Looking Down From Cerulean Skies
The Bird Who Pilots Magitek Armor
Narshe, a sleepy coal mining town tucked into the mountains above the Figaroan kingdom, was preparing for the oncoming night ahead. Men wrapped themselves up in their uniforms, with furs and wool scarves draped around their heads to keep in the warmth. Shopkeepers struck matches to light their gas lamps outside their shops, pulled their shutters to, and locked up for the night. Snow blew down from the mountains in a constant gust, sweeping over the buildings, and swirling in the streets. The citizens of Narshe had grown accustomed to the ever present chill and frost, and those new quickly adapted for the temperatures dropped drastically at night to well below freezing.
"Gods dammit! Why did we have to go somewhere so damn cold?" a man cried from his seat inside of the hulking contraption he piloted. His teeth would not stop chattering no matter how hard he tried to control it.
"We were ordered to invade, Wedge, deal with it. The Emperor would be furious if we disobeyed." His companion replied with a pointed look.
"I know that sir, but why couldn't that frozen esper have been dug up in a warm place? Like Jidoor?"
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because frozen things like the cold?" The higher ranking soldier pulled the bulletproof glass visor lower on his cockpit to help block the never ending assault from the snowstorm. "And Jidoor doesn't even have a coal mine."
"Whatever. So we're almost at Narshe, now what?" Wedge asked, shivering in his uniform, disregarding his higher-up's logic, and wishing the weapons developers could have installed heaters in the Magitek Armor Units.
"We go into the mines beyond the town and take the frozen creature," Vicks pushed his glasses up on his nose with a finger as he tried to ignore the chilly air the best he could.
On their ledge, they could see Narshe rather well. The gas lights lining the cobblestone streets looked like stars twinkling in the night, as if the sky was in front of their eyes instead of above them. Vicks looked back at the woman accompanying them; with her blank stare she almost looked like a corpse. A surge of unease ricocheted through his spine as her eyes glanced at him for a split second.
"How big is it? I hope we can carry it back to the ship, sir" Wedge asked, scratching his dark hair under his helmet, squinting at the town ahead.
"Well, it can't be too big. I mean if the ice shard was too large then the Emperor would have sent a crane or some other type of tek." Vicks patted his control panel with a sly grin in an attempt to drive away the disquiet, "Magitek Armor can lift a lot though, so we should be fine."
"Alright, alright! Let's get going," Wedge pulled ahead with a lurch and a few mutters about how he wished he could feel his toes again.
The woman followed him wordlessly, moving her Armor with a certain grace.
Vicks looked at the sky, at the fresh dark clouds coming in from the mountains like ink spreading in water, "You can't even see the moon for the storm clouds."
Up ahead, Wedge was trying to start a conversation with the young woman.
"So, why are you coming with us?" he asked, rubbing his hands together to create friction while he steered his Magitek Armor with his knee.
"I was ordered to," she replied in a monotonous voice, not even glancing over at him.
"Did they think that this mission would be dangerous?"
Silence.
"Is that a yes?" Wedge looked at her curiously.
"No," was her almost mechanic response.
"So the mission is not dangerous?"
Silence.
"Okay, well, what's that thing on your head?" he asked, pointing at the flecked jewels that caught the fading light from between locks of green hair.
"What do you mean?" The woman turned her head a fraction in his direction, but her eyes remained fixed on the speckled horizon.
Vicks came up next to Wedge, "That's a slave crown Cid's been developing. I know that you're a lower rung on the ladder, but I thought you'd know."
"A what?" Wedge scratched at his hair beneath his brown helmet, not even bothering to disguise his confusion.
"A slave crown. It's a device that rips away the wearer's free will, and makes them follow any orders given. I don't know much more than that, but that's what General Kefka told me during the briefing. She will follow any of our orders."
"But she's the Imperial Witch right? Shouldn't that mean that she's powerful enough to fight back? I mean, from what I've heard…" Wedge trailed off, his eyes moving to the thin form ahead of them pressing buttons on her control panel.
"She can't fight it, you idiot! That's the point of the slave crown, to have complete control over a person. Can you imagine what would happen if she didn't have that thing on her? She could torch the entire Empire and kill everybody." Vicks did not let his gaze settle on the witch as he spoke; instead he let it linger on the buildings that were much easier to make out by then.
Wedge looked at the witch again as if trying to make sure that she was not about to rear back and attack them, "Are you serious? That device is keeping her at bay?"
Vicks let out a sigh, "Yes, that's why the Emperor had the slave crown created. So she won't blow us all to bits."
The rumors had to be true if the Emperor had put a restraint on a young woman such as herself. It was inhumane, but had to be done, or else she would lose control. Or so they had been told.
"We'll be alright as long as the crown remains on her head. As long as she doesn't regain her free will, we will all live. That's what Kefka said, and why would he lie about such a serious thing?"
A look up let Vicks see the witch's form as she led them along. Her green hair that curled like a lamb's wool, her pale skin that hinted at how little sunlight she had seen, now rosy from the cold. It made Vicks cringe when he noticed how her thin frame shivered under her cloak.
Despite her being the dangerous Imperial Witch with the eyes of a doll, she was a pretty girl. A girl as young as she was should not have to endure that situation, not one who should be courting young men and enjoying her youth.
The group neared the gates of Narshe steadily. Vicks and Wedge both scanned the perimeters for any guns trained at their heads or for any ambushes coming down from the needle tree lines on either side of the town. The wind howled fiercely in their ears and the heavy footfalls of their Magitek Armor echoed into the night.
A building sat off to the left side of the gates with a man shrouded in scarves and furs leaning against the front window. He snapped his head up at the approaching sound of heavy metal footfalls, and scrambled inside. When the door slammed shut, Wedge could make out what the sign hanging above the door said as they passed it by.
"The library is outside of the town? Strange," he commented, scrunching his eyebrows together in thought.
Narshe guards stood at attention just inside the city gates with their rifles resting against their shoulders, all gaping at the oncoming small division of Magitek Armor. One guard in a darker uniform stepped forwards from the group, shouting, "What in goddess's name are Imperial troops doing here?"
"Don't answer any questions. Just take out any interlopers, we have a job to do," Vicks told his soldiers as they approached the gates.
Wedge nodded and pressed forwards, earning a bullet in the hull of his armor. It pinged off, not even making a dent as he rushed the guards. His hands flew over his control panel and in effect, his tek quickened its pace and snapped shut the glass dome.
"Stop this at once!" The leader of the guards demanded, firing another round at the oncoming machine.
"Narshe is neutral, you pigs!" Another guard shouted as he aimed his gun.
The Narshe men swung their spears and shot their guns, trying with all of their might to hold off the Imperial soldier who had pulled ahead of his comrades. None of their attacks did much damage, and upon realizing this they were being gunned down by a fire beam.
The tang of burning flesh filled the air, making Vicks wince as he reached the bloody smears on the cobblestones. Little bits of muscle, sinew, gore, and other unpleasant things were scattered across the gate entrance from where the guards were blasted.
The echo of a scream lingered in the frigid night air, sending chills dancing up and down their spines. Somehow, no matter how long one had been in the military, the sound of death was still unnerving in its finality.
Going north through the streets of Narshe, the party encountered more guards, who all protested to their presence, all trying to fight for their town, all dying painfully, equally. Vicks and Wedge watched as their companion in arms became the killing machine that Kefka had claimed her to be. She cast spell after spell at the Narshe guards, never ceasing in her assault. She fired her tek missiles without emotion, lay waste to lives with her charged up energy beams, and crushed bodies underneath her Magitek Armor.
Luckily for the town, she only attacked those who attacked her, or else she could have easily leveled the place.
The voices of the men who had died haunted Vicks' and Wedge's minds, humming low and eventually started sounding like white noise coming from a malfunctioning radio.
"Not even Narshe is safe anymore!"
"Please! Stop this! We haven't done a thing to the Empire!"
"You Imperial scum! We will not end up like Tzen!"
"The Empire is full of monsters! Don't taint us with your filth!"
They reached the mines at long last, and found only one opening at the end of a long series of wooden steps littered with mining tools. Flurries of snow rushed inside the cavern from the strong winds, and disappeared into the darkness. What with the abandoned mining materials, rusty hooks knocked crooked that once held pick axes and other tools, and torches long blown out, the mine looked all the more menacing.
Wedge swallowed hard, staring into the depths, and said, "Sir, do you think that this is the mineshaft?"
"I'm not sure, Wedge, but it looks like our only option. Our informant told us that the creature was found in a new mine shaft. Do you see any other openings around here? I don't." Vicks gestured around them at the absence of any other mineshafts in the immediate area.
"Maybe we should have the witch lead us inside, she might know where to go better than we do," Wedge let out a shudder, his teeth clattering together from the chill.
"Alright, she'll be put on lead," Vicks made a motion forwards with his hand to the woman, who promptly pulled ahead of the men, waiting for another signal.
"Okay, let's get this over with!" Wedge tried sounding enthusiastic, and followed the mint haired sorceress inside.
Vicks felt his stomach flip and his heart beat quickened, as if his body sensed something he did not. He chalked it up to anxiety of the unknown, and punched a few buttons on his control panel, making his armor stomp inside the cavern.
"Dammit! The torches are out! Anybody have a light?" Wedge asked examining a burnt out torch while fingering his empty pockets as if a match would magically appear. Vicks shook his head after checking his pouches and the storage box near his feet, only finding medical supplies and some rations. They both looked to the mint haired witch who had been staring blankly at them, awaiting more commands.
"Do you think you could cast a little fire spell on this?" Wedge asked, moving closer as he held out the resinous wood for her to reach so she could set fire to it. She blinked as if processing the request, and held her left hand out to touch it. Then, a flame appeared in her palm, brilliantly orange and crackling, and caught the wood. As soon as the torch had a nice blaze burning, her spell went out with a little puff of smoke.
Wedge smiled at her before he started lighting the torches hanging from old stands on the rock walls, watching the cavern gradually start growing brighter with flickering warm light. Shadows appeared, bobbing, and flitting across the rock flooring, casting strange and obscure shapes throughout the mineshaft.
Now that the small group could see where they were treading, the girl led them through a few short caves that were so narrow that they had to pass through in single file. Rats skittered across the ground, escaping the metallic footfalls and hiding themselves inside little nooks and crannies to chatter at the odd trespassers who were disturbing their peaceful home.
At the end of a long passage, there was a wooden gate barricading the next section of the mine. On the barricade were many complicated locks and gadgets to prevent intruders from getting into the next section.
"This must be where they're storing the creature," Vicks commented, inspecting the barrier for any locks that he recognized.
"Yeah, I've got an idea. You two move back a few yards!" Wedge instructed with a grin on his face. His companions did as he asked, and he moved his tek back away from the gate a bit, then rushed it, bashing the wooden planks to splinters from the force.
"Nice work, soldier," Vicks beamed, coming to stand beside his comrade.
"No problem! Like a measly little fence could keep us out."
As the soldiers were going inside the next room, a Narshe guard dashed out from behind a stone pillar roughly cut out of the bedrock.
"Stop right there! You aren't getting the esper that easily!" he yelled, brandishing his spear at the intruders.
"Move outta the way, or we'll go through you!" Wedge replied wryly.
The guard whipped a whistle out of his scarf and blew it. The piercing sound echoed shrilly off the cave walls.
Then, an enormous pale yellow snail with mean red eyes at the top of his eye stalks slithered its way towards them at a pace that was much faster than common snails.
"Whelk! Defend the esper! Defend Narshe's pride!" the guard shouted as he ran out of the passage to get out of the way, and possibly alert the town elder of having to use their last defense.
"Shit! The bugger ran off!" Vicks cursed, realizing that they may have even more guardsmen after them.
"I think we have something more important to worry about now!" Wedge shouted, pushing buttons on his control panel furiously.
Vicks turned his tek towards the retreating guard and fired a bolt beam at him. The beam struck on target and the guard fell with a heavy thump on the ground.
"At least we don't have to worry about him now." Vicks returned his attentions to the giant snail monster right as Wedge sent a fire beam at it.
The overgrown snail roared, eyes glowering more and more as it continued to slime its way closer. The attack did not hinder its progress as it came closer to the group.
"What's with this thing anyway? A giant snail? What will towns use next to protect them? Caterpillars?"
"This is the monster Kefka and Leo briefed us about, remember?" Vicks yelled over the bellowing creature.
Wedge shot another fire beam at the monster, "A creature that eats lightning, right?"
"Yeah! And it stores the energy in its shell, so don't hit that part, alright soldiers?"
The Imperial Witch fired a tek projectile at the snail in response, and Wedge gave a quick nod, before shooting another fire beam at it. The Whelk slammed itself into Vick's Magitek Armor, almost hurling the machine over backwards. As Vicks righted himself, he was astounded at how fluidly the magic user could maneuver her armor unit. She had the elegance of a bird in flight as her hands moved quickly over the buttons and levers.
The woman shot missiles over and over at the snail, never letting up, and finally with one more energy beam, the creature erupted all over the place. Yellow ooze splashed on to their machines, and dripped from the walls with pieces of shell skewed about.
"Ugh! Gross! Look at this!" Wedge cried, trying to fling some goo off of his arm.
"Forget that, you can get a bath back on the ship. Let's get the esper and get out of here," Vicks said, going past the despairing man, ignoring the fact that pungent snail slime was dripping from his hair and face.
By the time Vicks and Wedge reached the shard, they saw that their mint haired comrade was already there, standing in front of the ice, staring intently at the chilling creature.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Vicks asked, looking first at the woman, then up at the being. It had the shape of a large tropical bird, whose feathers were long, silky, and colorful. Its eyes were black, and unmoving, but a look of terror was filling its expression, as if it had tried to escape, fleeing from something terrible in flight, but was caught in ice.
It was like a snapshot of the past, an old fossil drug up from the planet's crust, the emotion in its expression clear and crystalline.
Wedge came up on the other side of the woman, now all three were looking up at the bird. The witch got out of her armor, and stepped closer, as if in a trance.
"What are you doing?" Vicks asked again, but received no response. The strange feeling inside of him grew, consuming his thoughts, and making fear rise up in his throat.
"Hey! You know something, don't you?" Wedge asked, trying to grab at the girl to keep her from the esper.
She started glowing with a strange blue light, and when they looked closer, they saw that the creature glowed in time with her, flashing a bright blue light that resembled lightning.
As her fingers touched the ice, a spark of lightning fluttered out of the creature and into her head, causing her to emit a pained moan. She did not fall; instead she wrapped her arms around what she could of the ice, and pressed herself against it.
Then, lightning welled up again, and flashed into Wedge, blinking him out of existence.
"Wedge? Where did you go? What's happening?" Vicks screamed, clutching his head tightly, his heart beating frantically. Another bolt of lightning came out, and came at him faster than he could even think to move.
"Some people are born to die."
"..."
"Child, it seems that something is preventing you to speak to me properly. But that is alright. I shall see you again...soon. I promise."
She looked up at the esper's eyes, and saw that they were looking back, blinking, and speaking to her.
"You're too weak for me now, but you will return to me soon. You're very special."
Another bolt of electricity shot out of the ice shard and struck her between her bright green eyes, hitting the slave crown, and then destroying her Magitek armor.
The bolt flitted up and down her body, knocking her back and on to the frigid ground below the esper.
Her mind blanked out, body convulsing slightly, her eyes closed painfully, and for the first time in ages, she dreamed.
A/N: So my beta reader and I went through this first chapter to revise some things. Hopefully, it is much better and not so wordy. Thanks for reading!