Disclaimer: all final fantasy 8 characters places and things belong to Squaresoft and other involved companies. I own none of it. This fanfic is strictly for the fun and enjoyment of others and I make no profit off of it.
The chains of fate have begun to set themselves into motion. Emperor Zeilak has made his move. Squall and his seed companions are still on the offensive. Now, in these desperate times of hope and defeat Squall has decided to journey to Balamb for repairs and aid. Meanwhile, Seifer Almasy, the fallen knight, has come to terms with himself and has now decides to enter the battle. Will these brave young hero's be able to thwart Zeilak's plan or are they just delaying the inevitable?
EMPEROR OF DARKNESS
CHAPTER 7
Turbulence
Balamb was once a city renowned for its beauty and elegance. Its carefree take on life had attracted many people from all over the world. Some called it a paradise for those seeking the simpler life. However, if it was a paradise before, now it was nothing but a nightmare. Decades of beautiful architecture now lay decimated in rubble and dust. The once fine hotel, which was the pride of Balamb, was now buried sixteen feet under at the bottom of the ocean floor. Homes to many families were annihilated and families themselves were utterly wiped out.
Yet, it is said that only in the most trying of times, will people ever shine the most. A philosophical statement which, would be more suited as that of simple idealism. However, in this very town, the people lived as an embodiment to that very same adage. One such person in particular who became the proverbial lifeline of the town was none other then Rose Dintch, mother of infamous seed, Zell Dintch.
"I could use a hand over here!" Rose called out towards two of the town's people who were walking by in the distance.
She was currently working on an elderly man who had fallen victim to serious injury during the explosion. It had been four long days since that fateful day and the poor soul was still in critical condition, desperately clinging on to a dwindling life force. Rose was working diligently to break the man's high fever and was running dangerously low on water.
"Sorry Mrs. Dintch, Bill and I got our hands full as it is!" John, one of the men passing by, replied back.
"Look John, I'm in no mood for your antics today ok?" Rose yelled, angrily. "This man is literally dying in front of me. All I need is some cool water. Can't you and Bill do at least that much?"
"And what would be the Point, Dintch?" John seethed back, anger starting to fester in his own voice. "What are you really trying to prove with your macho 'lets save the city' attitude? Are you trying to get an award and be as famous as that hyperactive kid of yours? Can't you accept what's going on around you? Can't you accept the truth? We're all going to die by that maniac and there's nothing you or I or that mercenary son of yours can do about it!"
"So you're just giving up then? Is that is John?" Rose was now burning with her own anger now. "You know I'm really disappointed in you John. After all these years, everyone looked up to you because we thought you could stand on your own two feet. You inspired confidence in others and always kept on going no matter what? And now look at you! You're a pathetic excuse from what you were before."
"Shut up! Don't you dare talk to me in that way!" John screamed, clinching his fists violently.
"John settle down now, you don't want to cause a scene." Bill said, standing next to him.
"Look John I know your still grieving over the loss of your wife Becky but we have to be strong!" Rose urged, sympathetically. "Wouldn't she want you to keep fighting no matter what?"
However this only had the opposite effect on John. "Don't you ever mention my wife's name you witch! DO YOU HEAR ME?!?"
John would have jumped on Rose then and there but Bill stopped him short as he wrestled with him, trying to get his friend to gain some self control. Slowly John calmed down then broke into weak sobbing as he slouched on Bill's shoulder. Rose simply watched on in pity and sorrow for the troubled man.
After a while, the two men stood up and began walking away. Meanwhile Rose had resumed treating the old man as best she could. Suddenly, however, Rose friend, Maggy came around the bend carrying a fresh load of cool water.
"Maggy, thanks! You're a lifesaver. But how did you know I needed fresh water?"
"Sorry Rose, I kinda heard what was being said back there and I hurried to get the water as fast as I could to try and dissolve the dispute. I guess that happened on its own."
Rose lowered her head in exasperation. "That John is going to need to get it together sooner or later. All he's doing is destroying himself."
"Well he did lose his wife Rose. That woman was the world to John, you know that."
Rose gave Maggy a weak smile and nodded her head. "More then either of you think." She said simply.
Maggy immediately wanted to retake her words but bit her lip instead. She had not meant to stir things up so bad inside Rose. "Rose, look I'm sorry. Of course you know what John is going through. It must be so awful losing Steve after all this time."
Rose nodded slowly with a wistful smile on her face. "We had good times. I'm just happy we had this much time together before we were parted."
Maggy shook her head vehemently and thrust her arms out at Rose.
"But don't you see? You're stronger then John, Rose. You have been the sole survivor of this whole city. If you weren't here, we would have all fallen apart by now! Can't you see the people look up to you and that only adds to John's misery. He feels like he's not needed now that Becky is gone and with you taking charge like you are, he's feeling even more worthless. Don't you thing it would be best if you just leave him be for now? Otherwise he may do something terribly drastic."
"Rose closed her eyes. "Maggy, we all need time to mourn but if mourning is all we do and we dedicate our lives to the act then it only becomes a form of suicide. If something doesn't break John out of this trend of cynicism and anger, then he's only going to lead himself to an early grave."
Maggy was quiet for a moment as the two elderly women continued to work on dropping the old man's fever. "But Rose…these people, John, Bill, all of us, we're all running low on confidence. We all heard that man's speech. He intends to kill us all. What we need is a miracle to rally the peoples confidence."
"I guess your right." Rose said sadly. "But for as long as I live, I won't give up hope that we can overcome this. Some how, Some way, that madman won't get his wish."
As if on cue to her last comment, the sounds of humming engines began to reverberate in the far distance. Rose looked up in a heartbeat at that sound.
"Oh god. I hope its not another attack." Maggy said with dread.
Rose was quiet for a moment as if placing the sound in her mind. Suddenly her eyes lit up.
"That noise! It's a miracle! Just like you said Maggy!" Rose cried happily with tears of Joy.
Maggy was utterly flustered. "Rose what are you talking about? What's happening?"
"Oh Maggy can't you hear it? Can't you tell? My boy's coming back!" She laughed merrily. "My boys coming back to save us all!"
Suddenly, however, as the object came into view, Rose's merry cries caught in her throat. Someone had indeed come, however it wasn't her son at all.
****
Squall stood resolutely at the center of the piloting room. His thoughts were dwelling on the recent events of the past. He continuously turned the situation over in his mind, coming up with countless different ways to change the inevitable fate which had befallen them. So engulfed was he in his thoughts that he didn't noticed when Xu called out his name until she finally decided to tap him on the shoulder.
"General Lionheart, something's come up sir."
Squall turned to the girl who had been his constant shadow ever since Balamb Garden took off four days ago. "What is it?" He asked with mild irritation. These last four days had been hell for him. Not only did he have to deal with the strain of what had befallen him personally but he also had to deal with the well being of everyone at Garden and Xu's constant berating of him was definitely not helping. No matter how disguised it was.
Xu regarded Squall with a smug look when she replied. "There apparently seems to be some trouble in the engine room. They are requesting your presence."
Squall knew by the way Xu was looking at him that she thought she had won the little war she had started with him all those days ago. But for the most part, Squall didn't care what she thought of him or how bad of a leader she told everyone he was. The fact was that he 'was' the leader and he would do his duty no matter what. He would follow Cid's dream.
"Ok tell them ill be right down. In the meantime, I want you to man the bridge. Can you handle that Xu?" This last remark was sarcastic and emphasized her inability to follow his direct orders.
Xu narrowed her eyes hatefully but nodded her head none the less. "Yes sir I can." She spat through gritted teeth.
"Good." Squall said, never breaking eye contact. "Inform me immediately, if something comes up."
Squall didn't see the arrogant grin forming on Xu's face as he turned his back to her and walked off the bridge towards the engine room.
****
"Squall, glad to see you could make it!" Irvin greeted as Squall entered the engine room.
"What seems to be the problem?"
Irvin stood up and started towards an adjoining corridor leading further into the reactor area. "Right this way." He said mechanically.
Irvin began to converse more as they made their way further towards the reactor core. "It seems the tech boys down in the reactor room greatly miscalculated their findings."
Squall nodded grimly. "I see. So how much time do we have left then?"
"According to our engineers, we've got about 10 hours."
Squall was quiet for the remainder of the walk. Once they entered the main reactor room, Squall and Irvin were greeted by a pudgy, little man with huge glasses and grimy hands. Most of the man's face was covered up by his mat of salt and pepper hair and the huge frisky beard he sprouted from his chin and jaw line. The olive green overcoat he wore to clarify his authority was also very grimy.
"Good evening, gentlemen." The man greeted as they walked up to him. "I take it you've been informed of our plight general?"
Squall nodded accordingly. "Indeed I have. But let me ask you this, we are currently about 2000 miles away from Balamb City. Is there any way we could perhaps accelerate our velocity without upsetting the reactor to critical max?"
The Supreme engineer was silent for a moment as he stroked the stub of hair on his chin in thought. "It is possible, however it would reduce the amount of time we have left, depending on the rate of velocity you wish to attain."
"What if we push it to a 50 percent higher acceleration rate?" Squall asked.
"Hmm, That would effectively reduce the amount of time left by half. We would have no more then 5 hours before the core reactor for the engine gives out. And not just that; you must also take into consideration that there is a high possibility that the reactor may even explode."
"We could close it off if that happens though right?" Irvin offered helpfully.
"Correct." The engineer replied. "But it would extend the amount of repair time considerably."
"Then that is the price we must pay." Squall countered. "My question now is do you think we could make it in time, given our current distance and anticipated velocity."
"It would be cutting it close but I do believe we could make it happen."
"Good, then it's settled."
Without another word, Squall promptly walked over to the communications terminal on the other side of the room.
"Xu, do you copy?" He said into the speaker as Xu's face slowly began to form on the terminal screen.
"I copy general. Go ahead."
"Right. I need you to increase the Garden's speed by 50 percent." He replied.
"Increase speed sir? For what reason?"
"Xu, we don't have time to go into detail right now. Just follow my orders."
Xu smiled smugly from the terminal screen. "You just can't admit it, can you?"
"What? Xu what are you talking about?"
"Your little gamble is over and you lost 'general'." Xu replied, placing sarcastic emphasis on the last word.
Without a second glance, she then turned away from the monitor to face the current pilot manning the Garden.
"Taselman, I have an order-redirect." She said in an authoritative tone. "Your new orders are to change our present course. Instead, head 56 kilometers north and hold that position until we reach the alcove."
"What?!?" Squall screamed into the communicator. His anger rose as he saw the pilot beginning to carry out his new orders.
"Xu this is treason! Recall those orders immediately!" Squall yelled.
Squall saw from his screen, that the pilot was now beginning to hesitate in his task.
"Ignore those orders seed!" Xu commanded from her position outside of Squall's view. "These past incidents have put sufficient strain on the general's thinking capacities. As of this moment I am now relieving him of command. Seed officer Marveau, cut that transmission right now!"
And with that, the screen went blank. Suddenly following, the Garden lurched threateningly to the side as it changed course from its present position.
"Shit!" Squall seethed as he banged roughly into the wall.
"Problems?" Irvin asked, understating the issue as he too tried to pry himself from the wall.
Squall gave him an exasperated look. "Irvin is Selphie still in the medical center?"
"Yeah, I think so."
"You have your communicator right? Let me borrow it for a sec."
"Uh sure, you got it bro." Irvin replied as he tossed his communicator to Squall.
Squall immediately turned it on and sent a line to Selphie. "Selphie do you copy?"
"Hiya Squall! Mind telling me what's going on over there? We just got a nasty bump over here in the medical area."
"Xu's taken over command of the Garden, claiming that I'm not fit to lead. Look, It's a long story. Right now I need you to go to the bridge for me and distract Xu until I get there. It's imperative that she does not increase velocity whatsoever! I'll try to be there as soon as I can. Can you do that for me Selphie?"
"Sure boss! I'm on my way now."
"Thanks, you're a life saver." Squall said, closing communication.
"So what's the plan boss man?" Irvin asked as Squall handed him back his communicator.
"I need you to get these engineers to keep this reactor going as long as possible cause I have a feeling we'll need an extension on that time limit. In the mean time, I'm heading to the bridge. There's a severe problem with the chain of authority around here that I mean to rectify right now."
"You go it Squall. I can't make any promises but I'll see what I can do down here."
"Thanks." Squall said then made his way out of the room towards the bridge.
****
It was days like these that made Selphie thankful she was fast on her legs. It seemed the closer she got to the bridge, the more chaotic the Garden swerved. As usual, Squall was very cryptic as to what the situation was, however she trusted him just as much as she trusted any of her other friends. Somehow she knew that once she got to the bridge things would get out of control and she would need Squall's aid. She only hoped that he would hurry up in time.
Selphie dashed into the elevator and slammed the palm of her hand on the button reading 3rd floor. She slowly fell to her knee's catching her breath while the elevator made its way to the required destination. Selphie realized at that moment that she hand never ran so fast in her life. The thought excited her somewhat and normally she might laugh had the situation not been so serious.
Once the doors opened she dashed towards the main office which, still after four days of construction, looked more like an entrance to a junkyard. She heedlessly barged in through those double doors but wasn't prepared for what greeted her inside. Selphie simply stared wide-eyed as seven guns were pointed in her direction.
"Uh, heh heh heh, I suppose there isn't any room for negotiation huh?" She asked meekly.
Xu walked up in front of the other seven seed officers who aimed their automatics at Selphie's heart. "And I suppose Squall was the one who sent you here, is that it? Is he really that spineless now to have to send one of his lackeys to correct his own mistakes?"
Selphie became furious. "What!?! I am no ones lackey you – you … GEEK!"
Xu laughed mildly at the young seed's rebuke. "Geek? Wow that's original. Look little girl, I'm doing this for the better good of all of Garden. Can't you understand that? Or has Squall got you so brainwashed that you can only see things his way?"
"The only thing I see wrong right now is that you have forcefully taken command of Garden be issuing a coup, apparently under the guise that General Lionheart is no longer fit to lead. That's a lie and you know it! Why did you do this Xu? What is it that you are so afraid Squall will lead us into?"
"I am not afraid of anything! I 'know' Squall will lead us into death. For the sake of all mankind I cannot allow him to make such a grave mistake. Selphie listen to me, he's mentally drained. He's thinking things through irrationally and this irrational behavior of his is going to get us all killed if we don't do something to stop it now! Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"Yes, … I understand that you are full of it! Your just obsessed with your own power and you find that this is the best opportunity to get more!"
Xu looked down in sorrow. "Poor Selphie. I really liked you. Did you know that? I really would have wished we could have seen things eye to eye but I guess that's just not in the works now is it?"
Selphie wanted to hug Xu when she saw the truly saddened look on the woman's face. "Oh Xu, can't you-"
But before Selphie could finish, she was roughly knocked over the head with the butt end of a seed officer's automatic gun.
Xu closed her eyes in pity. "It's truly sad when good people are duped by the insane wishes of another. Anyway, we have wasted too much time on this girl. Pilot I want you to increase velocity by 50 percent and stay on our present course! Once we reach the alcove everything will be alright."
Suddenly the doors burst open and in came a very furious Squall, closely followed by a dozen seed officers similarly armed. "Xu, just what the hell do you think you're doing?" Squall hissed in slightly suppressed rage.
Xu did not seem at all bothered by the fact that Squall had caught her or that he currently outnumbered her in force. She smiled and shrugged lightly as she answered back. "Well what does it look like I'm doing 'general'?" I'm saving Garden from a dark future and the world from an even bleaker one."
"That's all I needed to hear! Xu you have committed treason upon Garden and you will be punished accordingly."
Xu sneered at this and glared at Squall with scorn and hatred. "It was a mistake that you ever became General. Cid really screwed up with that one. I guess he must have been partial to taking pity on the weak and pathetic but why should the rest of us have to suffer for his 'soft heart'?"
Squall burst with anger at this and barely stopped himself from drawing out his gunblade. "Regardless of what you may tahink of me 'Commander', the fact is I'm still in charge." He sneered. "And right now my orders are that you be assigned to your quarters until I say otherwise."
"On what grounds?" Xu countered. "For saving Garden? For doing what is right when the leader is obviously having a mental breakdown?"
Squall ignored her banter and answered her first question. "For disobeying 'my' orders and challenging your superior officer! Nida, you will Take Xu's place as Commander."
Xu shook with rage as Squall turned away from her. Squall motioned to two of his seed officers. "Doppler, Phillips, get her out of my sight!"
They saluted then carried out their actions with an angry screaming Xu yelling in the background.
"Savor this victory Squall! Because sooner then later you're going to get what you deserve! You spoiled, self-centered prick!" and with that she was gone.
Squall immediately walked over to Selphie's prone form. "Officer Jenkins I want you to get Selphie to medical on the double."
He then turned towards the current pilot manning the Garden and started issuing a series of orders. "You up there! I want you to change the present course back to our original destination. Tech, connect me with the engine room on the double!"
Squall walked over to the terminal as the screen on the communications monitor began to clear up. "Irvin how are things looking down there?"
"Well Squall I hate to say this but all hell is about to break lose down here. It seems all those twists and turns really weren't too healthy on this reactor. The Brains down here tell me that we got at least another half hour till this thing is history."
Squall clinched his fists in anger. "Damn, there's no way we could make it to Balamb in time!"
"There… is another alternative."
Squall turned his head in shock. "What do you have in mind?"
"We could rev this baby up to maximum speed. The engineers down here say that it will cause multiple explosions throughout the Garden, mainly on the lower level but the possibility is still out there. They estimate the rate of success at over 80 percent. I guess that means we can pull it off. If you're willing, we can do it."
Squall closed his eyes in contemplation. Sure they might be able to pull it off but at what cost. If it meant that lives would be at stake then Squall didn't want to risk It. However, if they did nothing, they would surly run into more problems then they bargained for. Accepting the lesser of the two evils, Squall made a choice. "Irvin can we concentrate all possible power ruptures to Just the main level?"
"That's a good question. Let me check." Irvin said as he when over to the chief engineer. After a few minutes of conversation, the chief engineer came on screen.
"General there is a very good possibility that we can concentrate the explosions to the main level but in order for it to work, we would have to keep power usage strictly reserved for the engine only. There's also a definite fact that the whole engine room will be practically non existent when this ride is over. We're definitely going to need a whole new engine design, which will result in an even longer stay at Balamb. And one more thing, if you plan on keeping the explosions at just the main level then you can only use maximum speed for 15 minutes. After that, everything will start blowing sky high. We won't be able to do anything about it after that."
"Very well, I'll take the risk. Do what you have to do down there then get to the second level as fast as you can. At maximum speed I'm sure we can get to Balamb in time."
"I agree but the question is will the reactor hold out long enough. There's a 15% chance that the whole engine may give out before our 15 minutes are up."
"We'll just have to risk it. You've got 10 minutes to get to the second level so hurry it up down there."
"Understood. We got our fingers crossed General."
Squall closed the transmission then switched the line over to the main speaker. "Attention all Balamb Garden occupants, You are all hereby ordered to make your way to the second level as fast as you can. The whole main level is going to be exposed to severe explosions, therefor, I want you all on the second level within the next 10 minutes." Squall closed transmissions and slumped against the wall. "All we can do now is hope for the best."
Well I guess that could be viewed as a kind of cliff hanger, although not much of one. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, the next one titled 'The arrival' should be out soon! Well as always thanks a lot for reading and please review!
-Cordis