Disclaimer: All Final Fantasy 8 characters, Places and things belong to Squaresoft and other involved companies. I own no rights to them, this fanfic is purely out of fun and enjoyment for myself and others.
FINAL FANTASY/ ALTERED TALE
CHAPTER 2
Squall rubbed the side of his neck as he chaffed under the protective armor of the Balamb knighthood. The mission briefing had been short and to the point. The objective was simply to provide backup support for the allied Dollet contingent. Galbadian troops has stormed the fort so Squall and a hand full of other knights under the command of Battalion Commander Trepe were to sneak around to the back and secure the tower eliminating any enemies they came across.
Squall brooded the success of this mission over in his minds as thoughts of Quistis previous words filtered in through his mind. 'Do I really want to raise higher in rank then I already am?' He asked himself.
Sitting across from him, Seifer Almasy was smiling smugly, basking in his arrogant confidence. Like Squall, he was also decked in silver armor from high cuffed shoulder plates to chest cavity plates to knee high armored boot plates. Underneath the weighted sheets of armor were the blue threads of the Balamb Garden knighthood uniform. Like Squall, Seifer was also chaffing under the closely fitted armor, however he was too proud of his status to say anything offensive about the highly praised material. The sun was unusually hot this day, which made the armor all that much harder to bear.
Commander Trepe, however, was all too familiar with the scorching hot air as well as the chaffing coils of armor around her. Of course her uniform was more flamboyant then the rest, sporting silver plated chest cavity armor along with mixed plate colors of gold and royal blue. She also wore a cape of crimson red lining and her slightly snug black uniform underneath sported similarly black chain mail. Although her armor would naturally make her more of a target for enemy forces, there was method to her design. Each different colored plate armor signified a different degree of protection ultimately giving her the most protection out of the group.
Squall noticed all of this as he subconsciously caressed the hilt of his sacred sword. His sword was very rich in design and sported the emblem of the lionheart at the center of its hilt. He didn't really know why he cherished the blade so much but it was the only family heirloom he had. His father supposedly died during the last war and the only thing the man had to offer the son he left behind was his sword that was presented to Squall only recently upon successful completion of attaining knighthood. Growing up in an orphanage with Seifer Almasy, Squall never really put much stock in family so he was completely surprised when he was actually awarded something that belonged to his father. That didn't mean he held him in high standards however. As far as Squall was concerned, he never wanted to see the man. He felt betrayed that he would be abandoned in such a way. This never really effected him until his sister who took care of him in the orphanage abruptly left him without a trace. It was at that point that Squall had given up on families in general and from then on, wanted nothing to do with any of it. Squall was independent. The only thing he needed now was himself. He didn't need anyone else.
"Hey Ice boy, what are you so deep in thought about?" Seifer asked breaking his reverie. "Still feeling the effects of that can of whoop ass I opened up on you earlier eh?"
Squall glared daggers at him but didn't say anything.
"Whooo I'm scared! The scary face! Ohhh nooo whatever shall I do!" Seifer sarcastically mocked him.
"Enough with the joking Almasy!" Quistis ordered. "I'm sure I speak for everyone in this transport when I say we have had more then our fill of your senseless banter!"
Seifer grinned widely. "Yet again, it's Battalion Commander Trepe to the rescue. You know, correct me if I'm wrong but I thought the lady was supposed to be the damsel and the guy was supposed to be the knight. I guess Ice boy over here's got one too many feminine qualities! He needs to be saved by 'the Commander' every time! Or maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it's just the Commander who's too masculine! She needs to save her weak pathetic little subordinate whom I'm sure we all know isn't 'just' a subordinate in her eyes."
Quistis was infuriated. Enough was enough. "Seifer, you really don't want that promotion do you? You're going to fail your test before you've even begun!"
Seifer shot her an arrogant grin but there was something in his eyes that assured her he would stop his banter. And she was right on the money because with that he sat back in his seat and idly toyed with his sacred sword. If there was one thing Seifer was ever serious and even reverent about then it was his sword. Like Squall, the sword was legendary and had value to it. When Squall was presented with his family heirloom so too was Seifer presented with this sword of honor. It was said to have been wielded by the Legendary knight known as Vangard who was said to have vanquished the first and most powerful Sorceress after she had become corrupted with power. Being that Seifer and Squall were the most skilled knights to ever come out of Garden, the decision of who would inherit the sword next was an easy choice to make. Although, it would have gone to Squall, had he not already been inline to inherit the sword of his father. Surprising to everyone was how much care Seifer actually took with his sword. It was absolutely the only thing he would every actually be completely serious about.
Quistis pondered the man's attachment with the sword as she sat in her seat waiting for the inevitable. As if on cue to this, emergency lights began to flash and loud sirens began to blare out in the small compartment.
Seifer looked out into the window as the other Garden transports sped off into action. "Show time."
Squall looked around at everyone in the transport. Besides him, Quistis and Seifer, everyone else seemed to show different degrees of nervousness. Despite all the years of training they all had, war was a serious thing and at any moment they could all die. Squall was used to death. Apparently so was Seifer. As far as Quistis was concerned, she couldn't afford to worry about death because of her responsibility as leader.
Besides them, there were 11 other knights in the transport. There was the famous duo, Biggs and Wedge. Both of whom, were slackers when it came to off time but on the field they had gained enough notoriety to become eligible for positions of rank. Then there was Carter, Reenkor, Doppler, Monter, and Phillips. All five of them were all good knights and had leading potential but they were only average fighters. Jerrard was almost as cold as Squall since he never talked but he at least showed more emotion. And on top of that, he was nowhere near as skilled in fighting as Squall was. Talisar was unanimously named the wimpy one of the group. He didn't have a lot of courage but he had a strong heart. Cid probably saw that when he was selecting candidates. Coleman was a veteran in the Garden knighthood and by far had the most field experience. The only thing surprising about his presence aboard was that he wasn't recruited sooner. And lastly there was Nida. He was quiet for the most part but it was rumored that he was head over heels for Battalion Commander Trepe.
"Ice boy, snap out of it!" Seifer called from his seat. He was unstrapping himself from his chair. Squall looked around and noticed that everyone else was doing the same thing. His face flushed a bit red then he too began to remove the safety locks of his chair.
Seifer saw his embarrassed demeanor and began chuckling silently. Quistis didn't like the smug look on his face and charged up to him once she was free of her safety locks.
"May I ask what you think is so funny Almasy? This is not a game! You slip up for even a second during a battle and you're-"
But before Quistis could finish, she was interrupted by a loud :BOOM:
Everyone in the transport fell over from the momentum of the blast. Squall fell back into his seat but he immediately shot back out. Quistis fell onto Seifer but he steadied her as he just barely held onto his balance, grabbing hold of one of the pipes on the ceiling of the transport.
"Why Commander, I didn't know you were so forward." He said with a smirk.
In response to this Quistis elbowed him in the armor plated chest then regained her own balance once again. "Don't test my patience any further Almasy or I will make it so that you never gain rank in the knighthood."
Normally Seifer would have replied with another witty comment. However his attention was distracted by the horrifying scene he was viewing from outside the window of their transport.
"Commander." He said in an unusually serious and flat voice. "Were we supposed to come under this kind of heavy enemy fire?"
Quistis immediately rushed to the window to look outside. "Oh my God!"
Before her very eyes, Garden transports were being blown out of the water. From the island, huge beam cannons were firing massive shots at them. They didn't stand a chance.
Quistis breath caught in her throat. "This was supposed to be a surprise attack… they were on to us. Someone must have tipped them off. This is all a big set up."
Squall looked on at the destruction with a blank expression on his face as usual. "Commander what are your orders? Should we pull back and regroup?"
"No, it's too late for that. If we pulled back now we'd just be blown out of the water like everyone else. It's best if we continue with the mission. We still have a chance of pulling it off. If we can secure the tower then we've won."
"If we live that long." Seifer snorted in disdain. "Everyone else is getting blown to bits out there. What makes you think the same thing won't happen to us?"
Quistis smiled so sweetly, Nida's blood ran cold.
"Why Seifer, could it be that you're scared?"
"I fear nothing!" Seifer growled in barely suppressed anger. The worst thing you could ever do to Seifer was to call him a coward. Such a violation of his honor was unforgivable in his eyes. He continued to stare daggers at Quistis who simply gave him a smug poker face in return.
Suddenly the P.A. speakers of the transport came to life, breaking the tension. "We've got drop off in two minutes folks. Be ready." Yelled the pilot. There was no more time left. The battle had begun.
:::::::::::: To Be Continued…
Well ok that was a bit short but I wanted to stop here otherwise it would have been a long chapter. So anyway I hope you all enjoyed it. I'm really liking this story! So anyway, as always, thanks for reading and Please review and tell me what you all think!
-Cordis