Chapter 14
A Little Rescue Mission
Gippal grit his teeth as he waded through the freezing water and fallen debris of Baaj Temple. Dusk had already fallen by the time he had been relieved of The Celcius and its overbearing crew. Gippal rolled his eye as he recalled the moments before disembarking. Paine had walked with him to the exit ramp, a knowing smirk on her face.
"What are you grinning about?"
"I just never saw you as the 'knight in shining armor' type, Gippal."
"Tch, you want me to just leave Rikku behind?"
"...You shouldn't have gotten her involved in your problems–"
Gippal scowled as he started up a ruined staircase leading into the temple. He could hear the familiar whirring of a machine motor in the distance, and followed that as his target. A thick, chill fog swirled up to his knees as he picked his way through hallways filled with rubble. "The Yevonites are pretty lax on the security, for once," Gippal muttered to himself as he adjusted his grip on his pistol. He had opted for a smaller weapon over the weight of his usual shoulder-mounted canon, though he had yet to encounter so much as a fiend. The ominous rumblings of the unseen machina grew louder as he approached the inner chambers, however, and he felt himself growing tense.
What's a working machina doing in a run-down ruin like this? Gippal wondered to himself as he pressed on. But this is Yevon, after allI shouldn't be surprised that they'd lend a weapon to one of their assassins… He paused as he reached a large, arched doorway and crouched behind one of its heavy doors. It was slightly ajar and he could hear the rumbling and whirring of the machine in the next room. Gippal carefully pushed the door open a little wider, wincing as the ancient door creaked in resistance, although he doubted that anyone else could hear it over the machine. He poked his head through and quickly scanned the room beyond. It was no doubt the main chamber of the temple, with its high, domed ceiling and tiers supported by pillars.
He quickly found the source of the mechanical noise as his eyes went immediately to the huge, hulking form of a machina on the other side of the room, its shape and design reminiscent of the one his own mechanics had built at Djose. It was clearly a weapon, Gippal expertly assessed as he took in its large, pincer-like arms and mounted gattling guns. It stood nearly as high as the second tier as it idled in the shadows, seeming to wait for a command from its master. If all I have to do is take apart that machina, this is going to be easier than I thought, Gippal smirked as he crept silently into the room and crouched behind a nearby pillar. He drew his gun up to eye level and took aim at the sensitive joints under the machina's left arm, but nearly dropped his gun when he saw what was the arm was holding. Clutched tightly in its vice-like grip was the slight figure of Rikku, half-concealed in the shadows with her crimped, blonde hair falling over her face. She was fidgeting as the machine held her in the air with her arms pinned behind her back.
"Rikku!" Gippal hissed. Rikku's head snapped up and her gaze darted around the room, searching for him.
"Rikku, I'm here!" Gippal half-whispered, half-shouted over the rumbling of the machine. Rikku's eyes widened in fear as he stepped out of the shadow of the pillar and took a step toward her.
"Gippal, get away from here!" she hissed back as she turned her head to glance nervously at the tier behind her. "She's here!" Before Gippal could reply, a loud "kachunk" issued from the shadows of the second tier and a heavy gush of air flew through the air over Gippal's right shoulder. Gippal ducked quickly back behind the pillar and turned to find a crossbow bolt embedded halfway through the splintered door behind him.
"Finally come to rescue the damsel in distress?" a husky woman's voice mocked from a distance. Gippal's eye narrowed in loathing as he recognized the voice. "Just like a true gentleman, as promised," Anje sneered as she stepped out of the shadows, crossbow clutched in one tightly gloved hand. "You've come alone, I hope? But of course you wouldn't risk the life of your precious Al Bhed princess…"
"Typical for a Yevonite!" Gippal called out from behind the pillar. "I didn't come for a sermon, now let Rikku go!"
Anje tutted. "Of course you didn't, heathen, though I'm not much more interested in the teachings than you are. It's true I only came for your life, but a bonus like the Al Bhed leader's daughter can't be so easily passed up." Gippal's upper lip curled in a snarl as he pulled back the hammer on his pistol and raised it chest-level, tucking his elbows close and preparing to leap out from behind the pillar. Anje seemed to sense his movement. "I'm sure you imagine yourself to be the great hero, come to vanquish the evil antagonist, but if you even think of fighting back I'll set my sights on the girl," Anje replied languidly, shouldering her crossbow again. "It only takes one shot."
"Gippal!" Rikku cried out, and he winced at the panic in her voice. "Get out of here and call Yuna! It's not me they want it's-- " Rikku's sudden yelps of pain followed the grindings of several gears. Anje was controlling the machine and closed its vice grip on Rikku.
Several things happened all at once. Gippal dropped to one knee and pivoted out from behind the pillar. He took aim at the machine's left arm and fired. A device attached to his belt loop beeped but he ignored it as he swung back behind the pillar. As the circuitry of the damaged arm joint shorted out and the arm holding Rikku shuddered and disengaged, a sudden impact made the whole room shake. Gippal looked up at the ceiling where great slabs of concrete fell and crashed to the floor below. Anje snarled and rolled behind a pillar on her tier.
"I told you to come alone!" she screeched and shot another bolt at Gippal. It pierced the pillar he was hiding behind and knocked a chunk out of it, narrowly missing his head. The room was filled with dust from the falling concrete, and Gippal saw his chance. He darted out from behind the pillar and sprinted across the room to where the arm had dropped Rikku. Before he had gotten halfway across the room, another resounding impact shook the already unstable building. Pillars began to crumble and huge chunks of the ceiling fell to the ground. Rikku screamed and Gippal charged in her direction.
Kachunk-chunk. Gippal cried out and staggered as a white-hot pain exploded in his right kneecap. He fell to the ground and tried to shield his head from the falling debris. He couldn't see the sniper through the clouds of dust, and the sounds of the machine had been drowned out by the thundering rumble of the temple coming down. He had no idea where Rikku was. Burning with pain and rage, Gippal tried to stand. He felt a great gust of air, as if the domed ceiling had just been lifted off, but he didn't waste time looking. He crawled through the rubble, his wounded leg completely numb as he made his way closer to where he thought Rikku had fallen. Just as he thought he heard the motor of the machine again, a woman's feral shriek rang out and the sound of a deadly salvo of crossbow bolts whistled through the air. Gippal screamed as one found its mark and pain ruptured through his left shoulder blade.
The sound of a rushing wind now filled the room and the dust billowed out in clouds. Laying flat on the floor, Gippal craned his head up as distant shouting and gunfire rang out above him. His whole body seemed to be going numb, and he slowly laid his head back down on the sharp gravel that now coated the floor. A scampering of feet and something heavy seemed to collide with his rib cage. "Gippal!" a terrified voice was sobbing, very close now. "Gippal! Oh Ixion, this is bad! Please Gippal, say something!"
"Gerroff me," Gippal murmured with his face still pressed to the ground. Prodding little fingers kneaded the wound in his shoulder. A cacophony of shouting voices echoed all around him, but they all quickly faded into the background as he lost consciousness.
"Rikku! Is he okay?"
"Gippal, please!"
"…where's the kidnapper? Did we get her?"
"…jumped through the hole in the wall there, on the second tier…"
"Gippal!"
"…Rikku, it's going to be okay…"
"No, no! They were poisoned, she said"
"Rikku, let's go…"
"No!"
Rikku…