Chapter XXIV: Convenient Death
Dark Garden Forces- Central
2330 Hours, March 16 2 G.E.
Location: Esthar Shopping Plaza, Esthar Capitol Area, Esthar
There seemed to be no end to bullets. Gunfire was the new rain. It had only been a few hours, but Squall could not even remember what silence sounded like. His ground team had reached a critical junction in the city near a small shopping plaza but had been pinned down by mortar fire from the dangerously close Galbadia Garden which loomed overhead like the body of a particularly vengeful God.
"Where's the diversion?!" Quistis shouted, ducking behind cover. "I would have thought they'd take the bait by now!"
"Secondary team's pinned down!" Said one of the soldiers. "They got dropped hot into a nest of monsters. Galbadia didn't even notice them!"
"We need to get into that palace on the double!" Quistis shouted to Squall. "We're getting ripped to shreds out here!"
"Right!" Squall nodded. "See if Dark Garden can give us some air support for a few moments so we can dodge the mortar fire!"
A soldier near Quistis began rattling off instructions on a mobile radio.
"That will leave our secondary team without any backup though!" Rinoa said.
"It's only for a few minutes. Besides we're the ones that need backup right now," Squall said.
"Dark Garden says secondary team can't afford the loss of air support. It's a massacre out there. They're actually trying to clear a safe LZ so they can be extracted," the soldier said. "Dark Garden says they should be clear to offer support in about 30 minutes."
"Half an hour?!" Squall shouted. "Okay. With or without support we need to make a blind rush for that palace. We won't survive another half hour out here."
Suddenly the doors of the nearby palace blew open in a massive explosion and a small force of soldiers rushed out, overtaking the Galbadian soldiers.
"This is new," Rinoa said, looking over at the soldiers.
"Those are Esthar's troops. About time they made it to the fight. They left the gate wide open too," Squall said.
"What are you thinking Squall?" Quistis asked.
"Our orders are to assassinate Sorceress Adel. That's a job that you only need a handful of SeeD soldiers for," Squall replied. "Grab the bikes. We're going to rush the gate. The rest of you, give us cover fire until we clear the palace gates then fall back to the insertion point."
The soldiers were in no position or mood to argue. They readied their weapons as Squall, Rinoa and Quistis mounted the two remaining hoverbikes. With a kick the two bikes rushed down the street with massive mortar shells breaking up the road around them. Quistis ran over two Galbadian soldiers as she dodged the artillery and Squall and Rinoa managed to cut a path straight through the middle towards the gate.
"Not so fast!" Came a voice from above.
Squall slammed on the brakes of the bike as Seifer landed on the front and fired a round from his gunblade, missing Rinoa's head by inches. Squall leapt off the bike and tackled Seifer.
"Rinoa, take Quistis and get inside now!" Squall ordered.
"What about you?!" Rinoa shouted.
Seifer kicked Squall in the stomach knocking him back and raised his gunblade again. Squall reached for his and the two were locked in combat smashing steel against one another. Quistis grabbed Rinoa's arm, pulled her onto the bike and drove inside the palace.
Squall dodged a bolt of fire from Seifer's fist.
"Getting a little old for cheap tricks aren't we?" Squall shouted as he ran his blade horizontally, just missing Seifer's stomach.
Seifer parried with a vertical slash, knocking Squall's sword off-course and then pushed forward knocking Squall back.
"You don't get it, do you?" Seifer asked. "I've become the Sorceress's Knight. She's given me the powers needed to protect her, not that I needed them to overcome you at any rate."
"Why, Seifer?" Squall asked. "You never played by the rules but you use to have some sense of honor. What do you get by helping the Sorceress enslave the world like this?"
"You talk about honor? While SeeD scurries around in the background killing people in secret, Galbadia has always attacked directly. You mercenary scum are all alike, acting like you're some tragic underdog heroes just because you're more poorly outfitted," Seifer laughed. "By this time tomorrow SeeD will be dead, Adel will be dead. And nobody will remain to challenge Edea's rule."
"You want Adel dead. Of course. That's why you let the girls go on ahead," Squall shrugged.
"No point in arguing over who gets the pleasure of killing her. My lady Edea will soon be making her way to the Lunatic Pandora. That wonderful creation is a more worthy flagship for her greatness, and the ability to summon monsters is just a bonus.
"But I prattle on. This is a moment I've been waiting for as long as I can remember. I'm going to kill you Squall," Seifer said moving towards Squall raising his gunblade slowly. "Thanks for all the fun."
Just as the sword slashed through the air something whooshed down in front of Squall and the sound of metal on metal grated through the entire plaza. Seifer's blade had smashed into a massive anchor that had stuck itself into the ground in front of Squall.
"Yo! Crew cut!" Laguna shouted from the top of the palace. He leapt down behind Squall with his submachine gun in hand. "Ever heard not to stab a guy when he's down?"
"That's kick, Laguna," said Kiros landing beside him.
Ward landed last and paying no mind to Seifer walked over and grabbed his anchor.
"Quite a backup team," Seifer chuckled. "Fine. My moment can wait until you're all dead. I need to return to Edea's side anyways. Go take care of Adel for us."
He turned and in a flash he had disappeared.
"Laguna, Ward and Kiros, correct?" Squall asked.
"I take it you too have had dreams about us, huh?" Laguna smirked.
"How did-"
"Squall!" Selphie cried as she opened the doors to the palace. "Over here!"
Squall turned and saw Selphie waving with Rinoa and Quistis standing beside them.
"And that's not all! Come quick!" She yelled.
The four men walked into the palace. The last person in a small group was being lifted up out of a nearby sewer grate and Squall looked over to see who it was.
"Zell?! " Squall gasped. "Irvine! Raurk! Dent! Nida! You guys are all okay?"
"We've had one hell of a trip since we lost contact which we'll go into detail about later," said Irvine. "Oh and Rinoa. Somebody you might care about is also here."
He pointed to General Caraway. Rinoa smiled widely and rushed over to hug her father. He patted her back.
"What of Jenson?" Squall asked.
"Organizing the Timber Resistance. You'll be getting some reinforcements soon," Zell said.
"For right now," Laguna began. "We need to go stop Adel . We can worry about Edea and the Lunatic Pandora later. Not to mention that Garden."
"One Sorceress and some bodyguards against this entourage?" Irvine asked. "I daresay we have her outnumbered."
"Adel is powerful," Kiros said. "Even with our numbers it will still be a nearly impossible fight. Never underestimate a Sorceress."
The group walked up through the palace towards the throne room at the top. There were no soldiers remaining in this palace, all had rushed outside to join the battle. When they finally reached the throne room they saw a single chair sitting in a massive circular room. Sitting in the chair, facing them was a very tall woman with long red hair, tied in a braided ponytail behind her. Her arms were muscular and massive. Squall could tell that when she stood up she would be twice his height.
"What pitiful little band is this that comes so willingly into my presence?" Adel asked with a hideous smirk on her lips.
"Adel, honey, you're looking hideously ugly as always," Laguna smirked.
"Laguna Loire. Still angry about Ellone after all these years?" Adel asked.
"I managed to get her out but because of your barricade I was never able to see her," Laguna grunted, seeming annoyed for the first time.
"Well let's have a little reunion then," Adel smiled cruelly as she stood up. As she did so she revealed another woman's head and arms jutting from her chest.
"Ellone!" Laguna shouted, rushing at Adel.
Adel flung him to the side of the room with a wave of her hand.
"She's junctioned Ellone to her body… how is that even possible?" Asked Rinoa who appeared as though she was going to be sick.
"For all these years I didn't know where to find Ellone and you fools brought her back in range of my Capitol. She was so close all I had to do was just summon her back to me and here she is now. One Sorceress Junctioned unto another," Adel laughed cruelly.
"I don't understand," Caraway asked. "Why do you need her power?"
"Ellone has a gift that Sorceress Ultimecia has been looking for. In her haste to capture it, she knocked her power out of sync and as a result changed the flow and course of history," Adel grinned.
"Sorceress Ultimecia?" Zell asked.
"What power are you talking about?" Quistis asked.
"Ellone can control the flow of time. She can take people back into the past, and even glimpse vaguely into the future. Edea is not acting of her own desire, you fools. Ultimecia is using Ellone's power to control Edea from the distant future," Adel said. "She seeks to capture Ellone and bring her into the future with her. There she can achieve her true desire: Time Compression."
"Time… Compression?" Rinoa asked.
"The past, present and future all forced together to exist in one moment. A nightmarish existence for her foes, and a world in which only she could truly exist," Adel said. "I am preventing her from doing this by making it my duty to destroy Ellone once and for all. You ignorant mortals are too impertinent for your own good. You require the rule of an enlightened Sorceress to prevent you from eating each other."
"We'll take our chances you miserable bitch!" Laguna shouted raising his weapon and firing at Adel's head. All of the bullets flew off course, just barely missing the others, ramming into the metal walls with a loud grating sound.
"I took Raine from you, Laguna. The mother of your child who you left for the orphanage. I took Ellone, your step-child. And before I take your life, I think I will take the life of your child as well," Adel said.
She used her free arm to conjure a metal shard and threw it towards Squall. There was no time to dodge, Squall raised his gunblade and the metal traveled up the blade with a hiss missing his head and sticking into the wall behind him.
"Enough of this."
A woman leapt down in front of Adel.
"So, Ultimecia has another puppet for me to play with?" Adel smirked.
"Yeah," the woman said. "And she's a bitch."
In one swift movement she drew a crest in front of Adel which glew bright blue. Ellone emerged from Adel's body as though erupting from a cocoon.
"What is the meaning of this!?" Adel screamed. "How can you possess that kind of power?!"
"Like this."
The crest burned orange and Adel's body melted away in an explosion of fire, blood and sinew. As the last shrieks of Adel ended the room was left in complete silence. The woman turned to the rest of them.
"Xu?" Selphie asked.
Xu shook her head. "Not anymore. A puppet of Ultimecia. But don't worry, I've thought of a way out."
She lifted Squall's gunblade and pointed it at herself.
"What are you talking about?! " Squall shouted.
"Please, kill me," Xu said. "I should have died that day in Trabia. If you don't kill me, Ultimecia will simply make me kill all of you."
"I won't," Squall said. "We can figure something out!"
"Xu," said Ellone as she slowly rose to her feet. She placed her arms around her, embracing her from behind. "Be at peace."
The mark on Xu's body disappeared in a small green light. Ellone fell to the floor unconscious.
"Xu? How do you feel? Xu!" Squall looked over to Xu who was now on her knees.
"I told you," Xu said. "I should have died that day in Trabia. It was only Ultimecia's power that brought me back to life."
She looked up and Squall saw the spurting red blood from the wound in her chest where she'd been shot.
"Xu! No!" Selphie cried.
"Xu!" Quistis pushed Squall out of the way and hugged her.
"Quistis," Xu said. "I guess you're the boss now. I'm sorry for everything." She exhaled and fell back to the floor.
Xu was dead.