Chapter I
~*~*~*~
Time: 3025 A.D, 5 years after the FF8 events.
Place: Planet Earth (As Squall knows it)
Location: Somewhere in Winhill. The Leonhart House, Squall and Rinoa's summerhouse, a present from Laguna for their wedding.
~*~*~*~
"Bo-KOOO! Where are you, you little pest! Get over here!" Angelo barked. "If Miss Rinoa finds out you broke a vase when she comes back, you're dead!"
"It wasn't me! It was Lotar!" Boko replied as he peeped out of a trunk.
"WAS NOT!" Lotar replied. The Mooba seemed pretty angry.
"Then who was it?" Angelo growled.
"It was a stray cat damn it Angelo, not us!" Lotar said.
The three pets were at the living room of the summerhouse, squabbling over a broken vase. Rinoa and Squall had left them there with a house robot, named TK, to look after the house and them while they were away with the rest of the old gang.
TK came into the room. It was short robot that ran on four wheels and had a round body and an equally round head with a slot that was his sight sensors, always flashing green. "What's going on?" he asked with his mechanic voice, which Rinoa had programmed to be a perfect imitation of Brad Pitt's voice.
"A stray cat broke a vase TK. We tried to catch her but…" Boko said.
"…Well, you can't have everything. It's ok; we'll get a new vase. But why are you squabbling? Don't you have anything better to do?"
"Actually…NO!" Angelo said sourly.
"Really, I miss Miss Rinoa and Master Squall awfully a lot…" Lotar said.
"Me too…" Boko sighed.
"Tch, tch, tch… I can't bear to watch you three suffer just because you're bored. Would you like me to tell you a story?" TK proposed to the three animals.
"What story?" Boko said enlivening.
"About Master Squall and Miss Rinoa."
"Oh, yes! Do tell us TK! Please!" Lotar said with a happy growl.
"Yes, yes!" Boko said happily and a feather went off his tail.
"Which story are you gonna talk about TK?" Angelo said.
"You know, the one that led to the situation of today…" TK said.
"Oh, I get it…Well you need my help in that."
"Yeah, I know. Will you help?"
"Sure…" Angelo said and lied on the carpet.
Boko and Lotar sat eagerly on the carpet. TK began his story.
~*~*~*~
The gladiator entered the arena with his comrades under the hot summer sun. His helmet's mask covers his face, but his eagle sharp eyes are visible. He's lightly
armored, as his comrades are, wailing no shield, just a one-hand sword. Across him and his fellow warriors are the gladiators of the opponent party, their party's enemy. To their right is the throne of Dollet's Duke, Duke Henry. They all turn to him, and hail. Except of him. He does not believe the Duke is worth his respect. Or any other's respect. Neither does the Emperor of Galbadia, Emperor Zelenick of Galbadia. Zelenick is a scoundrel, same as Vinzer Deling was. Using the Galbadian army he took over the government, and turned all Galbadia into an Empire, threatening the other counties as well.
~*~*~*~
"OH!" Lotar exclaimed in terror.
"Did he do that?!" Boko said terrified.
"Yes, but don't interrupt me." TK said.
~*~*~*~
The young gladiator did not hail. He didn't even look at the Duke. He turned his back at him! The crowd murmured in awe and surprise. Who was he to disobey? It was something new to the crowd, but they liked it. They cheered. The young gladiator knelt to the ground, and touching the soil, sent a thought to his father. The gladiator stood knelt in position, but his hand was ready to reach for his sword. Drops of sweat have formed on his forehead, and his arms shine under the sun from
the sweat. His comrades have spread out, and so have the opponents. They wait for the Duke to give them the sign to fight. A fellow gladiator looks at the young one.
"He'll be ok Vermillion…" he thought.
The Duke gives the signal, and the battle begins. Bodies clash with one another. An enemy dashed up to the young gladiator with a yell, but he just stands knelt there starring at him. The gladiator named Vermillion saw that the young one was in trouble.
"Jerr! Look out!" he yelled and turned to deal with his opponent.
The first gladiator waited till his opponent was close enough and then, silent as a serpent yet quick as a bullet drew his sword and ran it through the enemy's heart, then drove it out. His opponent fell to the ground with a thump. The young man quickly tuned to deal with a second guy coming from his side. The two swords clashed with force. The young gladiator realized a little late his opponent was beyond his power, size and ability. The big guy with a blow threw the young one backwards, and his sword was thrown aside. The young gladiator got up quickly, but as he had lost his sword, he just tried to avoid the other guy's blows. A side strike scratched his arm quite deeply, and he groaned. The gladiator who had shouted before picked up the young one's sword and shouted at him: "Jeremiah! Catch!" and threw his sword at him.
As the bigger guy swung his sword in front of him, Jeremiah made a back flip, and caught his sword in the air. He landed on his feet holding his sword, and with a swirl cut the other guy's stomach and his insides were spilled out. With a second swirl Jeremiah cut his head off his shoulders.
~*~*~*~
"Yaikes!" Boko said.
~*~*~*~
Jeremiah then turned to see if any of his comrades needed help. He didn't notice a third enemy creeping up from behind with an axe. Luckily, a fellow of his did.
Jeremiah turned quickly only to see his opponent falling to the ground face down with a short dagger on the back of his head. Jeremiah looked at his comrade.
"…Duke…" he said so lowly, only himself heard him, and then he raised his thumb to him.
Duke, a large but mute black also lift his thumb with a smile. Another battle was over, and Jeremiah and his partners had won. With a small price. Two gladiators Jeremiah didn't know were dead, but it didn't matter. They were disposable anyway. While the rest of the gladiators turned towards the Duke of Dollet to hail, Jeremiah kept his back at him and thought of his love. How long it had been since he last saw her? The crowd saw Jeremiah's behavior, and murmured once more. He impressed them. A fantastic warrior yet he showed no respect towards the Duke. Rumors had it he was a reputed criminal and had killed a few of his older comrades during fights. But no one knew much about him. Jeremiah followed his comrades to the dungeons they were kept. Because, Jeremiah isn't a free man, neither are his comrades. They are slaves. But only his body. His oul and mind are wild and free. So are his comrades. Free slaves, and that is why they walk with their heads to the sky, looking up, with their faces cold as ice, rebels in their own way against the unrightfully Emperor and his rule. In the dungeons under the arena, they have their weapons taken away, and take off their armor. They can wash off the blood from their hands with water, and head for their cells. Each cell hosts six men, not very cramped. The owner and trainer of the gladiators walks hastily among the cells, checking them, and speaking to them encouraging and rewarding words.
"Jeremiah? You ok son? Ough, that's a nasty cut over there…Vermillion, take care of that wound son." The owner said looking at Jeremiah's wound as he sat in the cell. The owner's a mid-aged man that sympathizes his gladiators and tries not to make their lives more miserable than they already are. And the gladiators know that, and like him.
Vermillion sat heavily next to Jeremiah. "Man, I'm dirt…" he whined.
Duke sat opposite them, and with nods showed Jeremiah's wounded arm and pointed at Vermillion.
"Yeah, yeah, I'll stitch him up, don't worry Duke." Vermillion said impatiently.
Jeremiah lifted his head and lay back on the wall, looking up. His eyes are frozen ice blue. He isn't older than twenty, with brown untidy hair tied in a short ponytail on the back of his head. He has a few days old beard, clumsily trimmed with scissors (Russell Crow style). His face is dirty from the sweat and the dust of the arena and the hot sun and strands of hair fall on his face. He grimaced as Vermillion examined his wound. He lifted his other hand and with the back of his palm wiped his forehead. As the dirt, the sweat and the hair moved off his forehead, a vertical left scar was visible.
The man is Squall Leonhart.
~*~*~*~
"You're kidding!!!" Lotar bawled.
"It can't be true! Our master a slave!" Boko twirped.
"Oh, yes it is little ones. Our master was a slave and a gladiator." Angelo assured them.
"How the hell did that happen? How come!?" Lotar said.
" I'll tell you. Be quiet now." TK continued.
~*~*~*~
As he stared at the ceiling, Squall looked back to how he got there in the first place. God, it all looked so far away, yet it had been only five months…
~*~*~*~
"SeeD member Squall Leonhart is requested to report to the Headmaster's office please. I repeat, SeeD member Squall Leonhart is requested to report to the
Headmaster's office please…" the voice on the Garden intercom said.
Squall looked up. He was reading a book in the Library about the newest models of Gunblades. He closed the book, and picked himself up to head for Cid's office.
'Wonder what Cid's up to now?…Nah, none of my business.' He thought as he took the elevator. He solemnly walked into Cid's new office, which was next to the old one. He saluted, and then Cid nodded 'at ease'.
"Thank you for coming right away Squall. I have a job for you. We had word from a client four hours ago. A SeeD is requested to arrest a criminal at the north eastern portion of Kashkabald Desert. They asked especially for you, and I may say they paid us pretty well. Are you ok with that?" Cid told him.
"Yes Sir." Squall replied. Inside him, he'd rather not go, but since they had asked especially for him…
"Leave whenever you're ready. But I remind you, the sooner the better. A Chocobo would be the best means of transport around there." Cid suggested.
Squall saluted and left the office. He went to find Rinoa, to let her know he'd be away. She was quite dissatisfied to hear about that.
"Hmpf! Like you two arranged it! I was planning to take you with me for shopping today!" she said with a frown. Then she lightened up. " Anyway, since they asked for you, it must be very important. Oh well, I can't have it all. Try to come back quickly." Rinoa said.
"Ok, I promise." Squall replied.
"Take this for good luck. I'll keep yours." Rinoa continued giving him her mother's ring.
"Thank you my Sorceress." Squall said teasing her.
"Oh, quiet you bum head!" She continued and blew him a sweet kiss.
~*~*~*~
Squall left a day later. Upon reaching Edea's old house, he didn't have the least trouble getting a friendly Chocobo to carry him over the land to Kashkabld Desert.
Cid had marked on Squall's map the location where the client would wait to give him details. Squall guided the Chocobo through the land, and thought.
'Was it just me, or did Cid look like wrecks the other day? Like something serious was goin' on…I don't get it. And then, there's this…All of a sudden this seems
meaningless. Why meet me in the middle of the desert? I don't get it. I know I'm not supposed to make any questions, but, why the heck me? What's so important it takes someone like me to do the job?' Squall thought. It really was meaningless. A mission in the middle of the desert?
It was dusk when he reached the rendezvous area. No one was around. It was a rocky plateau, with sand colored rocks surrounding it. He stopped the Chocobo and waited there. After a little, the Chocobo started to squirm nervously.
"Hey! What's up fellow?" Squall asked it and patted its neck to calm it down.
The bird kept squirming and complaining. Then it happened.
~*~*~*~
"What happened TK!? Tell us!" Lotar screamed in agony. TK had paused to reinforce his digital voice.
"Come on you stupid tin head! What happened?!" Boko bawled.
"QUIET!" Angelo said.
"Boko, Lotar, I swear in the name of that biological superior creature humans call God that if you interrupt me again in such a manner I'll stop the story here. Apologize to me six times…" TK said.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, TK. Now continue with the story, I beg you…" Lotar said.
~*~*~*~
Squall turned his head quickly only to see a Galbadian soldier falling on him from a rock. The two men fell off the Chocobo, which got scared and dashed off. Squall and the soldier fell on the ground heavily. Squall kicked the soldier's stomach hard and flew him off him. He got up drawing his Gunblade, and prepared for battle as a whole troop of soldiers appeared, led by an Elite.
"Kill him!" he ordered.
Squall cut in half the first soldier to approach him, and sent a Firaga spell on the following one. He was in disadvantage, as his only GF was Carbuncle. He had
forgotten to junction any other ones, and now it was too late.
'Darn it…' he thought as a Fira spell jolted him.
The soldiers surrounded him, and he fought back, blasting openings through them with spells. He fought for quite awhile. But he was slowly getting tired. And his spells were growing weaker, and his blows more inaccurate and weaker. A cut on his back showed he was injured. A soldier hit him on the back of the neck, and he dropped his Gunblade, dizzy.
"Arg.." he groaned.
A second blow followed, and he fell to his knees. He spat blood, and looked up. The Elite was going to shoot his head.
"Say goodbye to the world Leonhart…" he said and was ready to pull the trigger.
"Fuck you." Squall replied.
* BANG! * * BANG! * * BANG! *
Gunfire from a riffle. An Execter.
"Shoot again Irvine!" Zell yelled. Squall's eyes pilled wide open. The gang!
Irvine took the open shoot from the rock. He shoot repeatedly, and six soldiers fell.
"Here comes the cavalry!!!" Selphie shouted as she, Zell and Quistis jumped down in the battlefield to help Squall.
He took advantage of the soldiers' surprisement, and punched the Elite on the face, while picking up his Leonhart with the other, and got up, as Zell sent a soldier flying with a kick.
"Yo Squall!" he said as he got near Squall.
"Great to see you guys!" Squall said cutting a soldier's head in two.
"Raiding party!!!" Irvine laughed from the top of the rock where he was sharp shooting.
"Fire Breath!" Quistis said activating her Blue Magic skill to carbonize three soldiers with one blow.
The five of them fought hard, and they managed to whack the whole troop. Squall caught the Elite alive when the battle was over. He held him down till the rest came up, to interrogate him. They tied him up, and then Squall asked the others what had brought them there.
"It's a long story man, and you ain't gonna like it." Irvine said.
"Let's go back to Edea's House. We have Chocobos…" Selphie said.
"The Ragnarok?" Squall asked.
"It's a long story. And it's not good." Quistis said.
Squall frowned. But he nodded. They mounded the Chocobos, and loaded the Elite on one. They headed for Edea's House.
"Where's Rinoa?" Squall asked after a bit.
Quistis gulped. "We'll explain later." She said.
They reached the old house late in the evening. They made themselves comfortable in the old house, lit fire and sat around it to talk.
"This whole thing started a week ago, when Galbadia closed it's boarders and went in silence." Quistis began.
"I know that. They said something about inner conflict…" Squall said.
"Actually, there's been a military coup. A young General, General Zelenick took over the government and proclaimed himself Emperor." Quistis said.
"WHAT!?" Squall gasped.
"What's worse, he ordered your death. He ordered Cid to send you to a suicide mission in the desert."
"Cid…" Squall gasped breathlessly. "He sided with a dictator?!" he continued.
"He was forced to Squall. Zelenick had kidnapped Matron and Nida. Nida is Cid and Edea's son, though he never told anyone. They'd be dead if he hadn't done so." Selphie explained.
"What else happened?"
"Well, then there was an attack at Garden." Zell said with a choke.
"Why?"
"They demanded we handed over Rinoa…"
"WHAT!?!?!" Squall said springing up.
~*~*~*~
"Oh, my GOD!" Boko said.
~*~*~*~
"Rinoa wasn't taken by force, she went on her own. She said, 'I don't want anyone to get hurt, especially Squall.' Squall, she said she loves you…" Quistis began.
But Squall didn't listen; full of rage, he grabbed the Elite by the collar, and slammed his back on a wall.
"Why is all this going on!?" he demanded.
"…" The Elite didn't answer.
"If I were you I'd talk dude…" Zell commented.
"Yeah, Squall's tantrums scare even the devil." Quistis added emphatically.
"Talk, cause you're dying anyway. Do something useful with your last days perhaps of life." Squall said.
The Elite still wouldn't talk. Squall lost his patience. He raised his punch, and slammed on the Elite's nose, which broke with a terrifying crack.
"TELL ME!" Squall yelled. "Tell me, or I swear, I'm going to skin you alive and then cut you in pieces while you're alive and feed YOU TO THE JACKALS!" Squall roared.
It seems that Squall looked so frightening, that the Elite broke.
"The Emperor wants the Sorceress…" he whispered.
"I get it. He wants to use her power to dominate the world…" Zell said.
"That's all I need." Squall said. He drooped the Elite on the floor. "Zelenick has just found a reason to die. What happened to the Ragnarok?" he continued. He frowned, and he looked away, placing his hand on his waist. The others knew he was already making up a plan.
"It was stolen. By soldiers, but Zell found out what happened to it." Irvine said.
"You won't believe it, but it's been sold to an independent millionaire! He uses it as a limousine!" Zell bawled.
"Alright. From now on, no one knows I'm alive. Better off if the bastard thinks I'm dead meat. Zell, try and get back our Ragnarok, Irvine, Selphie and Quistis, you three stay with me here. Edea's House is now our base. Send message to Cid that I quit from SeeD. I'm going to overthrow Zelenick, and whatever happens, happens. But Garden stays out." Squall said.
"We quit as well." The others added.
"Where you go man, we go too." Zell said.
"Thanks Zell." Squall said with a faint smile.
"So how exactly are we gonna overthrow an Emperor?" Selphie asked.
"I'll come up with something." Squall said. "For now, do as I said, and I'll have a chat with Mr. Elite over here, to find out some things about this Empire Zelenick is
making…"
~*~*~*~
"Man, this story is the best you've told us so far TK!" Lotar said.
"Yeah!" Boko agreed.
"Angelo, where were you?" Lotar asked Angelo.
"With master of course. I couldn't follow Miss Rinoa, so I went to Master Squall. He saw I was very down, as down as he was, and we kind of comforted one another. He said then, that he'd get Rinoa back or he'd die trying. The others thought he wasn't serious, but I knew he was. I decided to stand by him all the way, and I did." The dog replied.
"So, what did Master learn from the Elite?" Lotar asked.
"Well, Emperor Zelenick had drove Galbadia to an almost medieval state. There was little communication with other countries, Garden was closed down and destroyed, it's students who resisted imprisoned or killed and worse of all, to win the population, he brought back from the far past the gladiator fights. Those savage sports satisfied the people's need for spectacles, no matter what they were. And people are easily manipulated. Everyone though things were cool and great, but it wasn't so. It was horrible. Many people, slaves mostly, died in arenas." Angelo said.
"My goodness gracious!" Lotar said. "That's not human! That's…sadistic!"
"You can say that again…" Boko said.
"But, in the end, it was those gladiator fights that sent Zelenick to his end." TK added.
"What do you mean TK?" Boko said.
"You'll see…" TK said kindly.
~*~*~*~
"I have an idea. It' nuts and tough to pull off, but it's something we can do, and it'll make Zelenick looking for a place to hide." Squall said.
"Which is?" Selphie said.
"To get into Galbadia undercover and do spy style work." Squall replied staring at the fire.
"WHAT!?" the other three gasped.
"I know it's crazy, but it might work. We'll hit him where it hurts. The key is Zelenick's past. It looks like he used to be a criminal ass, and after becoming general,
he killed a legion of people to cover up that past, and meet no resistance when he proclaimed himself Emperor."
"You've gotta be kidding! A criminal and now he's the Emperor!?" Irvine bawled.
"If we could uncover that past, and prove it to the population with facts, even God won't be able to save him." Squall continued ignoring Irvine.
"Don't you think that's dangerous?" Selphie asked.
Squall shook his shoulders. "After Ultimecia, I laugh in the face of danger. It should be piece of cake. After all, he did take away MY Sorceress… The first step is getting into Galbadia. From there, it must not be tough to sell me as a slave to a gladiator trainer…"
"A slave!? For what!?" Quistis gasped.
"It seems that our little Emperor loves gladiator fights, and battles. And many gladiator parties are actually resistance factions. So it'd be a good idea to get mixed
up with them, and create a network if we can. If I get in those 'castes' as they're called, I could get some helping hands I suppose. No offence, but I'm a better fighter than you guys, and I have better chances in seeing this through from there. Plus, if the Emperor watches the battles, I'll be in a good position to wreck his nerves, while you guys do dirty work within Deling City and the rest of the Empire and make his condition worse. From what he Elite is saying, Zelenick suffers from a schizophrenia that hasn't come to the surface yet. In common words, he's half nuts. If we can manage to drive him totally nuts in the process, he's fallen for it. He is young and inexperienced from politics anyway. So, he'll fall in the trap. And he'll start making mistakes. And those mistakes will pull him down." Squall said.
"Man…" Irvine started. "This all crap…you know how they call it? A revolution, dude. You're starting up a revolution. You are nuts…but this plan…it's ingenious.
No wonder you're our leader! You are THE mind pal!" Irvine said enthusiastically.
"Superb!" Quistis said.
"Super-Duper-Mega Great!" Selphie said.
"I'm glad you like it. It's simpler than it seems. Now we have to wait for Zell to bring the Ragnarok, and the responses from our 'buddies'…" Squall said and the rest
nodded with sinister smiles.
~*~*~*~
"Unbelievable!" Boko said.
"Master Squall's plan was ingenious!" Lotar added. "Turning the Empire's population against it's own Emperor! Insane yet brilliant!"
"Indeed. It was a master plan, and even today he wonders how it came to him." TK said.
"But, what followed was equally incredible. The way Zell got back Ragnarok…Geez, I can never forget it…" Angelo said, continuing the story.
~*~*~*~
The man who had bought Ragnarok was filthily wealthy. He owned a fort mansion outside Winhill, and needed a pilot for his new spaceship. Zell found that out, and
took advantage of it. He presented himself as graduate from Galbadia Garden, trained on flying spacecrafts. The man was excited.
"You say you know this model!? Great! I've been looking' all around for a fellow just like you! It's a wonderful ship I tell you. I bought from the Galbadian Army. They sold it, cause no one knew how to fly it!" he laughed.
"Well, I was trained with Estar ships as well Sir…" Zell said. He had introduced himself as Lee Amber; -he had always liked that name- and had fooled the guy.
"Great! You know, I think this baby belonged to that crew of SeeDs that whacked off this Ultimecia lady. The Emperor had to do away with them. They were threatening to kill him. Heh, the proof of what a few youths can do when they get too much power…" he said, trying to sound wise, without succeeding.
'Go jump off a bridge dude…' Zell thought. 'So Zelenick has already found an excuse for our disappearance…the guy's good…'
"So, you think you can handle it? Want to give it a ride? I'd like to fly in this baby." The man said as the approached Ragnarok.
Zell was relieved to see it hadn't changed. No flashy paintings, no mess-ups, no nothing. Phew!
"Well, what do you think Lee? Ain't my 'Ruby Starcraft' a beauty!?" the man said.
'Ruby Starcraft!?' Zell thought. 'This guy is either nuts, or a sissy!' "Sure is…impressive." He said.
They boarded it, and Zell sat on the pilot's seat. The man made himself comfortable in a seat. Zell took off in a minute, and flew around slowly.
"Hey! You're good!" the man said excited.
"Mind if I speed her a bit?" Zell asked.
"Sure, go ahead Lee! Show me what this darling can really do!!"
"Whatever you say dude…" Zell said sinisterly, and pushed the speed lever to the maximum. And it was hell…
"AVANDIIIIIIIIIII!" Zell shouted joyously as Ragnarok did a leap ahead and blasted to super speed.
"YYYYAAAAARRRGGG!" The man shouted panicked. "Whataya doin'!?"
"It's nothin'! She's letting it all out for calling' her 'Ruby Starcraft'!" Zell laughed.
He started a series of loops, twists, turns, youies, spins, and all sorts of stunts, laughing from enjoyment.
The man was terrified and screamed every now and then.
"Um…Um…I…I think I'm going to…I'm going to pu…BLEW!" he stuttered and vomited.
"EW!" Zell said disgusted.
"Please…let me outta here…" the man said, looking like shit with puke all over him.
Zell laughed. "Why didn't ya say so dude?" He took him to the exit of the Ragnarok, and kicked him out as the spaceship flew low. "See ya around sucker!" Zell said.
The man flew out with a scream and landed in a pit with mud.
"Darn it! The coc-pit needs cleaning! Squall's gonna kill me!" he said as he retuned to the bridge and saw the mess: vomit all over the place…
~*~*~*~
"Ahahahahah! Mercy Angelo! I'm losing my feathers here! Mercy!" Boko said
laughing out loud, and some of his feathers actually flew off him.
" That's the funniest thing I've ever heard!" Lotar said with difficulty. He was laughing like hell.
"Well, Master Zell always had a unique way of doing business…" TK said with giggle.
~*~*~*~
"Ok, now that we're all here, all we need to wait for is word from our friends…" Squall said but the ring from the laptop interrupted him. Zell turned on the
communication system he had made up from scraps and material from the Ragnarok. Laguna's face appeared on screen
"Hey guys! Good to see you again!" he said with a grin. "Especially you Squall."
"Hi Dad. Did you get my notice?" Squall said slightly going red.
They had sent a notice to Laguna for help, explaining the situation, and their plan. Laguna had said a direct assault was impossible, and their plan was the only way. He couldn't implicate Estar in the matter, but his help was priceless.
"Of course. Great plan. I wouldn't have done better." Laguna said. "Well, we tracked down the info you asked, but the file I'm sending you is all we could find. Zelenick's done a good job erasing his past. And General Caraway is alive." He said.
"That means Rinoa is being blackmailed to co-operate with him." Quistis said. "He's using her father."
"Maybe…but maybe not." Laguna said.
"What do you mean dad?" Squall asked.
"Well, we found out that Zelenick and Rinoa knew each other from childhood. Zelenick's the nephew of Vinzer Deling."
"WHAT!?" The kids gasped.
"Yup. The kiddo's been orphan from little, and Vinzer raised him." Laguna reported.
"…No wonder he became such a meany!" Selphie said.
"Yeah. And what's the important? Rinoa and Zelenick were friends. They spent a lot of time together. To me it seems like…"
"Puppy Love." Quistis said bringing her hands to her mouth. "Squall, I have a felling Zelenick isn't after Rinoa's power only. He wants herself as well!" she said.
"…" Squall didn't reply. He was thinking.
"Quistis' right Squall. If you want to get her outta there, do it fast, before he can do anything to suppress her will. There's no telling what will happen if he manipulates her to do what he tells her. With the powers of three Sorceresses in her, Rinoa's a living Armageddon." Laguna said.
Squall nodded. "We'll start the operation right away." He said and prepared to close the communication.
"And Squall!" Laguna said. "Be careful son. And good luck."
Squall nodded again. They closed the laptop, and turned off everything.
"We're leaving. Pack up, destroy any evidence we were here, and I'll handle the Elite." Squall said. He went to the other room, where the Elite was held, followed by Zell. A thump was heard, and Zell and Squall carried the unconscious Elite out of the room, to load him in the Ragnarok.
"He's still useful." Squall said when Irvine suggested they did away with him.
The Ragnarok approached the Galbadian shores.
"Activating Retro Deviation System." Quistis reported activating the Deviation system of the Ragnarok, so that they could fly undetected and undisturbed.
"We should reach Deling City in an hour or so." Selphie said.
"Alright." Squall said. He was already thinking about what they needed to do first. They had decided to use the remaining of the old Missile Base Selphie had blown up. No one would bother them there. Squall was sitting in a seat, thinking. Angelo was lying at his feet. He lifted his head, and looked up at Squall.
~*~*~*~
"Man, This could be great film." Lotar said.
"That'd be a nice idea, although I doubt it'll ever come true…" Boko replied.
"Sigh…I wish I had been around to help Master Squall." Lotar continued.
"What would you do you furball? Scare the Emperor to death with growls and roars?
You aren't trained to fight!" Angelo guffawed.
~*~*~*~
They made themselves comfortable in the underground old facilities of the Missile Base. They kept Ragnarok hidden with the Retro Deviation System, to have the
communication equipment at hand. Their first moves were to go by teams at Deling City, disguised of course, to find out more about the situation there. They discovered Zelenick had done more than a good job keeping the people under control. They were loyal to him like puppies.
"It's going to be bloody hard man." Zell said sternly on the fourth day.