Lionheart

by Adam Clayton Jones

The Ballad of Squall Leonhart. New Chapter "Gathering of the Storm" uploaded. **Apologies for the delay** The early skirmishes of the SeeD Forces against the Pandora forces.

36. Air Raid

AIR RAID

Quistis Trepe opened her eyes and groaned loudly. She laid on her stomach, and her hair was undone and plastered to her face. She sorely pulled it back from her skin and wrinkled her nose at the sweat that clung to her skin as well as the humidity that lay thick in the air. She also realized she was on the ceiling of the escape pod, and Piet was doubled over the broken bench that they had been sitting on. Their harnesses had snapped upon reentry, but she had been fortunate enough to be wedged between two panels with adequate protection. The stubborn Piet, on the other hand, had half of his spine ripped out his upper back.

There were lots of flies billowing around the stench of death, and her curiousity propelled her to gently lift herself off the floor and to peek over the disjointed bench. She recoiled instantly upon seeing a long vertical stick of blood-stained bone poking out the back of his shirt. She covered her nose and mouth to stifle a scream and slowly shook her head. Her eyes, once she slowly opened them again, granted her her first look at her own condition. She had lots of bruises on her arms and legs, a few cuts with one open on her left knee, and she was missing a tooth and part of her chin was crusted in dried blood. That realization caused her to taste heavy copper on her tongue, and she almost threw up. That made her recoil for the open pod door- a thought she didn't think twice one- and she bolted for fresh air and landed hard onto the Estharian soil. She spent a few minutes gasping for air and trying to force that grisly image of poor Piet out of her mind. He had been most unfortunate to not only have had the weakest harness but to also caught wide open during the crash.

But what of Ellone?

She glanced back and realized her friend was not in there, and she chanced to inspect the pod once more. She quickly scoured all possible places from the open hatch and came up with nothing. She then studied the open hatch and saw that it had been forced open. A slow inspection of the earth revealed lots of blended footprints leading from some place over the nearest dune towards the half-submerged pod in the soil.

"Who...came?" she spoke aloud. Her mouth was dry as a bone, and she had to work to garner enough saliva.

She slowly stood up, fell back down to her knees under the incredible soreness, steeled herself up, and then pushed back up. Only to fall back down again.

"Come...come on girl," she told herself. "You're a SeeD, dammit."

She curled her fingers into a fist and forced herself up. She stayed upright for about six seconds, shifting her weight from one foot to the next and then fell back into the pod. She dimmed down the dizziness and then set out walking. Slowly at first, then at a small trot up to the high point of the dune. She crested it and then fell back to her knees. The Sun was almost down for the day, so the soil wasn't that hot. She also found the source of the footprints, which all meshed together in one big conglomeration next to a long line of vehicle tracks. The tracks then made their way in an eastern direction, and as her eyes trained further to the east she saw the city of Esthar on the horizon.

It seemed the Estharians had taken Ellone back to the city.

But why not her as well?

"They... must have thought I was dead," she said glumly.

A rumble echoed against the environment around her, and she immediately scoured the earth around her. Her bladed whip, thankfully, was still on her hip although through the commotion it had managed to cut into her side a bit, and she quickly wrenched it out and applied some healing magic to her condition. As she sewed herself back up, she kept a dutiful eye on all directions across these barren dunelands.

The rumble did intensify, and she intensified her curing process as safely as she could. Then, she had to stop.

A vessel shot out from behind one of the far-off dunes, followed by an escort of ten more. Armored humvees and giant convoys filled with heavily armed Estharian soldiers drove off in front of the low-cruising vessel. A distinct medical symbol on the side of large vessel, bright red in color, was visible from her stance. The parade of Estharian vehicles were not heading to Esthar, however, which alarmed her. They were heading southeast, towards some fixed point that she couldn't tell from her location.

She was glad that they didn't notice her, but she was far from relieved. Something was very strange about this scene. The Estharian convoy units were primed up for what looked like a major battle to be fought with; however, she could not understand why that would be. She did think the purveying red mist blanketing everything south and to the southeast was a strange phenomenon.

One she certainly didn't recall seeing when they had gone to the Lunar Base to be jettisoned into space.

She steadily watched the convoy head off into the horizon, and suddenly she grew very fearful. She was convinced that something wasn't right- in her usual pessimistic mood-but then, she didn't what to do next.

So she just sat there and waited for a good while.

Then, another rumbling sound pricked up her ears. However, it was much quieter than the Estharian convoy.

One lone Jeep soared across a nearby dune, and she immediately got to her feet with much greater ease this time. Shielding her eyes against the glare that came off the windshield, she saw none other than Selphie Tilmitt behind the wheel of that cruiser. With Irvine next to her and Zell and Milena in the backseat. Angelo could also be seen in the backseat between them, his tail jerking around left and right.

A small bit of relief overwhelmed her, and she put her whip back into its place and walked a bit forward to greet them. Selphie pulled the Jeep around next to the submerged pod, and all of them got out.

"Quisty!" Selphie squealed and embraced her tightly. Mila followed suit, and the guys gave her tighter hugs as well, and the furry mutt pranced around and enjoyed the warm reunion. Selphie pulled back and instantly frowned. "Why do you look so bent out of shape?"

"More so than usual?" Irvine smirked. He received a hit in the gut from Selphie.

Quistis giggled and smoothed her hair back. "It was a wild ride to say the least. Funny. The Estharians can make all this wonderful, high-tech equipment, and they can make a rusty, rickety, piece-of-crap escape pod at the same time." She kicked the side of the pod. "The only thing that saved my life and possibly Ellone's was the wide panels on one side of the rig."

"Wait, so that means-?" Irvine didn't finish and walked over to inspect the pod. "Holy shit!" he yelled as he poked his head inside.

Selphie and Mila widened their eyes, and Zell ran forward in a giddy mood. "What is it? What is it?" The smell drove him back at first when he got to the open hatch. "Dude! The hell is that smell?"

Irvine grabbed the back of his collar and shoved his head in.

"Holy sh-it!" Zell squealed, but he couldn't take his eyes off the sight of poor Piet's mangled body. He had a curious morbid fascination with the stretch of spine poking out the upper back of the scientist's body. "Damn, son. That guy got wrecked!"

"What?" Selphie and Mila asked together.

"You don't want to know," Quistis warned, shaking her head at the guys' fascination.

"Who is this guy?" Irvine asked, stealing a peek back at them.

Quistis turned to him. "His name is Piet, and he was alive when we jettisoned. In his haste, he forgot to properly hook himself up, and...well..there you go," she said pointing to where his body lay behind the metal covering.

Angelo went to inspect and the pulled back with a disgusted whimper and batted at his nose to avoid the smell.

"Well, that's a bitch," Zell said, averting his gaze and coming back down to join the girls.

"Gee, Zell," Mila said, "nice to know your view on things."

"Hey, it was his own fault. He obviously didn't have SeeD training skills, or he would've known to better prepare himself."

"Quite right," Irvine affirmed, pulling his head back out too and rejoining the group. He then stopped and remembered something. "Did you say Ellone was on here?"

Selphie gasped. "Really?"

Quistis nodded.

"W-Where is she?" Zell asked.

"I... don't know."

They looked at her, puzzled, and scratched their heads.

"Well, don't look at me that. I am just as puzzled as you all. In fact," Her face grimaced and reddened with frustration. "I am pretty fucking pissed off here!"

They all jolted from the sudden outburst, but sympathized a bit- indeed, strange things had been afoot in the past 24 hours.

"What the hell is going on here?" Quistis demanded. "Squall and I left with Rinoa in tow from Esthar's Lunar Base, everything was fine and hunky-dory. We got to see the city a bit, we took a leisurely ride, we end up at the base, underwent "cold-sleep" that was really, really itchy when we woke up from it. Then that dead guy Piet in there placed Rinoa in a lab chamber so they could do some more studies on her, and then Squall and I went to take a small tour of the space ship. We saw these weird sights on the Moon that turned out to be patches of monsters mingling about on the lunar surface.

"Then, we reunited with Ellone and had a long, good conversation. Then the alarm bells sounded off and screeched that a trouble was happening near the labs where Rinoa was being held. So, Squall went to go check it out and then a lot of commotion happened and several people died."

"What?" Irvine asked.

"How?" Selphie questioned.

"It was Rinoa." Quistis said glumly.

"What?" Zell, Irvine and Selphie replied.

"Wait, I thought she was in a coma," Mila said.

"She was on her two feet," Quistis said, in a much darker tone. "Covered in a glowing aura and swaying around like she was in a drunken stupor. She zipped her way through the space station and killed a few more people with, like, a light pulse that shot from her palm."

"No way," they all said, a little nervously. Angelo didn't want to believe it, either. Their feelings weren't helped by Quistis's solemn expression.

"She went to the control station, killed off the controllers, and then opened..." She collected some saliva to say this part. "She opened the seals on Sorceress Adel's chambers out in space."

Her friend's faces grew instantly tight, and that quick reaction stopped Quistis for a moment.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

They didn't respond at first. "Keep going," Irvine said finally.

She hesitated. "Rinoa... left the control room then and headed for the exit stations and donned a space suit. Squall followed her, but he got held up by the President who was in the process of evacuating, along with everybody else. Squall came back, dejected, and me, Ellone and Piet had to force him into the escape pod. Meanwhile, Rinoa, still possessed, went over to Adel's tomb and opened the final seals." She thought of something and smacked herself for not remembering. "I forgot the most important part."

They waited.

"The Lunar Cry started once she deactivated the first seals. A big red plume of monsters jettisoned off the surface of the Moon and landed here on this earth. Somewhere, I think Piet said, Tears' Pointe."

She noticed her friends look in that direction in a knowing way, and she hated the ominous news that seemed impending on their tongues. She also was about on the verge of tears, and her voice was choked as she explained further. "Rinoa... opened Adel's tomb...and the Sorceress flicked her off like Angelo would do to a flea, and she went spiralling out of control."

The girls lurched at that news. Irvine was stunned. "Was she still possessed?" Zell asked.

"No. Ellone told us that. She could feel Rinoa's presence but not her actual physical form. On the escape pod, as the space station imploded in the red plume, Squall begged her to regain a memory in the past- I think it was that moment when we defeated Ultimecia inside Edea's form at Galbadia Garden- I think he wanted that moment. It was about a couple of minutes with that proceeding. Suddenly, Squall seemed to be able to connect with Rinoa again, and he was mumbling some strange stuff. I'm not quite sure what it was, but he seemed to be getting happy about it. Piet was making fun of him a bit over it."

"That sonofa-"

"Quiet, Zell!" Mila scolded.

Quistis laughed, recalling the memory so fondly. "Suddenly, he sprang to his feet, told Ellone 'thank you', gave me a wink of assurance and left the escape pod."

"What?" all of them exploded.

"He left."

Silence.

"Da-mn," Irvine smiled, nodding his head in approval.

Selphie smacked him in the gut again. "Now that's pretty heroic."

"A good way to get himself killed," Mila said sadly.

"I don't know what happened to them," Quistis admitted, "I don't like to think that-"

"-Don't think about it," Irvine said.

"Irvy!" Selphie refuted.

"No, Selphie, Zell, Quistis, Milena. He did what he had to do, and I'm proud of him for it." He took a look up at the sky for a minute. "I think we should honor their memories as of this moment."

"Agreed," Zell said, and they all bowed their heads for a good long time. Angelo made the only sound- a slow, steady whimper and a slow beat of his tail against the ground.

The Sun had now set by this time, and the red mist in the background became a strong purple under the glowing Moon that seemed a bit tinged with an orange glow. A strong acidic breeze blew through the dunes.

"I know you all want to tell me something," Quistis said, finally. "I can see it your eyes and by your expressions."

"Ooh boy," Mila sighed.

"Tell me about it," Selphie concurred.

"Right," Zell said, feeling it was his duty to explain things first. "Okay when you and Squall left, everything was pretty normal, and we got to talking about, you know, bullshit and all that. Then Angelo started acting up." The dog barked a bit at that.

"What unnerved him?" Quistis interrupted. "And where's Matron by the way?"

"Hold on, hold on," Zell said, "I'll get there, I'll get there."

"So get there," Irvine joked.

Zell grunted and shook his head. "Matron went off a little while ago to meet up with the Headmaster. I'm not sure where she was going to find him, but she seemed to have a sixth sense about his location."

"I'll take it from here," Irvine butted in. "Quistis, yeah Angelo was acting up, and for good reason. The Lunatic Pandora had been camoflauged over the ocean and it suddenly appeared over the city and attacked the far western seaports and residential areas."

"The Lunatic Pandora!" Quistis exclaimed. All her previous Balamb studies had now come back to penetrate her mind with a new and vicious freshness. "No. The Lunatic Pandora! That thing was here?"

"Yes," Mila said. "It's like three hundred stories tall and filled to the brim with Galbadian, Delinger and old Estharian weaponry and... it killed a good number of people on the first rounds."

"So we went and talked with Odine," Selphie continued, "you remember, that crazy old scientist guy?"

"Yeah, I remember."

"He said it appeared to be heading for Tears' Pointe to start the Lunar Cry all over again. He said a bunch of monsters were going to fall from the Moon and reactivate the hideous Guardian monsters that lurk in the tombs within that site."

"Then," Zell continued, "we split up into two teams and left Odine's lab, and that was when the Pandora opened up its gates and spilled forth what was the Super Guard."

"The Super Guard?" Quistis asked.

"A brainwashed legion of impressed Galbadian, Delinger and Dolletian citizenry," Irvine explained, "armed with long-range flamethrowers. They torched a good chunk of downtown Esthar and killed about four hundred civilians and about sixty military officials. A small, flimsy mecha was controlling the roughly thirty thousand squadron and was manned by heavily-armored Galbadian soldiers."

"Galbadian soldiers?" Quistis asked. "So that means that-"

"Whigham was in charge."

"Not only that," Selphie said, "but during the raid and especially afterwards, tensions started mounting within the city itself."

"What do you mean?" Quistis asked.

"She's talking about the Tyrannicals," Mila explained. "There's some severe friction going on in the city. Edea said it's because the President is not around to preside over the city. She said his power had been diminishing in two of the five boroughs, and that those boroughs were disentigrating into uncontrollable militias. The Tyrannicals came from one of the boroughs, Dagobas, and started picking off civilians and soldiers as well as the Super Guard. They were basically causing as much ruckus as possible."

"But we all worked together," Zell continued, "and destroyed the mecha that was brainwashing the impressed citizens. The Super Guard quickly stopped their advance, and the Estharian military surrounded the Galbadian soldiers and imprisoned them. The hostile Estharians routed as well, and the Pandora ventured to the outer skirts of the city."

"From the explosion I made in the base of it," Irvine said slyly, "we were all able to get in, and Matron was telling us about the finer points of history behind the massive rig. However, we all were taken aback when we saw Whigham and his...er.. experiments."

"Wh-What are those?" Quistis stammered.

"They've captured people from the western continent and twisted them into horrific-looking monsters. I can't really describe it."

"I think they're massing up for a big war," Mila pondered. "And the Lunar Cry is the frosting on the cake."

"I agree," Irvine said. "Whigham deposited all of us back to the earth, and we witnessed the Pandora line in synch with Tears' Pointe. Then the Lunar Cry came down and plunged straight into the heart of the Pandora." He came forward, put an arm around her and showed her the far eastern and southeastern sides of the land. "Quistis, a massive red plume has enveloped wide stretches of the globe, and hordes of monsters are running around within it. And what's worse, we saw Adel herself fly out of the Pandora's ceiling and perch herself onto the edges. Immediately, a string of monsters came up to worship her and she commanded them to prepare for a long and gruesome battle."

Quistis's throat tightened at the scene in front of her eyes, at the swirling mists. Her first thoughts generated around Rinoa and her opening of the seals. Her actions...caused this.

"Something happened to her, though," Irvine said.

"What?"

"She gave a nasty retch and flew back into the Pandora. I am not quite sure why. She didn't appear again."

"We fled the plains," Zell continued, "as the mist rose up around us and saw some very dangerous looking creatures within it. Quisty, I'd go up against anything on my own... but, uh...heh, not these things."

Quistis groaned. This didn't sound good at all.

"We came back to the city," Mila continued, "and there we saw a large portion of the Estharian population hard at work repairng the damaged infrastructure and curing the wounded Super Guard and the wounded Galbadian soldiers. Dozens of them also manned the outer edges of the city as sentries, but the monsters have so far stayed clear of attacking the city. Edea noticed, though, that despite the high morale in rebuilding the city there was a definite sense of suspicion and mistrust floating around. A lot of people had nervous expressions, and there was all kinds of talk floating around."

"Secessionist talk was floating freely in the eastern half of the city," Selphie noted.

"Secessionist talk?" Quistis asked. "The President evacuated the space station, so he must be back in the city by now."

"Oh, I hope so," Irvine said. "They're having a big meeting in the Congress right now, and I think quite a few members are making plans for a civil war."

"Oh come off it, Irvine! This is no time for that!"

"Hey, I feel the same way. But check this out... none of the top command in the executive branch- the President, the Vice, and the State, War and Treasury Secretaries- were around to calm the city down when the Lunatic Pandora invaded."

"You're kidding?"

"'Fraid not. This incident has sparked outrage within the city, and Matron said that past incidences had already laid down strong fractures within the city."

"Like what?"

"The President had sought and gained a third term. The constitution laid down after Adel's initial defeat all those years ago called for the President to only have two terms at the most. Most of the electorate believed a 'corrupt bargain' had been initiated."

"But the President has the support of the people, though," Mila pointed out.

"Yeah, but nowadays, it seems the people's voice is being suppressed by powerful business interests. Esthar is a little different today than it was seventeen years ago. At least that's what Matron said."

"Oh boy," Quistis said, biting her nail. "Then I wonder if those Estharian convoys earlier were part of the Tyrannical movement?"

"What?" they all asked her.

Quistis pointed to where the convoy had taken off. "When I awoke and found only myself and Piet over there, I stumbled out and heard a loud rumbling. Immediately, a large vessel with a distinct medical symbol on its side took to the air and several dozen heavily-armed Estharian trucks and convoy tanks stormed somewhere to the southeast of here." She pointed to the ground. "Earlier, I think the same convoys pried open this pod's hatch and took Ellone into Esthar. These tracks lead to vehicle tracks that lead to Esthar's gates."

The group followed the tracks and then turned back to Quistis. "They didn't take you?" Irvine asked.

"They probably thought I was dead."

The group slowly nodded.

"Guys," she said, "we're in unprecedented times right now. But... I am kind of curious as to why that medivac vehicle was there. Let's go take a look before we try to reunite with Ellone in Esthar. Maybe we could have a talk with the President at the same time."

They all nodded and slowly got into the Jeep. None of them spoke it, but all of them wished for Rinoa and Squall to be in their presence at that moment.

It was sorely needed.

---

Quistis sat between Mila and Zell with Angelo between her legs, and she searched desperately for something to hold on to while Selphie maniacally commandeered the Jeep, and with every jolt the vehicle made over a dune or a pothole in the more solid surfaces of the soil the former instructor looked about ready to have an anuerysm. The Library girl had nudged her numerous times, offering mild assurances that everything was alright, but Quistis had other remarks for that. It also didn't help that the guys were cheering Selphie on. Angelo seemed to enjoy it, too, but he seemed to be looking for something to grab onto as well. The Jeep hit a particularly rough patch of land, and Quistis bit her tongue on accident. Irvine hit his head on the support bar, but that only increased his exuberance and he cheered her on all the more.

The cheers, however, died completely once the Ragnarok came into view.

Selphie immediately hit the brakes upon cresting over the large red dune, and her passengers immediately were jerked forward. Irvine again hit his head on the support bar and then the dashboard, harder this time. Zell, Quistis and Mila, who weren't wearing seatbelts, crashed into the two front seats, and Quistis ended up between Irvine and Selphie with her face in Selphie's lap.

"What the hell is that?" Zell asked, horrified.

"It's beautiful!" Selphie cooed, taking in every wonderful red, orange, yellow and green detail.

"It looks like a flying dragon," Mila said, in an awed voice.

"Damn, it's pretty huge, too!" Irvine added dumbly, his face turning into a long drawl with some spittle forming on the sides.

Quistis managed to claw herself up by grasping hard against the dashboard. She gazed long and hard at the spaceship and noticed that the hatch was open near its starboard side. "I think we should go check it out," she said, pointing to the open hatch.

"Of course!" Selphie exclaimed, immediately turning off the engine and hopping out. Irvine and Mila followed her, and Quistis struggled to get out herself. Angelo barked with joy and was the first one to reach the ramp.

"Whoa, wait a minute!" Zell demanded. "We're just going to board something we don't even know? It could be a danger trap."

"Has that ever stopped you before?" Irvine asked.

"Once, when I was training to be a SeeD."

"And...what did you do to solve it?"

Zell scratched his chin. "I think I did it anyway."

"Well, then, get your ass out of that car and let's get going!"

"Alright, alright." He glumly got out and hurried on after the others.

As they got closer to the Ragnarok, they noticed several scatterings of footprints and tire treads all clustered around the ship. "This must be the sight of those convoys you were talking about," Mila told Quistis.

"I believe so," she agreed.

"Well, then, why didn't they take this dragon ship?" Irvine asked.

"They left it for us, silly," Selphie said, playfully.

"Girl, come on. You can't pilot this thing."

"And I couldn't pilot that tank from the Missile Base either, right?"

"Well..."

"Or the Dolphin, remember?"

Irvine muttered something unintelligibly, and Selphie smirked in response.

Quistis reached the ascending platform and peered inside the cargo bay. The looming shadow underneath the belly of the ship made the nighttime surroundings all the more darker, and a cool breeze floated out of the hatch and chilled her to the bone. She decided to take a chance. "He-llo!" she yelled into the bay. "Anyone in there?"

Nothing replied.

"Ooh," Mila shivered, "this is kinda creepy."

"I concur," Irvine said. "You think we should go on?"

"Might as well," Quistis said, with a touch of uncertainty marking her words. She breathed in deeply and ascended slowly. The others followed her lead.

All five of them walked into the cargo bay and then slowly treaded into the main hangar with the two staircases leading up to the cockpit, the bar room, and the main recreational area. The lights were dimmed throughout the craft, but in the bar room the door was closed and a strong light beamed underneath it against the floor. Angelo sniffed around the edges of the door and looked back at them and gave a low bark.

"Someone's here," Irvine noted.

They each momentarily reached for their weapons then retreated from that. With a force of five, they felt confident a simple brawl would suffice. Quistis touched the panel on the side, and the door slid open.

The light was glaring at first, but they soon grew accustomed to it. It smelled of liquor badly, and the first sight they saw was an empty gin bottle. Then their eyes followed the trail of littered glass bottles over to the far end of the room where Squall Leonhart sat in a disheveled heap on one of the chairs that was not overturned. Aside from the empty bottles, tables had been overturned, walls had been slashed with what looked like sword marks, and papers and other things had been crumpled into heaps everywhere. Squall himself was only dressed in his wifebeater and pants. One of his shoes was missing, and his leather jacket was nowhere to be found. He held a half-empty gin bottle in his right hand, and his left held his stomach as if he was going to puke. He didn't acknowledge their presence.

All five of them slowly walked in and looked at him at first with astonishment then with concern.

He still didn't say anything or hardly make any motion. Angelo went up and sniffed his foot, prodding it gently with his nose. Still, Squall didn't make a move.

Finally, Quistis said, "Squall!"

He jolted awake and almost dropped his bottle. With his head bobbing up and down, he forced his eyes to focus on them, and it took about a minute for him to acknowledge her call with a "huh?".

"Squall!" she repeated. "You're alive!"

He looked around the room and then at himself to make sure that that was true or not.

Irvine scratched his head, and Selphie and Mila just looked at him, stupefied.

"Heh," Zell said, cautiously. "You alright there, buddy?"

Angelo barked loudly, causing Squall to make a delay-reactionary jump.

Squall closed his eyes and took a big sigh and then opened his eyes. "Y-Yeah, I'm alright. Well..." he thought about that a bit. "I guess."

"Cool, cuz man a whole lot of shit has gone on since we last met!" Zell said, excitedly.

Squall slowly widened his eyes and then managed to control his bobbing head with another deep swig of his drink. "Oh, really?" He licked his lips, taking in more of that bitter-sweet taste. "Like what?"

"Like the Lunatic Pandora coming back up from the earth, man!" the brawler exclaimed, as if Squall should have known that.

The reminder of that name stung Squall a bit, and he slowly recoiled. "You don't say..."

"Yeah, it attacked the city and unleashed all these repressed citizens from the western continent and all- and you know who was leading them?"

Squall burped. "Who?"

"That Whigham guy."

Squall grunted. He didn't feel like correcting the brawler at this time.

"We tried to stop the rig, but it eventually travelled over to this Tear's Pointe place and then all of a sudden this big red plume of monsters came down from space. Quistis told us all about it, how it manifested and all, and then you know what happened then?"

Squall burped and then hiccupped. "What?"

"The Sorceress Adel appeared, and then everything started going to shit. There's real problems happening within the government of Esthar now, too. Like, factions are starting to split it now. It's all a mess down here."

"Hrmmmm..." Squall mused.

"Squall," Selphie asked, "what's up with you?"

"Yeah," Irvine said. "You don't seem your usual self."

Quistis took a step towards him and looked all around the bar. "Where's Rinoa?" She looked back at him and was puzzled to see him look down suddenly. "I take it that with you here, you must have been successful in rescuing her."

"Yes," he answered in a droll. He recalled the thrilling meet-up back in the depths of space, a recollection he had been playing around in his head for a long time there in that chair. That, and another recent memory that was a bit darker and sadder than that one. "Yes, I was able to find her."

The others hinted at him to continue, and Angelo started panting happily, but he stalled them. "What happened to Piet and Ellone?"

"Piet..." Quistis started, slowly, "...he died upon impact."

Squall raised his eyebrows.

"He didn't strap in safely, and the escape pod was a bit rickety. He was like a pinball, Squall, and part of his spine is sticking out of his body."

"Sick..." he answered with a grin and another swig. "Where's Ellone?"

"We don't know. When I awoke, she was gone, but somebody had taken her since the hatch was pried open. They didn't take me, because they probably thought I was dead. They didn't seem to care about morgues, either. And I think Zell is correct, as well, in the differences of opinion running through Esthar right now. We think it has something to do with the President, but we're not entirely sure."

"Real bad stuff happening right now," Zell reiterated.

"Squall, please," Quistis nagged again. "Where's Rinoa? Something doesn't seem right. And, before that, I have to say- since apparently you and her reunited and came home in this enormous contraption- what's it called, do you know?"

"It's called," he hiccupped, "the Ragnarok."

"Ooh!" Selphie cooed, startling everyone. "I lo-ve that name!"

"The fastest ship in the world," Squall said.

"Squall," Quistis said, "when you jumped out into space, you didn't think about anything else, did you?"

"That's right."

"Damn, son!" Irvine grinned.

"That's awesome!" Zell cheered.

"Wish somebody would do that for me," Mila said, catching Zell's eye.

"You and me both, "Quistis told her. "So, where is the princess that changed this ever-so-cautious Commander of Balamb Garden here?"

Squall's eyes averted once again back to the ground, and his friends grew restless. He sighed and looked up at them. "She's not here."

"What do you mean?" they all asked. Angelo stopped wagging his tail and looked at him pleadingly.

"She is a Sorceress, and rogue units of the Estharian military-possibly, from what you all were saying, on orders from the conflicting politics happening within the city-came and took her away to a medical station. People from the Lunatic Pandora also came, and one of them was Seifer."

They all looked at him like he was crazy, but even in that stupefied drunken manner they could tell that he was telling the cold hard truth.

"Seifer..." Zell grumbled, his hands bunching into fists.

The girls were silent, but Irvine stirred the pot. "That must be what Matron was saying earlier..."

"What?" Squall asked.

"Matron was saying that her powers had been transferred to another during our battle at Lighthouse Pointe. Rinoa...must have gotten them."

Squall sighed. "I am afraid you're right."

"Well, we need to go get her!" Selphie exclaimed, with Mila nodding in approval. "Where is she headed to?"

Squall blinked in surprise.

"Come on, Squall! Where is she headed to?"

"Was she taken by force?" Quistis asked.

"Not exactly..." Squall stated, even though he did recall the circumstances a bit. He was pinned down after all.

"Well, didn't you stop her?" Quistis asked.

"No, it was her decision to go."

"What?" they all yelled.

Angelo even growled a bit at him and bit his hand.

Squall stood up and swayed a bit, but he managed to find his balance. "Now, people listen to me! She did this on her own free will-"

"-Oh, stop it now, Squall!" Quistis demanded.

"Fuck!" Squall shouted, throwing his gin bottle against the wall. "You should have seen the look of terror on her face, as she described her change. I have also seen first-hand the deadly power she is capable of rendering. When we got on this rig, there were eight experimental creatures that had made this ship their home. I did my best to fight them off, but she unleashed this... this... succubus magic on them and incinerated them in one fell swoop."

They all widened their eyes.

"It's more than anything we all have in our arsenal. And she is aware of that, too. She feared for her safety against the wrath that would be threatened against her when we landed back on this earth! The scorn she would have received from everybody, you all included. We had a little moment here on this ship, but now that's all that there is. There is nothing I can do about it. It is beyond my capabilities. Seifer knew that as much as everyone else there did, too. He's only doing the bidding of Ultimecia, anyway." He slumped back down in his chair and continued to stare at the floor.

While the others stared at him in disbelief, Quistis in a perturbed and hyperbolic state and with tears ready to stream down her cheeks walked right up to him, wrenched his face up to meet hers and then promptly slapped him hard across the cheek.

"Holy sh-" Zell started, but failed to finish.

The hit was hard and it stung her palm, but Squall either was immune because of drunkeness or he purposefully did not react and took the brunt of the pain like his SeeD stature demanded. Either way, the tears started flowing down Quistis's cheeks. "Why did you leave that escape pod, Squall?" Her voice choked. "Why did you do that? Huh! Because Ellone made a pretty little speech to you? Because it was a noble thing to do? Huh! No! You did it, because you loved her, Squall!"

He didn't make a move.

"You did it, because she has become the one person who you've truly cared about. Not saying that you don't care about us... but we are like brothers and sisters. We've grown up together, even if we couldn't remember it for all those years. But you and her... you two have gone through many emotions together... and many adventures and done many, many things together."

Squall slowly looked at her.

She had run out of breath and could do nothing but stare at him.

With his face beat red from the sting of her palm, he looked bottled up with words to say, but he found nothing to answer. So, he instead turned back to the floor and failed to say anything more.

A heavy, heavy silence filled the room, and Quistis couldn't stop crying. She finally turned and stormed out of the bar, and the others after another long look at him slowly followed after her and into the hangar room.

Angelo whimpered long and hard. He mournfully looked at him, expecting Squall to suddenly, magically change his mind. When the dog realized that he wasn't going to change his mind, he seemed to shed a tear and he slowly trotted out the bar and made a depressing trip up to the cockpit.

Squall remained in his seat and felt the tingling slap on his cheek. It burned like someone had stuck a brand to it.

You made your decision, he thought, recalling her voice once again. As well as Seifer's gloat.

How can I just let you go... He made a determined effort to get up, but he slumped down hard into his chair, and his head felt woozy. Rinoa... he sighed weakly.

The room went spinning out of control, and all he could do was think and think and think.

---

The large convoy soared across and through the Estharian desert and approached the isolated medivac station, which was ominously called the Sorceress Memorial. The name was practically a morgue for supernatural deaths and Hyne experiments. Hordes of Tyrannicals, defective officials and heavily-armed Estharian soldiers guarded the front entrance, and a few gun turrets were mounted on the sides. The trucks veered into the holding rooms, and the large vessel quickly made a landing onto the tarmac, and the passengers departed.

Seifer dropped out first and rounded up the police to swarm the vessel. Rinoa slowly got out, and more hissing sounds greeted her from the surrounding greenies. She grew angry, but that previous power she had displayed against the Propagators didn't resurface. She looked over at Seifer. "Are all the Estharians behaving like this?"

"No, unfortunately," he said glumly. Some of his underlings swarmed her and prodded her towards the front gates.

"Where's the President in all this?" she asked him.

"The President is not in charge here." Seifer exclaimed.

"Who is?"

"I am."

She looked at him, frightened, but she was forcibly propelled into the Memorial, and the Knight followed with a hideous and twisted smirk on his face. Inside, Rinoa immediately became more frightened. It was deathly cold inside, and there were many strange metallic instruments lying about. One of them looked like a large corkscrew connected to a vibrator; bloodstains highlighted the edges. There was also a long conveyor belt with several shear-like instruments suspended above it.

"What is this place?" Rinoa shuddered.

"Back in the day," Seifer explained, "the group of Estharians called the Easterners collected some of Adel's minions and conducted experiments on them. The results were so genuine that they wondered if they could infuse some of these designs into humans- specifically young girls, with the hopes that those lassies would become the next heir to Adel's reign once the Sorceress had suffered a death via longevity. Or, in the event of a botched plan, death by a mortal."

The soldiers forced her onto a dentist-like chair and strapped her in tight.

"What are you going to do to me?" she demanded.

"Adel is in dire straits, Rin," Seifer said morosely. "Being imprisoned like that for so long has cauterized her powers, rendered her almost meaningless. When she took flight as soon as she dropped down into the Pandora, the energy she expended almost consumed her entirely- much to her disbelief. It seemed that the Estharian government seventeen years ago had perfumed that chamber she was in with a toxic venom that made her fragile and weak.

"You see, Rinoa, we cannot allow that to sustain. Already her monsters and her guardians are getting restless. They wish to destroy the city of Esthar in one fell swoop, but she is ordering patience as best as she can. Although I do expect an occasional attack by one of these more powerful and pernicious beasts, the majority will hold their ground until she gives the signal."

He grinned lecherously at her and put his face close to her ear. "Now...we can assuredly speed this process up a bit."

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Adel needs fresh blood, Rinoa. Ultimecia isn't around to provide it, and she really can't be around because this time of the earth wouldn't be able to support her. The plan all along was to utilize a young, beautiful woman such as yourself to exchange links. Edea was supposed to be that connection at first, but her age and strength were too quick for that bastard Squall to take advantage of."

"Don't talk about him like that!" she snapped.

"Pish posh, Rinoa, he can't help you anymore. He made a defiant stand, but he's useless now."

Her throat tightened, and her eyes became beady slits.

"Ooh, heh, that's right. Get mean and nasty there, Rinny. That's how I like you."

"Bastard!" she spat in his face, jerking herself against her restraints. Amid laughter and jeers from the soldiers present watching the scene, she demanded of Seifer, "Why are you doing this, Seifer? You're not like this! I know you're not like this!"

"What do you know? Huh? The times we spent together before this whole debacle started?"

"Of course. I remember our first meeting and your boyish attitudes. That was your true personality there... not this...sadistic and megalomanical attitude."

"Oh come on now. I've always wanted to be a big presence in this world."

"Not in this way!"

Seifer groaned and shrugged that comment off.

"Don't do this...whatever it is... that you're going to do to me."

"I wouldn't have to if it had already happened."

"What should've happened?"

"Your spirit is too strong, Rinoa. That's both good and bad. Good, because you'll make Adel stronger than ever. Bad, because it's going to take a shitload of work to drill it out of you, heh heh."

"Dammit!" she yelled, pushing hard against the restraints again. "What are you talking about!"

"It should've happened already, Rinoa! But no-! You had to persevere and hold on until he came and rescued you, didn't you?"

She looked at him cluelessly.

"Your possession should've been all that was needed. Like a drunk at a bar, it should've been that easy to unleash whatever anyone wanted to do to you. And... it worked pretty damn well at first. You released her seals, you went out and released her chamber.

"But then...that bastard Squall and that equally mischievous Ellone ressurected you and summoned you back. I've got scouts looking for Ellone, but reports have trailed back saying that the President's men were able to salvage her and secure her in the city. No matter. Plan B is in session anyway. We need to establish a link, Rinoa. Your blood, all of it, must be transferred to Adel's immediately. If not, that Sorceress will probably fade into oblivion."

She gasped. "Are you going to kill me?"

"Who, me? Nonsense. No, you'll be kept in like a drugged state until the process is complete. At the end, whatever Adel decides after that. She could keep you as like a monster or something. Or she'll jettison you back into outer space, and the enormous pressure out there will take care of you then."

"What the f- You despicable monster."

"Rinoa, what do you want me to do?"

She looked at him oddly, because he had a genuinely sympathetic expression. It was mingled with hesitancy and reluctancy for carrying out the task he was supposed to do.

"You're a Sorceress now. I mean it when I say that Squall was a badass for what he did. But now, since you're a witch and all, certain things... must be done."

"No..." she started, but her tears choked her up.

"Rinoa, my soldiers believe I am wasting my time in talking to you-"

"-Duh!" yelled someone from the back.

"-but what can I do to possibly change any of this?"

She believed him, but she hated his guts at the same time. "If Squall can't get here in time, then surely the President of Esthar will stop you."

Extreme laughter and jeering broke out around the room, and several soldiers decided they had had enough and went ahead of schedule to get the instruments needed for the "process".

Seifer sighed. "I told you, Rinoa. The President is not in charge here."

"Why not?" she demanded, fury reigning in her green eyes.

"Times change, Rinoa. Feelings change. The events that happened in the past produced scorn and contempt in certain segments of the population. Over time, differences of opinion led to spats in the Congressional chambers and isolated assassinations of top diplomats. Editorials lambasted top Congressional aides and members of the Presidential Palace. Whole boroughs went against the President and his Cabinet. The military, largely, voted against the administration and held in contempt the civilian control over it. Now, especially, in the absence of the top officials in all three branches of government, the restless majority have taken their cue and have gone rogue against the government. I expect things to start turning violent now that the Lunatic Pandora has resurfaced, monsters are everywhere on the continent and the Sorceress Adel has ultimately returned to their nightmares once more." He seemed to glow as he said that, and what was hesitancy before now turned into sheer malice.

She looked him up and down and grew instantly aware and frightened. "What has Ultimecia done to you?"

He made a large and boyish grin. "Wonderful, wonderful things."

"No-"

"-wonderful things-"

"-She's turned you into a MONSTER!" she cried.

He widened his eyes, unsheathed his gunblade and slammed it with inches of her face. The table next to her cleaved in two, and the voices of the Estharian soldiers and scientist died instantly. The glow that had surrounded him made his skin snow-white, and several instruments and glass windows burst into pieces with the contact of the Hyperion with the table and, consequently, the marble floor.

"I...am not a monster, Sorceress Rinoa. You are the monster in this room."

She widened her eyes at him.

With his free hand he gripped her shoulder and heaved her arm up as far as it could go against the restraints for the needle to penetrate it. "And you will suffer for your sins!"

She screamed as the needle forced its way, and the "process" started.

---

Awkward and angry silence haunted the Ragnarok. Tears flowed freely down the girls's cheeks, and even the guys felt a choking sensation.

Selphie was perturbed. "Well, I don't care about what he says..." She didn't wait for a response, and she searched for the cockpit.

"Selphie, wait!" Irvine said, trailing her. Mila followed and motioned for the other two to follow.

Zell hesitated. "Quistis..."

She didn't respond.

"Quistis..."

She slowly looked at him.

"Let's go."

She slowly nodded and followed them all to the cockpit.

Selphie immediately thrust the door open, and for a moment she forgot about Squall's impetuous demeanor. The sight of the cockpit was like a dream come true for her, a dream she had written extensively about in her diary ever since she had read about Estharian airships back at Trabia Garden. She thought Balamb had some mini airships in her naive thinking, and she had been sorely disappointed when she could not come across any. The Moon was approaching the midnight stage, and despite its eerie look it cast a brilliant light within the cockpit and lit up every component within it. She immediately went to the pilot's seat with every intention of flying the rig at the start, until she saw the control panel. Irvine had to laugh at her perplexed face, but he had a hunch that she would be able to figure it out.

He then frowned. Maybe not the engineering side, though, he thought. He noticed that the fuel capacity was pretty low, and the engine boosters seemed unworkable at the moment. He wondered if he could rig something up, while she looked over the panel a bit. However, something else caught his attention and he motioned for Zell and Mila to come over. "Look, this thing's got gun turrets on the sides here." He pointed to both sides of the cockpit, where twin M60s, laser rifles, plasma launchers, and grenade launchers were imbedded. "This thing's a virtual Swiss Army knife of weaponry."

"Damn straight," Zell gloated, while his girlfriend nodded to feign interest.

Angelo resisted the enthusiastic emotions and curled himself up next to the cockpit door and thought long and hard about Squall's reaction.

Quistis just shook her head at the whole mess. She was mad at Squall, but she could also tell that he was affected very deeply by this tragedy. She just wished that there was something they could do.

Her eyes scanned the room and came upon a billboard near the hydraulic doors. A few yellowed papers detailing mission objectives were stapled next to a big map of the eastern part of the world. It showed the whole continent of Esthar, parts of eastern Trabia, Cactuar Island and the eastern most peninsular of Centra. She stared for a long time at it, until she felt their eyes on her.

"She has to be somewhere on this map," she muttered.

"But where?" Zell asked.

"Squall said a laboratory, I think," Mila suggested.

"Yeah, but isn't there like millions of laboratories in Esthar?" Irvine replied.

"Millions?" Zell asked, sarcastically.

"Hey, shut up, I meant there was a lot."

"What about Odine's lab?" Selphie asked.

"Odine, eh?" Quistis said, mulling that over.

"Really?" Mila asked.

"Yeah, why not?" Selphie said.

"Well, he did take an interest in here, but do you think they'd allow her into the city."

"Good point," Irvine said, "with the situation in the city right now, the people would probably kill her on sight."

"True," Quistis agreed, "but they did have lots of armed soldiers escorting the vessel."

The others nodded and fell silent.

Quistis looked back behind her at where Squall would have been and sighed. She walked over to them slowly. "I guess... in the end.. it makes no difference after all."

"What the hell, Quisty?" Selphie shouted.

"Yeah, what bites?" Zell yelled.

"Listen, y'all," the former instructor sighed, "I know we're all mad at him, but look at his situation. I don't really think he had a choice." She let that sink in, which it did judging from their faces. "I mean...say...say we did go and find her at Odine's lab or some other lab...what then? Fight off every single soldier that came upon us? Even with the help of all the GFs put together, there's no way we could survive about, what like five million of them?"

They all played with something imaginary on the floor and looked real depressed.

"Then..." she slowly continued, "by some...miracle...we were able to retrieve her...she is..." Her throat seemed to swell with cotton suddenly. "She is a ... Sorceress now."

That hung in the air, and they all fidgeted.

A thud slammed behind them, and they jolted out of their skin. The sound came from Squall's gunblade hitting the floor, and he was looking at them with a puzzled expression. He seemed to have cleared over his drunken state, and he had found his leather jacket- which was stained with a long trickle of alcohol across the front. Angelo perked immediately and went to go nuzzle his leg, to which he immediately reached down and ruffled his ears.

"I thought you were getting this rig started up," he said with a small smile on his face.

All they could do was just stared wide-eyed and with their mouths partially open, but no words would come out.

"Well?" he asked again. "Good-ness, here we have Rinoa in danger somewhere on this continent, and you all are just standing around, loafing around and playing with each other here?"

"What?" they all whispered, still staring wide-eyed.

"I mean, come on," he said, his smile growing bigger. He took a few steps into the cockpit, and his flesh seemed to rejuvenate his normal glow with each step. "We've got enough firepower to stave a dozen armies in one fell swoop, and you're letting it all rust here."

"Squall...?" Quistis started to say.

He smacked his forehead, went over to the map and thrust his finger onto an inlet near the great big bay that lay in the center of the continent just east of the city. "Behold. That's where I believe she is."

They all blinked in surprise: one, because of his sudden exuberance and two, because there was nothing there where he pointed- no landmark.

"Wh-What are you-?" Mila started.

"Oh come on, people," he said again. "You of all people, Quistis, should have remembered this."

"Uh?" Quistis started.

Squall laughed. "When we went to the Lunar Base, we were informed by our escort that there was a laboratory used for experimentation and...somewhat tortuous methods utilized on certain people... near this big lagoon. If I remember correctly, they use the euphemistic name Sorceress Memorial to designate it." He smiled bigger once Quistis instantly recognized the name and blushed at her early misfire in recognition. "It's just southeast here, and we should fly over the city to get to it."

"But-but-but, Squall, you-" Zell tried to start.

"Forget about that petty bullshit," Squall ordered with a wave of his hand. He cracked his neck and parts of his upper back. "We've wasted precious, valuable, insurmountable, feasible time circle-jerking each other here. Selphie, see if you can manage to pilot this craft. Irvine, you'll be the engineer and maintenance man and help Zell out if he needs an extra gunner. Zell, you're the gunner and you'll utlize these weapons here to the best of your ability. Mila, take charge as medic and support group for these three."

The four of them immediately lightened up enthusiastically and said "yes, sir" to him dozens and dozens of times before they got to work.

Squall turned to a stunned Quistis. "You, my dear, make sure to hit me harder next time, will you?"

She blushed beet red and played with her feet. "I-I-I-I underst-stand what you w-were-"

"I know," he said kindly. "That girl has really changed me. It would be wrong not to cement the relationship here and now. But Quistis..."

"What is it?"

"You have always been the greatest asset in intelligence and skills for me. I ask that you forgive my bad reputation I have sometimes and be my main advisor once again."

"Of course, Squall, but I have one question."

"Anything."

"Are you sure she's there at this Memorial?"

"I can't be a hundred percent sure, but I know I'll never stop looking for her. Again."

"Good," she said and immediately went over to a computer terminal and assumed her old familiar role. She wished to have Xu as a backup, but she was more than capable of picking up a lead.

"Damn right, Squall!" Irvine cheered. "Glad to have the bad ass Commander back in the saddle!"

"You and me both, cowboy," Squall said, fist-bumping the rowdy SeeD. "Is this rig operable for liftoff?"

"I know I can get this cutey-pie dragon off the ground, sir!" Selphie said. "But the fuel is a bit of a problem. We are really short. And the energy boosters might be fried. Everything else looks in tip-top shape."

"Guns are working properly, too," Zell said. "All the ball bearings are tight and clean, and the rounds of ammunition are set to go."

"Medical supplies are full," Mila said. "The ship is stocked and ready for anything it throws at it."

"That's why they call it the Ragnarok," Squall said with a big smile. "It is possible to kill a god with this craft."

"Dreaming big there?" Irvine asked.

"No, really that's what a Ragnarok is. It's a cataclysmic event that shakes the very foundations of the world. The Estharians made this aircraft the world's oyster and for good reason." He checked out the fuel panels. "Irvine, if you can't get this rig started, call upon Quetzacotyl. I'm sure that bird's thunder can heat this puppy up."

"You think that GF will come? We haven't used him or the others in a long while."

"They're itching for a fight. It's time to put them to constructive use. I wager... if we are gonna go up against Sorceress Adel... the big bad boss of all the Guardian Forces, Eden, might pay us a little visit."

"That'll be annihilation," Mila said, worried.

"We'll all be together then to enjoy it," Squall said slyly. Pointing to Irvine, he said, "Get this rig pumped up. We're wasting time!"

"I'm on it, Commander!" And the exuberant cowboy leapt down to the engine room to see what he could do.

---

The hydraulic needle sputtered to its fullest capacity, and Rinoa gave one final wrenching cry as the greedy scientist extracted the pin from her vein. It was the second procedure taken thus far, and the first had torn her arm up a bit and they had to waste an hour cleaning and mending her back up. Seifer was not amused.

"You miserable hacks," he muttered, as the scientist slowly took his time collecting the second round of blood and energy. The first scientist had had his head opened up by Seifer's blade for cutting Rinoa to bits earlier. "Hurry the fuck up here, how many more do you have to do?"

The scientist had almost dropped the vials, his hands were too shaky. "Er- three more procedures, my Kn-Knight. Then Adel will have a plentiful sup-supply."

Seifer held his brow and shook his head slowly.

Rinoa gasped weakly. "S-So...w-w-weak..."

A form of pity overtook him for a second, but Seifer couldn't muster up any words. He only just stared at her paralyzed form and saw that her skin was turning purple from all the excessive treatment.

"What the hell...?" rose a voice in the back, near the computer monitoring stage.

Seifer immediately snapped his attention to the controller.

Whatever it was on that monitor obviously disturbed the young man on the stage.

"What is it?" Seifer snapped.

"S-Sir...th-there's a we-weather dis-disturbance to the n-northeast of here."

Seifer blinked. "The fuck should I care about that." He irritably shook his head and turned his attention to back Rinoa's pitiful form. "These goddamn douchebags."

"My Kn-Knight! It looks like a G-Guardian Force presence, sir."

He had to hiccup at that. "Where is the exact location?"

"Near where the Ragnarok landed, sir."

As the room's voices died to a halt, Rinoa saw Seifer's face darken and a sick pleasure engulfed her frail state. "Care to think again, Seifer, about our friends."

"Proceed with haste!" Seifer snapped at the scientists, ignoring Rinoa. He indicated the soldiers to provide the "haste", and they fitted sharpened bayonets on their rifles. The scientists immediately picked up the pace.

Despite the fact that her arm was numb and that the scientists' aides were freshening it up for a third bout, Rinoa was smiling. "You are out of your league, Seifer."

Seifer continued to ignore her, but he twitched a bit at that insinuation.

"Just a puppet," Rinoa laughed.

Seifer immediately drew his blade. The unsuspecting aide worker walking up behind him received a deep, deep cut across his chest, but Seifer kicked him out of the way and slammed down the blade down within an inch of Rinoa's face. "Who's laughing now, Rinoa?" he demanded, out of breath.

She didn't smile, but her eyes rendered the slyness. "I'll still be when this is all over."

They both stared at each other for a long time, before he finally sheathed his sword and turned away to think about something else.

---

Quetzacotyl gave a reply that was more than grateful once Irvine had finished summoning the bird's presence. Through a telepathic communication, the GF assured Irvine that the party had the majority of the Guardian Force's trust and that not too much harm would be done with the erasing of their particular memories- of course, the Thunder God said it would only be "particular" memories that would be erased. Diablos and Shiva came to greet him upon Quetzacotyl's summoning as well, to oversee the process of recharging and refueling the Ragnarok. The Thunder God had been nice enough to fully juice up all six engines of the aircraft. The presence of the three gods had lit up part of the night sky and completely shrouded the Moon's glaring orange hue.

As the god helped Irvine's predicament, the SeeD asked him if the GFs would put a stop to Adel's plans. Irvine was met with a long period of hesitation, until Diablos intervened and said that was up to Eden to decide.

"So, the High God is going to come down, eh?" Irvine hinted.

None of the three supernaturals said anything, and they seemed indifferent about it. Which was probably to be expected. All they wanted was to be recognized by select individuals-why should they care about Hyne's influence?

Quetzacotyl finished the process, and the three GFs dissipated in the breeze. Squall immediately came down the ramp and signalled his congratulations to Irvine. "Way to go, partner!" he yelled down to him.

"We aint holding nothing back now."

Suddenly, Selphie prematurely started the engines, and a great noise and sound enveloped both of the men.

"Hurry," Squall shouted, "get on!"

Irvine struggled his way onto the ramp and into the hangar bay, and Squall used all his effort to shut the hatch tight.

Selphie's squeal could be heard all the way down here, and then the airship took to flight.

"Come quick, come quick!" Mila called out down to them. "We're taking flight, and it's so cool!"

"Can't miss this," Irvine laughed, "come on, Squall, don't be a dilly-dally here."

"Psh... look who's talking," Squall muttered and raced him up the stairs and into the cockpit.

Now at roughly 12:30 in the morning, the Ragnarok took to flight after seventeen years of retirement, and it still ran as good as new.

"All monitors checked and in order, sir!" Quistis alerted Squall.

"Gun ports and sightings still in order," Zell acknowledged.

"All support mechanisms functioning," Mila reported.

"Infrastructure intact," Irvine informed with alliterative prose.

"Booyaka!" Selphie squealed, gripping her controls like a pro pilot. "We're saving Rinny!"

"Yes, we are," Squall said. "Everybody strap in and be prepared for anything."

"Yes, sir!" they acknowledged, and Selphie steered the airship off the ground and charted on a south-southeast coast to the Sorceress Memorial.

---

Halfway through the third procedure, the klaxon bells rang out, and the soldiers inside panicked causing alarm to the sentries outside the lab. The scientists pulled out the harmful needle in Rinoa's skin and almost caused a second incident.

"What is going on!" Seifer demanded.

"Image com-computing to large screen," said the controller weakly.

A few seconds later, the main telescreen unfolded an image picked up by an unmanned drone. The Ragnarok was in plain view and headed straight for the facility.

An extreme amount of hissing, curses and cackling wails filled the laboratory, and some of the soldiers even started waxing religious on the marble floor.

Seifer gazed long and hard at the sleek dragon sculpture sailing through the skies, and he tried to ignore Rinoa's smirks all the same. Finally, he snapped a finger to the closest aide. "Put Rinoa in that chamber!"

Rinoa's smirk instantly evaporated when she saw the chamber he gesticulated to. It was the gas chamber that would inebriate her and rocket her into space. The aides bandaged her arms up and then released her straps. "Seifer, please," she begged him, "just allow Squall and them this one opportunity-"

"-Not a chance," he spat.

"And then you two can go at it later!"

"Fuck that shit, Rin." He snapped his fingers at the whole assembly of soldiers. "Arm this laboratory, and cook up the mecha!"

The soldiers affirmed his order, and half went to secure the outside and the other half primed the rocket cannons and machine gun turrets. In a span of five minutes, the Sorceress Memorial had become a battery redoubt and fully armed to the teeth. Seifer licked his lips as his underlings prepared to sacrifice themselves and Rinoa was fully locked into the chamber. Her screams and pleas went muffled and he was glad the bitch could not chide him out any longer.

Onboard the airship, Selphie made a whimpering noise.

Irvine asked, "Is is too hot to handle, Seph?"

She hit him in the stomach. "No, you chauvinist. The Memorial is in sight, I think."

Angelo perked to attention, and so did Zell and Milena. Quistis sighed. "Yes. And it's heavily-armed. I'm picking up readings of all kinds of weaponry on that facility."

"All the more to destroy then," Squall said, defiantly, knocking in a full round into his gunblade.

"Ye-ah!" Zell shouted with joy. "That's my kind of talk right there."

"We're here to get Rinoa, Squall," Quistis nagged, "not blow the place up."

Angelo barked in disapproval.

"Hey, the mutt says you're punking out over here, Quistis."

Quistis smiled and shook her head.

"Zell, Irvine handle the guns. Mila, support the two of them. Selphie, continue to pilot this craft like a pro. Quistis, you're coming with me on ground assault."

"Al-Alright," she responded.

"You too, Angie," he said to the dog, who approved with a severe wag of his tail.

"Prime the guns," he ordered.

Zell hit the right flank and Irvine took the left. The Gatling guns spread out three a piece to each flank, the laser rifles three a piece, the rocket launchers and the grenade launchers two a piece. Selphie dipped low through the clouds and flew out of the main city. The Memorial stood roughly a quarter mile away.

"Punch it!" yelled Seifer to his Widowmaker units.

A barrage of rocket fire bellowed out of the Sorceress Memorial. Eight twisting cones leaked across the night sky.

"Support!" Squall yelled.

"On it!" Mila replied, hitting the airship's sophisticated shield. A thick blue plasma enveloped the Ragnarok. Six of the cones slammed into the field, rocking the ship slightly off course but disentigrating on impact. The other two cones missed their marks and blew up some rock formations on the soil.

"Locked on!" Irvine reported, training his Gatling guns on the now visible tarmac and the three attack units positioned on its surface. On the Memorial's three-story facade, the Widowmaker unit reloaded and the rifle units started firing at will.

"Gunners attack!" Squall demanded.

Irvine let loose a flurry of Gatling fire, and Zell let loose his entire round of grenades. The Gatling fire strafed large numbers of bodies off the western division, while the grenades decimated the central and eastern divisions with about three-quarters casaulties. The Estharians promptly fired back as quickly as they could, but Milena kept the shield running at full capacity and Selphie expertly brought the craft around the Memorial in a swooping pass.

Irvine kept up one round and then a second defeating all the rifle units on the second floor of the Memorial, while Zell took a turn with his Gatling gun at the Widowmakers. Squall signalled to Quistis and Angelo to meet him at the hangar, and he departed with a solemn voice of approval to his comrades.

Within the Memorial, the soldiers dropped like flies to the ground and blood, gunfire and burning metal rained down all along the expensive equipment and test subjects. Most of the scientists perished and only a quarter of Seifer's fighting force within the compound were alive. He just stood where he was, constantly shook his head and began to turn a bright green color as Ultimecia's poison started warping his mind again.

The shield on the Ragnarok began to falter, but the tarmac was very clear and Selphie lowered the aircraft swiftly down. A final fourth assault inspired the Estharians to charge with their machine guns. The hangar door opened, and Quistis wrapped both herself, Squall and the fiesty mutt in both a Protect and a Shell magic envelope. Squall didn't wait for the hangar to touch the tarmac; he somersaulted out of the hatch and rolled three times off the ground. The assaulting soldiers barely had enough time to react before the Balamb Commander started ripping bodies apart with effortless ease. As Zell and Irvine took out the rest of the interior greenies, Squall and Quistis systematically picked off the ground forces.

The Estharians were completely caught by surprise and suffered mightily the nasty death of a vicious gunblade assault and the horrors of a bladed whip. Angelo even rocketed his scruffy body into the chests of some of the soldiers, knocked them and then chewed their throats out. Only periodic chain bursts from the machine guns smacked into the SeeD's chests, but both shield spells held their vitality in check.

Squall, however, was not to be put down. He forced a part of that all-powerful Ultima magic from Nagansett onto the tip of his Punishment blade and he slammed it hard into eight of the Estharians and rocketed their bodies into the closed gates of the laboratory. The impact blew the doors down and finally startled Seifer in his repose. Selphie, Irvine and Zell joined them and they all piled into the smoking husk of the Memorial and met a very green-glowing Sorceress's Knight.

Their attention was more focused on Rinoa, though, because she was in the process of undergoing inebriation.

Squall brought his gunblade to the ready, prepared to a put a shell through Seifer's face. "I won't back down this time," he said sternly.

"That's nice, Squall. That's very nice."

"You son of a bitch!" Zell shouted in fury. "How can you do all of this?"

"Shut your fucking trap, chicken-wuss!"

"No, Seifer!" Squall ordered. "You shut yours." He fired off a shot, but Seifer jerked his hand up and the shell exploded in mid-firing. The shell casings splattered across the ruined marble floor in heaps.

It was at this time that they heard the mecha revving up, and they saw it up on the third floor. It reminded Squall instantly of the X-ATM092 he had fought during the Dollet field exam.

"Squall," Seifer said ominously. "It's been nice knowing you. Now.. if you please..." he said, as he gathered the two and a half vials of Rinoa's energy in his grasp, "...I really must leave. But don't worry... I'm sure we'll meet again quite soon." He had anger and malice mixed together, and he took off running to the back- an escape exit for him.

"Get your fucking ass back here!" Zell demanded. However, he was cut short.

The mecha collapsed onto the ground floor, and the force levitated all five of them and propelled them back out onto the tarmac. The mecha then smashed through the entire front of the Memorial and started attacking them with brute force. Outlandishly big, it stood roughly five meters tall. It had three broad legs, silver in color with a red stripe sliding down the middle. Its torso and stomach were silver as well and outfitted in red protruding daggers. Its arms were red scythes that tore apart the tarmac in front of them with savage speed. It also had a silver head with some apricot features that resembled Seifer's complexion.

"Oh shit!" Zell shouted amid the din and chopping of the scythes. "That bastard made an image of himself!"

"Just bring it down!" Squall demanded. One scythe hit the tarmac in front of him, and he grabbed a hold of the arm and scaled up the beast as the Seifer mecha reared back up to a standing position. Irvine made the same move with a blast from the Exeter into the back of the knees, stumbling the mecha and allowing him to crawl up the back end. Quistis rolled out of the way of the second scythe arm and coated her bladed whip with some thunder magic, while Selphie leapt back and pummeled relentlessly her entire stock of Thundara-about twenty in all- into the mecha's stomach. Most of the imbedded daggers collapsed under the pressure of the lightning and fell harmlessly to the ground. Quistis finished her coating, and together with Zell smashed their weapons into each of the three legs. Careless of the pain of knuckles against metal, Zell managed to completely snap off a leg from the knee down, and Quistis fried the other two and then yanked Zell away as the mecha collapsed onto its fried legs.

The collapse drove Irvine off but not before he managed to plug another hole in the mecha's back. Squall held onto the chest, his feet planted along the daggers for a shaky hold. The mecha made a whiny sound that irritated his ears, and a gunport opened up underneath the jawline. Squall ducked out of the way, as the gunport started riddling bullets. The second scythe arm jerked upward and smacked Squall off its chest, but he held on and chopped the arm off with one clean swipe of his sword, He landed hard on his feet and waited for the numbness to die down in his legs before moving again.

Angered now, the mecha tried anything to swipe or slash at them with its stunted limbs, but the party all stepped back and tried to look for more lightning magic to thoroughly fry the beast up. However, a new sound piqued their attention, and they noticed the rocket launcher on the left flank was priming towards the mecha's chest. Behind the cockpit's glass, they saw a very focused Mila behind the gun turret. The mecha roared with an astonished reaction and tried to flee, but the Library girl fired it off and melted the entire top half of the beast. The head was left partially clean and it fell with a loud clang on the ruined mass of metal that was its legs.

Squall and Zell signalled their approval to her in the cockpit, and then Squall sheathed his sword and ran into the dilapidated Memorial. He saw Rinoa in the chamber, barely awake and fading fast.

"Rinoa!" he yelled as he came closer to her prison. "Can you hear me?"

She could and she weakly pressed her palms against the glass and said something that he couldn't hear. The glass was too thick.

"Dammit!" he snapped. "What do I do now?"

Their eyes locked once more, his full of irritation and longing and hers full of panic. He looked down at the panels and noticed that once the inebriation process was complete her capsule would jettison into space.

Irate, he unsheathed his sword and sliced through the entire panel and the tubes connecting to the chamber.

Mist enveloped the room, and he distinctly heard the chamber seal open. He let the Punishment to the side, and then he saw her beautiful creamy face. No matter how weak she might have been, she summoned valiant strength to run out the chamber and into his arms. They embraced tightly, and with his left hand he gently held her neck and dipped it into her flowing hair. Her arms were around his neck, and she buried her face against his chest.

For a long time, they stood like that and he could feel her weight fall more heavily on his own as Seifer's processes had taken a toll.

Still, she managed to say, "Squall...don't...don't do this. I'm a Sorceress."

He brought his free hand up under her chin and made her look at him. "I don't care."

She held his hand softly and buried her face in his chest again.

Zell had been shouting, but they were lost in their love. The brawler had to run over to them to get their attention. "We've got more coming, Squall! I think the ones here sent out a distress call! We used up most of the Ragnarok's weaponry, too!"

"Right," Squall said reluctantly. He steadied Rinoa and supported her out of the dilapidated Sorceress Memorial. No sooner had he gotten her out that he stopped dead in his tracks. Selphie, Irvine, Zell and Quistis with Angelo whimpering next to them with his tail between his legs stared ominously at the roughly one hundred thousand Estharians that had flown in on six large armored personnel carriers. The APCs had row upon row of Gatling guns mounted on their roofs and trained on the front entrance of the Memorial. An airship decked out to the brim like the Ragnarok hovered around the convoy of troops, its sights primed on the six humans.

"They've got us cornered," Zell said defeatedly.

"Are these legitimate?" Irvine asked.

"It doesn't matter. None of them are getting Rinoa without my say," Squall said defiantly.

"I can dig that," Irvine replied, and the others nodded.

A megaphone was produced on one of the APCs, and a loud voice rang out, "Surrender the Sorceress, Balamb SeeDs, and your life will be spared."

"Reply, Zell," Squall ordered, "you always know best."

Zell snickered and then gave the whole greenie squad the finger, coupled with a grab of his crotch.

The Estharians hissed and advanced slowly onto the group, while the heavily-armed airship moved in closer for its sniper to pick off everyone but Rinoa.

The megaphone sent an alarm signal, and all eyes shifted to a new vessel that suddenly appeared over the Sorceress Memorial and landed on the tarmac further to the east. A great loud gasp erupted out of the assembly, the seven airborne ships retreated to a set distance away, and the ground forces immediately snapped to attention.

Cries of, "The Vice President is here!" rang out all across the tarmac.

The SeeDs looked at each with great confusion and then trained their eyes on the new vessel. It was a guady aircraft with green and yellow markings on the side of white frame. The initials "V.P." lay in golden colors on the sides and roof, and the cockpit was a shiny brilliance of glass. The hatch opened and a ramp hit the tarmac. Several Estharian officers and high-ranking aides swooped down and formed two straight lines. Then, a tall, bulky man in bright green and yellow robes walked out in a defiant pose. With surprising grace and dignity, he descended the ramp and walked with head held high towards the confused and disturbed SeeDs.

Angelo whimpered some more and fell back against Rinoa's legs. His friends looked to him, and Squall felt obligated to step forward to speak to the Vice President of Esthar.

However, he couldn't find a word to say- there was a lot to say, too. Strangely the Vice President didn't seem interested in speaking, either. He merely stopped within several feet of Squall, and the scene looked very strange and uncomfortable for all present there. Against the slow humming of the ships and the thousands of soldiers standing erect on the tarmac, Squall Leonhart almost shit his pants.

Then...a strange calmness swarmed him. The Vice President looked very familiar. His face was covered partly by the enormous, gaudy green hat he wore, but the jawline looked strangely familiar- rugged and intimidating. The body of course was barrel-chested but strikingly familiar in some weird way that at this moment he could not figure out.

Sadly, there wasn't enough time to worry about those stupid details. The Vice President was doing something.

The large man pointed to Rinoa and then pointed to the Ragnarok.

Squall looked at both and then at the second-in-command. "It's...okay...for all of us to leave?"

The Vice President nodded without speaking.

Squall took a slow panoramic view around him and then back to his friends, who strongly urged him with pleading nods to get over to the airship. "Alright," he said nervously to the Vice, "we'll go, we'll go."

The Vice President nodded again and watched them all leave carefully between the erect Estharians and onto the Ragnarok. As Mila and Selphie started the ship, and the great beautiful dragon rose off the ground, he finally gave a hearty laugh and ordered all present to be dismissed and to scope out the traitorous Estharian military for corporal punishment. He then walked back to his vessel for a no-doubt humorous talk with the President.

---

The time was 3:46. In the morning.

At this hour, the Capitol building in the northwest section of the city of Esthar just below the Feingold borough should have been devoid of business. The Congressmen in both the House of Representatives and the Senate should've been out partying on the strip, helping out with the repairs of the damages created by the Pandora, or sleeping in the Presidential Palace.

Unfortunately, all six hundred of the men and women in both Houses were present and accounted for in the large Seagill building designated for big committee meetings or annual State of the Country messages by the President. They had been debating and arguing and threatening for nearly nineteen hours- shortly after the Lunatic Pandora had laid siege to a good chunk of downtown Esthar. It was now clear that something of a decision was about to be reached, for it had come out earlier that several (about sixty) Congressmen and Senators had active ties to the Tyrannical demonstrators and various factions of the police and military units responsible for causing panic in the city.

It was a hard to hold a close conversation, for now anger had spilled out through half of the attendees and drowned out everything that was taking place. The Speaker of the House, the top authority of the chamber at that moment, raised his gavel and banged it several dozen times before the noise dimmed to a low volume.

"This House will come to order!" he declared.

Slowly, the room quieted, and the Speaker continued, after first drinking water to clear his parched throat. "We need to clear up several parts of the country's problems before we can proceed for a vote allowing the President to extradite the Tyrannical bases and launch an attack on the Lunatic Pandora. Will the Majority Leader of the Senate speak?"

"Certainly, Mr. Speaker," the Majority Leader said, rising to his podium. "My fellow Congressmen, I implore you all to set aside the differences we have between each other about who knew what and who didn't know what about the machinations behind the Pandora incident two days ago." A loud din arose at that mentioning, and the Speaker had to slam his gavel again. "I implore you all!" the Majority Leader continued, "we need to attack the Pandora at once. Sources point out that the Sorceress Adel is in a fortunate state to be rendered almost unconscious, and that the Sorceress Rinoa is right now in the process of being extradited back into space. We need all available efforts, since the President has refused to even consider that measure, to launch a full-scale assault on the Lunatic Pandora immediately! I urge my councils to offer their agreements to this measure, the Jones Proposal, in honor of the distinguished Senator from Feingold." He sat down with a huff.

"Mr. Arlen Fisher of Romell," the Speaker declared.

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, this is exactly what the conservative leadership of this body demands: a full-scale assault against an objective that we have no idea what could possibly be lurking inside. The President had it commissioned to be buried in the Centran wastelands all those years ago with no strategy involved, no close arrangements with the Congress, and with all the implications of a sneaky and contrived attack on the safety of this republic!" An affirmative cry, mixed with louder boos rang up. "We in the Liberal Democratic bloc believe the President and this subsequent Jones Proposal are leading this republic into a dead end."

"Minority Leader!" the Speaker declared.

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My colleague from Romell is correct, although I will point out that the Jones Proposal has seemingly been allowed to circumvent in entirety the President's judgment. We all know he has been away from town for the past two weeks, and that has caused a nasty stir to be rumbling through this assembly." He was greeted with affirmatives, especially from the conservative majority. "Indeed the President has been all but excluded from these talks of fiscal conservatism, internal improvements, and the military budget- which has increasingly gone out of control in the last few months. How many days have we talked about that? Huh! How many days?"

The Majority Leader stood up. "Now is not the time and place for that, Senator! We are talking about the Jones Proposal, and it must be implemented tonight!"

"Order in the House, please, order in the House!" the Speaker declared. "Ms. Vilma Washington of Turnhill, Section Five."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I actually have dreadful news to report, if the Speaker permits."

"Dreadful as in not good for matters at hand?"

"I am afraid so, Mr. Speaker."

"Proceed as ordered."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A wire came from the Red Zone. The Balamb Garden SeeDs had usurped control of the Ragnarok Type-1 A2 spacecraft over in the Azure Hills region and infiltrated the Memorial building." A great cacophany of noise erupted in the Seagill Room, and several attendees looked ready to brawl at this news. The Speaker slammed his gavel repeatedly until the noise silenced. "Several things have reportedly gone wrong with this whole incident. For one, Mr. Speaker, the Red Zone has been secretly under authoritarian control by Seifer Almasy and he has utilized members of the military and police force under the units assigned to the entire boroughs of Dagobas and San Fierro. We are talking millions of people here, Mr. Speaker, who are sympathetic to the vast aura of extremism that pervades sections of the military there- and as you know, both of those areas have been severely antagonistic to the President and his administration.

"Second, Mr. Speaker, Adel's Knight forced each of the scientists working in that building to abandon their work and produce machine guns and attack mechas to launch a full-scale attack on the city of Esthar- as a prepartory conflagration impending for the New Year's Day by all of Adel's forces. He also assigned medical techinicians to transfer the Sorceress Rinoa's bloodstream and succubus powers intraveneously to be used to rejuvinate Sorceress Adel."

The hisses and wild screams filled the air, and even the Speaker had to raise his voice at that. "Ms. Washington," he said, "it's not nice to conjure up these stories like that."

"Mr. Speaker, these reports came across the Hot Wire."

The room fell silent. The Hot Wire was the Capitol's message machine, meaning someone in the representation either knew about it or passed the information on.

"Third, Mr. Speaker, if I may continue.."

"Do, please."

"Squall Leonhart managed to defeat the entire military presence Seifer Almasy amassed for himself. Indeed, the military presence was a small one by our standards, but it seems that the Balamb SeeDs are an impressive fighting force and not to be underestimated. Seifer, in his crazy schemes of megalomania, decided to thoroughly destroy the Memorial in whole and fled the scene. The Sorceress Rinoa was not extradited to her grave in space, but saved by Squall and his party and taken out of captivity."

Angry mutterings rang out at that, and curses were thrown at Squall's party.

"Fourth, Mr. Speaker, a large-scale force of the Estharian military arrived on the scene of the vanquished Red Zone and tried to take back Rinoa into its possession. Unfortunately, another interruption occurred."

"What happened, Ms. Washington?" the Speaker asked.

"Mr. Speaker, the Vice President intervened and let the SeeDs take Rinoa away, sir."

Silence greeted the report, but a simmering tension illuminated the entire bloc of conservatives and portions of the Centrist party.

"There is a fifth detail that wraps all this up, Mr. Speaker, and this will be the hardest to report."

"Proceed," the Speaker said, agitatedly.

She gave a deep breath. "The orders to allow Seifer Almasy unilateral control over the Red Zone and all business conducted upon Sorceress Rinoa originated from the Dagobas and San Fierro boroughs under leadership of both Houses of Congress on the conservative side. The orders to alert the Estharian military to recapture Sorceress Rinoa also originated from those two boroughs, as a direct and complicit order to cause a disruption and a possible coup de tat on the President."

The look of shock across each of the conservative's faces, especially that of the Majority Leader, stifled Ms. Washington and she prematurely sat down before the Speaker of the House could address her again.

"Lies!" yelled one conservative in the body.

"This is a Democratic ploy!" yelled another.

A string of angry taunts slurred back and forth, and death threats were yelled by some members up in the highest seats of the building. The Speaker of the House drilled for order, but he went unimpeded.

The Majority Leader then stood up, and the room gradually fell to silence, although both the Democrats and the Centrists seemed billowed with hatred. "Ms. Washington is a little daft sometimes, I am afraid-" Shrieks killed his statement, but he pressed on. "My colleagues in the conservative bloc, the more center-leaning ones calling these all lies and whatnot. Look... we don't want a Presidential coup. We want effective leadership. If the President cannot do that, then he must resign or face impeachment. He is an ineffective numbskull, and this republic must be salvaged, the Jones Proposal adopted, and the Lunatic Pandora stopped." He had to shout his last sentence, because his counterparts had started yelling badly.

When the Speaker quieted the room, he asked the Majority Leader, "So you effectively endorse all of Ms. Washington's statement?"

"I whole-heartedly support the statement, Mr. Speaker," he answered defiantly, "and it is a damn shame that the Cabinet has gotten involved. They assuredly know of some of these plans."

The Minority Leader stood up, "This is a breach of Congressional duties and an attack on the very democratic nature of this country!"

"The President is ruling on a de facto standing!" the Majority Leader declared, with the support of a resounding "ayes!" from his colleagues. "In every instance since his third inauguration, he has repeatedly scraped by the most pressing issues of national security of this country and has ultimately cow-towed to opening this city back up to worldwide view once again. Ultimately, he has allowed a foreign military presence to run wild within our community, endangering the lives of Estharians everywhere!"

"What nonsense!" shouted several Liberal Democrats and Centrists.

Someone took off their shoe and threw it across the aisle at the Centrists, and suddenly hundreds of people started beating each other up in the room. The Speaker called for order, but he was hit in the nose with a shoe and fell out of his chair, the gavel falling onto his bald head. Through the din, the Conservative Majority Leader ordered the proceedings to be halted, and in effect the Jones Proposal went through without an official signing. The Conservatives, outnumbering their opponents two to one, severely drove them to submission and exited the Seagill room and the entire Capitol building where a convoy of heavily-armed Estharian troops enthusiastically greeted them and proceeded to arrest those Congressional opponents who were not sympathetic to the cause.

Immediately, protests arose between the citizens and the military, within the military, and between different ideologies of the citizens. Brawls flourished in the streets, several people were crushed under by tanks, buildings once again burned, and shouts rang out in the wee hours of the morning of December 2.

High up in his penthouse suite of the Presidential Palace, the President and his Secretary of State looked down in worry and awe as their entire city folded.

Squall Leonhart and Cid Kramer had to be summoned immediately.