Now did you read the news
today
They say the dangers gone away
But I can see the fires
still alight
There burning into the night.
Chapter 8: SeeD
The forces of Clan Hunters rolled up on their two tanks into the sunlight. They were still amazed they were able to come out of the dark hell they had just been in. The hole they just came out of was surrounded by sheer cliff walls on both sides, explaining why the SeeD had come through the tunnel in the first place. Explosions could be heard as they echoed off the walls of the canyon, but the CH members continued on.
"What's causing the noise?" Larry raised his voice over the rumble of the engine.
"The SeeDs!" the gunner on top of the tank, Vulch, shouted with a Scottish accent. "They are poundin' away at our bloody clanmates! Just waitin' to smash us to bloody pieces!"
Larry frowned, "Well, you're a happy one."
Vulch frowned also, nervously checking the ammunition belt to his machine gun.
Allied leaned forward and yelled loudly: "The SeeDs are not the problem, it is what the SeeDs fight with that is the problem."
"What do you mean?" Larry and Spacer shouted at the same time.
Ownage responded loudly from the lead, "SeeDs use Guardian Forces, which are powerful beings that are junctioned into their minds. The GFs give them power to use magic and also increase their endurance and strength. What is most devastating, however, is the presence of these GFs themselves. They use various elements and major attacks."
Larry scratched his head, "That made no sense!"
Ownage and Allied both shrugged, "You'll just have to see for yourself then."
The tanks rumbled on through some pine trees and came to a halt. Fate jumped out shouting, "Everyone off! We need to separate and spread out!"
The Clan members began to clamber off, checking various weapons. Allied gave his sword an experimental swing. Oddly, he pulled back on the ridge of the blade as though cocking a gun, and even more oddly, Larry saw a bullet slide into a chamber.
Another explosion went off overhead, splintering the top of a pine tree, which rained down on the Clan members. Shielding his eyes, Larry reached for his lightsaber.
"Clan Hunters! Do not separate! Stay together and don't engage the SeeDs one on one. They are too powerful to take on alone!"
Pulling his wicked half-moon ax from his belt, Ownage motioned the entire group forward into the forest and over a small rise. Before him were the remnants of Recon's small group, who were holed up inside a doorway of another sheer rock face which sealed off the last end of the valley, making it a complete box.
The door was blackened by numerous carbon scorings. Intense fire was streaking from the door into the ranks of blue-coated SeeDs facing it. They numbered about fifty strong and were using every kind of weapon imaginable. Larry saw a few swords that looked like the one Allied was using, a few rifles, and some other weapons he couldn't even begin to name.
An alarm went through the ranks of SeeDs as they noticed the tanks and clan members approaching on their rear for the first time. Little more then half of the men and women in the blue uniform turned to face the oncoming threat. Larry jumped as the M-1 Abram and the T-55 tanks fired loudly exploding into the ranks of the SeeDs.
Larry blinked. As the smoke cleared, he saw that only one SeeD was still on the ground, and he was rolling around in pain. Someone stooped over him and broke something over the man's chest. His screams cut off, and he rose to his feet looking stunned and wincing a little bit. A hush ran through the Clan Hunters as they realized that something must have halted the brute force of those large shells.
Gunfire opened up as the Clan Hunter members came within range. Rouge was firing so fast, there was an almost continuous stream of brass casings emptying out of his SR-25. Several SeeDs winced and fell backwards, while some of the stronger ones simply shrugged off the molten lead hitting them. Epic and a few others reloaded, while several others tried to pick off the SeeDs who had already hit the ground from tank shells or bullets.
The SeeDs were incredibly nonchalant about the whole affair, as though all they were dealing with was an annoying nuisance. Not an army.
SeeDs who held weapons quickly returned fire so devastating that some of the gun-toting members of CH took cover. Larry activated his lightsaber, easily deflecting two well-aimed-at-him bursts of fire. He looked at the blade, puzzled. How did I do that? he wondered to himself. Letting his mind drift, he let go of all emotion. Fading into a void of feeling and thought, all he knew was what his subconscious urged him.
He bounced up on top of a low ridge that people were ducking behind, waving the purple blade, deflecting shots that would have given greater problems to the clan's snipers and other gunmen.
Vaguely, he became aware that more gunfire was being directed at himself, as though he was attracting many flies. He brushed the bullets. A cheer went up along the Clan Hunter's line as the SeeDs became increasingly frustrated. Many SeeDs began to charge the line the twenty-odd clan members had made, but tank shells forced the oncoming SeeDs to scatter and enter the Clan Hunter's line one at a time.
Assim smiled at a group of four SeeD candidates clambering over a wall, carrying an odd assortment of weapons -- ranging from a quarterstaff, to a sword, to a shotgun. Depressing the lever on his mini-gun, a stream of bullets and tracers flew into the small group. They looked surprised. One crumpled instanly, dropping his now bullet-ridden quarterstaff as he fell.
A shield of bluish energy wrapped itself around the remaining three SeeD candidates. The bullets Assim lobbed at them bounced off into the air or against several nearby trees.
"Okay, now that's just cheap," he said, dropping the still-spinning weapon to the ground and pulling out a pair of Desert Eagle .50 caliber pistols. He spun them in his fists like a pair of spinning bludgeons.
Another man, named Sol, came forward to help advance on the three SeeD candidates. Wielding his great sword deftly, he did not even get close. A fireball blossomed in the fingers of the SeeD carrying the sword. It was hurled at the oncoming Clan Hunter officers. Assim's eyes widened and he screamed, "Oh, shi…!" as the fireball slammed into him, knocking him back against a tree.
Allied stepped directly in front of the SeeD candidates. His hands flourished in a quick motion that sent spinning death at them. Amazingly, it swept through their shields and sliced into the first boy. He gasped as one of Allied's steel disks appeared in his throat, blood blossoming like a small fountain and began to drip heavily down his chest.
The two remaining SeeDs eyed the weapon in Allied's hand with apprehension before starting forward. Fireballs and lightening crackled from their hands; weapons swung around in a dance. With a flourish, Allied stepped to the side, dodging the magic the SeeDs were using. Surprisingly, flames erupted up from the ground under the SeeD carrying the sword. He screamed as his uniform caught fire. He fled backwards over the bulwarks.
The last SeeD candidate was holding a pair of num-chucks with two blades on the end of the wooden handles. He advanced on Allied alone, num-chucks spinning in a flurry of bladed and blunted death.
With a horizontal slash, Allied's peculiar sword caught the spinning weapon in the chain that connected the two edges of the num-chuck, freezing both the spin and his blade. The candidate looked mournfully at the sword facing directly at him. Allied depressed a hidden trigger. A bullet fired out of the end of the sword, entered the left eye of the candidate, and exited in a bloody mass out of the back of his head. The SeeD candidate slumped to the floor.
Meanwhile, the sky began to darken. Lightning flashed between the clouds, occasionally hitting the ground. A triumphant cry went up in the Clan Hunters ranks as they noticed the SeeDs and SeeD candidates scurry backward in a retreat. A few pursued them into the no-man's land between the two armies. Cries of the wounded could be heard on the Clan Hunter's side of the field. The SeeDs, however, seemed to retain most of their former strength.
A golden bird flew out of the sky. It directed lightning into the ranks of the Clan Hunters, firing bolts of lightning as though they were spears of light. Fire erupted as one of the shots hit a tank, causing it to explode. The bird gave a huge shriek as the remaining tank focused fire on the massive winged beast. It fled from gun and tank fire, but not before firing more bolts of electricity into the ranks of the Clan Hunters, causing the ground to erupt in fire and earth as it scattered the remaining Clan Hunters.
"That's a GF!" shouted Ownage. He pulled his ax out of the side of a SeeD candidate and waved it toward the retreating bird. "That's the part we have to be worried about."
A large creature sprinted across the field. It was a dark red color, had horns coming out of its head, and was unlike anything Larry had ever seen. Fire leapt from its palms and eyes into the weary forces that had been the army of Clan Hunters. The creature leapt at Larry, who was still deflecting shots. With a shout, Larry dove to the floor and rolled upwards, bringing his lightsaber to bear. Impaling the demon, it screamed and faded. Another Guardian Force, Larry thought. Did I kill it?
A SeeD on the other side of the field flinched and curled onto himself, as though someone had just punched him in the stomach. Apparently, the SeeDs were still connected to the GFs that they summoned.
Ownage gave a shout, and everyone looked up. Another GF had just appeared above the trees. Larry was about to lunge at it, when he noticed that it was looking at the SeeDs with dangerous intent, not at him and the CH forces.
Larry was startled as he realized just what he was staring at: A woman with blue skin and blue hair wearing almost nothing was hurling ice shards into the SeeDs -- hurling water that froze on contact with the SeeDs.
"FORWARD!" Ownage ordered, and Whitestar took up the cry. Assim picked up the mini-gun again and began pounding the now-disorganized SeeD ranks.
At least, they all thought the SeeDs were disorganized.
With only about fifteen remaining members and a tank, the group of Clan Hunters were about halfway across the field when the blue woman burst into flames, screaming as she fell. Allied held his head as though it had been stuck by a hammer, but stood back up, then dove for cover just as an intense hail of bullets flew over everyone.
Larry sensed all this just before it happened. Drawing upon the void, he threw himself at the line of SeeDs, heedless of his own safety. No one saw him coming, for -- just at that moment -- Fate had fired into the place where Larry aimed his leap. SeeDs scattered as Larry landed within the dust and confusion, slashing with his lightsaber in purple death. Five SeeDs came on top of Larry all at once -– smiling, as they expected easy victory. The first one held a large sword. Larry quickly cut through it, then flung out his hand. The SeeD flew backwards as though a giant hand had thrown him. Larry felt a thought tug on the edge of his mind, wondering just how he had done that, but he ignored it. There was no time for such thoughts.
A sniper's bullet went past Larry's shoulder to nail the another SeeD in the face who raised his arm to bring down a massive halberd on top of the Ta'veren's head. Spinning in a circle, Larry slashed at two others with the calm efficiency of someone who knew what he had to do. The lightsaber went through the chest of one SeeD as he attempted to parry with a now-halved club. Then, the lightsaber was free. Larry lunged at the last SeeD in his way. This one, too, held a sword that looked similar to the one that Allied had been using, only it was bright blue in color.
With a crack and a hiss of static, the two blades met in a dead lock. Larry looked extremely surprised. The void faded in his shock, and he began to feel his exhaustion from all the wounds and physical strain the day's activities had put on him. He would have failed, too, had he not looked over at the man he was facing. He was shocked to see a man with a large scar that ran across his face.
This SeeD was no candidate, as the grim look on his face showed. His blade hummed a quiet aqua blue that sent lights sparkling and playing off the faces of the SeeDs and Clan Hunter members that fought around them. The purple glow from Larry's lightsaber made the SeeD seem all the more sinister.
"You're very good," the SeeD said truthfully, "but, you are still new to that blade."
With that, the SeeD performed a backflip and brought the blade up underneath him, aiming the uppercut for Larry's chin. Realizing what the SeeD intended, Larry threw himself to the side as the SeeD pulled a hidden trigger releasing a bullet that would have entered into the throat of the Ta'veren. Instead, it punctured the shoulder and exited through the back. With a groan, Larry felt pain shoot through his whole body. Exhaustion crept over him. He began to slow and fell to his knees. His lightsaber rolled from his hand. Darkness crept in…then there was nothing more.
Squall Leonheart stood over the fallen Clan Hunter and saw that he was still breathing. He was beginning to wonder why he had accepted this contract for the SeeDs in the first place. The commander of Balamb Garden surveyed the battlefield, and knew his forces had not expected this much resistance. First Heartless, then this force that swarmed around him like a bunch of very angry wasps who had just had their nest kicked.
Making a judgment call, he realized they could not possibly obtain the Index now. He had already lost too many to continue. He decided to withdraw his forces and make for the Stargate. He would return, but with reinforcements, and a negotiator to avoid the fight if he could help it. This was not the end…
