Xu stared at the papers for a few minutes, all the while Zell and Miles making various nervous twitches. Miles yawned slowly, and Zell reached forward and began to play with one of the various executive toys on the desk.
The toy broke in his hand, and Zell quickly made a repair attempt. Placing the small gold bar on top of the other at a perpendicular angle, he grinned, as it remained steady, then collapsed again.
Miles shook his head as Zell growled under his breath and shoved both pieces away from himself. Xu looked up again, took a quick glance at the broken doohickey, then at Zell, then at Miles, who shrugged.
She cleared her throat, "This isn't exactly normal. Extraction of two people?"
Miles nodded, "They probably have some form of vital information."
"Yes, but why not just retake the city?"
"The reason may be in that information."
"It still sounds half-assed, but can you do it?"
There was a pause as Xu looked at Zell, who continued to stare angrily at the toy. She discreetly coughed. Nothing. Finally, she slammed her fist on the table.
Zell jumped, "Yeah?"
"I said, can we do it?"
"Do what?"
"The extraction!"
"Oh yeah, not too hard. Just a matter of finding them. I wouldn't devote more than three people to this."
"Good, because we're devoting one."
"Great, who?"
There was an awkward silence as Xu continued to glare at Zell. After a moment, he got the idea.
"Damn it."
Xu allowed a slight grin, "Miles, do me a favor will you? Go to the bridge and tell Nida to transmit a confirmation to President Loire. Zell and I are going to discuss the operation."
Miles gave a quick salute, and then retreated to the bridge. The small elevator bought him up, and Nida stood at the helm. Miles gave him a tap on the shoulder.
"What's up, Miles?"
"Xu says to send a confirmation to Laguna."
Nida nodded and flipped a few switches. The radio blared to life, and Laguna's voice came on, "President Loire."
"President Loire, it's Nida. Xu says we'll do it."
"Great, anything else?"
Nida answered in the negative, and moved to flip off the radio, but Miles stopped him, a question forming in his head.
"Laguna, it's Miles. What's going on?"
"What do you mean?"
"Why are you having a whole operation in Winhill just to get two agents out?"
"Because the information they have is invaluable."
"Why not just retake the city?"
"That's the technical thing. There's something about Harket I can't tell you. Needless to say we'll avoid a lot of bloodshed by not taking the city yet."
"Laguna. Look, I know you're not telling us something here. Something very important."
"I can't tell you anything other than that, alright?"
Miles threw his arms up, "Alright!"
Suddenly, the bridge was filled with the sound of machine gun fire and sounds of death. Miles instinctively ducked down, but realized the sound wasn't coming from Garden.
It was coming from the radio.
"LAGUNA!"
Laguna came back, breathless, "No time! Go! Complete the mission!"
Then silence.
Miles smashed his feet onto the elevator, and came down into the main 3rd floor area. He dashed to Xu and Zell, still working out details.
"We've got a problem."
***
Laguna switched off the radio and reached to his back wall. He quickly entered in a key code on a hidden panel, and a small case appeared on his desk. The case opened up, and his machine gun was extended out. He grabbed it, and then walked over to the doorway. He quietly opened the door a crack, and peered outside. There were armed men, dressed in grey, metallic outfits, pointing guns at some unknown target, and they were talking about him.
One asked the hostage, "Where's Laguna?"
Another interrupted, "Probably cowering in his office, I'll get him."
The man approached the door, and Laguna threw his head back, quickly considering his options. His time ran short, as the man came through the door and walked…
…right past him.
Laguna grinned and slowly, silently shut the door, then stepped up behind the man, who, upon seeing an empty office, spun around, and quickly met the end of Laguna's gun. The soldier collapsed the ground with a dull thud, and Laguna suddenly got an idea.
***
Slowly, Laguna stepped out of his office quivering, his face conveying fear in every possible way. The two other soldiers in the hall looked at him.
He got down to his knees, "The guy said that he needed both of you."
They both traded a look to each other, and Laguna instantly realized they were rookies. They BOTH walked into the office, not even bothering to look again at Laguna, who made a quiet signal to the others, then pulled the downed soldier's pistol out of his waistband. He stood, turned, and followed both into the office.
They soldiers took one look at the downed soldier, and then spun around in surprise. Laguna stared at them for a split second, then promptly shot both in the kneecaps. As they squirmed on the ground, he stepped to each, and threw away their weapons, then ripped off their masks.
"Who are you? What do you want?"
One groaned, "You jackass!"
"Shut up! Answer me!"
Neither moved, and Laguna put the pistol to one's head, "Answer me, now!"
The man backed down, "Alright! We're from Galbadia! Harket's special forces! We were sent to kill you and take the other one!"
Laguna feathered the trigger, "who's the other one? WHO?"
"The kid! The damned kid! Neal or something…"
The man almost cried, and Laguna cursed, -Neos!-
He left the two there, grabbed whatever ammo he could, and took his machine gun from the rack again. As he moved to the door, he heard one talking into a radio, requesting backup. Laguna spun around, "You son-of-a…"
He never finished the sentence. The door flew open and three soldiers burst in, guns blazing. Laguna threw himself to the ground and spun around, firing his gun at the soldiers. Two went down, and the other aimed for Laguna. Laguna pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. He cursed and threw the gun at the soldier, who momentarily flinched. Just enough time for Laguna to throw himself up and charge into the soldier. Both fell to the ground, and Laguna wrestled the man's gun away, then fired off two shots into his opponent's chest. After Re-loading his gun, he grabbed two holsters and put a pistol into each. After fully re-arming and re-loading, Laguna was good to go, and he knew what he needed to do.
He threw open the doors, machine gun at the ready, and even at the age of 61, Laguna was fit, and looked every bit the action hero. He dashed down the hall and burst into the main hallway, gun at the ready. He was greeted with a blade to his throat, and four armed soldiers, so he quickly halted. There was a moment where no one moved, then, the blade flicked away from his neck as quickly as it had arrived there.
Laguna heard someone speak to him, and recognized it as Kiros, "Jeez Laguna, don't DO that!"
"Sorry, I was in a rush."
"Yeah, well, we were coming to get you out."
"No worries, I'm fine, now ah… where's Neos?"
"Neos? He's in the guest room, sleeping, we didn't want to alarm him. Why?"
Laguna felt his leg begin to cramp up, "They're after him."
Kiros motioned to the others to get to Neos' room, then halted Laguna from doing so.
"Are you alright Laguna?"
"I'm fine, you know, you shouldn't be running around with the boys anymore."
"Laguna, I'm just a commander at heart."
"You're also 58."
"So, I'm a commander with risk of a heart attack. Laguna," Kiros looked at the weapons array Laguna was wearing, "you're too old for this shit."
"Yeah, I know, but we don't have time for it."
Kiros sighed as Laguna began a slightly limped walk toward Neos' room.
***
Luckily enough, Neos was secured well before more soldiers could show up for him. Laguna allowed himself a sigh of relief as his grandson gave him a hug. However, their moment was interrupted. A guard ran into the room.
"President Loire, come quickly!"
Laguna walked through the hall, and looked outside the window. Galbadian soldiers now walked through the streets of Esthar, and they were everywhere the eye could see. It was an outright takeover.
"Okay," Laguna said, recovering himself, "Call back every army we have, get them all together, liberate Esthar."
Two of his elite bodyguard forces came up behind him, "Sir, we have to evacuate you and the General."
Laguna nodded, "and Neos."
"Negative, Sir. There is only room on the transport for two people."
Laguna tried to maintain his cool, "Then give my seat up."
"Sir, anyone left in this palace will most likely die!"
Laguna whirled around and began to yell, "I DON'T GIVE A DAMN! MY GRANDSON COMES FIRST, GOT IT?"
He noticed he was making a scene in front of everyone, including Neos.
The bodyguard continued, "Regulations state that only you and Kiros are to be evacuated in the Presidential Evacuation Craft. The others will wait for the other evacuation craft to arrive."
Laguna grabbed the man by the arm and whispered, "The others will most likely die."
The man spoke loudly still, "Yes, sir. The others will probably die, but we are prepared."
Neos' face went pale, "Am I gonna die?"
Laguna cursed, "Look, I don't care about regulations already, that kid WILL live. I'm forfeiting my seat to him."
Another voice came out, "Don't."
Laguna looked at the man who had spoken it, Kiros.
"I'll give my seat up."
"Kiros, you'll die."
"Yeah, maybe, but you know, I've had fun."
Laguna stared at his friend, "No. I'm giving my seat."
"Look, Laguna. You had your turn at being stubborn, now its mine. GO!"
Laguna struggled with the decision, "No…"
Kiros shook his head, "Alright Laguna, that's it."
Kiros threw a punch, which connected with Laguna's face, and the President collapsed to the ground. Kiros turned to the soldiers, "Get him and Neos to the evac ship, now."
***
Laguna came to as the ship lifted off and flew away from the palace, towards Balamb, where an agreement had been reached for such a situation. He pressed his hands to the window, and watched Esthar fade away.
((Next Chapter: Zell's mission, and Kiros' fate.))
The toy broke in his hand, and Zell quickly made a repair attempt. Placing the small gold bar on top of the other at a perpendicular angle, he grinned, as it remained steady, then collapsed again.
Miles shook his head as Zell growled under his breath and shoved both pieces away from himself. Xu looked up again, took a quick glance at the broken doohickey, then at Zell, then at Miles, who shrugged.
She cleared her throat, "This isn't exactly normal. Extraction of two people?"
Miles nodded, "They probably have some form of vital information."
"Yes, but why not just retake the city?"
"The reason may be in that information."
"It still sounds half-assed, but can you do it?"
There was a pause as Xu looked at Zell, who continued to stare angrily at the toy. She discreetly coughed. Nothing. Finally, she slammed her fist on the table.
Zell jumped, "Yeah?"
"I said, can we do it?"
"Do what?"
"The extraction!"
"Oh yeah, not too hard. Just a matter of finding them. I wouldn't devote more than three people to this."
"Good, because we're devoting one."
"Great, who?"
There was an awkward silence as Xu continued to glare at Zell. After a moment, he got the idea.
"Damn it."
Xu allowed a slight grin, "Miles, do me a favor will you? Go to the bridge and tell Nida to transmit a confirmation to President Loire. Zell and I are going to discuss the operation."
Miles gave a quick salute, and then retreated to the bridge. The small elevator bought him up, and Nida stood at the helm. Miles gave him a tap on the shoulder.
"What's up, Miles?"
"Xu says to send a confirmation to Laguna."
Nida nodded and flipped a few switches. The radio blared to life, and Laguna's voice came on, "President Loire."
"President Loire, it's Nida. Xu says we'll do it."
"Great, anything else?"
Nida answered in the negative, and moved to flip off the radio, but Miles stopped him, a question forming in his head.
"Laguna, it's Miles. What's going on?"
"What do you mean?"
"Why are you having a whole operation in Winhill just to get two agents out?"
"Because the information they have is invaluable."
"Why not just retake the city?"
"That's the technical thing. There's something about Harket I can't tell you. Needless to say we'll avoid a lot of bloodshed by not taking the city yet."
"Laguna. Look, I know you're not telling us something here. Something very important."
"I can't tell you anything other than that, alright?"
Miles threw his arms up, "Alright!"
Suddenly, the bridge was filled with the sound of machine gun fire and sounds of death. Miles instinctively ducked down, but realized the sound wasn't coming from Garden.
It was coming from the radio.
"LAGUNA!"
Laguna came back, breathless, "No time! Go! Complete the mission!"
Then silence.
Miles smashed his feet onto the elevator, and came down into the main 3rd floor area. He dashed to Xu and Zell, still working out details.
"We've got a problem."
***
Laguna switched off the radio and reached to his back wall. He quickly entered in a key code on a hidden panel, and a small case appeared on his desk. The case opened up, and his machine gun was extended out. He grabbed it, and then walked over to the doorway. He quietly opened the door a crack, and peered outside. There were armed men, dressed in grey, metallic outfits, pointing guns at some unknown target, and they were talking about him.
One asked the hostage, "Where's Laguna?"
Another interrupted, "Probably cowering in his office, I'll get him."
The man approached the door, and Laguna threw his head back, quickly considering his options. His time ran short, as the man came through the door and walked…
…right past him.
Laguna grinned and slowly, silently shut the door, then stepped up behind the man, who, upon seeing an empty office, spun around, and quickly met the end of Laguna's gun. The soldier collapsed the ground with a dull thud, and Laguna suddenly got an idea.
***
Slowly, Laguna stepped out of his office quivering, his face conveying fear in every possible way. The two other soldiers in the hall looked at him.
He got down to his knees, "The guy said that he needed both of you."
They both traded a look to each other, and Laguna instantly realized they were rookies. They BOTH walked into the office, not even bothering to look again at Laguna, who made a quiet signal to the others, then pulled the downed soldier's pistol out of his waistband. He stood, turned, and followed both into the office.
They soldiers took one look at the downed soldier, and then spun around in surprise. Laguna stared at them for a split second, then promptly shot both in the kneecaps. As they squirmed on the ground, he stepped to each, and threw away their weapons, then ripped off their masks.
"Who are you? What do you want?"
One groaned, "You jackass!"
"Shut up! Answer me!"
Neither moved, and Laguna put the pistol to one's head, "Answer me, now!"
The man backed down, "Alright! We're from Galbadia! Harket's special forces! We were sent to kill you and take the other one!"
Laguna feathered the trigger, "who's the other one? WHO?"
"The kid! The damned kid! Neal or something…"
The man almost cried, and Laguna cursed, -Neos!-
He left the two there, grabbed whatever ammo he could, and took his machine gun from the rack again. As he moved to the door, he heard one talking into a radio, requesting backup. Laguna spun around, "You son-of-a…"
He never finished the sentence. The door flew open and three soldiers burst in, guns blazing. Laguna threw himself to the ground and spun around, firing his gun at the soldiers. Two went down, and the other aimed for Laguna. Laguna pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. He cursed and threw the gun at the soldier, who momentarily flinched. Just enough time for Laguna to throw himself up and charge into the soldier. Both fell to the ground, and Laguna wrestled the man's gun away, then fired off two shots into his opponent's chest. After Re-loading his gun, he grabbed two holsters and put a pistol into each. After fully re-arming and re-loading, Laguna was good to go, and he knew what he needed to do.
He threw open the doors, machine gun at the ready, and even at the age of 61, Laguna was fit, and looked every bit the action hero. He dashed down the hall and burst into the main hallway, gun at the ready. He was greeted with a blade to his throat, and four armed soldiers, so he quickly halted. There was a moment where no one moved, then, the blade flicked away from his neck as quickly as it had arrived there.
Laguna heard someone speak to him, and recognized it as Kiros, "Jeez Laguna, don't DO that!"
"Sorry, I was in a rush."
"Yeah, well, we were coming to get you out."
"No worries, I'm fine, now ah… where's Neos?"
"Neos? He's in the guest room, sleeping, we didn't want to alarm him. Why?"
Laguna felt his leg begin to cramp up, "They're after him."
Kiros motioned to the others to get to Neos' room, then halted Laguna from doing so.
"Are you alright Laguna?"
"I'm fine, you know, you shouldn't be running around with the boys anymore."
"Laguna, I'm just a commander at heart."
"You're also 58."
"So, I'm a commander with risk of a heart attack. Laguna," Kiros looked at the weapons array Laguna was wearing, "you're too old for this shit."
"Yeah, I know, but we don't have time for it."
Kiros sighed as Laguna began a slightly limped walk toward Neos' room.
***
Luckily enough, Neos was secured well before more soldiers could show up for him. Laguna allowed himself a sigh of relief as his grandson gave him a hug. However, their moment was interrupted. A guard ran into the room.
"President Loire, come quickly!"
Laguna walked through the hall, and looked outside the window. Galbadian soldiers now walked through the streets of Esthar, and they were everywhere the eye could see. It was an outright takeover.
"Okay," Laguna said, recovering himself, "Call back every army we have, get them all together, liberate Esthar."
Two of his elite bodyguard forces came up behind him, "Sir, we have to evacuate you and the General."
Laguna nodded, "and Neos."
"Negative, Sir. There is only room on the transport for two people."
Laguna tried to maintain his cool, "Then give my seat up."
"Sir, anyone left in this palace will most likely die!"
Laguna whirled around and began to yell, "I DON'T GIVE A DAMN! MY GRANDSON COMES FIRST, GOT IT?"
He noticed he was making a scene in front of everyone, including Neos.
The bodyguard continued, "Regulations state that only you and Kiros are to be evacuated in the Presidential Evacuation Craft. The others will wait for the other evacuation craft to arrive."
Laguna grabbed the man by the arm and whispered, "The others will most likely die."
The man spoke loudly still, "Yes, sir. The others will probably die, but we are prepared."
Neos' face went pale, "Am I gonna die?"
Laguna cursed, "Look, I don't care about regulations already, that kid WILL live. I'm forfeiting my seat to him."
Another voice came out, "Don't."
Laguna looked at the man who had spoken it, Kiros.
"I'll give my seat up."
"Kiros, you'll die."
"Yeah, maybe, but you know, I've had fun."
Laguna stared at his friend, "No. I'm giving my seat."
"Look, Laguna. You had your turn at being stubborn, now its mine. GO!"
Laguna struggled with the decision, "No…"
Kiros shook his head, "Alright Laguna, that's it."
Kiros threw a punch, which connected with Laguna's face, and the President collapsed to the ground. Kiros turned to the soldiers, "Get him and Neos to the evac ship, now."
***
Laguna came to as the ship lifted off and flew away from the palace, towards Balamb, where an agreement had been reached for such a situation. He pressed his hands to the window, and watched Esthar fade away.
((Next Chapter: Zell's mission, and Kiros' fate.))