Final Fantasy : Historical Bonds
Chapter 3 - Familiar Journey
By: Fat Zombie
So you've be thinkin' about it,
You think that you've got the answer now,
And you've been praying about it,
You've asked him to remove your fear right now.
So you analyse it,
You think you have control,
Then you realise,
It's time that you let go.
Taken from Goldfinger - Anxiety
The Ragnarok sped across the ocean, about forty feet above the surface of the water. As it rocketed towards it's destination, it escaped time. What was once night in Balamb was slowly turning to day as the group cruised closer to Dollet. The ship was moving so fast that as Zell looked out of the window, the ripples on the surface of the water were merely frothy white blurs.
"Selphie, don't you think we're flying a little low" said Zell, surveying the scenery below.
The Ragnarok dropped ten feet every few minutes, only to rise back up to a relatively safe distance from the water.
"We can get more speed down here" replied Selphie.
"Terrorists are unpredictable creatures Zell" Nida explained. He seemed to be enjoying the flight. "They could decide the police were wasting their time at any moment".
"And then they could massacre all those poor people" Quistis chipped in, always the humanitarian.
"While we were just flying at a leisurely pace" finished Selphie.
"If time is of the essence, I believe there is one way to make this thing go faster" Nida informed the rest of the team.
"How?" asked Selphie excitedly.
"I'd rather not say, because we'd probably all die" Nida answered. The rest of the SeeD's stared at Nida, wondering why he'd brought it up in the first place.
"So what's the plan?" Seifer suddenly asked from a corner of the room.
Everyone turned around and faced Squall, except for Selphie, who had the responsibility of keeping the Ragnarok from crashing.
"Okay" Squall started. "The bridge to the antenna is out and we've also learned that they've secured all the ground floor entrances. So instead, we're gonna repel down from the cargo bay to the top of the antenna".
"Hang on a minute" Selphie interrupted, looking back to the group briefly. "You're saying I'm gonna have to keep this thing steady over that antenna while you guys hop out?"
"That's right" Squall answered.
"On top of a cliff, with wind blowing all around, keeping a bunch of repel lines over a small platform on top of the antenna?" Selphie asked. She could see that Squall was gradually getting her point, just from his facial expression. "Chances are I'll kill you all".
"It's not impossible" stated Nida. The group turned to him. He was running through some diagnostics on a control panel. "If I make a few changes to the power regulation, drop the flow a bit, I can do it" Zell looked at him quizzically. Given the fact that they had spent the time leading up to this mission in a bar, he didn't fancy Nida's chances at making the correct calculations. "I'm up to it" Nida said to Zell. He looked back to the rest of the group. "Just let me take the controls".
Nida walked over and sat in the seat next to Selphie. Selphie looked to Squall who nodded, and she pressed several buttons on the panel in front of her to move the controls over to the co-pilots position in which Nida was sitting.
Squall addressed the group once more, as Selphie got up from the pilots seat. "We repel down onto the antenna, then enter through the elevator. I'm hoping it's still operational, but if not then we'll have to split into groups of three. One group will keep lines secure at the top of the elevator shaft. The other three will use the lines to drop down to the ground floor, where they'll try and fix the elevator".
"What if it can't be fixed?" asked Irvine.
"Then they'll be a tough decision to make" answered Squall. "Either the first group carries on with the mission alone, or we abort. If we pick the first option, then it's gonna present a lot of danger. For this reason, I will be in the first group".
"Who else?" asked Selphie.
"I'll go" Seifer said quickly. "I'm not afraid of a fight". Squall frowned suspiciously, but decided not to say anything. To disagree would only cause problems that he didn't need at this point in the mission.
"Me too" Quistis volunteered.
"Very well" said Squall. "Zell, Selphie and Irvine, you're in charge of those repel lines if needed. Make sure they're still there if we need to get out in a hurry".
"Sure thing boss" Irvine answered.
"Once we get to the bottom of the tower, the plan will stay the same whether we can all get down or if only three of us can" Squall said. "We enter the basement through the staircase located at south side of the tower. Then we check each of the rooms until we find the hostages, eliminate any resistance in a non-lethal manner if possible, and get the civilians out".
"Seems easy enough" Seifer observed.
"Well don't let your guard down for one minute" warned Squall. "It may not be what it seems".
In front of the ship, a small dot appeared on the horizon. Inside a minute it had become a large dot, and another minute later the former dot was fully recognisable as the coast of Dollet. It looked different compared to the time Squall and fragments of the current group had been there last. Memories of the SeeD field exam came flooding back to the members of the team who had taken part on that day. That's when 'it' all began. When three of the group first fought together. It was all in sharp contrast with the coastline's appearance now though. What was once a war-zone seemed quiet and peaceful. For all the differences, their target destination remained the same. The Dollet communications tower.
Author's Note: - Well I said this chapter would either be very short or very long, and it turned out to be the first of the two. I thought this would be a good place to end the chapter, because I can use this one to show the mindset of all the team and then get straight into the action in the next chapter. You know what's coming in the next now, 'cause I just told you. It'll of course be the mission, where there will be a shocking event. At least it might shock some people!
C ya...