Though nothing tangible had happened yet, the air was thick with the operation. The mother and kid behind me ran away from the entrance to Mushroom Rock Road. The guards in front of me were less concerned with people entering the road and more concerned with what was going on behind them on the shores of Djose. It didn't take long before a loud crash sounded from down the road, followed by distant shouts.
"What was that?" the guard in front of me asked. "You, go!" he pointed to one of the other men that had been guarding the gate with him, and the man scurried off quickly.
"Let me pass, I can help," I told the guard. He turned back to me and placed a warning hand in front of him.
"This is too dangerous, Miss, step away," he insisted. I angrily stomped by foot but refused to move. The first guard came back, panting breathlessly.
"The… sinspawn! They've… they've escaped… their cage! And Sin, Sin is coming!" the guard shouted.
"Do they need our help?" the third guard asked.
"They said not yet, that they need more people for a second wave on the beach!" the guard shouted back.
"Go back, wait for further instructions!" the guard in front of me shouted. The guard ran back down the highroad. I was sick of waiting. If Sin was coming, this was the last chance I could hope to have to find Gippal and get out of there. I bolted past the guard in front of me and ran down the road.
"Hey, stop!" he shouted after me. I was certain I could outrun him, but I didn't have the time to. In the distance, I could see Mushroom Rock. Atop it, I could see a large mass of Sinspawn that had merged together fighting some indistinguishable soldiers.
More importantly, in the distance, I could see the water turning black in creeping ripples like a shadow growing larger at the bottom of the sea. The guard had caught up to me and grabbed my arm to escort me off the road, when he saw it too.
"Oh… Yevon, protect us," he mumbled to himself. I didn't think his prayers helped much now. I looked down at the beach where a large infantry waited in the vanguard, waiting for Sin to arrive. And Sin didn't disappoint.
It rose up out of the water like a mountain, bringing a tidal wave up in front of it. On the far beach, I could see the giant Al Bhed machina that was built to obliterate Sin. Of the options, I assumed Gippal was probably in the vanguard or on the beach; those were the only two places that soldiers seemed to be.
"Where are the Al Bhed stationed?" I asked the guard behind me. I turned to see him staring at Sin. He was pale, wide-eyed, and aghast. I grabbed his arms and shook him. "Where?!" I shouted. "Where are the Al Bhed soldiers stationed?"
"I- in the machina weapon. They're the only ones that know how to use all the Machina. They're either on the hillside or in the weapon," he said, shaking. He looked past me, back at Sin. I turned around to face the monster. Spotlights appeared around the front of Sin, and cannons were fired from the hillside above me. There must have been dozens of cannons all firing at once, immediately reloading, and firing again. The barrages hit Sin, but it didn't seem to make a difference. But with every strike, bits of Sin fell down to the water below, creating more Sin Spawn.
I could see the creatures swarm towards the beach. The vanguard charged the creatures from atop their chocobos and got to work, hacking away at the malevolent creatures. The ground shook with the firing of the cannons and the air around me seemed to tremble and quake. I could hear the guard from behind me shuffle backwards in terror. I turned to see him run away towards the exit to the road, but I stayed. I turned back to face Sin as the ground shook harder and harder.
Sin slowly reared its head backwards, and all the damage that it seemed to have taken was shed away in an instant. Sin looked as undefeatable as it ever was. It lifted from the water briefly and slammed back into the waves as it generated some sort of large bubble around itself. I had never seen anything like it: was it a shield? I thought it might be until the bubble started to bulge around the front of Sin, then it started to crackle and tingle with electricity. I wanted to shout warnings, but just as I might have, that bubble of energy was plunging, screaming towards the beach. In a second, there seemed to be nothing left on that shore. It was bathed in a hot white light, and when that light faded, there were shambles. The Sin Spawn, the chocobos, the soldiers… almost all of it was just gone.
But Sin hadn't finished it's work yet, and neither had Operation Mi'ihen. The Maesters in charge probably knew that their foot soldiers were pawns, expendable, necessary losses. But there was still the smoking gun: the great Al Bhed obliterator.
I could see more Sin Spawn climbing up the cliffs to where the Maesters called the shots. I felt conflicted, both wanting them to struggle like all those who had just struggled on the beach and died; and wanting some lives to be spared in all this. I didn't know where Gippal was, and I needed him to somehow survive all this.
I moved further down the road, trying to get a better view. I was too far from anyone to help or stop anything now. All I could do was watch, wait, and hope for the best.
Sin reared back and turned to face the giant Al Bhed obliterator. It was as if it knew that machina was meant to be Spira's deliverance. As Sin faced the machina head on, the machina was beginning to bring up charges. The energy was collecting quickly; shockingly fast, for how large the machine was. My hands came together and clasped nervously in front of my chest. Against all hope, I found myself pleading with fate to let this work- or, at least, to not let it bring ruin to the people inside the machina. Something inside happened and the machina rocked with the power it had collected. Sprays of electricity jolted outwards at Sin and I flinched at the sheer power the machina had. It was unlike anything I'd ever seen.
The machina sent a constant flow of electricity at Sin, but the bubble still surrounding Sin had not been penetrated. I could feel the machina exerting everything that it had, and it still wasn't enough. The bubble pushed in closer towards Sin, and closer yet- until suddenly the bubble was able to repel this power. It pushed backwards, further and further away, getting dangerously close to the machina. I could feel the breath gather in my chest as I was too afraid to exhale.
The machina knew it was in peril and gave out a final spray of inexorable power. The bubble around Sin was pushed in, and the colors of the bubble fused and warped as if it was about to burst. I felt a hopeful and apprehensive smile upturning the corners of my lips. But in a painful moment, the bubble lashed out at the machina. It was as if the force emitted from the machina had somehow been transferred back into it. In a moment, the Machina exploded and shattered in at least two places, collapsing down upon itself and everyone inside.
The smile that had crossed my lips had fallen away. My mouth was agape in awe of what had just happened. I could feel a tightness in my ribs, as if I had just had the wind knocked out of me. I watched as the debris rained down upon the soldiers below. It was all gone. Everything, and everyone that had ventured into this plan, was gone.
It was a long moment before the ground stopped quaking. I had gotten so used to it that I didn't notice the ground was shaking until it had stopped. I felt dizzy and heavy, like there wasn't enough under me to support me standing. But Sin was still there, watching. It seemed like it was just surveying the beach and it's work, proud of another slaughter. I stood there coldly staring back at Sin, as if it were staring directly at me.
A scream came out of all that silence, yelling, "what's going on?" I felt a haze of dizzying confusion myself. But I wouldn't falter, not in front of Sin. After a long moment, it began to turn. I watched as it dove back into the ocean and disappeared, sending up shoots of water. Then the waters quieted. Sin was gone, as if it had never come in the first place.
But my eyes returned to the beach. The bodies. The rubble. I couldn't move. I couldn't think. I focused on remembering how to breath. It felt like I might have forgotten somehow.
Without my telling it to, my body sank down. My knees buckled inwards and I landed down on the sharp, rocky terrain beneath my feet. I kept trying to focus on my breathing, especially as other thoughts tried to invade my brain.
How many people do I know that died today?
How many Al Bhed are there left?
Where is Gippal…
What are the odds he's alive?
What are the odds I'll even be able to find his body?
