Chapter 7: Motives
It took fifteen minutes to finally reach the bridge leading from the outskirts of the city up into the mountains, and once again Squad B found no humans on the way. Aside from the distant sounds of gunfire, Dollet's streets had been ominously empty once more.
"Is this a ghost town?" Zell whispered as they approached the bridge. All three cadets were alert and ready as the bridge came into sight. The bridge itself connected the city proper with the mountains across a deep but narrow ravine. Each member of Squad B knew that the bridge was an easily defensible and observable location, so it was almost assured that the Galbadians had set up some kind of sentry or defensive position there. They were not disappointed (or rather, Seifer was not), as a group of over a dozen Galbadians stood around the bridge, a few at either end and some scattered soldiers along its hundred or so foot length.
"So, now what?" Zell asked, glancing Seifer's way.
"We charge," Seifer replied in all seriousness. "I'll lead with Squall. Zell, you're right behind us, cover us with magic." That was all that needed to be said, and before anyone could raise a question, Seifer began running down the bridge at full speed, gunblade drawn. Squall nodded and was right behind him.
"Let's take 'em!" Zell shouted enthusiastically, running after them.
The Galbadians had spotted Seifer the moment he and Squall had charged out into the open, but had been surprised at an opponent taking the most obvious and suicidal route possible. By the time their minds had caught up with the surprising actions of the cadets, Squall and Seifer were already engaging the quartet of Galbadians at the near end of the bridge, two to each cadet. The Galbadians at the far end of the bridge raised their firearms at the attack, but then dove for cover as an explosion of fire took down two of their number, courtesy of Zell Dincht.
Seifer sliced a man down with one deft cut, while Squall forced his nearest opponent's blade aside and shoved him over the bridge's railing and into the sea below. Seifer ducked a high Galbadian sword and spun down around in a low, whirling cut, his gunblade taking out the legs of the Galbadian. Hyperion sliced in again and finished the soldier. Squall's gunblade swung back vertically over his shoulder, intercepting the fourth soldier's sword as it came at his back. The cadet spun around, blocking another slash and countering with a single overhead cleave that dropped his foe.
Neither Squall nor Seifer hesitated, realizing that sheer speed and the reluctance of the Galbadians at the back to fire at their comrades engaged in close quarters battle were their best weapons. Both cadets continued their charge down the bridge, their legs pumping furiously with GF-enhanced strength as they closed with a cluster of five enemy soldiers.
Even with their speed and cover advantage, both cadets would have been easy targets for the Galbadians at the far end of the bridge if Zell hadn't been slinging Fire spells at the enemy soldiers and forcing them to scramble out of the way.
Those Galbadians closer to the two gunblade-toting cadets didn't get a chance to raise their weapons. One was cut down by Seifer before his hands touched the grip of his sheathed sword, a second took the butt of the Revolver in the mouth and was laid out unconscious, and a third was able to parry a single slash of Hyperion before being cut down.
Squall leaped over the opponent he'd knocked out and thrust the Revolver one-handed at another soldier who had unslung his rifle. The slightly curving tip of the Revolver took the man high in his gun arm, and Squall's other hand, balled into a fist, smashed into the soldier's face. The Galbadian stumbled back, dazed, but raised his rifle again in spite of the pain in his arm. The rifle fired a burst into Squall's chest, the rounds burying into his skin. Squall stumbled back for a brief instant, then to the Galbadian's utmost surprise, he came forward again, as if he'd never been shot to begin with. The Revolver flashed down and finished the amazed Galbadian, who knew nothing about the defensive junctions Balamb SeeDs used to harden their skin and toughen their bodies, making them more resistant to damage.
The fifth soldier backed away desperately from Seifer as the white- coated cadet charged. The man swung his rifle in front of him like a club, hoping to ward off his foe as other Galbadians from further down the bridge ran to his aid. The rifle's stock smacked into Hyperion's blade, knocking it aside as it came in, but Seifer pulled another of his oh-so-amazingly fast spins and came down with Hyperion again. The Galbadian raised his rifle to intercept the blow. It took Hyperion's slice well enough, but Seifer pulled his gunblade's trigger as it clashed with the rifle. The explosive blast shattered the gun, and before the soldier could react, Hyperion dove through his chest and Squad B's captain was advancing towards the next group of Galbadians, a trio charging with drawn swords. Hyperion met the steel blades of Seifer's foes in a ring of tempered metal and a whoosh of cut air. The sound of gunblade on swords was as one long ringing wail of metal on metal.
Of the Galbadians at the far end of the bridge, only a pair remained, the rest left dead or in no condition to fight by Zell's magic. One jumped out from behind a boulder and lifted a grenade, aiming for the charging cadets and not really caring about the well-being of his comrades. Against these foes, his fellow soldiers were dead anyway!
Squall spotted the man and reacted at the same time as Zell. Even as the Galbadian had popped the pin and was about to throw, a blast of flame and a jolt of lightning took him off his feet. His grenade dropped to the ground next to the other Galbadian, who scrambled over the boulder to avoid the explosive.
He didn't make it.
The threat eliminated, Squall and Zell charged into the midst of the furious melee Seifer was embroiled in with the remaining Galbadians. A thrust, two slashes, an uppercut, and a roundhouse kick later, the bridge was secured.
"Well that was easy enough," Zell remarked, clapping his hands together as if to wipe them clean.
"Don't relax," Seifer remarked, smiling as he turned back to the mountain trail beyond the bridge. "We're not done yet!" Squad B resumed the advance up the mountainside.
Soon, they found the "trail" was actually a laid path of concrete bricks, like a road, leading up the mountainside. Several times the squad found themselves climbing up cut steps as they advanced. Along the way, Squall noticed what appeared to be spent shell casings and some bloodstains.
"Signs of conflict," he remarked, to which the other two nodded.
"Dollet troops?" Seifer mused, and as they rounded a bend in the path, they discovered he had been on the right track. Bodies of about eight to ten or so Dollet soldiers littered the stone path, some shot, others cut, and more marked by burns or small shards of ice.
"The Galbadians must have come this way," Squall remarked. At the sound of his voice, one of the bodies moved, the not so dead soldier crawling out of some bushes. Zell and Squall crouched down next to the soldier while Seifer kept a lookout.
"Who . . . are you?" the soldier asked, clutching a wound in his leg. Like the other soldiers, the Dollet trooper wore an olive uniform that blended in well with the mountainous terrain, along with a helmet featuring a steel visor and a ninja mask covering his face.
"Don't worry," Squall said to the wounded soldier. "We're SeeD cadets, dispatched by Garden to support you."
"What's going on up there?" Seifer asked, looking up the mountain trail. From his vantage point, he could see more Dollet troops dead or unconscious along the trail. "What are they after?"
"The Galbadians . . ." the soldier began. "They've entered the Communications Tower. I don't know why, it's been abandoned for years. On top of that, this place has always been a nesting ground for monsters. If you guys are going up, you'd better be caref-"
The soldier didn't get finished with his warning when a terrible hissing growl erupted from the bushes behind him. Something grabbed the man's leg and began pulling him back.
"Help!" he cried as he was yanked into the shrubbery with a violent jerk. Squall and Zell dove forward, Squall drawing the Revolver while Zell hooked his arms around the man's torso and pulled, testing his considerable strength against that of this unknown foe.
Even as Zell was pulling hard, Squall saw their foe, a huge green- brown monstrosity, like a giant snake, its jaws clamped around the soldier's foot.
The monster was an Anacondaur: a huge, venomous, predatory creature. He had never seen one of the huge snakes before, only studied them in class, but he knew immediately that the creature was poisonous and very strong and durable.
Wasting no time, Squall buried the Revolver in the monster's back just behind the head and pulled the trigger, the explosive blast compounding the damage but far from killing the tough-bodied monster. However, the creature did immediately let go of the Dollet soldier and faced this new enemy, which had been Squall's intention all along. The snake reared up, towering over Squall as Zell dragged the wounded soldier to the side.
A burst of fire exploded into the monster's head and the huge snake turned aside momentarily to face Seifer. In that instant, Squall came in at the monster and sliced it with the Revolver, firing another blast into the Anacondaur's side. The Anacoundaur immediately spun back towards Squall, and though the cadet was too close to be bitten, the monster slammed the side of its head into Squall's chest, knocking him back to the ground. The huge snake immediately slithered over to the prone cadet, pointedly ignoring Seifer as he hurled another Fire spell at it, and opened its jaws. The Anacoundaur's head snapped down at Squall even as he brought his gunblade up. The monster's jaws closed over Squall's gunblade arm, and it snapped its whole body back, lifting the cadet up.
Squall gritted his teeth as he felt the sharp pain of the Anaconaur's teeth dig into his skin and the burn of its poison in his blood. Unlike regular snakes, which ate their prey whole, Anacondaurs were more like alligators or crocodiles, shaking and biting prey they had trapped in their maw. Such was what the monster did to Squall, thrashing its head around and almost dislocating his shoulder in the process. Thinking quickly, Squall's free left hand shot down to his belt, to the backup knife he had sheathed there. Yanking the blade free, Squall flipped it over to an overhand stabbing grip and drove the blade into one of the Anaconaur's eyes. The monster's head jerked back in pain, then it immediately snapped its head down, hurling the cadet to the stone path. He smashed into the ground hard and rolled away. The monster would have followed its prey but Seifer had apparently decided he was finished with his ineffective magic and had buried Hyperion into its side while it was distracted. The snake turned to face Seifer, who backed away and faced it with a confident grin and raised gunblade.
Squall rolled over on his back and grabbed a vial off his equipment belt as he felt the burn of the monster's poison run through his veins. He quickly popped a pill into his mouth as he began feeling light-headed and dizzy. Almost immediately the antidote began working, and Squall began climbing to his feet as the Anacondaur struck at Seifer.
The snake's head snapped down, jaws open and ready to take a bite out of the squad captain. Seifer, however, leaped right over the bite and slashed Hyperion down across the monster's head. The Anacondaur hissed in anger and came in again with a bite, only to take another slice, this one accompanied by the blast of a gunblade shell. As the monster jerked back in pain, Seifer pressed his advantage. Hyperion sliced twice more, both times accompanied by explosive blasts as Seifer closed in. Suddenly, the Anacondaur's head came in again with a smacking strike. Seifer managed to cut the monster again, but wasn't able to get out of its way, and was hurled to the ground. He was back on his feet in a second, ready to continue the fight, but as the monster closed in again, Zell literally leaped into the battle, a spinning, flying kick smashing the monster's face. The snake backed away as it took the hit, hissing as it retreated.
The Revolver buried into its backside again, firing as it cut.
The Anacondur was tough, strong, and mighty, but even its great monstrous power was no match for the cadets' junctions as Seifer sliced in again, while Zell hammered the creature with powerful punches and kicks. Squall's heavy gunblade chopped and blasted, Hyperion dove and cut, and Zell pounded away. Within a matter of moments, the huge snake was dead.
"Monsters?" Squall asked a minute later as he felt the revitalizing power of healing potions binding his nasty wounds.
"More fun for us," Seifer remarked, cleaning his gunblade. "Let's go!" He hurried up the mountainside, Squall behind him.
"Fun?" Zell muttered, glancing at the dead monster mere feet away. "Pu-lease." Still, despite his words, the cadet charged up after his captain.
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"What?" Xu asked the cadet, her eyes wide in surprise.
"They're not at their station," the girl, a messenger from Squad A, said over the communication line established for SeeD by the Dollet military. "I don't know where Squad B went, but they're not at the Square!"
"Then where did they go?" Xu asked in disbelief, not believing what she had heard. Seifer had lead Squad B away from their assigned position? Even she didn't think he was that stupid!
"I dunno!" the messenger replied. "All I know is that when I got there, Squad B was gone!"
"And you saw no signs of conflict?"
"Nope. They're just gone," the messenger replied. "Squad C said they had gone in that direction. I dunno where-"
"Okay," Xu interrupted. "Go find them. Do whatever it takes, but Squad B has to know when the withdraw is supposed to take place. I don't want them left behind."
"Roger!" the messenger replied, acknowledging the order and then hanging up. Xu returned the phone to its cradle and looked up.
She and her team were still inside the city proper, guarding the main road leading through the city. The SeeDs, along with a platoon of Dollet troops, had held this location despite an intense counterattack by the Galbadians. Dozens of vehicles and heavy weapons, including a few tanks and a number of heavily-armed humanoid robots, lay scattered among the rubble of the destroyed buildings and in the streets. Littered among the burning wreakage were the corpses of many Galbadians, along with a few Dollet troopers.
Xu glanced back down the road behind them, which led down to the Central Square. If the Galbadians had come up behind their position through the unsecured Square during this battle . . . .
"Dammit, Seifer," she hissed. "You could have gotten us killed!"
A shout from ahead alerted Xu; a Dollet trooper waved to her urgently. Ahead, she could hear the distinct sound of gunfire. Some explosions resounded, and then a missile detonated just beyond the trooper.
"They're back for more?" a SeeD asked, a slight grin on his face as he hefted his rifle. The other members of the group gathered around Xu.
"The Galbadians are just gluttons for punishment," she remarked under her breath. "Let's move!" As the squad charged towards the sounds of battle, Xu glanced back down the street behind them just to be sure there were no foes approaching.
But there were. Several armored cars, laden with enemy soldiers, barreled down the street, closing in on the SeeDs.
"Behind us!" she shouted to her squad. The SeeDs turned to face the new enemy as they came in. Magic and gunfire erupted from the SeeD position at the oncoming enemy.
As Xu touched one of the Guardian Forces in her mind, summoning it, she swore that if she got out of this alive that Seifer was dead.
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"The generator is up and running!" one of the Galbadian techs reported to his commander, who stood in front of the mechanical doors leading into the Communications Tower.
"No problem with the power boosters!" the other tech said optimistically.
His optimism would not have been so great if he had known that they were being observed. On a cliff a good forty feet away from the doors and about fifteen feet up above the soldiers, Squall, Seifer, and Zell crouched, watching the soldiers go about their business.
"What the hell they doing?" Seifer wondered out loud.
"Cable disconnection confirmed!" yet another tech shouted. "Beginning exchange process!"
"Roger," the first tech replied. With that, the group of soldiers turned and moved inside the building.
"Repairs?" Squall guessed as the Galbadians entered the tower. Why would they want to repair an obviously unneeded facility? The Comms Tower could transmit radio waves, but they weren't needed with HD cables that allowed for online communication.
"Who cares," Seifer responded, standing up and dusting himself off. He turned towards Squall. "This must be your first real battle," he remarked suddenly, shifting the subject. "You scared?"
" . . . I don't know," Squall replied, pondering that question. Afraid? He wasn't afraid for is own life, if that was what Seifer was wondering. The adrenaline had pumped in every engagement, but he had ignored the possibility of being killed. Thinking about that would just make him afraid, and if you were afraid, then you wouldn't be able to respond. A lack of response meant you were dead.
"I try not to think about it," he added. "I have objectives to complete, and I will complete them. If someone stands in my way, I'll shove them aside. If they come at me to harm me, my comrades, or any innocents, then I'll cut them down without remorse." Squall left it at that, his voice telling Seifer he was not afraid to kill to protect his life or another's.
"Hm," Seifer said, smiling. "Good. No fear, no regrets. Kill or be killed."
"What about you?" Squall asked. "You scared?"
"Ha!" Seifer responded, barking a laugh. "I love battles. I fear nothing!" He smiled and his voice lowered, as if he were imparting a secret. "The way I look at it, as long as you make it out of a battle alive, you're one step closer to fulfilling your dream."
"What? Your dream?" Squall asked aloud in surprise. What was he talking about?
"You have one too, don't you?" Seifer replied. Squall almost replied, but held his tongue. A dream? A hope? Or ambition? He didn't have any kind of lofty goal or ideal he was striving towards, if that was what Seifer had meant. SeeDship and personal perfection were his goals, nothing more. He was going to be a SeeD, the best the organization would ever know, because . . . .
Why? He suddenly paused, thinking about that. Why did he want to be a SeeD? He knew he had a reason, one that had permeated his very core and being. He wanted to be a SeeD more than anything else, but for what reason?
Seifer was still standing there, watching him as if expecting an answer. Realizing he couldn't give an appropriate answer, Squall decided to not give one at all.
"Sorry," he said. "I'm gonna pass on that subject."
Zell, who had been watching the doors the whole time for any signs of activity, turned to the two gunbladers, interested in their "buddy-buddy" conversation.
"Yo!" he said, stepping up towards them. "Let me in on it, too!"
"Mind your own business," Seifer remarked dismissively. Zell's eyes widened, and a growl escaped his throat as he turned around and snapped off a couple of punches into the air.
Frickin' hell, he thought angrily as he loosed another combo.
"What's the matter Zell?" Seifer asked, smiling. Zell glanced back over his shoulder. "Swatting flies?" Once again, Seifer's remark had gotten under Zell's skin, judging by the look of fury on Zell's face. Apparently satisfied with his mocking of Zell, Seifer turned and walked down the path to their right, which led down to the entrance to the Communications Tower.
"Damn you," Zell growled as his nemesis strode away, and the martial artist punched the bricks beneath his feet. Cracks spread outward from the impact like spider webs.
"There you are!" called a voice from behind and above the two cadets. Both Squall and Zell spun around to see a girl, another cadet, perched on a slight mound of stone behind them, one they themselves had scaled earlier to get to this very vantage point.
Squall recognized the green eyes, small frame, brown curls, and somewhat annoyingly cute appearance of the girl he'd helped to find the directory earlier that day. She still looked as out of place on the battlefield as she had in Garden, though the oversized nunchaku strapped to her back definitely made her look more dangerous now than a plushy toy moogle. Now, Squall thought, she seemed about as dangerous as a plushy toy moogle dressed in a combat uniform with a plastic bazooka.
She looked tired, and was panting hard. Obviously not from the climb; Squad B hadn't broken a sweat on the climb up here, even at the fast pace Seifer had set. Stepping forward, the girl suddenly slipped, her boots sliding along the stones. Her arms pinwheeled for a second, and then down she tumbled, coming to a stop right in front of the pair of male cadets.
"You alright?" Squall asked immediately as the girl rose to her feet. In response, she threw Squall a wink and a poking tongue, and for the first time in a while, Squall was caught completely off guard, something not even Seifer could do easily.
"I'm fine!" she said with another of her high-pitched giggles. "Are you guys Squad B?" she asked, sounding hopeful. The girl's expression brightened when Squall nodded. "Oh, wait a minute," she said suddenly, recognition flashing in her eyes. ". . . I know you! You're the guy who showed me around earlier today! Thanks! I'm a messenger. Name's Selphie, from Squad A. I'm looking for the squad captain, his name is Seifer, right?" Squall nodded.
"He went over . . ." Squall trailed off as he turned to look in the direction Seifer had gone down the trail. The path curved down and around to the left. "Well, he was down there," Squall said, sounding and looking confused. Then, a sudden suspicion hit him. Squall spun to the left-
-and to no surprise, Squall spotted his captian down below, running towards the front entrance to the Communication Tower, Hyperion drawn. Seifer turned back to face Squall, a smile on his face.
"One of these days," he called towards Squall, "I'm gonna tell you about my romantic dream!" With that proclamation, Seifer spun around and hurled himself through the doors into the tower. Selphie sighed in a combination of tiredness, vexation, and resignation.
"This sure is tough," she remarked, stepping up to the edge of the cliff. And then, to Squall and Zell's absolute surprise, she jumped. "Captian, wait up!" she called as she dropped. It took a second for Squall and Zell to catch up with Selphie's rash actions, but as they stepped up to the edge of the cliff to check on her, the messenger ran out into view, unhurt. She spun around, drawing her nunchakus as she did, and waving frantically.
"Hurry up! Come on, come on!"
Squall glanced down the cliff, then at Selphie, then back at the cliff. It wasn't so much a cliff as a steep slope, but it was still almost vertical. Selphie, despite her clumsiness, had made it down alright, but would they be uninjured as well?
Squall reminded himself that Seifer was inside, probably alone against who knew how many enemies. Despite his rival's skills, he might need help, and the trail would take too long to go around.
"You have magic junctioned to your toughness, right?" Squall asked Zell as he looked over the edge. Zell glanced back at him in amazement.
"Squall . . ." Zell said slowly, unsure. "It's a cliff, man. You're not gonna . . ."
"That's the plan, Zell," Squall replied with a shrug, and then, he jumped. Immediately, Squall began sliding down the thirty feet to the ground, knocking loose dirt and pebbles before coming to a stop in front of the entrance. Even as he turned around to see if Zell was following, he heard a tremendous shout from above.
"Geronimoooooo!!!" Zell cried as he leaped clear off the edge, not even bothering to slide down. He landed on his feet, immediately transferring the momentum of his fall into a springing flip forward and coming to a stop, standing unharmed.
"Well, let's get going," Selphie remarked, turning towards the doors.
Doors which suddenly swung open, and out of which scrambled a group of unarmed Galbadian techs, screaming for their lives and running as fast as they could past the cadets and up the trail to the right. Behind them, chasing the men out with swipes of a bloody gunblade, was Seifer.
"Cowards!" he shouted after them, before spinning around and returning to the tower.
"Hey!" Selphie shouted at his disappearing form, but either Seifer ignored her or didn't hear the messenger. "The captain's getting away!" Selphie moaned, running after Seifer, Squall and Zell reluctantly following. The pair stepped into the lower floor of the huge tower.
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Private Pirgi ran up to his captain, a soldier clad in heavy armor featuring numerous pieces of electronic equipment built in. The captain was fiddling with an access panel on a level about midway up the tower. Several other technicians were also working diligently around him.
"Sir!" Pirgi said, saluting. "The men down below report-"
"Wait, Private," the captain ordered. "Hmm, let's see. Ion flux connector, check. Backup regulators, check . . ."
"But, sir, I-"
"Shut up, Private!" the captain barked. "I have work to do! Connections, good . . ."
"It's urgent-"
"Private!" the captain shouted, catching the attention of the other techs. "If you disobey my orders one more time I'm gonna shoot you myself for insubordination! Our highest priority is to repair this tower, and nothing short of a full on assault is gonna stop that! Do I make myself clear!"
"Yes sir!" Pirgi replied, saluting. "The news that we are under attack below can wait, sir!" The captain began turning back to his panel, but then Pirgi's words hit him like a sack of bricks. He spun around immediately.
"What!?"
"Yes, sir!" Pirgi shouted, happy he'd finally gotten the captain's attention. "The men below report that they are under attack!"
"Why the hell didn't you tell me sooner?" the captain shouted angrily. "Get your weapons! We have hostiles!" the captain ordered his men. "Pirgi, did they say who the attackers were?"
"No, just that they were under attack. Something about 'This guy is attacking us!'"
"Wait a minute!" Pirgi's captain ordered, confused. "One man? A single man is attacking us?"
"That's what they said, sir," Pirgi confirmed.
"Impossible!" the captain exclaimed. "Who would be crazy enough to take on a tower full of Galbadian soldiers?!"
"That would be me."
Both private and captain spun towards the elevator, to see a tall, blonde, white trenchcoat-wearing teenager wielding a wicked grin and a bloody gunblade standing there.
"Who the hell are you?!" the captian demanded, grabbing his gun.
"Funny," the blonde kid said as he slid into a combat stance, his gunblade rising into a guard. "That's what the guy downstairs said right before I killed him."
"Y-you!" the captain shouted, trembling in anger. "You killed our comrades?!"
"Not all of them," the kid replied, shrugging. "Some ran like the cowards all you Galbadians are."
"Okay, that's enough of your mouth!" the captain ordered. "You're dead!"
"Sir," Pirgi began. "I don't think that's wise-"
"CHARGE!" The captain roared, and he and his men hurled themselves at the lone trenchcoated teenager.
Seifer only grinned as they closed in, his white teeth in a predatory smile.
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The inside of the tower was dark and sparse, with a few faint, blinking lights scattered on metal panels on the walls. A large column stood in the center, which appeared to be part of an elevator shaft that lead to the upper floors. But all that was taken in peripherally, for the cadets' attention was taken away by what else the room contained.
A dozen or more corpses of Galbadian soldiers littered the floor or slumped against walls, slashed, stabbed, cut, or burned by magic. Blood was splattered along the walls or in pools underneath the dead soldiers. Many men still held weapons clutched in a tight death grip, and bullet holes and destroyed electronics were scattered around the room. Several corpses were decapitated or burned beyond recognition.
"Damn . . ." Zell muttered, while Selphie looked around in surprise. Squall surveyed the bodies and carnage, nodding. It seemed he had been wrong. Seifer didn't need any help after all.
"Did . . . did the captain do all this?" Selphie asked in disbelief. No one answered, though Squall gingerly stepped past the bodies and surveyed the room. No other entrances or exits, so the only way for Seifer to have gone would have been up.
"He went up?" Selphie asked as Squall pressed the recall button for the elevator. The elevator began a slow descent.
Then, overhead, they heard a shout. There was a distant clang of metal, and then another shout, followed by a long scream that quickly increased in volume. The cadets looked up in time to see a figure, a Galbadian soldier, fall the rest of the way down to the bottom floor. The man slammed into the metal and rolled a few feet away, dead or unconscious. Squall looked back up above, to the sounds of distant combat.
"Probably," Squall answered Selphie's question.
"Damn," Zell muttered again at Squall's cool demeanor. "Squall, man, I know you two are good, but this is . . . man, this is crazy. Seifer took all of them down by himself?"
Squall shrugged.
"Probably."
Selphie turned to face him, a curious look on her face.
"You're not much of a talker, are you?" she asked.
No shit, Squall thought, shrugging once more. A moment later, the elevator finished its stately descent and stopped. They piled on board, and Squall checked the panel. Knowing Seifer, he might have gone straight to the top of the huge tower, but then again, he could have chosen to work his way up methodically.
Methodically? Seifer? No way. Following that logic, Squall hit the button for the top floor, and the elevator began its stately rise up towards the pinnacle of the building.
"Wow," Selphie said, looking down at the view below them. "This lift is pretty cool!" She leaned over the edge and looked down to the floor far below.
"Be careful," Zell warned. "Don't get too excited or you'll fall!"
"Like I'm really gonna," Selphie responded, sounding a bit indignant and sticking her tongue out at the martial artist.
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"Major Biggs!" Lieutenant Wedge Lucas shouted over the wailing wind whipping along the top level of the tower. Wedge stepped over to the major, who was engrossed with repair work inside a huge access panel beside a satellite dish. "There have been reports of a monster-shaped shadow on top of the tower." He waited for the major to reply, but none came. After a few moments, he leaned closer and shouted into the major's ears. "Major Biggs!"
Galbadian Major George Biggs looked up from his work momentarily. Like other high-ranking officers, Biggs wore a red uniform with armor that resembled that of any other soldier, excepting heavier armor and extra equipment in the arms, which lended his arms added strength. Mounted underneath his wrists were a pair of machine pistols, giving the major extra firepower.
"Be quiet!" he ordered his subordinate. "I'm busy! This goes like this . . . and . . ." Biggs looked down at the old, outdated spanner in his hands. "Geez, what's with these crappy old tools!? And . . . and . . ." He slammed the spanner down on the metal floor and then punched some random object in anger. "Why do I have to make all the repairs?!" A jolt of electricity shot through the equipment in the panel, forcing Biggs to hop back momentarily. Then, he roared and kicked the metal casing around the panel, stubbing his toe and not denting the metal in the least.
Wedge wisely backed away.
"Sir, I'll check around while the repairs are being done!" Wedge shouted over the wind, and walked away, leaving Biggs to fume and complain. Shortly after Wedge had departed, Biggs resumed his repair work. After a few more minutes of grumbling, pounding metal, and occasionally actually working, Biggs saw he was close to completion.
"Let's see . . . Hmmm . . . Put this here . . ." Biggs was so engrossed that he never heard the sound of the elevator rising up behind him. The platform reached the top, and the trio of SeeD cadets hopped off, scanning for threats or Seifer. "This goes here . . . There! It's complete!" Biggs shouted triumphantly.
Beneath their feet, the trio of SeeD cadets heard a deep thrumming, and tower began vibrating slightly but rapidly. Nearby, Squall spotted a wrench sliding out of Biggs's bag of tools and fall through a hole in the floor panels, dropping hundreds of feet into the sea below.
Deep down inside the tower, old turbines, left alone for over a decade and a half, began to turn. Electricity began flowing through the tower as old connections and fuses activated once more. Lights activated, and in the central shaft of the tower, right next to the elevator, a huge cylinder began rising.
Squall spun as the cylinder, at least fifty feet tall, shot up behind him. It reached the apex of the tower and stopped. Everything was still for a moment, and then the cylinder began turning, like a massive cannon. It rotated to the west, and then, the top half of the cylinder split into three sections around a central antenna. The three sections spread outward, forming a disk around the antenna, then curved inward, becoming a convex satellite dish. The antenna seemed to open up then, with many smaller antennae branching out and pointing in the same direction as the central device. Moments later, a faint white beam of light began to extend outward from the dish, a beam that quickly solidified into a strong white line shooting off into the sky.
While all this had been happening, no one had noticed that the elevator had once again begun its slow descent down the tower.
"Wow," Selphie whispered, staring up. Squall and Zell too were mesmerized, though Squall quickly broke away and looked at the lone Galbadian officer in front of him.
"What do you think you're doing?" Squall demanded, startling the soldier. He spun around, and jumped again as he saw himself outnumbered.
"Huh?" he said in confusion. Then, Biggs snarled, seeing how his opponents were just kids. "Likewise, MISTER! What do you think you're doing?" Then, Biggs paused, realizing that for these kids to have gotten up here, they would have to have gotten past all the men below. That put a new light on these kids. Biggs had heard of SeeD before, and the nasty-looking gun/sword thing one kid had on his sheath did not look like fun. Neither did the girl's huge nunchaku, or the other guy's bulging muscles.
"H-hey!" Biggs exclaimed, now slightly nervous. "What happened to all the soldiers down below?!" He looked around desperately for any of his men, then recalled how Wedge had been present a few minutes ago. "Wedge!" he yelled. "Take care of these twerps!" The cadets glanced around, watching for any other opponents, but none came. "W . . . Wedge?" Biggs called, and he looked around again. Zell stood impassively, hands on his hips, while Selphie just put her hands behind her back casually. They understood that Biggs really was alone up here.
"I . . . ah . . ." Biggs sounded rather nervous now. "Well . . . ah . . . " Then a plan came to him. "I seem to be done here, so I'll just be on my . . ." Suddenly, he raised one of his arms, pointing the machine pistol at Squall. The other arm crossed over that one, the pistol pointing at Zell. With both cadets frozen in place by the weapons leveled at them, he began moving towards the elevator. "I-I'm leaving! Move it!" Zell quickly got out of his opponent's way, glancing at Squall for what he should do. Squall just shrugged.
"Let him go," Squall told Zell, who nodded. Squall glanced to the side, hearing the sound of the elevator rising back up.
"Yeah!" Biggs shouted. "Get out of my way! Move! Move!" The officer had reached the elevator, which had almost reached the top . . .
. . . and was carrying a certain white trenchcoat-wearing squad captain.
Before Biggs knew what had happened, one of his arms was knocked aside by Seifer's gunblade, and then the captain's free left hand shot out and took the officer in the mouth. Biggs was stunned, and before he could recover, Seifer kicked him in the chest, knocking him back.
"Sorry to crash the party. Grab him!" Seifer ordered his squad, and Squall and Zell quickly took the officer, hooking their arms under his and holding him fast.
"Ahhhhh!" Biggs screamed. "Are you CRAZY?!"
"Just shut up!" Seifer replied. "Lookie what we got here. What are you guys planning to do with this tower, huh?"
"You brats!" Biggs replied, struggling to get free, though the GF- enhanced strength of Squall and Zell (especially Zell) held him fast. "Prepare for the worst!" he threatened unconvincingly.
"Looks who's talking," Seifer replied, walking up to Biggs and flicking him on the nose. "You can't do anything to us!"
"Ha!" Biggs replied. If it weren't for his helmet, Seifer would have seen Biggs close his eyes.
A second later, a blast of lightning struck Zell, surprising him. Biggs took advantage of the momentary distraction his Thunder spell had bought and shook his arm free of Zell's grasp. That arm came across in a hook, smacking Seifer in the face and stunning him. Squall tried to hold on, but Biggs brought his freed arm around and fired the gun -practically point blank -into Squall's stomach. The cadet grunted and fell back, releasing Biggs.
"Told you!" Biggs shouted, turning his gun on Zell. He was about to fire when a chain, that of Selphie's nunchaks, wrapped around his legs and yanked them out from under him. Biggs fell prone as Seifer shook his head from the hit. Zell, recovered from the magical blow, immediately moved to grab Biggs, but was distracted as a Galbadian soldier, the less than punctual Wedge, came around the central shaft and attacked Seifer from behind, forcing the captain to spin around and exchange in some quick swordplay.
"Sir!" Wedge shouted, ducking under a high slash and backing away from a low cut. "What is the enemy doing here?!"
Biggs rose to his feet and his arm shot across, clubbing Zell and knocking him back. He spun back towards Selphie, who was sending her nunchacku out again. Biggs caught the nunchaku with the metal guard on his arm, blocking the hit.
"Wedge!" he yelled. "Where the hell were you?! No pay for you this month!"
Wedge turned aside a thrust from Seifer, and countered, only to be blocked and counter-countered.
"Should've stayed home . . ." he moaned, ducking back from Seifer's slash, taking a glancing blow on the arm.
Biggs fired a burst from his machine pistol at Selphie, who quickly and nimbly leaped out of the way. Biggs then had to spin around and block a succession of punches by Zell. A forward kick by the martial artist caught Biggs in the midsection, and though the armor there absorbed some of the hit, Biggs was still hurled back on his rear. He climbed back up on his feet even as Selphie hurled a Fire spell his way. The blast of flame hurt, but Biggs was far from done yet. He spun around, firing a long, automatic stream of gunfire at Selphie. She took a hit to the left shin and cried out, dropping to her knees and clutching the wound. Biggs didn't have time to finish her, as Zell closed back in. A few of Zell's punches sneaked through Biggs' guard, but the major replied with a burst of gunfire at point blank range into Zell's chest. The cadet fell back, clutching his wound, but did not fall, to Biggs' surprise.
"The hell?" Biggs exclaimed as Zell straightened. Suddenly, he had to fall back as a gunblade slashed in at his skull.
Squall, recovered from the hit to the stomach, pressed Biggs hard, in spite of the pain, and Zell came up right beside him. Biggs quickly had to fall back, firing a burst of gunfire that staggered but didn't drop the cadets. Biggs didn't understand why they weren't down and dying by now, but then, he'd never fought a SeeD before, so he didn't know about SeeD's defensive junctions.
"How?!" he protested. "That's impossib-ah!" Biggs was suddenly taken off his feet by another well-placed swipe of Selphie's nunchaku. The major rolled away, coming up with another burst of gunfire at Squall. The cadet rolled to the side, evading the burst, and then smacked his gunblade down on top of Biggs's armored arm. The blade cut into the metal but didn't slice through, so Squall quickly pulled the trigger, the explosive blast tearing apart the armor and almost blowing Biggs's arm off.
"Ahhh!" Biggs screamed, falling back and firing with his other arm.
Another Fire spell from Selphie sent Biggs down on the ground. He lay there, moaning in pain.
Wedge, meanwhile, hadn't fared even as well as Biggs had. His left arm was disabled due to a high cut around the shoulder that had left it limp, and his right was bleeding. He was limping, and Seifer still pressed him hard.
Suddenly, both he and the captain were lifted up by a gust of powerful wind, hurled aside.
"Ahhhh!" Wedge screamed, and slammed into the metal shaft at the center of the tower, swiftly hurled into unconsciousness. Seifer fared better, landing on his feet, only slightly shaken up by the blast. He spun around to face the new opponent.
It was red and purple, with huge, bat-like wings, a pair of massive, muscled arms, and no legs. Instead of the legs, it featured a massive abdomen, tipped with a stinger longer than Seifer was tall.
The monster screamed, and one of its clawed hands came in at Seifer. He ducked aside and sliced the arm as it passed.
"What the hell is this thing?!" he shouted.
Seifer's cry caught the attention of his comrades, who spun around to see the massive beast menacing the captain. Squall immediately took control of the situation.
"Zell, you're with me!" he ordered. "We'll go in and engage that thing up close! Selphie, hold back and support us." Both of the other cadets nodded. Squall and Zell were the best fighters, while Selphie, having come from Trabia Garden, was a better spellcaster and worked better at a distance with the longer-ranged nunchaku.
The two male cadets charged to Seifer's aid, while Selphie reached out mentally to the monster and felt its magical energies, searching for any useful magic she might be able to use. Lightning magic was present, and curative energies as well, plus some energies she didn't instantly recognize, and one particularly massive energy. Almost . . . alive? Living energy?
A Guardian Force!
Selphie touched the GF, felt its mind, and called it. The Guardian Force responded immediately, and energy erupted from the monster, crossing the distance to Selphie. Within her mind, she felt the GF's own conciousness.
"Siren," Selphie whispered the liberated Guardian Force's name.
Squall and Zell closed in on the monster as Seifer ducked aside from another swing. The monster noticed the energies being stolen and faced its attackers. Its mouth opened, and then a wave of wind swept across the two charging cadets, hurling them back.
"Ow," Zell muttered, hopping to his feet in time to see Seifer circling around towards them. The captain suddenly charged the monster, ducking under a stabbing stinger and getting in a trio of cuts on the monster. A clubbing backhand hit the captain as he ran out behind the monster, hurling him away and sending him sprawling on the ground, not moving.
"Weapons won't work!" Squall shouted. "We can't get close enough, it's got a range advantage on us. We'll have to rely on magic."
More energy streamed from the monster to Selphie as she drew out the energy she didn't recognize. As soon as the cadet had the energy, she recognized it from lessons at her Garden, though she had never used it in a real combat situation before. It was Double, magic that allowed for rapid casting of spells. Wasting no time, she cast the spell on herself.
Zell and Squall gestured towards the huge monster, and a mighty bolt of lightning and a powerful burst of fire struck the beast as it turned towards Seifer. The monster came around to face Squall and Zell, showing no discernable injuries.
"Oh, damn!" Zell moaned, realizing that magic was also not having much effect. Thundara and Fira were among the most powerful spells they had stocked, but those spells still couldn't even hurt this thing?
The monster gathered more wind in its mouth and spewed it forth, hurling them back again. Squall slammed his back hard against some equipment, and as he rose up, he was hurting. Suddenly, powerful revitalizing magic swept over him, and he glanced back at Selphie. Both he and Zell were recovered from the hits, and even as he watched, Selphie unleashed another spell on the monster. Frigid cold gathered beneath the creature and then shot up, striking the monster and freezing the ground and air around the point where it rose, making the appearance of a large icicle sticking out of the ground. A second powerful Blizzara spell followed immediately afterward. But, as with Zell and Squall's magic, the attacks had little effect on the monster.
"We need more powerful magic!" Squall shouted. "Selphie, I need you to keep me healed while I distract it! Zell, you have your Ifrit junctioned on you, right?" The martial artist nodded. "Okay, I'll keep it busy and try to get to Seifer! Zell, summon Ifrit on it, we need his more powerful magic, got me?"
Both cadets nodded, and Squall raised his gunblade and charged. Zell clasped his hands and focused, while Selphie stayed a short distance behind Squall, ready to heal him.
The beast's claws came in at him, but Squall ducked under one swipe and stopped the other by putting the Revolver's point in line with the grabbing hand and firing off a shot when it's palm came in contact with the razor-sharp tip. The monster stabbed out with its stinger, scratching Squall across the shoulder, but he ducked under it and ran towards Seifer. As he'd expected, the monster had turned to follow him. Its claws came down again, one missing but the other slicing across Squall's chest. He fell back, as a clubbing blow from its other hand came across and knocked him down.
Selphie immediately moved to heal Squall, casting healing spells in rapid succession. The magic immediately mended Squall's wounds and he was back up on his feet in time to dodge a claw that struck where he had lain moments ago. The monster, not stupid, recognized Selphie's supportive actions and turned to face the small cadet.
An explosion of flame caught its attention as Seifer, recovered from the hit he'd taken earlier, rejoined the battle.
"Need some help, Squall?" Seifer asked sarcastically as he stood next to his rival. The monster, once again decided to use its mighty wind blast, and before Squall or Seifer could even begin to evade it, they were hurled back, Seifer almost going over the edge of the tower and falling to his death. The monster turned its attention back to Selphie, who backed away and loosed another pair of Blizzaras upon it. The frozen icicles of the spell hurt the monster, but not enough to deter it. It swung its claws down at Selphie, who just barely dodged one and took the other across her back, the sharp tips cutting her badly.
"Damn it!" Squall thought as he rose to his feet, pulling out a healing potion. "We can't kill it!" Squall popped the cap off and prepared to drink it, but paused as Seifer rose to his feet, jaw clenched, fires in his eyes.
"No!" Seifer denied angrily. "This bitch isn't taking me down!" Seifer rose to his feet, clenching his gunblade tightly and his teeth even tighter. "No mercy for you . . ."
Seifer reached into himself and drew out the emotions of hate, anger, and desperation. These feelings focused to channel intense energy through his body. A flash of glowing light surrounded Seifer as the energy reached its highest peak: its Limit.
Hate, frustration, anger, all of these emotions were powerful, and with them a human could channel incredible strength and energy. Such power was different for each person, but regardless of the individual, when one's emotions reached this high point, the sheer fury of such anger and desperation could be unleashed. This technique was one of the strongest and most dangerous powers a human could have, and properly harnessing that power would turn it into a devastating weapon. The technique of utilizing one's feelings of rage and frustration was one of SeeD's necessary lessons, and also one of its most potent weapons. Many enemies had believed they had a SeeD or cadet defeated and doomed, when that person would suddenly unleash the power within, catching their foes completely off-guard.
Within SeeD, the power to turn one's anger and frustration into a weapon went by the name of Limit. Such was what Seifer was unleashing now.
"You're dead!" Seifer yelled at the monstrosity, and a blast of fire erupted from his hands. The shot of flame stunned the beast for an instant, an instant wherein Seifer twirled his gunblade faster than the eye could see. "DIE!" he roared, then slashed his weapon down, into the metal floor, and then back up. A shockwave of energy erupted from Hyperion, taking on the form of a spinning blade that slashed straight through the monster, causing blood and ichor to splatter out its chest and the other side of its body. It fluttered back, taken by surprise at the power within Seifer's Limit.
Then, behind the monster, Zell finished his summons.
Flames formed in mid-air, hovering and growing amidst a rising pillar of fire. A moment later, Ifrit emerged from those fires, roaring and breathing hellish flames, coming to the aid of his master. The monster turned back to face Ifrit, who held up his hands and formed a huge, glowing ball of magma in them. Before the monster could react, the mass of lava hurtled forth and exploded. The hellish flames burned and tore at the monster's skin, the flames erupting on its hide. The Guardian Force roared in triumph and vanished, taking with him the heat and fires. The monster was left there, skin burned and smoking.
But it wasn't dead.
Squall, who had been watching the fury of the GF and Limit, realized that he needed to get back into the battle. He swiftly downed the healing potion, and rose to his feet as his strength returned.
The creature roared again. Seifer was still pissed off and leaped at the monster, his GF-enhanced strength propelling him forward. Almost casually, the monster's hand came across and batted the furious Seifer aside. The captain flew away, hitting the ground again and rolling near Zell. He stood up once more, even angrier, but before he could channel his emotions into another Limit, the monster threw him off his feet with another wind blast, the hit catching Zell too, throwing him back over the edge of the platform. Zell grabbed on to the ledge in desperation, dangling and holding on for his life. Seifer shook his head and stumbled to his feet, clearly stunned for a moment.
With that enemy taken care of, the huge monster turned back to Selphie, who was getting back up slowly. A single backhand by the monster sent Selphie back down. The beast raised its claws to finish her off.
Not if Squall had anything to say in the matter. And his gunblade had a lot to say.
The cadet, the only able fighter who could act in time to save Selphie, hurled himself across the platform, gunblade raised. The monster caught Squall out of the corner of its eye and turned to face him, claws swooping down at the cadet.
Squall's leg muscles contracted, and with supernatural strength, he hurled himself into the air, clearing the claws and flying up at the hovering monster's ugly face. The Revolver thrust forward, its curving tip burying into one of the creature's eyes. It opened its mouth, to roar in pain or spew forth more wind, Squall didn't know, but he pulled the trigger on his gunblade. The explosive blast erupted into the monster's skull, blasting deep into its head even as Squall's feet braced against the thing's chest.
The monster thrashed viciously, desperately, but Squall held on, and pulled the trigger a second time, then a third, and a fourth, each blast decimating the creature's vulnerable brain. That last blast did it, for the monster stopped thrashing and just dropped to the platform, very dead. Squall tore his bloody gunblade free and limped to the side, watching the body as it seemed to break apart, pieces of it floating off into the air like dust in the wind. Within seconds, the monster was gone.
Squall turned back to his injured and tired comrades. Zell had managed to climb back up, while Seifer stood up straight, still looking proud and strong despite the bruises the desperate battle had left on him. Selphie too sat up, casting a doubled curative spell on herself, which quickly mended her wounds. Her casting done, she walked over to Seifer, and the absurdity of the situation hit Squall.
All this to deliver one Hyne-damned message, he thought. Judging by the sour look on Zell's face, he was thinking the same thing. It had better be important.
"Squad B captian?" Selphie asked Seifer, who nodded. "S'cuse me, but I have new orders! All SeeDs and SeeD cadets are to withdraw at 1900 hours. Assemble at the shore."
"Withdraw?!" Seifer protested. "There are still enemies around!"
Not likely, Squall thought. Excepting the injured officer and his equally maimed subordinate, Squall didn't think any living or combat capable Galbadians were left in the Tower, especially with Seifer's unexpected methodical sweep of the building.
"I know," Selphie replied. "But I'm just a messenger."
"The order to withdraw takes priority," Squall reminded Seifer. "I don't want to miss the vessel." Seifer seemed about to complain, but then reluctantly agreed.
"1900 . . . " Seifer muttered, checking his watch. "It's 1830 now. We've only got thirty minutes!" He turned back to his squad. "Better run!" Then, he hit the button for the platform, and hopped on. Before the cadets could stop him, Seifer was out of sight.
"Hey!" Selphie called after him, sounding upset. "Wait for us!"
"Who does he think he is?!" Zell complained.
"Why don't you ask him?" Squall replied with a shrug. Still, he too was angered with Seifer's selfishness. They only had thirty minutes. Do he want them to be left behind?
"Damn it!" Zell shouted. "We're gonna have to haul ass! Is there another elevator?" A quick check revealed a second elevator platform on the other side of the shaft, and the trio of cadets wasted no time descending.
-------------------
As their elevator dropped out of view, Biggs, still injured, crawled over to his bag. He reached in and snatched up a control panel, then laughed to himself.
"Those little twerps are the targets!" he whispered in maniacal glee as he hit a number of buttons. "Wait 'till you see one of our new toys . . . Now GO!" he shouted suddenly, pumping his armored fist. "Go and DESTROY them!"
Nearby, a dark shape rose from its dormant state, responding to Biggs's orders. It marked its targets, and with a deep clang of metal on metal, it began moving.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------- I'll have to admit that Prodigy and Peter Eliot's works in their own novelizations (Go read them. NOW. PEPTUCK COMMANDS YOU. They're on Fanfiction.net, just run a search for Prodigy or Peter Eliot there) has influenced my work, although those messy little morality details go out the window in this fic. Squall (or at least, Squall as interpreted by me) has a personal ethos towards killing: "If they try to kill you, your comrades, or any innocents, you kill them. No remorse. Pacifism be damned."
In case anyone was wondering, yes, some Matrix-ish manuvers were implemented by Squall and Co. I figure with junctions, especially Str-J, Vit-J, and Spd-J, plus junctioning magic to Evade and also being able to boost one's abilities, such as with Str20% and so on, the SeeDs could be able to pull of some Matrix-like manuvers. Bullet-dodging, crazy cartweels and flips, wall running, insanely long or high jumps, and being able to pull of combat manuvers requiring incredible strength and speed are among a SeeD's repertiore. Plus, it helps that I am a Matrix fanboy. So, don't be surprised if the characters do something "larger than life." After all, with GFs, they've got gods on their sides.
It took fifteen minutes to finally reach the bridge leading from the outskirts of the city up into the mountains, and once again Squad B found no humans on the way. Aside from the distant sounds of gunfire, Dollet's streets had been ominously empty once more.
"Is this a ghost town?" Zell whispered as they approached the bridge. All three cadets were alert and ready as the bridge came into sight. The bridge itself connected the city proper with the mountains across a deep but narrow ravine. Each member of Squad B knew that the bridge was an easily defensible and observable location, so it was almost assured that the Galbadians had set up some kind of sentry or defensive position there. They were not disappointed (or rather, Seifer was not), as a group of over a dozen Galbadians stood around the bridge, a few at either end and some scattered soldiers along its hundred or so foot length.
"So, now what?" Zell asked, glancing Seifer's way.
"We charge," Seifer replied in all seriousness. "I'll lead with Squall. Zell, you're right behind us, cover us with magic." That was all that needed to be said, and before anyone could raise a question, Seifer began running down the bridge at full speed, gunblade drawn. Squall nodded and was right behind him.
"Let's take 'em!" Zell shouted enthusiastically, running after them.
The Galbadians had spotted Seifer the moment he and Squall had charged out into the open, but had been surprised at an opponent taking the most obvious and suicidal route possible. By the time their minds had caught up with the surprising actions of the cadets, Squall and Seifer were already engaging the quartet of Galbadians at the near end of the bridge, two to each cadet. The Galbadians at the far end of the bridge raised their firearms at the attack, but then dove for cover as an explosion of fire took down two of their number, courtesy of Zell Dincht.
Seifer sliced a man down with one deft cut, while Squall forced his nearest opponent's blade aside and shoved him over the bridge's railing and into the sea below. Seifer ducked a high Galbadian sword and spun down around in a low, whirling cut, his gunblade taking out the legs of the Galbadian. Hyperion sliced in again and finished the soldier. Squall's gunblade swung back vertically over his shoulder, intercepting the fourth soldier's sword as it came at his back. The cadet spun around, blocking another slash and countering with a single overhead cleave that dropped his foe.
Neither Squall nor Seifer hesitated, realizing that sheer speed and the reluctance of the Galbadians at the back to fire at their comrades engaged in close quarters battle were their best weapons. Both cadets continued their charge down the bridge, their legs pumping furiously with GF-enhanced strength as they closed with a cluster of five enemy soldiers.
Even with their speed and cover advantage, both cadets would have been easy targets for the Galbadians at the far end of the bridge if Zell hadn't been slinging Fire spells at the enemy soldiers and forcing them to scramble out of the way.
Those Galbadians closer to the two gunblade-toting cadets didn't get a chance to raise their weapons. One was cut down by Seifer before his hands touched the grip of his sheathed sword, a second took the butt of the Revolver in the mouth and was laid out unconscious, and a third was able to parry a single slash of Hyperion before being cut down.
Squall leaped over the opponent he'd knocked out and thrust the Revolver one-handed at another soldier who had unslung his rifle. The slightly curving tip of the Revolver took the man high in his gun arm, and Squall's other hand, balled into a fist, smashed into the soldier's face. The Galbadian stumbled back, dazed, but raised his rifle again in spite of the pain in his arm. The rifle fired a burst into Squall's chest, the rounds burying into his skin. Squall stumbled back for a brief instant, then to the Galbadian's utmost surprise, he came forward again, as if he'd never been shot to begin with. The Revolver flashed down and finished the amazed Galbadian, who knew nothing about the defensive junctions Balamb SeeDs used to harden their skin and toughen their bodies, making them more resistant to damage.
The fifth soldier backed away desperately from Seifer as the white- coated cadet charged. The man swung his rifle in front of him like a club, hoping to ward off his foe as other Galbadians from further down the bridge ran to his aid. The rifle's stock smacked into Hyperion's blade, knocking it aside as it came in, but Seifer pulled another of his oh-so-amazingly fast spins and came down with Hyperion again. The Galbadian raised his rifle to intercept the blow. It took Hyperion's slice well enough, but Seifer pulled his gunblade's trigger as it clashed with the rifle. The explosive blast shattered the gun, and before the soldier could react, Hyperion dove through his chest and Squad B's captain was advancing towards the next group of Galbadians, a trio charging with drawn swords. Hyperion met the steel blades of Seifer's foes in a ring of tempered metal and a whoosh of cut air. The sound of gunblade on swords was as one long ringing wail of metal on metal.
Of the Galbadians at the far end of the bridge, only a pair remained, the rest left dead or in no condition to fight by Zell's magic. One jumped out from behind a boulder and lifted a grenade, aiming for the charging cadets and not really caring about the well-being of his comrades. Against these foes, his fellow soldiers were dead anyway!
Squall spotted the man and reacted at the same time as Zell. Even as the Galbadian had popped the pin and was about to throw, a blast of flame and a jolt of lightning took him off his feet. His grenade dropped to the ground next to the other Galbadian, who scrambled over the boulder to avoid the explosive.
He didn't make it.
The threat eliminated, Squall and Zell charged into the midst of the furious melee Seifer was embroiled in with the remaining Galbadians. A thrust, two slashes, an uppercut, and a roundhouse kick later, the bridge was secured.
"Well that was easy enough," Zell remarked, clapping his hands together as if to wipe them clean.
"Don't relax," Seifer remarked, smiling as he turned back to the mountain trail beyond the bridge. "We're not done yet!" Squad B resumed the advance up the mountainside.
Soon, they found the "trail" was actually a laid path of concrete bricks, like a road, leading up the mountainside. Several times the squad found themselves climbing up cut steps as they advanced. Along the way, Squall noticed what appeared to be spent shell casings and some bloodstains.
"Signs of conflict," he remarked, to which the other two nodded.
"Dollet troops?" Seifer mused, and as they rounded a bend in the path, they discovered he had been on the right track. Bodies of about eight to ten or so Dollet soldiers littered the stone path, some shot, others cut, and more marked by burns or small shards of ice.
"The Galbadians must have come this way," Squall remarked. At the sound of his voice, one of the bodies moved, the not so dead soldier crawling out of some bushes. Zell and Squall crouched down next to the soldier while Seifer kept a lookout.
"Who . . . are you?" the soldier asked, clutching a wound in his leg. Like the other soldiers, the Dollet trooper wore an olive uniform that blended in well with the mountainous terrain, along with a helmet featuring a steel visor and a ninja mask covering his face.
"Don't worry," Squall said to the wounded soldier. "We're SeeD cadets, dispatched by Garden to support you."
"What's going on up there?" Seifer asked, looking up the mountain trail. From his vantage point, he could see more Dollet troops dead or unconscious along the trail. "What are they after?"
"The Galbadians . . ." the soldier began. "They've entered the Communications Tower. I don't know why, it's been abandoned for years. On top of that, this place has always been a nesting ground for monsters. If you guys are going up, you'd better be caref-"
The soldier didn't get finished with his warning when a terrible hissing growl erupted from the bushes behind him. Something grabbed the man's leg and began pulling him back.
"Help!" he cried as he was yanked into the shrubbery with a violent jerk. Squall and Zell dove forward, Squall drawing the Revolver while Zell hooked his arms around the man's torso and pulled, testing his considerable strength against that of this unknown foe.
Even as Zell was pulling hard, Squall saw their foe, a huge green- brown monstrosity, like a giant snake, its jaws clamped around the soldier's foot.
The monster was an Anacondaur: a huge, venomous, predatory creature. He had never seen one of the huge snakes before, only studied them in class, but he knew immediately that the creature was poisonous and very strong and durable.
Wasting no time, Squall buried the Revolver in the monster's back just behind the head and pulled the trigger, the explosive blast compounding the damage but far from killing the tough-bodied monster. However, the creature did immediately let go of the Dollet soldier and faced this new enemy, which had been Squall's intention all along. The snake reared up, towering over Squall as Zell dragged the wounded soldier to the side.
A burst of fire exploded into the monster's head and the huge snake turned aside momentarily to face Seifer. In that instant, Squall came in at the monster and sliced it with the Revolver, firing another blast into the Anacondaur's side. The Anacoundaur immediately spun back towards Squall, and though the cadet was too close to be bitten, the monster slammed the side of its head into Squall's chest, knocking him back to the ground. The huge snake immediately slithered over to the prone cadet, pointedly ignoring Seifer as he hurled another Fire spell at it, and opened its jaws. The Anacoundaur's head snapped down at Squall even as he brought his gunblade up. The monster's jaws closed over Squall's gunblade arm, and it snapped its whole body back, lifting the cadet up.
Squall gritted his teeth as he felt the sharp pain of the Anaconaur's teeth dig into his skin and the burn of its poison in his blood. Unlike regular snakes, which ate their prey whole, Anacondaurs were more like alligators or crocodiles, shaking and biting prey they had trapped in their maw. Such was what the monster did to Squall, thrashing its head around and almost dislocating his shoulder in the process. Thinking quickly, Squall's free left hand shot down to his belt, to the backup knife he had sheathed there. Yanking the blade free, Squall flipped it over to an overhand stabbing grip and drove the blade into one of the Anaconaur's eyes. The monster's head jerked back in pain, then it immediately snapped its head down, hurling the cadet to the stone path. He smashed into the ground hard and rolled away. The monster would have followed its prey but Seifer had apparently decided he was finished with his ineffective magic and had buried Hyperion into its side while it was distracted. The snake turned to face Seifer, who backed away and faced it with a confident grin and raised gunblade.
Squall rolled over on his back and grabbed a vial off his equipment belt as he felt the burn of the monster's poison run through his veins. He quickly popped a pill into his mouth as he began feeling light-headed and dizzy. Almost immediately the antidote began working, and Squall began climbing to his feet as the Anacondaur struck at Seifer.
The snake's head snapped down, jaws open and ready to take a bite out of the squad captain. Seifer, however, leaped right over the bite and slashed Hyperion down across the monster's head. The Anacondaur hissed in anger and came in again with a bite, only to take another slice, this one accompanied by the blast of a gunblade shell. As the monster jerked back in pain, Seifer pressed his advantage. Hyperion sliced twice more, both times accompanied by explosive blasts as Seifer closed in. Suddenly, the Anacondaur's head came in again with a smacking strike. Seifer managed to cut the monster again, but wasn't able to get out of its way, and was hurled to the ground. He was back on his feet in a second, ready to continue the fight, but as the monster closed in again, Zell literally leaped into the battle, a spinning, flying kick smashing the monster's face. The snake backed away as it took the hit, hissing as it retreated.
The Revolver buried into its backside again, firing as it cut.
The Anacondur was tough, strong, and mighty, but even its great monstrous power was no match for the cadets' junctions as Seifer sliced in again, while Zell hammered the creature with powerful punches and kicks. Squall's heavy gunblade chopped and blasted, Hyperion dove and cut, and Zell pounded away. Within a matter of moments, the huge snake was dead.
"Monsters?" Squall asked a minute later as he felt the revitalizing power of healing potions binding his nasty wounds.
"More fun for us," Seifer remarked, cleaning his gunblade. "Let's go!" He hurried up the mountainside, Squall behind him.
"Fun?" Zell muttered, glancing at the dead monster mere feet away. "Pu-lease." Still, despite his words, the cadet charged up after his captain.
-------------------
"What?" Xu asked the cadet, her eyes wide in surprise.
"They're not at their station," the girl, a messenger from Squad A, said over the communication line established for SeeD by the Dollet military. "I don't know where Squad B went, but they're not at the Square!"
"Then where did they go?" Xu asked in disbelief, not believing what she had heard. Seifer had lead Squad B away from their assigned position? Even she didn't think he was that stupid!
"I dunno!" the messenger replied. "All I know is that when I got there, Squad B was gone!"
"And you saw no signs of conflict?"
"Nope. They're just gone," the messenger replied. "Squad C said they had gone in that direction. I dunno where-"
"Okay," Xu interrupted. "Go find them. Do whatever it takes, but Squad B has to know when the withdraw is supposed to take place. I don't want them left behind."
"Roger!" the messenger replied, acknowledging the order and then hanging up. Xu returned the phone to its cradle and looked up.
She and her team were still inside the city proper, guarding the main road leading through the city. The SeeDs, along with a platoon of Dollet troops, had held this location despite an intense counterattack by the Galbadians. Dozens of vehicles and heavy weapons, including a few tanks and a number of heavily-armed humanoid robots, lay scattered among the rubble of the destroyed buildings and in the streets. Littered among the burning wreakage were the corpses of many Galbadians, along with a few Dollet troopers.
Xu glanced back down the road behind them, which led down to the Central Square. If the Galbadians had come up behind their position through the unsecured Square during this battle . . . .
"Dammit, Seifer," she hissed. "You could have gotten us killed!"
A shout from ahead alerted Xu; a Dollet trooper waved to her urgently. Ahead, she could hear the distinct sound of gunfire. Some explosions resounded, and then a missile detonated just beyond the trooper.
"They're back for more?" a SeeD asked, a slight grin on his face as he hefted his rifle. The other members of the group gathered around Xu.
"The Galbadians are just gluttons for punishment," she remarked under her breath. "Let's move!" As the squad charged towards the sounds of battle, Xu glanced back down the street behind them just to be sure there were no foes approaching.
But there were. Several armored cars, laden with enemy soldiers, barreled down the street, closing in on the SeeDs.
"Behind us!" she shouted to her squad. The SeeDs turned to face the new enemy as they came in. Magic and gunfire erupted from the SeeD position at the oncoming enemy.
As Xu touched one of the Guardian Forces in her mind, summoning it, she swore that if she got out of this alive that Seifer was dead.
-------------------
"The generator is up and running!" one of the Galbadian techs reported to his commander, who stood in front of the mechanical doors leading into the Communications Tower.
"No problem with the power boosters!" the other tech said optimistically.
His optimism would not have been so great if he had known that they were being observed. On a cliff a good forty feet away from the doors and about fifteen feet up above the soldiers, Squall, Seifer, and Zell crouched, watching the soldiers go about their business.
"What the hell they doing?" Seifer wondered out loud.
"Cable disconnection confirmed!" yet another tech shouted. "Beginning exchange process!"
"Roger," the first tech replied. With that, the group of soldiers turned and moved inside the building.
"Repairs?" Squall guessed as the Galbadians entered the tower. Why would they want to repair an obviously unneeded facility? The Comms Tower could transmit radio waves, but they weren't needed with HD cables that allowed for online communication.
"Who cares," Seifer responded, standing up and dusting himself off. He turned towards Squall. "This must be your first real battle," he remarked suddenly, shifting the subject. "You scared?"
" . . . I don't know," Squall replied, pondering that question. Afraid? He wasn't afraid for is own life, if that was what Seifer was wondering. The adrenaline had pumped in every engagement, but he had ignored the possibility of being killed. Thinking about that would just make him afraid, and if you were afraid, then you wouldn't be able to respond. A lack of response meant you were dead.
"I try not to think about it," he added. "I have objectives to complete, and I will complete them. If someone stands in my way, I'll shove them aside. If they come at me to harm me, my comrades, or any innocents, then I'll cut them down without remorse." Squall left it at that, his voice telling Seifer he was not afraid to kill to protect his life or another's.
"Hm," Seifer said, smiling. "Good. No fear, no regrets. Kill or be killed."
"What about you?" Squall asked. "You scared?"
"Ha!" Seifer responded, barking a laugh. "I love battles. I fear nothing!" He smiled and his voice lowered, as if he were imparting a secret. "The way I look at it, as long as you make it out of a battle alive, you're one step closer to fulfilling your dream."
"What? Your dream?" Squall asked aloud in surprise. What was he talking about?
"You have one too, don't you?" Seifer replied. Squall almost replied, but held his tongue. A dream? A hope? Or ambition? He didn't have any kind of lofty goal or ideal he was striving towards, if that was what Seifer had meant. SeeDship and personal perfection were his goals, nothing more. He was going to be a SeeD, the best the organization would ever know, because . . . .
Why? He suddenly paused, thinking about that. Why did he want to be a SeeD? He knew he had a reason, one that had permeated his very core and being. He wanted to be a SeeD more than anything else, but for what reason?
Seifer was still standing there, watching him as if expecting an answer. Realizing he couldn't give an appropriate answer, Squall decided to not give one at all.
"Sorry," he said. "I'm gonna pass on that subject."
Zell, who had been watching the doors the whole time for any signs of activity, turned to the two gunbladers, interested in their "buddy-buddy" conversation.
"Yo!" he said, stepping up towards them. "Let me in on it, too!"
"Mind your own business," Seifer remarked dismissively. Zell's eyes widened, and a growl escaped his throat as he turned around and snapped off a couple of punches into the air.
Frickin' hell, he thought angrily as he loosed another combo.
"What's the matter Zell?" Seifer asked, smiling. Zell glanced back over his shoulder. "Swatting flies?" Once again, Seifer's remark had gotten under Zell's skin, judging by the look of fury on Zell's face. Apparently satisfied with his mocking of Zell, Seifer turned and walked down the path to their right, which led down to the entrance to the Communications Tower.
"Damn you," Zell growled as his nemesis strode away, and the martial artist punched the bricks beneath his feet. Cracks spread outward from the impact like spider webs.
"There you are!" called a voice from behind and above the two cadets. Both Squall and Zell spun around to see a girl, another cadet, perched on a slight mound of stone behind them, one they themselves had scaled earlier to get to this very vantage point.
Squall recognized the green eyes, small frame, brown curls, and somewhat annoyingly cute appearance of the girl he'd helped to find the directory earlier that day. She still looked as out of place on the battlefield as she had in Garden, though the oversized nunchaku strapped to her back definitely made her look more dangerous now than a plushy toy moogle. Now, Squall thought, she seemed about as dangerous as a plushy toy moogle dressed in a combat uniform with a plastic bazooka.
She looked tired, and was panting hard. Obviously not from the climb; Squad B hadn't broken a sweat on the climb up here, even at the fast pace Seifer had set. Stepping forward, the girl suddenly slipped, her boots sliding along the stones. Her arms pinwheeled for a second, and then down she tumbled, coming to a stop right in front of the pair of male cadets.
"You alright?" Squall asked immediately as the girl rose to her feet. In response, she threw Squall a wink and a poking tongue, and for the first time in a while, Squall was caught completely off guard, something not even Seifer could do easily.
"I'm fine!" she said with another of her high-pitched giggles. "Are you guys Squad B?" she asked, sounding hopeful. The girl's expression brightened when Squall nodded. "Oh, wait a minute," she said suddenly, recognition flashing in her eyes. ". . . I know you! You're the guy who showed me around earlier today! Thanks! I'm a messenger. Name's Selphie, from Squad A. I'm looking for the squad captain, his name is Seifer, right?" Squall nodded.
"He went over . . ." Squall trailed off as he turned to look in the direction Seifer had gone down the trail. The path curved down and around to the left. "Well, he was down there," Squall said, sounding and looking confused. Then, a sudden suspicion hit him. Squall spun to the left-
-and to no surprise, Squall spotted his captian down below, running towards the front entrance to the Communication Tower, Hyperion drawn. Seifer turned back to face Squall, a smile on his face.
"One of these days," he called towards Squall, "I'm gonna tell you about my romantic dream!" With that proclamation, Seifer spun around and hurled himself through the doors into the tower. Selphie sighed in a combination of tiredness, vexation, and resignation.
"This sure is tough," she remarked, stepping up to the edge of the cliff. And then, to Squall and Zell's absolute surprise, she jumped. "Captian, wait up!" she called as she dropped. It took a second for Squall and Zell to catch up with Selphie's rash actions, but as they stepped up to the edge of the cliff to check on her, the messenger ran out into view, unhurt. She spun around, drawing her nunchakus as she did, and waving frantically.
"Hurry up! Come on, come on!"
Squall glanced down the cliff, then at Selphie, then back at the cliff. It wasn't so much a cliff as a steep slope, but it was still almost vertical. Selphie, despite her clumsiness, had made it down alright, but would they be uninjured as well?
Squall reminded himself that Seifer was inside, probably alone against who knew how many enemies. Despite his rival's skills, he might need help, and the trail would take too long to go around.
"You have magic junctioned to your toughness, right?" Squall asked Zell as he looked over the edge. Zell glanced back at him in amazement.
"Squall . . ." Zell said slowly, unsure. "It's a cliff, man. You're not gonna . . ."
"That's the plan, Zell," Squall replied with a shrug, and then, he jumped. Immediately, Squall began sliding down the thirty feet to the ground, knocking loose dirt and pebbles before coming to a stop in front of the entrance. Even as he turned around to see if Zell was following, he heard a tremendous shout from above.
"Geronimoooooo!!!" Zell cried as he leaped clear off the edge, not even bothering to slide down. He landed on his feet, immediately transferring the momentum of his fall into a springing flip forward and coming to a stop, standing unharmed.
"Well, let's get going," Selphie remarked, turning towards the doors.
Doors which suddenly swung open, and out of which scrambled a group of unarmed Galbadian techs, screaming for their lives and running as fast as they could past the cadets and up the trail to the right. Behind them, chasing the men out with swipes of a bloody gunblade, was Seifer.
"Cowards!" he shouted after them, before spinning around and returning to the tower.
"Hey!" Selphie shouted at his disappearing form, but either Seifer ignored her or didn't hear the messenger. "The captain's getting away!" Selphie moaned, running after Seifer, Squall and Zell reluctantly following. The pair stepped into the lower floor of the huge tower.
-------------------
Private Pirgi ran up to his captain, a soldier clad in heavy armor featuring numerous pieces of electronic equipment built in. The captain was fiddling with an access panel on a level about midway up the tower. Several other technicians were also working diligently around him.
"Sir!" Pirgi said, saluting. "The men down below report-"
"Wait, Private," the captain ordered. "Hmm, let's see. Ion flux connector, check. Backup regulators, check . . ."
"But, sir, I-"
"Shut up, Private!" the captain barked. "I have work to do! Connections, good . . ."
"It's urgent-"
"Private!" the captain shouted, catching the attention of the other techs. "If you disobey my orders one more time I'm gonna shoot you myself for insubordination! Our highest priority is to repair this tower, and nothing short of a full on assault is gonna stop that! Do I make myself clear!"
"Yes sir!" Pirgi replied, saluting. "The news that we are under attack below can wait, sir!" The captain began turning back to his panel, but then Pirgi's words hit him like a sack of bricks. He spun around immediately.
"What!?"
"Yes, sir!" Pirgi shouted, happy he'd finally gotten the captain's attention. "The men below report that they are under attack!"
"Why the hell didn't you tell me sooner?" the captain shouted angrily. "Get your weapons! We have hostiles!" the captain ordered his men. "Pirgi, did they say who the attackers were?"
"No, just that they were under attack. Something about 'This guy is attacking us!'"
"Wait a minute!" Pirgi's captain ordered, confused. "One man? A single man is attacking us?"
"That's what they said, sir," Pirgi confirmed.
"Impossible!" the captain exclaimed. "Who would be crazy enough to take on a tower full of Galbadian soldiers?!"
"That would be me."
Both private and captain spun towards the elevator, to see a tall, blonde, white trenchcoat-wearing teenager wielding a wicked grin and a bloody gunblade standing there.
"Who the hell are you?!" the captian demanded, grabbing his gun.
"Funny," the blonde kid said as he slid into a combat stance, his gunblade rising into a guard. "That's what the guy downstairs said right before I killed him."
"Y-you!" the captain shouted, trembling in anger. "You killed our comrades?!"
"Not all of them," the kid replied, shrugging. "Some ran like the cowards all you Galbadians are."
"Okay, that's enough of your mouth!" the captain ordered. "You're dead!"
"Sir," Pirgi began. "I don't think that's wise-"
"CHARGE!" The captain roared, and he and his men hurled themselves at the lone trenchcoated teenager.
Seifer only grinned as they closed in, his white teeth in a predatory smile.
-------------------
The inside of the tower was dark and sparse, with a few faint, blinking lights scattered on metal panels on the walls. A large column stood in the center, which appeared to be part of an elevator shaft that lead to the upper floors. But all that was taken in peripherally, for the cadets' attention was taken away by what else the room contained.
A dozen or more corpses of Galbadian soldiers littered the floor or slumped against walls, slashed, stabbed, cut, or burned by magic. Blood was splattered along the walls or in pools underneath the dead soldiers. Many men still held weapons clutched in a tight death grip, and bullet holes and destroyed electronics were scattered around the room. Several corpses were decapitated or burned beyond recognition.
"Damn . . ." Zell muttered, while Selphie looked around in surprise. Squall surveyed the bodies and carnage, nodding. It seemed he had been wrong. Seifer didn't need any help after all.
"Did . . . did the captain do all this?" Selphie asked in disbelief. No one answered, though Squall gingerly stepped past the bodies and surveyed the room. No other entrances or exits, so the only way for Seifer to have gone would have been up.
"He went up?" Selphie asked as Squall pressed the recall button for the elevator. The elevator began a slow descent.
Then, overhead, they heard a shout. There was a distant clang of metal, and then another shout, followed by a long scream that quickly increased in volume. The cadets looked up in time to see a figure, a Galbadian soldier, fall the rest of the way down to the bottom floor. The man slammed into the metal and rolled a few feet away, dead or unconscious. Squall looked back up above, to the sounds of distant combat.
"Probably," Squall answered Selphie's question.
"Damn," Zell muttered again at Squall's cool demeanor. "Squall, man, I know you two are good, but this is . . . man, this is crazy. Seifer took all of them down by himself?"
Squall shrugged.
"Probably."
Selphie turned to face him, a curious look on her face.
"You're not much of a talker, are you?" she asked.
No shit, Squall thought, shrugging once more. A moment later, the elevator finished its stately descent and stopped. They piled on board, and Squall checked the panel. Knowing Seifer, he might have gone straight to the top of the huge tower, but then again, he could have chosen to work his way up methodically.
Methodically? Seifer? No way. Following that logic, Squall hit the button for the top floor, and the elevator began its stately rise up towards the pinnacle of the building.
"Wow," Selphie said, looking down at the view below them. "This lift is pretty cool!" She leaned over the edge and looked down to the floor far below.
"Be careful," Zell warned. "Don't get too excited or you'll fall!"
"Like I'm really gonna," Selphie responded, sounding a bit indignant and sticking her tongue out at the martial artist.
-------------------
"Major Biggs!" Lieutenant Wedge Lucas shouted over the wailing wind whipping along the top level of the tower. Wedge stepped over to the major, who was engrossed with repair work inside a huge access panel beside a satellite dish. "There have been reports of a monster-shaped shadow on top of the tower." He waited for the major to reply, but none came. After a few moments, he leaned closer and shouted into the major's ears. "Major Biggs!"
Galbadian Major George Biggs looked up from his work momentarily. Like other high-ranking officers, Biggs wore a red uniform with armor that resembled that of any other soldier, excepting heavier armor and extra equipment in the arms, which lended his arms added strength. Mounted underneath his wrists were a pair of machine pistols, giving the major extra firepower.
"Be quiet!" he ordered his subordinate. "I'm busy! This goes like this . . . and . . ." Biggs looked down at the old, outdated spanner in his hands. "Geez, what's with these crappy old tools!? And . . . and . . ." He slammed the spanner down on the metal floor and then punched some random object in anger. "Why do I have to make all the repairs?!" A jolt of electricity shot through the equipment in the panel, forcing Biggs to hop back momentarily. Then, he roared and kicked the metal casing around the panel, stubbing his toe and not denting the metal in the least.
Wedge wisely backed away.
"Sir, I'll check around while the repairs are being done!" Wedge shouted over the wind, and walked away, leaving Biggs to fume and complain. Shortly after Wedge had departed, Biggs resumed his repair work. After a few more minutes of grumbling, pounding metal, and occasionally actually working, Biggs saw he was close to completion.
"Let's see . . . Hmmm . . . Put this here . . ." Biggs was so engrossed that he never heard the sound of the elevator rising up behind him. The platform reached the top, and the trio of SeeD cadets hopped off, scanning for threats or Seifer. "This goes here . . . There! It's complete!" Biggs shouted triumphantly.
Beneath their feet, the trio of SeeD cadets heard a deep thrumming, and tower began vibrating slightly but rapidly. Nearby, Squall spotted a wrench sliding out of Biggs's bag of tools and fall through a hole in the floor panels, dropping hundreds of feet into the sea below.
Deep down inside the tower, old turbines, left alone for over a decade and a half, began to turn. Electricity began flowing through the tower as old connections and fuses activated once more. Lights activated, and in the central shaft of the tower, right next to the elevator, a huge cylinder began rising.
Squall spun as the cylinder, at least fifty feet tall, shot up behind him. It reached the apex of the tower and stopped. Everything was still for a moment, and then the cylinder began turning, like a massive cannon. It rotated to the west, and then, the top half of the cylinder split into three sections around a central antenna. The three sections spread outward, forming a disk around the antenna, then curved inward, becoming a convex satellite dish. The antenna seemed to open up then, with many smaller antennae branching out and pointing in the same direction as the central device. Moments later, a faint white beam of light began to extend outward from the dish, a beam that quickly solidified into a strong white line shooting off into the sky.
While all this had been happening, no one had noticed that the elevator had once again begun its slow descent down the tower.
"Wow," Selphie whispered, staring up. Squall and Zell too were mesmerized, though Squall quickly broke away and looked at the lone Galbadian officer in front of him.
"What do you think you're doing?" Squall demanded, startling the soldier. He spun around, and jumped again as he saw himself outnumbered.
"Huh?" he said in confusion. Then, Biggs snarled, seeing how his opponents were just kids. "Likewise, MISTER! What do you think you're doing?" Then, Biggs paused, realizing that for these kids to have gotten up here, they would have to have gotten past all the men below. That put a new light on these kids. Biggs had heard of SeeD before, and the nasty-looking gun/sword thing one kid had on his sheath did not look like fun. Neither did the girl's huge nunchaku, or the other guy's bulging muscles.
"H-hey!" Biggs exclaimed, now slightly nervous. "What happened to all the soldiers down below?!" He looked around desperately for any of his men, then recalled how Wedge had been present a few minutes ago. "Wedge!" he yelled. "Take care of these twerps!" The cadets glanced around, watching for any other opponents, but none came. "W . . . Wedge?" Biggs called, and he looked around again. Zell stood impassively, hands on his hips, while Selphie just put her hands behind her back casually. They understood that Biggs really was alone up here.
"I . . . ah . . ." Biggs sounded rather nervous now. "Well . . . ah . . . " Then a plan came to him. "I seem to be done here, so I'll just be on my . . ." Suddenly, he raised one of his arms, pointing the machine pistol at Squall. The other arm crossed over that one, the pistol pointing at Zell. With both cadets frozen in place by the weapons leveled at them, he began moving towards the elevator. "I-I'm leaving! Move it!" Zell quickly got out of his opponent's way, glancing at Squall for what he should do. Squall just shrugged.
"Let him go," Squall told Zell, who nodded. Squall glanced to the side, hearing the sound of the elevator rising back up.
"Yeah!" Biggs shouted. "Get out of my way! Move! Move!" The officer had reached the elevator, which had almost reached the top . . .
. . . and was carrying a certain white trenchcoat-wearing squad captain.
Before Biggs knew what had happened, one of his arms was knocked aside by Seifer's gunblade, and then the captain's free left hand shot out and took the officer in the mouth. Biggs was stunned, and before he could recover, Seifer kicked him in the chest, knocking him back.
"Sorry to crash the party. Grab him!" Seifer ordered his squad, and Squall and Zell quickly took the officer, hooking their arms under his and holding him fast.
"Ahhhhh!" Biggs screamed. "Are you CRAZY?!"
"Just shut up!" Seifer replied. "Lookie what we got here. What are you guys planning to do with this tower, huh?"
"You brats!" Biggs replied, struggling to get free, though the GF- enhanced strength of Squall and Zell (especially Zell) held him fast. "Prepare for the worst!" he threatened unconvincingly.
"Looks who's talking," Seifer replied, walking up to Biggs and flicking him on the nose. "You can't do anything to us!"
"Ha!" Biggs replied. If it weren't for his helmet, Seifer would have seen Biggs close his eyes.
A second later, a blast of lightning struck Zell, surprising him. Biggs took advantage of the momentary distraction his Thunder spell had bought and shook his arm free of Zell's grasp. That arm came across in a hook, smacking Seifer in the face and stunning him. Squall tried to hold on, but Biggs brought his freed arm around and fired the gun -practically point blank -into Squall's stomach. The cadet grunted and fell back, releasing Biggs.
"Told you!" Biggs shouted, turning his gun on Zell. He was about to fire when a chain, that of Selphie's nunchaks, wrapped around his legs and yanked them out from under him. Biggs fell prone as Seifer shook his head from the hit. Zell, recovered from the magical blow, immediately moved to grab Biggs, but was distracted as a Galbadian soldier, the less than punctual Wedge, came around the central shaft and attacked Seifer from behind, forcing the captain to spin around and exchange in some quick swordplay.
"Sir!" Wedge shouted, ducking under a high slash and backing away from a low cut. "What is the enemy doing here?!"
Biggs rose to his feet and his arm shot across, clubbing Zell and knocking him back. He spun back towards Selphie, who was sending her nunchacku out again. Biggs caught the nunchaku with the metal guard on his arm, blocking the hit.
"Wedge!" he yelled. "Where the hell were you?! No pay for you this month!"
Wedge turned aside a thrust from Seifer, and countered, only to be blocked and counter-countered.
"Should've stayed home . . ." he moaned, ducking back from Seifer's slash, taking a glancing blow on the arm.
Biggs fired a burst from his machine pistol at Selphie, who quickly and nimbly leaped out of the way. Biggs then had to spin around and block a succession of punches by Zell. A forward kick by the martial artist caught Biggs in the midsection, and though the armor there absorbed some of the hit, Biggs was still hurled back on his rear. He climbed back up on his feet even as Selphie hurled a Fire spell his way. The blast of flame hurt, but Biggs was far from done yet. He spun around, firing a long, automatic stream of gunfire at Selphie. She took a hit to the left shin and cried out, dropping to her knees and clutching the wound. Biggs didn't have time to finish her, as Zell closed back in. A few of Zell's punches sneaked through Biggs' guard, but the major replied with a burst of gunfire at point blank range into Zell's chest. The cadet fell back, clutching his wound, but did not fall, to Biggs' surprise.
"The hell?" Biggs exclaimed as Zell straightened. Suddenly, he had to fall back as a gunblade slashed in at his skull.
Squall, recovered from the hit to the stomach, pressed Biggs hard, in spite of the pain, and Zell came up right beside him. Biggs quickly had to fall back, firing a burst of gunfire that staggered but didn't drop the cadets. Biggs didn't understand why they weren't down and dying by now, but then, he'd never fought a SeeD before, so he didn't know about SeeD's defensive junctions.
"How?!" he protested. "That's impossib-ah!" Biggs was suddenly taken off his feet by another well-placed swipe of Selphie's nunchaku. The major rolled away, coming up with another burst of gunfire at Squall. The cadet rolled to the side, evading the burst, and then smacked his gunblade down on top of Biggs's armored arm. The blade cut into the metal but didn't slice through, so Squall quickly pulled the trigger, the explosive blast tearing apart the armor and almost blowing Biggs's arm off.
"Ahhh!" Biggs screamed, falling back and firing with his other arm.
Another Fire spell from Selphie sent Biggs down on the ground. He lay there, moaning in pain.
Wedge, meanwhile, hadn't fared even as well as Biggs had. His left arm was disabled due to a high cut around the shoulder that had left it limp, and his right was bleeding. He was limping, and Seifer still pressed him hard.
Suddenly, both he and the captain were lifted up by a gust of powerful wind, hurled aside.
"Ahhhh!" Wedge screamed, and slammed into the metal shaft at the center of the tower, swiftly hurled into unconsciousness. Seifer fared better, landing on his feet, only slightly shaken up by the blast. He spun around to face the new opponent.
It was red and purple, with huge, bat-like wings, a pair of massive, muscled arms, and no legs. Instead of the legs, it featured a massive abdomen, tipped with a stinger longer than Seifer was tall.
The monster screamed, and one of its clawed hands came in at Seifer. He ducked aside and sliced the arm as it passed.
"What the hell is this thing?!" he shouted.
Seifer's cry caught the attention of his comrades, who spun around to see the massive beast menacing the captain. Squall immediately took control of the situation.
"Zell, you're with me!" he ordered. "We'll go in and engage that thing up close! Selphie, hold back and support us." Both of the other cadets nodded. Squall and Zell were the best fighters, while Selphie, having come from Trabia Garden, was a better spellcaster and worked better at a distance with the longer-ranged nunchaku.
The two male cadets charged to Seifer's aid, while Selphie reached out mentally to the monster and felt its magical energies, searching for any useful magic she might be able to use. Lightning magic was present, and curative energies as well, plus some energies she didn't instantly recognize, and one particularly massive energy. Almost . . . alive? Living energy?
A Guardian Force!
Selphie touched the GF, felt its mind, and called it. The Guardian Force responded immediately, and energy erupted from the monster, crossing the distance to Selphie. Within her mind, she felt the GF's own conciousness.
"Siren," Selphie whispered the liberated Guardian Force's name.
Squall and Zell closed in on the monster as Seifer ducked aside from another swing. The monster noticed the energies being stolen and faced its attackers. Its mouth opened, and then a wave of wind swept across the two charging cadets, hurling them back.
"Ow," Zell muttered, hopping to his feet in time to see Seifer circling around towards them. The captain suddenly charged the monster, ducking under a stabbing stinger and getting in a trio of cuts on the monster. A clubbing backhand hit the captain as he ran out behind the monster, hurling him away and sending him sprawling on the ground, not moving.
"Weapons won't work!" Squall shouted. "We can't get close enough, it's got a range advantage on us. We'll have to rely on magic."
More energy streamed from the monster to Selphie as she drew out the energy she didn't recognize. As soon as the cadet had the energy, she recognized it from lessons at her Garden, though she had never used it in a real combat situation before. It was Double, magic that allowed for rapid casting of spells. Wasting no time, she cast the spell on herself.
Zell and Squall gestured towards the huge monster, and a mighty bolt of lightning and a powerful burst of fire struck the beast as it turned towards Seifer. The monster came around to face Squall and Zell, showing no discernable injuries.
"Oh, damn!" Zell moaned, realizing that magic was also not having much effect. Thundara and Fira were among the most powerful spells they had stocked, but those spells still couldn't even hurt this thing?
The monster gathered more wind in its mouth and spewed it forth, hurling them back again. Squall slammed his back hard against some equipment, and as he rose up, he was hurting. Suddenly, powerful revitalizing magic swept over him, and he glanced back at Selphie. Both he and Zell were recovered from the hits, and even as he watched, Selphie unleashed another spell on the monster. Frigid cold gathered beneath the creature and then shot up, striking the monster and freezing the ground and air around the point where it rose, making the appearance of a large icicle sticking out of the ground. A second powerful Blizzara spell followed immediately afterward. But, as with Zell and Squall's magic, the attacks had little effect on the monster.
"We need more powerful magic!" Squall shouted. "Selphie, I need you to keep me healed while I distract it! Zell, you have your Ifrit junctioned on you, right?" The martial artist nodded. "Okay, I'll keep it busy and try to get to Seifer! Zell, summon Ifrit on it, we need his more powerful magic, got me?"
Both cadets nodded, and Squall raised his gunblade and charged. Zell clasped his hands and focused, while Selphie stayed a short distance behind Squall, ready to heal him.
The beast's claws came in at him, but Squall ducked under one swipe and stopped the other by putting the Revolver's point in line with the grabbing hand and firing off a shot when it's palm came in contact with the razor-sharp tip. The monster stabbed out with its stinger, scratching Squall across the shoulder, but he ducked under it and ran towards Seifer. As he'd expected, the monster had turned to follow him. Its claws came down again, one missing but the other slicing across Squall's chest. He fell back, as a clubbing blow from its other hand came across and knocked him down.
Selphie immediately moved to heal Squall, casting healing spells in rapid succession. The magic immediately mended Squall's wounds and he was back up on his feet in time to dodge a claw that struck where he had lain moments ago. The monster, not stupid, recognized Selphie's supportive actions and turned to face the small cadet.
An explosion of flame caught its attention as Seifer, recovered from the hit he'd taken earlier, rejoined the battle.
"Need some help, Squall?" Seifer asked sarcastically as he stood next to his rival. The monster, once again decided to use its mighty wind blast, and before Squall or Seifer could even begin to evade it, they were hurled back, Seifer almost going over the edge of the tower and falling to his death. The monster turned its attention back to Selphie, who backed away and loosed another pair of Blizzaras upon it. The frozen icicles of the spell hurt the monster, but not enough to deter it. It swung its claws down at Selphie, who just barely dodged one and took the other across her back, the sharp tips cutting her badly.
"Damn it!" Squall thought as he rose to his feet, pulling out a healing potion. "We can't kill it!" Squall popped the cap off and prepared to drink it, but paused as Seifer rose to his feet, jaw clenched, fires in his eyes.
"No!" Seifer denied angrily. "This bitch isn't taking me down!" Seifer rose to his feet, clenching his gunblade tightly and his teeth even tighter. "No mercy for you . . ."
Seifer reached into himself and drew out the emotions of hate, anger, and desperation. These feelings focused to channel intense energy through his body. A flash of glowing light surrounded Seifer as the energy reached its highest peak: its Limit.
Hate, frustration, anger, all of these emotions were powerful, and with them a human could channel incredible strength and energy. Such power was different for each person, but regardless of the individual, when one's emotions reached this high point, the sheer fury of such anger and desperation could be unleashed. This technique was one of the strongest and most dangerous powers a human could have, and properly harnessing that power would turn it into a devastating weapon. The technique of utilizing one's feelings of rage and frustration was one of SeeD's necessary lessons, and also one of its most potent weapons. Many enemies had believed they had a SeeD or cadet defeated and doomed, when that person would suddenly unleash the power within, catching their foes completely off-guard.
Within SeeD, the power to turn one's anger and frustration into a weapon went by the name of Limit. Such was what Seifer was unleashing now.
"You're dead!" Seifer yelled at the monstrosity, and a blast of fire erupted from his hands. The shot of flame stunned the beast for an instant, an instant wherein Seifer twirled his gunblade faster than the eye could see. "DIE!" he roared, then slashed his weapon down, into the metal floor, and then back up. A shockwave of energy erupted from Hyperion, taking on the form of a spinning blade that slashed straight through the monster, causing blood and ichor to splatter out its chest and the other side of its body. It fluttered back, taken by surprise at the power within Seifer's Limit.
Then, behind the monster, Zell finished his summons.
Flames formed in mid-air, hovering and growing amidst a rising pillar of fire. A moment later, Ifrit emerged from those fires, roaring and breathing hellish flames, coming to the aid of his master. The monster turned back to face Ifrit, who held up his hands and formed a huge, glowing ball of magma in them. Before the monster could react, the mass of lava hurtled forth and exploded. The hellish flames burned and tore at the monster's skin, the flames erupting on its hide. The Guardian Force roared in triumph and vanished, taking with him the heat and fires. The monster was left there, skin burned and smoking.
But it wasn't dead.
Squall, who had been watching the fury of the GF and Limit, realized that he needed to get back into the battle. He swiftly downed the healing potion, and rose to his feet as his strength returned.
The creature roared again. Seifer was still pissed off and leaped at the monster, his GF-enhanced strength propelling him forward. Almost casually, the monster's hand came across and batted the furious Seifer aside. The captain flew away, hitting the ground again and rolling near Zell. He stood up once more, even angrier, but before he could channel his emotions into another Limit, the monster threw him off his feet with another wind blast, the hit catching Zell too, throwing him back over the edge of the platform. Zell grabbed on to the ledge in desperation, dangling and holding on for his life. Seifer shook his head and stumbled to his feet, clearly stunned for a moment.
With that enemy taken care of, the huge monster turned back to Selphie, who was getting back up slowly. A single backhand by the monster sent Selphie back down. The beast raised its claws to finish her off.
Not if Squall had anything to say in the matter. And his gunblade had a lot to say.
The cadet, the only able fighter who could act in time to save Selphie, hurled himself across the platform, gunblade raised. The monster caught Squall out of the corner of its eye and turned to face him, claws swooping down at the cadet.
Squall's leg muscles contracted, and with supernatural strength, he hurled himself into the air, clearing the claws and flying up at the hovering monster's ugly face. The Revolver thrust forward, its curving tip burying into one of the creature's eyes. It opened its mouth, to roar in pain or spew forth more wind, Squall didn't know, but he pulled the trigger on his gunblade. The explosive blast erupted into the monster's skull, blasting deep into its head even as Squall's feet braced against the thing's chest.
The monster thrashed viciously, desperately, but Squall held on, and pulled the trigger a second time, then a third, and a fourth, each blast decimating the creature's vulnerable brain. That last blast did it, for the monster stopped thrashing and just dropped to the platform, very dead. Squall tore his bloody gunblade free and limped to the side, watching the body as it seemed to break apart, pieces of it floating off into the air like dust in the wind. Within seconds, the monster was gone.
Squall turned back to his injured and tired comrades. Zell had managed to climb back up, while Seifer stood up straight, still looking proud and strong despite the bruises the desperate battle had left on him. Selphie too sat up, casting a doubled curative spell on herself, which quickly mended her wounds. Her casting done, she walked over to Seifer, and the absurdity of the situation hit Squall.
All this to deliver one Hyne-damned message, he thought. Judging by the sour look on Zell's face, he was thinking the same thing. It had better be important.
"Squad B captian?" Selphie asked Seifer, who nodded. "S'cuse me, but I have new orders! All SeeDs and SeeD cadets are to withdraw at 1900 hours. Assemble at the shore."
"Withdraw?!" Seifer protested. "There are still enemies around!"
Not likely, Squall thought. Excepting the injured officer and his equally maimed subordinate, Squall didn't think any living or combat capable Galbadians were left in the Tower, especially with Seifer's unexpected methodical sweep of the building.
"I know," Selphie replied. "But I'm just a messenger."
"The order to withdraw takes priority," Squall reminded Seifer. "I don't want to miss the vessel." Seifer seemed about to complain, but then reluctantly agreed.
"1900 . . . " Seifer muttered, checking his watch. "It's 1830 now. We've only got thirty minutes!" He turned back to his squad. "Better run!" Then, he hit the button for the platform, and hopped on. Before the cadets could stop him, Seifer was out of sight.
"Hey!" Selphie called after him, sounding upset. "Wait for us!"
"Who does he think he is?!" Zell complained.
"Why don't you ask him?" Squall replied with a shrug. Still, he too was angered with Seifer's selfishness. They only had thirty minutes. Do he want them to be left behind?
"Damn it!" Zell shouted. "We're gonna have to haul ass! Is there another elevator?" A quick check revealed a second elevator platform on the other side of the shaft, and the trio of cadets wasted no time descending.
-------------------
As their elevator dropped out of view, Biggs, still injured, crawled over to his bag. He reached in and snatched up a control panel, then laughed to himself.
"Those little twerps are the targets!" he whispered in maniacal glee as he hit a number of buttons. "Wait 'till you see one of our new toys . . . Now GO!" he shouted suddenly, pumping his armored fist. "Go and DESTROY them!"
Nearby, a dark shape rose from its dormant state, responding to Biggs's orders. It marked its targets, and with a deep clang of metal on metal, it began moving.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------- I'll have to admit that Prodigy and Peter Eliot's works in their own novelizations (Go read them. NOW. PEPTUCK COMMANDS YOU. They're on Fanfiction.net, just run a search for Prodigy or Peter Eliot there) has influenced my work, although those messy little morality details go out the window in this fic. Squall (or at least, Squall as interpreted by me) has a personal ethos towards killing: "If they try to kill you, your comrades, or any innocents, you kill them. No remorse. Pacifism be damned."
In case anyone was wondering, yes, some Matrix-ish manuvers were implemented by Squall and Co. I figure with junctions, especially Str-J, Vit-J, and Spd-J, plus junctioning magic to Evade and also being able to boost one's abilities, such as with Str20% and so on, the SeeDs could be able to pull of some Matrix-like manuvers. Bullet-dodging, crazy cartweels and flips, wall running, insanely long or high jumps, and being able to pull of combat manuvers requiring incredible strength and speed are among a SeeD's repertiore. Plus, it helps that I am a Matrix fanboy. So, don't be surprised if the characters do something "larger than life." After all, with GFs, they've got gods on their sides.
