"Pull up! Pull up!" yelled Zell as Selphie fought the controls to stop the
Ragnorak from plowing into the hard earth. Squall ran forward and jumped
into the co-pilots seat, then started pulling on his own control. With his
strength, the controls came back easily, making the huge ship start to
level out.
"We're not going to make it!" cried Selphie, letting go of the controls to cover her eyes. Squall immediately felt the extra pull that Selphie was covering against the controls, but fought against it. Squall did not stop pulling on the controls until the huge shiip was level, but it wasn't easy. It skimmed the treetops and kicked up huge amounts of dirt as it leveled out. When the ship was finally steady, Squall set it down on the ground, and turned the machine off.
"Thanks for your help," he said as he got out of the chair and walked out of the cockpit. Selphie got up to go after him, but Zell pulled her back.
"Leave him," he said. "He now lost is daughter and his wife."
"But, she left. He didn't lose her," replied Selphie. "You know as well asi do that she might very well have died out there. We can't tell." Selphie nodded and sat back down.
"I wonder how they're doing right now?" she asked, looking up at the roof.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Look out!" yelled Jace as he threw his sword at the Bite bug sneaking up behind Sonya as she gutted a Caterchipillar. Sonya spun around and kicked the impaled monster, knocking it into a tree.
"Why the hell are all these things attacking us? It's not normal for monsters," she said as tossed the sword back to Jace. Jace looked around at the approaching pack of T-rexaurs and sighed.
"I know," he replied as he brought his sword up. Suddenly, a forgotten memory flashed through him, just as the monsters ran at him all at once.
"I hope the password hasn't changed," Jace said. He dropped his sword and raised his arms to the sky. "Maleagas, Cornelium!" The lead T-Rexaur skidded to a halt immediately, then walked slowly up to Jace and stopped dead.
"How did you d that?" asked Sonya in astonishment. Jace turned around and smiled.
"I just remembered where we are," replied Jace.
"Where?" asked Sonya as Jace walked over to the shrubbery and started pulling at different branches.
"This is where Victor Sentaro's base used to be," said Jace as he found the right branch and pulled. The trees suddenly lifted up and out of the way. Sonya's mouth gaped s the dense trees gave way to a huge metallic corridor.
"Sentaro always did believe that his hideaway was a good one," said Jace said Jace as he took Sonya's hand and led her inside.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A loud thump echoed through the confines of the ship, followed by a loud curse from Zell. Squall shook his head and continued reading while he and Selphie waited for Zell to fix an engine component that had been shot up during the mid-air battle. He sat up and was about to go get a drink when he heard his cell phone ring. He walked back over and picked it up, thinking it was just going to be some problem with Garden, where he had left Quistis in charge.
"If you ever want to see you're wife again, you'd better listen to me," said a harsh voice on the other end of the line. Squall's head jerked up.
"Who the hell are you? You're not Siefer!" he exclaimed.
"I figured out that part for myself, although I thank you for confirming it," replied the voice, dripping with sarcasm.
"So what do you want? I know that it was Siefer who took my wife, so you don't really have much leverage."
"I don't want anything off you. I want to help you, dumbass." Squall walked out of his room and out of the Ragnorak. "I know where Siefer is keeping her. I can help you get her back, but I need something in return."
"I thought you didn't want anything," replied Squall.
"Can it. I can't tell you yet what I need, but when you come to pick me up, I'll tell you."
"Wait! Where are you?" asked Squall.
"Go to Timber. Some nice memories there," replied the voice. The call was cut abruptly, and Squall put his phone back in his pocket. He turned around slowly and ran inside.
"Zell. Move your ass! We need to get to Timber!" he yelled, running up to the cockpit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jace moved throughout the well-stocked kitchen, gathering the ingredients to make dinner for him and Sonya. "Shouldn't this stuff have gone off by now? You took Sentaro in years ago." Jace nodded.
"But that doesn't mean that none of his subordinates didn't use it. Ad he also used some sort of magic on the shelves that prevented things from going off." Sonya nodded her head.
"Is there anything for me to do right now?" Jace turned to her and nodded.
"Go try and ring your father. I don't know where he is, so it would pay to find out. It'd also relieve some of his tension."
"How so?"
"He thinks his daughter is dead. If you ring him, then he'll know that you're alive, and you don't know how much of a relief that will be to him."
"Do you?" asked Sonya, sensing what seemed to be another painful subject for her lover.
"Maybe you'll find out some other time," replied Jace, turning away to continue cooking. Shaking her head, Sonya turned and walked out of the underground building. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed her father. After five minutes of retrying and getting no answer, she gave up and walked back inside.
"No answer," she said as Jace dished up their food. "Wow, that was quick."
"More magic," said Jace with a grin on his face.
"Ah," replied Sonya. She sat down at the table and started eating.
"So did you get through?" asked Jace after a few minutes.
"No," said Sonya. "He must be too far away."
"Don't worry. Tomorrow morning we'll make out way to Winhill, and try from there."
"Why Winhill? Deling City's closer."
"Too many people have it in for me in Deling City. Busted too many people." Sonya nodded.
"How do we get to Winhill?" Sonya asked.
"When I last came here, Sentaro had an arsenal of cars. I just hope no one stole all of them."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zell cursed loudly, then turned around where Squall waited anxiously.
"I don't think we'll be going anywhere for a while, Squall. I need a replacement piston. This one was shot up way to bad." Squall turned and walked over to the intercom.
"Selphie, I need the location of the closest town."
"The closest is town is Dollet, Squall," replied Selphie from the cockpit.
"I had to land us closest to the town where technology is evil, didn't I," stated Squall as he turned off the intercom, then punched t repeatedly until it was a only a mangled piece of plastic.
"Hold on," said Zell. "You remember that machine we busted up in Dollet all those years ago?"
"Yeah. But that would have been cleaned up by now," replied Squall.
"Actually no," replied Zell. "They set it up as a statue when they finished there war with Galbadia. I think I might be able to talk them into giving me one of the pistons, if it still works."
"Try it," said Squall. "Go tell Selphie where you and I are going. There sems to be something wrong with the intercom. I'll meet you outside." Zell smirked, then ran off to find Selphie. Squall turned and walked back outside.
"Ready?" asked Zell, running out of the Ragnorak.
"Let's go."
"We're not going to make it!" cried Selphie, letting go of the controls to cover her eyes. Squall immediately felt the extra pull that Selphie was covering against the controls, but fought against it. Squall did not stop pulling on the controls until the huge shiip was level, but it wasn't easy. It skimmed the treetops and kicked up huge amounts of dirt as it leveled out. When the ship was finally steady, Squall set it down on the ground, and turned the machine off.
"Thanks for your help," he said as he got out of the chair and walked out of the cockpit. Selphie got up to go after him, but Zell pulled her back.
"Leave him," he said. "He now lost is daughter and his wife."
"But, she left. He didn't lose her," replied Selphie. "You know as well asi do that she might very well have died out there. We can't tell." Selphie nodded and sat back down.
"I wonder how they're doing right now?" she asked, looking up at the roof.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Look out!" yelled Jace as he threw his sword at the Bite bug sneaking up behind Sonya as she gutted a Caterchipillar. Sonya spun around and kicked the impaled monster, knocking it into a tree.
"Why the hell are all these things attacking us? It's not normal for monsters," she said as tossed the sword back to Jace. Jace looked around at the approaching pack of T-rexaurs and sighed.
"I know," he replied as he brought his sword up. Suddenly, a forgotten memory flashed through him, just as the monsters ran at him all at once.
"I hope the password hasn't changed," Jace said. He dropped his sword and raised his arms to the sky. "Maleagas, Cornelium!" The lead T-Rexaur skidded to a halt immediately, then walked slowly up to Jace and stopped dead.
"How did you d that?" asked Sonya in astonishment. Jace turned around and smiled.
"I just remembered where we are," replied Jace.
"Where?" asked Sonya as Jace walked over to the shrubbery and started pulling at different branches.
"This is where Victor Sentaro's base used to be," said Jace as he found the right branch and pulled. The trees suddenly lifted up and out of the way. Sonya's mouth gaped s the dense trees gave way to a huge metallic corridor.
"Sentaro always did believe that his hideaway was a good one," said Jace said Jace as he took Sonya's hand and led her inside.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A loud thump echoed through the confines of the ship, followed by a loud curse from Zell. Squall shook his head and continued reading while he and Selphie waited for Zell to fix an engine component that had been shot up during the mid-air battle. He sat up and was about to go get a drink when he heard his cell phone ring. He walked back over and picked it up, thinking it was just going to be some problem with Garden, where he had left Quistis in charge.
"If you ever want to see you're wife again, you'd better listen to me," said a harsh voice on the other end of the line. Squall's head jerked up.
"Who the hell are you? You're not Siefer!" he exclaimed.
"I figured out that part for myself, although I thank you for confirming it," replied the voice, dripping with sarcasm.
"So what do you want? I know that it was Siefer who took my wife, so you don't really have much leverage."
"I don't want anything off you. I want to help you, dumbass." Squall walked out of his room and out of the Ragnorak. "I know where Siefer is keeping her. I can help you get her back, but I need something in return."
"I thought you didn't want anything," replied Squall.
"Can it. I can't tell you yet what I need, but when you come to pick me up, I'll tell you."
"Wait! Where are you?" asked Squall.
"Go to Timber. Some nice memories there," replied the voice. The call was cut abruptly, and Squall put his phone back in his pocket. He turned around slowly and ran inside.
"Zell. Move your ass! We need to get to Timber!" he yelled, running up to the cockpit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jace moved throughout the well-stocked kitchen, gathering the ingredients to make dinner for him and Sonya. "Shouldn't this stuff have gone off by now? You took Sentaro in years ago." Jace nodded.
"But that doesn't mean that none of his subordinates didn't use it. Ad he also used some sort of magic on the shelves that prevented things from going off." Sonya nodded her head.
"Is there anything for me to do right now?" Jace turned to her and nodded.
"Go try and ring your father. I don't know where he is, so it would pay to find out. It'd also relieve some of his tension."
"How so?"
"He thinks his daughter is dead. If you ring him, then he'll know that you're alive, and you don't know how much of a relief that will be to him."
"Do you?" asked Sonya, sensing what seemed to be another painful subject for her lover.
"Maybe you'll find out some other time," replied Jace, turning away to continue cooking. Shaking her head, Sonya turned and walked out of the underground building. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed her father. After five minutes of retrying and getting no answer, she gave up and walked back inside.
"No answer," she said as Jace dished up their food. "Wow, that was quick."
"More magic," said Jace with a grin on his face.
"Ah," replied Sonya. She sat down at the table and started eating.
"So did you get through?" asked Jace after a few minutes.
"No," said Sonya. "He must be too far away."
"Don't worry. Tomorrow morning we'll make out way to Winhill, and try from there."
"Why Winhill? Deling City's closer."
"Too many people have it in for me in Deling City. Busted too many people." Sonya nodded.
"How do we get to Winhill?" Sonya asked.
"When I last came here, Sentaro had an arsenal of cars. I just hope no one stole all of them."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zell cursed loudly, then turned around where Squall waited anxiously.
"I don't think we'll be going anywhere for a while, Squall. I need a replacement piston. This one was shot up way to bad." Squall turned and walked over to the intercom.
"Selphie, I need the location of the closest town."
"The closest is town is Dollet, Squall," replied Selphie from the cockpit.
"I had to land us closest to the town where technology is evil, didn't I," stated Squall as he turned off the intercom, then punched t repeatedly until it was a only a mangled piece of plastic.
"Hold on," said Zell. "You remember that machine we busted up in Dollet all those years ago?"
"Yeah. But that would have been cleaned up by now," replied Squall.
"Actually no," replied Zell. "They set it up as a statue when they finished there war with Galbadia. I think I might be able to talk them into giving me one of the pistons, if it still works."
"Try it," said Squall. "Go tell Selphie where you and I are going. There sems to be something wrong with the intercom. I'll meet you outside." Zell smirked, then ran off to find Selphie. Squall turned and walked back outside.
"Ready?" asked Zell, running out of the Ragnorak.
"Let's go."