At 2300 hours that night, the SeeD team showed up tired, but ready. The scarlet hull of the Ragnarok airship loomed over them, its massive dragonlike shape pointing out of the bay towards the dark night sky dotted with stars. A lot of equipment had been offloaded so that more of the survivors of Winhill could be transported at one time.

Selphie sank into the pilot's chair, her hands grasping the wheel. Clearly excited, she began to run through the take-off procedures, ticking them off on the electronic list close to hand. "Cargo loaded... doors sealed... passengers secured... fully fuelled... docking clamps released... bay doors open... runway clear... blast shield up... Ok! We're all set! She flicked several switches and pressed the ignition button.

Outside, the engines of the Ragnarok flared into life and a low whine, building in intensity, came into hearing. The airship moved up a couple of feet and hovered for a moment before flying at dizzying speed down the runway and out of Balamb Garden's docking bay doors.

As the Ragnarok flew high over the oceans, Rinoa found herself absently watching a couple of dolphins playing amongst the waves. Squall sauntered over and sat down next to her, gingerly resting a hand on hers. He still wasn't comfortable being tender and showing his affection. But, he thought, I should try. For her.

"What's the matter?"

Rinoa looked over to him into his deep brown eyes. "Oh... I don't know. I guess because it's only been two months since Ultimecia... It just sort of seems too soon to go back into battle."

Squall didn't know quite how he should respond. "We're SeeDs. It's our job."

Rinoa sighed and then smiled. "Yeah, I suppose it is."

Just then, Quistis came over. "Winhill is coming into visual range. I really think you should see this, Squall."

Squall pulled his hand away reluctantly and stood, walking over to the front of the cockpit where his mouth fell open in shock.

Even though the Ragnarok was still quite a distance from the town, Squall could see that barely a building had been left standing. Several black plumes of smoke curled upwards from smouldering remains of buildings. A black cloud seemed to hang over the once sunny town. The shapes of some of the larger monsters could be seen stalking through wreckage. How many people have been killed already? Squall found himself thinking. And what are the chances of finding any survivors?

"Squall! We have three ruby dragons at 2 o'clock! 400 metres and closing! Any ideas?" Selphie's voice was urgent, interrupting Squall's thoughts.

"On my command, climb upward 40 metres. Wait for it... Now!"

Selphie's reflexes and the advanced systems of the Ragnarok caused the ship to arc sharply upwards, with the result of the aerial monsters flying straight underneath.

"Now..." Squall could hear a hint of excitement creeping into his voice. "Initiate multiple lock-on to all three targets and launch three Blizzaga Torpedoes at the targets."

Selphie followed orders and flicked several switches. On the radar screen, the three red lights representing the Ruby dragons were highlighted with yellow cross-hairs indicating successful lock-on.

Squall gave the order. "Fire!"

The three torpedoes, glowing blue-green with magical energy shot out of the torpedo tubes and headed straight for their targets, which were still struggling to turn. Off in the distance, there were ear-splitting shrieks as two of the torpedoes found their marks and the dead dragons began to fall earthwards. The third, however narrowly missed as the dragon, nimbly performed a loop and flew straight at the Ragnarok, howling terribly.

"Squall, it's headed right for us! Now what?"

"Ready frontal machine cannon... fire!"

The dragon exploded in a hail of gunfire from near the front of the ship.

"Booooom! Yeah!" Selphie exclaimed.

"That's my girl." Irvine planted his hat on Selphie's head, who smiled.

"Errgh...." The entire team turned to look at Zell, who had been sick at the back of the cockpit. "I wish you guys would warn me when you're gonna do that acrobatic stuff..."

The Ragnarok set down just a short way out of town.

"Right. We need to divide the team into two parties. Rinoa, Selphie, Irvine. You guys stay here. Defend the ship and aid the people we bring back. Quistis, Zell and myself will head into the town and begin looking for and rescuing the survivors. Is everyone junctioned? Right, we're going."

"Be careful Squall, for Hyne's sake." Rinoa called after him.

"Is it possible that we're gonna find anyone at all alive?" Quistis was tightening her grip around her coiled Save The Queen chain whip, as she always did when she was nervous.

"I really don't know." Squall was cautiously advancing, the Lionheart gunblade at the ready. I'd prefer it if we didn't have to fight anything. He thought. I'd prefer it if we could get even one person out safely.

They became aware of a low growl nearby, behind a cracked and burnt wall. Zell snapped to and dropped into a defensive position, the polished knuckles of his Ehrgeiz fighting gloves glinting faintly in the dim light. A brown dog dashed out from behind the wall, stopping just before the party, where it lowered its head and growled as threateningly as it could under the circumstances.

Quistis visibly relaxed. "It's just a dog. It must have somehow survived the destruction of the city."

"I-is someone there?"

Squall instantly brought the Lionheart up, it's blue blade glowing.

A small voice once again called from a small house nearby, somehow left standing under the onslaught of monsters. Its door was blocked by another collapsed piece of masonry.

Squall found his voice eventually. "Yes." He said, trying to sound comforting while still remaining professional. "We're SeeDs from Balamb Garden. We're here to rescue you."

The voice spoke again after a short pause. "Is Puppy all right?"

Squall looked at the dog, which was now scratching at the rubble, seemingly trying to rescue the little voice.

"Yes." Squall said. "We're going to try and get you out, and then we'll get you to our ship for safety."

Zell took this as his cue and immediately began to pick up great chunks of brick and hurl them away from the door. Quistis and Squall followed suit. Eventually, the rubble was cleared and a badly damaged doorway to the building was accessible.

Squall trod cautiously into the building. Someone stepped out of the shadows.