The Following takes place between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m.

Squall pressed his back up against the building before quickly glancing around the corner. No one out of the ordinary was within the vicinity, excluding the Galbadian Soldier normally stationed just to the side of the front door. Ducking back into the alleyway, he signaled for everyone to continue onward, but to use extreme caution while doing so.

Selphie had contacted them no more than a few moments ago, with the location of the contact. It turned out that the suspect believed in hiding in the last place anyone would think of, and indeed he did. The Deling City hotel was definitely the last place anyone would have expected anyone with a vendetta against the President would stay, especially since it was so open and public. In fact, the only thing private thingabout that place were the activities that went on behind closed doors.

Not everyone is exactly as they seem, I suppose… Squall thought to himself as he led his team towards the front door of the hotel. Unfortunately, he had no idea which room the target was in, since Selphie had been unable to narrow the location down that close. Squall figured that they would have to search the entire area, including the lobby and the lounge down the stairsto the right.

The Galbadian Soldier was just about to prevent them from entering the building, but upon seeing more Galbadian officers escorting the group, he backed off and saluted them as they walked through the front door. As soon as they did, the receptionist rose to her feet and the bell girl hurried towards the group. "I'm sorry, but your presence here is going to scare our guests."

"That's just too bad." Zell responded.

"We need to search the hotel." Squall explained as one of the soldiers flashed his badge. "We're under orders from the President. If you want confirmation, call him yourself, but we have a job to do." With that, Squall, Zell and the other SeeDs headed past the two girls, who feebly tried to prevent their entry. However, two of the Galbadian Soldiers stood in their path, preventing them from interfering.

Squall signaled for the black haired SeeD to take two soldiers with him to check the lobby and signaled for another two soldiers to accompany the remaining three up the stairs. The rest of the soldiers knew exactly what to do, since they were left in the lobby.

Selphie had successfully hacked into the database of the aircrafts memory banks, which concluded one thing; that she had been right about the origin of the planes. That created more unanswered questions in her head, but she figured that her best bet was to trace the location to it's source and figure out their current destination. She wasn't too concerned with eavesdropping on their conversation at the moment, and placed the notion on hold just in case something did come up.

Having placed the headset over her head, she was currently keeping tabs on the information that was being processed into the computer terminal. So far, she had traced the current location of the Estharian craft, but she was still trying to focus in on their current destination. Finally sighing out of frustration, she looked over to where Paul was sitting, which was nearby. "Hey Paul, give me a hand here. I'm trying to find out where this ship is headed."

"What do you need me to do?" Paul asked.

"Boost my system with a little more power. It should only take another minute for me to search."

Paul nodded and began to quickly type on his keyboard. Suddenly, Selphie took notice that the power indicators on the bottom right hand corner of the screen were rising, and, nodding to herself in satisfaction,she continued her search. After another moment passed, Selphie shrieked in joy and clapped her hands before returning her gaze to the monitor.

"I take it your found what you were looking for."

"Yep." Selphie nodded before immediately calming down and frowning. "Uh oh…"

"What's 'uh oh' mean?" Paul asked.

"Well, I just found out where the Estharians are heading." Selphie answered. "Their heading towards the city."

"But why would they come here? They don't have any real reason to come to this country, let alone this city."

"Yeah, I know. I'm trying to patch into their audio systems to figure out what they could want. But I'm going to warn the ground team before I look for anything else."

"That might be a good call."

Selphie smiled at him briefly before re-establishing the link she had with the ground team. "Ground Team, this is the Presidential Residence. I just discovered that the aircraft that was located a few minutes ago was an Estharian aircraft."

"What would Esthar want with Galbadia?" Squall asked from his end.

"I don't know, I'm in the process of figuring that out now. All I know is that they're heading towards the city. I don't know where in the city, but as soon as I find out, I'll definitely let you guys know."

Squall gave Selphie the affirmative before cutting off the transmission. Selphie nodded to herself once before redirecting her gaze to the screen. However, she suddenly noted that there was a difference in the frequency that she used as soon as she cut off the contact, and she began tracing the source, her fingers flying along the keyboard. Paul looked over and noticed the look of determination on the girls face. "What is it now?"

"I noticed something odd when the transmission cut off from the ground team." Her eyes didn't even leave the monitor screen. "I'm tracking its movements now."

"Let me help you." Paul suggested. "Give me access to you module; I'll help you search."

Selphie moved her right hand to the number section of the keyboard and typed in the computer code before sending the frequency over to Paul's computer. The confirmation icon appeared in the center of her screen, but was immediately minimized before she returned to work. After a few minutes, Selphie noticed the difference in the flow of the message, and entered a code which allowed her access into the audio feeds.

"Any luck so far?" Paul asked.

"Not yet. I just got into the audio feeds. You should do the same."

She didn't even bother to listen for a response as she immediately delved into the files, searching for anything out of the ordinary. After a moment, she noticed that the feed was attached to some form of connecting code, and upon further expression, she realized to her horror what it was. Looking over her shoulder back at Paul, the expression on his face told her he had come to the same conclusion as she had.

"They've hacked into our systems…" Paul muttered out loud. "Which means that they were looking for something within the city."

"And whatever it is…" Selphie finished. "We've been leading them straight to it."

04:07:24

Nida Kent sat in the pilot seat of the Ragnarok; the Estharian ship that was given to Balamb Garden to thank them for their efforts in the previous war. The ship was in the shape of a tailless red dragon, metallic in make with no tail, which was appropriate as it was based on a Centarian Dragon myth. The hanger was located at the back of the ship, with a sliding door and a platform summoning itself down, allowing the occupants to enter or exit safely. There were four overhead windows situated on the ship, three on what would be considered the arms and the body of the ship, and one on the head. The head was in actuality the cockpit, whereas the body was the conference room, and the other two were air rooms, which astronauts had used to leave the ship while it was in space.

Glancing at the map located to his left, he heard the lift activate, which meant that Quistis was returning to the cockpit. In all honestly, Nida didn't mind having someone else tag along on the rescue mission; in fact, he believed that it would drown out the all-too quiet atmosphere that usually held residence within the large ship. However, ever since they had left Balamb Garden, Quistis had been quiet, possibly trying to either figure out why Esthar would place the blame on someone who had been stationed on the opposite side of the world for the last two months, or sorting through her own personal feelings. Everyone in Garden had known all about Quistis' crush on Squall, even before the aloof teenager had figured it out (which Nida held no doubt that he had), but as soon as Rinoa had come into the picture, Quistis had backed off. Nida had no idea exactly how the other SeeD felt about that, not having voiced too much of an opinion on the matter, and the pilot understood that it was none of his business. Instead, his job was the fly the former spaceship towards Deling City.

Nida wasn't a very tall person, just barely reaching Quistis' height. He had short dark hair and dark eyes and was dressed in his SeeD uniform, similar to Quistis', albeit a pair of black pants replaced the skirt that the girls had to wear.

"How much longer to Deling City?" Quistis asked, breaking the silence and sitting in the co-pilot's seat. She too had been trained to pilot the Ragnarok, and she understood that it was her duty to assist the pilot if anything went wrong.

Mentally sighing in relief, Nida glanced at her through the corner of his eye. "We left in pretty good time, so I'd say our ETA would be about an hour, two at the most."

"Can't the Ragnarok go any faster?" She asked.

Nida shook his head in response. "'Fraid not, but it's the absolute best we've got. You know as well as I do that any other ship or plane would take about a day and a half to reach Deling City. Esthar's technology is far more advanced than that of any other civilization. We're just lucky that no one was using Ragnarok for a mission."

Quistis frowned in response. "But Esthar's ships are even more advanced than the Ragnarok!"

"I know that. The Ragnarok is about twenty years old now."

"Which makes Esthar's ships faster." She slumped in her seat. "The Estharians might actually be on their way to Deling as we speak.

"Don't worry; the Headmaster has probably warned the team by now. And besides," Nida said. "How do you know that the Estharians are heading towards Deling? They might think that Squall's still in Garden and plan to arrest him there."

Quistis nodded, but Nida could tell that what he had just said hadn't made her feel any better. As far as Nida knew, Quistis became depressed very easily, and it was difficult to get her to look on the bright side of things when that happened.

Suddenly, the light located in the center of the dashboard in front of the two began to blink on and off, the red light illuminating the room when lit. Nida knew exactly what it was; someone was contacting them and from the looks of it, it appeared that the transmission was coming from Balamb Garden. Thankful for a distraction from the depressing conversation, Nida flipped a switch and initiated contact.

"Ragnarok, please respond." The headmaster said from his end.

"This is Ragnarok, we hear you, over." Nida said in as neutral sounding a tone he could gather.

"The situation just became a lot worse."

Quistis leaned forward in her seat as Nida blinked. "Sir?"

"The President of Esthar just contacted me a moment ago. The Estharian General has taken it upon himself to dispatch a team of soldiers and is heading towards the city."

"Sir, how is it possible that they know where the target is?" Quistis asked.

"We are currently looking into that, but we suspect that foul play had a part in it."

"You mean there could be a traitor?" Nida jumped in.

"That is a possibility, but I suspect that someone from within Estharian territory managed to hack into our audio directory and listened into the call I had with Laguna when this situation initially began."

"So what you're saying is despite the reasoning, they know that Squall is in Deling and is heading in their direction?"

"Affirmative." Cid said. "Which means that you had better hurry and find Squall before the Estharians do. According to Laguna, they should arrive in Deling within the next five minutes."

"But sir, we're flying at the fastest speed the Ragnarok can move at, and it's still going to take us over an hour to arrive." Quistis said.

"I know Quistis. Hopefully, they won't find him before you arrive."

This time, it was Nida's turn to frown. Things had just become more complicated than he had hoped they would be.

"So the Estharians are currently en-route to the city," Caraway confirmed. "and they're using the radio frequency we're currently using with the Ground Team to lead them here."

Both Selphie and Paul nodded their affirmation. It had been barely five minutes ago that they had discovered the problem, and both appeared grim. "Which means that we can't use the same frequency to contact them, otherwise we'll just be leading the Estharians straight to them."

"Do you have any idea why they would be tracking this team?" Caraway asked.

"No idea at all sir,"Paul jumped in. "We only discovered that they hacked into our systems a few minutes ago. According to estimates, they've entered the country, and will probably within the city limits in a matter of minutes."

"How many minutes?"

"Less than ten." Selphie answered. "I'm absolutely positive."

Sighing, Caraway clasped his hands together in deep thought. "There has to be a reason why the Ground team is being targeted. The Estharians wouldn't act without a reason." Looking up at the two, he collected his thoughts before speaking again. "Selphie, take three Galbadian Soldiers with you. You'll be heading towards the Ground Team's location. Since we can't contact them through radio without tipping off the Estharians, then we have no choice but to deliver the message personally. You know their current location. I want you to leave within the next few minutes. Time is off the essence and we have none to waste."

Selphie nodded before saluting and exiting the room. Caraway then turned his attention towards Paul. "Paul, I want you to track Selphie's movements through the camera feeds. We can't afford to lose sight of her in case the Estharians try to prevent her from finding the others. Use as many people on the floor as you need."

Paul nodded once before leaving the room and returning to his module. Caraway frowned thoughtfully as he was left alone. Why would the Estharians risk invading Galbadian Territory?

After taking a moment to ponder the Estharians actions, he approached the far wall of his office. The room was made out of plexy-glass, with made the room durable against bullet shots. This also served to allow the President to luxury of watching his people work on the floor below him. Nodding to himself as he noticed Selphie gathering three soldiers and leaving the vicinity of the room, he also took notice that Paul had recruited some of the technicians on the floor and they all immediately went back to work. It was no longer about the President's safety, but about the invasion of Galbadia's former enemy.

Returning to his desk, he was just about to pick up the phone and patch a connection through to Balamb Garden when the phone lit up. Just as he was about to ignore it and make his call, a woman dressed in a dark purple business suit entered poked her head into the room. She had long dark hair that reached just past her shoulders and hazel eyes. "Sir, there's a call for you on line three."

Sighing, Caraway immediately picked up the phone, pressing the button that would connect him to line three. "Yes?"

"Ibrihim." A familiar sounding voice said. "We need to talk."

Caraway sighed. It was just the man he was about to call. "Headmaster Kramer. I was just about to call you. We have a situation here involving the Estharians, and we may need to establish a contract to escort them out of Galbadian Territory."

"Yes, I'm fully aware of the situation." Cid spoke. "Unfortunately, they are working against the orders of their own president."

"What's going on, Cid?" Caraway asked.

"At approximately two a.m. Estharian time, a man entered the Presidential Residence and murdered five employees in cold blood. The suspect got away before he could be apprehended."

"I fail to see how this connects with Galbadia."

"It doesn't. It seems that your country was involved because the man they are looking for is within your country. While it may not have anything to do with your government, it directly involves SeeD and, most especially, Balamb Garden."

"They believe that one of your operatives was responsible for the attack?" Caraway asked in shock. He knew that the Balamb Team stationed in Deling had had absolutely nothing to do with those attacks, mainly because they had not left Galabadian land in all the two months they had been under his authority.

"Not just anyone…" Cid continued. "They believe that Squall was directly involved. In fact, they believe he is the one responsible for conducting the murders."

"I can say, without any doubt, that he was here the entire time he has been stationed with Galbadian territory." Caraway said, shock apparent on his features. "He is not their murderer."

"The Estharian General doesn't believe this, and he's enlisted a group of soldiers to accompany him to the city." Cid explained. "He's doing this against the Estharian Presidents orders. He believes that because of Laguna's relation to Squall, that he's lost his focus on the situation."

"Well they can't touch Squall if he's under Galbadian protection." Caraway pointed out.

"Don't involve yourself in this, Ibrihim." Cid said. "This is strictly an Esthar-Garden conflict. The last thing anyone needs is for Galbadia to become involved; that would jeopardize the preparations for the Confederation even more than they have been already."

"With all due respect,Cid, Esthar dragged Galbadia into this situation when they appeared in our air space and hacked into a communication frequencies. I can't just allow them to barge into this country while I'm in charge and apprehend an agent who is currently working under Galbadian Rule. That would jeopardize the current situation that has been occurring over here."

"They did what?" Caraway could hear the frantic tone in the headmaster's voice. "That is a breach in the agreement that the countries of the world forged."

"And now you understand why I can't just stay idle in this situation." Caraway spoke with a determined tone. "So I will do whatever is within my power to aid you in whatever it is that you have planned."

There was a pause and as Caraway waited patiently for Cid to say something, he couldn't help but wonder the how Rinoa was holding up throughout all of this. Her boyfriend was being targeted by a government run by the boy's own father, for a crime he hadn't even committed.

Finally, Cid's voice returned to the conversation once again. Caraway understood that Cid was hesitant in Galbadia's involvement, as it could mean the end of peacetalks altogether, but he just could not sit back and allow his country to be invaded like this. "I've already sent the Ragnarok to the city. It should be there in less than two hours. I need you to somehow contact Squall and warn him about the Estharians as well as their current objective."

"Squall knows about the Estharians, but I certainly plan to warn him of the further details. Selphie's on her way to his location now, but she doesn't know the entire details either. I'll also warn my men of the current situation and send them over to distract them. All we need is the Estharian plane's landing co-ordinates."

"Thank you Ibrihim." Cid said sincerely.

"Just one more question, Cid." Caraway asked before the elder man could hang up. "How is Rinoa holding up through all of this?"

Caraway could hear Cid taking a deep breath before slowly letting it out. "We haven't told your daughter what is happening yet; mainly to prevent her powers from becoming unstable, but also to preserve her state of mind. We don't want to alarm her when it could all end well."

Caraway nodded to himself. He knew how Rinoa would react if she knew. She would insist on trying to help, but with her lack of control over her newly acquired powers, she might end up doing far more harm than good in the end. "Alright…try to keep it that way for as long as you can. If she finds out, then there's no need to keep it from her any longer."

"Of course."

"As for the information blockage we're currently under, I'll send someone over to warn them of the new information. Hopefully it reaches him before the Estharians do."

"I hope so as well." Cid said. "Good luck."

Caraway smiled sincerely, despite the situation. "Likewise."

Checking his watch, General Orally noted that it was currently twenty after four in the morning. However, from where they currently were, he also noted that Galbadia was approximately ten hours behind Esthar time, which explained why it was bright out considering the late hour Orally's team had just arrived from. The plane was just preparing to land in the fields just outside of the Galbadian capital, Deling City. Of course, he understood that not notifying the Galbadian Government before their arrival was a serious breech of the treaty that was signed after the Sorceress War, but he also knew that time was a luxury that they could not afford. So what if he pissed off a few Galbadians? As long as his job was completed, he figured he could sleep soundly throughout the night.

"Sir…" the pilot said, breaking the General out of his thoughts. "We've just touched down onto firm ground."

"Excellent." Orally said. "Open the hatch in the back of the plane. My men need to stretch before we proceed with the operation."

The pilot nodded in agreement before doing as he was ordered. The General smirked as he exited the aircraft through one of the doors to the side. As he jumped the height from where the plane started onto the ground, he watched as the soldiers piled out from within the back room, stretching their limbs as they did. An hour may not have been much, but they had been stationary throughout the entire flight, so their limbs were stiff.

As soon as he figured he had granted them enough time to regain their normal movement, he called their attention, and immediately the group formed two lines in front of him, consisting of eight people front and back.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out, he cleared his throat before addressing his men. "You all understand why you are here today; invading a country of which peaceful ties are being produced. It is because the man who is responsible for taking the lives of five innocent human beings is in hiding from our government and it is our duty to bring him back to Esthar so that he can answer for his crimes. We are here to prevent a criminal from getting away with murder, and if we have to piss off a nation to do our jobs, then so be it.

"Everyone knows what to do in this operation." He continued. "The prisoner is to be apprehended alive to answer for his crimes. Death is too swift a punishment for him, and, like his victims, he should be made to suffer for his actions. Are you with me men?"

In response, the soldiers straightened their backs, standing as straight and rigid as they possible could before uttering the words, "Sir, we're with you, sir!"

"Good…" Orally said before he pointed off towards the city. "Fall out! I want him apprehended before the hour is up."

It had taken her a few minutes to grab a hold of the three soldiers she would need for her mission and an additional five minutes to arrive at the Shopping District of the city. Checking her watch, she realized that it was currently half past three in the afternoon, meaning that the Estharians could have arrived by then. Cursing her poor luck, she signaled for the soldiers to follow her towards the Deling City Hotel, where she knew the Ground team would be. She hoped that she had made it in time, but she knew that her chances were pretty slim.

As they rounded the corner, Selphie immediately shifted her weight to her feet to stop her movement as she recognized the soldiers in silver and blue. Cursing mentally, she wondered if there was any chance that her presence could be left ignored when the two soldiers nearby turned and looked in her direction. Of course, she appeared to simply be a civilian; however, she knew that her cover was blown when the soldiers leveled their weapons at her and her companions. They must think that the Galbadians are here to kick them out of town… Selphie thought to herself.

The Estharian soldiers approached the group of four, and Selphie took notice of how the soldiers standing behind her began reaching for their weapons. Smirking lightly, she nodded once at them, hoping that the brawl would be enough of a distraction to allow her to find Squall.

The Estharian soldiers also seemed to notice the movement because they stopped approaching and removed the safety from their weapons. "Stay where you are or you will be shot."

Selphie rolled her eyes. Out of the times she had encountered the Galbadians in a fight, she knew that they were least likely to back down from battle, and from what she had read in the history books and witnessed in the dream world, she also knew that when faced against Esthar, they didn't pull any stops. The fact that the Confederation was coming up mattered little to them; seeing as Esthar had, without warning, invaded their country.

Everyone stayed where they were for a moment, waiting for the opposite side to make the first move. Selphie hoped that it would be soon; she didn't have any time to waste. Having had enough of waiting, Selphie began to take off in the direction of the hotel when the Estharians leveled their weapons at her. The Galbadians took this as their cue and attacked; two of which shot at the Estharians with their fire arms while the third pulled out a combat knife and lunged for the men. While they were caught up in all of this, Selphie sneaked by without anyone being the wiser. Hopefully, I'll be able to get Squall outta here before the fight is over.

Paul ran as fast as his legs would carry him, all the while thankful that he had decided to begin jogging in the mornings again. The President had personally explained to him the extent of the situation and, because they could no longer communicate using radio frequencies, he had no choice but to deliver the message himself.

Stopping to catch his breath and watching as the Galbadian soldiers in front of him continued at the brisk pace they had set up, he mentally vowed to never make fun of the Galbadians' rigorous training exercises ever again. Taking in deep gulps full of precious oxygen, he ran after the trained military personnel, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to keep up nearly as well as he would have had he been trained under the same circumstances.

Suddenly, one of the Galbadian soldiers pulled back and fell behind the technician. "We need to hurry, but our main priority is to make sure that you get to the hotel alive."

Paul nodded curtly as he continued at his current pace. He knew that his feet were going to be killing him once this afternoon was over.

04:44:23

Sheran into the elegant interior of the hotel, and she looked around herself wondering where the lone SeeD could have gone. Looking towards the left and instantly recognizing some of the soldiers that composed the Ground Team, she quickly stalked over towards them before gaining their attention. Both turned around and jumped, apparently surprised at having seen her there with them. "I thought all upcoming reports would come through communications."

"Communications are shut." Selphie said quickly. "I don't have much time to explain, but do either of you know which way Squall went? It's urgent."

"He went upstairs with Dincht and Corinth." One of the soldiers answered. "But what's going on?"

"This whole operation is shot. Enemy soldiers are heading straight for the hotel, and I need you guys to gather all of the Galbadian soldiers you can to defend the perimeter unless Squall or myself tell you otherwise. I'm under official orders from the President himself."

After both soldiers saluted the small SeeD in a sign that they understood the duress of the situation, Selphie immediately headed towards the elevator that would lead her to the second floor. However, just before she made it towards the golden make of the contraption, the receptionist stepped into her path, stopping her. "You can't go up there without permission." She said. "We already have three troublemakers upstairs and, to be honest, we've received many complaints about your presence."

"Look…" Selphie said, folding her arms across her chest. "I'm sorry that your business is suffering because of our investigation, but right now we have important matters. I have a job to do, and I'm not gonna let some busy body stop me."

The woman gasped at being called such a thing but had no time to react as Selphie darted past the elevator and raced up the stairs. Of course the woman had a few choice words to shout out after the girl, but Selphie paid them no mind as she took the stairs two at a time.

Upon reaching the top, she stopped as she took in the hallway. A red rug stretched from one end of the hallway, past the stairs and towards the other end, darting down corners and corridors to keep the interior constant. The walls were made of a substance that resembled marble, painted a sharp white tone. The only thing on the second floor that was not painted white or lined red were the doors, which were painted a deep brown to resemble the wood it was made of.

Selphie looked in either direction that she could take, frowning when she realized she had absolutely no idea which way to go. Closing her eyes and taking in a deep breath, she took turns pointing left and right in the tune of a melody she could barely recall from her childhood before finally stopping at the left hand side. With her mind made up, she ran down the hallway, hoping to find Squall before the Estharians showed up.

Luck was on her side as she noticed Squall directing twoGalbadian soldiers further down the hall. Silently cheering, she raced down the hall, calling out the dark haired teenager's name as she did. Sure enough, Squall turned to the sound of his name and appeared genuinely shocked at her arrival before masking it with a neutral expression. "I thought we were keeping contact over headset."

"Change of plans…" Selphie said, stopping in front of Squall and catching her breath. "An Estharian aircraft appeared on our radar, and after a little digging, we found out that they were on they're way towards the city."

"Why wasn't my team notified?" Squall asked.

"Because we also found out that they hacked into the frequency we used to contact you guys and were leading them straight to your location." She finished. "I was sent here to warn you guys, but they've already landed. I ran into a couple of them almost ten minutes ago."

"So you know why they're here?"

"No, but we figured that they're after something, possibly from your team."

Just before Squall could ask another question, one of the Galbadian soldiers Squall had talked to a moment ago re-emerged from within a room. "Sir, there's a strange looking device inside of this room, but I can't tell what it is."

Frowning, Squall entered the room, with Selphie a few steps behind him. The décor of the room was as elegant as the hallway; white walls and a red rug, with a couple of beds stationed on the right hand side of the room. Dark beige blankets were placed atop of the beds, with white sheets underneath them, the head posts of the beds both painted the same wooden brown as the doors. The ceiling had a hanging lamp dangling from the center, and on the left hand side of the room were a dark wooden desk, dresser and television set. Located at the far end of the room was a balcony with the same dark wooden coloured table seated in the very center. Two chairs sat on opposite sides of the table, facing one another.

The Galbadian soldier led them towards the bedside dresser which stood between both beds and knelt down in front of it. While the top four drawers were closed shut, the fifth drawer remained open, and inside of it was a strange looking object. It was round in the center with straight bars crisscrossing behind the object in the form of an 'x'. The object was painted the same kind of brown; however it appeared out of place inside of the room.

Both SeeDs knelt down behind the Galbadian, who turned to address them. "I found this while I was searching for any hint that the target was staying here."

"Huh?" Selphie asked, blinking.

"When we arrived here, we searched every room inside of this building, and the only rooms that had anyone inside were paying patrons." Squall explained. "We searched all of their rooms for weaponry and the like, but we found nothing."

"Meaning the assassin fled the scene before you guys arrived?" Selphie asked, to which Squall nodded.

"Either that or he set it up to look like he was here."

"Mega bummer…" Selphie said, her shoulders slumping.

"But I have absolutely no idea what that thing is." The soldier continued. "Never seen anything like it." He reached into the drawer and picked up the object. He was just about to examine it up close when a beeping noise sounded from it. Both Selphie and Squall exchanged puzzled glances as the Soldier noted that red numbers appeared and began to flash on the miniature screen set in the very center. "Oh, I get it…" The soldier said after a moment. "It's some kind of clock. I wonder where it came from."

The numbers started at what appeared to be five o'clock, but as the flashing suddenly stopped, the numbers began to count. But instead of counting forward, they started backwards, changing to read four fifty-nine, and moving backwards from that. "Whoa…" The Galbadian said before Selphie's jaw dropped in realization.

"That's no clock…" She muttered, exchanging glances with Squall. "That's a bomb…and it looks like it's set to go off in less than five minutes."

Immediately after hearing this, the Galbadian soldier dropped the device and rose to his feet, backing as far away from it as possible. "I've never seen a fucking bomb like that in my life!"

"It's definitely not a common kind, but that might mean that it packs a punch when it goes off." Selphie explained.

Squall grabbed the device and tucked it underneath his arm before turning to address the other two occupants in the room. "Tell everyone to evacuate the building! We need to get everyone out of here, now!"

"But what about you?" Selphie asked.

"I'll try to get the bomb as far away as I can. And don't bother trying to argue with me, because there is no time! Get the civilians and the rest of the Ground Team out of here, now!"

The Galbadian soldier didn't even bother to salute as he raced out the room, shouting at the top of his lungs to vacate the premises. Selphie headed towards the door before turning around and addressing her childhood friend. "Don't you die on us." She stated.

Squall nodded in response as Selphie ran out of the room, intent of preventing as many casualties as she could.

The General smirked as they finally arrived at their destination. Although no more transmissions had been able to be traced by their leading technician, he had broken his squad into separate teams to scour the heart of the city. One of the places they would search was the Hotel located in the center of the shopping plaza.

Tapping on the button located on the side of his helmet, he waited as the feed reached the rest of his squad. "Keep searching, but keep close enough to the hotel as you can. I have a feeling we'll find what we're searching for here."

Receiving acknowledgement for his order, he quickly shut off the contact and was just about to order his men forward when he realized that the Galbadian soldiers that were beginning to emerge from within the building had spotted him and his team. Charging towards them, Esthar's natural born enemies pulled out their weapons and leveled them at Orally and his team. "What business does Esthar have in Galbadia?" One of the soldiers shouted. "Depending on your answer, you will be asked to leave."

Growling to himself, he was about to order his men to engage the enemy when he spotted movement from one of the upstairs windows. Turning his full attention towards the building he recognized the figure climbing out of the window. The man had dark hair and was dressed in a grey over jacket and a pair of blue faded jeans and black boots. He had something tucked underneath his arm and was currently scaling it faster than any normal being could ever hope to move.

Orally's eyes narrowed once he realized what that meant; Squall Leonhart was junctioned with Guardian Forces. Since Dr. Odine resided in Esthar, information concerning Guardian Forces and their powers was within reach of the Estharian Army, since, after all, the Sorceress Adel had govern the city before. In fact, the Guardian Force research was responsible for a lot of the magic cloaking capabilities that had been installed into their uniforms. In short, the response to such upgrades during the first war had made it so that harmful magical energies no longer harmed them in battle.

Signaling to three of his soldiers, he discretely directed their attention towards the SeeD, who had just reached the top of the building, and signaled for them to follow him. They nodded in response and immediately activated the stealth features on their uniforms, making it difficult for them to be seen by the naked eye.

The Galbadians hesitated upon the disappearance of three of the soldiers, which gave the Estharians the edge they needed to attack.

Just as Zell and his comrade were heading down the hallway towards Squall's location, they noticed several people, both Galbadian soldiers and residence of the hotel, running towards the stairs as fast as their legs could carry them. Exchanging glances, Zell shrugged before turning his attention his gaze back at the retreating soldiers. "Is there something we don't know about?" he asked while the other man shrugged.

"Maybe they found something." The other SeeD, Ezack, commented.

"I don't think so." Zell shook his head. "They wouldn't be moving that quickly if they had. Not to mention it's not just our guys who're running away. Looks like something's got them spooked, but what it is I'm not sure."

It was at that instant Zell recognized the young girl running after a lone soldier. She had dark hair pulled back into a pony-tail and emerald green eyes. She was short in height, and was dressed in a yellow halter top underneath a blue denim jacket and a pair of black kakis. She immediately stopped in front of the two, just as the dark haired SeeD was about to search for the remaining soldiers in the building.

"No time to explain why I'm here," Selphie said quickly. "We just found a bomb in the building and we need you guys to help escort everyone outta the building!"

Ezack and Zell exchanged expressions filled with shock and horror. "Then does that mean that the target knew we would be coming?"

Selphie nodded grimly. "Yeah, but there's no time to be wondering about that. Squall says he's gonna handle the bomb, but we need to get outta here now."

"But aren't you the demolitions expert?" Ezack asked. "Shouldn't you be trying to disarm the bomb?"

"It's a foreign make. It's nothing I've ever seen before, so it could be Estharian. But we can't just stand here taking; we've gotta go!"

"But what about Squall?" Zell asked. "If he's trying to disarm it…"

"I don't think he's gonna try something like that; it's set to go off in less than five minutes! Let's move!" With that, she took off towards the stairs, Ezack running closely behind her. However, unlike Ezack, who was quickly bounding down the stairs, Selphie launched herself into the air from the banister, heading towards the ground and taking the quickest route. Chancing a look behind him, Zell mentally prayed that Squall would come out of all of this alive and bounded down the stairs after his comrades.

Squall was currently climbing the side of a building located three buildings away from the hotel. He hoped that his team had been able to get everyone out and away, but was also thankful for his junctions. The speed that was granted to him made it easier to move quickly and the strength made climbing easier as well. Finally pulling himself up onto the top of the building, he checked the timer and realized he had less than a minute left.

Looking around him, he realized he wouldn't have enough time to get even further away and disarming it had not been an option since they first discovered what it was. It appeared to have been created from Estharian technology, but the SeeD thought it impossible. All schematics revolving around explosive devices and weaponry had been handed over during the second meeting regarding theUnited Confederation. He couldn't deny the appearance looked Estharian, but he had never seen anything like it before. What made matters worse was that their number one explosives expert hadn't even recognized it until it had been activated, so there was no one able to disarm it.

Frowning deeply, he realized that their perpetrator had been an Estharian all along, but that only meant that someone was trying to prevent the Confederation from happening. If that was the case, then it was SeeDs' job to stop it; contract or no contract.

As the timer reached the last fifteen seconds on its countdown, Squall placed the bomb on top of the building and quickly removed his jacket before wrapping it around the object. The blast would be subsided due to the bindings that held it in place and the explosion would be contained easier. Still, there was no telling how much damage would be sustained if it was allowed to detonate in a populated area.

Which was why Squall gripped the bundled device tightly in his hands, mentally counting backwards from ten. Taking in a deep breath, Squall bent in a crouch before tossing the device up into the air as high as his junctioned strength would allow him. He hoped that perhaps the bomb would make enough of a distance between it and the city before finally exploding. Still, there was the chance that it could drop back and then explode, injuring many in the process. Hitting the ground as fast as he could, he laid sprawled out onto his stomach; his hands on top of his head and shut his eyes, counting the last seconds before the bomb finally exploded.

"Is that everyone?" Selphie asked, amidst the crowd of soldiers and civilians that stood in the streets, wondering just what would happen.

"I think so…" Zell said, while Ezack and Talle nodded in affirmation. He then glanced back at the hotel, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth. "I can't believe someone'd do something like that!"

"I can't believe the target got away." Talle agreed, folding his arms across his chest.

"We can't help any of that." Selphie said. "You guys weren't here when I explained this, but…"

She was immediately cut off as the bomb detonated in the air above everyone, who reflexively fell to the ground and feebly tried to block the flying debris that was caused afterwards with their arms or hands. The SeeDs had fallen into the same position, all thoughts and conversations ceasing as the resounding echo of the explosion fell upon their ears. Looking up, Selphie caught sight of the last of the explosion in the air about thirty five feet above them. Pulling herself up to her feet slowly, she watched as her comrades did the same, their gazes also locked onto the dying fires in the sky.

"…What just happened?" Ezack asked after a moment of silence.

"Squall must've thrown the bomb into the air." Selphie said. "It makes sense because the higher in the air the bomb is, the less likely it'll cause any damages. But it still should have leveled the sector. It was pretty high up, but not that high."

"Maybe Squall did something that prevented it." Zell said. "Something to smother the explosion and to keep it enclosed."

Just as the other two SeeDs were about to say something, the clicking of weapons that sounded behind them caught their attention, as well as the attention of the civilians. Turning around, almost everyone was shocked to find a group of Estharians surrounding their location, their weapons armed and leveled at them.

"That's what I came here to tell you about…" Selphie muttered, although the men around her were still able to hear it. "They're here, and they were tracking your location through the radio frequencies that were used to establish contact between your team and headquarters."

"What the hell are they doing here!" Zell shouted, shock evident in his voice. "They're breaking the treaty that was signed between the President of Galbadia and the President of Esthar!"

"I know…" Selphie nodding in affirmation. "But I don't know why they're here; only that they're after something from your team."

"What could they possibly want?" Talle asked curiously, readying his weapons.

"I don't know." A Galbadian soldier said, stepping up behind them, his weapon raised the same as his comrades. "But if they don't leave, we'll be forced to shoot them down."

The SeeDs looked on in horror as the surrounding troops of Galbadians prepared to open fire. It wasn't just because there were civilians within the area, but also due to the past between the countries. Each one had their fair share of faults, and it appeared as if a war was going to ignite due to the soldiers' actions.

The worst part of it was if they tried to prevent the onslaught, the Galbadians would accuse them of supporting the Estharians, despite all that had happened as well as going against their contract. If they were to attack with the Galbadians, the Estharians would believe that Garden was siding with Galbadia. Either way, SeeD would be pulled into the dispute; being forced to side with one side or the other. Garden was and always would remain a neutral party, but it looked as though they wouldn't be able to stay that way for very much longer.

As Squall climbed up onto his feet, he glanced up into the sky above and sighed in relief as he recognized the remnants of the explosion. His idea had worked and in the end; no damages were made and no people were harmed. The only casualty had been the grey jacket, but he was certain that it wouldn't bother him compared to what was spared in the end.

Heading over towards the edge of the building, he decided to check on the civilians. Hopefully they weren't in an uproar about what happened. He had stopped trying to deny that the bomb had been of Estharian make; one that had either been purposely kept from intelligence reports or one that had been made under the nose of the government itself; he wasn't sure. All he knew was that he needed to get this information back to Garden as soon as possible.

Leaning over the edge of the building, he noticed with dismay that the Estharian soldiers that had arrived in the city were currently in the midst of a battle against the Galbadian soldiers. Multiple fights had broken out between the two sides, and the civilians that had been in the area appeared to be scurrying away as fast as they could. He couldn't make out any of his own comrades within the chaos, and he figured that they were probably wondering what to do, given the circumstances.

Frowning, he realized that the job to get his teams' act together had fallen upon him once again. As the Squad Leader, Squall was obligated to decide the best course of action in any kind of situation, and it was one of those things that he hated about the job. He hated having people rely on him for an answer, and he especially hated being responsible for the wellbeing of others, but he knew he had a job to do and it was not to question the judgment that had been made by his superiors.

As he prepared to climb back down from the building, he was suddenly thrown onto the ground by a blow to the face that he hadn't seen coming. Rubbing at his jaw, he surveyed his surroundings, frowning when he didn't seen anything. Slowly pulling himself to his feet, he found that someone had grabbed him from behind, his arms being raised as if by their own accord. As he was about to break the hold, another invisible fighter hit him square in the gut, stunning the SeeD as the wind got knocked out of him.

It seemed that the enemy that he was fighting had stopped his assault when he heard footsteps coming from his left. Turning his head in the direction of the sound, he found, to his shock, that he could see the person heading towards him. The figure turned out to be an Estharian soldier, dressed in the silver and purple uniform that they were famous for. It made sense now to the SeeD; the only country in the world who possessed cloaking and camouflage capabilities was Esthar.

Just as Squall was about to question the situation, the soldier stopped in front of him, leveling his rifle and hitting Squall over the head with it, stunning him once again, and with the stars that bounced in his eyes, his vision began to blur and wave. Laughter was heard from around him; and he wasn't sure it was amplified due to dizziness or if it was revealing the other soldier's position, since he knew where the third one was.

"That'll teach you…" the soldier said, before he, what Squall assumed, reversed his weapon and aimed the barrel directly at Squall's face. This action confused him immensely, as he hadn't thought the soldier would use such force to obtain whatever it was they were looking for. It was as if Adel had returned to power, but that was impossible, seeing as his team was the one to kill her.

Frowning, he realized the soldier holding him tightened his grip on the SeeD before a voice coming from behind him spoke to the soldier in front of him. "You remember we're supposed to bring him alive, right?"

Squall blinked in confusion, wondering why they would need him alive. Probably to lead them to whatever it is they're looking for… he thought to himself.

"Yeah, yeah…" The soldier said, his weapon still aimed at the SeeD as a second one came into view. In his hands was a silver rope, which was probably made out of the same material the Estharian uniforms were. "Squall Leonhart…under orders from the Estharian Government, you are hereby under arrest."

The Time is now 5 a.m.