Bullets rang down the hallways as Dex and Damon ran back to where Skylla was waiting for them. Dex turned and fired back. The two of them had raided the ships armory. They where now fully equipped and ready for battle, ready to help Torrin. They quickly rolled into the room just as Skylla dropped down a security panel. A loud pounding sound came from the other side but the thick metal would keep the men chasing them at bay for awhile.
"Whoa. Sky…" Damon said eyeing her up and down. "Where'd you get the clothes?"
Dex turned to look. Skylla was no longer in her gold formal but in a very tight black jump suit. The same type the enemy wore.
She tossed two more jump suits at the boys. "I went to the mall. Really, where do you think I got them? I stole them. We can't fight in formal wear. We need to be able to move. Change."
Dex threw her a gunblade he had taken for her. "Here, picked you up and accessory."
Skylla caught it and tested the weight. "Nice, a little heavy, but nice. Don't SeeD issue though, it's a replica of Squall's. We have all the information from the computer bank."
Damon zipped up the top of the suit. "Good, that means we can get out of here." He turned and ripped the cover of a maintenance hatch off. "Be ready for anything."
Dex and Skylla nodded confirmation and they started through the hatch. It was only big enough for one person at time to make it through . To make matters harder they had to keep an eye out for exposed wires. Finding Torrin was a lucky break. They passed over the infirmary and over heard a doctor taking.
"By all reason she shouldn't be alive but her body is rapidly recovering from the blast. They took her to the bridge."
A nurse sounded shocked. "She was hit by holy just hours ago…"
The doctor nodded. "And now she can walk, the only thing wrong with her is her lungs. She'll have difficulty breathing for awhile."
Damon reached back and touched Dex's arm. He nodded to him, giving him confirmation that he had heard. Skylla checked a map and crawled on, towards the bridge. An alarm went off in the ship. It looked like they had finally gotten the door to the room open and realized they where gone. The pace picked up but soon they came to a halt. A large panel in the wall of the bridge gave them a view of what was happening.
Torrin held onto a chair for support as she struggled to regain her balance. She didn't take her eyes off the ship that was on the display screen in front of her. The Ragnarok 479XG. Sleek, silver, and faster then any other ship ever built. The headmaster's ship. It was gaining fast. Help was on the way, but then again that's probably why they wanted her on the bridge. To slit her throat before she could be saved…well she wouldn't go down without a fight.
Waking up in the ship's infirmary had been the best feeling in the world. Demetra was still connected to her even though she had been drawn. Without her help there was no way Torrin would have made it through holy. So maybe in a way she wasn't alone, she could hang on for help.
Archist turned towards her. She couldn't help smirk at the purple bruises all around his throat. If only she hadn't been so drained of energy, then she would have finished the job. But perhaps it was to late for that now. He had that cruel smile on his mouth again. What was he up to? Torrin forced herself not to flinch.
"Well now it's time to see what your GF can do. Weapons aim Cannon at the SeeD ship."
Torrin wanted to laugh, you couldn't use a GF to power a weapon… could you?
Archist seemed to read her mind. "Mako my dear. GF's can be suppressed into a condensed form known as Mako, and Mako can be used to power weapons.
Torrin turned to watch the gun power up. Green and white light formed at the ended the colors swirling and dancing together. Torrin caught a glimpses of Cassandra in the corner. She was crying, not able to take her eyes off the light. Suddenly the beam shot out, however at the same time Cassandra screamed. Torrin watched the monitor as the ship miraculously dodged the shot. A light passed over Cassandra and she fell to the ground.
"There's no way!" Archist screamed in furry. "Fool," He took out a gun and aimed for Cassandra. Torrin jumped on his back causing the shot to miss.
Torrin couldn't help but taunt. "Poor Archist, that's twice you've missed in one day."
Archist growled and grabbed Torrin's hair. He threw her to the floor and leveled the gun at her head. "I won't miss this time."
Torrin tried to get up but there was no need. Archist was suddenly knocked off his feet by an invisible force. Only then did Torrin notice that fighting had broken out around the room. Skylla sliced with her gunblade and men fell back. One tried to grab her from behind but was given a sharp kick in his abandon. Dex had her back. His fists crashed into to peoples skulls so hard there was sometimes a cracking sound. Damon had been the one to send Archist flying with a mage blast. He ran over to Torrin and helped her up.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine but we could use an exit. Squall's ship will be coming back for another round and we don't want to be here when that happens."
Damon held out his hand and a blast of fire hit the wall. A huge hole sucked air out and Torrin grabbed desperately for anything to hold. Dex grabbed Cassandra. Torrin didn't understand why, maybe it was just that he had to help a girl or something.
Skylla quickly turned and yelled to Damon. "Can we make it?"
He shouted back. "I can slow us down. Let me go first. Dex bring the girl."
Torrin grabbed Damon's arm urgently. "Why are we taking her?"
"I recognize her. She was in a class of mine last year. She's a missing SeeD." Damon said. Torrin gaped at him. So Cassandra had been trying to help her but why had she…the ship rocked wildly.
Dex shouted. "Damon come on. I need your help."
"Right!" Damon turned to her. You and Sky jump about a minute after us. Don't worry by then I'll be ready for you. I won't let you fall."
Torrin nodded and braced herself against the railing. Damon swung over to Dex. Between the two of them they supported Cassandra. With a backward leap they jumped out. Damon muttering a spell to call a stronger version of float.
Skylla swung over to where Torrin was. "You ready?"
Suddenly Torrin remembered what she was forgetting. "I can't leave yet."
"What? Look this whole buys us only so much time. We need to get out of here."
"But my GF. It's a long story but I can't leave Demetra here."
Skylla's eyes went wide. "You have a GF? Look we have no time. We can go and get her later. We'll do a counter attack. But there's no way to win. Sometimes you need to retreat to win."
Torrin nodded and let go. Taking careful aim so as not to hit chairs and consoles, she speed towards the opening, It was an easy fall until she stopped suddenly. Archist grabbed her arm just as she passed the opening. She swung painfully into the side of the ship.
"Do think I would be taken care of so easily." His hand raised quickly up and Torrin saw the flash of steal.
Skylla had seen him though and had let go of her hold. She came racing towards him, gunblade drawn. He raised his arm at the perfect moment. Everything Sky had ever learned came back to her and she timed the trigger just right. Blood splashed in her face. Sky turned her body and caught Torrin around the waste, pulling her away. Together they fell through the air, until float wrapped around them and slowed them to a halt.
"Chicken-wuss! Speed this thing up!" Siefer said as he paced the bridge.
Squall glared down at him. "Siefer, lay off. This is my ship."
"Squall at the rate we're going will catch up to them the day after never." Siefer grumbled.
Selphie looked up from her monitor. "Um, Um. Incoming!"
"What? Hang on!" Squall looked at the main screen. A giant ball of green and white light headed directly for them. It wasn't like anything he had ever seen before. "Zell?"
Suddenly color drained from around squall and it seemed like things moved in slow motion. The pulse of light was frozen in midair. Zell slowly pulled over on the controls, inch by inch the ship moved over to the right. As soon as the ship was clear everything returned to normal. Squall's stomach gave a lurch in protest.
"Zell what happened?" Squall asked.
"No fickin' clue man! Was I the only one who saw that?" he looked down at the controls. "We're way off course. Adjusting."
Selphie smirked. "That wouldn't have happened if I had been driving."
Squall stood up and kept a careful eye on the ship. Suddenly the enemies ship listed slightly to one side. "Quistis get me a visual. Irvine bring up a the cannons, get ready to shoot but not till I tell you too."
Quistis looked up. "Visual on main screen."
Siefer ran over to where Quistis sat. "Right there enlarge, about 200 meters below enemy ship."
Quistis did and gasped. "It's them. That's Damon, I'm sure of it."
Selphie jumped up from her seat. "Zell bring us closer. Get ready to pick them up. Irvine get ready to shoot nets just in case Damon can't hold that spell. He must be exhausted."
"I'm on it." Irvine said adjusting the aim on the launchers.
Squall smiled. I thought I was the fearless leader, oh well, whatever. "I want them aboard and on the bridge as soon as possible."
Archist held the bleeding stub where his arm had been only a minute ago. Blood pooled out around him, a part of him new he should be doing something about that. Over and over the scene played in his head. He had the Almasy girl by the arm. Then with dark hair flying like a banner she came at him. Gunblade intent on him, a thirst in her eyes. She longs for blood, he told himself. Killing will be her joy and sorrow. Angel of Death or Justice. He saw her fly downwards, never taking her eyes off him, her face covered with his blood. Oh the satisfaction in her eyes. She was truly beautiful. Archist fell forward, but smiling to himself. This was not his time to die, for he knew he had to meet her again. And he would.
Dex stood on the bridge of Ragnarok 479XG. Torrin stood close to him. He wanted say so much to her but couldn't. He was shocked to see she wore only a thin robe. Still no one had offered them a chance to rest yet. Cassandra, or at least that's what Tor called her, hung in Damon's arms still not awake. Skylla rubbed blood out of her eyes and tried to clean up as much as she could. The adults where handling the situation now. They were to stand there and watch, to observe.
It bothered Dex. He wanted to help. The two ships were exchanging gunfire. The SeeD ship was smaller and had more agility then the heavy enemy ship, but the enemies ship had more fire power. Suddenly Selphie cried out in alarm.
"Squall! They're firing that cannon again. The energy level I'm reading is…not good!"
"They shouldn't be able to do that. I'll stop them." Said a soft voice, heavy with sleep." Cassandra had woken up. She jumped out of Damon's arms and ran for a door that lead to an outside viewing platform. Torrin took after her. It only took a moment for Damon Skylla and Dex to follow as the adults yelled at them.
When They all got outside Cassandra turned to Torrin. "Draw your GF."
Torrin gaped at her. "What?"
"I drew our GF's back from Archist just after the first cannon fired. I give her back to you freely so it won't hurt." Torrin nodded and Drew from Cassandra. "There. Now help me. Focus the GF's power and then call her forward." Cassandra looked up at each of them. "You guys could help too. We need to fight as one."
Dex opened his mouth to object but didn't quite know what to say. Was she implying that all of them had GF's? Well there was only one way to find out. He turned to face the enemy's ship. He shut his eyes and sot the sound of the sea. A blue light settled around him. His skin at once felt moist and shimmered. He held his arms out.
"Poseidon, King of Seas, I request thy aid!" He yelled. Power began to surge in him.
A green light appeared around Torrin. Leaves began to poke out through her hair and an Ivy pattern ran down her arms. She screamed to the sky. "Demetra, Mother of Earth, I beg your assistance!"
Skylla's eyes went white and glowed as a purple aura surrounded her. Her hair flew in an unfelt wind as she summoned her power. "Lunar, Guardian of the skies you presence is needed!"
Cassandra was surrounded by white light. Her hair shifted between gray and gold. "Chronos, Father of Time, I request the use of your power."
Damon's red aura leapt like flames and was reflected in his eyes. "Dracos! Help me!"
Five beams shot out at the enemy ship on the horizon as a blast of green and white light hurtled at them from the other cannon. Blue, Green, White, Purple, and Red collided with the blast. An explosion of light blinded them all for a moment. When they could see again the enemy ship was sinking below the waves in ruins.
Dex stumbled backwards exhausted. All five collapsed to the floor, their battle won.
Quistis, Siefer, Squall, Selphie, Irvine and Zell stared at the burning ruin that had been the enemy. Zell summed it up best with one phrase. "Holy crap."
"Whoa. Sky…" Damon said eyeing her up and down. "Where'd you get the clothes?"
Dex turned to look. Skylla was no longer in her gold formal but in a very tight black jump suit. The same type the enemy wore.
She tossed two more jump suits at the boys. "I went to the mall. Really, where do you think I got them? I stole them. We can't fight in formal wear. We need to be able to move. Change."
Dex threw her a gunblade he had taken for her. "Here, picked you up and accessory."
Skylla caught it and tested the weight. "Nice, a little heavy, but nice. Don't SeeD issue though, it's a replica of Squall's. We have all the information from the computer bank."
Damon zipped up the top of the suit. "Good, that means we can get out of here." He turned and ripped the cover of a maintenance hatch off. "Be ready for anything."
Dex and Skylla nodded confirmation and they started through the hatch. It was only big enough for one person at time to make it through . To make matters harder they had to keep an eye out for exposed wires. Finding Torrin was a lucky break. They passed over the infirmary and over heard a doctor taking.
"By all reason she shouldn't be alive but her body is rapidly recovering from the blast. They took her to the bridge."
A nurse sounded shocked. "She was hit by holy just hours ago…"
The doctor nodded. "And now she can walk, the only thing wrong with her is her lungs. She'll have difficulty breathing for awhile."
Damon reached back and touched Dex's arm. He nodded to him, giving him confirmation that he had heard. Skylla checked a map and crawled on, towards the bridge. An alarm went off in the ship. It looked like they had finally gotten the door to the room open and realized they where gone. The pace picked up but soon they came to a halt. A large panel in the wall of the bridge gave them a view of what was happening.
Torrin held onto a chair for support as she struggled to regain her balance. She didn't take her eyes off the ship that was on the display screen in front of her. The Ragnarok 479XG. Sleek, silver, and faster then any other ship ever built. The headmaster's ship. It was gaining fast. Help was on the way, but then again that's probably why they wanted her on the bridge. To slit her throat before she could be saved…well she wouldn't go down without a fight.
Waking up in the ship's infirmary had been the best feeling in the world. Demetra was still connected to her even though she had been drawn. Without her help there was no way Torrin would have made it through holy. So maybe in a way she wasn't alone, she could hang on for help.
Archist turned towards her. She couldn't help smirk at the purple bruises all around his throat. If only she hadn't been so drained of energy, then she would have finished the job. But perhaps it was to late for that now. He had that cruel smile on his mouth again. What was he up to? Torrin forced herself not to flinch.
"Well now it's time to see what your GF can do. Weapons aim Cannon at the SeeD ship."
Torrin wanted to laugh, you couldn't use a GF to power a weapon… could you?
Archist seemed to read her mind. "Mako my dear. GF's can be suppressed into a condensed form known as Mako, and Mako can be used to power weapons.
Torrin turned to watch the gun power up. Green and white light formed at the ended the colors swirling and dancing together. Torrin caught a glimpses of Cassandra in the corner. She was crying, not able to take her eyes off the light. Suddenly the beam shot out, however at the same time Cassandra screamed. Torrin watched the monitor as the ship miraculously dodged the shot. A light passed over Cassandra and she fell to the ground.
"There's no way!" Archist screamed in furry. "Fool," He took out a gun and aimed for Cassandra. Torrin jumped on his back causing the shot to miss.
Torrin couldn't help but taunt. "Poor Archist, that's twice you've missed in one day."
Archist growled and grabbed Torrin's hair. He threw her to the floor and leveled the gun at her head. "I won't miss this time."
Torrin tried to get up but there was no need. Archist was suddenly knocked off his feet by an invisible force. Only then did Torrin notice that fighting had broken out around the room. Skylla sliced with her gunblade and men fell back. One tried to grab her from behind but was given a sharp kick in his abandon. Dex had her back. His fists crashed into to peoples skulls so hard there was sometimes a cracking sound. Damon had been the one to send Archist flying with a mage blast. He ran over to Torrin and helped her up.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine but we could use an exit. Squall's ship will be coming back for another round and we don't want to be here when that happens."
Damon held out his hand and a blast of fire hit the wall. A huge hole sucked air out and Torrin grabbed desperately for anything to hold. Dex grabbed Cassandra. Torrin didn't understand why, maybe it was just that he had to help a girl or something.
Skylla quickly turned and yelled to Damon. "Can we make it?"
He shouted back. "I can slow us down. Let me go first. Dex bring the girl."
Torrin grabbed Damon's arm urgently. "Why are we taking her?"
"I recognize her. She was in a class of mine last year. She's a missing SeeD." Damon said. Torrin gaped at him. So Cassandra had been trying to help her but why had she…the ship rocked wildly.
Dex shouted. "Damon come on. I need your help."
"Right!" Damon turned to her. You and Sky jump about a minute after us. Don't worry by then I'll be ready for you. I won't let you fall."
Torrin nodded and braced herself against the railing. Damon swung over to Dex. Between the two of them they supported Cassandra. With a backward leap they jumped out. Damon muttering a spell to call a stronger version of float.
Skylla swung over to where Torrin was. "You ready?"
Suddenly Torrin remembered what she was forgetting. "I can't leave yet."
"What? Look this whole buys us only so much time. We need to get out of here."
"But my GF. It's a long story but I can't leave Demetra here."
Skylla's eyes went wide. "You have a GF? Look we have no time. We can go and get her later. We'll do a counter attack. But there's no way to win. Sometimes you need to retreat to win."
Torrin nodded and let go. Taking careful aim so as not to hit chairs and consoles, she speed towards the opening, It was an easy fall until she stopped suddenly. Archist grabbed her arm just as she passed the opening. She swung painfully into the side of the ship.
"Do think I would be taken care of so easily." His hand raised quickly up and Torrin saw the flash of steal.
Skylla had seen him though and had let go of her hold. She came racing towards him, gunblade drawn. He raised his arm at the perfect moment. Everything Sky had ever learned came back to her and she timed the trigger just right. Blood splashed in her face. Sky turned her body and caught Torrin around the waste, pulling her away. Together they fell through the air, until float wrapped around them and slowed them to a halt.
"Chicken-wuss! Speed this thing up!" Siefer said as he paced the bridge.
Squall glared down at him. "Siefer, lay off. This is my ship."
"Squall at the rate we're going will catch up to them the day after never." Siefer grumbled.
Selphie looked up from her monitor. "Um, Um. Incoming!"
"What? Hang on!" Squall looked at the main screen. A giant ball of green and white light headed directly for them. It wasn't like anything he had ever seen before. "Zell?"
Suddenly color drained from around squall and it seemed like things moved in slow motion. The pulse of light was frozen in midair. Zell slowly pulled over on the controls, inch by inch the ship moved over to the right. As soon as the ship was clear everything returned to normal. Squall's stomach gave a lurch in protest.
"Zell what happened?" Squall asked.
"No fickin' clue man! Was I the only one who saw that?" he looked down at the controls. "We're way off course. Adjusting."
Selphie smirked. "That wouldn't have happened if I had been driving."
Squall stood up and kept a careful eye on the ship. Suddenly the enemies ship listed slightly to one side. "Quistis get me a visual. Irvine bring up a the cannons, get ready to shoot but not till I tell you too."
Quistis looked up. "Visual on main screen."
Siefer ran over to where Quistis sat. "Right there enlarge, about 200 meters below enemy ship."
Quistis did and gasped. "It's them. That's Damon, I'm sure of it."
Selphie jumped up from her seat. "Zell bring us closer. Get ready to pick them up. Irvine get ready to shoot nets just in case Damon can't hold that spell. He must be exhausted."
"I'm on it." Irvine said adjusting the aim on the launchers.
Squall smiled. I thought I was the fearless leader, oh well, whatever. "I want them aboard and on the bridge as soon as possible."
Archist held the bleeding stub where his arm had been only a minute ago. Blood pooled out around him, a part of him new he should be doing something about that. Over and over the scene played in his head. He had the Almasy girl by the arm. Then with dark hair flying like a banner she came at him. Gunblade intent on him, a thirst in her eyes. She longs for blood, he told himself. Killing will be her joy and sorrow. Angel of Death or Justice. He saw her fly downwards, never taking her eyes off him, her face covered with his blood. Oh the satisfaction in her eyes. She was truly beautiful. Archist fell forward, but smiling to himself. This was not his time to die, for he knew he had to meet her again. And he would.
Dex stood on the bridge of Ragnarok 479XG. Torrin stood close to him. He wanted say so much to her but couldn't. He was shocked to see she wore only a thin robe. Still no one had offered them a chance to rest yet. Cassandra, or at least that's what Tor called her, hung in Damon's arms still not awake. Skylla rubbed blood out of her eyes and tried to clean up as much as she could. The adults where handling the situation now. They were to stand there and watch, to observe.
It bothered Dex. He wanted to help. The two ships were exchanging gunfire. The SeeD ship was smaller and had more agility then the heavy enemy ship, but the enemies ship had more fire power. Suddenly Selphie cried out in alarm.
"Squall! They're firing that cannon again. The energy level I'm reading is…not good!"
"They shouldn't be able to do that. I'll stop them." Said a soft voice, heavy with sleep." Cassandra had woken up. She jumped out of Damon's arms and ran for a door that lead to an outside viewing platform. Torrin took after her. It only took a moment for Damon Skylla and Dex to follow as the adults yelled at them.
When They all got outside Cassandra turned to Torrin. "Draw your GF."
Torrin gaped at her. "What?"
"I drew our GF's back from Archist just after the first cannon fired. I give her back to you freely so it won't hurt." Torrin nodded and Drew from Cassandra. "There. Now help me. Focus the GF's power and then call her forward." Cassandra looked up at each of them. "You guys could help too. We need to fight as one."
Dex opened his mouth to object but didn't quite know what to say. Was she implying that all of them had GF's? Well there was only one way to find out. He turned to face the enemy's ship. He shut his eyes and sot the sound of the sea. A blue light settled around him. His skin at once felt moist and shimmered. He held his arms out.
"Poseidon, King of Seas, I request thy aid!" He yelled. Power began to surge in him.
A green light appeared around Torrin. Leaves began to poke out through her hair and an Ivy pattern ran down her arms. She screamed to the sky. "Demetra, Mother of Earth, I beg your assistance!"
Skylla's eyes went white and glowed as a purple aura surrounded her. Her hair flew in an unfelt wind as she summoned her power. "Lunar, Guardian of the skies you presence is needed!"
Cassandra was surrounded by white light. Her hair shifted between gray and gold. "Chronos, Father of Time, I request the use of your power."
Damon's red aura leapt like flames and was reflected in his eyes. "Dracos! Help me!"
Five beams shot out at the enemy ship on the horizon as a blast of green and white light hurtled at them from the other cannon. Blue, Green, White, Purple, and Red collided with the blast. An explosion of light blinded them all for a moment. When they could see again the enemy ship was sinking below the waves in ruins.
Dex stumbled backwards exhausted. All five collapsed to the floor, their battle won.
Quistis, Siefer, Squall, Selphie, Irvine and Zell stared at the burning ruin that had been the enemy. Zell summed it up best with one phrase. "Holy crap."