FINAL FANTASY VIII: BRIDGES
by Corvus
PART EIGHT
"Y'know," Herman "Shock" McNair complained vociferously to no one in particular, "sometimes I think the universe has it in for us."
"Just because the universe doesn't revolve around you, Shock, doesn't mean somebody's out to get you." Amber Reyes delivered a carefully measured slap to the back of her blonde friend's head.
Shock lurched forward in his seat with an exaggerated yelp. "Hey, watch it, would ya?"
The redhead smirked and flexed her hand. "Be glad I didn't have my claws on."
"Would y'all settle down?" Shock and Amber turned to look at the frown of Jake Cosby. The Galbadian axeman's face was serious as he jerked his chin at the young men and women -- boys and girls, still, really -- seated behind them. "S'posed to maintain a sense o' decorum in front of the kids."
(The mission must already be getting to him a little,) thought Latitia Farrelle. (Every time he gets stressed and tries to hid it, his twang thickens.) "C'mon, you two," she admonished, "cool it."
Shock threw himself against the back of his seat with an explosive sigh and stretched his hands over his head. "Anyway, what I meant was, the very day we were supposed to go to the concert, Commander Squally decides to dump a Field Exam on us."
"Maybe he just can't stand the thought of us having a good time." Amber responded to Shock's incredulous stare with a shrug. "What? How would *you* feel if you had to spend all day every day dealing with Rinoa Heartilly and Quistis Trepe? Talk about insufferable."
"I heard that," Shock agreed.
"Hey, now," Jake told her with a sidelong glare, "that's a fellow SeeD an' a Sorceress y'all're spittin' venom at."
Amber sneered. "Truth hurts."
If there was one thing Latitia could say about Amber Reyes, is was that the flame-headed Trabian claw-fighter spoke her mind. Ordinarily it was an admirable trait, but there were times... (Of course it doesn't hurt that she can back up her mouth.) If her fists and feet didn't work and her claws weren't enough, if her spells failed and Ifrit deserted her, Amber still had one final deadly card up her sleeve. (Kinda hard to force a girl to shut up when she can make the environment itself kick your ass.) That ability itself might just have been why Amber thought Rinoa was such a pain, though...
There wasn't much Latitia could do but speculate on the whole thing. Her case was completely circumstantial at best. Amber's "geomancy" Limit ability, she reasoned, was a kind of quasi-Sorceress power, much like Instructor Quistis Trepe's much-vaunted "blue magic" or Instructor Selphie Tilmitt's uncanny power to grab para-magic from the environment itself even if the nearest spell quantum was a hundred klicks off. Nobody had ever investigated these "super Limits" so far as Latitia knew, but the answer seemed to be lurking in plain sight, thumbing its nose at the world.
Continuing down the train of logic was Amber's professed hatred for Sorceresses. Just look at what Ultimecia had done through Adel and Edea, Amber said. Even Hyne, in the myths, was a troublemaker. Why should Rinoa be any better? And it didn't help that Edea was now residing with her husband, the Headmaster, in Balamb Garden itself. Who knew what kind of mischief she could be up to?
It all came down to fear, Latitia had decided. Amber was afraid of her power.
There was, naturally, a counter-argument, and Latitia's mind had been kind enough to supply it along with the original. To this day no one was sure what Limits were. Xu Kazeno had once explained that they were the ultimate expressions of what she called "chi", or life essence, focused through the will; a physical manifestation of spiritual power. Some held to the theory that they were magic, just like the Sorceress wielded. Most didn't bother thinking about it. Very few people in the world demonstrated Limit skills -- SeeDs, dedicated martial artists, a few rare others who had, in moments of dire need, reached down into themselves and touched something amazing. The potential was always there. It just had to be tapped. The counter-argument said simply that since nobody knew what Limits were, Amber had nothing to worry about.
It wasn't as if Amber's Limit was any more dangerous than, say, Shock's or Jake's. Shock could draw lightning from a clear blue sky, literally out of nowhere, and harness it to his short spears. Whatever weapon Jake held would burst into searing flame. Latitia herself could reach out and touch the mind of a foe, imposing her will over its actions to direct it against its fellows, or itself. What was potentially frightening about Amber's geomancy was the unnatural-seeming way, even in a world where arcane forces were known and quantified, that the planet itself responded to her control.
That fear, Latitia had guessed long ago, was what probably drove Amber in almost everything she did. But in all the time they had known each other, the redhead had never even attempted to talk about it, so Latitia was left with guesswork and theories. It was... frustrating, sometimes. Perhaps someday Amber would be ready to talk about it. When she was, Latitia would be ready to listen.
The dark-skinned girl toyed idly with one of her beaded ebony braids as her thoughts turned from her best friend to Jean-Paul LaFleur. Of course she'd heard about Raijin. What SeeD hadn't? The stories simply didn't do him any justice, though. He was always made out to be a bumbling buffoon, slow-witted, ham-fisted and on the wrong end of Seifer Almasy's leash. But the scant few minutes she'd had to observe the man had told Latitia that the truth was something far removed from Garden legend. (I wonder what that says about Fujin Kazeno.)
It didn't hurt that Jean-Paul was so damn cute, either. What would it be like if--
(What am I *thinking*?) Latitia blinked and shook her head violently, setting her beads clacking. Shock stopped mid-rant about something inconsequential and looked at her. "You okay, Tish?"
Latitia really hated that nickname, but she didn't really take notice. She needed to move around some, clear her head. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm gonna head up to the bridge for a minute." She unbuckled herself and walked past the questioning glances of her cadet charges, out of the passenger compartment of the Ragnarok. (Meet a nice guy with a hot bod and you go all silly. Get a grip.) She stepped onto the lift to the bridge level and straightened her uniform skirt with a sharp tug. "I really should start wearing pants," she muttered. The lift rose with a muted hum.
She didn't quite know what to make of the bridge. Her training had never involved Estharian spacecraft-cum-airships and she felt a bit baffled by the array of control stations every time she set foot on this particular deck -- which wasn't terribly often. (In fact I think this is the second time I've ever seen it.) Four stations were manned at the moment. One was obviously the pilot, and another was just as obviously the navigator; they sat side by side at the very other end of the bridge, facing forward. She guessed that the other two were communications, on her left, and defense, on her right. Before Latitia could become curious enough to peek over anybody's shoulder, however, the pilot craned his head around. When he saw that it wasn't some damn fool cadet screwing around, he relaxed and smiled. "Everything okay down there?"
"Oh, yeah, everything's fine. Just felt like seeing how the other half lives." She stepped up behind the pilot and navigator. "Plus I thought I'd bug you guys by asking 'Are we there yet?' a couple hundred times."
"That's why we don't allow cadets on the bridge," the navigator, a tiny young woman on the pilot's left, said without ever turning her head. Latitia wasn't sure if the brunette's flat tone was hiding a joke or not.
Somehow, the broad panorama sliding away far below was more impressive from the bridge. Maybe it was the aura of power and control. Perhaps it was just that, away from the uniformed reminders of her duty, she could appreciate it more. Whatever it was, the stark contrast of the jewel-like cerulean blue sky and its fine whisps of snowy cloud against the rippling browns and greens of Esthar below and the gleaming crimson of Ragnarok's hull stole her breath for a moment as Latitia took in the sight.
"To answer your question," said the pilot, breaking her reverie, "no, we're not there yet."
"How long?" Latitia asked on reflex.
"ETA twenty-six minutes." The pilot laced his fingers together and twisted his hands around as he extended his arms, the stretch making his knuckles crack.
Latitia nodded without speaking, her beaded braids clacking together quietly from the motion. That was plenty of time to prepare, both physically and mentally. The instant they hit the ground, they were "on duty", and there would be few if any opportunities to relax until the job was done. The fact that the mission ahead of them was an unambiguous sweep-and-clear helped. Their goal was clear and rigidly defined, and would not change.
At least, that was what lay ahead of the cadets. Commander Leonhart had issued a separate, additional order to the SeeD observers, a simple extra task that nonetheless added a twist to the mission. They were to gather data on any new monster species they encountered, and especially investigate any instances of strange sicknesses, maladies, inflictions or whatever the locals might choose to call diseases. The order gave no explanation of why, naturally, but Garden scuttlebutt had it that Fujin Kazeno was laid up in the Infirmary with a nasty, unidentified bug.
(Which would explain why Jean-Paul had been looking so down yesterday,) Latitia thought, then cursed herself. She'd come up here to stop thinking about him, and there he was again. (You don't know the first thing about him, girl, give it up already. Focus on the mission.)
Latitia squeezed her bottom lip gently between her teeth as she considered the particulars. The chosen landing zone or "LZ" was in the middle of nowhere, ten kilometers from a small unnamed village with a population probably under fifty. The wide-open plains would afford the testing platoon no cover, but they would be able to see anything coming with more than enough time to react, and it would be an easy hike to the village to meet with the locals.
The distant LZ was part of the test itself. If this mission had been carried out by full SeeDs only, Ragnarok would drop them just outside the village. But the cadets would be inserted out in the wilderness to test their skills right away.
All they really had to do, in theory, was annihilate anything nastier than a prairie dog that got in their way -- not that there would be many of those left, between the "native" Toramas and the influx of new monsters. But no plan ever survived contact with reality, and the surprises the world threw at the platoon would make better tests than any SeeD could come up with, and if things got out of hand, well, that's what Latitia, Jake, Amber and Shock were for. In the highly unlikely event that even the four SeeDs were overwhelmed, they had an emergency beacon which would summon the Estharian Army in a hurry, compliments of none other than President Laguna Loire and his insistance on Estharian cooperation with SeeD units operating within his borders. Yes, the Army was already hard-pressed, which was why SeeD was in the area in the first place, but the temporary inconvenience was far outweighed in the President's mind by the assurance of continued amity between his country and the world's premier fighting force.
Barring any unforseeable disasters, it all added up to a nice, by-the-numbers mission which would graduate Balamb Garden's -- indeed, SeeD's -- biggest class ever. And considering the messes Commander Leonhart *could* have dropped them into, the loss of a concert was, Latitia decided, a worthwhile sacrifice.
"Hey, Brendan," the pilot called out to the communications officer, "can you get me an updated image of the LZ from Base?"
"I'll do you one better," Brendan replied with a mischievous grin. "Gimme a minute." Latitia watched with a kind of stupified wonder as the man, a fixture of Balamb Garden's Command-and-Control, fairly attacked his panel in his sudden zeal. She had no idea what he was doing, but the results were sure to be impressive.
Sure enough, about thirty seconds later Brendan whooped in triumph and transfered an image from his station to the pilot's display. "Do I want to know how you got this?" the pilot asked.
"We had to use an Estharian survey satellite yesterday as part of a telecom connection to Tai Shan. The thing's practically right over our heads now, so I figured, why not? So I tapped into it like Tilmitt showed me how yesterday, and, there you go."
"Amazing," the pilot said, and from his tone Latitia wasn't sure if he was complimenting Brendan's skill or bemoaning the complete lack of political and professional propriety.
The space-borne eye gazed down on the dry plain and revealed... a whole lot of nothing. The LZ was totally clear. (Is that a single *tree*?) Latitia whistled through her teeth at the clarity of the image. "Hyne bless Esthar," she said, only half in humor. "Thanks a bunch, guys," she said to the bridge crew. "It's time we started getting ready."
Latitia returned to the passenger compartment and didn't bother sitting when she reached her fellow SeeDs. "We've got about twenty minutes. Might as well start our pre-drop checks now."
She busied herself with her own preparations as Shock and Amber prodded the cadet herd into motion. From her hardshell case Latitia withdrew her twin hook-swords, checking their polished lengths by reflex alone. About her neck she already wore the blue topaz pendant which was her link to Shiva, her Guardian Force. Turning her concentration inward, she began isolating, identifying and quantifying the swirling paramagical quanta stored within herself, counting her spells. Then she began assigning some of these spells to enhance her own natural abilities. (And to think I used to complain about the constant Junctioning drills,) a portion of her mind commented. (It was worth every headache.)
Latitia opened her eyes and saw Amber flexing her fingers, wrists and elbows, the deadly clawed gauntlets on her forearms moving in terrible unison with her body. From a gold chain hung Amber's garnet GF stone, representing Ifrit. Shock hefted one of his meter-long short spears in one hand and toyed with the clear quartz of his Quetzacoatl stone with the other.
Jake was checking the haft and edge of his single-headed axe, and at his neck hung a crafted piece of steel that had never been touched by human hands: the symbol of Doomtrain, a spectral locomotive terror of a Guardian Force rediscovered during the Ultimecia War that had, despite its exile from the world, been the source of many a ghost story in Jake's countryside home of Red Cliffs. For many years Jake had Junctioned to Ifrit just like Amber, but following the War he and Doomtrain had... come to an understanding, somehow, while Jake was on vacation back home. He still wouldn't talk about it, and any time the GF was mentioned, his tone was reverential. Shock, on the other hand, called Doomtrain "the Whoop-Ass Express".
Latitia turned her scrutiny from her fellows to the testing platoon. One cadet in particular caught her attention. His round face and carefully-trimmed hair lent him a wholesome appearance. His bow, a translucent blue and white polymer affair that had obviously been manufactured in Esthar, almost looked like a toy next to the solid wood and metal of the other cadets' swords, staves and, in one case, wing-edge blaster. He looked completely out of his depth. Kent Brougham had, however, passed the active prerequisite for the Field Exam by putting one of his arrows into the eye of Ifrit's avatar in the Fire Cavern, defeating the GF without having to summon Shiva or launch a flurry of Blizzard spells. (These plains will be perfect for him,) Latitia thought.
A quick reminder from Shock had the cadets focusing their concentration and checking their Junctions. The blonde SeeD gave Latitia an impish grin and a thumbs-up, and she returned the smile with a wink. "Think you can handle this?" she asked him slyly.
"Who, me?" Shock asked, pointing at himself and putting on an air of exaggerated disbelief. "You can't be serious. I was born for this."
Amber spat out a loud "Ha!" and stepped up behind Shock, leaning over his right shoulder. "I'm just gonna have to show you how it's done, right?"
"You can show me how it's done any time," he replied with a leer.
Latitia groaned and averted her eyes, knowing what was coming next. She caught the motion in her peripheral vision as Amber stepped back and kicked Shock square in the buttocks. "Would you two *please* cut it out?" Jake protested again, and the cadets broke into a storm of laughter. Latitia said nothing. The next few days would be rough; they might as well enjoy themselves while they could.
The pilot's voice filled the passenger compartment, informing them that in two minutes they would make the LZ. Shock and Amber again took the initiative in herding the cadets, directing them out of the compartment and into the ship's main hold. Jake caught hold of Latitia's arm lightly, keeping her back as the others filed out. "Ya have any idea what our secondary mission is all about?" he asked quietly.
She shook her head. "No idea. Rumor's going around about Fujin and some weird disease Dr. Kadowaki can't identify, but I don't have any proof."
"Yeah, I heard that too. I don't think the Commander's much worried 'bout any of us pickin' up somethin' funny out here, but..." Jake sighed and rubbed his chin for a moment. "Guess I'm just a worrywart."
Latitia punched him in the arm gently. "You're gonna put yourself in an early grave doing all that worrying. Commander Leonhart wouldn't have sent us in if he thought there was any chance we'd pick up some funky alien virus, and his info's a lot better than ours. Come on, let's go make sure Shock and Amber haven't killed themselves." Her bright smile returned and she looped her arm around Jake's, tugging him out into the main hold.
They were greeted with a chorus of whoops and whistles. Jake turned as red as his pendant and snarled, "Aw, cut it out," and mock-threatened the platoon with his axe. He then turned on Shock, holding the axe out, and said, "Especially you."
"I didn't say anything!" Shock protested, but his impish face had "LIAR" written all over it.
Jake's "Yeah, right" was cut off by the pilot beginning the countdown to landing at ten, and the assembled platoon picked up their gear. A line of light appeared where the ramp fused with the hull as the egress began to lower, giving them a view of the rapidly-approaching tan of the dry Estharian plain. The pilot's declaration of touchdown was completely unnecessary.
Shock was the first to descend the ramp, spears ready and, from the ripple of power Latitia could sense surrounding his form, Quetzacoatl at the ready to strike. He scanned the area quickly, then waved his arm, summoning the first three-cadet squad. Amber followed, then the next squad, Jake, and the remaining three cadets. Latitia made one last check of the hold to make sure nothing had been left behind, then ran down the ramp to join the others. As one the platoon and its observers hurried away from Ragnarok. Jake spoke briefly into a handheld communicator, and the dragonship lifted from the ground, roaring back into the sky and leaving them to their fates.
"All right," Amber bellowed, drawing the cadets' attention to her, "our destination is a village ten klicks north-northwest of here. There's nothing between it and us but this prairie and probably a bunch of really ugly monsters, so here's what we're gonna do. Squad Alcauld will come with me on point, I'll get to you in a minute. Squads Balamb and Centra will stay together for the time being with the other observers, one klick behind us. What the six of you do back there is your business. Remember, we SeeDs are here to observe and provide cover and extra resources if things get too heavy, not babysit. Alcauld, form up on me and let's get moving. We'll contact Balamb and Centra once we hit the one-klick separation. Let's move!"
The redhead gathered up her chosen squad and the four struck out for the horizon. Latitia watched them fan out after a brief discussion. Their figures grew smaller and smaller, and Latitia was amazed by just how far she could actually see out here under the open sky; she could still make out the point squad when they called back to announce their one kilometer separation. Gear in hand, the two remaining squads began the trek.
by Corvus
PART EIGHT
"Y'know," Herman "Shock" McNair complained vociferously to no one in particular, "sometimes I think the universe has it in for us."
"Just because the universe doesn't revolve around you, Shock, doesn't mean somebody's out to get you." Amber Reyes delivered a carefully measured slap to the back of her blonde friend's head.
Shock lurched forward in his seat with an exaggerated yelp. "Hey, watch it, would ya?"
The redhead smirked and flexed her hand. "Be glad I didn't have my claws on."
"Would y'all settle down?" Shock and Amber turned to look at the frown of Jake Cosby. The Galbadian axeman's face was serious as he jerked his chin at the young men and women -- boys and girls, still, really -- seated behind them. "S'posed to maintain a sense o' decorum in front of the kids."
(The mission must already be getting to him a little,) thought Latitia Farrelle. (Every time he gets stressed and tries to hid it, his twang thickens.) "C'mon, you two," she admonished, "cool it."
Shock threw himself against the back of his seat with an explosive sigh and stretched his hands over his head. "Anyway, what I meant was, the very day we were supposed to go to the concert, Commander Squally decides to dump a Field Exam on us."
"Maybe he just can't stand the thought of us having a good time." Amber responded to Shock's incredulous stare with a shrug. "What? How would *you* feel if you had to spend all day every day dealing with Rinoa Heartilly and Quistis Trepe? Talk about insufferable."
"I heard that," Shock agreed.
"Hey, now," Jake told her with a sidelong glare, "that's a fellow SeeD an' a Sorceress y'all're spittin' venom at."
Amber sneered. "Truth hurts."
If there was one thing Latitia could say about Amber Reyes, is was that the flame-headed Trabian claw-fighter spoke her mind. Ordinarily it was an admirable trait, but there were times... (Of course it doesn't hurt that she can back up her mouth.) If her fists and feet didn't work and her claws weren't enough, if her spells failed and Ifrit deserted her, Amber still had one final deadly card up her sleeve. (Kinda hard to force a girl to shut up when she can make the environment itself kick your ass.) That ability itself might just have been why Amber thought Rinoa was such a pain, though...
There wasn't much Latitia could do but speculate on the whole thing. Her case was completely circumstantial at best. Amber's "geomancy" Limit ability, she reasoned, was a kind of quasi-Sorceress power, much like Instructor Quistis Trepe's much-vaunted "blue magic" or Instructor Selphie Tilmitt's uncanny power to grab para-magic from the environment itself even if the nearest spell quantum was a hundred klicks off. Nobody had ever investigated these "super Limits" so far as Latitia knew, but the answer seemed to be lurking in plain sight, thumbing its nose at the world.
Continuing down the train of logic was Amber's professed hatred for Sorceresses. Just look at what Ultimecia had done through Adel and Edea, Amber said. Even Hyne, in the myths, was a troublemaker. Why should Rinoa be any better? And it didn't help that Edea was now residing with her husband, the Headmaster, in Balamb Garden itself. Who knew what kind of mischief she could be up to?
It all came down to fear, Latitia had decided. Amber was afraid of her power.
There was, naturally, a counter-argument, and Latitia's mind had been kind enough to supply it along with the original. To this day no one was sure what Limits were. Xu Kazeno had once explained that they were the ultimate expressions of what she called "chi", or life essence, focused through the will; a physical manifestation of spiritual power. Some held to the theory that they were magic, just like the Sorceress wielded. Most didn't bother thinking about it. Very few people in the world demonstrated Limit skills -- SeeDs, dedicated martial artists, a few rare others who had, in moments of dire need, reached down into themselves and touched something amazing. The potential was always there. It just had to be tapped. The counter-argument said simply that since nobody knew what Limits were, Amber had nothing to worry about.
It wasn't as if Amber's Limit was any more dangerous than, say, Shock's or Jake's. Shock could draw lightning from a clear blue sky, literally out of nowhere, and harness it to his short spears. Whatever weapon Jake held would burst into searing flame. Latitia herself could reach out and touch the mind of a foe, imposing her will over its actions to direct it against its fellows, or itself. What was potentially frightening about Amber's geomancy was the unnatural-seeming way, even in a world where arcane forces were known and quantified, that the planet itself responded to her control.
That fear, Latitia had guessed long ago, was what probably drove Amber in almost everything she did. But in all the time they had known each other, the redhead had never even attempted to talk about it, so Latitia was left with guesswork and theories. It was... frustrating, sometimes. Perhaps someday Amber would be ready to talk about it. When she was, Latitia would be ready to listen.
The dark-skinned girl toyed idly with one of her beaded ebony braids as her thoughts turned from her best friend to Jean-Paul LaFleur. Of course she'd heard about Raijin. What SeeD hadn't? The stories simply didn't do him any justice, though. He was always made out to be a bumbling buffoon, slow-witted, ham-fisted and on the wrong end of Seifer Almasy's leash. But the scant few minutes she'd had to observe the man had told Latitia that the truth was something far removed from Garden legend. (I wonder what that says about Fujin Kazeno.)
It didn't hurt that Jean-Paul was so damn cute, either. What would it be like if--
(What am I *thinking*?) Latitia blinked and shook her head violently, setting her beads clacking. Shock stopped mid-rant about something inconsequential and looked at her. "You okay, Tish?"
Latitia really hated that nickname, but she didn't really take notice. She needed to move around some, clear her head. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm gonna head up to the bridge for a minute." She unbuckled herself and walked past the questioning glances of her cadet charges, out of the passenger compartment of the Ragnarok. (Meet a nice guy with a hot bod and you go all silly. Get a grip.) She stepped onto the lift to the bridge level and straightened her uniform skirt with a sharp tug. "I really should start wearing pants," she muttered. The lift rose with a muted hum.
She didn't quite know what to make of the bridge. Her training had never involved Estharian spacecraft-cum-airships and she felt a bit baffled by the array of control stations every time she set foot on this particular deck -- which wasn't terribly often. (In fact I think this is the second time I've ever seen it.) Four stations were manned at the moment. One was obviously the pilot, and another was just as obviously the navigator; they sat side by side at the very other end of the bridge, facing forward. She guessed that the other two were communications, on her left, and defense, on her right. Before Latitia could become curious enough to peek over anybody's shoulder, however, the pilot craned his head around. When he saw that it wasn't some damn fool cadet screwing around, he relaxed and smiled. "Everything okay down there?"
"Oh, yeah, everything's fine. Just felt like seeing how the other half lives." She stepped up behind the pilot and navigator. "Plus I thought I'd bug you guys by asking 'Are we there yet?' a couple hundred times."
"That's why we don't allow cadets on the bridge," the navigator, a tiny young woman on the pilot's left, said without ever turning her head. Latitia wasn't sure if the brunette's flat tone was hiding a joke or not.
Somehow, the broad panorama sliding away far below was more impressive from the bridge. Maybe it was the aura of power and control. Perhaps it was just that, away from the uniformed reminders of her duty, she could appreciate it more. Whatever it was, the stark contrast of the jewel-like cerulean blue sky and its fine whisps of snowy cloud against the rippling browns and greens of Esthar below and the gleaming crimson of Ragnarok's hull stole her breath for a moment as Latitia took in the sight.
"To answer your question," said the pilot, breaking her reverie, "no, we're not there yet."
"How long?" Latitia asked on reflex.
"ETA twenty-six minutes." The pilot laced his fingers together and twisted his hands around as he extended his arms, the stretch making his knuckles crack.
Latitia nodded without speaking, her beaded braids clacking together quietly from the motion. That was plenty of time to prepare, both physically and mentally. The instant they hit the ground, they were "on duty", and there would be few if any opportunities to relax until the job was done. The fact that the mission ahead of them was an unambiguous sweep-and-clear helped. Their goal was clear and rigidly defined, and would not change.
At least, that was what lay ahead of the cadets. Commander Leonhart had issued a separate, additional order to the SeeD observers, a simple extra task that nonetheless added a twist to the mission. They were to gather data on any new monster species they encountered, and especially investigate any instances of strange sicknesses, maladies, inflictions or whatever the locals might choose to call diseases. The order gave no explanation of why, naturally, but Garden scuttlebutt had it that Fujin Kazeno was laid up in the Infirmary with a nasty, unidentified bug.
(Which would explain why Jean-Paul had been looking so down yesterday,) Latitia thought, then cursed herself. She'd come up here to stop thinking about him, and there he was again. (You don't know the first thing about him, girl, give it up already. Focus on the mission.)
Latitia squeezed her bottom lip gently between her teeth as she considered the particulars. The chosen landing zone or "LZ" was in the middle of nowhere, ten kilometers from a small unnamed village with a population probably under fifty. The wide-open plains would afford the testing platoon no cover, but they would be able to see anything coming with more than enough time to react, and it would be an easy hike to the village to meet with the locals.
The distant LZ was part of the test itself. If this mission had been carried out by full SeeDs only, Ragnarok would drop them just outside the village. But the cadets would be inserted out in the wilderness to test their skills right away.
All they really had to do, in theory, was annihilate anything nastier than a prairie dog that got in their way -- not that there would be many of those left, between the "native" Toramas and the influx of new monsters. But no plan ever survived contact with reality, and the surprises the world threw at the platoon would make better tests than any SeeD could come up with, and if things got out of hand, well, that's what Latitia, Jake, Amber and Shock were for. In the highly unlikely event that even the four SeeDs were overwhelmed, they had an emergency beacon which would summon the Estharian Army in a hurry, compliments of none other than President Laguna Loire and his insistance on Estharian cooperation with SeeD units operating within his borders. Yes, the Army was already hard-pressed, which was why SeeD was in the area in the first place, but the temporary inconvenience was far outweighed in the President's mind by the assurance of continued amity between his country and the world's premier fighting force.
Barring any unforseeable disasters, it all added up to a nice, by-the-numbers mission which would graduate Balamb Garden's -- indeed, SeeD's -- biggest class ever. And considering the messes Commander Leonhart *could* have dropped them into, the loss of a concert was, Latitia decided, a worthwhile sacrifice.
"Hey, Brendan," the pilot called out to the communications officer, "can you get me an updated image of the LZ from Base?"
"I'll do you one better," Brendan replied with a mischievous grin. "Gimme a minute." Latitia watched with a kind of stupified wonder as the man, a fixture of Balamb Garden's Command-and-Control, fairly attacked his panel in his sudden zeal. She had no idea what he was doing, but the results were sure to be impressive.
Sure enough, about thirty seconds later Brendan whooped in triumph and transfered an image from his station to the pilot's display. "Do I want to know how you got this?" the pilot asked.
"We had to use an Estharian survey satellite yesterday as part of a telecom connection to Tai Shan. The thing's practically right over our heads now, so I figured, why not? So I tapped into it like Tilmitt showed me how yesterday, and, there you go."
"Amazing," the pilot said, and from his tone Latitia wasn't sure if he was complimenting Brendan's skill or bemoaning the complete lack of political and professional propriety.
The space-borne eye gazed down on the dry plain and revealed... a whole lot of nothing. The LZ was totally clear. (Is that a single *tree*?) Latitia whistled through her teeth at the clarity of the image. "Hyne bless Esthar," she said, only half in humor. "Thanks a bunch, guys," she said to the bridge crew. "It's time we started getting ready."
Latitia returned to the passenger compartment and didn't bother sitting when she reached her fellow SeeDs. "We've got about twenty minutes. Might as well start our pre-drop checks now."
She busied herself with her own preparations as Shock and Amber prodded the cadet herd into motion. From her hardshell case Latitia withdrew her twin hook-swords, checking their polished lengths by reflex alone. About her neck she already wore the blue topaz pendant which was her link to Shiva, her Guardian Force. Turning her concentration inward, she began isolating, identifying and quantifying the swirling paramagical quanta stored within herself, counting her spells. Then she began assigning some of these spells to enhance her own natural abilities. (And to think I used to complain about the constant Junctioning drills,) a portion of her mind commented. (It was worth every headache.)
Latitia opened her eyes and saw Amber flexing her fingers, wrists and elbows, the deadly clawed gauntlets on her forearms moving in terrible unison with her body. From a gold chain hung Amber's garnet GF stone, representing Ifrit. Shock hefted one of his meter-long short spears in one hand and toyed with the clear quartz of his Quetzacoatl stone with the other.
Jake was checking the haft and edge of his single-headed axe, and at his neck hung a crafted piece of steel that had never been touched by human hands: the symbol of Doomtrain, a spectral locomotive terror of a Guardian Force rediscovered during the Ultimecia War that had, despite its exile from the world, been the source of many a ghost story in Jake's countryside home of Red Cliffs. For many years Jake had Junctioned to Ifrit just like Amber, but following the War he and Doomtrain had... come to an understanding, somehow, while Jake was on vacation back home. He still wouldn't talk about it, and any time the GF was mentioned, his tone was reverential. Shock, on the other hand, called Doomtrain "the Whoop-Ass Express".
Latitia turned her scrutiny from her fellows to the testing platoon. One cadet in particular caught her attention. His round face and carefully-trimmed hair lent him a wholesome appearance. His bow, a translucent blue and white polymer affair that had obviously been manufactured in Esthar, almost looked like a toy next to the solid wood and metal of the other cadets' swords, staves and, in one case, wing-edge blaster. He looked completely out of his depth. Kent Brougham had, however, passed the active prerequisite for the Field Exam by putting one of his arrows into the eye of Ifrit's avatar in the Fire Cavern, defeating the GF without having to summon Shiva or launch a flurry of Blizzard spells. (These plains will be perfect for him,) Latitia thought.
A quick reminder from Shock had the cadets focusing their concentration and checking their Junctions. The blonde SeeD gave Latitia an impish grin and a thumbs-up, and she returned the smile with a wink. "Think you can handle this?" she asked him slyly.
"Who, me?" Shock asked, pointing at himself and putting on an air of exaggerated disbelief. "You can't be serious. I was born for this."
Amber spat out a loud "Ha!" and stepped up behind Shock, leaning over his right shoulder. "I'm just gonna have to show you how it's done, right?"
"You can show me how it's done any time," he replied with a leer.
Latitia groaned and averted her eyes, knowing what was coming next. She caught the motion in her peripheral vision as Amber stepped back and kicked Shock square in the buttocks. "Would you two *please* cut it out?" Jake protested again, and the cadets broke into a storm of laughter. Latitia said nothing. The next few days would be rough; they might as well enjoy themselves while they could.
The pilot's voice filled the passenger compartment, informing them that in two minutes they would make the LZ. Shock and Amber again took the initiative in herding the cadets, directing them out of the compartment and into the ship's main hold. Jake caught hold of Latitia's arm lightly, keeping her back as the others filed out. "Ya have any idea what our secondary mission is all about?" he asked quietly.
She shook her head. "No idea. Rumor's going around about Fujin and some weird disease Dr. Kadowaki can't identify, but I don't have any proof."
"Yeah, I heard that too. I don't think the Commander's much worried 'bout any of us pickin' up somethin' funny out here, but..." Jake sighed and rubbed his chin for a moment. "Guess I'm just a worrywart."
Latitia punched him in the arm gently. "You're gonna put yourself in an early grave doing all that worrying. Commander Leonhart wouldn't have sent us in if he thought there was any chance we'd pick up some funky alien virus, and his info's a lot better than ours. Come on, let's go make sure Shock and Amber haven't killed themselves." Her bright smile returned and she looped her arm around Jake's, tugging him out into the main hold.
They were greeted with a chorus of whoops and whistles. Jake turned as red as his pendant and snarled, "Aw, cut it out," and mock-threatened the platoon with his axe. He then turned on Shock, holding the axe out, and said, "Especially you."
"I didn't say anything!" Shock protested, but his impish face had "LIAR" written all over it.
Jake's "Yeah, right" was cut off by the pilot beginning the countdown to landing at ten, and the assembled platoon picked up their gear. A line of light appeared where the ramp fused with the hull as the egress began to lower, giving them a view of the rapidly-approaching tan of the dry Estharian plain. The pilot's declaration of touchdown was completely unnecessary.
Shock was the first to descend the ramp, spears ready and, from the ripple of power Latitia could sense surrounding his form, Quetzacoatl at the ready to strike. He scanned the area quickly, then waved his arm, summoning the first three-cadet squad. Amber followed, then the next squad, Jake, and the remaining three cadets. Latitia made one last check of the hold to make sure nothing had been left behind, then ran down the ramp to join the others. As one the platoon and its observers hurried away from Ragnarok. Jake spoke briefly into a handheld communicator, and the dragonship lifted from the ground, roaring back into the sky and leaving them to their fates.
"All right," Amber bellowed, drawing the cadets' attention to her, "our destination is a village ten klicks north-northwest of here. There's nothing between it and us but this prairie and probably a bunch of really ugly monsters, so here's what we're gonna do. Squad Alcauld will come with me on point, I'll get to you in a minute. Squads Balamb and Centra will stay together for the time being with the other observers, one klick behind us. What the six of you do back there is your business. Remember, we SeeDs are here to observe and provide cover and extra resources if things get too heavy, not babysit. Alcauld, form up on me and let's get moving. We'll contact Balamb and Centra once we hit the one-klick separation. Let's move!"
The redhead gathered up her chosen squad and the four struck out for the horizon. Latitia watched them fan out after a brief discussion. Their figures grew smaller and smaller, and Latitia was amazed by just how far she could actually see out here under the open sky; she could still make out the point squad when they called back to announce their one kilometer separation. Gear in hand, the two remaining squads began the trek.