Quistis crouched inside the Ragnarok, the other SeeDs around her, all awaiting the cue to start their assault. The SeeDs sat, stony-faced and silent, focusing on the mission ahead of them. Each wore a fitted harness connected to a bar protruding from the ceiling by means of a high-strength cable.
The Ragnarok flew on its way to Deling City, where the new Galbadian Republic held the former President and his family until their execution. The sound of air-to-air missiles rushing by served as proof that they had entered Galbadia's airspace without permission. The ship took a sharp dive as its speed began to cut back considerably. The red light next to the cargo bay doors turned yellow, and Squall walked over to the doors, readying himself for the jump. Quistis, next in line, stood up also, leaving Squall enough free room to maneuver.
The yellow light turned green, and the doors opened, revealing Deling City, sprawled beneath the ship. Quistis's eyes met Squall's for a moment, before he leapt backwards and plummeted into the void. She only had an instant to watch him as he hurtled to the ground before she had to jump as well. She did so and marveled at the tranquility that came over her as she fell, seemingly weightless, towards the city below.
As she dropped, her harness gripped the cable with increasing intensity, slowing the speed of her fall. She hit the ground and undid the catch in her harness, sending the cable rocketing back skyward. On one side of her, Squall drew his gunblade while on the other side, Selphie just touched down.
They'd landed on the building where the Galbadian Army kept the Delings prisoner. Within the span of a few heartbeats, the entire assault team had landed. No sooner had Zell, the final member of the team, unlatched his harness, than an anti-aircraft gun fired into the air. The Ragnarok veered sharply in an effort to avoid the gunfire, but a few bullets managed to clip the dragon ship on one wing.
"Nida," Squall said over the communications channel, "get the ship away from here. We'll call you for extraction."
"Understood, Squall. Be careful." The Ragnarok evaded another spray of fire and made its way to safety.
"Well," Irvine said, "they know we're here."
"Stay sharp," Squall instructed. "Seifer, Zell: let's go."
Squall and Seifer made their way over the rooftop to the door leading into the building. Finding the door locked and bolted from the inside, Seifer reached for a charge of explosives. As he worked, the ground started to shake. The loud rumbling sound that accompanied it alarmed them all.
"Guys!" Selphie yelled. "You might want to take a look at this."
They dashed to the edge of the roof, where Selphie stood looking down to the street below them. A military convoy drove away from the building. Several infantry carrier vehicles lead the way, followed by a heavy transport carrying one of the modular cells from Galbadia's D-District Prison. The rearguard consisted of several large tanks, turrets swiveling around to face the building on which the SeeDs crouched.
Squall swore, mind racing as contingencies whirled through his consciousness. The sound of a cannon told him he'd run out of time. The SeeDs threw themselves away from the edge of the roof, pressing themselves flat to the ground.
"That was a warning shot," Irvine said. "I've seen those tanks before. They use computer-guided targeting systems, and they don't miss."
"Selphie, Quistis, set up a barrier. Be ready, because if they can't hit us, they might try to bring the building down. Irvine: stop the transports from moving, or they'll escape entirely. You'll also have to shut down the tanks. Seifer, Zell and I will try to get downstairs and catch up to them."
Squall stood up and hurtled across the roof at the door leading to the stairs. He heard Quistis and Selphie beginning to cast their spells, fortifying the roof from the tank's fire.
Squall readied himself to kick the door in or, failing that, ram it with his shoulder. He took a few deep breaths in preparation when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Got it," Zell said. He walked up to the door and stood before it, taking a moment to run his eyes up and down its length. Zell nodded to himself and closed his eyes.
"Zell, we don't have time for..." Squall stopped as Zell sprung to life. He planted his feet and hit the door with tremendous force, causing it to explode inward. The three ran down the stairs, past the wreck of the door, Squall marveling at Zell's talent for destruction.
* *
The second shot came just as Quistis finished her spell. She saw the air shimmer in front of her as the air folded in on itself, creating a barrier to hinder the progress of anything fired in their direction. As the tank's shell neared, Quistis felt her shield straining to hold it back. She struggled, pushing the shell away from them with her mind, when she felt Selphie finish her own spell. Quistis gasped in relief and satisfaction as the bullet fell, lifeless, to the street below.
Irvine stood to one side, manipulating the switches and buttons on his Exeter rifle. Within moments he'd converted the gun into one of its alternate firing modes, one of the little "extras" that set Irvine's weapon apart from ordinary guns.
He grabbed an ammunition pack from his belt and slammed the cartridge into the chamber. He dropped to one knee, bringing the gun to rest on his shoulder. Through his extensive sniper's training, he only needed a moment to aim before he pulled the trigger. The gentle pressure from his finger sent a rocket screaming to the street below them. It shattered the pavement, kicking up a tremendous cloud of dust and stopping the transports from proceeding.
Irvine nodded in appreciation of his own work, but didn't hesitate in starting to reconfigure his rifle. He saw the infantry in the personnel carriers starting to mobilize, and wanted to give them a little surprise for them as they began their counter-assault.
.
* *
Seifer, Squall, and Zell bolted through the opening and stared down the gaping hole of a tank turret. The monstrous cannon fired, and had they reacted a half-second later, the shell would have destroyed them all. Instead, the shell collided with a building down the street, knocking its supports out and bringing it tumbling to the ground.
"You guys, go. I'll slow up the tank," Zell smiled as he spoke, eager to increase the number of Galbadian war machines he'd destroyed since joining SeeD.
As Seifer and Squall ran past the tank, Zell charged it, leaping atop it in a few short bounds. One of the soldiers inside flipped open the hatch, and stood up, aiming at Zell with an assault rifle. Zell kicked the man in the face, knocking him back into the tank. Zell closed the hatch again and stood over it, concentrating on the points he wanted to strike.
His fist crashed into the hatch repeatedly, each time with enough force to cause the juggernaut to tremble beneath him. After several such punches, he managed to deform the hatch, sealing it shut and trapping the drivers inside. He moved on to the turret, and repeated the procedure, this time pummeling the barrel out of shape. When he finished with it, the barrel of the main cannon zigzagged, rendering it useless.
* *
The first wave of soldiers poured out of the transport. The first infantryman's feet barely touched the ground when the back of his head exploded, causing him to fall backward into his comrades. The second soldier recoiled in horror as the blood splashed onto him, moments before he fell to the ground.
"Sniper!" one of the soldiers screamed, looking around for the source of the bullets. His search ended when another of Irvine's bullets tore its way through his skull.
Back on the rooftop, Irvine smiled in satisfaction as he targeted one soldier after another. The flood of soldiers dwindled as they realized that stepping out of the armored vehicle signed their death warrant.
* *
Selphie and Quistis focused their magic on Irvine, keeping him safe from the occasional bullet sent their way by incautious soldiers. Quistis glanced down to the street below and saw Squall and Seifer dashing towards the prison transport. Irvine continued to lay down his field of suppressive fire, keeping the soldiers from shredding the two SeeDs to ribbons.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw one of the tanks bringing its main cannon to bear on Seifer and Squall. She watched in amazement as the cannon swiveled past them, aiming at one of the buildings nearby. It fired at the base of the skyscraper, demolishing it and sending tons of debris plummeting towards her friends.
Operating on instinct, Quistis dropped the magical shield she'd maintained and cast another spell. On the street below, the wind suddenly picked up, whipping its way through the buildings and creating a terrible howling. She focused the wind, controlled it with her mind and channeled it into a funnel, a tornado born of magic, strong enough to keep the rubble from hitting the ground.
Seifer and Squall split up, running around the tornado, getting clear of it so Quistis could let the debris fall. When she did, she felt as if she'd carried the building's weight herself.
A rapid hammering sound as Zell finished work on the final tank. He sprang off it and ran to follow Seifer and Squall. The massive pile of broken concrete proved no obstacle. He bounded up the barricade without hesitating, his sense of balance as unerring as his reflexes. As he moved, the pieces he used as stepping stones shifted beneath him, every one forming a small avalanche. Zell, however, didn't notice, having already moved past off the precarious footing by the time it started to slide.
* *
Irvine's marksmanship kept the soldiers confined to their vehicles. They'd learned that exposing even the smallest bit of their bodies invited the sniper to send a bullet streaking down to their position.
As he surveyed the street, he saw Zell pass through his field of vision, heading towards the transports. By the time Zell arrived, the soldiers had thrown their weapons out of the vehicles and had their hands on their heads. Zell quickly picked up a machine gun and trained it on the surrendering warriors.
"Keep me covered, Irvine," he said through the communications channel. "If they so much as blink in my direction, drop as many as you can."
"Right," Irvine replied.
Zell started to round up the soldiers, herding them away from their weaponry.
"Problem," Squall's voice ran through the channel for the first time. "There's no way we're getting into that cell. The metal's too thick."
"I've got an idea," Irvine answered. "Seifer, grab one of the guns and help Zell keep the soldiers in line. Squall, get the Delings as far away from that door as you can."
"Irvine, what are you going to do?"
"Trust me," Irvine said, already partway through the transformation of his rifle. "Just make sure they're away from the door."
He finished, and grabbed another ammunition packet from his belt, this time, a clear crystal, sparkling and iridescent as the light ran through it. He loaded it into Exeter and took aim. A brilliant flash of white light streaked through the air, leaving the smell of ozone in its wake. He ejected the crystal, now dark and muddy, its energy spent. Another crystal and another shot blasted through the air.
"Okay," Irvine broadcasted, "they should be able to push the door open now. I took out the hinges, so there shouldn't be much resistance now."
Squall conveyed this message to the Delings, inside the prison cell. They applied their combined weight to the door and it fell outward, hinges obliterated from Irvine's shots.
"Nida," Squall said, "we're ready for extraction."
In a matter of minutes, the Ragnarok hovered overhead, stirring up dust from the collapsed building. At Squall's instruction, Nida kept the ship's weapons aimed at the surrendered soldiers while the SeeDs guided the Delings onto the ship. This done, Nida turned the ship full around and flared the engine, sending the dust cloud directly into the soldier's faces as the ship sped out of Galbadian airspace.