Tour de Force
by Soul Hunter
Part 1
-- mission order start --RE: Retrieval of the prototype bomber VY-1
Mission Detail: This is in compliance with the request made by private Esthar aeronautics enterprise (Jerico & Indiana, hereby refered to as Client, as stipulated in the service contract) to retrieve their development prototype flyby bomber VY-1 'Glimmer' from a group of eco-terrorists who raided Client's Centra-based hangar 24 hours previous. The mission is to be carried out without delay. Since there has been no demands or express intention made by the terrorists, you are to apprehend at least one perpetrator for the purpose of questioning.
Additional note: Upon successful retrieval, the prototype bomber is to be delivered to Esthar City Airstation, as requested by Client.
Depart upon acknowledgement of receipt of this mission.
-- end of order --
Zell scratches his head. It had been merely days since the mission he embarked on together with comrades Squall and Irvine, where they were ordered to seek and destroy a rogue Galbadian combat weapon only two days ago. And while he's not usually the type to back out on a mission, he was also thinking of taking it easy for at least a couple of days, owing to the fact that his body is still aching all over from that battle that can easily give the one against Omega Weapon a run for its money.
Besides, he thought, today is the first anniversary of the day he and Iris Deen started dating. Zell was planning to take her out on an overnight cruise in the private yacht loaned to them by Iris' aunt, Martha Deen-Stuart. Needless to say, the martial artist had grand plans for this day.
Selphie knows this, and she can't help but feel sorry for her teammate.
"Aw, don't worry, Zell. I'm sure Iris won't be going to that trip without you."
"Oh, you think?" he quips exasperatedly. "Man... talk about bad timing..."
"And you think you're getting the bad end of the deal?" Selphie replies. "Irvine and I were supposed to watch that new marathon epic movie. Today's the first day."
Zell momentarily deviated from his train of thought. "Uh-huh, I wanted to see that too. It received a pretty good review from Tacoma Washington and Astarte Hunter, so I guess we won't be wasting our money for a change."
"You actually believe those film reviews?"
"Not really. But eversince those two critics hit the mark with Front Mission, I thought there may just be some credibility in the way they scrutinize movies. Anyway, I really don't need to read the reviews for this one. I've been hearing about that film since last year, and they said it's going to be a really huge one. Big budget and all."
"What's it about, anyway?" Selphie returns while turning off her computer. "All I know is it's something with this really cool bad guy who uses some sort of magic stone to pull a meteor towards the planet."
"Uh-huh. And man, best casting I've ever seen in years!" Zell enthuses. "Especially the main babe! She's gonna be played by Amanda Stratton. You know, that actress with those huge..."
"Ep! Not so fast, Zell. Rinoa might be nearby. You know she gets pretty touchy with that subject."
"Oh yeah..." he retreats, prior to returning to his glum disposition. "Why are we talking about this anyway if we're not gonna see it to start with?"
The petit SeeD sighs, frustrated by the truth uttered by her equally disappointed comrade. "Yeah, we better stop this now. Why did the Headmaster choose us for this mission anyway? And what's so special with this Glimmer crap?"
"Well, according to him, we two are the most qualified for the job, being 'Balamb Garden's best pilots' and all. He said that the Glimmer is an experimental high-speed bomber that has been in development for nearly five years now. Word has it that its targetting instruments are so advanced that it can drop bombs with pinpoint accuracy even while moving at Mach 20 at an altitude of ten thousand feet. Now that's rad, I tell you."
"Uh-huh..." Concurs Selphie. "And in the wrong hands, it can spell disaster. Okay, I get it."
"In the wrong hands?" Zell remarks wryly. "Is there really such as thing as 'the right hands' when it comes to this kind of weapon? You'd think they're becoming obsolete now that the cold war is over. But still, people are building all sorts of things. Like the one we fought the other day. Now this." he furthers, philosophically scorning the false value of such weapons of war. "When is a weapon in the 'right hands' when all they're used for anyway is to hurt people?"
Selphie looks thoughtfully at Zell. "Yeah, you have a point there. But I don't think we're in a position to question these things considering what we do for a living." He merely bows his head in acknowledgement of her assessment.
A short while elapsed before Selphie broke the silence. "Anyway, let's go and get this over with. Is the Rag prepped up?"
"We're not taking the Rag. Too high-profile."
"Oh. We're doing the sneak attack bit?"
"The way it should be." Zell smiles. "Besides, if we're going to miss 'Cry of the Planet', we might as well do so while doing what we do best."
Selphie grins widely, eager anticipation written all over her radiant, green eyes.
"Saving the world in style again. Cool! Now I remember why I became a SeeD in the first place."
It had been a long week of traversing the shores of the Bikan territory aboard the custom Garden amphibian personnel carrier. Realizing near futility in tying to locate the terrorist base, Zell impatiently tears off the velcro strapping of the Ehrgeiz before pounding on the transport ship's navigational panel.
"Damn! Does needle in a haystack mean anything to those stupid intel operatives? We've been living out of banana-beef bars for nearly a friggin' week now and we still haven't found anything!"
Selphie looks blankly at her annoyed comrade, but she didn't say anything. Yet silently, she agrees with Zell's impatient rambling. Training her bland eyes toward the white foam splashing relentlessly on the transporter's thick glass shield, the thoughtful SeeD recalls a moment years ago, when as a young aspirant she would rejoice exuberantly with her friends while speeding through these same waters en route to one of the numerous field exercises they embarked on before.
Here she is now, hissing bubbles crashing against the transparent covering. But her friends are not with her anymore, victims of a very tragic circumstance that saw her beloved Matron, who was possessed by an evil entity from the future, order the barrage of lethal missiles that demolished the most part of Trabia Garden, together with those with whom she surfs these same waves.
She has had revenge by delivering the second to the last blow on the vile sorceress responsible for all that carnage -- Ultimecia. Selphie can still savor the ferocious sweetness of casting a triple-Apocalypse spell that unleashed all the indignation she had for the sorceress. And yet, at the same time she still feels the lingering melancholy born out of the recollection. Her friends never deserved the fate that befell them.
And that's why she's here now, making sure that no one ever has to suffer that same tragedy again.
Her trance was abruptly broken by a frantic beeping call from the vehicle's sensors. "Whoa, we got something."
"It's about freakin' time!" Zell exclaims. "What have we got?"
"Here." she retorts while typing a series of coded commands to the console. "The turbulence detector has picked up a trail that probably came from a speedboat. The trail leads to a concealed cave located just 6 miles from our present position."
"It could be nothing..." Zell comments. "But what are the chances of anyone owning a vacation house in a frigid place like this? Shall we?"
"I'm on it." Selphie returns, turning off the auto-navigator. She was just about to take the helm when staggering explosions suddenly shook the serene sea. Jolted by the blasts, the SeeD pair wasted no time in taking evasive maneuvers.
"Dammit, sea mines!" hollers the martial artist. "Vacationers don't usually use sea mines for security!"
"You don't say...!" his partner shoots back. "We're in deep trouble, Zell! I'm activating anti-grav mode now!"
"Over water? Selphie, you'll blow up the quanta-drive!"
"It's either that or we get blown to smithereens!" she yells back. Consequently, Selphie's risky action resulted in the personnel carrier instantly doing a vertical jerk on the field of anti-gravity bouying it up above the liquid surface. Zell worriedly monitors the drive gauge, gasping frenetically when the reading suddenly boosted to critical.
"Selphie, shut it down now!"
"I can't! There's a dense cluster dead ahead of us!"
"But it's gonna bl...!"
The next thing they saw was the sudden disappearance of the water line from the front observation panel as the transporter was thrown into the air, propelled by the immense force of the quanta-drive's explosion. Somersaulting uncontrollably, the water-based ship subsequently hits a thick growth of snow-covered Trabian teak, softening the impact considerably but still insufficient to keep it from turtle-tumbling a couple of times before finally resting upside-down over the snow-covered ground. A loud hissing sound emanates as the falling wads of snow extinguished the smoldering at the ship's destroyed float generator.
Inside, everything was still, including the unmoving forms of the two stunned SeeDs. But no so long after, a stirring begins as Zell begins to regain consciously. Shaking his head furiously, the martial artist then felt immense relief when he saw his teammate likewise coming to.
"Man... always wear your seatbelts... they say..."
"Unnhhh..." Selphie moans amidst the throbbing inside her head. "Anyone packed any Advinol?"
"Nevermind that..." Zell snaps back, examining the damage in the ship as well the surrounding terrain they found themselves in. "Damn... all systems are dead. This ship is now just as useful as a dead Wendigo."
"We better get outta here..." Selphie follows. "There might still be a chance for this to blow up."
Packing their cold gear, the two shaken up SeeDs cautiously made an exit from the disabled ship afterwards. The pair had merely covered a few yards of snow and earth when they heard a hostile holler emanating from a short distance.
"I know that friggin' sound." Zell remarks.
"Yeah, a Blue Dragon." Selphie retorted, just before a hideous green beast appeared before them. The Blue Dragon, equally startled, stared at them briefly before assuming a predatorial stance.
"Unh... I'm not in any shape to fight..." an exhausted Zell quips.
"Me neither. So what's the plan?"
"What do you think? L2 plus R2!"
"WHAT?"
"Heh, nothing. Let's just get the hell out of here!" after which the two SeeDs quickly scampered away, leaving the baffled monster scratching the base of his ugly crotch.
"Zell..." Selphie blurts out while fleeing. "How does Iris put up with this addiction you have for video games?"
- end of part 1 -