10. The Timber Train
"OK, we're all set then, sir!" Watts informed them. "The boys got our dummy president holding a newspaper so no-one will see his face. He'll start to get angry with the guards as soon as anyone approaches him, so they won't dare look over the top of the paper. That should do the trick sir!"
They were riding along with their dummy car now. In 5 minutes they'd be starting their mission.
"OK, let's sort out the plan then." Rinoa clapped her hands. "The guys in the engine room will be driving, of course. Watts, you use one of the phones to let us know if a guard's checking his sensor, I'll have the other. If we hear the ring, we'll know. Zone, you use the controls to hook our train to theirs. Squall, Zell, Selphie, you three come with me. Is everyone ready?" They all nodded. "We'd better get going then. Good luck to you guys."
"I know it's tough, but do your best, sir!" Watts encouraged them.
The four of them left and climbed up on top of the dummy car. Squall had to admit, this was an ambitious plan and they seemed to have it all worked out, but he didn't think it was going to be as easy as they made it out to be. Jumping from one moving train to another for a start. Well, they were SeeDs, no-one said their job would be easy. They rounded a corner and there it was, the President's train. It was still a lot to hope that they wouldn't be spotted. Their train pulled up parallel to the other one, but still didn't leave much space. As the gap got short, Squall went for it and landed neatly on the 2nd Escort car.
"I'll tell you when to jump!" he shouted. On his command, Selphie and Zell safely made the distance. "Rinoa, now!" he shouted. She hesitated, she wasn't a SeeD, and wasn't used to this kind of thing. "Rinoa! You have to trust me! When I shout, you must jump!"
"OK!" She nodded. He waited, hoping they'd pull the train close enough again. They did.
"NOW!" he shouted. Again she hesitated. "RINOA!!! NOW!!" He was getting desperate now, he knew they weren't far from the first switch point and if they hadn't got the car uncoupled by then, they were in real trouble. She went for it, just as the trains pulled apart and just missed the gap. Squall and Zell each caught one of her arms.
"HELP ME!!" She screamed. Dangling from a moving train was not her idea of fun. All of a sudden, the phone crackled into life.
"They're checking the sound sensor, sir!" Watts' voice came through.
"Rinoa, I know you're scared, but you must stay silent!" Squall urged.
They waited and waited for Watts to give the all clear. It seemed like forever and Squall felt like his arms would start dropping off. Finally, the phone crackled into life again.
"Sir! It's all clear sir!" Squall and Zell hoisted Rinoa up.
"There's still the sound sensor to get past. Move really quietly!" Squall told them.
They all tiptoed across the roof of the carriage, when the phone rang again.
"The temperature sensor, sir!"
"RUN!" Squall commanded. They all legged it, though keeping their balance, they were still on a moving train, all the way across the two cars, where the 1st escort was.
"Right, now we uncouple the two cars." Rinoa informed them. "Squall, You take this cable and go down to where the panel is, you can't miss it. Zell, Selphie, you let us know if you see a guard coming. If you do, shout us and Squall, climb back up."
They all took their positions. Squall slid down the cable and easily located the panel.
"Ready!" He shouted. Though he would be the first to admit, he didn't much like his situation here, hanging from a cable on a moving train. Nonetheless, Rinoa started reading them out, and he started punching them in. They'd got the first two codes entered, when he heard Zell call out.
"Yo! You got a guard heading your way."
Quickly, he scrambled back up the cable, not an easy task, and waited. Due to the curve of the train, they could see the shadow of the guard as he moved. The guard opened the window and looked out, down towards where Squall had been. Satisfied everything was ok, he left and went back to his station. Squall sighed as he shimmied back down the cable, entered the code, and climbed back up.
Sure enough, the cars began to pull apart. The momentum kept it moving though, and sure enough, as they reached the switch point, the Forest Owls' train suddenly accelerated into the gap created, and a large hook-like contraption on the front grabbed hold of the link on the back of the president's car
"All right! Now we just have to uncouple the President's car from the 2nd Escort, and we're away! Just remember, the sensors are on the 2nd Escort. Come on."
They all headed back over the roof of the president's car to the 2nd Escort and Squall resumed his position dangling from the cable. He only had to go back up once when a guard came and he was done. They watched as the President's train, with their dummy in place headed off down the rails, whilst two of the Forest Owls altered the switch point so that they went away with the President's car.
They went back into the base amidst a great many whoops and cheers!
"Was that perfect, sir? You're the best sir!" Watts congratulated him.
"Thank you, THANK YOU!" Rinoa hugged him again. "We knew we could get things going if SeeD came along!"
"It's been great! This is the moment we've been waiting for. An encounter with Vinzer Deling!" Zone smiled.
Squall wasn't so sure. It had all been far too easy for his liking.
"Time to being some serious negotiations, I think!" Rinoa got serious. "Who's going?"
"Well, you're our public face." Zone pointed out.
"Gathering information is my speciality, sir!" Watts backed off.
"Fine, I'll go." Rinoa agreed. "You three, come with me." She beckoned to the SeeDs.
They entered the President's car. Rinoa took point as the other three lingered behind to protect her just in case.
"President Deling!" Rinoa strode over to him. "I have some questions and demands for you. As long as you don't resist, you won't get hurt." She tried to sound confident, but it seemed to Squall she was a little overwhelmed.
"And if I do resist? What would you do, young lady?" he inquired dryly as he looked round at Rinoa, who backed off in surprise. Squall sensed something was wrong.
"What's going on?"
"Boo hoo… Too bad." Deling half sang these words in taunt. Now Squall knew what had happened. Of course it had all been too easy. He'd thought it was an ambitious plan for a faction this small who didn't really have it together and he'd been proved right.
"I'm not the president. I'm what they call a body double." The man spoke evenly to them and strode over to Rinoa. "All these rumours about the many resistance groups in Timber… You pass along a little false information and they fall for it… How pathetic… Seems like there are only amateurs around here."
"Amateurs…?" Rinoa didn't know whether to be hurt or angry.
Squall cursed Watts and his intelligence. THIS was why it had been so easy. It wasn't that the security had been lax because it wasn't that important, they were MEANT to try to do something to the president. A trap had been laid for the resistance factions, and they'd fallen into it. He put one hand on his gunblade.
The man's body started to shake, as if cramped.
"Ahh… I'm in pain from all this sitting… Young… LADY!" And now his voice was radically different. "Ahh… So what did you have in STORE for me had I resisted? Why doN'T you TELL ME. QUITE amusing for such AMAtuers. How DARE YOU insult the PresIDent?" He lurched over to Rinoa and grabbed her by the throat. Instinctively, Squall rushed over to top the creature, but the man just knocked him aside. Whatever this body double was, it clearly wasn't human. Zell and Selphie had sprung into gear by this point. Zell was still working by the assumption that it WAS human, which seemed to work. He dealt the man three blows to his head and then delivered his finishing blow, which sent the man sprawling. Only then, did he reveal his true form. His body seemed to convulse in on itself and he emerged as a huge skeletal like creature, that seemed to be more fluid, than solid. He spat at them, a huge cloud of smoke which seemed to blind them.
"Darkness. He's inflicted us with Darkness!" Zell realised.
Rinoa was scared now. "You're SeeDs! Use a GF on it!"
"What? Are you crazy? A GF inside a train carriage? It'd completely destroy it!" Squall knew they had to fight this beast using only their magic and weapon skill.
Selphie cast Esuna, restorative spell on them, and their vision cleared as the light seemed to break up the thick black smoke obscuring their vision. Squall and Zell dived in for the attack. They each took a side so that it couldn't attack them both at once. They each started delivering blows. They were right in thinking the monster would have trouble with them if it couldn't attack them both. Selphie then realised something else. The monster was very skeletal and appeared to be in a form of decay, it was quite clearly an undead monster. Healing spells would hurt it. She cast cure on it and watched as it's body seemed to sag as the strength left it, making it feel weaker. Realising it was in trouble, it span it's body round, knocking Squall to the back of the carriage and Zell over towards Selphie, but all that meant was that it was caught in a pincer attack between the two. Squall stuck his gunblade in the monster's back and pulled his trigger. The blow opened up a gaping wound, but also sent Squall flying back.
Realising that being undead, Fire was effective as it aided the decay and destruction brought about by the undead status, Zell cast a Fire spell on the wound and watched as the tissue around started burning and decaying further. Selphie cast Cure on the flames, and the wound tore apart, almost ripping the creature in two. The Fire spread all across the wound, and inside the creature's body as well.
Rinoa watched, horrified as the beast became it's own funeral pyre. She'd been prepared for some sights in the battles that were coming, but this… It almost made her physically sick.
"Get out of the carriage, now!" Squall ordered. "Tell Zone to unhook it from the base car."
They all made their way back into their base.
Zone and Watts were confused.
"What's going on sir?"
"Never mind! Just unhook the President's car and do it now!" Squall yelled.
"But sir…"
"NOW!"
Shocked, Zone headed up to the control panel and pressed the button to uncouple the carriages. The rest watched in horror as the carriage, rocking across the track, fell off and rolled across the fields developing into a huge inferno carrying with it the dying screams of the beast.
Squall walked away from the window and sat down in despondence. They'd failed and fallen into a trap. Their first mission and it was turning out to be a disaster.