Chapter 01: Day One
"Squall, I need you up here right away!" Nida shouted over Balamb Garden's intercom.
Squall didn't need to be told that. He could feel the sudden collision, and the left side of the Garden start to sink. He stumbled his way the elevator and took it to the command center of the Garden.
The Garden had resumed its normal duties upon defeating the Sorceress Ultimecia. Their job was the training, transportation, and housing of their elite unit SeeD. The Garden itself had also been turned into a mobile fortress, which sailed and flew around the world in search of any indication of sorcery at work. Technically, Rinoa Heartilly was supposed to be the only sorceress in the world at this time, but sorcery is passed on in methods that are not clearly known, and most who receive the gift use the power for evil.
At the moment, Balamb Garden was sailing the artic sea near Trabia Garden and was approximately at the north pole when they had apparently scraped against some rocks or an iceberg and cut a hole in the MD level of the Garden.
Squall arrived at the control room and noticed the general disarray of his staff.
There was, of course, Nida, who had been piloting the ship up until a few moments ago and was now frantically pacing about trying to see if there were any controls to deal with water-logging.
Next to him was Quistis Trepe, his former instructor and companion. Squall reinstated her as an instructor and, in fact, made her headmistress of the school. Squall himself had chosen the former title of NORG, Garden Master, although people still called him "Commander".
Selphie Tilmitt was leaning against of the walls, on her knees. Squall had given her the only job he knew she desperately wanted. She was in charge of the Garden Festival and Recreation Committee.
Zell Dincht was talking to Irvine Kinneas. They had both been placed in charge of specialized units within SeeD. Dincht was the Commander of a group called the Brawlers, a name that Dincht had chosen himself and that Quistis was not too pleased with. Kinneas had chosen the more appropriate title for his squad, the Marksmen.
And lastly was his girlfriend and close comrade, Rinoa Heartilly. As mentioned earlier, she was a Sorceress and therefore was responsible for the instruction of magic and more importantly, to teach SeeDs that not all Sorceress's were evil.
"Nida, back at your post! Selphie, get up off your feet or leave this room! Dincht, Kinneas get your act together!" Squall barked orders.
Xu, the Navigator, saluted Squall and he returned it. She began to brief Squall on the situation.
"We've hit something. The MD level is taking on water on the port side. Our engines will be completely water-logged in a matter of minutes and we've already lost the ability to take all but the most basic maneuvers," Xu explained.
"How far away was our last sighting of land?" Squall asked.
"About half an hour ago. The tip of Winter Island," Nida replied.
"Okay, try to turn us around," Squall ordered.
"Roger that sir, but we'll never make it back," Nida noted.
"We'll have to try, this Garden isn't outfitted with lifeboats," Squall ordered. "Quistis, instruct all Level 1 Sabers to secure the Training Area. The last thing we need is monsters roaming the school. Zell, take your squad and a team of medics throughout the complex. Irvine, your team needs to support. Tell all non-injured students to report to the second floor immediately. Send the rest to Dr. Kadowaki.
Selphie and Rinoa, I need you two to get together any non-combat operatives to secure our food supply. The cafeteria is on the port side, and if that goes down then so will the cafeteria. Xu stay here with Nida and update me on any changes."
"Where are you going?" Nida asked.
"I'm taking a team to fortify the main gate. If the water gets in there then we're finished," Squall explained.
--
A rough couple of hours passed in what seemed like an eternity. Rinoa and Selphie's team were able to get all of the food safely to the second floor and the Sabres put the Training Facility into a complete lockdown, which was futile, because as soon as the water level reached that of the ground floor, the security fail-safes would short out. The real pain was sealing the main gate. It had never been intended to block water, and so finding suitable equipment to fortify it with in such short notice seemed an impossible task. Fortune favored them, though, that on their second pass around the rocks they had hit, the main gate was now facing the rocks. They ended up crashing once again, but the rocks got caught in the upper part of the gate, adding support to the water-logged structure.
Injuries were surprisingly few for the nature of the accident they had. Out of a class of 235 Students and 61 Staff (including Squall and his staff), only 12 students and 2 faculty members were injured. Squall ordered that nobody remain on the first floor. Sleeping bags, food preparation appliances, and the entirety of Dr. Kadowaki's office were moved into the classrooms on the second floor.
Like everything else they did, the assignment of sanctuaries was based on their companies, squads and specialties. Squall's staff used the 3rd floor command center as both their briefing room and bedroom, although Squall still used his commander's bedroom which was located to the left side of the 3rd floor lobby.
"Okay," began Squall. "I need to hear options."
"Even if the waters were safe enough to swim, the distance is too far and the water too cold. Our swimmers would be dead before they even made it half the distance," Nida explained.
"There's nothing sturdy enough to form a suitable raft out of. Sheet metal from the siding or trees from the training center are our best bet," Zell added.
"Our food supply is good. We can comfortably feed our entire student body and staff for three weeks. On rations we can make it about five weeks," Rinoa said.
"Our medical supplies are also sufficient for a long stay," Selphie added.
"Plus which we are in the middle of the ocean, any other food we need we can get from the sea," Irvine continued.
"Is there any hope of repairing the Garden?" Squall asked.
"Slim to none. To be honest I would much rather find a somewhat risky method of abandoning the Garden before I would send a repair team to their likely doom on the MD level," Zell explained.
"Well then our only hope is to wait around for another ship to pass near enough to see our emergency lights," Squall said.
"That could take weeks or months," Quistis said.
"If it's the former we're fine, the latter and we're screwed," Squall said. "But we have no other choice unless somebody thinks of something clever. Start the rationing and have a team go fishing. We're gonna be here for a while."
--
Given their predicament things weren't as terrible as they had originally thought. The Garden still had a good store of internal power, but at the moment Squall ordered that it be devoted to necessary lights and heating only. If the lights went out and the temperature inside dropped to the -25 degrees outside, things would take a deadly turn.
Furthermore, as Irvine correctly predicted, the sea was bountiful and the first fishing expedition brought back a decent haul.
Being stuck on the 2nd level was the main concern. Keeping food fresh was difficult since there were no freezers on that floor. Quistis instructed that all cold storage food be placed on the deck and she had a team construct a massive net to keep any food from falling out, should the Garden suddenly tip to one side.
The ground floor wasn't completely flooded, but it was knee-deep to an adult and frigid cold; the ground floor was not inhabitable. Furthermore, while most monsters kept in the training center had died (the Grats could not survive in the extreme temperature), the T-Rexaur clan seemed merely enraged by the change and were busy prowling through the water, eating small schools of Fastalocians that had come in through the main gate. Quistis knew that other, more deadly marine animals would soon discover this comfortable home.
Squall lay in his bedroom, mind racing. He found it somewhat pathetic that after facing the Sorceress and the entire Galbadian army, the Garden's end would be rotting in the middle of the Trabian Ocean. He knew that many difficult decisions lay ahead. Ships never took this course, and though none of them said it, they all knew that waiting was not a realistic option.
So what was left? Forcing a repair team to try and patch up the Garden, despite the incredible danger? Risk losing everybody on shoddily built rafts? There had to be a way to get a message out for help, and Squall was the one responsible for finding it.
Rinoa walked in and shut the door behind her. She could practically read his thoughts, and sat on the bed behind him and gave him a big hug.
"I know this must be driving you nuts," Rinoa said, trying to sound cheerful.
"I'm 20," Squall grimaced. "And I'm put in charge of commanding an entire Garden. Most of the staff here are older and more experienced than me. Same goes for some of the students."
"Don't forget, Squall, you've led us for a long time, and everyone's been behind you the entire way," Rinoa explained. Her mood suddenly turned apologetic. "I know I'm supposed to be this Sorceress, but I don't know how to use my powers. All I get are bursts of energy and spells, but nothing I can actually use. I wish I could find a way to help everyone."
Squall held onto Rinoa's hands. "Don't worry about it. It's my job to find a way out of this mess and I'll do it. I'll need your help, though."
Rinoa said nothing, but Squall knew that Rinoa was behind him.