13. Fugitives (part 2)
"Kiros, this IS the right place, isn't it?" Ward turned to his comrade.
"Positive." He nodded.
"I don't wanna be patrolling the wrong place, like last time." Ward shook his head.
At that moment, Laguna returned from his scouting trip. "Ahh, sorry… This ain't the place." He scratched his head, feeling awkward.
"Look, it matches the map. This is the right place!" Kiros knew how to read a map.
"Yeah, well… Um… I kinda brought the wrong map." Laguna admitted.
"So we're lost again?" Ward finished his sentence.
"I've got a bad feeling about this place." Laguna shuddered.
The scenery was creepy enough. They'd been sent to patrol the ruins of the Centra continent. They'd found ruins alright, but they weren't what they were looking for. There were a few broken machines around, but Laguna had this nagging feeling someone was watching them.
"Come on. Let's go." He shook his head.
They head down the valley and round the corner, to find an even more bizarre sight. The path led to a metal walkway, which, in turn led into a huge machine, the inside of which seemed to glow. There was a conveyer belt bringing up huge piles of rocks from underneath them.
"What… is… THIS?" Laguna breathed. This machine stretched so high above them, and seemed to be buried in the ground as well.
"Who knows?" Kiros shrugged. "But it sure is strange."
"Speaking of strange…" Ward began. "Why are you running around so strange?"
"Hey! I'm just being cautious!" Laguna defended himself. "That's the basic rule of thu…"
He was interrupted by the sound of something approaching them. It looked like a robot. It was clad from head to toe in metallic, shiny armour, with two bug-like eyes. Seconds later, it was joined by another one. Laguna recognised them instantly.
"Esthar soldiers!" He breathed. "Looks like we've got company." He drew his gun. They WERE Galbadian soldiers after all, and fighting a war with Esthar. He shot it down in one.
"Aaack!" Something grabbed him from behind. He turned to see that they'd all been grabbed from behind by more Esthar soldiers.
"Galbadians!" One of the men snarled. "What are you doing around here? This machine belongs to Esthar!"
Laguna and Kiros were powerless, but the soldiers may as well have been flies to the size of Ward.
He simply bent over and threw the soldier over his back and onto the ground in front of him. He picked up his own weapon, a harpoon-like spear and sunk it into the chest of the man. The other two released Kiros and Laguna and attacked Ward. No sooner had Kiros been released, he pulled out a knife and jammed it in between two of the plates of armour in the man's leg, forcing him to fall to the floor. Laguna simply shot the other one.
"Wasn't our mission just to patrol?" Kiros sighed.
"Why does it have to turn out like this?" Ward agreed.
"Seriously… Esthar soldiers? I wasn't expecting this at all? What are they doing here in Centra?" Laguna was confused.
"I think they were wondering the same about us." Mused Kiros.
"I think there's more coming." Ward grimaced.
"I think we'd better leave." Laguna opted not to be the warrior.
"But which way? The soldiers came from the way we came. So we can either retrace our steps and run into more of them, or go in there…" Kiros indicated the machine. He didn't sound particularly happy about either option.
"I think they're coming from behind, so…" Laguna looked into the machine.
"Come on then." Ward sighed.
They headed inside and gaped at what they saw. Inside was a huge crystal, extending up and down as far as they could see. The machine seemed to be built around it.
"This is really creepy. What do Esthar want with this?" Laguna didn't much like the look of it. There was a fork in the path. Laguna opted to take the left route, for no particular reason. Inside, they found a ladder heading down into the crystal. The machine was obviously built into it as well. They descended down it, onto the crystal floor, and cautiously made their way along, keeping an eye out for any Esthar soldiers that may be on patrol. It was quite beautiful in some respects, but there was definitely a sense of foreboding about the place. They walked along what appeared to be three trapdoors set into the crystal. Laguna noticed the middle one squeak as he walked across it.
"Hey. The leaver on the hatch is loose…" He pondered. "I know! If we use this! Some stubborn Esthar soldier can't chase us!"
"Laguna, what are you up to?" Kiros eyed him.
"Somethin' stupid, I bet." Ward looked grim.
"You guys, you're gonna regret sayin' that." Laguna grinned. "They say, one who mocks a genius will cry in the end!"
"So who's the genius?" Ward grinned.
"Ergh! Just shut up!" Laguna was annoyed. He started explaining his plan. "ANYWAY! The lever for this hatch is broken. So if we loosen it a bit more…"
"We won't be able to go back." Ward pointed out.
"But they can't chase us. There MUST be another way out somewhere." Laguna tampered with the switch until he heard something click into place. Satisfied, he got back up and beckoned to the others to carry on.
They head on again. The tunnel seemed endless. Kiros was beginning to regret even entering this place. But they heard a door falling and the scream of a soldier behind them. Laguna's plan had worked. Now they just had to hope he was right about there being another exit. They came across another fork in the path. Once again, Laguna opted for left.
"It worked last time." He explained.
This time, it led into another crystal like area, but now with no signs of machinery about.
"Laguna, I don't like this." Kiros was worried. "We're getting further and further into this cave, and there doesn't seem to be any way out."
But Laguna had noticed something else. There WAS something lying around.
"The heck's this?" He looked at it. "A blue switch, a red switch and two fuses?"
Kiros observed it. "It's a detonator. But for what?"
It was then that they noticed a huge boulder next to them. And another one further down the way they'd come.
"I get it! One fuse for each boulder!" Laguna's brain snapped into action.
"Laguna! Are you crazy? You don't know how powerful that'll be!" But Ward knew it was useless. Once an idea had gotten into Laguna's head…
"Look, the detonator's right here. As long as we stay behind it, we'll be fine." Laguna was confident as ever. He pressed the red switch. The furthest boulder started moving and rolled down a hole. The screams of a few more Esthar soldiers confirmed that Laguna had done something else right. Happy that everything was going right, he pressed the blue switch as well. This set the nearest boulder rolling away. They didn't hear anything this time, and Laguna was a tad disappointed.
"Ah, well. I think we've covered out tracks a bit. Come on."
They continued through the labyrinth, until they saw what they were hoping for. Daylight. They headed up a flight of stairs and their hope turned to despair. They were outside again, but stuck on the top of a cliff. To make matters worse, they heard Esthar soldiers coming up behind them.
"Don't tell me…" Laguna groaned.
"Of all the worst possible…" Kiros muttered.
"Predicaments?" Ward finished the sentence. They drew their weapons and prepared to fight. They knew now, they would have to fight their way back inside against the Esthar troops approaching AND the traps Laguna had set.
Presently enough, two soldiers arrived. Laguna opened fire with his gun, but these soldiers were different. Their armour was painted black, and patently bullet-proof. The first one ran at them, his pick-axe like sword raised. Ward intercepted him with his massive build and attacked him with his spear. He found a gap in between the armour plates and shoved it in. This time it was in the shoulder. The man fell to the ground in agony, so the group turned to the second man. Kiros tried to use the same tactic Ward had, but the man was ready for him and delivered a punishing blow to his head, knocking Kiros to the ground, barely conscious. Ward came behind him and grabbed his arms. In the ensuing struggle, the man's helmet came off. With his head exposed, he stood no chance as Laguna reloaded his gun. It was over in seconds. They rushed over to help Kiros and in doing so, failed to notice the first soldier struggling to his feet. Without warning, he got his revenge on Ward as he came up behind him and sunk one end of his blade just under Ward's throat, who's scream became almost inaudible as his vocal chords started to sever. Laguna pointed his gun into the wound Ward's spear had left and opened fire until all his ammunition was spent. Then he turned back to his comrades. He knew they couldn't get back through the site alive now. But he wasn't going to leave them to die. He tried to raise their spirits.
"There's a boat down below, in the ocean. We're saved. Lady Luck is on our side. We can escape to Galbadia!"
Kiros smiled and coughed. "We've been run down! That's what they'd normally say."
"Don't say that!" Laguna played the optimist. "It may come true. Didn't your grandmother ever tell you that?"
Kiros smiled again. "…If you say something bad… It will come true. Yeah… I think she did."
"Ggghh.." Ward grunted. "It… wa… fu… you…" He coughed between breaths.
"Say again?" Laguna was puzzled.
Ward smiled and looked at his comrades, making a final effort.
"It… was… fun… you … guys." His breathing was getting heavier. "La…guna… Kiros. It… was… fun."
"Ward. Don't say that. It's way uncool!" Laguna was getting desperate now. He didn't want the guys to give up. "Just for that, you're getting the cuchi-cuchi treatment." He tried to sound in higher spirits than he felt. But Ward wasn't listening anymore. His eyes were starting to glaze and his breathing getting quieter. Laguna heard the soldiers approaching. He decided he wasn't going to let Esthar take his friends.
"See that boat there. We're going to get on it. We're going back to Galbadia. Together." He told them. He picked up the now-unconscious Kiros and threw him into the ocean. He dragged Ward along and shoved him off the cliff as well. He leaned his body over and started to climb down after them. He hadn't got very far, when he lost his footing.
"AAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed, as he fell down to join his friends.