Squall could feel the intensity of the pressure acting down his throat, making him feel uncomfortable. He winced. The Chaser took a hard drop, nearly matching that of the Annihilator. The Annihilator took a hard left itself, before re-gaining entry into outer space. The Chaser started to slow down then, realizing the ploy it had let itself get into. The Chaser
retraced its path, and shot like a bullet downwards towards its base, away from the Annihilator. Squall counted down slowly, before depressing the command console. The Annihilator executed the Bullet-Squall maneuver. The craft spun in controlled
sequences towards the fleeing craft.

Xclaiver gripped the flight stick harshly and jammed it all the way downwards. From his HUD he saw the red craft advancing by leaps and bounds. He prayed then, and prayed hard. From the computer console he had already sent out a Priority One call to his fellow pilots, and none had so far replied. He wished then for another of his pilots to appear to provide that little bit of distraction to cover him, so he could gain a slight advantage. He prayed. From the back of his view, he could see two sleek projectiles approaching him.

The sun slowly set to the west, coloring the world into a beautiful canvas of paint. The palm trees swayed gently, as Alexandria felt the wind passing by. She closed her eyes, and let the wind do a dance merrily around her. Half of the sun lay submerged into the ocean.

"Powers in the dark, powers in the deep.
Lay beyond the ocean, in darkness they will creep.
Thou have served me well, but I call upon thee again.
You shall obey my call, and let the transformation begin."

The event horizon didn't appear to change, but much has. The world mutated in front of her tiny eyes. Destruction crept into the world silently on a dark cloud, for everything the shadow graced made it into nothing less than mere dust and ash. The world faded slowly into pitch darkness. All in an instant.

The beautiful field of flowers now lay ruined, layers and layers of ash after ash. Dust and turmoil floated over them. The once beautiful but no more orphanage lay silently in the midst of danger, not a sound was heard. The creak of a window pane, and a tiny hand placed itself on the window ledge.

"Wonders beyond my gaze destroyed by a fiery haze. The towers of light hang in silence. Who will come to their aid now?

The world of heroes and heroines has come to pass, now that all that besieges us is darkness. Light is the absence of darkness, for light is not a natural cause. The era of light is anguished, and darkness shall lay its cloak down. It is time for me to rest."

The little hand was joined by an identical on the other side, and she pushed herself high enough to sit on the ledge. On her face was the most innocent, beautiful face man could conceive. She smiled.

Rows of targets stood before the stainless steel rifle, undaunted. After all its been long since anyone could challenge the targets and get away triumph. Each target card was a larger circle, and yet another smaller circle in concentric motion. The rifle was drawn back, then quickly loaded up. The butt was placed near the neck, and in firing position. A bullet fired,
and then another, until all the adjacent targets were horizontal. A small wisp of smoke floated in the air, and was quickly blown away. Irvine lay the rifle on his shoulder. Walking over to each of the targets, he was not disappointed when he saw the cards riddled by bullet holes at the centre of each target. He released the clutch lock and the empty two bullet cartridge
popped out. He searched his large pants pockets and produced another. He inserted it in, before pulling back on the clutch.

Irvine stopped short in his tracks. An ominous growl beseeched the skies. A blast of lightning nearly took off the hairs on head. He grappled with his ammo pack and broke into a run for the training ground shelter. Another misplaced blast prompted the sniper to shoot aimlessly into the dark cloud. This angered the dark lord. In reply to his defiance the cloud rained
another couple of bolts. Irvine jumped restlessly into the sheltered area, and made it in. His wet figure approached the communications command, and he punched through a line straight through to Triva Garden.

The Galbadian war generals sat around a circular table. The flickering screen at the centre of it changed every few instances, displaying the current status of the world. A few of the grey uniforms converged around the leader, and words were hurriedly exchanged. After a couple of moments, the figures nodded their heads and dispersed.