Irvine sat transfixed to the flickering screen in front of him. Rifle in hand, drops of rain trickled down the brown leather coat. The screen blanked out, bringing Irvine's mind back to the present. The screen then changed into a status display. That caught Irvine's eye. He studied the figures and charts.

"Estharian intelligence sources noted that the extreme change in weather and natural conditions around the world is in fact, paranormal. Undisclosed sources revealed that temperature has dropped 20 degrees in the past week, and more of Terra is becoming iced. Esathar agents have been actively tracking this new source of disturbance, and its highly likely that this trend will continue. It is also interesting to note, that most of Esthar's military forces have been deployed into deep space. This move was spearheaded by the Estharian President, Laguna Loire."

A frown. "Where could Laguna go at this time?" Irvine looked up. A Galbadian General entered the dark room. Irvine drew his rifle. Galbadian Stormtroopers entered the room armed to the teeth. Each stormtrooper had laser sights focused on the man. Irvine raised his hands.

"Give it up Irvine. That's right. Nice and easy." The stormtroopers grabbed his rifle away from him, and he felt a boot land heavily on his back. The last thing he heard was something about Garden and Esthar totally defenseless now. The darkness consumed him.

The Estharian General motioned to his troops, and the stormtroopers took the unconsious man out. The general walked up to the screen. He touched the metallic finish, and placed a small electronic spider behind the line of sight. The general quickily looked around to check if he was being tailed, then he exited the dark room, leaving the ceiling fan spinning slowly.

The Galbadian Army rolled armour and personnel across the Estharian Plains. Dirt was rustled and kicked up all over the place. Artillery units blazed across the parched lands. Overhead, stormtroopers with rocket boosters zeroed in on the Utopian city. Stormtroopers in large personal carriers trucked behind, following the Armour closely. Within another hour, the Galbadian Army would be within striking range of Esthar. A streak of fierce fighter planes overhead flashed across the skies, carrying a huge payload in each of the weapons pods. The lead fighter accelerated.

The little girl stood and watched from a distance. Both her hands still on the window ledge. She smiled.

"Ground control, this is GStar-One. Target is in range. Request confirmation of strike." the pilot radioed.

"GStar-One, this is Ground Control. Your strike sequence is Zero, zero, alpha, zulu, niner, tango. Fire at will, I repeat, fire at will."

"Ground control, this is GStar-One. Acknowledged sequence zero, zero, alpha, zulu, niner, tango. Roger that, firing at will." the lead fighter broke off from the formation, and streaked dangerously low to the ground. The other fighters quickily joined. A few eerie seconds later, a MOAB was released from the lead fighter. The lead fighter then pulled out and up from the formation. The remaining fighters quickily marked their target, and for the first time, huge explosions rocketed Esthar.
"Ground control, this is GStar-One. Squadron has hit target. Sqawk four. Send in the boys!" the lead fighter said.

"GStar-One, roger." the radio went silent after the last transmission.
As the fighters pulled out of Esthar, the armour division were slowly assembling by the outskirts of the Utopian city. The tanks formed a tight formation surrounding Esthar, as the artillery took aim under the safe cover of the tanks. A commander radioed ahead, and the artillery let loose a volley of canons. An invisible shield from smoking Esthar flashed a brilliant blue, as it deflected the canon balls. Unfazed, the commander gave another order. The artillery fired another round of canons. And another. The shield flickered with each successive blow it took. Finally after ten painful minutes, the shield collapsed. Smoke could still be seen from Esthar. The tanks rolled forward the instant the shield came down.

This was the moment the Estharian Airforce had been waiting for, as the tanks were exposed to a weakness when the artillery and air support were offline. Dozens of starfighters lifted off from the Estharian Airbase, zeroing in on their targets. The silent fighters quickily destroyed the first barrage of tanks attempting the enter the city, as the Estharian Army quickly took positions near the destroyed tanks. Galbadian stormtroopers arrived in large personal carriers, as the Estharian soldiers fired mercilessly on them. A rocket propelled grenade whizzed past the helmet of the assailant, as it landed on the carrier. An explosion. The Estharian soldiers moved on towards the large invading contingent.

The Galbadian General stood firm on his personal carrier, surveying the battlefield. All was going as planned. He glanced down at his bounded captive. Irvine closed his eyes. The screen in front of him displayed the might of Galbadia upon Esthar. The city was not really fighting back. Irvine did not understand why. Normally, it took only a small fraction of Esthar's military to crush whatever onslaught the Galbadians could muster.

Unless they weren't around, he thought. Where could they have gone then? Was this the calmity the Estharians Intelligence had reported? Estharian Military has been deployed into deep space. What for? Wait. The weather... He remembered the dark cloud that had crossed his way earlier, that being the reason he went to Triva, before being capture there. He wanted to warn Garden about the impending disaster. Only he hadn't been given the chance to, he thought. What about Triva Garden? Was it touched? Irvine had alot of questions that he needed answers to, but it looked like he did not have the chance to get them answered.