Chapter XI
Runaway Train
Tuesday, May 2nd 4268
1644 hrs
Exactly one hour had past since they left Dastar, where they picked up the fake presidential cabin and three other members of the Forest Owl's faction. The time since then had been spent relaxing and getting mentally prepared for what was to come. The Owls were sitting in the chuck wagon aboard the train, eating sandwiches and exchanging jokes. For the first thirty minutes, Squall sat with them, listening to the hodgepodge of conversations that had virtually nothing to do with the mission; thus meant absolutely nothing to him.
Countless times, he heard questions asked pertaining to life at Garden, and what it was like to be a part of the most feared military unit on the planet. He barely listened as Selphie described the good times up in Trabia, and Zell stretching the truth about his exploits as a SeeD. There was a large stack of turkey and ham sandwiches sitting in the middle of the table, made especially for them by one of the underground members of the Owl's. Squall watched as Zell put away four of them within a matter of minutes, all the while talking with a full mouth of chewed meat and bread. Every so often, he'd look over, catching Rinoa gazing at him, and then watching her blush as she realized she was doing so.
He eventually decided he'd rather be anywhere but there, and dismissed himself, hearing grunts as he rudely left the room. He retreated back to the strategy room, looking over the hanging articles and the model train track that had been set up. He found it hard to pay attention during the Forest Owl's brief, the whole time wondering how in the world Garden authorized a request that was so tainted with incongruities. Something wasn't right; someone was holding the truth from him. Sad thing was, there wasn't a thing he could do about it, and even if there was, he wouldn't. He was too disciplined, and stubborn for that matter, to question anything, regardless of how dubious a situation was.
After carefully reviewing the key aspects of the mission and drawing up his own personal strategy, he left the room to rejoin his party. He continued to the back of the train, finding Selphie and Zell waiting for the construction crew to put the finishing touches on the reproduced presidential cabin. The crew wanted to impress everyone, and didn't allow the SeeD's or other faction members to view it until they were confident it looked just like the real thing. After a few moments, Rinoa walked out with a smile on her face.
"If you three would come in, we'll show our masterpiece!" Rinoa stated to the SeeD's, who seemed sluggish as they stepped inside behind Rinoa. None of them had a clue as to what the real presidential cabin looked like, but the fake one had a very elegant appeal itself. Standing inside were two young men and a woman, all dressed in ratty attire, no doubt hailing from Timber.
"This is Koren, Streak and Merell." Rinoa introduced. "They are the construction team who built this cabin, which looks exactly like the presidential cabin."
The man name Koren nodded, "Princess Rinoa was able to get photos of the inside of the cabin from one of her sources, and we modeled everything you see off that!" he spoke, seeming nervous and excited.
"You sure have a lot of sources on the inside," Selphie pointed out, and Rinoa shrugged, somewhat timidly.
"Man, this is nice," Zell spoke as he walked around the cabin, measuring it up, "Not bad a'tall!" he chirped, and Selphie nodded in agreement.
It had been done remarkably well considering the low budget, but anyone with a sharp eye could spot something wrong. Squall himself noticed several just glancing around. The statues to both sides of him were spray-painted gold, some of the furniture such as the wine cabinet and armoire looked threadbare, and the paintings in the room were obviously not authentic. Just then, the most blaring oversight the Forest Owl's had made stuck out to Squall like a sore thumb, but was beat to the punch by his fellow SeeD.
"Sure, the cabin might be straight," Zell began, "But I think they might notice the president is missing! Just a thought." he pointed out in a smart-ass way.
"We got that covered," the brown haired man named Streak answered, "Bring him in!" he yelled out the door.
The SeeD's along with Rinoa looked back, watching as a short pudgy man walked in backwards, dragging carefully with him what looked like a dead body. He huffed and puffed as he carried the figure with him, throwing him into the velvety cushioned booth, and turned around, soaked in sweat.
"Hey SeeD's!" the man said with a big wave, the three mercenaries barely acknowledging. "Names Rodney, I'm the deception expert of this little group," he told them, and turned back, pulling the body to sit upright, revealing the uncanny face of the man in the booth.
"And this, is Dummy Deling," Rodney introduced the SeeD's to the dummy, who looked almost like an exact replica of the Galbadian president.
The skin of the face was made of synthetic latex-mold compound, crafted to capture every bump, curve and wrinkle of Deling's devil-made face. The body was dressed in a black suit and tie, the same type and color Deling wore consistently. Rodney and Streak adjusted the dummy within the booth, feet flat on the floor, back straight, arms curved and looking straightforward. After tweaking Dummy Deling's posture, Zell and Selphie inched closer, captivated at how much it looked like the real president.
"Damn, looks just like him," Zell said, and shivered, "Scary."
It was a bit creepy the resemblance the dummy shared with its real life counterpart, even Squall was surprised at how much detail had been put into it. He had to commend them on the fine job, but there was one aspect that could easily be detected at closer look.
The eyes. Eyes were much more than human anatomy, they were truth, they were soulful, and they reflected all the sins a person carried. The glass orbs of the dummy held nothing.
No truth…No soul…No sins. Nothing.
"He hasn't been activated yet, but I'll feel ya in," Rodney began, as Streak and Koren placed a newspaper within Deling's grasp, having him hold it upwards, covering his face.
"As you can see, Dummy Deling here will be reading the newspaper. I made it so that he has a variety of subtle movements to throw his security off-guard. Also, I built a microphone inside the dummy, and my guys will be controlling everything the dummy says." Rodney explained, until getting a nod from Streak. He grabbed a small remote that was clipped onto his belt, and pressed down on a button.
"Watch, ask him a question…" he told Zell, and moved to the side. Zell walked up slowly, rubbing the back of his head.
"Uhh, what's goin' on, prez!" he questioned. It seemed as if the dummy was voice activated, watching as the dummy shook the paper, his head lifted a bit and moved side to side as it were reading.
"You came in here to ask that? I suggest you leave, immediately!" Dummy Deling replied, the voice sounding very humanlike instead of grainy and recorded.
"Whoa, it does sound like him," Selphie noted, smiling. Squall was most surprised at how well this facet of the operation was thought out, seeming as everything before that was done on the spot; mainly the parts of the mission in which SeeD played key roles.
"Okay, it's almost time," Rinoa stated as she walked in front of them, "Let's go up front so we can over everything one last time."
The three SeeD's along with Rinoa walked to the front of the train, where Zone and Watts were busy getting things ready. They had set up a ladder underneath the hatch they would use to get atop the roof, and brought out boxes of equipment for them to use. Zone reached inside one of the cardboard boxes and pulled out a thick rubber belt with a fastener and steel cord, and handed it to Squall.
"Squall, since you will be entering the codes, here is the rappelling belt you can use to slide down. If you wanna move down, just slide the handles downward, and move them up to get back to the top." Zone informed him. The belt looked old and used, with splotches of rust coating the metal, and a lot heavier than newer rappelling equipment.
"Here's the Rockers, just set it for ten minutes, and toss it." Zone continued, handing the device to Squall, and instructing him on how to program it, "It has a magnetic casing, so you won't have to worry about it falling off."
"Don't forget the pager, sir!" Watts added.
"Oh yeah," Zone nodded, unclipped a black pager from his belt, and handed it to Zell, "We will send you the codes via this pager, and you can then give the codes to Squall." He finished as Zell took it, and clipped to his waistband.
"And just make sure you pay attention to where the guards are," Rinoa told them, "They might not be able to detect you, but they can still see you."
With that, the SeeD's were ready to carry out the poorly devised plan. It didn't seem so much that the Forest Owls didn't have much income, just that they poorly prioritized and spent a majority of the funds on the constructing the fake presidential cabin and the Deling look-a-like, leaving little for the actual execution of the mission. Had they been able to meet Garden's price tag, not only would they might've gotten more experienced SeeD's, but also a fool-proof strategy from SeeD tactical experts, but unfortunately, that wasn't the case.
"Okay, let's go over everything one last time…" Rinoa stated, and reiterated the plan that wasn't even that good in the first place.
Tuesday, May 2nd 4268
1701 hrs
Onboard the second escort was three soldiers, the leader of the group, Galabadian Viper First Sergeant Dane Kojax, Tech Specialist Brent Cravens, and a prospective member of the Viper force, Master-At-Arms Corporal Livvon Telek, who had been assigned along with Kojax as training to see if he could handle a mission of such magnitude, but Kojax was suspicious. In most cases, seven or eight Viper's crowded each escort, but on this particular outing, one Viper and two standard infantry soldiers were the only men guarding each escort. Even Deling's personal bodyguard was mysteriously absent, which was odd seeing that he never traveled without him.
Not that Kojax cared; he personally wouldn't have minded seeing a bullet burrow through Deling's skull. He hated the man, and everything he stood for. He had several friends throughout the years who had been punished severely for making negligible mistakes, all because Deling loved watching people suffer. To the citizens of Galbadia, he was still a monster, but always put up a front as if everything he did was for the people, but it couldn't have been further from the truth.
They were all sitting in the escort, talking about their personal lives and aspirations for the future until Kojax noticed the time. They were to update the president every half an hour of what was going on, and as the highest ranking soldier, that responsibility was delegated onto Kojax.
"I have to give the president a status report..." Kojax sounded less than excited about that fact, and stopped after taking a few feet towards the door, "I don't wanna go in there...damn it!" he paced back and forth.
"Just do it like a band-aid," Corporal Telek suggested, "One motion, right off!" he jokingly added, making Kojax grin.
Realizing he had no other choice, Kojax walked up to the door leading into the president's car, took a relaxing breath, and walked in. Upon entering, he saw Deling sitting at his small booth, smoking a cigar. Kojax slowly walked up until he was at the president's side, shot to attention, and properly saluted.
"Uh, Mr. President," he stammered, a bit unnerved.
Deling didn't even look over, he just shook his head in annoyance, "What now, soldier?"
"I just wanted to inform you that everything is on schedule," Kojax informed him, "We are approaching Obel Lake, and we are due to arrive in Timber as scheduled." He finished, hoping the president would just dismiss him promptly, but had no such luck.
"I keep telling you that I don't want a report unless I ask for it…" Deling stated, laid his cigar on the ashtray, and stood up. "But yet again, here you are!"
Kojax stared straight ahead, not even thinking about what would happen if he were to make eye contact with the man before him.
"I know, but Mr. Dandridge told me," he began, but shuddered as the president got right in his face.
"I don't give a fuck what Dandridge told you, I said…" he shouted, Kojax trembling in fear as Deling's vicious eyes burned through him. Just when Kojax thought the president was going to fly off the handle, he took a step back, adjusted his suit, and forced a smile on his face.
"Dismissed," he stated calmly, sat back down in his seat, and began to read the newspaper once more. Kojax began breathing again, and stepped back, giving a quick salute.
"Yes Mr. President," he replied and walked quickly back to the door. Upon stepping back into the second escort, he looked over at Sergeant Cravens, who was monitoring the sensors.
"How'd it go?" he asked, Kojax's face giving him an idea.
"I gotta be nuts to keep putting up with this shit!" Kojax answered with heavy breaths.
Tuesday, May 2nd 4268
1719 hrs
The three SeeD's along with Rinoa and Watts sat in the front compartment, silently. They all took that time to collect their composure, and reflect upon everything that led up to that moment. It was more personal for the Owl's, who were about to reach towards the unreachable goal. For the SeeD's it was merely a job, a means of making a living. None of them felt personally committed to making sure the mission was a success, which made them feel somewhat like outsiders, and for the most part, they were.
Suddenly, Zone reentered with a smile on his face.
"It's time," he told them as they all stood quickly, as ready as they'd ever be. "The train is just ahead."
"We'll be watching from here," Watts told the three SeeD's and walked over to Squall, "Good luck, sir!"
Squall nodded, and looked at Zell who seemed pumped. He felt bad excluding Selphie from the mission, but his decision had to be made keeping mission success in mind, not people's feelings. She didn't seem upset, but he could tell she wanted to go.
Zone had opened the hatch for them, the air and loud train noises from the outside were screaming in through the small opening. After double-checking all his equipment, Squall tossed the grappling belt over his shoulder, and started up. As he put his foot on the first metal rung of the ladder, he felt as two small hands wrapped around his forearm. He looked down at the hands with pink polished nails, tracing his eyes up to see Rinoa with a worried look on her face. A surge of feelings erupted through his mind, not used to the caring feeling Rinoa had just expressed for him. Why would someone he had only known for a short time show such concern for his welfare?
Rinoa released her worried clutch as she noticed everyone looking at her. She looked up at Squall, who was wearing a confused gaze, and smiled.
"Umm…be careful," she wished him luck, and took a step back.
Squall, still deep in thought, gave her a peculiar look, causing her to shy away. After a moment, he regained his focus and began his ascent to the roof, Zell following close behind. He poked his head up out of the opened hatch, the force of the air current from the speeding train took his breath away immediately, caused his eyes to tighten, and made his brown strands of hair whip and fly in every which direction. He quickly crawled completely out and kneeled on the roof, waiting for Zell to catch up. He watched as the Forest Owl's train closed in on the presidential train, Squall clenching his fist as a primal determination overtook him. He didn't care much for the mission, but that wouldn't stop him from carrying it out to the best of his ability.
Zell crawled out and kneeled beside Squall quickly, the heavy gusts unbalancing him for a slight instant. At the moment, wind was their biggest enemy, threatening to throw whoever challenged the powerful force right off the train, to probable death.
"This is a hell of a lot more action than I expected, that's for damn sure!" Zell yelled over the sounds of the train and the brutal wind, getting a nod from Squall.
Looking forth again, Squall noticed the presidential train just thirty yards ahead, and rapidly approaching. Him and Zell crouched and ran, keeping their weight low and shoulders squared, keeping their feet close to the roof's surface, minimizing the risk of toppling over. They had actually been trained on how to move atop the roof of a locomotive or other speeding vehicles, but had never actually had any hands-on training.
"We'll catch up to the second escort soon, so get ready," Squall spoke loudly, pointing ahead. Within a minute, they had caught up to their target, and were running side by side. The distance between the carts was a good seven feet, and taking into calculation the velocity of the train; it was quite a leap. Being that they didn't have all the proper equipment, Guardian Forces were going to be a key factor in the success of the mission.
He reached in his pocket, pulling out the small device with the timer on it. The device appeared to be homemade, and he wasn't sure exactly how they worked, but he didn't have much of a choice except to trust that it would do what it was designed to do. He set the timer for ten minutes, activated it, and began looking for a decent spot to throw the mechanism.
"Toss the Rocker, Squall!" Zell shouted, Squall dismissing his partner's impatience. He found a metal strip between the tinted windows of the presidential escort, and winded up to throw.
"Hope this thing works," Squall hoped to himself, and focused with Quezacotl as he chucked it forth, the strong magnetic casing making the Rocker grasp onto the metal strip as it hit dead on.
"Jump!" Squall yelled, Zell not wasting a moment as he took a few steps back, ran forth and sprung through the air with Ifrit's assistance, almost overshooting as he jumped to the far outer edge of the roof of the second escort. Squall followed suit, landing on the center of the roof as Zell walked up towards him, and pointed forward. Squall nodded, and looked around, the vistas of lush, rolling green pastures, the serene blue waters of Obel Lake, and the structures and buildings of the small towns in the distance blurred past him.
"Let's move," he said, looking back to Zell and waving him on, "Once we get to the first escort, we'll proceed with the uncoupling." Squall finished, and both proceeded along the rooftop of the second escort, hoping to Hyne that the Rocker was doing its job, and that the soldiers below were unaware that the president's security was now in jeopardy.
Tuesday, May 2nd 4268
1726 hrs
Within the second escort all was calm, just as it should be. Kojax had been interviewing Corporal Telek, trying to find out why exactly he wanted to be a Galbadian Viper. He was impressed with Telek, as he seemed to have all the makings of a good Viper, but still seemed a little green. He had only been in the military a little more than a year, and still had a lot to learn if he were to gain the distinction of being a Viper.
While listening to Kojax talk about why he became a Viper, Telek noticed the locomotive of a train just next to them, and slowly receding to the back. He shot over to the window, watching as the train fell behind about twenty feet. It was no longer next to it, but the young soldier remained suspicious.
"What are they doin' so close to the president's train?" Telek questioned, still looking down the track, pointing at the train that had been right next to them. Kojax walked up to the window and looked up, laughing at his subordinate's intuition.
"The president has his own train, not his own track," Kojax stated and walked back towards the metal chair he'd been reclining in. "We share these railroads with commercial lines as well."
"Oh," Telek responded, seeming somewhat confused. Cravens, who was keeping a keen eye on the sensors, shook his head.
"Stop being so damn paranoid," he told Telek, who bowed his head in humiliation, "You'll never be a Viper if you're that jittery!"
"Come on now," Kojax replied, "He's just worried about the president's welfare, that's all."
Just as Kojax spoke on Telek's behalf, a combination of beeps and alarms sounded through the cabin.
"Damn it!" Cravens cussed, and began adjusting many of the knobs and flicking multiple switches in an attempt to fix the problem.
"What is it?" Kojax asked, the colorful bar meters on the screen, which displayed the sound and temperature level was going haywire.
"Fucking sensors acting up again!" Craven's spat angrily, "State of the art equipment my ass…cheap bastards!"
"Can you fix it?" Kojax asked.
"Stand by…" Cravens replied, turned on his headset, and began conversing with the tech soldier aboard the second escort. "Clive is having the same problems. He said it might be because of the power lines."
Kojax peeked back out the window, sure enough seeing a long stretch of power lines running just next to them. Whatever the reason, he knew it was crucial that they get the equipment back up. It wasn't that he was concerned of an imposing strike; it was just that these were the types of small infractions the president liked to pick on and punish soldiers.
"Just try and get it back online," Kojax stated worriedly.
"Roger," Cravens nodded, and reset the system, unaware the power lines and sensory equipment were not at fault.
Tuesday, May 2nd 4268
1728 hrs
Squall and Zell reached the top of the first escort after crossing the roof of the presidential cabin with ease. The wind continued to be a nuisance, making it hard to see and breathe as the passing air wafted in their faces. Once reaching the front of the of the first escort, they knelt down, Squall peeking over the side of the car to see if he could spot the security panel needed to enter the codes. From his position he couldn't see it, but knew it was somewhere below the seal of the door. He knew there was no time to waste, so he put on the rappelling belt, ensured it was tight and secure around his waist, and pulled out the metal cord. It scratched with friction as he slid out extra slack, the cord rusted from age and overuse. It seemed strong enough to support his weight, but also felt brittle, like it could snap at any moment.
"Hope that thing holds up," Zell said as he observed the rusted rope.
"Yeah, me too." Squall agreed, tugging on the cord after latching the hook to the metal handle to the locked hatch.
The handles that controlled the cord were hard to move, grating against the rust as Squall pulled the handles release more cord. He leaned back towards the open air, looking down and watching the stony earth move beneath him, knowing the gravel and sharp stones beneath him would tear him up if he were to fall at that speed. He tried not to focus on the bad points, but it was hard not to when the odds were so heavily against him and the Owls. He gave one final look to Zell, and began his descent. He moved down, taking almost ten seconds to get below the door, hoping the guards weren't watching behind the darkened glass. His feet were planted to the metallic side of the train, feeling pain as the rubber belt pulled and dug into his hips.
"Do you see the keypad?" Zell yelled before Squall even had a chance to look. He put up his index finger, gesturing to Zell to give him a moment.
Squall bent his neck to the right, glancing underneath the train, just below the door. He spotted the panel, which had a small screen and what looked like a phone dial, with a few extra buttons. He lowered himself further so that he had a better view, his feet pressed against the bottom edge of the train as his body dangled dangerously close to ground. Looking up, he waved his fingers towards him, indicating to Zell that he was ready. The blonde SeeD nodded and looked down at the pager he was given, seeing that the Owl's had already sent him the first code.
"Okay," Zell shouted, "The first code is 2-9-1-8-8-5."
Squall typed in the six numbers, and watched as a small green light lit up on the panel.
"Okay, two more codes for this one!" Zell yelled, and Squall nodded. "The next code is…8-6-7-5-3-9."
Squall entered the second code and pressed enter, watching as yet another green light activated. Squall's mind continuously wondered if any guards had spotted, seeing that he could not observe them through the dark tinted windows. He only hoped Quezacotl would serve as his all-seeing eyes and warn him of any guards that might be aware of his presence. He looked back up to Zell, and signaled for the third and final code.
"Last code is…" Zell began, looking down to see that the Owl's hadn't sent the last code yet, "Come on!" he demanded loudly, aggravated that they hadn't sent the code yet. Within moments, the digital numbers came up, and Zell relayed the code.
"8-0-8-7-8-3," he shouted to Squall, who quickly pressed the numbers and hit enter. A third green light came up and all three began to blink, joined by a clicking sound in the back near the connection circuits.
"That's all of 'em," Zell informed him, "Get yer ass up here!"
Squall began to push on the handles, finding it twice as hard to rappel back up. He knew it was too risky to use the handles, so he grabbed the cord with his bare hands and began yanking himself up quickly, getting back to the roof within a few seconds. He unhooked the cord from the handle, noticing his hands were cut and bloody from the unforgiving metal cord. He dismissed his torn hands and stood up, running to the top of the presidential cabin with Zell behind him.
Standing on the roof just above Deling, the two SeeD's looked on ahead. The locomotive and the first escort uncoupled from the presidential car and the second escort, which slowed down locomotive and first escort kept its pace. Just then, both SeeD glanced off to the side, watching as the Forest Owl's base and fake presidential cabin speeded ahead and reached the switchpoint. The Forest Owls train sped onto the monorail, in between the first escort and the presidential cabin. It had been perfectly timed and to where the Owl's base was in position to link up with the presidents train. The Owl's slowed down a bit, waiting for the Presidential cabin to link up with it, then sped up again, eventually linking up with the first escort.
And with that, the Forest Owls and the president's train were now moving along the same track as one.
Tuesday, May 2nd 4268
1730 hrs
"They did it!" Rinoa exclaimed as she looked through the window, seeing all had fell into place without a hitch. At first she had her doubt, under the impression the SeeD's would slack off and not give the Forest Owl's the support they needed to make it a successful mission. But after seeing how smoothly the first uncoupling went, here doubts weren't as strong as they once were, but there was still much to do.
"Princess!" Watts' voice cried out as he ran back into the room where Selphie and Rinoa had been watching.
"What is it Watts?" she asked with concern, seeing the out of breath Watts struggling to speak.
"We forgot about the dummy car!" he exclaimed between breaths, just as Zone walked out behind him, holding a paper in his hand.
"What are you talking about?" Rinoa questioned and handed the paper to Rinoa. It was the illustration of the train, with instructions and diagrams of how everything was to work. One instruction had been circled multiple times with a red marker…Uncouple base from dummy car, make off with real presidential car at upcoming switchpoint, it read, with an arrow pointing towards the upcoming junction.
"The dummy car needs to be uncoupled from our car!" Zone exclaimed, rubbing his strained eyes, "We didn't catch this until now. I don't know how we could've missed this!"
"Take it easy, Zone," Rinoa calmed him, "I'll get the message to him."
"There's a problem though," Watts stated, "They won't have enough time to uncouple both by themselves. The Rockport Junction isn't far ahead, and if they don't finish in time, they might be stranded aboard one of the escort cabins."
Rinoa closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She had been so concerned with SeeD not coming through, that she hadn't even considered the Forest Owl's making a mistake.
"We only have one SeeD left," Zone stated, pointing to Selphie, then leaned against the nearby wall. "What are we going to do?"
Rinoa bit her lip as she thought. The situation wasn't looking good, and was all due to one oversight that just may have completely changed the outcome of the mission. It was now a matter of win or lose, there was no pulling out now, seeing as they were locked between the other cars of the presidential train. She refused to let this mistake spell the end of the Forest Owl's; Timber independence was at stake.
She remembered just two and half years earlier, being a typical sophomore in high school, leading a life that to some was glamorous, but to her lacked any type of excitement. Being raised as an army brat her entire life, her father had set forth different ideals for her, making her abide by a strict regiment and timely schedule from a young age. Her life was modeled around order and discipline, much like that of a SeeD, but her strongest desire was to make a difference and find some excitement that she never really had growing up.
It wasn't until she found the Forest Owl's that everything in her life started to change. She had known Zone from a young age, and he had always told her of how bad Timber was getting, and when she was finally able to see it first hand, she knew then and there she wanted to help. Her connection to the Galbadian military through her father and her family's wealth had helped the Owls become one of the more powerful resistance factions in Timber. She had never had to go through what the citizens of Timber had endured, but just watching the hopeless mothers begging for food for the children who were growing up into an impoverished future made her obstinate in her quest to free Timber from Deling's grasp. This was her calling, and even though her father hated it, this was what she wanted. She was willing to go to hell and back if only to see Timber flourish once more.
She knew then what she had to do.
Rinoa walked over to one of the cardboard boxes, reached in, pulled out a spare rappelling belt, and walked up to Selphie.
"Are you ready?" Rinoa asked, Selphie proud of Rinoa for acting so bravely.
"Princess…" Zone asked, walking up to her worriedly, "You're not going up there, are you?"
"We need to do this," Rinoa confirmed, resting her foot on the first rung of the ladder. "There's no other way."
"Rinoa!" Watts called out, and ran over to her, taking her hand in his, "Please, be careful."
Rinoa caringly smiled at Watts, and began up the ladder with Selphie right behind her.
It was do or die.
Tuesday, May 2nd 4268
1731 hrs
Another half an hour had passed, which meant it was time to update the president once more. Nothing had been going on, but that didn't mean that they could slack off from their duties. The president had reacted badly the last time he updated him, so he knew it was only a matter of time before Deling flipped his lid.
Then a thought came to mind. Maybe if someone else were to do give him the report, Deling wouldn't be so mad. He couldn't get Cravens to do it since he was still busy trying to get the sensors back up, and wasn't about to send Corporal Telek in there and possibly stutter and be thrown in the brig. So he decided to patch through to his fellow Viper in the second escort.
"Zander, can you give the president his update?" he asked a favor of his fellow Sergeant.
"That's your job, Kojax!" Sergeant Zander Pollardo countered, "You were handpicked by Dandridge, not me."
"Come on, do me a solid!" Kojax pleaded.
"I would sooner bear your children, Dane," Zander replied, laughing on the other end.
"Asshole!" Kojax cursed at him, and shook his head madly. He felt it would hypocritical to hold a grudge though, since he knew he'd probably react the same way. He glanced over, watching Cravens smack the side of one of the terminals as the screen before him turned to a solid blue.
"Are the sensors up yet?" Kojax asked, pretty sure that they weren't.
"Naw, every time I get them back up, the system freezes and reboots," Cravens continued making adjustments, sounding very stressed.
"Alright," he replied, and then walked towards the door to the presidential cabin, "Going in!"
He decided to do it quickly as his subordinate had earlier suggested, hoping maybe he could get in and get out before the president could give him another verbal lashing. Opening the door, he rushed in and stood right next to the president, and gave a quick salute. Looking at the president, he seemed to be deep in thought with his nose buried in the newspaper.
"Mr. President?" Kojax announced, watching as the presidents head shook, the soldier readying himself for a scolding.
"What is it?" the president asked, sounding agitated.
"I just wanted to inform you, the sensors are down, but all conditions remain normal," Kojax blurted, sounding more like one long word than a status report. He only hoped the president didn't get angry on account of that.
"Fine," Deling replied, "If there is nothing else, I would like to be alone. I'm in a very bad mood right now."
Kojax was surprised at the composed manner in which the president dismissed him. Deling wasn't one to share his feelings, and usually had he not been in the cheeriest of spirits, he would express himself by giving the poor soldier who delivered the report a one way ticket to D-District Prison, just for his amusement.
"Yes, Mr. President." Kojax answered, saluted and made quick pace towards the door.
Just as he reached for the handle, he paused, his soldier instincts stopping him. He glanced back through the cabin, finding it to be a bit different than he remembered. The lights were a bit too bright for Deling's tastes, who he was informed liked the cabin to be dimly lit. Also, a distinct smell filled the cabin, almost flowery, which struck him as odd. The statues and walls around room seemed to be of darker shades than he recalled. He really didn't know what to make of these slight abnormalities, but he didn't care. He didn't see anything that was so blaringly out of place that rectified questioning the president, which he knew may have been nothing more than his imagination. He simply shrugged, opened the door, and exited without a sound.
Stepping back out, Cravens and Telek both looked up, "How'd it go?" Cravens asked.
"That was weird," Kojax answered, leaning back against the door, "He was actually civil…like it wasn't even him!"
"Ha, maybe he had a spiritual enlightening in the past half hour!" Cravens answered, still fiddling with the equipment, not aware of how much that equipment was needed at that point in time.
Tuesday, May 2nd 4268
1733 hrs
After everything had moved into place, Squall and Zell moved on, heading towards the roof of the second escort to proceed with the next uncoupling. Continuing down the length of the train, this time the wind behind them, Squall felt a hand tap him on the back. Looking back, he saw Zell standing right beside him, his arm stretched out pointing to the rear. Bringing his eyes to survey Zell's interest, Squall's eyes widened, watching as the two young women who were supposed to be safely on the train crawled out from the hatch of the Forest Owl's base. Squall looked back at Zell, who shrugged, obviously not aware of why Rinoa and Selphie were joining them up top.
And judging by the second rappelling belt Rinoa had with her, it wasn't just to chat.
"What are you two doing here?" Squall yelled over the screaming gusts as he approached them, "I told you to stay on the train!"
"Zell and Selphie need to uncouple the dummy train from our car, while me and you uncouple the second escort." Rinoa informed him, handing the other rappelling belt to Zell.
"This is dangerous!" Squall yelled, "You're going to get yourself killed!"
"I know what I'm doing," she answered, and looked at Selphie and Zell, and back to Squall, "Now let's go!" Squall too looked over at his comrades, watching Selphie wave Zell along.
"Come on, Zell!" she instructed, the blonde complying and running behind her towards the dummy train.
Squall 's eyes locked onto Rinoa as she looked up at him, seeing in her eyes that she was going to come with him regardless of what he said. He knew he was going to need someone to relay the codes, and from what little he knew of the rest of the Forest Owl members, Rinoa was most likely the best candidate. What made him angry was the poor planning. Had they informed him earlier, he could've come up with a safer strategy, but now nothing was certain. One wrong step and she was surely a goner, especially without the enhancements the SeeD's had due to their Guardian Forces.
He ran behind her as she continued forth, looking down at his watch to see that just over three minutes remained until the train reached the next switchpoint. Rinoa was able to jump across the lines without assistance, but Squall was sure to keep a cautious eye on her in case she happened to slip. The tail of her light blue dress fluttered back as the wind sailed past her, obviously not great attire for such an activity. Upon reaching the front of the second escort, Squall peeked over the edge again, not seeing, but at least knowing this time exactly where the security panel was.
"After we enter these last codes, we're home free," Rinoa yelled as she latched the hook onto the metal handle on the roof, Squall tugging on it to make sure it was fastened securely, "We have three minutes left to get this all done."
Squall nodded, and backed up towards the ledge, knowing there was no time to waste. He quickly began releasing more line, trying to get to the panel beneath before the guards inside could spot him. He was able to get down without detection, and adjusted himself in a better position, before waving to Rinoa that he was ready. Rinoa had known the codes from memory, seeing as she was the one that got the info in the first place.
"The code is…" she started, and recited the numbers to herself before relaying them to Squall, "5-7-7-9-7-3."
Squall input the code, and again, a small green light activated, signifying he had entered it correctly. Squall gave Rinoa a thumbs-up and looked to his left as the air blasted his face, finding Zell having and easy time handling the task.
Zell had an advantage in a few areas, being that he was wearing gloved and that Ifrit provided him enough physical strength to pull himself up and down without a problem. Squall could feel his right hand bleeding as he held tightly onto the cord, watching the red liquid from his closed hand run along the rusted cord and then fly away with the wind. The pain was secondary at that point though. One more code and they were home free.
"The last code is 0-7-3-1-4-6!" Rinoa shouted, Squall nodding just as Zell finished inputting the codes to uncouple the dummy car. Squall knew he had to hurry. He quickly pounded the numbers and hit enter, watching as a second green light lit and then beginning to flicker, indicating the uncoupling was about to commence.
"Done," Rinoa boomed with excitement, but with enough awareness to realize they needed to get back to the base before the switchpoint, which was less than forty seconds away, "Let's get out of here!"
Squall heard Rinoa's call, and began to force the handles upwards with all his remaining strength. He pushed up until he came to the windows, his feet standing against the dark glass. The handles stuck, not budging a bit as he pushed up with his scratched hands, knowing he was within plain view of whatever guards were inside the cabin.
As he continued his struggle with the handles, a sudden jolt of awareness shot through his mind, as if Quezacotl just unleashed a thunderstorm in his mind. Squall closed his eyes, now becoming completely aware of what was going on inside the cabin. He could sense on man off to the side, toying with some electronic equipment. There were two other men, both sitting at a table in the back of the room, playing cards or something.
And then, he could sense as a set of eyes began to look in his direction. It seemed the jig was up.
Tuesday, May 2nd 4268
1735 hrs
"What the…" Telek yelled as he jumped from his seat, throwing the deck of Triple Triad cards to the floor, and ran to the window.
"What is it?" Kojax questioned, picking up the cards from the floor.
"I thought I saw someone out here," Telek said as he continues his search, going from window to window. Kojax ran over to aide his subordinate, but saw nothing but passing landscapes.
"I don't see anything," he told Telek, chalking it up to his inexperience.
"I swore I…" Telek stated as he ran towards the door window, but was cut off by Cravens.
"You reject, you ain't Viper material," he stated with a laugh, "Hell, you ain't even G-Army material!"
"Fuck you Cravens!" Telek erupted, taking the two other soldiers off guard. Cravens had been cracking on him for the last three days, telling him he wasn't cut out for the job he was seeking, and Telek finally had enough.
"All you do is sit in front of a screen with your thumb up your ass, and you think you're tough shit!" Telek demanded and began to approach Cravens, before Kojax stepped in his way, ensuring the confrontation didn't come to blows.
"Stand down, Corporal!" Cravens ordered as he stood up, and pointed at the young soldier, "Cursing out a superior is punishable by brig time and garnishment of wages! You best show me some respect!"
"Respect is earned, not given!" Telek yelled back, still being restrained by Kojax.
"Why you…" Cravens muttered with raging eyes, and shot towards Telek. Kojax had enough, and stepped between the two, halting both in their tracks.
"Both of you, shut up! We have a job to do, and…" Kojax began, before a series of loud beeps interrupted. "What is that noise?" he asked, Cravens looking over to see the screen was divided into multiple sections, displaying the sound and temperature status.
"Sensors are back up," Cravens stated and ran back to his chair, observing the readings, "The heat sensor…actually both sensors are going nuts!" he told Kojax as he began to flip multiple switches, and enter commands via the keyboard. Kojax didn't know much about the equipment, but figured it was still malfunctioning.
"Probably just…" he began, before something perforated his peripheral vision, "…the hell?" he stammered, swearing to himself that he just saw a black pant-leg out of the door window. At first, he thought it may have just been a bird or even an aerial fiend flying past, but he was becoming suspicious, seeing as how the sensors picking up something. Kojax reached to his goggles, and adjusted the setting to heat vision; his jaw dropping as he saw the red outline of two figures on the roof.
Without warning he armed his assault rifle and began blasting shots through the roof, making both Telek and Craven jump in shock. He continued firing, watching as the enemies above moved across the roof, looking as if they were heading towards the car next to them. Kojax discontinued his fire and ran towards the door that separated the two lines. Trying to open it, the door wouldn't move, as if it had been locked from the outside. Kojax wasted no time in gunning down the door, and kicking it open, seeing thick chunks of ice on the broken down door.
Looking back up, he watched as an unknown car that was for some reason attached to theirs, uncoupled. He fired at the train taking out a few windows, but had no chance of doing much more than that. He watched as the train distanced itself, and then quickly turned down an opposite track, and soonafter disappeared behind the trees and tall shrubs in the near distance. Knowing the intruders had gotten away, the main priority now was the presidents safety.
Just then, a voice emitted from Kojax's earpiece, "Kojax, I thought I just heard gunfire," Sergeant Zane, who was aboard the other escort, questioned.
"Stop the train!" Kojax yelled as he ran towards the president's cabin, Telek and Cravens still in shock as to what was going on.
"What?" Zane shouted.
"Secure Red Baron, I repeat, secure Red Baron!" Kojax ordered, feeling as the train began to slow down abruptly. Without announcement, Kojax ran in, watching as Zane ran in from the other side.
"Mr. President?" Kojax called out.
"What now?" the president asked, as Zane looked around the room, as if something weren't right.
"We have a situation, we…" Kojax began, but was stopped by Deling, who hadn't taken his eyes off the newspaper.
"Let me guess," the president started, "There is someone unauthorized onboard?" Deling asked, Kojax shocked that the president knew, but didn't inform them.
"Yes, sir." Kojax confirmed and looked over to Zane, who was inspecting the cabin thoroughly.
"Well you don't have to worry," the president stated, turning Kojax's attention back to him, "They are no longer aboard this train."
Kojax nodded, "I know, but do you know where they are headed, Mr. President?" he asked.
"What I know is this…" the president started, Kojax freezing in anticipation, "They are on a runaway train with your beloved president!"
Kojax cocked his head, not sure what to make of the president's response.
"Sir?" he asked. Kojax then looked back as he heard heavy footsteps, watching as Zane nudged him away and ripped the newspaper from Deling's hands, which were still extended as if he were still reading it. A few short seconds later, Deling's head turned towards the two soldiers in robotic fashion, both soldier now aware that it was not the president sitting in front of them.
"Nice work, dipshits!" Dummy Deling said, as a demented clown laughter filled the room. Zane bit his lip in anger as the dummy chuckled at their grave mistake, pulled out a handgun, and took off the head with a single pull of the trigger, watching as wires and mechanisms from the head sparked and caught fire, melting the fake skin of the dummy. Zane looked over at Kojax as if he wanted to knock his teeth out, but that would have to wait until later.
"Get Dandridge on the line!" Zane demanded towards his subordinate, and went back inside his escort, slamming the door. Telek then walked inside the cabin, seeing the humanoid Deling melting before him.
"What's going to happen to us, Sergeant Kojax?" Telek asked.
He looked up, took a long breath, and answered, "Hope you like bread and water, kid."
Kojax kicked himself; had he trusted the young man in the first place, the whole debacle may have been avoided. Now, the rookie soldier was undoubtedly going to be punished for his mistakes. It was his fault for thinking that just because a kidnapping or assignation attempt hadn't happened in years that it wasn't going to happen on that day. He knew he deserved whatever he got for being so naïve, but Telek was the only one that seemed to be doing his job, and now his chances of ever being a Viper were all but over. Kojax consoled Telek with a pat on the back, being that the young man was on the brink on tears.
Still, Kojax couldn't help but wonder why security had been so lax this time, and it seemed as if it was setup of some sort. Either way, he knew he'd have plenty of time to think about it in his cold cell in D-District.
Sorry it took so long, but this was one of those chapters that I dreaded writing. It's not the easiest chapter to write, and I hope y'all liked it. Now, I can move on. Okay, let's roll!
Inside Look
I wanted this chapter to show just exactly how little the SeeD's had to work with in this mission, and I thing I didn't a decent job. Didn't really want any types of nifty gadgets and stuff for them to use. This isn't Mission: Impossible after all.
I change a lot of the stuff in this chapter so it fit better, don't know how well I did on that front, but let me know. Like I said, I hated writing this chapter. I still did my best though.
Any Seinfeld fans in the house? There were a few quotes from the show in here, just for comic relief.
Kojax and Telek have some extended parts in this story, they will be in a few of the coming chapters, and some later chapters. I kinda pictured Kojax to be somewhat of a Bruce Willis type character, that's why I like him.
Prodigy's Corner
Kaiser: Yes, I love that tension between Seifer and Xu, it's intense and comical all at once. I think we may just think alike, because there we're a lot of idea's I had that Greg put in Gunblade that I was like "Whoa, we must think along the same lines!"
Leonhart-Zero: Ha, guess you're a fan of Squall. Being that the majority of the coming chapters will be focusing on our introverted friend, I felt the need to give Seifer his dues, since he is an awesome character.
Noacat: Yes, every great police department has Murphy somewhere in the mix. Yes, Seifer really deserved it…not nearly enough of him in the game. Lotz more to come too!
Dragonbait: A new reviewer, always nice. I know, many grammar errors, stupid ones at that. But usually when I get finished with a chapter, I just wanna put it out, so I just skim over it and fix the mistakes I see, but there are always more. That's why I really need an editor.
L.A.: Oooh, a mystery reviewer! Thanks for the kind words, and I hope you enjoy what's to come!
So, like I've been saying, I'm getting out of the military soon, so I am going to be busy, but still expect a at least every 2 weeks until September. Chapter 12 should be out by next Friday. Until then, enjoy this one! Laters!
Prodigy