Chapter 9.
'The Forest Owls'
"Next stop. Timber... I repeat. Timber..."
Squall could hear the announcment over the trains P.A. system. He was still laying on the floor, half-asleep. He blinked, moaned, and got up.
He stumbled a little bit, but he got his bearings and balenced himself. He saw two figures standing before him.
"Were we... all asleep?" he asked, looking at Zell and Selphie.
Zell, and Selphie were standing there, both trying to shake away the strange expirience they had.
"Maybe someone released some sleeping gas?" Zell offered. "There's lots of people who resent SeeD."
"...Maybe. Better be careful." Squall thought.
Zell's comment worried Selphie..
"Am I missing anything? Anyone hurt?"
They all looked around. Squall and Selphie still had thier weapons, Squall counted their Gil, and no one seemed to be injured.
"I don't think so." Squall said.
Selphie sighed heavily.
"What a relife!" She exclaimed. Then she though about the odd 'dream'.
"That was soo weird..." she thought. "But it was neat!"
"Well, everything's cool with me!" Selphie said, getting back to her old, optomistic attitude. "Tee-hee! I had such a nice dream!"
"...I had a dream too." Squall thought. "It wasn't nice though. I dreamt I was a moron."
"We will be arriving in Timber shortly. For those getting off, please be sure you have all your belongings." the train annoucer came in again.
Selphie continued explianing her dream.
"But seriously, Sir Laguna was sooo cool!"
Zell and Squall looked silently at Selphie, as if they had just seen a ghost.
"Hey! There was a Laguna in my dream too! He's a Galbadian soldier. Right?!" Zell finally blurted out.
Squall looked over at Zell.
"Laguna, Kiros, and Ward..." he said slowly.
"Huh!?" Zell exclaimed. "Thats it!"
"Thats what...?" Squall said, still confused.
"How could we have all had the same dream?" he thought
"There's no way we can understand this..." Selphie chimed in nervously. "Let's just concentrate on our first mission!"
"...I guess you're right." Squall thought.
"We'll put this inncident on hold. I'll report it to the headmaster once we get back to Garden."
Zell and Selphie nodded in agreement. They were too scared to talk about this now anyway, so Zell changed the subject.
"We should be there soon, eh?" he said. "Here we go... psyche yourself up baby!" Zell left the room to practice some sparing in the hall.
Selphie got up and lost her balence slightly.
"Whew...still sleepy." she said, and she left the room as well.
Squall just stood there, gazing. Had somone put sleeping gas in the room? He didn't think so. And they had all dreamt the same thing besides. What did it mean?
He walked out of the room, trying to forget the odd feeling.
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Their train came into Timber station. Squall, Zell, and Selphie dismounted, and the train pulled away quickly.
As they began walking down the steps, they were approached by a teenager wearing a yellow snow-vest and a beanie.
"Oh, the forests of Timber sure have changed!" he said.
"What...? Oh! Right. The password." Squall rememberd.
"But the owls are still around!" Selphie said excitedly.
Squall glared at her.
"Whatever... fine."
The teenager smiled and addressed Squall respectfully.
"Welcome to Timber, sir. Come with me, sir."
They followed him to Timbers other railline, just across from the one they had dismounted.
"Please, please, this way, sir!"
A dirty-looking, old locomotive pulled up to the train stop. It had graffiti all over it, and it was rusty. The teenager led them in, and the dirty-looking train started moving again. This was 'The Forest Owl's' mobile base.
Once inside, another teenager greeted the group.
"So, you guys are SeeDs?" he asked. He was slightly taller than the other, and had dark, short hair.
Squall introduced the team.
"I'm the squad leader, Squall. This is Zell and Selphie."
"Nice to meet ya." The teenager extended his hand to shake. "I'm the leader of the 'Forest owls'. Name's Zone."
Squall just nodded. Zone went over to Selphie and shook her hand wildly. Zell rubbed his hand on his pant leg and extended it to shake, but Zone ignored him.
Squall was starting to get impatient.
"So, let's get on with it. What do we do?"
"Just take it easy." Zone said."Here, let me introduce you first."
Zell put his hand down, dissapointed, and began practicing some fighting moves.
"Looks like you already met Watts." Zone said, pointing at the young man that had met them at the train stop. "I guess it's just our princess then."
"'Princess'... huh?!" Squall thought.
Watts looked at Zone nervously.
"uhh... It's the princess' naptime, sir."
Zone frowned with displeasure.
Ahh..man..." he said.
Zone squatted on the floor, trying to think. Then he looked up at Squall
"Hey Squall, sorry..., but could you go get the princess? She's in the last room, up those stairs."
Squall rolled his eyes at this.
"This has got to be some kind of joke..." Squall thought, indignantly.
"Were we hired to run errands?" he asked angrily.
No response.
"Well?"
Zone backed away in fear.
"A-Are you angry?" he stammered.
Squall sighed.
"We're not gophers... We're SeeD...Special forces." he thought.
"This is the last time for this kinda thing." Squall said impatiently.
Zone became nervous, and started to pretended that his stomach hurt.
"Owowouccchhh." he yelled. "My ...stomach..."
"Way to go, Squall!" Selphie cheered. "You tell'm! They can't treat us that way!" She went to look out the train window. It was difficult to see out of because it had been partially painted over.
Zell whispered somthing to Squall.
"These guys don't seem to have it together..." he said.
Squall nodded in agreement, but since neither Zone nor Watts seemed capable of waking the 'princess', Squall went ahead.
Squall passed the first room. He glanced inside and their were some other members of 'The Forest Owls', running the train. He eventually found his way to the back. At the end of the hall, there was a large, pink room. It was the train's only bedroom. He walked in, and saw a young girl sleeping, curled up on the fold-out bed.
The train stopped sudenly, making a loud noise, and woke the girl from her sleep. She sat up on her bed and blinked as she saw the tall, blue eyed young man standing at her door.
Squall looked at her. She was wearing a blue, cordaroy, sleveless vest with two angel wings enbroidered on the back, and a short, button-up, jean skirt. The wide tail of the vest came down to her ankles, looking alomost like a cape. Underneath it all, she had on a black top and shorts which came down half-way on her theighs.
Even though she was dressed more causually now, Squall recognized her immediatly. The raven hair. The beatiful brown eyes. It was the girl he had danced with at the party, just last night.
"It seems like it was such a long time ago..." Squall thought.
The girl looked at Squall, and spoke excitedly.
"Hey...You're...! You know, from the party..." She was a little embarressed to not have remebered his name. "So..." she started again. "Does that mean... You're a SeeD!?" she asked. She folded her arms across her knees, and rocked back and forth with excitment.
Squall nodded and walked closer.
"I'm Squall, the squad leader. There's two others with me." he explianed.
The girls eyes widened and she yelled with gladness. She jumped off of her bed, ran up to Squall, and swung herslf around, holding onto his neck. He twisted around as she grabbed him.
"YEESSSS!!! SeeD is here!"
Squall was surprised. He grabbed her hands, and removed them from his collar.
"Take it easy." he said.
The girl giggled.
"It's just that, I'm so happy!" she explianed "I've been sending requests to Garden forever, but nothing..." She sounded a little sad, but her tone changed quickly.
"I'm so glad I spoke to Cid directly!" she said.
"Oh..." Squall said, trying not to sound dissapointed. "So you were looking for the headmaster at the party?"
The girl gestured and shook her head 'no'.
"You know Seifer?" she asked.
"...Yeah." Squall said folding his arms, and looking away.
"How could I not know him..." he thought sarcastically.
"Well, he's the one who introduced me to Cid... Cid is such a nice man." she said. "I really didn't think SeeD would come out to help a measly little group like us. But after explaining our situation to him, Cid gave the go ahead right away!"
The girl laughed with happiness.
"Now that you guys are here, we'll be able to carry out all kinds of plans!"
"...Okay. Fine, I guess." Squall thought. She was getting too excited for his tastes.
"Well, I'm goin' back to the others." he said.
"Ok! Lets go!" she replied.
"Wait... Isn't she gonna tell me what her name is?" Squall thought. "I'm not gonna call her 'princess'..."
She started walking, but stopped at the doorway.
"Umm, Squall. Is 'he' here?" She asked, hopeful.
"'He'?" Squall thought, looking confused.
"Seifer." she said plainly.
Squall paused a moment. Were Seifer and this girl an, 'item'?
"... No, he's not a SeeD."
"...Oh." the girl said, dissapointed.
She began walking out of the room again, but she ran back remebering what she had wanted to tell Squall at the party.
"I should've told him my name in the first place..." she thought.
"Oh, yeah, my name's Rinoa. Very pleased to meet you, Squall."
She shook his hand, pretending to be professional. Then she bent down, resting her hands on her knees and looked up at Squall.
"SeeD members dance quite well, don't they?" she asked playfully.
Squall smiled a little, to his surprise.
"Approach your target inconspicuosly at a dance party..." he said. "There may be missions which require this sort of subterfuge. It's expected of SeeD to learn various skills quickly."
"Ohhh... So it's work related." she sounded dissapointed."That's too bad..."
Squall was silent. He didn't mean for it to sound like that.
"...I didn't even know how to dance before that..." he excused. "It's just expected of SeeD to pick up on certain skills quickly though..." He didn't know why he cared so much. It made him uncomfortable to feel that way.
"...Whatever." he thought.
A dog sudennly walked in and rested by Rinoa's feet. It was a little brown collie. The dog wined a little.
"A dog...? Seifer would hate that..." Squall thought, still wondering if 'they' were dating. He remebered how much Seifer hated animals.
"Here, let me introduce you." Rinoa said, noticing her pet. "This is my partner, Angelo." She pointed at her collie-dog.
"Angelo is really smart!" she said. "He can do all sorts of tricks!"
"..Whatever." Squall thought.
Rinoa saw him roll his eyes.
"Really! He can! He's even trained to help me fight!" Rinoa insisted. She smiled knowingly at Squall. Then she turned to Angelo.
"I have some important work to do now. Be good Angelo." She looked at Squall. "Ok, I'll meet you there." she said, and then she ran off.
Angelo walked over to the rug in the middle of the room and laid down to sleep. Squall followed Rinoa to the front of the train.
"So... 'Rinoa' huh? She's... interesting..." Squall thought to himself. She was too excitable for Squall's tastes, but she interested him somehow. Squall was used to discipline and procedure, in just about every aspect of his life. Rinoa seemed focused on anything-but. Even Selphie, with her spunky, carefree attitude, seemed to have more sense of responsibility than Rinoa.
"But she doesn't seem entirely immature or anything..." Squall thought. "Just kind of ... lively..."
Squall shook the thoughts from his head. Now he needed to concentrate on the mission. They were supporting a rebel faction in Timber, going up against Galbadia. Squall wanted to hear what the factions plans were for fighting such an aggresive, and powerful, opponent.
"SeeD has disrupted a lot of Galbadia's efforts to expand their teritory..." Squall thought. "They might start fighting Garden if we become too much of a threat..."
Galbadia, however, seemed content to let Garden conduct buisness as usual for the time being, without making direct attacks on the Gardens. Galbadia had a Garden close by, in fact. That proved to go far in keeping relations resonably peaceful between SeeD and Galbadia.
Squall walked down the hall. Rinoa was sitting down on the steps waiting for him.
He walked passed her and introduced the rest of the squad.
"This is Zell." he began. "... And Selphie."
Selphie was still staring out the train window. She turned around when she heard her name.
Rinoa looked at them both and smiled happily.
"Hi everybody!" she said.
Rinoa turned around and walked into the trains 'meeting room'.
"This way."
Zone, Watts, Zell, Selphie and Squall all followed her into the room.
*--------------------------PLACE MARKER---------------------*
(Sick of reading right now? Take a break, and find your spot right here when you come back to the story!)
"Just stand anywhere you want." Zone said, once everyone was inside. "This is a full-scale operation." He began. "Our resistance, 'The Forest Owls', will be forever known in the pages of Timber's independence!" Zone stopped and smirked a little.
"Exciting, huh?"
The SeeD members rolled their eyes.
"I wish he'd hurry..." Squall thought.
"It all started when we got a hold of top-secret info from Galbadia." Zone said.
Watts interuppted.
"I got the info, sir!"
"There's a VIP from Galbadia coming to Timber." Zone started again.
"Super V-I-P!!!" Watts said excitedly.
"The guy's name is Vinzer Deling! Our archenemy, and the President of Galbadia."
"Vinzer Deling is a scoundrel!!!" Watts said angrily. "He's a dictator, not a president. Not even popular in Galbadia, sir!"
Rinoa spoke up now.
"President Deling is taking a private train from the Galbadian capital."
Zone started speaking again.
"Our plan is to..."
"Blow it to smithereens with a rocket launcher!?" Selphie innterupted, sarcastically.
Zone looked nervous at this, not realizing she was joking.
"Boy... These SeeDs don't mess around...!" he thought.
"Ahh... not quite."
Zell was getting really impatient.
"So just get to the point! Just tell us what to do!" he yelled.
"Shall we begin?" Rinoa asked, pointing to the display in the center of the room.
There was a large table with model trains carefully placed on it. It was a minerature of a section of Timber's rail line.
"First, I'll go over the model." Rinoa began. "The yellow train in the top right is our base. We're riding in that right now. Right next to it is the 'dummy car'. We made it to look just like the president's car."
She now pointed at the models lower track.
"Their train has three cars. First, there's the locomotive, and then the first escourt car. The red car near the back is the presidents car. Deling should be inside... And the last car is the second escourt. Once we get on this one, we begin the operation."
She stopped and looked up at the group.
"Our ultimate goal is to seize the president in his car using our base. This means we'll have to switch our dummy car with the presidents real car. "
Rinoa flipped a switch and the model trains started moving.
"We'll use the two switch points leading up to Timber to carry out this operation. Now I'll explian the procedure in seven steps." She said. "We'll get on the roof of the second escourt, by jumping from the dummy car."
Squall was unimpressed with the plan so far, but Rinoa took it more seriously than he had anticipated.
"... Maybe I was wrong about her..." He thought. "Or maybe this is just important to them..."
Watts interupted.
"The second escourt is equiped with sensors, sir."
Rinoa nodded.
"A high tech officer is onboard. I'll talk about the sensors in a minute." She turned back to the model. "We can move across the roof of the presidents car without worrying too much."
"Deling hates the company of his guards and being surronded by sensors, So he keeps them away from his car." Zone said.
Rinoa continued.
"We'll have to uncouple the first escourt before the first switch point. If we don't..."
"BOOM! Game over, right?" Selphie guessed.
Rinoa gulped.
"...Yeah. So we'll have to move fast. After the car is uncoupled, we'll have the dummy, and our base move in. At that point, our train and their train will be linked and moving together."
The model trains moved in the exact way Rinoa described the process. The model representing the base and dummy car moved in between the Galbadian cars. The trains continued moving until they reached another switch point.
"Right here is the last uncoupling." Rinoa said. "The process will be similar to the first one. If all goes well, we should be able to escape with the president's car.After that, we'll return to our base and prepare to confront Deling..." Rinoa stopped to catch her breath.
"We have exactly five minutes to complete the seven procedures. If we fail, our train will collide with theirs at the switch point and it'll be all over. Don't forget that." she warned, but her tone of voice made it sound unimportant.
"Five minutes?" Zell questioned. "You sure that's enough?"
Zone stepped in.
"According to the simulation we ran, it should take only three minutes to complete the operation. Piece of cake for SeeDs, right?"
"Of course!" Selphie said confidently. "Too easy!"
Squall was quiet. He didn't know if he trusted their simulation. They seemed to be pretty 'hap-hazard' with thier, 'procedures'.
"Ok, now. Lets tell them about how to avoid the sensors on the second escourt.... Go ahead Watts." Rinoa invited.
"The guards have a sound sensor, and a temperature sensor, sir." Watts began. "Any sound will trigger the sound sensor, so move across them roof very quietly, sir! But remeber, the temperature sensor will go off if you remian stationary, sir!"
Watts spoke quckly, as he tried to explian the sensors.
"They check the sensors at the windows in the center of the train, thats the only area that the Sensors read."
"So... exactly how do you avoid them?" Zell asked.
"Ummm... basically run or stop depending on which guard checking the sensors."
"That sounds simple enough..." Zell thought. "...Maybe too simple..."
"Okay. Now lets talk about how to uncouple the escourt cars." Rinoa said.
"Question...!" Selphie interupted. "How can you uncouple the cars from a moving train?"
"Umm... we can't uncouple the cars directly." Rinoa began.
"Instead, we'll have to tamper with the control system that manages the coupling." Zone said. "If we temporarily disable the circuit for the connection, the car will uncouple automatically. To disable it, we have to enter several codes."
"And we have the codes! Rinoa has them, sir!" Watts butted in.
"I'll be in charge of relaying the codes to Squall." Rinoa said. "Squall, you'll slide down on the side of the train using a cable and enter the codes into the system. Each code is made up of numbers between 1-4, and has four digits. But the keypad doesnt use regular number symbols. It has a secret code that only the Galbadian guards should know... But we have the tranlation. So entering the codes won't be a problem."
She handed Squall the paper with the number translations. each number was represented by a smalll symbol. He memorized it quickly.
"You'll have about 5 seconds to enter each code." Rinoa said. "Otherwise the codes will change, and the past entries will become invalid. So, like we said. we have to enter all the codes to disable the connections. After we uncouple the cars, we'll wait for the others to operate the rail switch."
Rinoa looked around. No one said anyhting.
"Umm... Thats all."
Selphie finally spoke up.
"By the way... this models nice, but the president's car looks kinda shabby.... Why is that?"
"Yeah, Rinoa made it" Watts answered. "Thats why. We bought everything else at the gift store."
"Oh... I thought some kid made it." Zell replied, looking closely at the model. "The paint job sucks too."
Squall was ignoring the conversation, until he heard Zell. He wondered why Zell was being so judgmental, but then he looked at the model.
"Yeah... It kind of does." he thought.
"Oh, shut up! I made it look that way on purpose!" Rinoa yelled. "It represents my hatered twoards Deling."
Squall laughed a little to himself.
"I can't picture her hating anyone..."
"Hatered, eh...?" Zell said. "Yeah... right."
"Its one of the... ugliest things I've ever seen in my life. You must really hate him." Selphie joked.
Squall stayed quiet.
"Are you guys finished!? Enough about the model!" Rinoa yelled. "Can we get on with it now!?"
Nobody spoke.
"Let's decide who's going then..." Rinoa said.
Watts backed away nervously.
"Gathering information is my speacilty, sir!" he said quickly, leaving the room.
Zone bent down and held his stomach, as if he was sick.
"OuuuucHHHH.... My stomach!" he yelled.
Rinoa put her hands on her hips, and shot a mean glance at Zone. Sudennly, the train started moving again.
"We're moving... " Rinoa noticed. "I'll go take a look." She started walking away. "Talk to Watts when you're ready!" she said.
Squall looked around the room, he noticed some old articles of 'Anarcist monthly' hanging on the bullitin board. They were all articles about Vinzer Deling's rise to power.
*--------------------------PLACE MARKER BONUS!---------------------*
(Sick of reading right now? Take a break, and find your spot right here when you come back to the story! But wait...what's this...? A bonus? Oh I guess that means I have to put something here, huh? Okay.)
If you didn't feel like reading all of the bulletins inside the 'Forest Owl's' *ahem* strategy room, while playing FF8, I have all the articles written down here for your... uh... convinence..., or something.
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Anarcist monthly. First issue
Galbadia's dictator, President Vinzer Deling Speacial!
How does he stay in power!? We reaveal his darkest secrets!!!
Anarcist Monthly. Second issue.
President Deling became the president after the 2nd sorreress war ended. To gain support quickly, he carried out the invasion of Timber. It was only a ploy to decorate an already corrupt man's immoral career... Our land, Timber, was brutally destroyed. Here began Vinzer deling's road to dictatorship...
Anarcist monthly. Third issue.
To imprison anti-government sympathizers, the D-discrit prison was bulit in the desert south of Deling city. Millions were spent to bulid the facility. The threat of being sent to the prison intensified Deling's unpopularity. The prison began imprisoning Galbadian anti-government sympathizers just as they did in Timber. Moreover, the leaders of the resistence movements faced the threat of having family members imprisoned as well. Around this time. Deling began surronding himself with only loyalists, which turned him into an even more fierce dictator.
Anarcist monthly. Final issue.
With the exception of Esthar, the Galbadian Military posseses the worlds only long-range missiles. Although never used in combat, their exsistence has become a world wide threat. It is said that the missiles have the ability to hit any target with astonding accuracy even without using radio signals.Will the time come for the president to push the button!? When the time comes, Ti...~~~~~ (The last part is blurred...)
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Thats it! Darn those Galbadian pigs! Who do they think they are? Doesn't Vinzer Deling just make you want to spit?
Oh well.... back to the story.
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"I hope these guys know what they're doing..." Squall thought
"Are you two ready?" he turned to Zell and Selphie.
"Yeah, baby!" Zell said
"Uh-huh!" Selphie complied.
Squall led the squad out of the room. They found Watts waiting for them.
"Have you seen the dummy president sir?" he asked. "It's a piece of art! We made it to go inside the 'dummy' car. No one will be able to tell the difference!"
Squall was disinterested, but Watts kept on talking.
"It has a newspaper in front of his face, and he's programmed to speak whenever someone walks close to him. No soldier will dare come near him after what we programmed him to say, sir!"
Watts talked more seriously now.
"I know the kidnapping plan must be tough, but best of luck to you, sir! Are you ready to begin?"
Squall looked back at Zell and Selphie. They nodded.
"Yeah....We're ready."
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"Squall over here!" Rinoa yelled.
Squall could just barely hear her over the roar of the train. They were walking across the top of their dummy car, and they were closing in on the President's train.
"We'll catch up with the second escourt soon! Lets get ready!" Rinoa said when they had reached her.
"This is the presidents car. After we get across, we'll proceed with the first uncoupleing.
They pulled up to the president's escourt car, and Rinoa jumpoed across. Squall, Zell, and Selphie followed her.
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Inside the Presidents car, a Soldier was reporting to Vinzer Deling.
"Sir! Everything is in order sir!"
"You again?... That's 27 times now. How many more times do you plan to disturb me with that meaningless report?" The President spoke harshly.
"Sir, I'm sorry sir. But it is my duty, sir."
"Its hard to belive that anyone would put up with this nonsense." The President said impatiently. "I guess its none of my buisness. Dissmissed."
"Sir! Yes sir!" The soldier was confused by the President's comments. He turned around and thought to himself.
"There goes next month's paycheck. How am I gonna propose to her now? I'm gonna have to put it off again..."
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Outside, Rinoa and the Squad of SeeD members were positioned on the close end of the first escourt.
"This is the first escourt. We're gonna uncouple this first!" Rinoa yelled. "Selphie and Zell, you keep an eye on the guards!"
She turned to Squall and handed him a cable attachment.
"Okay, Squall. You're going to slide down the side of the train, and input the correct codes. Three total. You ready?"
Squall nodded, and swung down the side of the train to the keypad.
"The first code is... 4133!" Rinoa yelled.
Squall input the code quickly, and looked up.
"Next code, is... 2213!"
Squall input the second code. The keypad beeped, accepting the commands.
"Squall! The Guard!" Zell yelled. "He's coming!"
Squall pulled himself up the side of the train quickly and remained still. The guard left, and Squall went down again.
"Last code! It's ... 4441!" Rinoa said.
Squall input the code, and the keypad beeped loudly. Squall began to feel the train rumble as it unhinged itself from the Presidents car.
They slowed down slightly, watching the President's locomotive move away quickly. But they were approaching the switch point, and that meant that 'The Forest owls' base and 'dummy' car were going to attach themselves in between the locomotive and the first escourt.
Rinoa watched as the base pulled up and switched tracks. 'The Forest Owl's' train sped up quickly to catch up to the locomotive and then slowed down so it could attach to the Presidents car. Part one was complete.
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"What should I do...? I know he's not gonna like it. But its my job..." The soldier worried. He came in to what he thought was the presidents car from the first escourt
"Sir! Everything's in order, sir."
No response
"Huh? he's not angry. Phew thats strange. Oh he's reading the paper, I wonder where he got it..."
A major came in to check on the President.
"What!! Is there a problem?"
He had felt the train shaking sudennly, and wanted to make sure the President was okay.
"Im in a bad mood right now, If there is nothing in paticular, I order you to leave immediatly." The 'President' suddenly said from behind his newspaper. his voice sounded very cold.
"S-s-sir, aye aye... YESSIR!" The commander said nervously.
He looked at the soldier who was standing behind him.
"You! Don't just stand there! Get back to your station!
"Sir yessir!"
"There goes another paycheck. That's two in one day..." The soldier thought
The major ran up to the door to the first escourt, but he sudennly noticed somthing and ran back into the 'dummy' car.
"What the heck? Is this the right train?" he thought "The interior looks different. Looks shabbier... Maybe not." He went back into the first escourt.
The soldier started walking over to the first escourt, sighing.
"What am I gonna do? No ring. And now no more candle light dinner. I'm never gonna get married."
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"This is the second escourt, after this we're home free!" Rinoa said. "There are 2 guards on this one too, but Zell and Selphie are uncoupling the dummy from the base, so we're on our own for this one."
Squall slid down the side of the second escourt and input the codes as he had done before. A guard started walking over to check the sensor just as Squall had finished the final code, but it was too late. 'The Forest Owls' Mission was about to succeed.
The cars uncoupled once more. The base and The presidents car, now connected, Switched tracks at the Switch point. The Galbadian cars, hinged together also, continued down the track, minus their President.
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Once they climbed back inside 'The Forest Owl's' Base. Zone began Speaking excitedly.
"Finally... We've waited so long for this encounter with Vinzer."
"Was that perfect, sir!?" Watts said to Squall. "Amazing, sir! You're the best sir!"
Squall looked away, irritated with the prasie.
"I hate it when people make such a big deal out of things like this..."
"Well then..." Rinoa said, looking around. She was in a hurry to confront Deling, but she wasn't going alone.
"Leave the inteligence up to me, sir!" Watts said.
"OwOwOuchhhh." Zone wined, clutching his stomach.
Rinoa just shook her head.
"Okay... You three! Tell me when you're ready to go!" she instructed, looking at Squall, Zell and Selphie."As soon as you're ready, I'll begin 'serious negotiations' with the president."
Squall put his hand to his forehead.
"Serious negotiations... Right." he thought as he rolled his eyes. "Better make sure my GF's equppied."
Rinoa walked over to the door, and stepped boldly into the presidents train.
"President Deling!" she yelled. "As long as you... don't resist, you won't get hurt..." she said, starting to become a little unsure of herself.
President Deling Looked up at the young girl, and eyed her, grinning.
"And if I do resit... What would you do...? Young lady...?"
Rinoa took a look at the president's face, and fear came over her. She took a step back.
"What's wrong?" Squall asked.
"Boo-hoo... Too Bad..." The 'President' mocked."I'm not the president. I'm what they call... a body double. A clone, if you will."
He stepped up and walked slowly, as if he couldn't balence.
"All these rumors about the many resistance groups in Timber...You pass along a little false information and they fall for it... How pathetic... Seems like there are only amateurs here."
Rinoa was infuriated at this.
"Ama...teurs...!?" she yelled angrily.
The fake president began convulsing. shaking around wildly.
"Ahh... My butt hurts from all this sitting... Young ... LADY..." His voice altered tones sparatically. He sounded insane. "So what did you have in stORE for me, had I resiSTED...? Why doN'T you teLL mE..." He swung his arms wildly, still shaking.
Rinoa fell to the ground, avoiding his blows. She was scared.
"QuiTE aMUsing thouGH... For beINg such amAtEurs...!!!" He yelled. "HoW daRe YOU InSUlt tHe presIDent!!!'
He lunged at the group attacking firecly.
"YOu FeLL fOr iT!" he screamed. "QuiTe AMusing...." his eyes rolled back into his head, and he screamed.
"KiLL tHE resisteance...!!!"
The clone ran over to Zell biting him madly.
"Ahhh...!" Zell yelled. "What the hell's it doing?!!"
Squall pulled it off Zell and hit it with the butt of his gunblade, knocking the fake president down. Blood ran down it's lips.
Sudennly, The clone began shaking uncontrably. It's body began convulsing in sickening ways. Its arms hanging lose and flopping about.
"AARRRRGGGHHHH...!!!" Its scream was horrible. The 'clone' began melting into the floor.
A puddle of disgusting organic goo spread all over the carpet of the train car.
"What the...?" Squall said in surprise. But he didn't have time to finish. The puddle began rising and forming into a huge deformmed monster.
"BWWAAAAGGHHH..!!" It screamed in pain. Squall looked at the beast carefully.
"It looks like some kind of... undead monster...?"
The monster started attacking the Group, shoving them around and puching with its huge deformmed fists. As it threw its punches at them, the SeeD fighters started feeling woozy. The monster possesed different types of 'status changing' magic, and was attempting to cast it on its opponents while it attacked them.
The poisonous magic was just weak enough for Squall to conteract.
"What the hell is it?!" Zell yelled. The monster kept swinging and lunging at them.
Squall ignored Zell's panicing, and called over to Selphie.
"Selphie! Quick! Do you have a Pheonix Down on you!?"
"Yeah... why?" Selphie asked, disgusted by the huge, man-like freak before her.
"He said he's a 'body double'... a clone! The effects of a Pheonix down should be the exact opposite on him! Poor it all over him!"
Selphie nodded and quickly opened a bottle of Pheonix down. She tossed it onto the grotesque mutant before it could attack again.
Squall was right. The beast convulsed and screamed in agony. A Pheonix down, meant usually to help revive an unconcious person, was leathel to this type of 'un-dead' clone. It collapsed onto the floor, melted, and then evaporated into thin air.
"Booyaka!" Selphie exclaimed. "It worked!"
The SeeD members breathed a sigh of relife, and Rinoa picked herself off of the floor. The monster had scared her, but she was almost more upset at having been called an 'amatuer'. Rinoa had almost started to cry.
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Inside the base, Squall and the others brushed themselves off. Zone was shocked at the news they had for him.
"Man, I can't belive the president was a fake!"
"I can't belive we fell for it!" Rinoa replied angrily.
Watts came running in, innterupting their conversation.
"Info, sir! New info!" he said excitedly. "It's big news! I found out the real reason why the President's here, sir! The President's going to the TV station! Security's super tight, sir!"
Rinoa looked puzzled.
"...The TV station.? Why in Timber?" she asked. "They can broadcast just as eaisily from Galbadia."
Selphie turned too Squall.
"Do you think the Dollet communicatioon tower has anything to do with this?"
"Whats that?" Zone asked before Squall could respond.
Squall explained.
"Dollet has a communication tower that can transmit and recive radio waves." he said. "It had been abandoned for a long time, but the Galbadian army got it up and running yesterday."
"Ohhh... I get it..." Zone said. "The only TV station that can handle broadcasts over the air is in Timber. Other stations use HD cables, which only supports online broadcasting."
Rinoa understood, but she couldn't fathom why Vinzer Deling would want to use radio waves to broadcast something.
"So what's that supposed to mean?" She asked.
"They're planning on using radio waves." Zone answered."This way, they can transmit images to regions with out cable."
Cable lines were the usual means of communication since radio broadcasting had been put to a hault, 17 years ago. No one really knew why radio waves had not been used, but most TV stations in the world were only equiped to transmit cable broadcasts. The real problem with cable, however, was that only local stations could transmit to there realitive areas anymore. Cable lines which ran underground, and lines which connected different towns and countrys were constantly being severed by monsters. Communications between nations had become near immpossible because of the increasing monster population.
"I know that...!" Rinoa said to Zone, indignatly."What I want to know is, what is the President going to broadcast!? Why use radio waves? There must be somthing they want to say to the whole world."
They all paused a moment.
"What can it be?" Rinoa said finally.
Selphie was getting bored with the conversation.
"Everybody! Love and Peace!" she exclaimed, half-joking.
Zell, Zone, and Watts, rolled their eyes.
Zone continued the conversation
"If I remeber correctly, radio waves haven't been used in 17 years."
"It's been that long?" Rinoa replied. Sudennly she got an idea. "Wouldn't it be wonderful if the first broadcast could be the decleration of Timber's independence!?"
Zone's eyes brightened at the sound of this.
"Hey! That might be possilble." he said.
"Lets come up with a plan then!"
Watts, Zone, and Rinoa went over to the corner of the room, and sqautted on the floor.
"Can you guys give us a minute?" Rinoa asked., looking at Squall.
"...This is their 'strategy meeting'? Oh brother..." he thought.
Selphie was getting tired, and she was frusterated with how unorganized the 'Forest Owls' were.
"Can't we go home now?" she asked. "What about our contract? Shouldn't we check it, Squall.?"
Zell was even more upset.
"They call that a strategy meeting!?" he exclaimed.
Squall didn't say anything, but he agreed entirly with Zell, and Selphie.
"How dose this 'resistance' expect to be taken seriously?" he thought
Squall walked over to the 'meeting'.
"Oh, Good timing!" Rinoa said as she saw him standing above her. "We've come up with a plan!"
Squall rolled his eyes.
"Uh, yeah. Before we get into that, can I see your contract with our Garden?"
"Oh, sure." Rinoa replied cheerfully.
She pulled a rolled up pice of paper out from her pocket, and handed it too him. Squall grabbed it out of her hand.
"What's it say?" asked Zell
Squall looked it over silently at firast.
"What? ...This doesnt make any sense... " he thought.
He read aloud now.
"'Balamb Garden' (hereafter refered to as 'Party A') acknowledges 'The Forest Owls' (hereafter refered to as 'Party B') as the hiring party." He continued. "'SeeD' (hereafter refered to as 'Party C') shall be dispatched upon signing of this contract. 'Party C' shall operate under the supervison...." he stopped reading, confused.
"...The hell...?" Zell said.
Selphie read along with Squall.
"I don't get it..." she said.
Rinoa looked back at them, giggling a little.
"Oh yeah, that one's pretty confusing. When I told him I didn't understand, he gave me a different one."
She pulled out another paper.
"Cid is such a nice man." she said.
Squall took the contract.
"What's it say this time?" Selphie asked.
Squall read aloud.
"To The Forest Owls,
This SeeD deployment contract will last until Timber achives independence. Please make good use of each SeeD member.
I wish you the best with your objective. Please understand that this contract is an exception, and no replacement of any SeeD members can be made.
Signed,
Balamb Garden headmaster, Cid Kramer."
Zell was shocked.
"Until Timber's independence!?"
"That is soooo vague!" Selphie said.
"Hey! You're paid professionals." Rinoa said, half-joking. "No complianing!"
She got up from the floor and looked around.
"Ok, so who's going on the next mission?"
Watts backed out of the room qucikly, and Zone's stomach started 'hurting' again.
Rinoa sighed.
"Okay, so Who's coming? Its gotta be me and Squall for sure..." Rinoa said.
Squall, though he was annoyed at the ambiguous contract, decided that they might as well go along with whatever 'The Forest Owls' wanted, for now.
"...However childish their plans are..." he thought.
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End chap 9.
Well, it was going to be longer, but I have to sleep. Still, this is pretty huge, methinks. And that was a good place to stop, right?
So how did you like it? I only put one place marker in this time, cuz there are lots of places that you can find pretty eaislly. (i.e. the scene changes.)
But what a Place marker it was! Yes thats right folks! This chapter housed my very first, "Placemarker Bonus!"
But that won't be the last one! I'll find lots more FF8 secrets and other irrelevant info for you to use, quote, or simply laugh at!
Stay tuned for the next "Placemarker Bonus!" coming to a chapter near you!
So anyway, R+R!
Next up! chapter 10. (I don't have a title yet. you'll just have to wait for it. ^_^)
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