Before It Ends
Chapter 7
Good-Bye's Begin with Regret and yet End in Substance
Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN "Star Ocean: Till the End of Time" or any of its characters. All rights belong to the game developer Tri-Ace and the publisher Square ENIX.
I've had to replay the game yet again to re-inspire me to write. I was beginning to lose credentials in my own writing and ideas so much…..that I almost gave up on this story completely. But I couldn't live with myself if I dropped this just because I was feeling a little unmotivated.
"It's better to trust in those who love and care for you rather than trying to find yourself or follow some faith."
Dammit Cliff. How did I let you talk me into doing this?
Lancar couldn't help but repeat his troubled thoughts to himself as he shifted through the Diplo's ventilation labyrinth. He really didn't want to be in here. In fact, Lancar couldn't help but reminisce about how he ended up sneaking through the freezing shafts in the first place…..
(About 15 minutes ago…)
The stench of death within the mess hall became too intoxicating to breathe in. Lancar wasn't sure what was going to kill him first: the stench or the Vendeen. He was hoping for the later.
"…..h-hey, Lancar…how you doin?" Cliff asked weakly.
Lancar didn't realize Cliff was lying next to him. He's been lying face down for so long, he lost awareness of everything that was going on in the room.
"…..I've been better. What about you?"
"…I'm not dead."
"….."
"…Listen Lancar, I…..we're the only ones who can do somethin' about this right now."
"…..What about the rest of—"
"I wasn't just sayin 'we' out of habit….you and I are the only ones moving."
"…"
Cliff was right. The only faces that were still intact were blankly starring around the room, lifelessly. What was going through their heads as they knew their last moments of living was slipping through the hour glass? Friends? Love? Family?...Regret? Lancar will never know. That thought was hard to swallow. He lost more than just friends today…he lost countless memories that could have been made. Lancar felt as if a part of himself died with them.
"Mourning for the others will have to come later. Right now, we can't let these scum have what they want."
"And what exactly is that? If you're so sure, then why not fill me in?" Lancar asked, annoyed. His friends are dead for reasons he doesn't know. And now Cliff talks as if he's known what they've wanted from the start.
"…..I've known what they've wanted from the start." Cliff replied nonchalantly.
"….."
"It's the same thing that they've wanted last time we got tangled with the Vendeen."
"…Thing? Don't you mean 'someone?" Lancar realized.
"Well, they're probably after her too."
"…..So what's your plan? You going to try to take him out again?"
"Don't you think I would've if I could?" Cliff shot back, offended. Lancar's bad mood wasn't making Cliff feel very controlled either. This wasn't the time to be sarcastic.
"Look, we—" Cliff stopped himself as a soldier walked past the two survivors. As soon as the trooper was far enough, Cliff continued. "—we aren't sure if the others have been caught yet, so one of us is going to have to slip out of here and find them while the other—"
"Cliff! Steeg! Lancar! Don't worry, I'm here!"
The broken door is shoved open, making a loud shrieking sound that echoes throughout the room. Fayt quickly dashes in and halts in front of Biwig.
"Crud." Cliff cursed to himself. "Bad timing, Fayt."
"…..At least we know he's okay."
"….No…no wait this can work. Look, Lancar, while Fayt is being the center of attention, you need to slip outta here and head for the bridge."
"…Wh-Wha?" Lancar stuttered.
"Don't 'wha?' me. You need to get to—"
"Cliff!" Lancar yelled through his teeth, annoyed. He didn't like being treated like a child from a guy who's probably younger than him.
Cliff immediately shushed him and reminded Lancar that there was still a soldier standing not too far from them.
They got lucky. The vendeen soldier focused his attention back to the show in the center of the room.
"Lancar," Cliff continued. "Get to the captain's computer in the bridge and input the code SD5953-R4Z25."
"SD? What is that? Space Date? What kind of stupid code—"
"It's 'self-destruct' you numbskull."
"And how the hell do you know this?"
"It hasn't been that long since I was the one using that computer."
"What? What kind of plan—"
"I'm not finished. While you're doing that, I'll be creating a distraction so that the way to the escape pods will be clear. Then you can use the opportunity to make a run for it too and meet up with the others."
"That's it?"
"Well I was gonna ask you to wait till I find the two bluenettes, but that shouldn't be a problem now, seeing that they came and found us first. But I'm still gonna have to ask you to give us some time to—"
"I can see Fayt, but where's Maria?"
"Knowing her, she's probably not that far from Fayt. Don't you know anything?"
"I know how to propose."
"…"
"…Anyways, as simple as your plan sounds, how am I going to get to the bridge from here? The Vendeen probably think I'm dead so a corpse that suddenly gets up and runs off isn't going to have too much time on a computer."
"That's the tough part. Gimme a sec to think."
Cliff began to frantically look around the room for a way out. The way out had to be somewhere you couldn't be seen using. It also had to lead to the Diplo's bridge. It also had to be easily accessible without being noticed…..Ah-ha!
"There. Right behind us." Cliff exclaimed with a look of excitement.
"…the wall?"
"No, smartass. The vent in the wall."
"The ventilation ducts? You can't be—"
"No time to nag. Hurry up and go."
"I can't phase through metal, Cliff."
"Shut up and use this."
Cliff quietly slips a hand into his pocket and tosses the disintegration ring to Lancar.
"What's this?"
"Just point the ring at the vent's doors when you get close enough. The ring will work its magic from there. Oh, and make sure you're not too close when the ring's done or else the debris will land right on top of you and you'll have to restart the whole—"
"Shh!" Lancar shot at Cliff. He noticed the soldier was starting to get a little suspicious of the 'corpses' behind him.
"Look, just go." Cliff whispered.
"Okay…..hey wait; isn't the captain's computer password protected?"
"Ah damn. Well maybe it's something like 'I(heart)fayt', or 'FaytxMariaforever', or 'Maria Leingod', or maybe—"
"I get it. I'll figure it out on my own." Lancar interrupted.
"Hey, I was actually tryin to help you out—"
Cliff was cut off as he took hard hit from the butt of the soldier's rifle. He immediately loses consciousness.
"I knew it." The Vendeen whispered to himself. He then grabs Cliff by the collar and starts walking towards his commanding officer. "Sir, This one's still moving."
"I found another one here, sir. She just regained consciousness." Another soldier yelled while dragging Mirage across the floor.
Biwig couldn't help but grin as he nodded the soldiers to drop the survivors in front of him. "You barged in before I could deal with the final two here. They were able to last longer than the…..less fortunate." Biwig couldn't have been happier today. The figure he held such resentment towards was on the brink of tears. It made him feel so satisfied, he could shiver from sheer excitement….but shivering is caused by muscle tissue, and thanks to this little bastard, Biwig no longer had any.
"Good. Toss them here so that I can reacquaint them with Mr. Leingod."
Oh no. Lancar wanted to do something…but what could he do? He's not a soldier…..not anymore. His age caught up with him. He couldn't save them even if he were one at the moment. Lancar reluctantly turned away and struggled towards the vent's entrance.
Don't die on me you jerk.
It was cold within the ventilation maze, very cold. As clouds of his own breath reached the metallic walls surrounding him, it turned into solid blotches of ice.
Why the hell do we leave it so cold in here!
Space is cold, and keeping the ship warm costs money. What money could a non-profit organization have? Quark may have actually done some intergalactic trading while they were 'undercover,' but finances were mostly spent on food and other survival necessities.
Ugh! Why have I stayed with Quark for so lo—
"Hey!" A voice shouted.
"What!" Another voice panicked.
Lancar immediately stops everything he was doing…..even his own thinking.
"…I think I heard something…"
"You're always hearing something."
"No, I'm serious…..it sounds like it's…..coming from….." As the voice trails off, footsteps can be heard echoing throughout the room.
Lancar could hear the footsteps clearly. Every step he heard was in sync with his own heartbeat. As his anxiety grew, his heartbeat grew louder with it. Getting caught now meant that it was all over, and then he'll be the next one piled on top of the stack of corpses. Lancar closes his eyes.
"…It's coming from….HERE!"
Lancar's eyes were still closed…..then he slowly opens them, expecting to see someone's face in front of his.
"…..See? Nothing. You're paranoia is really starting to piss me off."
"And you're laziness is pissing off me. How do you—" The voice continues on as it trails away from Lancar's position.
Lancar's blood was rushing so fast that he forgot he was freezing to death a few moments ago.
Got to keep moving. Got to keep moving.
It was easy to repeat in his head, but his limbs were less cooperative than his head was. They were stiff, not just from the cold, but from fear. What if he doesn't make it? What if he's caught? What would happen to him?...What would happen to the others if he fell short of getting to the bridge?
I…..No, I can't let anyone else die just because I couldn't do my part.
Lancar finally makes his way to the shafts within the bridge. Even though his skin felt like another layer of cold metal stuck to his body, he carefully scans the room for any soldiers. After double checking the bridge, he points the disintegration ring at the vent's opening, and watches the door crumble—"
CLANK CLANK CLANK!
The leftover pieces of the opening hit the floor loudly. Horror was painted over Lancar's face. "Fantastic…"
Lancar quickly rolls out of the shaft and heads for the bridge's door. He then presses his ear against it, hoping no one would be charging towards his location.
"See, now I know I heard something." A familiar voice grew louder.
"Don't flatter yourself this time. I heard it too. I think it came from the other side of this door—"
Beep.
"Ugh! It's locked! There's definitely someone in there."
Lancar didn't waste any more time. After locking the door, he dashes over to the captain's chair and spins towards the console. Lancar readies his hands in 'get-ready-to-type-really-fast' position.
As the computer screen flickers on, the window displays: Password?
"Great. I forgot about this…..let's see…uh…."
Lancar begins typing, vigorously, anything that came to mind about Maria, Quark, Moonbase, Firearms…..DAMMIT!
Lancar slams his head onto the desk. "How am I supposed to get this?"
The voices could still be heard on the other side of the door. "Look, why don't we just blast the damn thing?"
"And have the shot ricochet and smoke us instead? Genius! Absolute Genius!"
"If I shoot you, the shot won't ricochet off of your head, smartass!"
They seem to get along well. At least that'll give me some more time in here. Think, you helpless prick, think!..."Wait a second!"
A brief second later and the screen displayed: Fayt Leingod…..incorrect.
"Of course it wouldn't be that easy…..Maria must've been pretty confident in her password if I'm aloud so many chances—"
: 30 seconds until security shut down.
"…"
Lancar furiously begins typing anything that popped in his head. Seeing that he has an unlimited amount of chances, trial and error was his best shot.
I(heart)Fayt….Incorrect
Tooblue4u….Incorrect
Maria Leingod….Incorrect
Cliff's an idiot….Incorrect
"Ugh! Dammit, what else goes through this girl's head!" Lancar gets so frustrated that he almost tore out his sideburns.
After their constant bickering, one of the voices shouted, "Get back! I'm blasting it!"
Lancar grasps his head with both hands. No! What haven't I tried?... Lancar looks back up at the screen. No way…..
Fayt Traydoor….Accepted.
Lancar felt like he could have thrown a celebration for his success, except time was unanimously against him. But who would have thought that Maria wanted to keep her own name…..other than Lancar, of course. Damn, no time to gloat to myself either.
Lancar inputs the SD code immediately after boot up.
Self-destruct code accepted. Commence countdown?
BAM! BAM! "Open up, damn you!" The voice screams from the other side of the door. He's gotten louder. The shots may actually be melting through the door. There's not much time left.
"Sorry Cliff. I can't give you any more time than this….."
BAM! A shot seers through the door and flies into the room, colliding with Lancar's shoulder.
A brief moment passed and Lancar wondered why the self-destruct sequence wasn't starting. He tried clicking again and again, but soon realized he wasn't clicking anything…his arm couldn't work properly from the floor.
Lancar fell to his knees and tightly grasped where his arm used to be. It was too painful to keep standing, too painful to think clearly…..too painful to scream. Lancar was beginning to feel nauseous as the room started to blur. Starring at his own arm lying in front of him was making him sick to his stomach.
"I-I got him! I actually got him through the door!" The soldier cried out as he peered through the newly made hole.
"Lucky shot. Now hurry up and unlock the door."
…Your luck's about to take a bad turn. Lancar smiles as he initiates the shut down with his other arm. Too bad my luck isn't much better.
A siren blares throughout the ship while the halls flash red. "Self-destruct initiated. Please evacuate immediately."
Finally getting the job done, Lancar collapses to the floor. The burnt flesh on his shoulder was starting to bleed profusely now. Loss of blood was making Lancar's head feel too light-headed to sit up straight.
The soldiers quickly barge into the bridge after unlocking the door. They stopped next to where Lancar was lying on the ground.
"…cough…what took you bastards so long?" Lancar squeezed out. The shot must've punctured part of his lung too. And his vision was too deluded to see them very clearly, but the white heads and the yellow uniforms were all too easy to recognize.
"This troublemaker just activated the self-destruct system?" One of the two Vendeen soldiers asks out loud.
The other soldier stares at the console for a moment. "…..Looks that way."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. What a bad thing you just did. Now I'm going to have to punish you. I don't want me to do this as much as you do—"
Lancar spits blood as high as he could and manages to spray some of the soldier's uniform with his signature.
Annoyed beyond measure, the soldier aims his weapon at point-blank directly between Lancar's eyes and begins charging the rifle.
So, this is it huh? It's finally my turn to reminisce about my life?... Honestly, Lancar didn't have too much to think about….There was his adventures with Quark, the irreplaceable friends he's made while fighting for liberation from forceful coercions….and the most important part of his existence, his wife and daughter.
His family, who are peacefully awaiting his return on an earth colony, were always on his mind whenever he asked himself why he works so hard. He regrets not getting a chance to see them in years. How old should his daughter be by now? 12?
Yea, that sounds about right. My gosh, what a big girl she probably is by now. A tear crawls down from the corner of his eye. Take good care of her, honey.
As the light from the rifle shined brighter, the world around Lancar grew darker. How ironic, he thought, that the 'light' at the end of the tunnel…..was actually trying to kill him.
…..Don't wait up for me…..you jerk.
The blackness finally envelope's Lancar's vision completely, and he never hears the gunshot.
"W-whoa! Hold on! Stop here!" Cliff yelled as he remembered something.
"Cliff, shut up." Maria answered. "We don't have time—"
"Lancar's supposed to be running here by now."
"Wh-what? Lancar?"
"Look, you two go on ahead. I'm going to wait for him here." Cliff replied as he skidded to a halt.
"Cliff! You need to be more realistic here!" Maria yelled. "The Diplo is rigged to blow! And you're just going to wait inside of this bomb!"
"Shut your trap and get movin!" Cliff retorted. "Don't worry about me."
Maria throws down her arms in frustration. "Cliff!"
Cliff never turned his head to look at her. He continued to stare down the hallway for any hint of Lancar.
Now she was more inclined on bringing Cliff because of her stubbornness. At first, it was for his own good, but now Cliff's tenacity was really starting to piss her off.
"Dammit, Cliff! You're coming with us even if I have to drag —"
Maria stopped when a hand grasped and tugged her arm back slightly. She quickly spins her head around to glare angrily at Fayt. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" She retorted. "This idiot is waiting for someone who might not even show up!"
"Maria." Fayt replied serenely. "You need to calm down. If this is what Cliff feels is the right thing to do….." Fayt looks up and Cliff, only to see the back of his head…but Fayt knew how determined Cliff really was about making sure that Lancar was okay. "…..Then you should let him."
"What? Now you're siding with his suicide! Fayt, why—"
"Maria," Fayt interrupted. "If you could've, would you have made your mother board an escape pod?"
Maria's heart felt cold. As guilt quickly consumes her insides, memories of the shuttle doors separating her from her mother begin to haunt her thoughts.
Fayt begins to regret what's been said after watching Maria suddenly freeze up, and looking utterly shocked. "I….I'm sorry…"
"No….no you're right." Maria answers after returning to reality. "Let's…..Let's just go."
After a few moments, Fayt nods in agreement. He didn't want to leave Cliff either, but this was Cliff's choice. There's not much to be said that can change his mind.
Maria doesn't look back as she continues running down the hall with Fayt not far behind. That idiot better catch up with us soon.
"Hey! Fayt! Maria!" Cliff calls out to them again. His back was still facing them.
The two quickly stopped and turn to listen to him once more.
Cliff finally turns to look at them, and smiles. "Take good care of Mirage for me…"
Maria and Fayt exchanged confused glances…but their expressions rapidly switched to grief.
Maria darts towards him. "No! Cliff!"
Not wasting anytime, Cliff punches a console beside him and smashes it to bits. Mechanized doors slam shut behind him and echo throughout the halls.
"CLIFF!"
I noticed that I jump around from scene to scene a lot. Sorry if it may lose you sometimes. And I'm deeply sorry for taking so long. I enjoyed my summer a bit more than I thought I would. I'll be sure to make up for lost time…..to the best of my abilities.
To be honest, this chapter isn't completely done and it didn't end the way I wanted it to…..but I felt as though I had to get this one out ASAP for those who have been so VERY patient with me. Thank you in advance.
Just for funzies: I stole the term, "bluenettes" from one of the reviews. Hope you don't mind.