Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Final Fantasy VIII.
My head, it aches. And my eyes, I can't open them. Wh…where am I?
"Commander…commander!"
This surface is…cold. It doesn't feel like the surface of the Phoenix Wing. Am I somewhere else?
"Commander, please!"
What happened? I don't remember. Arguing with Laguna then leaving the room. Then? What happened then?
"Please wake up, commander! Wake up!"
Am I asleep? Am I…dead?
"Squall!"
My eyes cracked open slowly, the sheer effort of it making my head pound. The room was dark and I couldn't see anything. A queer stench was assaulting my nostrils and the floor…why am I lying on the floor?
I groaned and tried to move. The person who had been calling my name exclaimed.
"Commander! Are you all right?"
It's not Laguna's voice, thank Hyne! But who is it?
"I…I'm all right, I think."
"Here, drink this." Something was shoved into my hands. In this light, I doubt I could make up what it was.
"Just drink it. It's a Potion."
I unscrewed the cap and gulped it down. The icy-cold liquid burned my throat and I gasped audibly. I had never tasted its contents before. It was so much easier to just sprinkle the contents over each other.
"You've never drank a Potion before?"
I shook my head.
"It works better if you take it internally instead of sprinkling it around yourself. I suppose you never needed to do that." How in Hyne's name did he see me nod in the bloody dark?
"Come on. The President is somewhere on this ship as well. We have to find him." His hands assist me to my feet and I staggered around, trying to regain my strength. I bit down on my lip sharply when I accidentally walked into…something.
"Careful. That's the sink. Here, follow me." He latched my hand unto his sleeve and began to lead me out. Slowly, my eyes began to work again and I could see a little light. The room was still dark but I could see shapes and forms. The person leading me stopped in front of me and I dimly made out his hand sliding a card through the access keypad. The door opened and I was forced to shield my eyes from the light.
We stepped out and I opened my eyes cautiously. There were two dead guards on the floor with cut marks on their neck. I looked beside of me. It was Nida.
"Feeling better, Commander?"
"This isn't the Phoenix Wing. Where are we and who are those two?" I'm almost afraid to hear the answer.
"We were attacked by a Galbadian airship. Our pilot managed to bring the ship down without crashing but before we could get out of the cockpit, those men appeared and began shooting. Warren and I managed to overcome them but one of them cast Bio on us. They escaped and left us struggling to breathe. Warren pushed an Antidote into my hands and told me to go and look for you. I…don't know if he's still alive." Nida's voice quivered but he continued on.
"They had taken you and the President on board their airship so I followed. I had a Vanish spell I drew from Zell while we were training and I used it to get on board. I found where your cell was and rescued you. The president wasn't in any of the cells and I have no idea where he is." He concluded.
I nodded. That explains the two corpses and my throbbing head. But it doesn't explain…
"We're on a Galbadian airship?"
"Yes, commander. Prisoner Transport Airship to be exact. One of the smaller models though. It's still big enough to transport at least twenty prisoners without hassle." Prisoner Transport Ship? We're prisoners? Kidnapped? Why?
Then I remembered and my hand reached up to my forehead. Damn it! The Headmaster was right! The bastard's life was in jeopardy after all.
"Commander? Is there something wrong?" Other than for the fact that we're currently bound to Galbadia on the wrong ship for the wrong purposes, yes there is something wrong.
"How many men are on this ship, Nida? Did you find out?"
He frowned and appeared to be calculating a number. "Nine, I should think. Plus their leader whom I overheard one of the men mention, it would be ten on this airship." Two of them are dead, courtesy of Nida's boomerang knives which makes eight. Eight obviously highly-skilled kidnapping assassins versus two SeeDs and one has-been fighter. I wish I was still out cold in my cell.
"We'll have to find and take out the leader. Perhaps then we can find some way to fight back." My voice trailed away and I never felt so much at a dead end before. I had absolute no idea what to do. Using our GFs wouldn't be advisable at all. From what Nida says, these men are well-equipped with magic and we were far outnumbered by them.
"Shouldn't we rescue the President first? We don't know exactly what they will do to him." I glared at him.
"He will only be in the way and trip us up. They won't hurt him. If they had wanted to, they could have killed him a long time ago." And I sincerely hope that their squeezing blood out of him.
"But Commander, he's the President!"
"So?" I don't care if he's the Ruler of the whole damn world. He can rot in there for as long as we're not finished.
"Squall, we have an obligation to protect him at all costs. That was our contract and agreement to them."
I stopped short and stared at him. Nida was squirming but he was also looking back. But I wasn't looking at him. I was remembering his words…
"Never ever let your personal feelings get in the way, Squall. It's not only a mark of a responsible commander but a guarantee of a job well done."
Shit! Why did he have to bring duty into this? Why, why, why?!
"Let's go then." I muttered through clenched teeth. I reached down for Lionheart but felt only cloth. I looked down and stared in dismay. Those bastards had taken my gunblade!
"Nida, did you see any of them take my gunblade?" I asked urgently. Without it, how could I possibly defend myself? I would be no better than that good-for-nothing…no! I can still defend myself even if I had to use my fists!
"They took Lionheart? Hyne…" Nida's face was turning pale. He can't, not now. Not at this time.
"SeeD! Control yourself! We cannot panic now!" I commanded but still I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach. I still have Bahamut though and that was an immense comfort.
He swallowed hard and replied a nervous assent. Then a sudden idea took hold of me. I bent over and grabbed a guard's shotgun. I haven't used one of these since I was training as a Cadet… It was old and used repeatedly but I could see that it would serve its purpose. Nida caught on and searched the other guard's body. Between us, we found enough ammunition to protect myself for a while. I would take extra ammo from other guards if need be. Then the bodies were hauled into the cell and locked in. Hopefully, they would think that I'm still in there and the guards had deserted their post.
"Let's go. The faster we move, the better our chances of escaping."
"Yes sir!" Nida saluted and we steadily made our way out of the corridor.
Twenty prisoners mean twenty cells. Unless they had him chained up in the cockpit, I doubt that we would have trouble finding him. The problem is, I'm not looking forward to finding him for more reasons than one.
So far, we haven't encountered a single guard. They were perhaps confident of their prisoners and we would make sure that that will be their ultimate undoing.
Reaching the third corridor, I immediately noticed only six cells here. Three on the left and three on the right. It was a dead end here and there were two guards standing guard there. There were at least fifteen feet away from where we were standing. Trying to sneak to them would be a major problem.
"What now, commander?" Nida whispered.
I narrowed my eyebrows and tried to think. Surely there must be some way to get to them without drawing their attention. But how?
"Nida, can you junction to speed?" I asked suddenly.
"Speed? No but I do have a Haste spell with me." He replied.
"Use it. Cast Silence on them if you have it. Junction Blind to your status attack. Don't use your GF. It'll attract attention."
"We're rushing them?" He stared at me in amazement.
"We have no choice. We'll have to do this as silently as possible. Are you ready?"
"Yes, commander."
"On my count. Three, two, one…"
I broke into a run and raise my gun at them. Nida was close at my footsteps. Together, we ran towards the two guards who stared in shock at two SeeDs on the offensive.
Reaching them, I fired the shotgun at the first guard who staggered back screaming in pain. Nida had cast two Silence spells in quick succession at them. I fired again and again; shooting bullets containing Fira at them. If that didn't work, then I would be forced to waste other precious spells.
Soon, both guards were down. I stopped to hear if we've created any commotion. There was no sound but it would only be a matter of time before reinforcements came. I bent down and hurriedly began collecting ammo.
Nida by then had opened a cell door but no one was inside. He opened a second, then a third and a fourth. There was no one inside. Had we been wasting our time after all?
Finally in the first door on the left row opened and Nida called to me. I rushed after him and looked in. Sure enough, a pathetic figure on the bunk greeted me.
"Squall! You're all right!" He rose and ran towards the entrance but I raised my gun at him. He stopped short then and spoke in a low tone.
"How did you find me?" Is he really that stupid or does he have a penchant for asking obvious questions?
I ignored him and spoke to Nida. "Anyone coming?"
"No but we have to get out of here before someone comes to investigate." He replied back. Hyne! Where do we go now?
"We'll have to fight them. We have no other choice." I turned and glared at him but I knew he was right. It was our last option.
I peeked out to check for guards then walked to the other end. When I returned, I tossed the gun I had taken from the dead guard to him.
"Um…what about ammo?"
"There's already a round of them in there. This is your backup. If you used it up, then deal with it." I replied coldly and handed him some more ammo. Then I moved into position opposite Nida.. Hyne help me not to kill the wrong person today!
Notes: We're nearing the halfway point of ROAF and there is still more to come. Hope you're still on the edge of your seats! *winks*
