AUTHOR'S NOTE: I apologize in advance for this "fail" chapter. At this point in the story, I planned on this to be a major revelation/tension-building chapter. That's how I had it outlined in the synopsis. However...it ended up being pretty mundane. All of the major revelations that I had planned for this point were already done, and I wasn't left with much to make this chapter stand out. I considered merging this chapter with the next one (which is also done), but on review...I figured it would make the next chapter too long, and, besides, I had planned on there being 80 chapters in this entire story and that would throw off my count.

Because of all this, depending on how fast I'm able to do not the next chapter but the one after (which should have an important fight), I may go ahead and give another chapter this Wednesday, because this one is now, unintentionally, more on the "filler" side.


Only a few hours into the trip back north…the situation ran into a snag when the group was hit by one of the roving sandstorms.

It was rather violent too…so much so that Carbuncle had to use his own barrier magic to try and lessen the effects. It was a good thing they had linked up with a group of nomads aiding the resistance on the way north, who helped them take shelter and showed them how to cover the Gold Chocobos to protect them from harm. Even so, the storm was terrible…and lasted far longer than Dael cared. They were on a tight schedule. Even these miraculous birds would be hard pressed to get them to Dellgame in time, especially since they still had to meet with other groups who would sneak them over the border. The idea was to get there so fast that they wouldn't have time to fully enact security measures that locked down the country. They couldn't afford even half an hour…let alone the three hours they spent waylaid in the desert under the sandstorm. They were probably lucky it only lasted that long. The nomads informed them that even considering how violent the storms had been getting, this was the worst yet. If it had gone too long, Dael would have been willing to risk actually walking in it to save some time.

It was still dark when they were able to leave. The heavens were clear again…but the night was positively frigid. She hadn't felt this cold even the first time she had been in the desert. She shivered steadily, and everyone went low on their chocobos to try and share some warmth. She was a bit surprised. The weather predictions said it wasn't supposed to be that bad, after all… At any rate, the birds were spurred on harder than ever, enough to actually fatigue them. But Dael had to do it. They were far behind schedule, and they already wouldn't have the advantage of darkness before they got there. If that wasn't enough, they didn't even have a guide to show them ways around if things got too bad. The best they could do was use short-wave radios to try and contact resistance pockets and have them direct them…and hope that no one picked up that transmission.

It seemed a bit of luck was on their side, however. They had been directed to one of the most likely spots to be "abandoned" first during the first stages of a surge. Obviously, when news started to spread about the attacks, not to mention the rail and the shipyard destroyed, the Sybenian Army would assume some sort of resistance team "strike" was occurring. Not only that, but they would recognize important targets had been hit, and, as a result, they would try to redeploy to guard the border instead. But it would take time to redirect both ends of the surge, and during that time, priority targets would be vulnerable. Hence, there was a small window of opportunity in which the border would be "fluid", when all available units were guarding the priority targets and leaving other gaps in the defenses. Apparently, the sand storm had slowed the Sybenians down, for they were able to exploit it.

While still in the desert, but as the country grew more rocky and uneven once again, the group managed to ride their panting, overworked chocobos to a rockier part of the landscape with trees near an oasis. The natives had captured a pair of tanks while there that would be expected to redeploy and join a convoy when it was time to head north to guard the perimeter of the "expanded" nation. It was a simple matter of getting their own group on board and then "rolling out". About an hour later, they appeared to come from a normal patrol in the desert, and simply joined the convoy and headed north.

Around noon, they crossed the border into the city-state region. The desert was left behind…not that any of them noticed. The lower city-states were just as hot and dry as the Pallas Desert itself. And tanks, naturally, had no amenities like air conditioning, so everyone was rather hot and miserable. Yet Dael "sucked it up". She used the time to work on her healing magic to patch herself up…and lamented the loss of her sword. The oasis had some fresh supplies there, including a military issue blade…but she hadn't trained on one of those in years and she knew her own strength was good enough to snap it herself, if she wanted. It wasn't even as good as the shortsword that Cryder had given Bahamut. Again…she had no one but herself to blame.

Once a few miles over the border, the convoy began to redeploy, and their own tanks used the moment to slip to somewhere less visible. There was no shortage of such places. This country, like most of the city states, had been leveled in multiple places. The city was nothing more than a ruin, but it did have many rubble buildings to "hide" behind. The tanks rolled behind them and, a moment later, dropped the group off. From then on in, they made their way north on foot.

They were in enemy territory now. Sybenia considered this city-state to now officially be part of their nation, so they had to be more than cautious. All that was around for miles was soldiers and tanks, although most of them were massing to move south and secure the border. They also were the only group without a guide, and no more resistance members to help them along. Yet Dael and the Esthar's Hawks weren't totally blind. They did the "trail" programmed into their GPS devices, and they had trained for being able to move through areas of urban warfare. Nevertheless, the going was slow. Whenever a soldier came by, they could see the obvious tension on their faces. The triple attack had done a good job of throwing them into disarray, but they were so tense they might shoot anyone they see on sight. Even though they only had to move a relatively short distance, it was slow.

It took the better part of four hours just to cross through the first city-state. After that, going north took a bit longer. They needed to head across country. Luckily, they had a bit better time this time around. This area actually had hills, vegetation, and trees to obscure them. Yet even as they went north, Dael noticed just how dry it was outside. It was past the hottest part of summer, yet all of the grass was dry and brown, the trees were withered, and the river was so dry it was cracked. Considering how hot it was and the clear sky, she would have expected the same climate in the Pallas Desert…but it seemed unusual to come this far north.

Things didn't start feeling less dry until they snuck into the next city state…Dellgame itself. Getting into it was a bit easier than the previous one. By the time they arrived, it was growing dark again. The town was still partially standing as well, and the guard and soldiers were a bit more lax. After all, with many at the borders leading into the territory, and more at the "proper" barrier leading into Sybenia, they could afford to have a few less here. This was where most of the troops for the surges had been taken, leaving only a few still behind. Some of the citizens still remained as well, although, from the looks of it, it seemed they had to deal with extortion and other problems brought on by military occupation to make their living. Yet that wasn't Dael's concern. Following the directions of the GPS, they eventually made their way to what looked like a small industry building still standing and operating: a shoe factory. Simple enough business…but the army needed footwear. And rather than devote some of their budget focused on building bombs and the like toward something mundane like this, it was easier to impress civilian labor.

Normally there would be a Sybenian supervisor for quality control as well as other guards to watch the facility. However, this was just a shoe factory. And with the recent attacks, it was one they could afford to "let idle" in favor of more vulnerable targets. With that in mind, security had been put to a minimum, and it was easy enough to sneak in the group through a small service entrance into the basement of the factory. The machines hummed so loudly they could even talk at full volume and make noise as they wanted.

Dael ended up leading them through to the rear alley and to the back entrance. The doors opened, revealing a pair of Esthar's Hawks, who hurried and led them inside to ride down on a freight elevator, quickly shutting the doors behind them. Once below, the group was momentarily in darkness, before moving forward to a set of metal double doors. One of the guards gave a knock, causing a form to move behind a peephole on it, and then to open it up to the interior.

There wasn't much in this basement. It had gone out of use a while ago. It was formerly used to store shoe-making materials and stock, but Sybenia knew about the freight elevator and thought it could be used for smuggling or a secret passage, and so the doors leading into the factory were welded shut. Yet due to a clerical error or incompetence, no one had ever covered the actual freight elevator. Perhaps they assumed it would only be used as a passageway, and not as a waylay point for insurgents. Or maybe they assumed too much, thinking they could hear anything that went in there.

Apparently, they were dead wrong. In addition to everyone in Dael's group that had arrived, she saw that the other two groups had already gotten there. Most of them looked pretty good, just a bit dirty and tired from getting there in a hurry, but they were getting better. In addition, a few other resistance fighters were there…obviously who had "set things up" for the others, were running intelligence, and were keeping an eye on things for the next mission. Not only did they have a radio present, but they had managed to wire a landline into the communication's network for a Sybenian comm tower. Since almost all communication relied on wireless now, they could pretty much control and transmit from that antenna without the Sybenians knowing anything was even wrong. At the moment, they were more "listening" rather than broadcasting, although the message had been sent out that they had succeeded.

On arriving, Dael saw that piles of leather and old bags of shoe materials had been lain around to form places to recline on. A few of the soldiers who had come this far had minor injuries, but they were getting patched up. Some hadn't made it at all, though… Equipment and weapons were also stockpiled here in fairly large numbers, both whatever was left for the operation as well as some new odds and ends. After all…that "triple strike" had been the "easy" part. After this, they were heading in.

In addition to that, however, she also saw all of the group members there, who looked up as soon as they heard fresh arrivals. And on spotting it was Dael, they began to rise. Quaren and Taraketh were in the lead, both rising and immediately walking over to her.

"Captain, are you alright?" The corporal asked, giving her a look over. "You don't look too good…"

"I'm a lot better than I was." Dael reassured. "I'll be fine if I can just lay back for a couple hours."

"We already know your mission was a success." Taraketh added. "It's on the radio. Sybenia is trying to downplay it, but they're finding that impossible. Even with their attempts to say that the strike wasn't 'significant', they're at the same time launching emergency protocols, lockdowns, and redirecting troops publicly."

"In other words, lying through their teeth and everyone knows it." Cryder called from the leather pile he was reclining on. "Everyone's on edge. Their plans for a troop surge just went up in smoke and they found out just how big the resistance still is."

At this point, Quaren looked to Dael's side, and was puzzled. "Um…sir? Isn't that one of the standard issue blades…?"

Dael grimaced, reaching to her side and drawing it slightly. "Yes, yes it is, corporal."

"But…what happened to your traditional sword?"

Still grimacing, Dael pulled back another part of her clothes, revealing the hilt, and pulled it forth…revealing nothing more than a broken hilt. Quaren was stunned, but so was Taraketh and whoever else could see.

"Your sword got broken?!" Quaren nearly exclaimed.

She exhaled. "I finally put it through too much stress… I suppose I should be grateful it lasted this long. That weapon was designed to do a lot, but not everything I've put it through. Anyway…this thing's only going to do me so much good, so I need to talk to Cid. I'm going to need mage bullets. Even if they're only weak ones."

Quaren gestured to the side. "He's helping them get more power out of the radio at the moment, but I'm sure he'll give you a hand once he's done."

Dael exhaled and nodded. "Alright…so when do we make our next move?"

"We haven't gotten any broadcasts yet from them…but the Black Corsairs and whatever ships Esthar can take into war are on their way." Quaren answered.

"Turns out they were up to something, lass." Cryder spoke up from his position. "Smart too. They're heading around across the ocean…the long way. It'll take them a bit to get here, I wager…but they probably got this planned pretty well. That's the least protected side. They've got the airships too. All of them. They must have tuned up the Enterprise to be able to actually get in a fight. At least…I hope, for whatever fool is on board, that they did…"

"And everyone's already in disarray, expecting more insurgent attacks." Quaren added. "So they're headed south. I think we've got a good chance at this working."

"Probably the best bet for getting into the country will be when they try to 'knuckle up'." Dael added. "They'll engage in an emergency redeployment even if they think the navy can take us. When that happens, they'll send tanks north again and open their borders. We can slip right in at that point. There's numerous ways more sophisticated than stealing a tank."

Taraketh nodded. "Sounds good."

"Only in a sense." Dael answered with a grimace. "It's not like they need many soldiers guarding the capitol. They have more than enough automations to guard it. And I'm sure that some of them will be the same type of mech that gave us such a hard time back in the Leuco facility."

Quaren grimaced. "After listening to some transmissions…I think they call those 'Kaiser Raidens', Dael."

She sighed. "Whatever they're called, one of them is enough to keep one of us occupied for a while, and none of us can take two at a time. That means trouble. I don't think we can just 'muscle' our way into this one."

"Most of the other resistance fighters are coming north too." Quaren added. "We'll have a sizeable force on our side. And some of them are planning other hits to try and act as a diversion." He grimaced soon after. "But yeah…you're right, captain. This isn't going to be easy."

Dael exhaled a bit. "…Nothing for it." She said after a moment. "We just need to be at our best. Let's get something to eat and then get whatever rest we can."

Bahamut looked up to Dael and spoke himself here. "…And you should probably get a touch of practice in with your new sword, Dael. I may not be much for hand weapons, but I know that they take some getting used to."

The young woman sighed…but didn't dispute him. Unfortunately, he was right.


The group was soon reminded that the worst part of any armed conflict was the waiting. And that was exactly all they could do for the moment…sit around in the basement of the shoe factory and wait for transmissions. Dael did talk with the commanders and get more "clarified", to ensure they all knew the plan and were on the same page, but other than that…there was little that could change other than paying attention to the radio for incoming broadcasts. They picked up little. There was a conventional radio as well…but after her last time in Sybenia, Dael could do without hearing 24/7 Guiding Hand propaganda. That left pretty much sitting around and waiting.

In spite of how easily they had gotten in, none of them could afford to "rest easy". Everyone kept their weapons on them and ready at all times. If a Sybenian patrol managed to find them, they'd have to start fighting in a hurry, and they'd very quickly have to find an out from this place. All it would take would be some individual over their heads overhearing something during a break in machine chugging, and then they'd have a division down their throats in a compressed space and the mission would be for nothing.

Sentries were posted to watch the door with sniper rifles, intent on pegging anyone off who got too close. As for Dael, however, after clearing things up with the other captains, she found herself a secluded place in the basement. Luckily, there were enough rooms and size down there to have some measure of privacy at points, although she didn't want to go anywhere that would accidentally cause enough noise to be heard. Finding an open space, she drew the blade and began to practice with it.

It didn't go well. The blade was "balanced" only relative to what she knew. It felt awkward and sloppy, like gallivanting around with a big cleaver rather than a weapon she could use. And she really didn't trust it to stand up to much. She only forced herself to work with it for about twenty minutes before she sighed and paused. She couldn't believe she had been so stupid. Without her family's sword, she felt naked. She had that weapon for so long that she really couldn't do well with anything else. In the end, upset over the unbalance of a swing, she merely sighed and nearly threw the weapon down in frustration.

"…You shouldn't give up on it so easily."

Dael turned her head a bit, and saw Bahamut was standing at the turn of the corner, watching her. However, the woman merely sighed in response.

"Swords fell out of favor in military usage over a hundred years ago. About the only ones that are left of good quality are those weapons the dual bladers use, but I never studied theirs. This one is alright but a far cry from my weapon." She exhaled, looking down to it. "Even if I got used to it, I'd probably try using it the same as my old sword, which I kind of 'grew up' with. This one…I'd need to go 'easy' on it."

"Well, you don't have much choice." Bahamut responded as he moved in. "Even if Cid does nothing but make mage bullets for you until we head out, you'll only get a vastly limited number of shots."

Dael grimaced. "…Making me feel like an idiot for letting that machine 'beat up' on me?"

"To be honest, I only expected your body to be broken, not your weapon." He answered. "At the bare minimum, don't tell me this was completely for nothing."

The Esthar's Hawk paused a bit, and then exhaled.

"…I feel I definitely have enough power for a 'Climhazzard'…but that's all. I don't think I could pull off the bigger attack yet. Not without more of a 'pounding'."

Bahamut exhaled in response. "Well, you may get your wish. At any rate, I didn't come here to say 'I told you so'."

Dael looked up a bit at that, forgetting the sword for a moment. "What is it? Is the operation ready?"

"Not yet, but we've got other concerns." Bahamut answered with a sigh as he came in a bit more. "I've been paying attention to the radio." He grimaced. "…True enough, you have to listen to a lot of propaganda and recorded speeches from both Roz and Rozan Hierarch to get anything of substance, but if you listen enough…you do get quite a bit. It seems the fishing industry in the region collapsed overnight. The reason is the temperature hit a threshold, altering in ways that caused all of the schools to either run off or die of sudden temperature shock. What more, they noted that more record temperatures in the desert were set yesterday as a result of a heat wave, and the solar index took another unexpected drop. Almost all of it coincides with yesterday."

Hearing all of this made Dael pause. "…How is that possible? Did the other groups do that much collateral damage?"

"Or did ours?" Bahamut echoed. "I don't know, but even these operations which were supposed to have low body counts seemed like they did a lot more than they were supposed to, Dael. And that's making me nervous. Combined with what happened in Leuco…I'm starting to wonder if, in spite of our best efforts, we're being played like puppets. And if so…the rest of this operation might end up giving us a result none of us want."

The captain hesitated momentarily. She wished she could just push that concern aside…but after what happened at Leuco, she knew they couldn't afford that. Thousands died as a result of the recklessness. They couldn't afford to let that happen again, even if it looked like the war was almost over. Finally, she looked to Bahamut again.

"…Alright, but what do you have in mind?"

"Since he offered earlier," Bahamut answered. "I think it's time we bring in an 'outside consultant'."

Dael raised an eyebrow.


A bit later, and the woman hoped that no one could see what they were doing. In all honesty…it looked like either something childish at best or a pagan ritual at worst. Bahamut had hurried and gone about collecting a few things from around the basement, had put them to work by erecting a hasty symbol emblazoned with runes on the floor, and then performed gestures on the symbol with the collected items, such as placing a bowl filled with water and salt across it, tracing out lines with ash mixed with phosphorus from a glow stick, and setting fires kindled from fish at the corners of a star around it momentarily before letting them burn out.

She couldn't help but grimace as he continued to work. "…I'll have to admit, it looks like we're summoning a demon."

"Don't be ridiculous." Bahamut snorted. "As if I would know how to do that or ever bother to learn. Normally, if I wanted to talk to Leviathan in my old body, I'd just hook up a psychic connection with him. But as we don't have that luxury at the moment due to my weakened mind, I'm going to try and enhance it a bit by creating a bit of a 'plume' from the Lifestream itself to get his attention. And since I don't know how to do that using anything 'modern', I'm having to rely on methods that would have been used a few thousand years ago."

Dael looked around behind them. "…You have any idea how crazy this is going to look to anyone who comes along?"

"We're far from the others. Just keep quiet, and it will be fine." Bahamut answered as he finished up. That done, he exhaled a bit. "Alright…give me your hand."

The young officer looked to him…a bit uncertainly. Anticipating her question, he looked up to her with a sigh. "In order to attract Leviathan, we'll have to call on the link that we have with him. One person's alone is too weak. I'll need the link in you too."

Dael hesitated a moment, but then acquiesced and went down to Bahamut's side. He held out a hand to her. For a moment, she simply stared at it. In the end, however, very reluctantly, she reached out and took it.

"Now just relax…like when you're doing that special attack I showed you."

Dael hesitated a moment, but then did as she was told. Her eyes slowly closed, and she began to still herself within. Since it had been practiced so often by now, it took only a moment for her to start seeing the spiritual lines around her. It did seem a bit odd, though… They seemed a bit more erratic…flickering in and out both bright and dim… What more, it seemed as if the lights traced the symbol Bahamut had made perfectly…

Yet as she did this, Bahamut closed his own eyes and concentrated. It took a moment, but Dael soon felt something inside her, similar to a summoning. Only it was quick this time, rapid and in a short burst. And, in turn, she saw something flow out of her and Bahamut and dip into the same spiritual lines, soon rippling through all of them like a bit of electric charge sent through "wires". They traced out in all directions, but eventually converged right in the middle of the symbol Bahamut had made. And sure enough…she actually saw a spiritual "flame" arise from it for a moment like a spurt of flaming exhaust.

It was enough to make Dael open her eyes…where she soon received another surprise. A "spiritual flame" had seemingly arise in real life as well as in her "sight". A mist of green energy erupted forth for a moment, before subsiding once again. It didn't go out, however. It merely sank into the sigil that Bahamut had made, and soon lit it up afterward. It remained faintly glowing with spectral green for a moment, and Dael could hear it burning slightly, like a bed of hot coals and a wet log, faintly hissing as the water boiled away.

A moment later…and a voice came from them.

"I figured if you wanted to get in contact with me, you'd use this method, Bahamut." The voice of Leviathan issued from the sigil. "I hoped against it, however. I thought you might have managed to recover some of your old power by now…but I'm afraid that may not be the case." A pause. "…However, I sense someone else with you too…"

The voice sounded a bit cross on saying that, which caused Dael to tense slightly, and Bahamut to react in some confusion.

"Dael, was it?" Leviathan's voice went on. "…I don't know what part of my advice wasn't clear to you, but this world has been growing more chaotic than ever. I thought that once Nyx Gaia appeared in the night sky you would at least start getting worried enough to do something…and what happens? Another few thousand sent into the Lifestream?"

Both Dael and Bahamut looked surprised alike at that.

"What you talking about?" Dael answered. "We haven't killed anyone." She paused. "…Alright, that's not entirely true. But it couldn't have been more than a hundred soldiers or so. It was three minor operations."

"Perhaps you should check again." Leviathan's voice rather darkly answered. "And count. There's no mistake…there's been consistent large 'inputs' into the Lifestream. That's terrible for the planet. It causes it to become more unstable and chaotic than by the sheer increase in disorder alone, like rapidly injecting adrenaline into an individual at short, spaced intervals."

Dael actually grew defensive. "I'm telling you…all of our intelligence said there was nothing at those places but soldiers. I myself only fought mechs. We burned some crop fields, and that was it."

"You did what?" Leviathan retorted, rather sharply.

The young officer didn't like the sound of it. "…We burned some fields in Garrado. They were going to feed the enemy, that's all. We were trying to use starvation to create greater supply strain…"

The voice let out a massive groan. "Young lady…do use your common sense. I'm certain you're more than familiar with how one uses starvation as a weapon in war. Why embargos and trade restrictions never work. It's because the dictators, the military, and those in power continue to draw in what they did before and let all losses be 'absorbed' by the people. That dictator is going to keep feeding his army…and, to do it, he'll cut the rations dry to whoever is under his boot in the occupation. If they complain, he'll blame the resistance, and even if the people don't go for it, riots will ensue for food. People will be shot as a result…and many more will starve, including the elderly and children. Food is the last weapon you want to use in a war if you're trying to avoid spreading chaos. People who can't even meet their most basic needs are at their most desperate and savage. Haven't you ever studied how nations that were starved throughout history resorted to eating their own children?" The voice shifted a bit. "…You should have known better, Bahamut. You should have spoken up."

For once, the boy seemed taken aback. "…I've never had a problem feeding myself or others, Leviathan. I wasn't familiar with food being used as a weapon."

Dael, however, paused a bit longer. To tell the truth…she had known all of this all along. She just never thought to question the morality with it. Attacking an enemy food supply was an effective maneuver…but only so long as you didn't care who got hurt as a result. She had never tried to act in such a way that minimized suffering. As an Esthar's Hawk, the only suffering she was taught to minimize was that of her own nation. So she had forgotten what the far-reaching effects of destroying a food supply meant… It made her rather uncomfortable to think of it. Perhaps the problem wasn't a spy at all this time…but her merely being thoughtless.

"…Nothing can be done about it now, so there's no sense lamenting it…only remembering it for the future." Leviathan stated. "What is your current course of action?"

"We're trying to end the war in one move." Bahamut answered. "Remove the head of the government: Rozan Hierarch. However…in regards to what you said…doing so will likely start a civil war among his military commanders. We're planning on removing him and letting the nation divide and conquer itself."

Leviathan was silent for a moment.

Dael quickly threw in more. "Lord Leviathan…the enemy still has ten nuclear weapons. If those are used…"

"…Alright." He finally stated. "We're looking at more chaos any way you look at it, but a more 'conventional' war over the space of one nation is preferable to a large scale one. And anything is better than those weapons being used. It seems that's the best that can happen."

"However, we have a large problem with that." Bahamut answered. "Let's assume, our recklessness aside, that we were somehow manipulated into doing a lot more damage than we intended. If that's the case, then it stands to reason that we might end up doing the same here. More than that…the scientists that we ran into within Leuco were doing things seemingly outside the realm of world conquest. They had manufactured a great deal of a chemical that allowed them to absorb magical energy from magic-users…somewhat akin to making each individual the same as one of those machines Vector used, I'd wager. Not only that, they were interested in trying to develop new powers… I don't know what for, but something was mentioned about being able to relive a person's past…"

Leviathan paused again on hearing this.

"…Did you say a great deal of a chemical?"

"Yes."

Another pause. "…And this chemical was trapped in the facility when it detonated, meaning it would have been launched into the atmosphere along with everything else?"

Bahamut paused momentarily. "…Yes."

An even longer pause.

"…Neither of you have felt 'different' over the past few days, have you?"

The boy was puzzled, and shook his head. "No."

"No." Dael readily answered.

Leviathan was silent yet again. "…It's probably nothing then." He finally said, although quietly doing so.

Bahamut himself stared back a moment. "…Leviathan, the sigil is almost dry. If there's any advice you have for us, now is the time."

"Very well." He stated. "Then let's leave supposition and future problems aside for the moment. I am going to have to ask you all to add another complication to your upcoming operation into Sybenia. If you really intend to either capture or eliminate the dictator and then leave and let everyone who's behind fight it out until one is left standing, then you need to use this time to try and track down what happened to the remaining essences that were stolen."

Dael's brow turned in confusion. "The essences?"

"The essences appeared to be water to us but were obviously something that was different on the spiritual level rather than the physical. If Sybenia truly managed to perfect what you're telling me about, then my assumption is they discovered the means through those essences. And if you are truly being played for fools to go in here and do the ambitions of someone else, then you should do something they didn't intend while you're at it. The true reason for all of this lies with the missing essences."

"Leviathan, before it's too late…one more thing." Bahamut interjected. "We were sent here via a device that enables teleportation across anywhere in the world. The person responsible for it was named 'Maritza'. I don't know what happened to her and I can't sense spirits anymore…but in my heart I don't think it was a coincidence. It's possible she's lived this long. Does she have anything to do with this?"

"I know more about Selina Martiza than you do, Bahamut, but I still know precious little. What I do know is that she's been gone for over two hundred years without appearing in public and she's only interested in what makes her happy, not world conquest. I can't rule out she won't do something despicable if it serves her ends, but somehow I doubt she appeared again just for that."

By now, the last of the water was evaporating, and Leviathan's voice grew smaller and weaker. However, he seemed to realize this, and spoke one last time.

"As I said…find the essences, and you'll find what's behind all of this…"

With that, the last of the fluid faded…and the sigil went 'dead', both in the 'real world' as well as the vision that Dael had of spiritual traces. With that gone, there was a moment of silence.

The two paused and looked to one another. To be honest, the captain was a bit intrigued by what Bahamut said about the doctor back at the teleporter. It seemed he indeed knew something that she didn't...but whether he would elaborate on it was something else. To be frank...she had other thoughts on her mind at the moment.

"…So what now?" Dael asked.

"It never pays to reject Leviathan's counsel." Bahamut stated. "He was the wisest of our kind."

"This operation is going to be hard enough just trying to get to Rozan." Dael reminded him. "I've been in that place once. Sure, they didn't have a whole lot of obvious defenses, but you can bet it's heavily guarded. And we don't even know if we'll find the essences anywhere inside. For all we know, they're in a lab miles away from the capitol building."

He looked back to her. "Nevertheless, we need to give it a try. If we don't…there's a good chance we're doing nothing more than dancing to the tune of whoever's behind all of this. If we're really going to cause a major civil unrest, this is the only time we'll be able to be in the country for months. Maybe years."

"But still, how?" Dael answered. "Like I said, we don't even know where to look for them. The main capitol building might be the most secure facility in the main city, but there's no guarantee they won't be there as opposed to a location that's not even listed. And we don't have any intelligence to tell us where."

Bahamut exhaled. "I don't know, but this is our one chance, Dael. We can't afford to let this go by. We need to keep our ears open for any area that sounds like Sybenia is trying to 'sweep it under the rug'. Now, I'm wagering that the capitol building is part of a greater complex, similar to what we have set up in Esthar now. It's the most efficient to guard since they seem intent on arming up most of the city as much as possible, but even they don't have money and resources to just throw around on multiple spots. My guess is one of those will end up being the spot. We don't even have to plan a 'side trip'."

Dael paused for a few moments. She wasn't exactly happy with this suggestion…but she also didn't want to make any more mistakes. Leviathan was supposed to be smart, after all. She should do as Bahamut said and not just dismiss it because she was so intent on doing something that 'whoever was behind all this' might want her to do to begin with. In the end, she decided on a compromise.

"…Alright, if we find something, we'll go for it. But don't count on my jeopardizing our original mission just for that. You heard Leviathan. He wants us to complete that one as well."

"Very well." Bahamut answered. "But try to get me to listen on the transmissions as well. I want to be able to hear what's happening…"


The group had about eighteen more hours to "lie low" after Dael and Bahamut's last discussion. After that, Dael needed to get back to work with the other captains on planning their assault. It was still only in the inception stages at the moment, and she, having been one of the only ones who saw the interior of Sybenia after they locked out the espionage agents, would have to be responsible for giving them the bulk of their intelligence, as precious little as it was. At the bare minimum, she knew of the underground tunnels, the layout of the structure, the cannons, the Aegis Armors, and the true capabilities of the Kaiser Raidens. That was more than most Class III individuals could give them. As time went by, they gradually began to hash out a plan.

However, they were still waiting for the word when the final stages were put out. The group found themselves waiting along with all of the rest of the soldiers for the next phase to be cleared. The radio was watched continuously…mostly for sounds of transmissions from the incoming fleet or, better yet, a transmission from Esthar itself using the fleet as a relay beacon. That would be possible, given the nature of the equipment on the incoming ships. Dael heard nothing, though…and neither did Bahamut, who kept his ears on the other broadcasts that managed to sneak an ear in on the enemy's own movements. After all, even domestically, they had coded channels, and neither the time, resources, nor specialists to try and break the codes and figure out what they were hiding. They had to stick with what they had.

Everyone was getting more anxious as time went on. No one even came closer to checking for them, but the streets seemed to thin out almost to the point where they could risk walking in the open. Even the sounds of aircraft flying overhead from time to time, being redirected, died down. Dael knew they couldn't wait too long. If their strike took too much time to launch, then the enemy would simply loosen security again and they'd be back where they started. She was sure they were trying to cut their losses even as is and had nearly managed to do so…and her own group struggled to be patient. After all, they couldn't get out of this country the same way they came in anymore if they had to flee…

Finally, however, the message came.

It was when Dael was lounging with the others. They had packed up their things several hours ago to get moving in a hurry, but since that time, as the hours continued to go by, she figured they had been a bit premature. With that in mind, she nearly gave the call to settle in again. Perhaps they could afford to lay low a bit longer. That's when she heard the transmission from the radio nearby, as did most of the other Esthar's Hawks.

"Foxhole, please come in. This is Pearl Wind, over."

Immediately, everyone, who had been lazing about for a while due to inaction, snapped to attention. Even the conventional soldiers quickly looked up and around. However, it was the captains who rose and started to approach the radio station…Dael included among them. On arrival, everyone immediately huddled in close, leaving the person in charge of communications to respond.

"This is Foxhole, over."

"Are all the foxes present, over?"

"Affirmative, over."

"The Pearl Wind is now blowing. It's going to keep it up for five cycles, repeat, five cycles. Soon, the Birdy-Bird is going to feel it. One cycle or less. Time to clear out. Over."

Dael tightened up a bit on hearing that. So this was it…

"Acknowledged. The foxes are raring. Over and out."

The radio was switched off…and, immediately, the Esthar's Hawks present went about turning it off completely and then got to work disassembling it. The other captains turned and started to go to their divisions. Among them was Dael. To think…she was just starting to get bored. Now they were going into the most dangerous territory on Gaia on the most important mission of the war…and she wished that she would have had a lot more time.

Come on…don't be nervous…you're trained for this.

…Thinking that way barely helped the situation. She was without the sword she knew for years, which was enough to distract her on a mental and comfort basis, and this wasn't a terrorist attack or run-and-gun raid. This was deciding the fate of the world. It was all she could do to try and keep herself calm and recall the plan as she moved back toward the others. Luckily, they had overheard, and were already getting their already-packed gear together. Even Carbuncle was up and stretching, seeming to get ready to do this one "on foot" to not slow anyone down.

"…I did not understand a word of what they said on that device." Ceja stated as she hefted her own axe.

"We're not exactly on purely 'coded' terms, but we're using a few code words as standard issue anyway in case someone happened to be listening." Quaren explained. "We're 'Foxhole', and the incoming ships are 'Pearl Wind'. 'Five cycles' means they'll be here in five hpurs, and that 'Birdy-Bird' refers to their own radar systems. In other words…they'll be here in five hours, but in one they'll be visible to the Sybenians."

"Which means that's when they'll start rerouting things." Dael added as she approached them. "That's when the borders will be 'looser', and when we can get in."

"In theory." Cryder answered. "They'll still have iron walls stretching across the entire border crossing loaded with every cannon and firearm imaginable. You really think we can pull off a tank capture this close to the area and drive it in?"

"No, but we don't have to." Dael answered. She turned her head slightly. "Cid…that drill of yours can tunnel through a hundred foot cave in no problem, right?"

The engineer paused as she went for his own pack, but then halted and nodded. "Of course."

"That's what I'm counting on." Dael answered. "Sybenia had its underground rail system as a government work project prior to turning hostile and began to work on tunnels extending out of the nation, but aborted them when the surrounding city-states wanted a bigger share of the tax revenue that new city employees and transit fees would provide. When Sybenia started sealing themselves off, they didn't want to have to build defenses underground and above ground, so they merely sealed their ends using explosives. Once that was done, they counted on the fact no one would be able to break through again without bringing in heavy equipment or using explosives of their own, which would give them away through tremors and sound if nothing else."

"But if a tank convoy is rolling overhead that's being redirected…" Bahamut mused, getting where this was going.

"We might be able to get in then." Dael finished. "Assuming they found out their tanks were 'appropriated' for our initial coming in, they'll be focusing more on checking the tanks themselves to see if we're trying to ride in the same way. At any rate, the rail system is completely connected. It has a few bulkheads, but that's nothing for us to get through. The main problem is going to be ensuring no one comes after us, because those rail tunnels are lined with sensors and cameras. That's what Captain Drell's group is taking care of. They're going to hijack one of the relay points and put the security systems in a loop. Now, those relays are checked every once in a while, but with the chaos of the attack, it should be pretty lax."

"So they are launching an attack, captain?" Quaren asked as he finally finished loading his gear and stood up.

Dael nodded.

This caused some of the group members to pause momentarily, looking uncomfortable, before they resumed. Quaren was among them as he went on. Carbuncle looked up a bit with a frown.

"…They can't win. And Sybenia knows they can't."

"They can still be a threat." Dael answered. "Especially with Sybenia 'guarding the wrong direction'. I'm not sure how far inland they can get, but the Black Corsairs have a few long range weapons, and we have a few missiles…enough to cause some damage to the defensive wall and whatever ships they can gather. And they won't bother fighting head on. They'll take time to organize a fleet. Their purpose isn't to win. It's to cause Sybenia enough problems to where they're blind to everything else. With one group at the south making sure no insurgents try anything, and the other to the northwest defending against the fleet, we'll have a chance. And Sybenia won't be able to afford to check every breach of security. It'll be enough for us to storm the capitol building, at any rate."

"How about escaping?" Cryder asked. "I didn't exactly agree to a suicide mission."

"Carbuncle teleport?" Jalab asked.

"Normally I would, but that place is bound to have some sort of Eris Bell in effect, keeping me from teleporting anyone a few hundred yards to a few feet. And no guarantee we'll take it out, either." The green creature answered.

"So we'll be taking an airship. A Sybenian one." Dael responded.

This caused a unified pause from everyone, including Quaren. "…Seriously, captain?"

"That's Captain Sloane's job…securing our escape and making sure to flood the radio signals with broadcasts that the High Dictator is escaping an attack by assassins. That way, they'll let us leave the city without trouble, thinking we're taking him to safety. By the time they realize something's wrong, we'll be too high in the air for them to shoot down."

"In theory, lass…" Cryder muttered. "I think we're pretty much runnin' under Murphy's Law ever since we started…"

"At any rate, that's only after we complete the mission." The captain continued. "From last time, I know the right railing system leads us all the way to the capitol building, and we knew about the rails even before the war began when we still had intelligence. There's little reason to believe they changed. We won't even have to worry about perimeter defenses."

"Only what's in the tunnels…" Bahamut added.

"It would not be a battle without some enemies to strike down." Ceja answered. "And if this is our final battle, it makes sense for it to be the most difficult."

"And it just might be, Ceja." Dael answered. "Is everyone ready?"

All the gear had been collected, the weapons put at the ready, and all of the group stared back at Dael…ready to move out. She inhaled one more time, and then exhaled.

"Alright…let's go."


To be continued...