"The Few Remaining Strands"
Author's Note: For Chapters 8-12 to work, Timber would have to be like a real town, which means, much larger than it was in the game. I took a few liberties with a few aspects of the world of FFVIII for convenience's sake, one of which is the increase in town size.
9. The Run Through Timber
1
On the Ragnarok and at ETA minus five minutes, Squall stood up and turned to all assembled. Quistis and Selphie and he would be squad leaders for standard strike teams of seven SeeDs for each: sharpshooter, close quarters weapon specialist, mid-range weapon specialist hand-to-hand combatant (which, in his squad, doubled for a very skilled swordswoman), field mage and field medic. Squall's squad didn't have a close quarters weapon specialist besides him; Quistis' had no mid-range weapon specialist and Selphie's squad had no field mage.
"Here's the plan," Squall said, "We don't have time to use the proper entrances, which Caraway will most likely have sealed. Nida's instructions are to bring the Ragnarok to the TV station. We'll land on the roof. From there on out, we scatter. Quistis, you'll try to find Caraway and talk some sense into him. You can either have Selphie back you up, or have her back me up."
"Where will you be headed?" Quistis asked.
"Rinoa. Have to reach her before they do something... drastic."
"Are you afraid they'll trigger her Limit Break?" Selphie asked.
"I'm hoping it won't come to that." Squall said.
The intercom buzzed before Nida's voice faded in.
"We're almost there, get to the ramp."
2
The ramp slowly descended, leaving them a very small jump down to the roof. The lights from the spaceship danced and lit up the night. Squall gripped his gunblade and leapt first, followed by his squad. Selphie and Quistis followed. Once they were off, Squall signaled Nida to turn the Ragnarok around and away.
With its departure, it filled their ears with the noise they were familiar with and comfortable in.
"Am I going alone?" Squall asked.
"Not in your life." Selphie said, "Me and my squad, we're coming with you."
"I'll find Caraway." Quistis said, "I can't guarantee anything in terms of talking sense into him."
"Then we'll run through the building." Squall said, "Your squad'll take the fire exit."
"Where's our razandevous?"
"Timber Maniacs, if we can. I think the fight is bound to be at it's thickest."
"Cool." Quistis said.
They scrambled. Squall and Selphie, side-by-side, ran to the roof exit of the building. Squall opened the door and went first, followed by Selphie and their squads.
3
Upon hitting ground, Quistis assigned squad formation. Martial artist Darius and swordsman Lane on point. Right behind them, Quistis herself. In the back, sharpshooter Nem and field medic Keli.
"Let's go." She said and delighted in the way her squad moved with her, as if they were one organism. Quistis guided her squad through Timber streets, often flanked on both sides by Galbadian soldiers exchanging fire or blows with Timber locals. Moving from cover to cover, from corner to corner, the scene they waded through always remained the same: bodies, passed out, beaten or dead. Broken shop windows with their contents hanging out.
A pool of cupcakes, crushed under jack boots and fighting.
Three streets in, Quistis knew that they had no idea how to find Caraway. Canvassing the city wasn't an option.
"Come on." Quistis said, and moved the squad along, this time, deliberately towards the sounds of Rinoa's half-baked revolution. The sound of a shop window breaking, followed by curses and the unmistakable march of jack boots alerted Quistis. She steered her squad in that direction, took a right turn, went through a back alley, and ended up in a dead end.
Quistis stopped and bore witness.
4
"I can handle her by myself." Squall said as they moved through the TV station to hit ground level. His voice was half-drowned by the footsteps of the twelve people crammed into one stairwell.
"You two have a past. That kind of thing always fucks with you, and the situation we're in, I'm coming to not let it."
"I can take care of myself."
"It's not you I'm worried about." Selphie said.
Squall didn't respond. He simply descended the floor and found the entrance to the studio. He kicked the door in, and his squad, followed by Selphie's, and both in standard formation, rushed inside.
There were three citizens, tied up, one of them with a bloodied face, on the ground. Right in front of the cameras, there were five Galbadian soldiers, each of them working with one of five different field com-casters. Around them, seven more soldiers, three with swords, two with machine guns, two with rifles, were simply standing guard.
Immediately, the barrels of the firearms and the tips of the swords were tilted in their direction, prompting a similar response from their squads. Squall, however, didn't lift his gunblade. Instead, he ordered his squad to be at ease. Selphie followed suit.
"Identify yourself!" one of the soldiers with a machine gun said.
"General Squall Leonhart of Ocean Garden." Squall said, "Where is the Sorceress?"
"That's what we're-"
One of the com-casters buzzed and vomited a static-infested, panicking voice.
"She's here! She's at the train station!"
"Lexa," Squall said, turning to his field mage, "LVL4 Fast, if you please. We have somewhere we need to be."
5
Two Galbadian soldiers were working one young girl when Quistis and her squad arrived. They had the girl, who was holding onto her picket sign for dear life, against a brick wall and were taking their time with roughing her up. Quistis could scarcely believe that they were actually kicking the poor girl when she was down and curled up in a ball, trying to protect herself.
"Hey!" Quistis called out.
The two soldiers turned, and her squad, almost by instinct, went into fighting stances. Quistis waited to be recognized. The soldiers sized them up, and probably just distinguished their uniforms.
"SeeD? What is SeeD doing here?" one of them asked.
"I am Lieutenant General Quistis Trepe, veteran of the Second Sorceress War, here representing Ocean Garden." She said, "I demand that you take me to General-"
"It's Field Marshal, ma'am."
"Fine, Field Marshal Caraway."
The two exchanged glances.
"Oh, and before we go," Quistis aid, and turned to her field medic, "Kole, if you will..."
"Yes, ma'am!" said Kole and rushed to help the girl.
6
Squall and Selphie moved their squads through the settling dust of Timber, through cracked sidewalks and trampled picket signs, as fast as they could. Under the influence of Fast, their perception of the world remained much the same, but it was like the world was smaller. They registered running from one end of Timber to the other as taking three or four steps: each step a giant leap in and of itself. There were no sounds, sights were still snapshots in slow succession.
The downside of the spell was that it was near impossible to communicate. So that when they reached the train station, Squall signaled with his hands for Lexa to cast Dispel.
The world came rushing in, sights and sounds. It took them a few moments to adjust to their environment moving at their speed.
A blinding flash overwhelmed them. They all lifted their arms to shield themselves. There was a hissing in the air, gaining pitch, growing sharper, louder.
Selphie clenched her teeth with disgust. She knew this feeling, she knew this sound, this sight – it was the same thing she saw in her nightmares.
"Great Hyne..." she heard Squall say, "Is it..."
"It is." Selphie answered, "She cast Apocalypse."
The sound gradually died down, along with the light. Selphie's heart was in her throat. Squall, for his part, felt like he was physically struck, along his entire body at once.
He stepped forward, as near to the rails as possible and shouted.
"Rinoa, stop!"