Torment
'Hey, Squall, did I ever tell you how I felt when Danielle died…? I-I know what you're going through, man, but we have to face the facts.
Rinoa-isn't on our side anymore.'
-Zell Dincht, Pain
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High Command, Administrative Floor, B-Garden
Squall stared unblinkingly at the large ECD screen that displayed the SeeD examination progress thus far. Lionheart glimmered in its sheath, indomitable, indestructible.
The 3F had been renamed to Administrative Floor, following the construction of high Command and the relocation of the Instructor dormitories and offices to the highest floor. In the rearward part of Garden lay the huge conference room, where important meetings were held. Squall's personal room was located to the left of High Command, and Quistis' to the left.
Right now, he found himself remembering the old days, where he had stepped into Headmaster Cid's office, with Zell, Selphie and Nida. Heck, he even played cards with the headmaster once. The old man sure knew how to build a deck.
It was hard to believe, that he was dead. Cid had always been a lighthouse for them in a chaotic world, a bastion of hope, a fortress of security. That he was no longer around, with Edea dead as well, struck an unusual lance of pain into Squall's heart. He remembered, when Rinoa had tried to kill Edea, Cid had fought bravely against the witch, using his deadly martial arts to great effect, but still insufficient to quell the might of Rinoa's magic.
A small hand tapped his shoulder, and Squall jumped in fright. Regaining his composure, he turned around to see a smiling Melanie, his chief tactical officer and blushed slightly. "Oh. Hi."
"Sir, are you okay? You do not seem well; maybe you would like to take a rest?"
"No! I'm fine!" Squall replied harshly, and then regretted it as Melanie drew back in shock. "I'm sorry, Melanie. It's just that I have a lot of thing on my mind right now." Even as he said it, the excuse sounded worse than something Laguna could come up with.
Melanie gave him an encouraging smile, for she knew what the Commander was going through. They had known each other for five years, and while their friendship was not always pleasant, each of them knew the other cared much indeed.
"Hello, Squall! My name is Melanie Mi'hen, and I'm your new Tactical Ops Chief! It's a pleasure to meet you!"
"…you will address me only by the following: Sir, or Commander Leonhart."
From that first interchange of speech, Melanie and Squall had disliked each other. Yet, that frost had been broken when Garden was attacked by the Sorceress, and several of her minions had entered the High Command. Melanie was taken captive by them, and Squall had rescued her.
"I-er-thank you…sir."
"Whatever. Return to your duty."
His reaction was cold, but a certain measure of kindness had changed the way Melanie viewed Squall. From then on, they were as close as the others were with Squall. He had gotten used to her cheerfulness, and Melanie endeavoured constantly to change Squall's perspective of life and duty, something she had tried her utmost and accomplished no small bit towards her goal. Melanie was adept in the staff arts, and unlike normal staff or rod users, she used the rod as an offensive weapon as well as defensive, as she was skilled in martial arts as well.
"Sir, are you sure you don't need anything?"
"I'm fine. Thank you for your concern. How do our SeeD fare in battle?"
Melanie skimmed a report from a nearby monitor, and gave him a cheery thumbs-up. "They have departed for Timber, and should reach their designated drop point within five minutes. SeeD deployment is scheduled to engage at the moment of arrival, "she said, pushing a lock of long strawberry-blonde hair back into its place, from which it had got loosened from. She was considered beautiful by most of Garden's male populace, with her regal-looking facial features and deep azure eyes. However, she chose to remain aloof, and even though Squall was no expert on emotions, far from it, in fact, he was a little surprised at her decisions.
Squall pondered for a moment, weighing the consequences of his decision. "Melanie, you are aware that Doctor Odine requests several specimens?"
Melanie looked puzzled for a moment before clapping her hands once together. "Oh! So, you want them to get some monsters from Timber?"
"Yes. Can you relay the order? It is better that they understand the mission perimeters before they engage the enemies, or else, the SeeD will have a hard time relaying the orders to the cadets."
Melanie grinned and saluted in her particularly cute way. "Okie-dokey, sir! I'll get on to it!"
Wondering what was wrong with the normal salute, Squall smiled and returned to gazing at the screen. It would not be long now, before the SeeD cadets would enter a trial not unlike his own of old.
*********
'…but time flows like a river, and history repeats itself.'
-Sword of Mana, Squaresoft.
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Sleipnir, en route to Timber Confederation
Zanarkand stared at the ECD screen as it displayed a new set of instructions that set Zaon's teeth on edge.
"What!? First they want us to exterminate the threat, now they want us to capture two high-level monsters to take back?"
Anzu looked up placidly. "Hey, at least we aren't the ones tasked with it! The squads at the Main gate are, so please stop raging, Zaon…it's not good for you."
How caring…Anzu was always like that, and will always be…whoever gets her is one lucky guy.
Zaon grimaced, but held his tongue and strode out of the cabin, muttering something about looking at the scenery. Zanarkand did look out, and he saw forest, forest and more forests. Clearly, Timber was near.
At length, without much further grumblings, the SeeD cadets reached Timber, known as the Confederation now as it had taken several hundred acres of countryside under its protective wing.
Of course, a fat lot of help that was now.
Out in the farmsteads, monsters devoured cattle and crops, swarming across the lands and rampaging through docile chocobos farms as well as trampling the Gyshal Greens. It was a horrible sight, even more so as a group of patrolling militia soldiers were eaten alive by the fiends. Their screams were audible through the bullet-proof glass.
Zanarkand smiled grimly as he sheathed Caladbolg. There would be retribution to dish out today.
**********
It was pure chaos in Timber.
Monsters were choking the skies, and the militia fought desperately to keep them at bay. SeeD was a welcome addition, though insufficient to stem the tide. The Timber Maniacs shop was in a shambles, and the Inn was nonexistent. In its place stood a large gun embankment, upon which the monsters broke like waves on a rock as its autocannon sent 30mm bullets smashing through the fiends.
Zanarkand however, saw none of this as he was standing guard beside the Tech Squad, or else known as Squad A. They had established a data central as per Quistis' orders, and were handling reports quickly and accurately. Garden's Intel Division, with its HQ in the higher floor of Trabia Garden was legendary, and these cadets would one day be part of that division. Squad A consisted of two girls and a young man, all of whom seemed eager to do their duty.
Something that Zaon very obviously was not.
"Ah, damn it! Why am I stuck here! I want to be out there, on the field of renown, winning battles!!!" Not for the first time, he was grumbling at a voice far from being inaudible. Anzu sighed and sat down by a roadside curb, trying to concentrate on her assignment.
Zanarkand in turn stood alone by the data central, looking over the banks of equipment to get a view of the current situation. According to fast reports flying in, the monsters at the Main Gate were being held back, although only by the sheer will of the defending cadets. The extermination teams along with their Instructors were already searching for the monster points, and from what Zanarkand read, Squad F was down, surrounded by monsters and pinned in the middle of a forest, with their vehicle, a hovercraft, wrecked. Several heartbeats later, the last message from Squad F was that of its Instructor saying something.
"Goodbye, SeeD."
Then, silence.
Zanarkand could not help but shiver as he realized that four lives were now gone, and he had even seen the Instructor yesterday, while in the cafeteria. It was eerie, and that an Instructor would lose to the monsters, perhaps more of sheer number rather than skill, but nonetheless still lose, was not an encouraging thing for him.
Apparently, the data officers felt the same way too, as one of them looked down for a moment, and wiped several tears from her eyes. She probably was a close friend of the Instructor, or of a person within the squad, perhaps even having a relationship with him. Zanarkand said nothing, as was his wont, but knew this to be part of a test, as all things in life were.
More reports came in, some joyous, announcing the victories in the front, some tinged with sorrow as they stated the losses suffered by their squad, more often in terms of human life than of machines.
Suddenly, a priority message to the data central from Sleipnir alerted him. Garden had detected a large group of monsters approaching from the railway line that passed by the Square. Timber locks were engaged, but in an unheard of combination, the flying monsters were actually carrying the land monsters over the locks and into the city.
From behind them, Zanarkand heard several roars and many more screams. He turned around slowly, unsheathing Caladbolg and Junctioning GFs within his mind. Magic swirled around his hands as he prepared to unleash a storm of Blizzagas at the encroaching monsters. Zaon was on his feet, grinning wildly as he rested Masamune on its tip by his feet, and grasped the handle with both hands while a golden aura encased him within its powerful grasp, unlocking his hidden potential. Anzu twirled her twin pistols and planted her feet firmly, once behind the other to prevent recoil, and aimed with the legendary accuracy that could only have been honed by Irvine, master sharpshooter.
It looked like battle was imminent.
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A/N: Well, so I do this yet again, but with some twists, no?
Thanks very much to Etherealist and Kitian for reviewing, along with others! I'll try my utmost not to disappoint you again!.