I can't stand OC's with names like Obien Glitterdust or Magneta Purple...I'm sorry that was lame.)

Prologue

-A lone outpost near the border between Galbadia and Winhill

3:30 AM

The young man woke up with a start when he heard the loud, annoying, high-pitched sound of his communicator blaring through his room. As his left hand slammed down on the button which would allow him to speak with the person on the other side of the line, his right hand was already collecting his clothes and gear.

"Talk to me Watchman," The young man barked. "This had better be important!"

"Lay down on the attitude big bro, I wouldn't wake you if it wasn't important." The young man half-smiled as he heard the voice on the other side of the line, but his face immediately returned to the grim way it had been set before.

"I'm sorry Kevin, but I'm not used to being woken up this early...You can speak freely there are no others here."

"Ten-Four big bro, I hope you're already dressed 'cause this is not a social call, they're coming and they don't look like they're coming for tea."

"How many?"

"From what I can gather initial force is about 250 strong with at least two more forces headed this way."

"ETA?"

"I'm sorry to say that they'll be here in less then an hour, they were using a cloaking mechanism to stay out of my long range radar."

"Damn!"The young man's hands trembled for an instant. "Ok give lights on and put base on full alert...I will take the whole of our force outside to meet the Galbadians head on." He raised his voice so that Kevin could hear him over the sound of the wailing alarm. "I want you to stay here and send out an S.O.S. to Balamb. After you have done that I want you to stay here and guard the fort."

"WHAT?" Cringing a little the young man held the earpiece a bit farther from his ear. "Marco, you can not make me stay here while those bastards out there kill you. That's not how we were raised dammit!"

Slowly and calmly Marco answered. "Neither were we raised to be idiots, they have more then 700 men out there, we don't even have a quarter of that here. We can't stay and use this base as protection because it has been so shoddily made that a harsh wind could knock it over..."

And it was true, this base had never been supposed to house a task force. It had been built as a storehouse for outdated hardware, but since Galbadia had been amassing an army once again it had been hastily converted to an outpost. Most of the communication equipment had been put in and was, obviously, working but the base was in no way armoured or defended, staying in it was not a very good idea.

"...I want to try and engage them somewhere they won't have the advantage, which is as far out on the plains as I can get. They aren't as well trained at us, out there we might stand a chance. I'd rather have you fighting by my side too but I need someone here I can trust to hold the fort."

The other side of the line remained quiet for a few seconds.

"sigh If you say so big brother."

"Good. I'm leaving squad C here under your orders. Marco out..."

As his communicator shut off he pressed the button on the intercom which would make his voice heard throughout the whole base.

"This is commanding SeeD Marco Sha'tar. Squad A, B, D, E and F are to report to me outside in full war-gear in ten minutes. Squad C is to report to Seed Kevin Sha'tar in the briefing room for further instructions...This is not a drill." Marco swallowed once and closed his eyes as he spoke the next words. "We are at war."

He shut of the intercom, and felt under his bed for the black suitcase he knew to be there. When he'd found and pulled it out from under his bed, he opened it and almost reverently pulled out three items and a full set of black SeeD armour, save for a single red streak. As he started to put on his gear he couldn't help but wonder how the hell he was going to use 150 men to keep Galbadia at bay.

-Balmab Garden, Squall's room.

4:15 AM

The alarm in Squall's room wasn't as loud or annoying as the one that had woken Marco, but it was still loud enough to wake him. He looked at his flashing communication screen and read the words HEADMASTER'S OFFI CE: URGENT SeeD ATTIRE REQUIRED, Squall, Quistis, Irvine, Zell, Selphie and Seifer TO ATTEND.

He was dressed and out of bed in less than a minute and running down the hall to the headmaster's office the next. He was joined by Zell and Irvine who both still looked a little groggy due to their rude awakening. They flung the door to Cid's office open and he regarded them with a grim, haggard face.

"We have a situation..."

3:37 AM

Before Marco left his office he placed a silver box on his dresser, his brother had the key and would only open it if...the worst happened. As he opened his door he touched the ebony dragon medallion around his neck.

"Mikril protect us..."

A/N: Whelp? What did you guys think of the prologue? Good/Bad/Ugly any and all constructive criticism welcome.

Argonian