"Well, what did he say?" Irvine asked.

"He said for two of us to investigate the area while one stays behind to look after Jenny. Oh, and not to engage whatever we do." Replied Selphie.

Rinoa walked in, holding Jenny's hand. They'd just been for a tour of the ship to take the little girl's mind off the disappearance of her parents and friends. The puppy and Angelo, Rinoa's dog, followed close behind.

"Hey guys." Rinoa pushed the hair away from her face. "What's up?"

"We gotta go and investigate those ships." Selphie explained. "But, one of us has to stay behind. Do you wanna do it?"

Rinoa folded her arms in a fake pout. "Ok, I guess. Just be careful, you guys."

The ship's airlock hissed open and Irvine, his hat pulled low and his shotgun slung casually over his shoulder, swaggered down the ramp, followed by Selphie, who was clutching the Strange Vision nunchaku, alert with a small smile of anticipation on her face. "I reckon we head south-east through that nearby forest and use that as cover until we can get up to the hills, then we climb up and cross over to get a high vantage point of their camp." Irvine's eyes were scanning the countryside.

Selphie nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

Seifer kicked a door, already hanging on its last hinges, open and entered the small cafe. An imp that was greedily snacking on some biscuits in a jar noticed him, quickly cast a blind spell and shuffled backwards out of a window as quickly as possible. Seifer side-stepped the spell easily and it went on to hit Raijin in the face, who staggered back, a black cloud engulfing his head.

"Aww dammit!" Raijin tried in vain to get rid of the spell by waving his hands in front of his face in an attempt to sweep it away from him.

"IDIOT." Fujin kicked him in the shin hard and threw a remedy at him. The dark shroud around Raijin's head dissolved, leaving him hopping around and clutching his leg in pain.

Seifer laughed and then composed himself. "Stop clowning around. Keep your mind on this job... hey, what's that?"

A glinting object underneath a scratched table caught Seifer's eye. He crouched down and picked it up. Turning it this way and that briefly, a wide grin crossed his face.

"A-ha!" He showed them the object. "Look at this! It's a Galbadian infantry ID badge. You know what this means?"

"Yeah. Someone who used to live in this town was in the Galbadian Army, ya know!"

Fujin's boot found Raijin's other shin this time, this time causing the large man to fall over.

"No, you idiot." Seifer shook his head. "This means that the Galbadians were here."

"COINCIDENCE."

"Maybe. But still, any lead's better than no lead."

Squall was getting tired and could feel his concentration slipping.

"I'm beginning to think we're never gonna find anyone else." Zell was getting frustrated and therefore careless. An attack by a Bomb had already left him with a nasty burn on his forearm, which he was now applying a potion to.

"We have to keep looking." Quistis was also feeling the strain. Twin streaks of tears marked her face. they were standing over the corpse of an old man, who had been killed clutching a tattered photo of what was obviously his wife, an old sword lying in his other hands showed that he had not gone without a fight. "It's our job."

It can't be an utter annihilation. Jenny can't be the only survivor. Squall was feeling ill.

"Listen." He said. "We will do one more sweep of the town, checking every inch of every house. If we can't find any more people this time, we will evacuate."

"Squall!" Quistis' head snapped round to stare at him.

Zell's fists clenched tighter. "We can't leave here!"

"We have no choice!" Squall snapped. "If we stay here much longer we are dead, do you understand me?"

Zell's head dropped and so did his fists. "Yeah... you're right."

Quistis still had tears trickling down her face. "Okay. Let's go."

A Torama chose that moment to pounce from its perch straight at Quistis.

"Quistis, look out!" Squall went to fire at the leaping beast, but the shot merely skimmed its tail and it continued its deadly trajectory, its teeth aimed for the female SeeD's throat. Time seemed to slow. A glow spread around Quistis' feet, glowing ever brighter in intensity. She brought her hands back and pushed them forward, a massive flashing yellow light just in front of them. All the background seemed to fade away and a huge dark hole suddenly appeared underneath the obviously surprised Torama. An enraged scream escaped its jaws as it was pulled into a dark abyss, a scream that was cut off abruptly as the hole shrank into nothingness.

"Degenerator..." Zell's mouth hung open. He'd seen Quistis' unique Blue Magic skills time after time but still he was astounded by that particular technique.

Quistis must be ready to break down. She hates to use that spell. She doesn't think that the monsters die when they get caught in that hole. She thinks they just float in nothingness forever. I should have brought someone else.

Squall stood back a little way, unsure of what he could do, if anything. Zell on the other hand walked over and tentatively placed a hand on her shoulder.

"It was just an automatic reaction..." Quistis was now crying, her hands covering her face.

"I know, Quisty." Zell said, trying to make her feel better. Quistis looked up at him at the mention of her childhood nickname. "But it was you or him. Do you think that the mission could succeed if you were killed? You did what was best."

Quistis smiled at him and wiped away her tears. "Yeah... Thanks, Zell."

"We have to go." Squall had approached. Quistis squared her shoulders and held her head up high.

"Yes. Let's."

An arm snaked around Selphie's shoulders as she crawled low over towards the ledge where she could get a good view of the ground below.

"C'mon, Irvine! Quit it!" She hissed. "We have a job to do."

Irvine put on a fake pout, similar to Rinoa's, but withdrew his arm anyway.

"Just what are they doing down there?" Selphie squinted at the sight that lay before her, in a small gully, surrounded by hills, including the one on which the two SeeDs were currently perched. Below were four Galbadian troop transports and two of the bulky Galbadian cargo ships. They had landed in a circle, enclosing a small area from view. Blue-clad soldiers and Red-clad elites bustled around, either carrying various tools and items or patrolling with swords and guns. In the centre of the area, several soldiers were in a circle, surrounding some sort of object that Selphie couldn't quite make out.

"Hey, Irvine. Have you got the binoculars?"

"I thought you brought them."

"What? Where could I put them in this dress?"

"I dunno. When I look at that dress, I don't tend to focus on the pockets."

"Stop being a perv!" Selphie's voice rose in a squeal.

"Hey, hey! Chill." Irvine waved his hands in an attempt to calm her down. "I've got my scope for the Exeter in my pocket. We can use that."

He fumbled in his coat pocket for the scope and produced it before Selphie snatched it and put it to her eye.

Her vision magnified by the scope, Selphie could see what the object was that was so well guarded. It looked vaguely pyramid shaped, with several switches and buttons on it. In the top was mounted a large shard of blue-white translucent crystal. Around The object had yellow spikes stabbing into the ground from each corner of the base. These spikes turned into pipes that ran up the edges of the black metal pyramid and into the sides of the mysterious crystal.

"What is that? I need to get a closer look..." Selphie was about to move closer to the edge of the outcrop when Irvine's hand grabbed the material of the back or her dress and pulled her back.

"No, Selphie we can't." Irvine whispered. "Squall said to return to the ship and not to engage."

"Damn. Ok. Let's go."

All of a sudden, a new voice barked out behind them. "Freeze! Stay very still and put your hands on your head!"