Chapter 22
Infiltration
"Ewww this uniform is so itchy and smelly." Selphie thought as she parked and dismounted the yellow army car.
She looked around. Beyond the parking lot, surrounded by a chain-link fence, there were missile silos in the ground. Past that was an airfield, complete with airplane hangers and equipment. In front of them, however, was a large central structure, partially sunken into the ground… that was their target.
"When is launch time? Quistis asked as she and Irvine stepped out of the car.
"It doesn't matter!" Selphie replied. "We have to stop the missiles! That's all there is to it, right!? If there's a door, we go in! If there's anything we can break, we break! And in the end, we blow this place to smithereens!"
Irvine smiled beneath the Galbadian helmet.
"Hey, Selphie. I like your attitude. Let's do it up!"
Selphie gave a smile back.
"…Irvine's not such a bad guy, I guess…" she thought. But she turned her mind to more important matters now.
"Let's get a move on!" she cried.
She led the team into the large central structure before them. The door swooshed open, revealing a small bunker, which possessed two other entrances. The inside doors were marked with Galbadian emblems and security numbers.
Selphie approached the first door, marked with a three.
She looked around for a handle, but there was none. She waved her hands, hoping that the door would slide open.
Nothing.
"It's LOCKED!" she exclaimed.
Selphie glanced about the room for something. A clue or key or…
She looked on a panel right next to the door. It had a slot and a small plate which read…
"Insert ID Card!?" Selphie called aloud. "But… we don't have one!!!"
Quistis was getting nervous at Selphie's outbursts. What if someone heard them?
"Selphie, calm down" she said.
Irvine walked over to Selphie slowly.
"So like…" he started. "I found this in the car. Give it a try."
He placed a small plastic card in the palm of Selphie's uniform. She smiled up at Irvine and took the card gladly. Selphie inserted the card quickly, hoping that it would work.
"Verifying…" the computerized voice started. "Access granted…"
"Yes!!!" Irvine exclaimed.
"Whoo-hoo!" Selphie agreed.
They walked over to the door and it slide open immediately.
"Now to take care of this place…" Selphie thought.
They walked in onto a metal platform, hearing the hum of computers and the grinding of large machines all around. Below them, and beyond the railing, were large rising platforms bringing up equipment and tools.
Selphie took a few nervous steps as she looked around. Suddenly, she noticed a soldier standing guard at a door way below the small stairwell in front of them.
"Yikes! There's someone there! What to do… What to do…" Selphie thought.
"There's no way to sneak by… And if we act too casual then he might be suspicious…"
Selphie turned to Quistis and Irvine, who were waiting nervously behind her.
"(It might look suspicious if we run. Let's just walk by here!)" she told them.
Quistis and Irvine nodded in agreement, hoping they wouldn't get caught.
They came down the stairwell in single file, walking as carefully as they could. The solider didn't seem to pay them any heed, until they passed right before him.
"Hey! You! Stop right there!" he yelled gruffly.
"Yikes!" Selphie thought. She held her breath to keep from screeching "Do we look THAT suspicious!?"
"Hah!" the guard laughed. "Walking in a single file…" he said. "Your parents must have raised you well. That's very good manners!"
Selphie released her breath slowly, giving a soft sigh of relief.
"Always be thankful to your parents for bringing you up!" the guard continued.
"Yes, sir…" Selphie said, her voice nearly cracking.
"Wow, that was weird…" she thought. "What a strange man…"
"Oh, by the way, We're under tight security right now. Don't be walking about too much…" the guard said.
Selphie nodded and continued on, leading Quistis and Irvine further into the base.
Selphie Quistis and Irvine made their way up another small stair well and into a larger area of the base. They walked along the platform and noticed large machinery and containers surrounding the walkway.
"This place is really big…" Quistis thought as they made their way down another flight of stairs. "Though they don't seem to have too many soldiers working here…"
This time the stairs led down further into the base. A small hallway with two soldiers and some control panels fell into their line of sight.
Selphie approached the door that the first soldier was guarding. She peeked behind him curiously.
"The missile launchers are through this door" the guard informed them.
Selphie jumped a bit at his unexpected statement. She nodded nervously and continued walking by.
The guard frowned slightly under his helmet. He could tell that the three soldiers didn't seem to know where they were going.
"Must be a rookie… poor kids are so small, too… ah well, they'll have to learn the ropes on their own. Especially during such a critical time…" he thought.
Selphie tried to look around without appearing suspicious. She noticed another stairwell with a soldier placed there. Selphie tried to walk by him, but the officer stepped in front of them.
"This place is off-limits" he said in a harsh tone.
Selphie nodded, smiling sheepishly behind the helmet. She backed away quickly.
"Man… where can we go?" Selphie thought. "Everything is blocked…"
She pondered over this a moment. Suddenly, Selphie noticed the computer control panel right in front of her.
"Hello… what's this…?" she wondered.
Selphie pressed the power button and attempted to activate the console. It began to flash and show the Galbadian emblem on the LCD screen.
"Hey… alright…" Selphie thought happily. But her delight was soon replaced with disappointment, as the screen flashed a warning sign.
"Authorization required"
The guard near the missile room door noticed Selphie pressing buttons on the computer panel. He immediately raised his voice.
"Hey! Don't touch that!"
Selphie backed away once more, gesturing apology to the guard. He simply rolled his eyes and resumed his post.
"…Rookies…"
Selphie thought a moment.
"Well… let's see where else we can go."
She noticed a slightly hidden area behind the tall stairwell. She led Irvine and Quistis around to find a large corridor, leading into a platform where two soldiers were leaning against the railing.
They just appeared to be standing there, taking a break. Below them were rising platforms bringing up what looked like missiles. Selphie peered down into the depths of the base.
"Wow… it's so deep…" she thought. "This must go way down into the ground… like the prison…"
Selphie failed to realize that as she walked over to the railing, she had also caused the two soldiers to notice her, and her companions. The soldier spoke abruptly, assuming that she was there to ask him something.
"Huh? I'm busy now. Whaddya want?"
Selphie looked up at him, surprised. She hadn't expected him to start questioning her…
"It just looks like they're goofing off…" Selphie thought. "Why is he talking to me…? What should I say…?"
The second soldier spoke up, and turned around. His tool belt clanged around lazily as he did so.
"Oh yeah… Aren't we suppos'ta inspect the circuit room soon?" he said, addressing the first maintenance soldier.
Selphie, Irvine and Quistis stepped back as the soldiers began their conversation, though they listened in…
"Oh, it's that time already? We're doing the real thing today, so there's no way we have time for it"
The first guard who had spoken so crudely to Selphie turned to her now, his voice a very different tone.
"Sorry to trouble you, but could you deliver a message for us? Tell the guys by the missile launcher to go on ahead, and that we'll catch up with 'em later."
Selphie thought a moment, looking back at Irvine and Quistis. They nodded encouraging her. Selphie looked back to the soldier and nodded quickly.
"Thanks a lot. We really appreciate it." the second man said. he turned back to peer over the railing.
"…Yeah, I'll bet you do… lazy goof-offs…" Quistis thought harshly.
Quistis had developed a very low opinion of Galbadian soldiers within the past few days… She couldn't imagine how Galbadia could be the rising world power, and yet possess so many soldiers who either didn't take their jobs seriously, or didn't have the skills to perform the job well enough. It didn't seem right.
"Thanks" the first soldier repeated. He, too, turned to look over the edge.
"This could help us find out how to blow this joint up…" Selphie thought. "Just need to act cool and deliver the message…"
Selphie marched past the stairwell again, and led Quistis and Irvine over to the missile room. They walked in to find huge rows of missile launchers, just sitting there, waiting…
Selphie approached one soldier who was inspecting a missile launcher. He appeared to be very busy but Selphie spoke with him anyway, albeit, a little nervously.
"S'cuse me, sir… I have a message for you…"
The soldier turned around frowning.
"Well, what is it?"
Selphie put her hand to her chin, thinking.
"Ah… what was it again…?…They'll go one ahead? …no… To go on ahead! Yeah that's it…"
"It's about inspecting the circuit room. The maintenance team said they were too busy, so that you should go on ahead."
The soldier lightened up a little at this, and replied.
"Oh, ok. But I'm still not done here, you know… Hmmm… Could you tell them I can't go just yet? Thanks, I appreciate it." he said, without waiting for Selphie to reply.
Selphie nodded politely, and exited the missile room.
************************************************************************
"They said they were too busy to go, too."
Selphie spoke more self assured now, though she was careful to sound as much like a soldier as she could.
The Maintenance soldier shook his head and turned to his companion.
"Geez… What do we do?"
"Guess we have no choice but to go…" the second man replied.
" … … … …"
Both stood silent, thinking there for a moment. Finally, the first man spoke up.
"Aahhh, alright… Can we ask you to go?"
The second soldier put up his hand in disagreement.
"What!? Hey, that's not cool! What if the base commander finds out!?"
"Ahh, it'll be fine. All we do is go and make sure everything's up and running, anyway."
The soldier stepped back, thinking carefully. He didn't want to have to get to work just yet, but he didn't want to get in trouble either.
"… … … … Well, I hope you're right…" he finally said.
The first soldier smiled and slapped his friend on the back.
"So, that's that" he said. then he turned to Selphie. "We're counting on you."
Selphie looked up smiling, and saluted the soldier.
"Yes, sir!"
Selphie turned around and started heading away from the railing.
"…Whoo-hoo! Blow the place to smithereens!" she thought as she directed Quistis and Irvine
away from the two soldiers. They began formulating a plan.
"Alright…" she started. "Now we have an excuse to snoop around a bit, so let's see what we can mess with… "
"The circuit room…" Quistis said. "Wasn't that the room that one …strange man was guarding?"
Irvine chimed in.
"Yeah, it must be… There's only a few control rooms here for as big as this place is…" he said. "It's only a big building cause of the size of the weapons…"
Selphie began leading them back to the room where they'd first entered the base building. A short walk later, they stood outside the circuit room door.
"Ready?" Selphie asked. She didn't wait for a response before approaching the guard.
"The maintenance team asked us to take their place with the inspection." she said, trying to speak in a manly voice.
"Oh, really?" the guard said. "Then I guess my shift is over…"
The guard smiled happily.
"I'm gonna call in my relief. Go ahead with the inspection."
And with that, he ran off.
"Too easy!" Selphie thought as they walked into the room.
The powerful hum of a generator sounded as they entered. On one side of the wall was a yellow-glowing power source, but on the side opposite the door was what Selphie was looking for… The control panel.
"This must be the control panel, but I'm not sure what to do…" Selphie thought.
"I'll just press a few buttons here and there…"
"Here goes nothing!" Selphie exclaimed.
Selphie pressed a couple of buttons delicately, but nothing seemed to work.
"That's strange… nothing happened. Maybe I should try again."
Selphie scratched her head, becoming frustrated. She sighed heavily.
"Here I am, in the middle of Galbadian territory, just witnessed missiles being launched at MY Trabia, I have to wear this stinky uniform… … And now I can't get even get a response from this stupid machine?! …Grrrr…"
"Destroy everything!!!" Selphie cried, banging as hard as she could on the controls.
Quistis and Irvine jumped at her sudden outburst. She was making both of them a bit uncomfortable.
Selphie slammed the panel with her fist again and again, each time thinking about her friends at Trabia Garden.
Suddenly, the power generator on the wall started to go dim. It glowed for a moment more, and then went totally black, taking all light with it. Selphie stopped hitting the panel, confused.
"Huh? Heeey… The lights went out…"
Suddenly, the room glowed red with emergency lighting, and a voice came in over the base's PA system.
"Electrical System malfunction. Maintenance Team: Investigate Immediately."
Quistis walked over to Selphie nervously.
"It would look really bad if they found us here… We should leave this room now."
Selphie nodded her head in agreement.
"Alright! NEXT!" she exclaimed.
Selphie ran out of the room, followed by Irvine and Quistis. Once they exited however, two soldiers came running down. it was the two soldiers who had asked Selphie to come here in the first place…
"Hey, you! What's going on here!?"
"…Ahh, man… Really bad timing… Well, we could take em… let's fight…" Selphie considered… but she thought better of it.
"…Well… no. …We…We want to get out of here… and this place is crawling with soldiers… I'll try and talk my way out… but what kinda excise should I use?"
"Uh…" Selphie began. "We were just about to go call on you!"
The maintenance guard sighed with frustration.
"Alright then." he said. " Let us take care of it!"
The two guards ran into the circuit room, not giving the three spies a second thought. Selphie cocked her head into the room and gave Irvine and Quistis a knowing glance. They smiled, realizing what Selphie's intention was.
They ran in after the guards, and began attacking them.
"H-Hey! W-What are you doing!?" one yelled.
The other backed away slowly.
"AHHH!!! W-Who are you…!?"
Selphie whacked him on the head with her nunchaku.
"Ughhh… Damn it…" the guard moaned, falling over.
"………."
Suddenly, Selphie ran out of the room, smiling wildly.
"Whoo-hoo! Let's keep movin'!" Selphie cried.
Selphie's demeanor was beginning to frighten Quistis. She'd never seen Selphie get this hyper… or this violent.
Irvine, however, found it exciting…
"…Geez…" Irvine thought, smiling. "Selphie can be a little outta control at times…"
Selphie looked around, aflame with excitement. She decided to head back to the missile room.
"Need to find a way to disable the launch still…" she thought.
************************************************************************
Down by the missile room door, a soldier came out and saluted the other two outside.
"Hey, could you lend us a hand? The power's down and we need some help" the soldier said.
The guard near the stairs walked over, a bit unsure about leaving his post.
"Uh, I guess so…" he replied as he walked into the room. He shrugged his shoulders and motioned to the other guard.
"Come on." he encouraged.
Just as the guards went in the room, Selphie, Quistis and Irvine came down the metal stairway.
"That's weird… Selphie, there's no guards…" Irvine observed.
Selphie remained silent, looking about suspiciously. After a minute, she simply shrugged and started walking about freely.
"Maybe we can get access to that computer now that the emergency power's on…" she thought.
However, right as they walked by the door to the missile room, a soldier came out.
"Hey! You! Haven't seen you around before…"
"Oh no…This is it…" Selphie thought, closing her eyes in apprehension.
But the soldier just stood there, eyeing them suspiciously.
"What to do…? What to do…?" Selphie thought. "Play it cool? Run away? …Fight?"
Selphie calmed herself down, and tried to look relaxed. She gave a quizzical frown to the guard.
"Well, we need some help in here." The troop said, forgetting his previous suspicious attitude. "I guess it doesn't really matter who… Do you think you could lend a hand?"
Selphie went wide eyed at this. Luckily, the upper portion of her face was hidden by the Galbadian helmet.
"What to do…? What to do…?" Selphie thought. She sighed.
" …Guess we'd better just help out…" she thought.
Selphie, Irvine and Quistis nodded.
"This way. Follow me" the guard instructed. He sighed heavily as he went into the room, and began mumbling to himself.
"Unbelievable… Power failure at a crucial time like this? What the heck are the maintenance guys doing…?"
Selphie chuckled a little at his grumbling, knowing exactly what was going on… but she composed herself and continued.
Once inside the room, Selphie Irvine and Quistis saw three soldiers. Two were pushing on a missile launcher, trying to get it in place. However, their efforts were unsuccessful.
Selphie walked over to the supervising soldier, and pointed at the launcher questioningly.
"Yeah, that's the one" the guard said, exasperated. "All right, 1 in between the 2 guys, and 2 on either side" he instructed.
Selphie Quistis and Irvine complied reluctantly, and positioned themselves behind the missile. All five began pushing hard… it was really heavy.
It took about five minutes to move the twelve foot object into the socket… Which had only been a matter of feet away. Once it was in place however, it sunk down into place, and attached itself to the cavity.
Selphie put her hands on her knees and breathed heavily.
"That… was… really… hard…" she thought.
The supervising soldier came over to her and slapped her back, almost knocking the wind out of her.
"Good work. All we need to do now is confirm the coordinates on the control panel. The program should be ready to go." he said. he looked up at Quistis and Irvine as well now.
"You guys get on it" he said.
"Heeey! The control panel!? Now we're talkin'!" Selphie thought, still catching her breath.
The three excited the room and approached the computer panel. Now they could do some damage.
"Ok, what should we do?" Quistis asked once they turned the computer on.
"So like… let's just bust it up." Irvine offered
"Yeah, bust it up real good!" Selphie thought fanatically.
But she composed herself, trying to think reasonably.
"But…"
"It'll be a mega-bummer if WE launch the missiles by mistake." Selphie said. "So, should we hold back a little and just mess around with it a bit?"
"…That sounds good." Quistis said, relived that Selphie was coming to her senses.
The computer was ready to take orders. Apparently, the access had been un-blocked, and the computer was ready for input.
After showing the log in screen, the computer shined a menu. The background of the screen showed a world map, underscored by the galbadian emblem. Four bars protruding from the side of the computer screen, reading; Target, Equipment, Simulation, and Exit.
Selphie scratched her head. She wasn't good with computers…
"I guess there's no better time than now to learn!" she thought.
"lessee… how about… Equipment! That should do something, right?"
Selphie selected the 'equipment' option, and the screen changed immediately. It showed a display of the galbadian army missile launcher. A unit similar to the one they had just helped load into the socket.
"No, no, no…" Selphie thought. "We need something else."
She hit the select button to another part of the screen. It showed the actual missile now.
Quistis examined the weapon specs with interest for a moment.
"Looks to me like a coordinate input device. Not very advanced technology."
Suddenly, Quistis came up with an idea. She knew how they could ensure garden's safety.
"If you set the error ratio on maximum, I'm pretty sure the missiles will miss."
Selphie nodded her head, not sure she entirely understood.
"So… Should I access the 'target' menu?" she asked.
Quistis nodded.
Selphie exited the Equipment menu and went into the 'target' list. Several options came up.
'Set target', 'Set error ratio', 'data upload', and 'exit'.
"Ooooouu…Set target…" Selphie thought. "Set it on this base… yeah…."
Selphie attempted to access the 'Set target' option. But her anticipation was unduly excited.
"Authorization required?! …Shoot…"
Then screen automatically went back to the Target options. Selphie decided to try the next one on the list.
The error ratio was set to minimum. A large bar with columns marking at every ten percent showed how much the missiles could miss by.
"This is it!" Selphie thought as she hit the controls. Selphie pushed the error ratio to maximum.
"Yes!" she thought. Selphie highlighted the Exit button, satisfied, but Irvine stopped her.
"You have to upload the coordinates, or else it won't register." he said, grabbing her hand.
Selphie looked at the computer oddly.
"Data upload? …I guess that's it…"
Selphie accessed the data upload screen, and hit the 'enter' button. A loading screen came up and performed the upload. After a few seconds, Selphie could now exit the menu.
"Well, that's that…" she thought. "But I still don't want those missiles to launch… we have to find where the main control center is…"
Selphie gazed behind her as she logged out of the computer. A guard was standing by the same stairwell that they had tried to go up earlier.
"We haven't been up there yet…" Selphie thought. "I'll bet that's the main control room…"
Selphie thought for a moment, and then motioned for Quistis and Irvine to follow her. She had a plan.
"This area is off-limits. You're not allowed up here." the guard said as Selphie approached him.
Selphie saluted then guard and made up an excuse
"But we've come to report on the missile coordinate data!"
The guard seemed slightly confused at this, but reluctantly complied
"Oh, very well. Go right ahead… " he said. He moved away, allowing them to pass.
The guard scratched his head, still slightly confused
"Did we have someone that puny in our base…?"
************************************************************************
Upstairs in the main control room, two soldiers and their commanding officer were preparing to launch. The two blue uniformed soldiers were working fervently on two control arrays.
"All systems go, sir!' one soldier reported.
"Everything's all set, sir!" the second said.
The red-uniformed officer folded his arms, satisfied.
"We had some minor setbacks, but proceed as scheduled. We're running behind, but prepare for the final launch phase" he said.
"Roger!" the two soldiers replied. One took up a microphone from the control panel and announced.
"Attention. This is the control room. We are now entering the final phase of the missile launch. Take your designated positions and prepare for the launch!"
Selphie Tilmett came up the stairs, and into the control room. Irvine and Quistis followed closely. As they came into the officer's sight, he looked at them in surprise. He put his hand to his chin suspiciously.
"Huh? What are you doing in here!?"
"We've come to report on the missile coordinates!" Selphie said, saluting the officer.
"Oh… …. …."
The officer paused or a moment. Something didn't seem quite right to him… and the he realized what it was.
"Don't move!" he commanded. "I thought you looked suspicious. You're the intruders!
Selphie gulped, but tried to remain calm. Perhaps he was joking…
"No use hiding it now! That salute you just did was completely wrong!"
"Yikes!" Selphie thought. "Well, at least we made it this far. It's about time we rumbled!"
Selphie closed her eyes, and began to focus. She utilized a thundara spell that she'd stocked to cause a blinding light to shine in the room. The soldiers covered their eyes.
"What are you doing!?" the commanding officer screamed in confusion.
"Ahhhhhh!"
"TA-DAH!" Selphie exclaimed. Once the light faded, she, Quistis and Irvine stood in their normal clothing, weapons out and ready.
"Hooooo, finally." Selphie teased, scratching her bare shoulder. "That military uniform is itchy, and it stinks!"
The three soldiers raised their weapons, ready to fight.
"Time for us to get serious!" one soldier boasted.
Selphie whipped her nunchaku around, whacking the soldiers with it harshly. Irvine fired his shotgun quickly, aiming for the commander.
One of the soldiers shrunk back slightly, fearful of how quick and strong these three teenagers appeared to be.
"Captain, they're too strong!"
The captain couldn't disagree. The three fought amazingly. The Galbadian soldiers were just barely able to defend against their assaults.
"Are they from Garden?" the captain asked. He shook his head and tried to concentrate.
"Go for the weak one!" he ordered.
The soldiers started attacking Selphie with their magic-swords.
"Weak one!?" Selphie thought indignantly. "I'll show them who's weak…"
Selphie immediately began to focus she attempted to cast a strong magic spell, but something went awry.
Energy rippled through and from Selphie's body. She continued to focus, though she didn't quite know what was going on. Suddenly, wings appeared behind the two blue-uniformed soldiers, and carried them away.
" Ughhh!" one soldier cried.
"C-Captain…" called the other.
Selphie gawked at the sight, and watched as the two soldiers were lifted away and out of the base.
"What the hell was that!?" the officer called. Irvine ignored the unusual event for a moment and shot fiercely at the captain. The soldier fell to the ground.
Selphie fell to her knees and rubbed her head. What had just happened? How did she do that?
Quistis leaned down and put her arm around Selphie.
"Selphie…it's okay. Don't worry…"
Selphie looked up at Quistis in confusion and agitation.
"…But… I…"
"Shhh… " Quistis said, trying to comfort her startled friend. "Do you have any idea what just happened?"
Selphie shook her head, 'no'.
"Well, I do …It isn't unheard of." Quistis continued. "Magic use without any external aid… it's said to come from GF use. It happens naturally to some people, when using a Guardian Force. You seem to have your own special kind of skills that may present themselves at critical times, Selphie…"
"But… does that make me like… a sorceress….?" Selphie asked, lifting herself up. The thought frightened her.
Quistis shook her head.
"No.. not at all… in fact, it's similar to my Blue-magic…That's all."
Selphie wiped the seat from her forehead. The concern lifted from her mind, thanks to Quistis, and she began focusing on the rest of their mission.
"OK then! Let's stop the missiles, blow the base to smithereens, and get outta here!" Selphie commanded.
"One of these control panels should be the launch control mechanism." Quistis said.
Irvine, as confused as he was about Selphie's 'magic', seemed to just brush it off and focus on what needed to be done.
"So like… let's just split up and start lookin'."
The three teenagers began looking on all the control panels around the room.
"Hmmmmm…" Selphie said, examining one area. She pressed a few buttons."……I don't think it's this one."
Selphie walked over to Irvine and glanced over his shoulder. Irvine noticed and Immediately tried to impress her.
"Yep! This is it!" he said proudly. Selphie smiled happily.
Irvine pressed a few more buttons, and realized that he was wrong.
"…Ahh, man… I don't think this is the one."
Quistis spoke up though
"This is it!"
She pressed in a few commands, as Irvine and Selphie walked over.
"We stopped the missiles. We're safe for now." Quistis finally said.
"Whoo-hoo!" Selphie cried. "All we need to find now is the self-destruct mechanism!"
Irvine glanced around the room. It all seemed to be launching information from what he could tell. Nothing to do with the base itself.
"Ahhhh, man… the self-destruct mechanism doesn't seem to be in here…" he said.
Selphie looked around thoughtfully for a instant. She then noticed a doorway in the base. She motioned for Irvine and Quistis to follow her, and they fond another control room. Selphie examined the panel and immediately found what she was looking for.
"Heeey! This is the self destruct mechanism for the base!" Selphie said. She jumped up and down with excitement.
"Hmmm… Let's see here.."
She pressed a few buttons, and a monitor before her lit up.
"Huh?" Selphie said, reading the screen. "We have to set a time?"
Selphie looked at the options. Anywhere from ten to forty minutes.
"Ten!" she thought. "…Might be cutting it a little close, but we're gonna be outta here in no time!"
Selphie selected ten minutes.
"Hmmm… Let's see here…" Selphie said again. She pressed in a final command. At the press of a button, a loud alarm sounded, along with a recording that played throughout the base.
"Self destruct mechanism activated. 10 minutes until destruction. All staff evacuate the base immediately. I repeat…"
"Whoo-hoo! Let's hurry on outta here!" Selphie cried. She looked around and saw another door.
"Let's go this way… We're sure to get caught on the way out if we head back through the base that way …" she said.
************************************************************************
In the main control room, the captain lay on the floor, nearly dead.
"………."
Suddenly, he found the strength to move. Little by little, he crawled his way over to a control panel. He wasn't going to give up that easily.
"Heheheh… It's not over yet…" he said over the whooping alarm.
The captain climbed his way onto the panel, pressed a button. He laughed slightly, and then fell over. He took one last breath, and finally lost his life.
************************************************************************
Upon exiting the control room, Selphie was over-joyed to discover that it led straight for the exit. They were in the same room that they had entered the building from.
"Hey! A shortcut!" Selphie said.
Quistis and Irvine smiled grimly. They had only minutes to get out of there, which made them quite tense. Suddenly, a loud banging sounded throughout the base. Almost like something locking into place.
"Huh? Heey? What was that noise?" Selphie asked.
Selphie led Quistis and Irvine out of the building. Just as they exited, they heard something under the ground, machinery working it's way up.
They stopped in the middle of the base parking lot, and looked out onto the missile silos. Launchers shot out of the ground, and proceeded to issue forth the Galbadian cruise missiles into the sky. The loud sound of the rockets was deafening.
Selphie, Irvine and Quistis gazed in horror. Though they had set the missiles slightly off course, would it be enough? They were supposed to stop the missiles entirely… now there was a lot at stake…. Too much.
But they still had to escape. Selphie continued running, but stopped as she noticed an immense vehicle parked right before the base entrance. Some kind of battle-tank, with large pillars which looked likes smoke-stacks coming from the machine. It was huge
Selphie gasped at the sight. What was going on? How would they escape?
A red-uniformed soldier stood beside the tank. He tapped his foot impatiently.
"There's no way I'm letting you all live!" he screamed. "It would be inexcusable to sorceress Edea! I don't want to suffer her wrath!"
Selphie whipped out her nunchaku, ready to fight. The soldier continued.
"Are you men ready!?"
From the inside of the machine, two voices sounded giving an emphatic, "Yes, sir!"
"Alright, let's go!" the commander said. He ran around to the back of the vehicle and climbed inside.
Quistis, Irvine and Selphie gawked upward at the huge vehicle as it inched closer. Steam came out violently from the vents in the machine's side.
BGH251F2… that was the name of this monstrous Galbadian weapon. Though it's bulky appearance and heavy steel armor made it appear invincible, the six-pillared battle-tank shook violently, and moved quite slow. It took a lot of energy to run, and was not an especially powerful weapon… unless being used against humans….
"How are we supposed to fight this thing?!" Irvine exclaimed.
Quistis and Selphie stepped back, wondering that themselves.
"…I… I don't think we can…" Quistis said. "We're going to have to use GF's…"
Selphie chimed in nervously.
"Y-Yeah… you have Quezecotl… right Quistis?"
Quistis nodded and began to focus. She summoned forth Quezectol, and in a matter of seconds, the thunder-element Guardian appeared.
Shooting forth beams of electrical energy, Quezectol viscously attacked the machine. After doing sufficient damage, Queszctol faded into the air.
The tank shook heavily, and one of the pillars started to rumble… It exploded.
A voice inside the machine sounded out.
"AHHH!! Captain!"
"Don't worry, it's just one!" a gruff voice replied.
Suddenly, another of the six pillars exploded in a fiery burst.
Quistis smirked.
"…Not bad at all…" she thought.
"Prepare the beam cannon!" the captain yelled from within the vehicle.
Resounding energy hummed about a small cannon hole on the tank. Suddenly, a burst of harsh electrical force came out, aimed directly at Selphie.
"Ugh!" she cried, being forced onto her back. She fell hard.
"Selphie! Are you alright?!" Irvine cried as he cast a cura spell on her.
"Uh-huh…" Selphie said, lifting herself from the ground. It took her a moment to get her bearings.
Quistis gazed on at the tank, infuriated. She began to use a thundara spell on the vehicle.
Another pillar exploded violently at this.
"Let's just get outta here!' a voice from the inside said.
"Can't let them seize this MRV!" the captain cried. "Keep attacking anyway!"
Another large beam of energy formed around the cannon, but it came out weakly this time. It was aimed at Irvine, but he barely winced at the force of the energy.
All three fighters began casting Thundara magic on the BGH251F2. The machine slowly started to give.
"What!?" the captain yelled from inside the tank. His machine was falling apart, and they had to get out.
Several more pillars exploded as the soldiers dismounted the vehicle. They came out, one of them with his uniform on fire.
"Ow, ow ow! Hot!" he cried.
Selphie, Irvine and Quistis blocked their eyes from the explosion, but raised their weapons, ready to get rid of the soldiers.
Once they approached the fighters, the captain stomped his foot in frustration.
"That piece of crap!" he cried. One of the soldiers replied.
"What now, captain?"
The other spoke up.
"It need repairs, sir!"
"We'll kill 'em first!" the captain said, pointing at the three teenagers.
Quistis put up her hand at Selphie and Irvine, smirking.
"I'll take care of them…" she offered.
Quistis once again summoned her GF. The soldiers gazed at her curiously, wondering what she was doing. Their question was answered as they saw a monstrous bird flying above their heads.
Before they could even move, Queszecotl zapped the three Galbadian soldiers down, permanently immobilizing them.
The battle was won, though now Selphie, Quistis and Irvine had to focus on another task… escape.
Selphie moved toward the broken tank which was blocking the exit. It was jammed into the door, and there was no way around it.
Selphie looked about fervently, frightened. Wasn't there anyway out!?
She looked around once more, but it was hopeless. The base would self-destruct in a matter of minutes, and they were stuck.
Quistis and Irvine fell down to their knees, and Selphie hung her head. They knew that this was it. For all their efforts to deter Galbadia from gaining more power, for wanting to protect their friends… this was their reward.
"…Are we locked in?" Selphie thought, holding back tears. She sighed, knowing the answer.
"Squall will take care of the rest, right?" Selphie rubbed the back of her neck, and wiped away a tear.
"I wonder if he'll organize the Garden Festival?"
Selphie laughed slightly at this.
"Nah, can't count on Squall for that…"
Selphie lowered herself to the ground, sighing.
"It's all over…"
The silence, though uncomfortable, gave the three a peaceful air. They knew what was coming, and had time to think about it… too much time.
"It came quite quietly." Quistis observed. "I thought the end would have been more dramatic…"
Irvine spoke up, lifting his head.
"Squall… He didn't trust me. That's probably why he put me on this team…"
Selphie cocked her eye at their comments. Not dramatic? …Squall didn't trust…?
"…What are you all saying?" Selphie thought. "Squall choose us because he believed in us. I'm sure of it!"
Selphie thought happily of Squall. Surely underneath his cold shell, he genuinely had faith in them… they were friends… right?
"'We can do it'. That's what he thought when he made this team. Isn't that right, Squall?" Selphie thought.
Suddenly the ground shook. Selphie looked up to see a huge fireball underneath the missile launchers. Then another explosion. The three stumbled on the concrete for a moment, as the explosions got louder, and closer to them.
"Goodbye…" Selphie thought.
************************************************************************
End Chap. 22
*sniff* *sniff*
Another one of those chapters folks… *sigh*… a moment of silence for Selphie Tilmett, Irvine Kinneas, and Quistis Trepe, please.
……………………….
Well, if it pleases you, I have the next chapter coming up. Should be quite a boon to those of you who are waiting for a Squall chapter… (He's been out of the picture quite a bit lately, huh?
Next up! Loyalty!
************************************************************************