Author's Note: Well, I actually updated. (I'm surprised, anyway). My thanks to She'kspeare and Pierson, my first reviewers (ever) – amazing how much those things mean, isn't it? I never understood why people are so eager for them and I must confess I've been rather lax in the field myself – something I mean to rectify. Positive reinforcement is a wonderful thing! Ahem, anyway…
For those who are wondering: I don't own Final Fantasy 8.
WHIRLWIND
Chapter 2: Drawing the Noose
Quistis braced herself against the corner of the shaft, catching her breath as Xu pulled herself up to join her. She nodded at the doors to the bridge.
"Any way to open that manually without giving the other side about a minute's notice?"
"No," Xu shook her head, "but there's that." She indicated the ceiling of the shaft with a tilt of her head. Quistis followed her gesture and spotted a narrow rectangular hatch offset to one side.
"And that is..?"
"Access point – inspection hatch for the bridge environment system. There's a crawlspace that we can take to the bridge."
"Okay," Quistis shifted her load slightly, "Looks pretty narrow."
"Are you going to nitpick or get moving?"
Quistis gave Xu a dry look as she started up the ladder, shaking her head, "I can't do both?"
The accessway and the crawlspace to which it led were indeed narrow, but navigable. Five minutes later they were crouched in the accessway to the bridge.
Quistis unslung the carbine, sparing a moment to wish she had Save the Queen, or any of her whips. Shrugging the thought off as wasted energy she checked the weapon, glancing at Xu to see her completing a similar procedure. She raised a questioning eyebrow and Xu nodded.
Reaching down she laid firm hold of the release handle, pulled and twisted. The heavy bolts securing the hatch slid back with a solid thump and she yanked the portal open and dropped through.
Hitting the deck and dashing clear she scanned the bridge area swiftly. She heard Xu land softly behind her as her gaze swept over the forms of the bridge crew, slumped at their posts or on the floor. A moment later Xu called "Clear."
"Clear," sighed Quistis, putting up the weapon. She moved to the nearest body, pausing a moment to shake a strong impulse to cough. An acrid tang in the air burned at her nostrils and throat, her eyes tearing up.
Hell. "Xu-"
"Got it," Xu's voice was muffled; she was holding a handkerchief over her nose and mouth. She moved swiftly to the emergency medical kit near the main doors, stepping around the body of one of the bridge officers who had perhaps had the same idea, and pulled it open. Grabbing a handful of meds she applied one to the base of her own throat and tossed one to Quistis, who did the same.
The Remedy surged through her system, a wave of heat burning away the effects of the gas. She felt a powerful urge to retch which subsided almost as soon as she was aware of it. Both women coughed hard, clearing their throats.
"Thanks," Quistis rasped between coughs. Xu waved it off.
"Lucky we only caught a whiff," she said a moment later, "That's strong stuff."
Quistis nodded wordlessly, moving to the body she had been headed for. She had to admit, she wished she were junctioned; magic would be so very useful now, to say nothing of the other advantages. Since the war had ended she had done so less and less, and now she almost never junctioned if not in the field. Xu, she knew, did it even less.
Reaching the body she noticed with a pang of sorrow that it was Terris. The young man had often irritated her with his devotion as a Trepie, but he had been unfailingly bright and completely sincere. Another name for the Hall of the Fallen, another friend and student gone. She felt her anger rising, marshaled it and funneled it into her determination; her duty was to stop those responsible and prevent further loss.
Either the gas hadn't been enough or the attackers were simply very thorough, she noted; Terris' throat had been cut. Shaking her head she closed his staring eyes gently and stood, moving to the next.
By the time she met Xu at the base of the command pedestal it was clear the intruders had been very thorough indeed.
Atop the pedestal it was the same, the two pilots dead at their posts. The control consoles seemed intact to Quistis, but she was no expert in this field; she looked to Xu.
Xu surveyed the consoles with a practiced eye. One display in particular caught her attention and she leaned closer, tapping at the controls.
"Hm," She frowned and tapped at another panel.
Quistis waited for Xu to explain, knowing better than to hurry her at her work. She worked for a moment longer, and then straightened. "I think we've got more company coming." She announced, "Two airborne contacts, big ones. Right at the edge of the grid, but they're there."
Quistis nodded slowly, "So… these commandos come ahead to smooth the path for their pals."
"I guess," Xu drummed her fingers on the console, "They've left the controls intact, so they're probably not trying to destroy the Garden." She shrugged, "Hijack."
"That's crazy," Quistis protested, without conviction. Xu's reasoning was sound, but still… the resources and bravado involved in an attempted hijacking of a mobile fortress full of elite mercenaries were considerable. Though she had to admit, 'full' was an overstatement; dozens of Garden's best were out in the field nearly full time these days.
"If these guys are Galbadian military they've certainly got the resources to do it," Xu argued reasonably, "and it's not as though unprovoked aggression is new to them."
Quistis could hardly dispute that, though she had been hoping that with the recent changes in government Galbadia might be heading down a more peaceful road. Indeed, most of Garden's SeeDs were working for the new government putting out brushfires mostly blamed on President Deling's old guard, the self-styled 'Praetorians'. Of course, all that meant right now was that the Garden was undermanned and vulnerable, which did cast a different light on things… she shook her head.
"We can worry about all that after we kick these bastards off our Garden." she said firmly, "Can you track the other intruders from here?"
"No," Xu shook her head. "Damn… look at the chem sensors. Airborne toxins in main ventilation, they must've knocked out the safeties. Penzadrine-K, same stuff they used up here. It's showing up in most sectors. The bridge is isolated from the main system, guess that's why they came up here in person, but I'd say most of the Garden is going to sleep for a while. Looks like… yeah. The defense grid and main propulsion are out too."
"Could they have done all that from up here?"
Xu frowned pensively.
"It's possible," she said slowly, "but I don't think they did." Noticing Quistis' quizzical look she continued, "NORG was behind the original design and as you can probably imagine he was a big fan of central control, so all the subsystems can be run from up here. On the other hand though, he was also paranoid enough to put in all kinds of security checks and safeguards to assure he retained control," she smiled grimly, her expression clearly adding, For all the good it did him. "which means the sort of things our intruders have done would take time. A lot of time, in this case. I only left here twenty minutes ago," at this she paused, her dark eyes widening slightly as the implications of her words struck her. At her side Quistis wordlessly clasped her hand, earning a grateful look. "So, uh, no. They haven't had time to do it from here. There must be other teams doing the work."
"Right," Quistis nodded, "One in the engine room, I suppose. Armoury, hangar deck, life support… probably living quarters." She pinched the bridge of her nose, thinking hard, "What about communications? Can you do anything from up here?"
Xu shook her head firmly.
"Dead. The whole comms nexus is fried, or at least scrambled," she caught Quistis' involuntary grin and smiled herself, "Yeah, like an egg." She shook her head in irritation, "It's always been vulnerable. If they knew what they were doing they could have taken it out in ten seconds flat with the right gear. I-"
She stopped in midsentence, staring at the console. Quistis followed her gaze, but saw only a patchwork of lights and readouts that meant nothing to her. "Wh-" her question was cut off as Xu shoved her roughly to the floor. Taken by surprise she landed badly, her jaw jarring against the smooth metal. It took her a moment to realize that Xu was firing.
She wasn't the only one, either. From the floor below the snarl of automatic weapons fire answered her, bullets slicing through the air about her and spattering off the side of the pedestal. Xu kept low, using the lip of the pedestal for cover as Quistis rose to a crouch.
The pistol clicked dry and Xu dropped to one knee, ejecting the spent clip. Glancing at Quistis she held up two fingers.
"They'll put a grenade up here any second," she muttered, and Quistis nodded in agreement. Even if they wanted the bridge intact the attackers could still try gas. They had to move. She ran her fingers across the grenades on her webbing and unclipped one, showing it to Xu. The other woman understood immediately and scuttled crabwise to the far side of the podium.
Quistis yanked the pin and tossed the grenade over the lip, Xu doing the same on her side. A rustle of movement told her the attackers had seen it and were taking cover. Counting three she swung over the edge, hanging for an instant by the lip before dropping.
It was a fair drop, but she'd done worse. An instant before she hit the floor she heard the grenade pop with a whoosh, and then she was rolling out of the impact. A thick white cloud was billowing across the room, warm and clammy on her skin - hot smoke, intended to baffle infra-red and thermal sensors as well as the naked eye. Keeping low she plunged into the smoke, gunblade at the ready.
Off to her left she heard gunfire – the distinctive brrrraap of a machine pistol answered by the crack of Xu's pistol, all strangely muffled. She hastened towards the sound.
She noticed the other figure a bare instant before piling into it and they went down in a jumble of limbs. Quistis twisted clear and rolled into a crouch as her opponent did the same, both looking for their carbines; their eyes settled on one barely a metre to his side. As he lunged for it she went for him, slamming a shoulder into his side just below his ribs and tumbling them both to the ground again as the breath rushed out of him. Quick to recover, he was up on his knees when her boot smashed into his jaw, snapping his head back and pitching him back to the floor. Stunned, he offered no effective resistance as she knelt by him, caught his head in an iron grip, and wrenched sharply.
A shadow moved in the smoke and Quistis tensed until it resolved itself into Xu's trim form, her concerned expression clearing as she saw Quistis was unharmed. Her opponent's helmet in her hands, Quistis got to her feet.
"You know how these two got in?"
"Same way we did," Xu indicated the hatch. "Tripped the vermin sensors."
"Vermin sensors?" Quistis repeated, sure she had misheard her friend.
"Mmm. Well, motion sensors. Part of the security system."
"Okay…so... why vermin sensors?"
Xu smiled sadly, "The ones in the vents are always being tripped by skrats and kogars. Drive the security teams nuts. They usually ignore them now." She shook her head, looking at the results. Quistis changed the subject.
"I think they've missed the ones from the elevator, sent these two to check up. We need to get moving." She hefted the helmet, studying the interior, and swore softly. Xu nodded.
"Retinal scan and neural link," she said, confirming Quistis' assessment, "They really don't want anybody listening in."
"Damn it," Quistis hurled the helmet away, bouncing it off the back wall, "We're fighting blind."
"If it was easy, anybody could do it," Xu said softly. She knelt by Quistis' opponent and handed her his spare ammunition. "Look… I think we're going to have to split up."
Quistis nodded silent agreement. She hated the idea, but there was just too much ground to cover.
"I'll head for environmental control," Xu continued, "If I can get the safeties back on line they should flush the gas and pump a dose of Remedy through the system, get our people back on their feet."
"I'll try getting to the living quarters," Quistis said quietly, "see if I can't get some backup." Though she did not say so, the possibility that the intruders had followed up on their gas attack with the same ruthlessness they had exhibited on the bridge weighed heavy on her mind. From Xu's expression she had been thinking along the same lines.
Xu handed her a couple of Potions and the remaining Remedies. "The ones we took should work for a couple of hours. You might want to stop by the infirmary - get some more… just in case. Right?"
"Right," Quistis said heavily, understanding all too well. She closed her eyes for a moment, focusing on the task at hand.
Warm arms enfolded her and her eyes snapped open, surprise fading swiftly to melancholy as she returned the embrace.
"Good luck," Xu whispered. Quistis felt tears prickle in her eyes as she replied, simply, "You too."
A heartbeat later they separated, their professional faces back in place. Quistis nodded briskly at her friend, confidence masking fearful premonition.
"Let's get on with it."
*
Saber One closed the comm line with a soft curse. Rapiers One and Two had fallen silent as well now, leaving him four down and entirely in the dark as to what exactly was going on up on the bridge. He could ill afford to throw more of his people away; they were now dangerously short-handed.
There was no choice now but to signal the Marauders, although he was a good ten minutes ahead of schedule. It stuck in his craw; calling for backup would be an admission, if not of failure, then of the possibility of failure. He pushed his pride aside - bitter experience had taught him just how costly it could be to let it dictate to him in situations like this – and sent the signal. That done, he turned his attention back to the immediate problem.
He would go himself, he decided. His team could finish off here in Environmental, and then back him up. He felt a weight lift from his chest and smiled; he knew himself well enough to know that the prospect of action was a balm to him.
He briefed Two on his intent; she accepted his decision without demur, a good sign; she was not one to keep reservations to herself, even if it meant risking his ire. It was a trait he approved of, one that had helped her earn her position.
Checking his equipment, he set out for the bridge at a steady jog.
*
Outside the protective walls of the Garden the storms were building, the sky a tumult of wind, rain and light stretching to the horizon in all directions. Silent and patient in the midst of the chaos, the Barracuda-class air cruisers Moray and Pike edged through the low clouds, ironclad predators circling for the kill.
The Moray's heavily armoured command centre was quiet, its silence broken only by the occasional tap of keys or the rustle of movement as her crew went about their business.
One such officer suddenly stiffened at his post and swiftly tapped a sequence of commands into his console. Studying the response he turned to the man who stood in the centre of the room, his narrow face illuminated by the consoles which ringed his station.
"Sir, signal from Saber One: Trident."
Colonel Kyle Meridar nodded curtly at the younger man, his mind pacing through the implications. Trident was both good news and bad, a report of success and a warning that the alarm had been raised. The signal meant that immediate action was required, but at a risk.
Meridar quashed his doubts. They had all come too far, and the stakes were too high, to back down now. He turned to the two officers behind him – Aden Bretten, Moray's captain, and Mazell Corley, his Strike Force Leader – who awaited his orders.
"Aden – full speed approach, boarding pattern." Bretten nodded and he turned to Corley: "Major, prepare your troops for full assault, hot landing."
Corley saluted briskly and strode from the room, barking orders into her headset; as she left Meridar felt the cruiser bank in response to Bretten's crew. He turned his attention to his displays, a frisson of anticipation running through him. His eyes studied the readouts of the distant Garden as the range ticked down.
You're mine.
*************************