I don't own anything except the Takahari family, their Dragoon Spirits, Kenji Okamura, and Victor d'Eltham
"You know," I said conversationally as we ran, "I'm beginning to really dislike Guado."
"That makes two of us, Bro," Karen said, firing a pair of .45 slugs over her shoulder from her Colt Government Model 1911. "At least Ian eighty-sixed Seymour."
"We wouldn't be runnin' if he hadn't done that," Wakka protested. "He killed a Maester, yah!?"
I rolled my eyes. Not again. I reached into a pocket and withdrew an interesting little device that was shaped somewhat like a gun, but where a gun had an opening at the end for a bullet, this had a flat end, yellow- and black-striped. "Wakka, now is not the time. But if you persist, I will use this handy little device, which is called a Taser, and carry you out of here. Or, better yet, leave you to those Guado. Do we understand each other?"
"Hate to interrupt, Ryan, but duck!"
I hurled myself forward as Karen pulled a hand grenade from a pocket, pulled the pin, and tossed it at the pursuing Guado. "You know, Sis," I shouted over the explosion, "ninja aren't normally supposed to go around blowing stuff up! We're stealth warriors, remember!?"
"Yeah, well," she retorted, "ninja also aren't normally chased by psychotic aliens after their leader goes bonkers and leaves them to fend for themselves!"
"You know Ian; he's always got an agenda."
Given how fast we were running, it didn't take us long to reach the area where we had been using snowmobiles earlier. But the Guado had a surprise waiting for us. "What is that!?"
"That" had four arms, looked vaguely like an ape, had two Guado protecting it, and was really, really ugly.
Oh, yeah; it was trying to kill us, too.
I yanked out my big revolvers and put .44 Magnum slugs into the skulls of the Guado, killing them instantly. Then the ape-thing smacked me with both right arms.
And you know, ice feels a whole lot like slippery concrete when you land on it really hard. It felt like I'd broken my back.
I tried to stand. "Arrgh!" My limbs refused to cooperate; I had broken my back.
But we still had a healer with us. "Curaga!" Yuna called up, twirling her staff. I gasped in relief as the bones in my spinal cord knitted.
"Thanks, Yuna." I leapt forward, picked up my fallen guns and holstered them, reached back for my sword...
And that was when the fiend smacked the ice, creating a nice, big hole that just happened to be right under our feet.
"Where's a helicopter when you need one!?" I heard Karen yell, and then we dropped...
By the time I regained consciousness, I had the idea that the entire world was out to get me; I guessed the Great Ghu, god of the ceiling (if he existed) had decided I hadn't been ignoring him properly of late.
In any case, I had one killer headache.
"Hey! He's awake!" Rikku ran over, jumping about. "Are you okay!?"
I sat up and rubbed my head. "I will be if you stop shouting in my face." Blinking, I glanced about. "Where in blazes are we, anyway?"
"Under the ice, I guess." She glanced around, apparently making sure nobody else was in earshot. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure, go ahead." Whether or not I could answer of course, depended on how intact my gray matter was after dropping two hundred feet and landing on my head.
She crouched on the cold ground next to me. "I was just wondering. You guys have those Dragoons Spirits and guns and stuff, so why didn't Ian transform against that cyborg?"
I smiled. "Well, my friend, that's a somewhat complicated thing. Ian goes by a strange honor code, based on the tenets of the Kyuuketsuki Ryoushi, that the rest of us don't entirely understand. In this particular case, I gather that he felt himself honor-bound to finish the battle without such assists, and he was also trying not to kill her, at least at first." I shook my head. "I don't know who she was, but Jeannette Delacroix must have been someone very important to him."
"Umm." She considered this in silence for a time. "I guess I can understand," she said finally. "Kinda. But what were those sayings they were quoting at each other?"
"The tenets of our old clan." I thought back to my training, so many years ago. "'The price of victory is sacrifice'; 'There is more to the warrior than war, and more to the poet than poetry. The two must be one, for the price of freedom is eternal vigilance'. 'The price of living is loss'; and one that has been a subject for much meditation for him: 'When all is done, it is not to die- It is to die well.'" I shrugged. "My brother has never been the most cheerful of people, and he's spent a lot of time dwelling on death. Not that of others; only twice have I seen him the least bit bothered by killing, and those were extreme cases. No, he thinks about his own death. He's looked it in the face so many times over the years that I think, from the time he returned from Kazakhstan until he and Rose became involved, that survival was all he cared about."
"What about now?"
"I... don't know," I said slowly. "I have never seen Ian act so impulsively. If I had to guess... it's revenge that's driving him now. And believe me, when he's out for revenge, get the blazes out of his way; I hear that when he was in Germany, chasing Draco von Schneider, those who knew of his mission called him Racher."
"What's that mean?"
"Revenger. To this day, I'm not precisely sure why Ian hated von Schneider so much; it could just be that he was tired of the bloodsucker showing up so much."
Rikku nodded. "Yeah, he really does hate vampires. What have they done to him to inspire such enmity?"
"Again, I'm not precisely sure. I remember six years ago, on The Moon That Never Sets, Albert speculated that it was because both of our ancestral bloodlines have fought against vampires for centuries, but Ian said that there was more to it than that." I shrugged. "When Cassius turned up, he said that he was true reason, but I'm inclined to think that there was even more to it. I can understand that causing a lot of fear, but I would think it would have to be something different to have caused such intense hatred. I don't know what, though."
"Maybe he'll tell you when he gets back."
"Maybe." I stood. "Hope that answers your questions, my friend. Now I need to consult with Karen and Rose."
I strode over to my companions, noting on the way by that the Spirans were conferring amongst themselves. "So, Rose," I said. "Where do we go from here? Yuna and her Guardians seem to be talking about 'facing the punishment for our transgressions'. I don't believe we've transgressed; after all Seymour attacked us. But maybe we should go with them, keep them out of trouble."
Rose shook her head. "That's your call, Ryan."
I blinked. "What do you mean, my call? You're the one Ian trusts the most in the entire universe; shouldn't you decide?"
"No," she said firmly. "Ian specifically entrusted the mission to you, Ryan. Until he returns, you're in command of the mission, and the team. Where we go from here is your decision."
I felt something akin to panic at the idea of being in command. This is crazy I've never commanded anything it's always been Ian in charge what the blazes am I gonna do I'm not up to this-
My panicky thoughts came to a halt, and I took a deep breath. If Ian didn't think I was ready, he'd have left Rose in charge. But if -when- Ian gets back, I'm going to tell him in no uncertain terms that I have no desire to ever command anything whatsoever. Making life-and-death decisions has never been my style; I prefer worrying about nothing more than how to kill someone appropriately, not when it's appropriate.
"Okay," I said in a calm tone as I opened my eyes. "We go with them. And maybe put a stop to the travesty that the Yevon priesthood will no doubt inflict upon Yuna and her Guardians."
Flanked by Rose and Karen, I strode over to the Spirans. "Have you decided where you're going?"
"We must face the consequences of our transgressions," Lulu said. "We will go to Bevelle, and face the maesters of Yevon."
"Yeah; I don't like it, but we killed a maester," Wakka said. "We gotta face our punishment."
"Are you guys... coming with us?" Rikku asked hopefully.
I nodded. "Yeah." I swept my gaze across the group, thinking to myself that this was the kind of thing Ian would do. "I don't believe we've transgressed, since we did act in self-defense, and I don't intend to submit to any kind of trial. But it was Ian's belief that the best way to accomplish our mission was to safeguard Yuna on her journey, and on a more immediate level, I believe it is the right thing, the only honorable thing, to do." At my slight nod, Karen reached into her pack and withdrew a sphere. "And with this, we might have a chance of convincing the remaining maesters that we did the right thing."
"Jyscal's sphere?"
"Correct, Auron. I retrieved it because I was sick and tired of Trommel and all his wacky-haired bunch, and I intend to use it." I fixed my gaze on the big ex-Blitzball player. "Got a problem with that, Wakka?"
He clearly did, but even if he hadn't been scared of me after the Russian Roulette incident, he wouldn't have responded, for we saw something above us, in the unfrozen waters below the temple. "That's Sin!" Rikku exclaimed. "What's it doing!?"
"Listening," Auron said. "To the Song of the Fayth."
"It's passive," I noted. An idea began to form, and I glanced at my empress-of-explosives (also know simply as "The Mad Bomber") sister. "Karen, I don't suppose you've got anything appropriate for demolishing something that size...?"
She shook her head. "Sorry Ryan," she said wryly, "I left the big stuff at the dojo. Even my M-79, let alone the SEMTEX, or the hydrogen bomb.."
My eyes narrowed. "Tell me you're joking about the hydrogen bomb."
Karen grinned. "Nope; not sure exactly, but I gather Ian has some high-powered connections to various militaries, and one of them slipped him The Bomb. And, of course, there's the Clan's R9 Devyatka base on Earth..."
I jerked around in surprise. "What the- R9 Devyatka!? What are you talking about?"
It was her turn to be surprised. "Didn't you know? The Clan got hold of an old Soviet missile silo seven years back; I think it was just before Ian got back from the West. It came complete with a fully-functional R9 Devyatka missile."
"Where is it!?" I demanded.
"Kazakhstan, I think... Ryan, are you okay?"
"Yeah, sure..." I shook my head. Kazakhstan? Perhaps now some of the pieces were coming together.
"What's a Devyatka?" Rose asked, frowning. "I don't think I've heard the term before."
"No reason you should have," I assured her. "The R9 Devyatka was a Soviet nuclear ICBM during the Cold War, and I'd heard they were all dismantled more than a decade ago."
"Well, this one's live," Karen said. "I don't know the exact location, but I did visit it once, during explosives training about a month before the Second Dragon Campaign. Everything was intact, minus a few computer mainframes that were full of bullet holes, and quite a bit of dried blood. However the Clan got hold of it, it wasn't pretty." She frowned. "The weird thing is, Ian was supposed to come with me, for some kind data search, but he refused. In fact, he disappeared for two weeks."
Something was definitely up. "Something is definitely up," I murmured. "There must be a solution to the puzzle, but not all the pieces have been revealed yet." I finally shrugged. "Anyway, back to the original point, do you have anything that could seriously affect Sin?"
She reached into her bag of all things BANG and rummaged. "Well," Karen said finally, "I do have some C4. If we had some way of delivering it to the target, it might work, but even then I doubt it would be sufficient."
Suddenly, the ice beneath us began to shake, and I managed to shout "A moot point, I think!" before a crack swallowed us up...
I don't know how long I was out, but when I awakened, it was daylight on a sand dune, and I was hot as blazes. "Ittaizentai...?"
"Beats me, Brother," Karen said, standing higher on the dune. "Last thing I remember is being in a cold place; my system didn't react too well to the sudden temperature shift."
"Where are Rose and the others?"
She shrugged. "Beats me. Rose was here when I came to, but she headed off to scout the area by air; I have no idea at all where the Spirans are."
"First things first," I decided. "Let's find Rose; our Dragoon Spirits will lead the way once we're close enough. Until then, we fly."
"Right." In a flare of light too bright look at, she transformed into the Dragoon of the Starburst Dragon, whose might had shaken Melbu Frahma himself.
I had to admit, as I transformed, that her magic was more powerful than mine, in terms of raw destructive force. On the other hand, I was able to warp time in such ways as to literally drive men insane.
"All this desert makes you wish we had Meru with us, doesn't it?" Karen commented as we flew. "At least she could cool us off."
"Ah, but then we'd have her practical jokes to deal with. Besides, just imagine what it would be like she and Rikku got together in the same place." I shuddered.
My sister, on the other hand, grinned. "Aw, that'd be great! Really exciting!"
"You can keep your excitement and stuff it into a wormhole," I muttered.
We found Rose perched on another sand dune some distance away, staring down at a war zone.
"What's going on here...?" I whispered, watching as fiends tore through what appeared to be a machina city... with Guado aiding them wholeheartedly.
"I think that is the city of the Al Bhed," Rose said without turning. "The Guado have invaded, and unleashed fiends to aid them."
I stared at the carnage and felt sick; the violence in and of itself didn't bother me; squeamish people didn't make it as assassins. But the sheer, senseless slaughter of innocents... "Rikku's gonna be devastated when she sees this, poor girl..." Karen glanced at me strangely, but I ignored it. "Come on; if Yuna and her Guardians wound up in this desert, they'll be in there. And besides..." I drew the Soul Cleaver from its scabbard and glared down at the marauding Guado. "I won't sit by and watch those inhuman bastards massacre people!"
Without waiting to see if my companions were following me, I took wing once more, swooping down on the enemy. "She stoops to conquer!" I heard Karen call out, and on the heels of that shout, I cast a time spell, sucking a Guado and his minions into what was essentially a tiny black hole.
I don't remember much of the next few minutes; I just have snatches of violent death, as I swung and chopped and thrust, killing Guado after Guado, fiend after fiend, moving with ruthless economy of motion, giving neither mercy nor quarter.
When I came back to myself, my blood-red Dragoon armor was truly blood-red, soaked and stained with the blood of my victims. I felt no remorse; those freaks had brought it on themselves by their brutal actions, and to this day I do not regret it.
I felt only very tired, and I wondered if the killing would ever end.
We soon ran into Tidus and the others, themselves searching for Yuna. "You're safe!" Rikku called out, face showing her obvious relief. "We weren't sure if you guys were okay!"
"We're fine," I said wearily.
Wakka looked critically at my blood-spattered body. "What happened to you, yah?"
Rikku took note of it as well; hard not to, since my normally-black outfit was almost completely red. "Are you okay? What's all this blood...?"
I shook my head, also wearily. "You don't want to know, Rikku. I will say only that this blood does not belong to me." I sighed. "You are not ready for the sight of what I left behind."
"Did you find Yuna?" Tidus broke in.
"No," Rose answered; I was beyond speech. "We thought she was with you."
"If she's here, she'll be in the Summoner's Sanctum," Rikku said. "Follow me!"
And follow her we did, to a large chamber where we saw several summoners, including Dona and the Isaru, the man who had originally warned us of the summoner disappearances, back in Djose.
"What are all these summoners doing here?" Tidus asked. "Were the Al Bhed behind the kidnapping all along?"
Rikku took a deep breath, obviously struggling to keep her voice from breaking. "Yes," she said in a weak voice.
"Why?" He looked at the bleak faces around him. "Why don't you want the summoners to complete their pilgrimages?" He looked as if he was dreading the answer.
"Yunie will die, you know!?" Rikku finally shouted. "She'll summon the Final Aeon, and it'll kill her, too!"
Tidus staggered. "What...? No, it can't be!"
"It is," Auron said softly.
"Why did you hide it from me!?" he screamed.
"We weren't hiding it," Wakka said quietly.
"It was just too hard to say," Lulu finished, eyes downcast.
I turned away as Tidus fell to his knees and screamed, walking away as his sound of pain echoed through the place the Al Bhed had called Home. We all have our sorrows, Tidus, our painful burdens. Even I, though I suspect it pails compared to yours or Ian's...
"We'll hold them off," I heard Dona say, as I walked with Karen and Rose toward the vehicle that lay before us, the airship the Al Bhed had resurrected from its watery grave. "It's the least we can do for those who protected us."
Rikku fell into step with us. "We'd better get aboard. My father said that they're going to lift off soon; we ran into him just before we met up with you." She sniffed. "We're... going to have to blow up Home, with the fiends and Guado inside. Then we'll look for Yunie."
As Tidus' wail echoed behind us, we walked into the airship, thinking of our sorrows...
Author's note: Another chapter done, and pretty quick, too. Soon, all shall be revealed about Ian's hidden past, and who the mysterious "Jeannette Delacroix" once was.
You are quite correct, Red Eyed, Divine Dragoon77415; it will be revealed in the course of the story. I shall not do so myself.
Songwind, as it happens the Asymmetry Theory is from Metal Gear Solid (I've played a lot of games on Sony systems). I don't know for sure if the theory exists, but the game is rather well-researched, so it seemed logical to me. As I'm a big MGS fan, you'll see other references to it throughout my writing, including the cyborg ninja.
Seriyu-the-ice-dragon, as you can see I explained that within the chapter. I confess, however, that it simply had not occurred to me prior to your mentioning it.
Translation: "Ittaizentai" means "What in the world".
That covers things, I think; read and let me know what you think. -Solid Shark
