Chapter 2: Terga Dare
True to his word, the headmaster returned later that afternoon aboard one of the rotating ferries transporting various teams of students and staff between the garden and Balamb with the news from abroad.
As expected, Galbadia had withdrawn its forces from all points around the world, and was trying desperately to keep from descending into chaotic civil war. The Lunatic Pandora had been removed from Esthar airspace and returned to Galbadia. However, attempting to ensure against a second Lunar Cry, the Esthar military had tried to seize the Lunatic Pandora using their newly re-discovered Ragnarok. The assault had failed, and Ragnarok had been heavily damaged in the withdrawal. Word was it was being repaired and re-equipped at the Lunar Launch Facilities in Esthar. No one knew where the Galbadians were hiding the mountain-sized Lunatic Pandora, but Esthar had been making noises about hiring a SeeD assault force to attempt a second seizure of the ancient flying artifact.
Meanwhile, in the absence of the jamming that had caused a worldwide radio transmission blackout for the past 17 years, old broadcast equipment was being dusted off and put into use around the world. Of greatest interest—especially to Rinoa—was a powerful station broadcasting from within the Galbadian occupied zone, Timber. The station was being run by a conglomeration of resistance groups and broadcast their 'Radio Free Timber' and 'Independent Timber Television' signal almost around the clock. One broadcast had continued right through a Galbadian bombing raid on the station, the commentators never leaving their posts as powerful bomb blasts had shaken the studio. Dozens of revolutionary groups around Galbadia were imitating the actions of RFT/ITT and new anti-government stations were popping up faster than the Galbadian military and police could shut them down.
A group of students was hard at work repairing the garden's own radio antennae so that the garden would be able to receive world news firsthand.
In light of the new developments, Galbadia had begun making overtures towards a peace settlement between itself, Esthar, and Balamb Garden. No concrete evidence that Galbadia was willing to parlay yet existed, but it was evident that the Galbadian's hard-line policies were beginning to crack from internal sociopolitical pressures.
All of this, Squall had listened to impassively, his face set in a stony mask devoid of any expression.
Later, as Squall stood on the second floor observation deck, watching heavy, purple-bellied storm clouds blow in from the south on an oppressively humid wind, Rinoa appeared beside him.
"So…" She sighed. "Seifer's here, in Balamb."
"Yes."
"How do you feel about that?" I should know better than to ask Squall that question by now. Rhinoa turned to look out at the gathering storm.
The dark underside of a cloud flickered with lightning. A few moments later the sound of far-off thunder rolled over the darkening water. "It's not… not really Seifer that bothers me." Squall inhaled a breath of brine-tinged air.
"No?"
"I do hate him, yes. After what he's done, I can't…" Squall paused. "…I can't find it in myself to forgive him…"
"But that's just what the Headmaster told—no…" Rinoa corrected herself. "…ordered everyone to do."
"Yes."
"And that's what's bothering you." Rinoa looked down to her side.
"If it were just Seifer, I could deal with that. I know how I feel, and I know what to do…" Squall's jaw tightened.
"…but when you're ordered to just move on…forget about everything that's happened and act…" Rinoa trailed off.
"…like a SeeD." Squall finished. He slammed a palm down on the railing. "Dammit! I know the headmaster said that's what everyone had to do for Edea as well, but that's different. She was possessed, she had no choice—no control over her actions."
Another, louder, rumble. "Are you so sure that Seifer did?" Rinoa asked quietly, her head lowered.
Squall turned toward her. He saw another flash of blue lightning reflect off of Rinoa's long, dark hair. A loud crash of thunder caused her to start slightly. Squall remembered the way he had acted the night before, the way he had felt in the training center. No… No I'm not sure.
Rinoa looked up. "We should go in, a storm is coming."
As they walked down the second floor hallway together, the first fat, warm drops of rain from the approaching storm spattered against the high-set windows. Classes were over for the day, and the hallway was dimmed for the night. Afternoon had long since given way to evening, but the hall was still uncharacteristically devoid of students, everyone apparently having gone to train, study, or relax in the respective sections of the garden in the few hours remaining before curfew. A flash from outside lended bright illumination to the hallway, accompanied by a muffled peal of thunder.
"Squall?"
"Yes?" Squall noted that the storm had started in earnest now, sheets of rain pelting against the glass.
"I want to go back to Timber." Rinoa said.
Squall was silent for a moment. "Alright." He said, at length.
"I was wondering if you…" Rinoa shuffled her feet a bit. "…I wanted…"
"I'll ask the headmaster for permission for a leave tomorrow morning." Squall knew what she had wanted to say.
Rinoa hugged him from the side. "Thank you." Suddenly, a thought occurred to her, and she let go. "What if he says no?"
Squall stopped and turned to Rinoa. "I'm coming with you to Timber."
Rinoa made as if to hug Squall again, then another thought occurred to her. As she pulled him close, she turned her face up to his. They stood there, noses nearly touching on a knife-edged moment. Embarrassed, Squall pulled away—or at least he would have, had Rinoa not realized what he was planning and raised herself up on tiptoes, pressing her lips to his. Before he knew was consciously aware of what he was doing, Squall's right arm had slid under Rinoa's, his hand lost in a cascade of dark brown hair, his left arm wrapped around her back, left hand resting on her waist. Eyes closed they kissed for the merest fraction of eternity before Squall, remembering himself, gently pulled away. He tried his hardest to banish the horrible horrible expression of giddy happiness he knew must be manifesting itself on his features, but he needn't have bothered. Embarrassed, Rinoa was staring down at the floor.
"Uh…" Squall was at a loss for a moment. "That wasn't the reason why I said that." Oh yeah, real smooth, Romeo Squall could've smacked himself. You never say enough when you're supposed to be talking, and then you talk too much when you should just shut up.
Rinoa's head came up, but instead of wearing an expression of annoyance, to Squall's relief, she merely laughed at him—as if she had known all along what he would say. "I know THAT!" She gave him a shove.
Squall raised his hands in surrender and—wisely—kept his mouth shut.
A sparkle appeared in Rinoa's eye as she playfully batted at his head. "What kind of girl do you think I am?" She continued her mock-assault as Squall, arms protecting his head, backed into the elevator. Stepping back, Rinoa regarded him with an impish smile. "What, are you complaining?"
Squall, mute, shook his head and cowered before the happy wrath of the sorceress, punching the button for the first floor.
The elevator chimed, and the doors slid open.
"Holy cow!" Zell exclaimed. "Was Squall SMILING just now?!"
Selphie, Quistis, and Irvine, clustered around the elevator doors, turned to face the emerging SeeD and sorceress.
"No." Squall said.
Everyone laughed.
Irvine took Squall aside. "Heh heh, we told everybody the top floor was closed for fumigation." He said under his breath. "So you two could get some 'quality time' together."
Squall placed a hand on his face. This guy has a one-track mind. "Thanks."
"Hey, no problem, partner." Irvine grinned and blew imaginary smoke from an imaginary six-gun.
Squall rolled his eyes, and they rejoined the rest of the group. Zell was explaining—to Rinoa—his ideas regarding the action the garden should take with respect to Galbadia quite animatedly.
"Yeah, see. We drop a couple of SeeD teams in Galbadia, stir up trouble right? Then when the Galbadian army is busy running around the countryside trying to put down all these revolutions, we sail the garden right in to Deling city and POW!" Zell jabbed the air. "Now we control the capital. Then we can tell the Galbadians just where to shove it! We can dictate terms of the peace, you know?"
"Ah, you just wanna cause some havoc." Selphie said.
Zell grinned and smacked his fist into his palm. "That's right, baby! I wanna get some ACTION!"
"You're going to get your wish." Squall said evenly.
"Huh?" Zell turned toward Squall, as did the rest of the group.
"We're going to Timber." Squall paused. "Or at least Zell, Selphie, Rinoa, and I are."
"Alright!" Zell exclaimed.
"Did you hear this from the headmaster, Squall?" Quistis asked.
"No." Squall paused as everyone turned again to stare. "Don't forget, we're still under contract to the Forest Owls." He clarified.
"Oh yeah! I almost forgot about that." Selphie said. "What did our contract say again? …until Timber gains its independence, or something like that.
"Things are heating up over there, and we have a job to do." Squall continued. "I'm going to go talk to the headmaster about it right now." He stopped and looked at Rinoa, who smiled back at him. "Get your gear together and be ready to leave tomorrow morning." He finished.
"Roger that!" Zell gave an excited salute and dashed off toward the dormitory.
"Ok, Squall." Selphie said. "Come on, Irvine, you can help me pack."
"Darlin', I can hardly wait." Irvine drawled.
"Come in."
At this, Squall entered the headmaster's office by way of the wooden double-doors that opened from the hallway.
"Ah, Squall, good to see you." The headmaster rose from behind a paper-covered desk that had been brought up from storage. "What can I do for you?"
Squall fought back a sigh. He had hoped the headmaster would treat him in a more formal manner—it would have made this a lot easier. "Sir, I am requesting permission to leave for Timber tomorrow morning."
The headmaster looked a bit confused. "Uh… Timber? Tomorrow?" He thought for a moment, then frowned. "Hm… I'm sorry, Squall, but now isn't the best time for a vacation. Perhaps in a couple of weeks."
Well, he's not going to make this easy for me. "Sir, this is not a request for a personal leave. I must remind you that SeeD is still under contract to the Forest Owls to provide assistance in any way possible to the re-establishment of Timber's independence."
Cid smacked a hand to his forehead. "Oh! Of course! I'm sorry, Squall, I had totally forgotten about that." The headmaster frowned. "Hm… but that still doesn't change our situation here…" He regarded Squall. "This was Rinoa's idea, wasn't it?"
Squall sighed inwardly at this. Sir, I really don't want to go head-to head over this… "Yes, Sir, regardless of that fact—"
"—SeeD must honor its contracts. Of course, Squall, I don't need to be reminded of that. I did found this institution after all." Cid displayed just the slightest bit of pique. "Very well." He sighed. "Let's see, it was you, Selphie, and Zell who were assigned that mission, right?"
"Yes, Sir." Squall decided to push his luck just a bit. "Sir, Irvine Kinneas may request to assist with the mission…"
"Squall, shall I just send the entire Garden?" The headmaster said sarcastically.
"No, Sir, but Mr. Kinneas would be a valuable addition to the team—and perhaps allow us to complete the mission and return sooner." Squall waited.
Breaking the tension, the headmaster laughed. "Maybe you should be a politician, Mr. Leonhart." He thought for a moment. "Well, Mr. Kinneas isn't officially a member of this garden, so if he wanted to go, I suppose I'd have no choice but to allow it." Cid shrugged.
"Thank you Sir. We will complete the mission with all possible speed." Squall said.
"I expect nothing less." Cid said. "Well then, Mr. Leonhart, permission granted. Speak with the master of stores before you leave, would you? There's some new equipment we're fitting out our SeeD teams with nowadays."
"Sir." Squall saluted. Well, that wasn't so bad.
"Godspeed, Squall. Dismissed."
As the elevator doors opened to the first floor, Quistis greeted Squall with a nod of her head. "So Cid gave the go-ahead?"
Squall nodded. Outside, a long muffled peal of thunder sounded across the sky, vibrating loose objects inside the garden in sympathetic harmony. Massive though it was, the garden still rocked ever so slightly in the swell kicked up by the storm.
"It's going to be lonely here, with all you guys gone off on assignment." Quistis sighed.
"So what did the review board have to say?" Squall said, changing the subject.
Quistis shuffled her feet. "Well, they returned my instructor's license."
"That's great." Squall said, even though he could tell by Quistis's expression that it wasn't.
"Yeah, I suppose. It's just that…" She trailed off.
Squall was silent. Another flash of lightning strobed from the small windows set high in the garden's main hall.
Remembering that it was Squall she was talking to, Quistis continued. "It's just—I know they wouldn't have returned my license if the garden weren't so short-handed right now. And so…" She trailed off again.
This time Squall took the initiative. "Did you really believe them?"
"Excuse me?"
"Did you really believe what they said about you when they took your license away." Squall clarified.
Quistis looked down. "I… I don't know." She looked up at Squall. "Did you?"
Squall shrugged. "What I think isn't important." Hm… maybe that wasn't the best response…
"I guess not… I mean, I guess I didn't think they were right." Quistis said at length.
"Then this is your chance to prove it." Squall said and turned toward he dormitory.
He had only gone a few steps when Quistis called. "Squall." He turned. "Be careful." Quistis said.
Squall nodded, and returned to his room.
A tiny point of electric-blue light floated in the darkness. Below it, a long, sharp-nailed finger appeared. The finger gave way to a hand. An arm emerged from the nothingness, wrapped in a sleeve decorated with strange symbols and markings. Suddenly the rest of the sorceress Edea appeared along with the parade float, ornamented dancers, crowd, and all of Deling City. Rinoa wanted to scream, to throw her arms out, to do anything to warn Squall of what was happening, but she could only watch in horror as from the tiny sparkling star emerged a dozen pointy, twisted glacial spikes. Again, the sorceress pointed at Rinoa, Squall and Irvine, again, Rinoa felt the frozen breath of the sorceress's missiles brush by her as she flinched away from the attack. Rinoa tried desperately to scream, to cover her eyes, to do anything but turn and face her nightmare again. Inexorably, like the turning of the tides, she felt her eyes drawn to the sight of— -
—Rinoa gasped as a cold wet nose poked the side of her neck. A worried pair of canine eyes looked down at her. Rinoa wrapped her arms around Angelo's neck and hugged the startled dog. "Oh, thank you, Angelo, you're always getting me out of trouble." Angelo took this as a good sign and gave Rinoa's face a relieved lick. "Aack! Ok! Ok! Sorry for waking you up." Rinoa pushed Angelo's face away to avoid any further standard comforting doggie ministrations. She swung her feet over the side of the bed and sat up.
Angelo whined softly.
Turning, Rinoa patted his head. "No, I'm ok now, boy. Go back to sleep." She stood up and walked over to the small adjoining bathroom. "Ick!" She said, catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror over the small sink. Rinoa busied herself washing her face and trying to brush some of the tangles out of her sleep-tousled hair all the while keeping up a quiet monologue with Angelo. It didn't help, but then again, Rinoa hadn't expected it to work any better tonight than it had any other night. Every time she closed her eyes to splash water on her face, she was afraid to open them again though the images that danced across the insides of her eyelids were terribly frightening as well. Better to suffer through the convolutions of the imagination than to risk an encounter with a reality of the same nature—no matter how small the chance…
Angelo's eyes followed Rinoa as she emerged from the bathroom, now fully awake. She addressed the dog. "I know it's silly, but I can't help it." She sighed.
Angelo's ears perked up, he turned his head toward the door. Rinoa put a hand to her mouth, then, as quickly and as she could, she dimmed the room's lights and slipped into bed. Rinoa feigned sleep, but kept one eye open just enough to watch the door. Is it him out there? Will he come in again? Rinoa waited barely daring to breathe. "Oh please come in, Squall." She whispered.
After a few moments of silence Angelo lowered his head and Rinoa's hopes faded. After a few more moments, she got up again. She shivered at the darkness and turned the lights back up, banishing the things that lurk in the corner of your eyes in the dimness. Head on paws, Angelo watched as Rinoa paced up to the door, then back the length of the room. He's ok. He's asleep in his room. I don't need to go look, I couldn't get in anyway—I can't open the lock. She paused, her hand at the door controls. "He'd just be annoyed." She sat down, back against the door. "He's ok." Angelo closed his eyes, he wasn't the one who needed convincing.
On the other side of the room's door, for the seventh time, Squall forced himself not to rise and key the lock open. I'm sure she's fine. I can't keep going into her room in the middle of the night... …but neither could he return to his own room. Sick with indecision, Squall slowly nodded off and a troubled slumber replaced his troubled wakefulness. Soon after, a few inches of metal and air away, Rinoa followed suit.
A few hours later, Squall awoke at the first stirrings of the early-risers among those lodged in the garden's dormitories. Feeling foolish, he scuttled back to his own room before he was discovered.
Not too much later that morning, Squall stood on the gunnery deck of one of the marine landing craft that Balamb Garden was using as ferries to Balamb City. The brilliant white ocean sunrise behind him flung the vessel's shadow far ahead across the sparkling chop. All traces of last night's storm had been whisked away by the brisk north wind that winnowed its way past the layers of fabric everyone standing on deck wore. Walking up behind Squall, Rinoa wrapped her arms happily around him.
"Brrr! It's cold up here!" She cried over the thrumming of the engine.
"We could go below." Squall replied.
"No, that's ok. I like this." Rinoa squeezed Squall and ducked, using him as a windbreak.
Out of the corner of his eye, Squall watched as Irvine attempted the same trick on Selphie, and received a semi-playful smack for his troubles. Irvine's mouth moved as he raised his arms in self-defense, but the wind whipping over the deck carried the sound of his voice away from Squall.
Squall felt the pressure of Rinoa's arms lessen as she released him. He turned to find her engaged in conversation with a weary-looking Zell. "Yeah! It took me most of the night to finish, but I figured I'd better get it done while I had access to the garden's metalworking equipment." Zell was shouting to be heard over the rushing wind and noisy engine. It took Squall a moment before he realized Zell was talking about his ring—the ring Zell had acquired off of Squall at Rinoa's behest during the Galbadian attack on Balamb Garden.
Zell proffered a hand. Sure enough, in it was an identical replica of Squall's ring. "Oops! Looks like I got a little grease on it. Just a sec." Holding the ring between his thumb and forefinger, he attempted to polish it on his pant leg. Unfortunately, the combination of fingers numb from the cold, lack of sleep, and lubricant on the ring caused Zell to lose his grip on the metal circlet. It bounced off the metal decking and began rolling toward the side of the ship.
"AW CRAP!!" Zell shouted, and dove for the ring. Rather than retrieving it, Zell instead managed to provide the ring additional impetus toward the edge of the deck with his uncoordinated grab. "Shit!!" The curse did nothing to prevent the inevitable, and over the side the ring went.
From his prone position, Zell pounded a fist into the decking. "DAMMIT!!" He paused, mid-tantrum, awestruck, as the ring floated back up in front of his face. "What the…?"
Beside Squall, Rinoa stood with her left arm outstretched. She made a slight beckoning motion, and the ring floated over the amazed Zell and into her hand. A strange, far-away look was in her eyes. The moment her hand closed around the ring, the look disappeared.
"Woa! Cool! Damn! I wanna be a sorceress!" Zell exclaimed, getting to his feet.
Irvine, who had wandered over, patted Zell on the head. "And when you grow up, I'm sure you'll make a mighty fine one." He dodged an armored backhand swipe, chuckling.
"Oh, thank you Zell." Rinoa said, managing to distract the SeeD from any further violence. "It's perfect!" Tucking the ring away in a pocket she turned to Squall. "I'll hold on to it until we get somewhere where it's not likely to get lost."
Squall nodded once.
The group landed at Balamb City without further incident and—to Squall's relief—without sighting Seifer or his posse. After a short walk—punctuated by an abbreviated stop at Zell's foster parents' home the group boarded a nearly empty train headed for Timber. News of the growing conflict in Timber was apparently discouraging all but the hardiest travelers.
Once aboard the train, the four SeeDs and one sorceress set about making themselves comfortable in the private cabin they had managed to reserve. Irvine, stretching languorously lay down across one of the cabin's couches and attempted to rest his head in Selphie's lap. She promptly shoved Irvine's head—hat and all—onto the floor, the rest of the SeeD's lanky body followed soon thereafter with a loud thump.
Zell found this uproariously funny, which, of course, Irvine took exception to, and Squall began to wish he hadn't made the special request for Irvine's assistance from the headmaster.
"So, Rinoa, what's the plan once we get to Timber?" Selphie asked.
At this, Rinoa looked slightly embarrassed. "Um… well, I'm not exactly sure yet."
"Uh boy, does this sound familiar to anyone else?" Zell piped up.
Squall shot him an irritated look. "Information on Timber has been sketchy at best. We can't expect to come up with a plan without knowing what's going on, first."
"Woa! Sorry man, just asking." Zell raised his hands.
"I guess we'll just have to see what's going on once we get there, then we'll decide on what we need to do." Rinoa shrugged "It's worked before."
Some time later, the group was suddenly thrown from their seats as a violent shudder passed through the passenger car. From the floor, Squall heard the grinding scream of steel on steel as the train's emergency brakes locked its wheels in an attempt to slow the giant vehicle.
"What's going on?!" Selphie shouted over the racket.
"I think this is our stop darlin'." Irvine struggled to his feet.
"Everybody to the rear of the train." Squall instructed, helping Rinoa to her feet as the floor rocked under them.
The car was still shaking under the deceleration when Zell reached the door of the rear car. It slid open obligingly and the SeeD immediately stuck his head out the opening. Judging the train's speed, he immediately leapt from the moving car, landing in a sprint to keep from falling head over heels. Irvine—who was next, chose instead to wait the seventeen seconds for the train to grind to a complete halt before hopping onto the sharp gravel of the railroad bed. He turned to assist Selphie and then Rinoa as they exited the train. Squall landed on the ground at the same time as Zell reached the group, huffing and puffing from his run.
"Well, looks like the end of the line." Irvine observed, arms akimbo.
Ahead of the group, the arrow-straight line of the railroad track was abruptly punctuated by a deep, still-smoking bomb crater. Beyond that, on the horizon, the outline of the rooftops of Timber City could be seen. Behind them, thick black clouds of smoke rose into the calm noon air, billowing from a dozen different sources from within the town.
A conductor poked his head out the door. "No more trains outta Timber, you folks sure you wanna stick around?" But the four SeeDs and one sorceress were already out of earshot and jogging toward the burning town.
As the group made their way past the outskirts of Timber, they passed dozens of burnt-out shells of devastated homes and stores.
Zell shook his head. "Man, look at this place. What a mess!"
Rinoa looked about the deserted street worriedly. "Where is everyone?"
The answer came as the group approached a line of rubble blocking the road into the city center. "Halt! Who goes there."
Quite a prosaic line, Squall reflected, stepping forward, inconspicuously trying to place himself between Rinoa and the parts of the barrier most likely to contain snipers. "We are SeeDs of the Timber Squad."
"Mercenaries! Who hired you?!" Squall heard the edge of edge of fear creeping into the man's voice. He tried to cast about for Irvine, but the Galbadian sharpshooter was way ahead of him, as he slowly tilted his chin toward the location of the speaker, bringing his weapon up ever so slowly. Discreetly, Squall signaled him to hold fire for the time being.
"Rinoa Heartilly, of the Forrest Owls." Rinoa piped up as she tried to shove her way past Squall.
"Yeah right! Prove it!"
"I'm right here!" Rinoa shouted as she finally succeeded.
"I see right though that disguise! Prepare to die, Galbadian sc—"
"Irvine!" Squall shouted, but Irvine, again, was one step ahead.
The Exeter barked once.
"NO!!" Rinoa shouted.
Before she could finish even the one syllable word, Squall, Zell, and Selphie were over the top of the barricade and upon their startled victim. His weapon—knocked clear by Irvine's shot—hit the ground at the same time as Zell locked both the man's arms behind him. Squall and Selphie became superfluous at that point.
"You killed him!" Rinoa cried as she surmounted the makeshift barricade. She fell silent as she beheld the sight on the other side.
"No mam." Irvine said, tipping his hat with the barrel of the Exeter. "Just scared him a little, that's all." He grinned.
"Holy shit! You son of a bitch! You could've killed me!!" The sentry found his voice.
"That's right. I could've." Irvine drawled.
Squall stepped up to the restrained man. "We are SeeDs from Balamb Garden. We're here to help."
"I-I don't believe you!"
"Would it help to convince you if I had him break your arms?" Squall indicated Zell with a nod. Zell grinned and gave an experimental tug.
"Owowowow! Ok! Ok! Alright! I believe you! What do you want?!" The sentry cried. Rinoa looked aghast.
"Take us to your leader." Squall said.
Selphie giggled and made little antennae out of her fingers, wiggling them above her head.
Squall rolled his eyes as Zell released the sentry. Rubbing his wrists where Zell had held him, the man started off toward the center of town. As the group proceeded toward Timber's railroad Depot, they drew stares from the town's ragged-looking defenders, most of whom were lounging in doorways smoking, or idly playing with their assortment of outmoded weaponry. Squall's eyes narrowed in tacit disapproval but he kept his comments to himself.
Zell wasn't quite so restrained. "These are the mighty Timber revolutionaries?" He snorted.
Unfortunately, one of the said resistance members heard him. Shifting himself from the bullet-pocked wall against which he had been resting, the man stepped directly into Zell's path, he placed a palm squarely on Zell's chest. "Yeah, we are." He gave Zell a shove backwards. "You got a problem with that, little boy?"
For a moment it looked as if Zell would lose his balance, but instead, the SeeD sprang forward, drawing an armor-clad fist back, preparing to strike "Yeah, I do."
Bedraggled, the resistance fighter might have been, but slow, he was not. He snapped a short rifle up from his side with surprising speed, leveling the weapon at Zell.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you…" Came a slow, even drawl, as the muzzle of Irvine's Exeter brushed the revolutionary's ear.
"SeeDs! Stand down!" Squall growled.
Reluctantly, Zell lowered his fists and backed away from the man as Irvine holstered his gun.
Turning to the armed man, Squall frowned. "Excuse us." He said, and motioned for their reluctant guide to continue.
The sentry looked disappointed. No doubt he wouldn't have minded seeing the SeeDs forced into a fight here, where they were surrounded and outnumbered. Instead, the other freedom fighters resumed whatever they had been doing before the confrontation.
Zell shoved past the man as the group continued on.
Finally, the group arrived in front of the seedy little tavern Squall remembered from his last visit to Timber. "She's in there." The sentry motioned with his head. "But don't even think about trying anything funny."
"This is your headquarters?" Selphie asked.
"Yeah," answered one of the guards standing in front of the entrance. "What did you expect? A big flashy building with dozens of communications dishes sticking out of it and 'TIMBER RESISTANCE HQ' painted on the roof?"
Squall nodded. Makes sense. This place is pretty unobtrusive, no point in painting a bulls-eye for Galbadian air raiders.
Their guide turned to the guard. "These people say they're SeeDs from Balamb Garden. Say they're working for the 'Forrest Owls', but I don't trust 'em. They tried to shoot me." He whined.
The second guard laughed. "I can't think of a person here who wouldn't want to do that, Nicholas." He eyed the group. "By the looks of 'em, I'd say if they wanted to punch your ticket, we'd have one less trigger-happy sentry on our hands by now."
Nicholas hrrumphed at that. "I was just doing my job." He turned and stalked off.
The other guard turned to the group. "Haven't heard anything about the Forrest Owls for a while."
Rinoa stepped forward. "I'm their leader."
The guard eyed her. Then he nodded. "Yup, I think you look pretty similar to a wanted poster I saw a few months back." He grinned. "Hell of a system, eh? Well, I guess we can let you in, but you're going to have to leave your weapons with us."
Squall nodded, cutting off any complaints from the other SeeDs.
Surprisingly, the guards allowed them in without a thorough search, taking for granted that they had no hidden armaments of any kind. Squall frowned at that, then he blinked as his eyes adjusted to the dim interior of the bar-turned-revolutionary base. As they entered he heard a startled exclamation from someone inside. As his eyes adjusted, he saw the leader of the Forrest Foxes—an elderly woman named Ferrin —catch Rinoa up in a massive hug.
"Oh, Rinoa, it's so good to see you." Ferrin said happily. "After you left Timber we heard you had been captured by those damned Galbadians. Everyone here feared the worst."
"We're all ok, Ferrin. What's been happening here?" Rinoa returned the hug.
"Straight to business, I see you haven't changed any." Ferrin smiled.
Squall raised an eyebrow.
"Well, we finally did it, dearie. Timber is finally free." Ferrin waved an arm meant to encompass the entire town outside the little tavern. "Four days ago all the resistance groups in Timber rose up in one concerted effort and kicked those Galbadians right out of town." She smiled. "We caught them totally off-guard. During the last few months all the resistance groups went dormant so the Galbadians would think they had finally subdued us. Then, when this whole Ultimecia thing started, they started pulling troops out of the Timber garrison. Once enough of them were gone, we got enough fighters together and drove the remaining reserves clean out of town." She clapped her hands.
"That's wonderful, Ferrin." Rinoa laughed.
"Yes, we could hardly believe it, I think the truth is just starting to sink in for most people here."
"They'll be back." Squall frowned.
"What?" Rinoa and Ferrin said in concert.
"They'll be back. You can't expect the Galbadians to give up Timber so easily. You need to be ready when they try to retake the town." Squall said.
"We know that." Ferrin looked slightly annoyed. "We've already repulsed two Galbadian attacks. We've fortified and set guards at all the entrances to the city center. We're ready for them when they come."
"Are you really?" Squall tried unsuccessfully to hide the frustration in his voice. "My group and I literally walked in here, no one did anything to stop us. We didn't see any evidence of fortification—except for some bricks thrown across a road and a single incompetent sentry." He saw the hard look that crept into Ferrin's eye, but he couldn't stop himself. "Your 'guards' took our word that we had left all our weapons with them, on the way in, I saw no fallback positions, no strong points, no bunkers, no trenches. I don't think you—" He broke off as Rinoa put a hand on his arm. The look in her eye kept him from continuing.
Ferrin started to open her mouth to speak, but before she could, Rinoa turned to her. "Ferrin, I'm really sorry, could you excuse us for just a minute?" With an annoyed frown, Ferrin waved them away.
Rinoa cast about for someplace a bit private inside the cramped tavern, but, finding none, settled for dragging Squall into a darkened corner. As he was lead past the group of SeeDs—all of them looking a bit appalled at his outburst—Squall saw Irvine shoot him a knowing 'now you're gonna get it' look.
When they were as far away from the rest of the room's occupants as possible Rinoa turned to Squall. "Just what do you think you are doing?" She hissed, trying to keep her voice down so the others would not hear.
Squall waved an arm toward the revolutionary leader. "These people don't know what they're doing, just look—"
"These people are my friends! Ever since you guys got here, you've been acting like the brute squad, bullying everybody around, and now you're telling their leader she doesn't know how to fight a revolution. Squall, Ferrin's been fighting for Timber's freedom since before you and I were born!" Rinoa gestured angrily. "All these people are willing to lay down their lives for Timber's independence—and a lot of them already have!"
Squall put a hand to his forehead. What do you want from me? I'm here to fight for Timber's independence too.
"Look, I know you want to help." Rinoa's tone softened just the tiniest bit. "But PLEASE, try to give these people a little credit." She waved toward Ferrin. "Listen to what they have to say, ok?"
Squall thought about that for a second, then he nodded. "Alright, I see your point, I'm sorry."
"Don't tell me, tell her." Rinoa pointed again.
Squall must have grimaced without realizing it. "Look, I don't want things to get off to a bad start here. These people need our help, and it's not going to do any good if the leader of the SeeDs and the leader of the resistance hate each other." The look in Rinoa's eyes was pleading.
Squall sighed. "Alright, I'll apologize." And he turned back to the leader of the Forest Foxes. He saw Irvine mouth the word, 'busted', and grin. Scowling venomously at Irvine, Squall approached Ferrin. He spread his hands in a conciliatory gesture. "I apologize for my earlier remarks. You people must have been through a lot before we got here, so we'll do our best to help you get through everything that's to come." Inwardly, Squall was grinding his teeth, but he did his best to look apologetic.
Ferrin's look went from poisonous to merely belligerent. "Apology accepted, and I'll thank you to keep that in mind from now on."
Behind him, Squall heard whispering. "Holy cow!"
" Did you see that?!"
"Did Squall just…"
"Apologize?"
Squall gritted his teeth and forced himself not to turn around.
"Well then, dearie, I'm not one to hold grudges, so let's move on to other business, shall we?" Ferrin said, brightening.
"Right." Squall said, happy to be let off the hook so easily.
"Ok, as I was about to say, the relative state of unpreparedness you saw is merely a sham, designed to fool the Galbadians into thinking they can take the city from behind…"
Squall listened intently—if with a bit of chagrin—as the leader of Timber's revolutionary forces outlined her defensive strategy. It seemed that they had been fortunate to have acquired a guide from the front lines for their trip through the city, as all of the major routes—and most of the minor ones—into the city had been booby-trapped with all manner of anti-personnel and anti-armor mines, as well as various pitfalls, tripwires and various other instruments of guerilla warfare. There were, indeed, several fall-back points to which the defenders intended to retreat if the city's outer perimeter were breached, and an elaborate network of tunnels—some through the city's sewers, some dug during the period of underground resistance—connected the resistance's strong points and fortified bunkers, all mined of course, should sections of the city fall under Galbadian assault.
Should the city fall totally under Galbadian occupation again, a secret rail line—also constructed during the occupation would spirit the remaining freedom fighters off into the forests to continue the battle from a dozen different bases.
"So long as the Galbadian's don't bomb the depot." Squall observed, looking down at the pile of maps and charts laid out on the stained bar surface.
"Actually, they've bombed the depot into rubble already, but we laid the tracks in such a way as to prevent them from being cut by anything but a direct hit. The line, and the engine we've got switched to it are still ready to go." Ferrin looked smug.
"Very impressive." Squall nodded. "Do you foresee any problems with the plans you've laid out?"
"Well, the Galbadians could always do something tricky—like something we didn't plan for, but I'm hoping the impression they'll get from their spy flights will make them overconfident and give us the advantage." Ferrin sighed. "Even with all this," she gestured to the maps, "we'll still need it." She paused a moment, then explained. "My people are good at sabotage, we're good a building underground bunkers and mines and tunnels, but on good fighters, I'm coming up short."
Squall frowned at this. "That could present a problem."
"It's not that they don't want to fight, God bless 'em, it's just that none of us really know how. The Galbadians outlawed anything remotely like weapons training, so all I've got is a buncha kids running around with lots of old guns, and lots of heart." She sighed.
"That's good for getting people killed, and not much else." Squall observed quietly.
"I know, I know." Ferrin looked dejected. "But what can we do? We haven't got time to properly organize everyone, and if we start holding drills outside, the Galbadians'll figure out we're not the pushovers we want 'em to think we are." Before his eyes, the hardened revolutionary in front of Squall transformed into a worried old grandmother. "I'm going to lose a lot of my boys and girls when the shooting starts."
Unsure of himself, Squall put a hand on her shoulder. "We'll do what we can to make sure that doesn't happen."
After a bit more discussion, Squall split his group up and sent each individual where he believed they could do the most good. Irvine was to make a circuit of the frontline defenses and make sure everything there was as ready as it could be. He was also instructed to give the sentries there a crash course in sharp shooting. Zell and Selphie were sent to the two main bomb shelters to give the defenders as much instruction in hand-to-hand combat and magic usage as they could absorb in half-hour rotations. Squall accompanied Rinoa on a tour of the fortifications with the ostensible purpose of inspecting the emplacements and boosting morale.
"Oh yeah, Squall's just great at providing inspiration to those with lagging spirits." Irvine observed. Selphie gave him a kick in the shins for his trouble.
"Alright, people." Squall addressed the SeeDs as they prepared to head out. "Stay sharp out there. We don't know when or where the Galbadians are going to hit us." He pulled out the hand-held satellite transceiver he had been issued from the garden upon leaving for the mission. "If anything happens, use these to keep in touch. Standard channel. The Galbadians shouldn't be able to listen in, but just in case, keep radio silence unless it's an emergency."
Everyone nodded.
"Ok then, if your all ready, lets go underground." Ferrin said as she depressed a hidden switch under one of the bar's back tables. A section of wall paneling slid back to reveal a set of earthen stairs leading down a rock-walled passageway lit at intervals by bare yellow light bulbs. "Keep your maps handy, and if you get lost, ask someone directions. Pretty much everybody on duty is down here—along with most of the families still living—" Squall noted how she skirted the truth, 'still alive' "—here in Timber, so you shouldn't have any trouble finding your way around."
During his tour of underground Timber, Squall saw both grim veterans of the fighting and fresh-faced youth, eager to get a chance to do their part in defending Timber. He sighed, the grim-faced variety were in depressingly short supply, while there were plenty of greenhorns around every corner. The veterans took Squall and Rinoa's visit for granted—they knew the few words of encouragement offered would do little to stop a bullet or a monster when the fighting broke out. The untested rebels, however, were awestruck. They had heard rumors of the vicious fighting in Esthar and some even knew of the group's journey into the future and their victory over the sorceress Ultimecia. With such powerful warriors on their side, who could hope to prevail against them?
Squall tried his best to keep his cynicism from showing. So many kids… The thought made him frown, he wasn't much—if any—older than all the fighters holed up in Timber. In fact, he was younger than most. But still… can they handle the pressure? They weren't brought up to fight. How many of them will cut and run when things start to get rough?
"They've been through a lot already. They'll be ok." Rinoa said to him as they walked down a quiet dirt-walled passageway. She didn't sound convinced.
As they turned a blind corner, Rinoa gasped. "Zone! Watts!"
The two turned to face her. "Hello, Sir!"
Squall felt the slightest pang of jealousy as Rinoa, Zone, and Watt entangled themselves in a three-person hug. He automatically quashed the feeling. He stood by, impassively as the three went through the perfunctory 'how are yous' and 'how did you get heres'. It seemed someone aboard the white SeeD ship had rigged up a radio receiver shortly after the garden had left. When Zone and Watts heard of the rebellion in Timber, they had convinced the ship's captain to make contact with a fishing trawler from Dollet, by this—and various other means, the two had made their way back to Timber in time to meet Rinoa.
"After all, we knew you would be coming back here eventually, Sir." Watts said.
Before Rinoa could reply, a telephone hooked into the rebels' underground communications clanged for attention. Watts naturally picked it up. His face paled as he hung up the receiver.
"What is it?" Squall asked.
"Air-raid, Sir. Galbadian ground attack aircraft spotted coming in from the south." Watts cocked his head, as if listening to something.
Sure enough, shortly thereafter, the scream of the Galbadian aircraft's engines could be heard, even through the layers of dirt and concrete that lay above them. As the sound began to fade, Squall could make out a loud whumping noise followed by what sounded like a very strong wind blowing through pine trees.
Watts grimaced. "Napalm, Sir. Be glad you're not up top right now." It's nasty stuff.
"At least it's not gas this time." Zone added.
Squall's eyes widened in surprise at that. Though SeeDs were still given counteragent injections upon induction, chemical weapons were supposedly illegal by international treaty. "They're really going after you then."
Zone nodded. "At least we haven't seen any biological attacks yet." He shrugged. "I guess that means Galbadia still wants Timber back after they smash us… Uh, try to smash us that is."
The screaming jets passed overhead again, this time their roars were punctuated by a rapid thuttering noise.
"Triple-A?" Squall asked, surprised.
"Yes, Sir!" Watts looked proud. "When they drove the Galbadians out of the garrison, they captured some anti-aircraft artillery along with two mobile SAM launchers." He smile slipped just a bit. "We're really low on missiles now, so we don't shoot 'em off unless it's something really important."
Rinoa shuddered. "I hope the gunners are ok up there."
Before anyone could reply to that, the telephone rang again. This time Zone picked up the earpiece. He turned even whiter than Watts had. "Uh-oh. This may be it!"
Squall grimaced. "Already?"
"Spotters have sighted a big group of large aircraft headed in from the west." Zone said.
"Bombers?"
"No… they're not high enough…and they look more like cargo aircraft" Zone trailed off.
"Paratroopers!" Squall and Watts said as one.
Zone nodded, looking miserable. "The one thing we didn't plan for."
"Shit!!" Squall said. This didn't do much, but he did feel a bit better for saying it. "I need to use that phone! What do I push to get to the HQ?" He grabbed the earpiece.
Watts leaned over and punched it for him. "The lines are probably tied up, Sir."
He was right, Squall slammed down the receiver in disgust. "Where are the SAMs deployed?"
Zone said, "There's one on the outer perimeter and another near the city center,. Why? What's wrong?"
Squall didn't waste time in answering, instead, he snapped open the transceiver hanging from his belt. "Irvine! Irvine, come in!"
A staticy voice crackled from the unit. "Irvine here, does this qualify as an emergency, boss?"
Squall ignored the wisecrack. "How far are you from the perimeter SAM site?"
"We got surface-ta-air missiles? Huh, how 'bout that." Came Irvine's reply. "Hold on a sec…"
While he waited for a reply, Squall turned to Watts. "What's the fastest way back to headquarters?"
Before Watts could reply, Irvine's voice issued from the transceiver. "This guy says I'm about five blocks away, Squall, but things are just about to get interesting here, I think I better stay at the main gate, looks like the Galbadians're gonna try something here."
"Negative, Irvine, I need you to get to that SAM site on the double, tell them to shut down their radar. You got that?" Squall waited.
"Shut it down? Well now that doesn't make a whole—"
"I don't have time to explain, just do it! That's a direct order, SeeD!" Squall snapped the communication unit shut. "Watts, to HQ, let's go!"
"Ok, Sir, follow—eyyouch!" Watts doubled over, clutching his stomach.
"Follow me, Squall." Zone said as if he knew this would happen.
As Squall, Rinoa, and Zone dashed down the dark underground corridors of the resistance's network, Squall's communications unit buzzed at him. He snatched it. "Squall here."
"Yeah, these guys want to know on whose authority they're supposed to shut down their site." Irvine's voice crackled. Below that, Squall could hear one of the rebels operating the SAM's radar exclaim.
"I got a contact, coming in low!"
"Irvine! Get everyone the hell out of there, now!!" Squall shouted.
As he popped the attack aircraft up over a low rise, the town of Timber came into view. At the same time, a flashing light on the pilot's control panel turned solid amber, a tone sounded in his helmet. He grinned. "Yeah, just like a good little rebel. Die!" His finger stabbed the firing stud on the flight stick once, then again for good measure.
Irvine drew back as the contraption squawked at him. He shrugged. "Boss's orders." For being as gangly as he was, Irvine was surprisingly strong. He hooked the radar operator's collar, and ignoring his shout of surprise, propelled him toward a second resistance fighter who was manning the firing console.
Two sleek black shapes dropped from the hard points on the aircraft's wing. Once clear, two rocket motors ignited, sending the missiles streaking down—homing in on the SAM site's radar signal.
Using the radar man as a battering ram, Irvine knocked the two resistance members down the hatch in the SAM trailer's floor that lead to an underground passageway, then, for good measure, he jumped down himself. As he fell, suddenly, surprisingly, Irvine's world turned a blinding white—then black.
As two fireballs bloomed beneath him, the Galbadian pilot threw his plane into a hard banking turn. He crowed into his microphone. "Target destroyed!"
A brief roar blasted from the communications unit and then static took its place. "Irvine! Irvine, answer!" Squall shouted into the unit. Only silence answered him. "Shit!" It didn't help at all this time.
Squall, Rinoa, and Zone burst through the door and into the tavern-turned-rebel stronghold. "Shut down the SAM radars!" Squall shouted.
Ferrin turned. "It's already been done, but we couldn't get through to the site on the perimeter."
Squall stopped, panting slightly. "I think it was hit." Was all he said.
"Damn, those were good people."
"Selphie, Zell, report to headquarters as soon as possible." Squall spoke into the communications device. He received two affirmatives in reply. How am I going to tell Selphie… But Squall cut off the thought before it could form, if she'd been monitoring the channel, she probably already knew. He had other things to worry about presently.
Squall's transceiver chirped again for attention. "Hey, don't forget about me, ya'll."
"Irvine!" Squall knew he must have looked relieved, but he didn't care. "Good to hear from you." For the moment he was at a loss for words.
"You big oaf! You scared me!" Selphie's voice rang tinnily over the link. "Are you ok?"
"Just fine, Darlin', but there's a whole lot of nasty folks looking like they want in, heading down the main road into town." Irvine sounded a little shaken.
"Status of the missile site?" Squall transmitted.
"Gone, the missiles too. Sorry, Squall. Everybody got out, though. We're at the western perimeter now. Looks like a couple of troop carriers, some tanks, and some big monsters heading this way." Irvine replied over the link.
From behind Squall Ferrin said something, but her words were lost in a loud noise that sounded similar to a giant zipper being pulled open. A second later a heavy blast shook the building.
"Artillery!" Someone cried.
Ferrin motioned Squall over while shouting for calm. "We can't hold the perimeter if they drop paratroopers on top of us."
"Right, they'd cut us up—not enough seasoned fighters. Can you order a withdrawal?" Squall shouted to be heard over the thunder of exploding shells. If one of those lands on this building…
"No, lines are down. They've been cut, I'll have to send runners." Ferrin shouted back.
"What?!" Squall wondered how the Galbadians had managed to cut their underground communications lines, but even as the question formed, he knew the answer—saboteurs. How else would they know to use paratroopers?
Irvine squinted through the large glass sight mounted on his weapon. Holding half a breath, he gently squeezed the trigger. The Exeter recoiled and a distant figure toppled from its perch in the open cupola of an approaching tank before fountains of dirt from the artillery barrage blocked his view again. Somewhere down the line of frightened defenders someone launched an anti-armor missile. The enemy was still hopelessly far away, and the projectile exploded harmlessly a few hundred yards out in the dirt.
"Hold fire!" Irvine was annoyed. There weren't many of those type of weapons to waste. "Don't shoot 'till you see the whites of their eyes, boys!" The line made him feel a bit better. "I always wanted to say that." He told the frightened kid next to him.
"Irvine! Irvine, are you getting this?" His transceiver shouted with Squall's voice.
"Dammit, I was just about to tell my boys here to remember the Alamo! What do you want?" Irvine replied.
"It'll have to wait. Tell everyone up there to fall back to the depot, we're pulling out." The communications device told him.
"What!! No way! Squall, we can hold 'em here! Why the hell are you ordering us to give up now!?" Irvine shouted.
"Look up."
Ten thousand feet above the city of Timber, the rear cargo doors of twelve large transport aircraft opened simultaneously. Red lights changed to green, and the first of fifty static line jumpers launched themselves into the bright, windy sky. On the ground, the sun was blotted out by a cloud of six hundred camouflage parachutes. As the shadow fell across Irvine's position he said philosophically, "Aw shit."
Silence fell like a lead weight across the line of rebels as the artillery barrage ceased. Irvine's heart sank into his toes as he saw, further to the west, the sky was darkened by dozens of flapping forms. Dragons, Elnoyles, and other nasty flying creatures were streaming toward Timber. Not enough to be overwhelming by themselves, but plenty, as far as Irvine was concerned.
Behind him, there was a brief roar as a missile from the surviving SAM battery streaked into the sky. An anemic cheer rose from the defenders as the missile found its mark far above the beleaguered city and an empty cargo aircraft went down in flames. A moment later seven anti-radar missiles erased the SAM site as if it had never been. Seconds later, the artillery bombardment started up again, this time behind Irvine's position.
What the hell are they doing? Artillery strikes with paratroopers over the target? But he knew what the Galbadians were doing—they were clearing mines from landing areas for the airborne assault.
"Fall back!" Irvine waved. He doubted anyone would ignore his order, but he wanted to make sure no one was inadvertently left behind. "Everyone, back to the station! We're pulling out."
"Dammit! We were so close!" Ferrin sighed.
"Nothing for it, we've gotta go now, Mam." Zone put a hand on her arm.
Squall nodded his assent, and turned to Rinoa… but she was gone. For one brief second, he felt his heat squeezed in an icy fist. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a bit of blue fabric disappear through the doors leading out of the tavern. What is she doing?! Squall dashed for the door. "Rinoa!!"
Outside was quite similar to the fifth level of hell. Smoke from burning buildings, lit by its own internal fires towered high in the afternoon sky. Angry bits of metal shrapnel buzzed by in every direction like maddened insects and the only sound was the continuous thunder of the heavy-caliber shells landing within the city, punctuated occasionally by the screams of low-flying fighter craft. Through it all, Rinoa walked with a tranquility one would expect of someone out for a summer stroll in the park.
"Rinoa! Stop!!" Squall shouted again, but she paid him no heed, if she even heard him. Hastily, Squall cast a protect spell over Rinoa, and then over himself, and ran after her. Squall reached out to drag Rinoa back into the relative safety of the rebel headquarters, when something made him stop. Suddenly, he understood what was happening.
Slowly, eyes closed, Rinoa began to raise both her arms. A gust of wind not from an exploding shell or burning building stirred the hair on Squall's forehead. As Rinoa's arms rose, so did a breeze, then a light wind, then a strong wind, then a gale. Squall braced himself against the hurricane-force storm winds blowing across the city. For Rinoa, there was no need. Gusts and eddies within the magical gale became powerful vortices, catching up paratrooper, flying monster, and artillery shell alike and flinging them far and wide. Somehow just the right combination of air currents managed to distribute these three types of airborne object in completely different places. Much to the dismay of the Galbadian forces rolling up toward the town from the west, the road they had chosen happened to be the wind's depository for nearly all the explosive shells lobbed into Timber from long-range cannon situated several miles away. By the time the order to cease-fire had reached the guns, the assault force had already fled in disarray.
The majority of paratroopers and flying monsters found themselves blown a bit off-course, and the woods to the north of Timber were soon festooned with hundreds of camouflaged parachutes and dangling paratroopers who were promptly captured by the first trainload of resistance fighters to have shipped out of Timber.
However, not all the airborne monsters were so easily disposed of. A Ruby Dragon managed to wing its way between swirling tornadoes and skidded to an ungainly halt in front of Rinoa. Believing—correctly—that this tiny human was responsible for all its flying troubles, the monster prepared to lunge toward the concentrating sorceress.
Squall didn't bother shouting to Rinoa—she would not have been able to hear him if he had. Drawing his gunblade, he raised a hand, blasting the dragon with Blizzaga to get its attention. In this he succeeded. Distracted from the sorceress, for the moment, the dragon turned its attention upon this other impertinent human.
Squall dodged a quick snapping lunge by the dragon as it attempted to catch him—as the T-Rexaur had—in its crushing jaws. He surprised even himself with his speed and agility. "What the…?"
The dragon gave Squall little time to contemplate his newfound speed, as it lunged in again, this time swiping at him with a set of razor-sharp claws. Squall swung the Lionheart up to meet the attack, and to his amazement—and the dragon's—clove cleanly through the outstretched appendage. Roaring in agony, the dragon pulled its ruined foreleg back. Squall made use of the opportunity to take the initiative away from the dragon. Driving forward, he unleashed a devastating series of blows on the beast. The dragon tried to shield itself with the armored scales of its forelegs, but even these offered little protection against Squall's attack.
As he hacked away at the Ruby Dragon, some part of Squall's mind vaguely recognized that this incredible increase in strength and speed must be coming—in part from Rinoa's power—he recalled witnessing something similar when he had confronted Seifer. But he was dangerously close to becoming drunk with the power suffusing his body. It took a strong effort of willpower for Squall to force himself to break off the attack. Bleeding from a dozen deep wounds, the Ruby dragon attempted to drag itself away from its tormentor with its one remaining operational leg. Watching it, Squall felt just the slightest feather-touch of an emotion he had thought long forgotten; Pity. In an act—Squall reasoned later—that was more self-preservation than compassion, Squall summoned Shiva to finish off the dying monster. As the last arctic sparkles faded away, the Ruby Dragon slumped forward with a titanic sigh of its final breath.
Slowly, the storm winds died down. Rinoa blinked. "Squall?" She cast about, confused, as if unsure of how she had arrived outside. "What happened?" Suddenly a thought occurred to her, her hand flew to her mouth. "Did I…?"
"Yes." Squall turned to her.
Rinoa looked at Squall, at the bloody gunblade he still held, then to the corpse of the slain dragon. "Did you…?"
"Yes." Squall wiped his weapon clean and sheathed it. "We did."
"What do you mean?" Rinoa looked puzzled, frightened, and hopeful all at the same time.
"I'm not sure, I'll try to explain later." Squall shook his head. "Right now, we should get back and see what's going on in there." He motioned back to the resistance HQ.
"O-Okay." Rinoa was still a bit shaken by her experience. Seeing this, Squall stepped up to her and slipped a supporting arm under her shoulders.
"Take it easy, I think you just won the war." The corner of his mouth quirked up just a hair.
"Oh my."