Tara awoke to darkness.
She shifted, and made a sound of disgust. She was still coated in mud, and most of it had dried, making movement very unpleasant. Where was she?
She was not happy about it.
She had been defeated in combat, she had been captured, and she was covered in dried, crusted mud. What a day.
Renaku, you owe me a hell of a lot, she thought.
Another mental spark struck. If they knew she was a spy, then why would they not have killed her? Unless....
...they didn't know she was a spy.
She thought fast. Her Imperial diamond tattoo was hidden under her clothing and the layer of dirt... unless she allowed any of them to get very personal, they would never see it. She could probably pass herself off as a random thief... gain their trust... she could even offer to help them! And when the time was right...
No. She wouldn't kill them. At least one of them had to be a Rebel O7 trooper. Maybe they held secrets to the ion technology that the rebels supposedly had in their control... He would relinquish the information, especially when brought before the Imperial President and tortured.
Yes. That was it. Capture them and deliver them to the Imperial Empire bound and gagged.
See if Renaku would look so damned smug then.
Tara shifted back on her knees, as she heard the familiar gentle hum of laser cuffs and felt the contours around her wrists. This was no position to be in...
Sighing, she resigned herself to the inevitable interrogation, hoping her acting skills were good enough...
f i n a l f a n t a s y : r e a l i t y
FINAL FANTASY REALITY
written by chaosrayne
original concept by redshadow
disk one: se7en: fl4wl3ss c0wb0y
Discard burned wires. Replace, strip insulation, twist, solder, repeat as desired.
Silently grateful for the Intermediate Electronics course he had taken back at the academy, Rain wiped sweat from his brow with his shirt sleeve and concentrated on connecting the two wires exposed in the open bulkhead in front of him. They sparked and he winced, cursing his burnt fingers.
"Alex, pass me the pliers." The tools were passed on, and Rain clamped the wires together, hoping the plastic grip was sufficient insulation. "Laser torch."
Some burnt fingers, a few bruises, and minor laser burns later, the SFMA junior cadet sighed and slammed the bulkhead back, welding it shut.
Alex called out to the nearest speaker grille. "Durandal! Try self-start now!"
There was a few sputtering noises, an odd cough, and then a steady rumble as the engine to the experimental tank DA-000001 started.
Patch groaned in the infirmary as the machine around him came to life. "I need to drive..."
Durandal's voice was there, sounding oddly elated. "Diagnostic: Healthy middle-aged male. Slow heart rate indicates sleep loss. Electrolyte balance unstable. System recovering from minor shock. Recommend you stay in infirmary until rested."
The O7 trooper nearly yanked the IV drip out of his left arm in frustration, but thought better of it and lay back. After all, he was tired.
"Relax, Patch!" Alex's wild, excited voice rang over Durandal's speakers. "I know how to drive, and you've already marked the place we should be heading on a map schematic. Go get some sleep!"
The large man took a breath and sighed. She was right, but that didn't mean he had to be happy about this. Taking a nap would help, after all... in a short while Patch was asleep, snoring occasionally.
In the bridge, Alex strapped herself forcefully into the nav harness, motioning for Rain to do the same. Rain was too busy concentrating on his burnt fingers and cursing to take much notice, however.
"Are you SURE you know how to drive? I don't recall you taking emergency vehicular courses back at the academy..."
"Shut up, Rain." Alex gripped the metal steering system with an almost rabid fervour. "I want to drive."
I exhaled and strapped myself into my harness, concentrating on the schematic in front of me, and praying to whatever gods were out there that Durandal would make up for Alex's mistakes.
The combustion engine's steady rumbling rose to a powerful roar that reverbrated throughout the entire body framework of the tank, as if it was actually eager to be on its way again.
The blonde that was Alexandria Winters whooped in exultation. "Yeeee-haaaah! This thing can move! We need to blow this joint!"
I sigh, closing my eyes. "Whatever..."
The experimental tank DA-000001A flung itself into high gear. Tank treads complained as the servomotors stressed themselves to the maximum limit. The engine's roar grew to a healthy, high-pitched whine. The machine surged forward from a dead stop, going from point A to an ongoing point Z while points B to Y cried in frustration. Hardening clods of mud flew every which way in its wake.
I jerked uncontrollably forward as Durandal came from a cold start to a high speed in about seven seconds. Some part of my brain wondered at this - Durandal was a honest to god freaking TANK, after all... were those things ever meant to go this fast? My harness, however, saved my face from becoming a ruin against the nearest data terminal; a fact I was grateful for.
"Alex! For goodness' sake slow the hell down!" I yelled over the roar of the engine. "You're going off course!"
I turn to her, and find only a bestial, growling monster, knuckles white over the controls, eyes taut and focused on the newly fixed heads-up display. Her mouth, slightly open, show a hint of white teeth clenched tightly shut.
"...!" I open my mouth in a silent scream, as the sideview visible in my terminal zooms by, barely a blur of muddy colors...
Some time later, two youths sat atop the now-dry surface of one unbelievably large tank, tensions high between both of them. The tank, oblivious to the drama going on, continued through the desert landscape, now proceeding at a moderate speed compared to what it had been scarce moments before.
"I said I'm sorry. What else do you want?"
"Nothing. But still... if you hadn't accelerated so freaking hard, MAYBE I wouldn't have snapped out of my harness and fallen on the floor."
"My fault? I stopped driving to CHECK on you!
"Yeah, but MAYBE if you hadn't BRAKED so freaking HARD, I wouldn't have crashed into the adjacent WALL!!!"
"Who told YOU to undo your harness, anyway!"
"Dammit, Alex, I was worried! You were freaking scary back there, don't claim you weren't..."
The female SFMA cadet sighs as if admitting defeat. "Okay, I'm sorry, whatever. Now will you stop griping at me?"
"Only if you promise not to attempt to drive this thing for the rest of this journey." The male cadet sighs. "...I guess Instructor Williams was right about women drivers."
Not glaring at the blatantly sexist comment was an obvious effort. Muscles twitched ever so slightly in the fair-haired girl's face. "I... promise."
Rain nodded. "Fair enough. Just let Durandal handle the nav from now on, okay?"
Alex sighed. "Whatever. So what do we do now?"
The boy ran a hand through his raven hair and set his jaw resolutely. "We have to interrogate the attacker." Dropping down through the open roof hatch, he landed, getting a feel for the moving vehicle. "You left her in the lounge, right?"
"Yeah." Alex(andria) replied, still smarting from the vicious reparte. She was not likely to forget that anytime soon. "Wait up, I'm coming with you."
They found the assassin facedown in the roughshod carpet of the slightly more spacious room in Durandal that counted as a lounge. Her reddish-auburn hair was still damp in places; where dry, mud clumps stuck. That went for the rest of her body, too. There was only one thing noticeable - beneath all the dirt, she was, without a doubt, attractive.
Tara had been captured, coated in a layer of now-hardened mud, and beaten, but she still looked great. This was an advantage in her favour, as her interrogator was still a normal heterosexual male, albeit a somewhat repressed one.
Rain inwardly cursed himself. He could not bring himself to hurt this girl... even though he had been beating the crud out of her when they first met.
Noticing his attention, the assassin grinned. "See anything you like?"
Rain blushed, which was a rare thing for him. Then he turned around and went crimson as Alex raised an eyebrow at him. Tara laughed softly.
This would not do. Shutting the emotion out of his mind, the way he had been taught, he grabbed the girl and pushed her to her knees. Picking up Alex's standard issue M41-A O7 trooper knife, he placed the flat side of the blade against the skin of her neck.
Taking a deep breath, he started. "Who are you?"
"Tara."
Rain's eyes closed. "That's not what I asked."
Tara winced. This guy was smarter than he looked - she had taken him for a complete klutz when he had looked at her like that. Either that or a neophyte. "I'm a scavenger thief. Your vehicle looked like it had some good hardware, so I tried to steal it."
"Hardware? You don't know how good." Durandal's voice muttered in the speakers omniously.
Rain withdrew the blade a fraction. "Shut up, Durandal."
Tara opened and closed her mouth uselessly. Who was that? A disembodied voice was the least of her problems, as Alex frowned.
"She's lying. She's too good to be a thief. She knew lightning would knock the tank out, and you said she could fight." The blonde interjected.
Rain sighed, exasperated. "Why don't you take over?" When Alex threw up her hands in exasperation, he continued, talking to Tara this time. "My friend here has every right to rip your spine out and beat you with it, as you hit her with a lightning bolt. She considers that fair, and I won't be able to stop her when the time comes."
Tara sweat bullets, frantic. "I swear by Hyne its true! I'm a thief, former Imperial assassin! I turned against them when they attacked my hometown!" She hoped the half-truth would distract them from the real truth enough. "You're Imperials, aren't you? You are, you wouldn't be driving an Imperial tank otherwise! Please don't turn me in, I'll do anything you say!"
The dark-haired teenager paused. He did not enjoy tormenting harmless (well, not exactly in this case) females, and this attractive redhead was no exception. "We're not really Imperials... we're just two kids looking out for each other." At Alex's amused frown, he added, "We got a Rebel on our side as well."
"And that Rebel is right here." A rough voice said. Patch strode into the room groggily, half awake. "I'm up, I'm up. You questioning the assassin?"
"She's not an assassin. Just a thief." Rain stood up and flung the knife back, where it was caught by a ready Alex. "She hit us because she wanted Dave's hardware."
Patch looked skeptical, but nodded. "Is she on our side?"
Alex shook her head, but Rain blurted it out. "She's a thief. Nowhere to go, as the Imperials would probably sentence her to life in captivity or something."
Score! Tara thought to herself. "I'd be willing to help you, as long as it hurts the Imperial dictatorship!" She put on a girlish grin. "Please?"
Rain whacked his palm against his forehead in protest, but Patch was already saying, "We need all the help we can get."
The Imperial spy and assassin put on her best face as she turned around and let Rain key open the laser cuffs. "Thanks." She offered a smile to Alex, who gave her a withering glare in return. "Now... is there a bathroom in this place? I need to clean myself up."
Rain shook his head. Alex was cheerful and bouncy at the best of times... what was causing her to be so cold? Probably the whole driving debacle still hurt. And another girl would only complicate the cycle further.
I mean, what was she, jealous?
Naaah, his brain thought. The new girl was a thief, and it would take more than an attractive smile to forget the memories of being hit by lightning.
Even if it was a damn nice smile.
Rain lay on the floor in shock, face aflame, eyes wide and shocked, as a naked Tara squirmed atop him.
To explain how this situation came about, we need to go back a little. Rewind, tape playback, whatever. How about some time ago...
"Dream on."
"That's MEAN!" Her face twisted into a frown.
"No, I mean it. You have to believe in your hopes and dreams..."
Stop tape. Too far back.
Fast-forward... there.
"Rain! Go tell the thief to get out of the bathroom, Patch wants to see her." Alex's voice rang through Durandal's speakers. "Now!"
Rain sighed. He was going to get tired fast of being Alex's errand boy. Walking grimly along the small corridor that led to the area used as a bathroom, he knocked on the door.
No response.
Again.
No response.
He pushed open the folding door to the bathroom and saw a small bundle of muddy clothes lying next to the door, along with a pair of sai that still gleamed wickedly sharp.
Out of interest, he picked one up and began spinning it around his index finger. Good, almost perfect balance... except for the three green orbs in the hilt.
Then, he heard... a humming?
He whirled, only to face a naked redhead, a towel draped unconcernedly over one shoulder...
Embarrassed as all hell, he froze, trying to back off. Commands from the brain like 'dammit! What the hell?' and 'get away' raged, as well as the start of a libido.
Tara, grinning like the cheshire cat that just BBQed the canary, advanced, a predatorial smile on her face. "See anything you like?"
"I... I was just..." The raven haired teenager dropped the sai he had been holding and stuttered in abject confusion. "I... I..."
Then, because Murphy's Law holds even in alternate universes, he tripped on a loose shoelace whle backing up and fell. He lunged for the nearest support he could get, hoping to salvage what little pride he had left...
The nearest support happened to be... well, I mean, you could at least guess where this is going. You're not complete neophytes, are you?
Tara, not being able to support his marginally heavier weight, fell on top of him.
Yes, that does a nice job of bringing us to the present, does it not?
Yep.
Rain lay on the floor in shock, face aflame, eyes wide and shocked, as a naked Tara squirmed atop him.
She was grinning.
Rain let out a startled 'meep' and tried to break loose, but the naked redhead assassin posing as tech thief held tight.
"You have to be kidding me." Tara mock-complained. "I throw myself naked at you, and you react like you've never seen a woman before. Oh well, just to make up for lost time..."
She leaned forward, and pulled Rain into a kiss.
A kiss. A TONGUE KISSING SOUL SUCKING BAD MUTHA of a kiss.
Rain jerked away, but the thing behind him happened to be the floor, so he winced as his head bounced painfully.
Unseen, two pairs of eyes watched.
Durandal was one, chuckling quietly to himself as he recorded the video file and stored it where it would be useful later.
Alex was the other, watching through the half-open door of the 'bathroom'.
She gave a sigh, as if regretting something.
Then she shuffled away, the perfect picture of depression, making sure Rain didn't see her.