Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC's
Chapter Four.
"Kiros?" Quistis repeated, mouth ajar at Kiros Seagill, former Galbadian soldier, right hand man and close personal friend of Laguna Loire and Ward Zabac.
"Stand down." He commanded. They obeyed, showing him the respect and admiration he held. "Where're the others?"
"They're in the ship, apart from.... Squall." Quistis held back tears, she had to keep it together for now, she could cry, holler, whatever when she was alone. "He's-He's been captured. We failed our mission."
"I know." He threw Zell a compact silver box no larger than a coaster. "Get the others and put that on the ship."
"What is it?" Zell examined it.
"A cloaking device, it'll protect the ship."
Zell, trusting the taller man, barged past the katana girl back to the ship. Up the stairs then into the passenger room. Selphie sat opposite Rinoa, still static, tear stains down her cheeks. She had been crying again. She held the sorceress hand in comfort.
"We've gotta go!"
"Where?" Selphie stood up, still holding Rinoa's hand.
"Dunno? Didn't ask Kiros."
"KIROS!" Selphie's face lit up, solid hope at last.
Rinoa turned her head, not believing what she was hearing.
"Yeah! Come on."
Selphie lead a zombie like dark haired teen out of the mighty ship. She was taken back by the sight of the people that greeted them. Friendly faces at last. As the stairs rose Zell smacked the cloaking device onto their base. The majestic red and black dragon flickered then vanished without a trace.
"Is she alright?" A violet haired woman brandishing a shotgun asked, hiding her concern when her eyes laid upon Rinoa.
"She's in shock." Irvine answered.
"Everyone here?" The brown eyed senior asked. People nodded and murmured in response. "Right! Rydan, Lilia."
The dark green haired woman known as Lilia returned her katana to it's brown holster on her back. The sceptic brown haired man called Rydan placed his uzi's back to his sides. They both went to a nearby orange derelict lifter, they lifted it up like it were light as a feather to show the hatch it was hiding. Kiros took off his back glove, he placed his bare hand onto a scanner a slightly darker shade of earth than the hatch. A blue light read his finger prints, a key pad flipped over; he had passed the finger print test. He entered the access code, the hatch slid open revealing a long, sturdy ladder.
One by one the rebels climbed down. Irvine and Selphie went in-between Rinoa fearing she would fall. She managed through, determination returning. If Squall were in her position he wouldn't act like a feeble cry baby. No. He would moved heaven and earth to save her like he'd done in the Sorceress Memorial. So she had do the same for him, crying time was over!
They arrived in a semi-lit tunnel spanning left and right. Some of the rebels went left, while the rest went right, them included.
"Stay close." Kiros told them. "This place's a maze to the unknown."
Further people departed through the few tunnels the joined to the current one.
They arrived at a metal unbreakable door, a keypad and speaker on it's side. The lithe fighter, again, entered the access code, then stated his name. A small blue light shone on his left eye horizontally then vertically.
Access granted
The machine announced before its double doors opened. They all gasped at its revilement. A bustling underground city was presented to them. A rectangular room with doors along the perimeter, different spices and people, children, adults, coming and going, in and out of their homes and elevators. Daily lives going on around them as Kiros led them, silently, across the room to an elevator at the back of the room. It responded immediately to the call button. Once inside the somewhat spacious room, Kiros sent them on their way.
"What is this place Kiros?" Selphie gazed up to the taller man.
"Laguna will answer you questions...well, most of them."
"Laguna's here?" Quistis asked. Normally where Kiros was Laguna and Ward were. Quistis knew this, but with what had happened; anything was possible.
Kiros nodded as the elevator stopped. The doors opened to a circular room, again doors adorned the outskirts. Kiros lead them through one of three double doors. A desk was the first thing to be seen on entering the room. Standing behind was a black haired man, it hung down to about the base of his neck, bangs on the right side of his parting. Dogtag's forever lying on his chest. Beside him was a bulky figured man, a blue bandana covered his head, a scar running down the left side of his face.
"Sir Laguna!" Selphie beamed.
"Your here!" Laguna, president of the now no more Esthar, and now head of the resistance said. 'Bout' time!...No. Focus focus!
Kiros joined his loyal friends. "Squall's been captured." He whispered to Laguna.
His handsome face drooped hearing the news about the son he never knew. He looked so much like his mother. Her deep blue eyes, her lips that would curve, no doubtedly, into her smile, if the boy ever did smile that is. Seeing him aboard the Ragnarok before the mission seem like light years ago. His cold, self-possessed stance, so military. How could he look at him with Raine's eyes, those soft loving eyes, and look military?
"Laguna?" Cid Kramer had entered unbeknownst to the light green eyed man deep in thought. The astute, aged former Balamb Garden headmaster gently spoke.
"Huh?"
Cid adjusted his oval glasses. "Debriefing sir."
"I knew that."
"Nice to see you again," the headmaster faced his students. "You must be confused?"
"Damn right!" Zell uttered under his breath, his arms folded in a childish manner.
"When you went into time compression," Laguna focused on the situation, pushing back his grief momentarily. "Me and Elle waited. An hour later, Elle told me what Ultimecia was planning."
"Back up man!" Zell interrupted. "What that bitch do?"
"She created a time portal," Cid's blue eyes focused on his prized SeeD's. "A rip in the time space continuum that propelled you twenty years into the future. This is the world under Ultimecia's rule. When she arrived just over a nine years ago, she dominated. Manipulating or threading the cities leaders and army's to join her, making examples of those who openly apposed her. As you can gather they didn't resist much. She didn't bother dominating Esthar; she destroyed it instead. She then turned her wrath to the Garden's. Trabia was first to go, followed by Balamb and Galbadia."
"Knowing this, Ellone created a time portal of her own, and sent us forward a year before Ultimecia came."
"Ward!?" A surprised Quistis gasped hearing Ward's voice in reality for the first time.
"With all the technology this time has they were able to fix his voice." Kiros dispelled her confusion.
"And where's sis?" Irvine asked.
"S-She's in a coma." Laguna choked. "The doctors say she couldn't cope with the stain of creating the portal. She's making better progress everyday."
A silence spread in the room, as the SeeD's took in the news of the girl they had grown up with in Edea's orphanage.
"Anyway," Ward continued. "When we told Cid and Edea what was going to happen, they showed us this place."
"Yeah," Irvine spoke, scanning the office. "What is this place?"
"It's a massive underground labyrinth," Cid took the lead. "I found the plans in an old file. I never thought it really existed; but something told me to check it out. I was amazed to find it in emasculate condition. We, along with the other Gardens and Esthar, gathered food, technology and other essentials and transferred them down here. We tried persuading people from the other cities to join us, but they wouldn't listen."
They thought we were high. Asked if we missed the nut house. Laguna thought. Is my leg cramping? Not now!
"A year later Ultimecia arrived. We had to sit down here as she demolished our homes." Ward spat.
"Luckily, most of the people were already down here." Cid's voice was calm and business like, like it had been throughout. "When Ultimecia discovered most of the SeeD's missing, she went on a rampage; torturing the imhabitants of the cities, cutting off their water supply, etc, in a means to lure us out. Now we're hunted like animals. Those captured she turns into monsters once they're no longer informative, she brainwashes them, fuses them with machines!"
Rinoa's eyes widened. No, not Squall. He can't, he just can't turn like Raijin.
Laguna saw the dark haired girls terror, understanding completely. Many people he had known had scrummed to Ultimecia's sick, inhuman experiments. But this was different, this was his flesh and blood, his son for crying out loud!
"That explains Raijin." Selphie mused.
"Ah, Raijin." Eyes covered by glasses closed in a disappointing way. "Can you believe he had that done voluntary?" He sighed. "I had such high hopes."
"We've got informants everywhere, even some of Ultimecia's men. We try and help the people while we wait for the perfect opportunity to bring her down!" Laguna usually avoided war like the plague. But this was different, Ultimecia had gone to far. First being a main factor in Ellone's current coma, and now Squall. This was indeed war; to personal for him to walk away from.
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Silver Tigeress.