CoWR – In Search of Xenogears or Allies

Chapter 2: Allies Obtained


River clenched her fist tightly. "No... not good." She falls back with the others, now that they've unintentionally made an enemy. "We'll have to fight now, won't we." The only hope now would be some sort of intervention from Cosmos herself.

Ragnarok lifted off just in time to avoid the opening salvo of the White Bird's flagship. "Alright River, I need you to be on your A-game we have to gun it down." Laguna uttered.

"Hang on guys!" Selphie activated the rear thrusters that made Ragnarok accelerate forward to chase the renegade airship. "This is going to be rough! Fasten your seat-belts!"

"Rei! Determine that Ragnaroks flight path and see what airship it will strike down next! We have to prevent it at all cost. If there's one way to convince them that we are not enemies, that's the way."

"Yes siIIIIIIIRRRRRRR!" He was pressed against his seat as the sudden acceleration put so much G-force on him.

"I told you to brace yourself." Selphie muttered.

Meanwhile, on the hostile Ragnarok, a man in a crimson suit with black trimmings and a crimson scarf was reclining on the pilot seat as his feet rest on the airship's yoke, steering it. Black ashes were seen everywhere and the auto-pilot modules were already jammed.

"Hah! Piece of cake! Nothing beats online info's. Esthar's too stupid posting online this baby's specs. Too proud of your hi-tech creation? Well! Let see how good this ship is." He grabbed hold of the aiming module and pulled the trigger sending streams of laser fire to another Baron airship as it zooms its way pass it. "Hurrah! How do you like that!"

River looks at her radar. "Nrgh! He's opening fire again! 60 degrees west!"

Selphie winced. "On it!"

"Alright! If we need to ram our airship to that hostile, do so Selphie!"

"Laguna, sir, I think that's too reckless." Rei uttered.

"Better than having this unidentified fleet and Balamb Garden shot down by the enemy. We're the only one who can match it."

Rei was speechless for the moment as he marvels on the president's guts. "Yes sir."

He looked at the radar and saw incoming projectiles. "Selphie! Projectiles at 5 'o clock!"

"Gotcha!" Selphie swerves Ragnarok right and pitched downwards to avoid the incoming projectiles from the Baron Fleet and to fly below the renegade Ragnarok.

On the renegade airship, Reikakou had a lock on to another Baron airship. "Heh! While Baron's fleet takes care of Balamb, I'll pulverize you all." He pulled the trigger firing the multi-barreled lasers.

Before the bullets hit its mark, another Ragnarok flew in between the renegade and Baron's fleet that took the hit from the laser bullets, to Reikakou's surprise and was clearly noticed by Baron's fleet. "What the!"

The jet propulsion nozzles on Ragnarok's lower front section burst instantly turning the airship on a sharp 90 degrees to vertically flew upwards towards the renegade airship. It rolled counter clockwise to avoid the continued stream of laser fire from the renegade as River counter fired with her own multi-barrel lasers.

Reikakou grinned after his airship was hit by a few bullets underneath its hull. "You wanna play tag, eh! This will gonna be fun. I love you Rose! Thanks for this tip." He paused for a moment. "Wait, that doesn't sound even remotely right at all! Who's to love that cold-blooded killer?"

Reikakou's airship boosters blasts off in full throttle to fly away from its lone pursuer.

"The renegade ship is running away sir!" Rei informed.

"Damage report!" Laguna demanded.

"Just a few scratches on the hull, we are still good to go."

Then Dr. Odine contacted them on the com-link. "You have to shoot down zat airship. Ve do not vant ze enemy to obtain zuch technology."

"Alright Selphie, you heard the man. Go for the chase."

"Who said of letting that airship escape anyway?" Selphie ignites all the boosters to match the fleeing Ragnarok's speed and chase it.

The two Ragnaroks left the area in almost hypersonic speed, leaving Balamb Garden in the hands of Squall.

The hypersonic airship chase continues across the horizon of Eblan. With Laguna's Ragnarok trailing Reikakou's.

"Stubborn piece of shits!" Reikakou, not being fully trained on piloting such craft and was only relying on the automatic assistance being provided by the airship's computer, was already experiencing extreme pressure as he was under heavy fire from River's multi-barreled lasers. "Gotta shake them somehow! This baby is a good offering for Lord Chaos!"

Finally, Rei was able to hook up with the renegade airship's communication system. "This is SeeD Rei Arc of Balamb Garden. Cease and desist or you will be shot down! I repeat, halt or you will be shot down."

Reikakou grabbed the com-link to reply. "You fools are already shooting at me! So how will you even convince me to stop! Bitches!"

Although Laguna thought for the worst, he still asked about the crew of the renegade Ragnarok. "What about that airship's crew? What have you done to them?"

Reikakou whistled . "All I can see here are just black ashes. Was there even a crew to begin with?"

'Dammit! He already killed them.' Laguna restrained himself. "Very well then, so I presume you were sent by Chaos. Then I am sorry to tell you that this is the final warning. Halt or be shot down. River, prepare the particle beam!"

"The big fat daddy himself, Chaos indeed. Heh! Like I'll be scared by such threats. Go to hell!"

"Why thank you, but I'll decline. I suppose that you're sent by Chaos to disrupt our pact with the air fleet earlier?" Laguna asked.

"So what about it? I assume that by now, Balamb Garden is no more. Heh! Cosmos's forces fighting each other like chickens." He laughs menacingly over the communication lines. "How do you expect to win this war? Losers!"

Laguna just grinned. "By using our brains. Rei, have you recorded this conversation?"

Rei made a thumbs up. "Sure do."

"Good... I think our little chat is enough to convince the fleet that we are allies. If you're not just such a fool yourself. Then again, thanks. Send the recording of our conversation to Balamb Garden, quick!"

'I thought you'd do that. Brilliant Mr. President.' Reikakou grinned himself. "What the hell!" He screamed on the com-links. "Then all of you go to hell... NOW!" Reikakou activated all the front propulsion thrusters forcing his airship to instantly fly backward straight on a collision course with Laguna's Ragnarok that was trailing him.

Selphie's eyes widened. "Oh no!" Her reflexes were not quick to steer away from the incoming airship.

"No way! River!" Rei yelped as Jean was on the front most being the one manning the weapons.

Laguna did not flinch and just hoped that the voice recording was already sent to Balamb Garden before they collide with the other airship. 'Is it already my time? Raine...'

A massive explosion was seen on top of Eblan's ruins as pieces of scrap metal flew everywhere.

Then Reikakou was seen on the side of the cloud of smoke that filled the impact point. "Heh! Should I say... 'Mission accomplished'?" He laughed maniacally before vanishing on a spiral of flames as a portal opens underneath him.

The two Ragnarok's signal were simultaneously lost on Balamb Garden's radar.

As Squall was monitoring the movements of the airships, he suddenly lost sight of them on the radar. Banging the control unit, he spoke with fear. "W-what happened? Did we lose them?" Suddenly, a massive explosion could be heard and seen from the skies. "NO! Uh... get them online now!" No signal could be established. The worst was feared. "No... dammit! It can't be...!" A crew member then approached Squall, waiting for commands.'This recording... I'll have to do something.' "...the last thing we need are more hostilities. I'm gonna address the captain."

So, setting down his weapon, he went to the communications area. "Greetings. I'm Garden Master Squall Leonheart. We're known as SeeDs, soldiers of protection. We were on our way to the Bastion - on a divine order. We're working under the forces of the goddess Cosmos, and were to meet at the Bastion to plan against Chaos... the one who has revived our enemies." He stood around waiting for a response. Hopefully, it'd be a friendly one. 'I won't believe that this is the end for them! They're alive, I know they are!'

Baron's Captain Samuel, who had ordered a withdrawal during the airship chase scene due to confusion over whether the enemy was their allies or visa versa, receives Squall's message on the crystal resonator. "Understood. You truly were not the ones who destroyed Eblan?"

Samuel's second in command approaches. "Sir, we believe that the fire that destroyed Eblan was not the result of an airship attack."

Samuel nods. "Understood. Your story sounds unbelievable, if not for part of Baron's forces planning to go to this same Bastion. It seems you are our allies after all, then. And I am sorry for your losses", he says, referring to the two Ragnarok's and their crews.

The second in command talks some more to the Captain, who then addresses the crystal resonator again. "Rumor has it that our planet has merged with other inhabited planets, somehow. I take it you are from one of them? May I ask the name of your kingdom?"

Squall speaks with a sigh of relief. "I'm relieved to hear that, captain." He then responded to his other question. "We are from the world created by the Great Hyne. The SeeDs are from several places such as Balamb, and the Paladins are from Esthar. The SeeDs reside in our vessel, Balamb Garden."

"Very well then, citizens of Balamb and Esthar. We shall assist you in repairing any damage we may have caused. Excuse me one moment."

Captain Samuel then contacts another ship. "Captain Ravis, please go back to Baron and inform them of the situation."

Samuel re-establishes contact with Balamb Garden. "We came here to evacuate survivors of the kingdom of Eblan, which was attacked by a fiend named Rubicante, under Chaos' command. If you would assist us, we would be most grateful."

Meanwhile, in the impact point still filled with dark smog, a minute has already passed. Streaks of electricity can be seen or rather heard from within.

"Is everybody all right?" A man uttered. "River! Pres. Loire! Selphie! Are you okay!"

"S-sorry... we'll be back online in about... just about... right... NOW!" A spark was seen as Selphie connected two wires reactivating the modules of Ragnarok. All systems of Ragnarok slowly start to recover and normalize its functions. "Wheew! The electromagnetic shock from the other airships explosion jammed our system."

As the lights went back and the cloud of smoke clears to let the sunshine in, Rei rushed to Jean and held her on both her shoulders. "River! Are you alright?"

Ragnarok was seen hovering onto the air as its signal was picked up again by Balamb Garden. "This Laguna Loire of Esthar's "Super-High-Mobility-Flying-Ship" Ragnarok. We are A-okay on our end. Over and out." He let go of the com-link and just took a very deep breath.

He stood from his co-pilot seat and walk beside Jean, together with Rei. "It seems that you followed my advice. You chose to 'live'. Choosing to live also saved us. Good job River... good job." With that Laguna slumped to the floor as his adrenaline rush ceased, making another deep sigh.

Kiros entered the cockpit. "Remind me to never EVER go with you when you board this airship again."

"Heh! That was a blast." Laguna grinned but then his face went serious. "We should honor those soldiers who lost their lives because of Chaos's machinations... especially the crew of that wrecked Ragnarok."

"Affirmative. I'll make the arrangements."

"Thanks Kiros."

Meanwhile Rei slightly nudged River who was already silent for about a minute now with both her hands placed on the triggers of the weapon modules. "River? Hey...Please... answer me..."

A split second before the amok airship hit the cockpit of Ragnarok, Jean, whether using her Sorceress powers or just her sheer talent and experience on using her Xenosaber, was able to fire Rarnarok's particle beams and cut the enemy airship into to two in between its rear end thrusters. Ragnarok went right through in the middle of cut airship at the same time it exploded sending electromagnetic shock-waves from its overloaded power core towards Ragnarok. Thus, it temporarily decommissioned its systems except, luckily, its emergency float module. Ragnarok's middle fuselage was able to withstand the impact of the explosion as it was reinforced with multi-layers of durable materials and insulation to withstand the pressure and heat involved on the re-entry to the planets atmosphere.

"Ragnarok, going back to base!" Selphie said on her com-link.

Perhaps however, is the third possibility in which the ship auto-corrected her aim to do that. None can truly say, however. "Ungh..." River finally comes around. She looks at the doting Rei a few moments and reaches for the safety strap buckle on her seat. "How are we doing." She manages as she pulls herself free of it and looks on at the others.

"We're okay. Thanks for the last second save." Rei replied. 'So... that's what it feels like to... almost die... was that what my mother and father felt?' Rei contemplated.

Balamb Garden then radioed Ragnarok that the unidentified fleet was indeed an ally and was seeking assistance to help on the evacuation of Eblan's denizens.

Laguna stood back up and grinned. "Of course. Send Balamb Garden to assist on the evacuation. It's getting a little lonely in that airship anyway. Squall, I'm counting on you."

River casts a round of Curas on the wounded group with the help of Selphie."And the damages?"

"Hmmm..." Selphie checked the monitors. "The right and left side of the fuselage was damaged. We can't fly on supersonic speed for awhile. But we can still stay afloat and cruise."

"I wonder who's that Chaos minion is. Surely it was not Ultimecia." Rei said. "Damn it! Why do I have this gut feeling that we are being watched?" Rei clenched his fists.

Squall was happy to reach an agreement with the captain. Suddenly, he received a report on his com-link. "This is Squall. What? Fath- uh, president! You're alright! A-alright, meet you back at base." 'Someone is looking over us...' He then received a call from Selphie. "Selphie! We've just been informed by the president. Yes, we'll see you back here. We've also found that the fleet we encountered was on it's way to aid the citizens of Eblan. Seems they were attacked by a 'Rubicante'." The Garden then received orders to aid them. "Alright. We'll be moving shortly. Over and out." He then turned back to the line with the captain. "We'll definitely lend help. Give us the signal for departure."

"We need only go a little further north-west to get to the cave of Eblan. Thank you for your help." The White Bird flagship makes its way to the caves of Eblan, where it lands.

As Squall returns to Balamb Garden's cockpit, he uses the intercom to inform the Garden. "Attention SeeDs and Paladin Brigadiers. This is your Garden Master speaking. The president and the crew in the Ragnarok are safe, and we have received new orders. We are to aid the White Birds in evacuating the citizens of Elban, and eradicate the threat of Chaos' minions. You must all be prepared for this. Work together, and don't get caught off guard. Thank you, and good luck." Getting off the intercom, he spoke to the cockpit crew, and told them where to head to next. "Follow the fleet, then land somewhere close. We must also look out for the Garden's condition." And so, they followed the fleet. However, Squall noticed something that looked like a tower. 'That tower... the hell is that thing doing there? Well, it looks like things are going to plan, anyway...'

The White Birds airships land and they start entering the cave.

With the Ragnarok crew exhausted and such, Selphie puts it on auto-pilot mode as Balamb Garden sends the coordinates of the caves of Eblan.

Rei was just shock to see the aftermath of what a successful attack of Chaos forces have done as he looked down to Eblan. "Damn... so Esthar was just lucky not to be caught off guard by his minions... Or they really did not intend to conquer Esthar first and just went there to say... 'hi'?"

River just hopes that the forces remaining in Esthar will be enough for them to have one to come back to once this expedition was over. "I'm going down." River was already headed out.

As Baron and Esthar's forces evacuate the remaining survivors, the ninja Izayoi watches and reports to her three comrades what is going on.

Meanwhile, the Ragnarok finally reaches the Eblan Cave. As the crew alights, they were welcomed by Quistis, Dr. Odine and a handful of mechanics.

"Quickly, bring back ze Ragnarok back to its optimal running condition. Ve need it to excavate Xenogears in zis area." Dr. Odine instructed to the mechanics.

"Rough ride." Laguna greeted.

"I think it is best that you do not endanger yourself like that President Loire." Quistis said after saluting to the president.

"Alright Instructor Trepe, two things... its part of my unique job description as Esthar's president. And it runs in the blood." He glanced to Squall who was overseeing the evacuation then looked back to Quistis. "Status report."

"The evacuation of Eblan's denizens is going smoothly. We have formed a treaty with Baron. And I do believe Baron's leaders want to have a word with you."

"Alright, tell them I'm all good to have overtime." He turned to his Ragnarok crew. "And I do hope that goes the same with the five of you."

"Yes sir!" Rei confirmed.

"Sir!" River confirms with a salute. She waits by the exit hatch for the drop signal, weapon ready.

Balamb Garden lands just a little short of the city. The soldiers are called to the main gate. Squall is there too. "Alright, SeeDs. Like last time, we're to give aid and help the citizens. No dallying around, and there can be no mistakes." The gates opened, and the SeeDs marched forwards neatly. "Alright. We need to cooperate with the White Birds to establish trust and familiarity between us and the citizens. Identify 'em, and liberate 'em."

The evacuation of the denizens of Eblan went smoothly. And Laguna's meeting with Baron's minister has bolstered the relationship between Esthar and Baron. Laguna quickly went back to Balamb Garden to see several carrier class airship arriving on the Cave of Eblan with Dr. Odine supervising the unloading of the cargo.

With Rei and River on his back as his escorts, Laguna talked to Odine. "What's that for?"

"Zat is ze components for installing ze barrier device on Balamb. Ze same jelly like substance zat protected ze Lunatic Pandora."

Quistis comes in to report. "Sir, satellite picked up a massive coagulation of airships on this area." Quistis showed a FFII's map to Laguna with a red mark on Mysidia calling it 'Point 011'.

"How far is it from our current location?"

"Balamb Garden will not reach it in time..."

"What about the two remaining Ragnaroks?"

"Ze repairs and reloading of ze two Ragnaroks are already finished Mr. President. It can reach zat point in no time."

Laguna decided quickly. "Send 20 of the best SeeDs and Paladin Brigade Soldiers to the Ragnaroks. I'll lead the assault team to Point 011. Squall, continue to fly Garden towards north to find that Bastion. We're done here at Eblan. Quistis, coordinate to the Ragnaroks the latest developments on Point 011. And Dr. Odine, install the barrier device on the way to the northern Bastion."

"Right away Mr. President." Quistis saluted and head back to the bridge.

"Yes Mr. President. Ve vill install ze barrier device immediately."

Laguna turned around. "Alright guys! Leaving in 5 minutes. Meet you all in the Ragnaroks."

While Rei? Knowing too well now how Laguna works, he just saluted to the president. "Yes sir!" And followed him as they go to the Ragnaroks.

"Working hard, eh, Laguna?" Kiros asked.

"Just bringing back the good old days." Laguna grinned.


Jonah: Samuel, other FFIV characters,

WhiteLycan: River,

Neil: Squall,

Reikakou: Everyone else.

What is going on in Mysidia? Will you find out soon? Today, most likely, but when I can not say.