Interlude: Laguna

Squall's feet were moving, although not of his own will. His gloved hands, not leather gloves but cloth, were wrapped tightly around the handle and muzzle of a heavy machinegun. He keenly felt the weight of metal armor, ammunition, grenades, and a pack full of supplies on his back, although he never recalled donning any of them. Sweat, from the heat and from his own sore muscles, poured down his brow, although he hadn't exerted himself enough to have those sore muscles. He reached up with his left hand and brushed hair out of his eyes, and though the action would have been automatic in normal situations, Squall Leonhart was instantly aware of the fact that he had not been the one to make his hand reach up to brush that hair away.

That hair, Squall suddenly noted. That hair was not brown.

It was black.

Squall suddenly stopped without wanting to stop, and looked around, raising his rifle and scanning the area. He was in a forest, a heavy, thick one, with muted sunlight filtering down through the leafy canopy overhead and smoke wafting above the woods. Distant sounds of explosions and gunfire could be heard. A war was raging in the distance.

"Uhh, Laguna," a voice called over Squall's shoulder, and Squall spun to see a wiry dark skinned man with long dreadlocks and clad in the blue uniform and armor of a Galbadian soldier. Unlike the traditional soldier, however, this man had no sword, instead carrying a pair of katals, short blades with grasping handles on the ends, designed to be wielded much like Seifer's Hyperion.

"Are you sure this is the right way?" he inquired, looking directly at Squall. Instead of replying, Squall found himself turning around, surveying the area.

"Hoo-boy," a booming voice said to Squall's other side, and he glanced over to see a titantic man, heavyset and with more muscles than a human had any right to possess. The man was scarred across his face, and wore a huge blue rag tied around the top of his head. He too wore heavy Galbadian armor, although it must have been custom-fitted to his massive frame. A huge black metal harpoon rested in his hands, with a sharpened tip and a ring on its blunt end.

"'Course I'm sure!" Squall found himself saying, much to his surprise. And also to his surprise, his voice and accent were completely different. The sound of his words were colored with a heavy Galbadian accent.

What the . . . ? Squall didn't understand what was going on, until he found himself walking over to a small stream nearby. He bent down by the water and splashed some of the liquid into his face, wiping off grime. As the waters settled, Squall saw his own face, reflected in the pool.

He wasn't Squall. He was an older man, late twenties, perhaps. He had long black hair that dropped past his shoulders, and dark green eyes. His face was also narrower, and he was taller, as well. He, like his comrades, was clad in Galbadian armor.

Squall rose from his crouch and fingered the machinegun, and began to move on. The SeeD began to get a feeling that he was along for the ride whether he liked it or not, and he got the distinct impression this was what it would be like to literally see things through another's eyes.

Squall didn't know what had happened or what was going on, and he realized he was helpless to do anything but stand back (figuratively speaking, of course) and watch through the eyes of this "Laguna."

-------------------

"Laguna, I'm certain this isn't the right direction," the wiry man said, looking around at the trail the trio were running down.

"Kiros, it has to be the right trail! Its the only one in the whole forest!" Laguna shot back.

"Yeah, so why's it taking us away from the battle?" the larger man replied, balancing his heavy pack across his shoulders.

"Oh, come on Ward," Laguna said. "Its just a detour. I'm telling you, I've got this feeling this trail leads directly to the enemy lines!"

"Kiros, he's going by his gut," Ward warned his diminuative comrade.

"Yeah, I know," Kiros replied. "It means we're lost."

"We are not lost!" Laguna protested. "Let's just follow this trail. One way or the other, its going to lead us to civilizaton!"

"Alright, whatever you say, my man," Kiros said with a resigned shrug. Ward just nodded, and the trio moved on down the trail. Soon, they passed through a field of tall grass. Fires burned throughout its length, and the destroyed remnants of several combat vehicles littered the field.

"Told you," Laguna said, pointing. "Those are Timber vehicles out there, meaning we must be close to where the fighting is! We'll be reunited with the army in no time!"

"Those vehicles look like they've been destroyed for a while . . ." Ward remarked, noting the lack of fires around the wreakages. "I think our forces already passed through here . . ."

"Well, if they did, they must have left a sentry or something around here," Laguna reasoned. "Who knows, maybe we'll find a forward command post or something!"

Laguna's companions shrugged, not really having anything to say. His reasoning did seem sound enough, so they followed Laguna through the field. The distant sounds of gunfire faded off, but they found no sentry or command post after several hours of crawling through the forest on the other side of the meadow.

What they did find was a trail leading through the forest, doubling back on their old route. Soon, the sounds of distant combat rang louder.

"About time," Ward said. "We've gotta get back to the front."

"I dunno," Laguna said, shaking his head doubtully. "I'm not so sure about this trail . . ."

"All the more reason to follow it," Kiros replied with a grin. Laguna reluctantly nodded his head, and led them down the trail, although with far less enthusiasm as he had when they'd been fleeing the battle.

Another hour passed, and they were definately drawing closer to the front, but then, the trail abruptly ended.

"I guess we'll just have to make our way on rough ground," Laguna remarked, leading the trio into the brush. Soon, leaves and braches were scratching up the trio of soldiers as the crunched through the foliage.

"Laguna, the battle's that way," Ward said, pointing to their right, where the sounds were coming from.

"Nah, the trees are playing with the noise. I'm sure its this way," Laguna responded, not wavering from his course in the slightest. Kiros and Ward shot one another incredulous looks before reluctantly following their leader.

Another half hour passed, and the group drew no closer to the distant battle, despite Laguna's declarations that they were headed in the right direction. The trio stopped in a clearing for a moment to rest.

"Laguna, we're not going in the right direction," Kiros stated bluntly as he sat down. "Are you even sure where we are?"

"Well, I think . . ." Laguna reached into his pack and pulled out a map showing the Timber region. Unsurprisingly, it was mostly forests. Laguna looked over the map for a while, then shrugged. "Somewhere around here," he said, using his finger to make a circle (a wide one, it might be noted) around the western edge of the forest.

"Glad we've got the great white hunter with us," Ward remarked, drawing chuckles from Kiros, and even making Laguna smile.

"I can't narrow it down any further," Laguna said, folding the map back up. "I'm no expert on Timber's geology."

"Geography," Kiros corrected.

"Yeah, whatever," Laguna shot back, standing up. "I think if we head along the same path, we'll make it to the front."

"Oh, no you don't," Ward said, shaking his head in a definate negative. "Every time we've followed your paths it takes us miles further from the front." Ward pointed a massive finger in the direction of the distant explosions. "I'm positive that's where our unit is. We have to link back up."

Laguna let out a resigned sigh, and nodded.

"Alright, fine, we'll take your route," he agreed. "You guys don't trust my pathfinding skills anymore, do you?"

"After today, we never will again," Kiros responded, and all three war buddies shared a good laugh at that. They all stood to leave, gathering up their packs.

A sudden rustling in the brush around the clearing stopped the soldiers in their tracks. They looked around, scanning their surroundings, all the while clutching their weapons tightly.

"There," Ward said, pointing with a nod of his forehead. The other two soldiers looked in that direction, to see a snake-like, grayish-brown skinned creature slithering through the brush.

"Geezard," Laguna commented, shaking his head. The creatures were little more than an annoyance to skilled fighters, unless they came in large numbers. "Its just a Geezard, nothing to worry about." At the tail end of Laguna's comment, more rustling erupted all around the soldiers. More slithering forms, a dozen or more, could be seen in the foliage surrounding the clearing.

"You were saying?" Kiros muttered, sliding into a combat stance, watching the pack of monsters surrounding them. His katals rose, ready for battle.

"Well, you said we weren't seeing any action," Laguna replied, sighting one of the monsters.

As if on cue to Laguna's remark, Geezards erupted from the woods around the small group, slithering across the grass. The monsters were small, only about four feet long, and featured a pair of stubby forelegs with a single claw on each, located near the head. Most of the monster was taken up by its tail, with only a small section of the creature's body containing what on a human would be its torso. A large head with white, milky eyes and a gaping maw completed the monster.

One of those faces dissappeared as Laguna dropped six bullets into it from his rifle. He shifted his aim, targeting a second Geezard behind and to the left of the first, and fired another pair of three-round bursts into its back. The monster spasmed and lay still.

Another Geezard leaped up into the air at Kiros, attempting to bite the small man's neck. Kiros took offense at the notion, and stabbed forward with both his katals, hitting the monster side by side in its chest in midair. Kiros swept his katals apart in opposite directions, cutting the monster in two.

Ward set his harpoon against the leaping strike of another Geezard, and was rewarded by the tip of his iron weapon driving into the stupid monster's open mouth as it came in. Quickly shaking the monster off the end of his weapon, Ward jabbed the harpoon into the face of another Geezard slithering towards him, the point going right through its skull.

A third Geezard leaped at Ward, but was knocked aside by a burst from Laguna's gun. The monster writhed in pain on the ground until Ward stomped on its ugly face, finishing it.

More monsters boiled out at the trio, and the three soldiers continued fighting. A pair advanced on Kiros, who deftly stabbed a katal down into its back, killing the monster. The nimble warrior then used that katal as a pivot, spinning around with his other katal slicing in. The second Geezard, rising up on its tail like a striking snake, took the arcing blade right at the base of its neck. Its head flew free.

Seven more Geezards formed up into a thick swarm and surged towards Laguna. The soldier flicked the selector switch on his rifle to full auto and held down the trigger. A wave of hot metal erupted forth from the gun, the stream of bullets pouring into the charging monstrous horde. Geezards screeched and died as the machinegun swept across their lines.

Ward spotted another Geezard approaching from Laguna's backside, and he launched his heavy harpoon one-handed. The iron spear crossed the distance in a heartbeat and blasted down into the Geezard's back, blowing a hole the size of a dinner plate in its body. Even as Ward saw this, he heard the rustling of grass right next to him over the clatter of machinegun fire, and looked down to see another Geezard practically right next to him. The monster grabbed onto Ward's boot with its claws and chomped its jaws upon the metal footwear.

Ward immediately shifted his weight to his other foot and stood up on that leg, shaking his grasped foot furiously. The Geezard held on stubbornly, however, and so Ward slammed his foot down into the ground. The force of the impact knocked the Geezard loose momentarily, and wasting no time, the big man stomped down on the monster's head, splatting it.

Kiros loosed a spinning slash that dropped a pair of Geezads leaping at him, and Laguna's gunfire finished the last of the small horde charging him. The three warriors surveyed the monstrous carnage around them, watching for any creatures that had decided they weren't dead after all.

However, the final threat came not from the ground, but from the edge of the woods. A final Geezard leaped out from the woods, diving for Laguna's face. Laguna saw the monster out the corner of his eye and spun to face it, machinegun rising. He tapped the trigger, loosing a three round burst that caught the monster in its face. The creature went into a backwards somersault, and Laguna's subsequent burst hit it in the chest as it spun. A final burst hit the monster in its back as it fell to the ground, ending the somersault riddled with bullet holes.

That monster's death marked the end of the Geezard pack.

"Well, that was fun," Laguna stated, reloading his rifle.

"Indeed. Not even a challenge," Kiros agreed, wiping his katals.

"Not very many Galbadian soldiers can say they got this many Geezards without breaking a sweat!" Laguna proclaimed, hefting his rifle. "Something to brag about back at home!"

"Bragging about killing Geezards?" Ward said doubtfully.

"Heh, I don't think even Galbadian Rangers can waste them as easily as we did," Laguna continued, ignoring Ward's remark. "Wasn't much of a workout, really."

"A workout?" Kiros said with a shake of his head and smile. "All you did was point and shoot. Not much exercise there."

"Excuse me!" Laguna said with mock indignation. He puffed out his chest and pointed to the last Geezard. "What about that one? That was real prevention firing right there!"

"Prevention?" Ward echoed.

"He means precision." Kiros corrected.

"Prevention, precision, whatever!" Laguna said in exasperation. "They're dead, and we didn't even get scratched."

"My boot got scratched . . ." Ward remarked, holding up his gore- splattered boot that the Geezard had grabbed.

-------------------

"Hey, Laguna," Ward asked during one of their breaks while advancing up a new trail they'd found an hour later. The group had stopped at a small stream to refill their canteens and had chosen to rest. For once, the group seemed much closer to the fighting now, although the sounds of battle were dying down.

"Aren't we here to fight a war?" the big man asked. "You know, against the almighty Timber army?"

"Yeah, " Kiros agreed, "so why are we wasting our time with these animals? We should be on the front lines, not wandering through the forest. We haven't seen any sign of Galbadian or Timber units in the last hour, and every trail you've led us down leads away from the fighting."

"Well, you see . . ." Laguna began, scratching the back of his head.

"Don't tell me we're lost again," Kiros said with a shake of his head. "I may be overestimating your cleverness, but you seem to be deliberately leading us away from the front."

"Its just that, uhhh . . ." Laguna began. He paused, and looked around as if looking for spies, then, he gestured for his comrades to come closer. As they leaned in, he whispered. "You really want to fight this war?"

"What?" Ward asked, surprised.

"Really? Do you?" Laguna asked. "Whose cause are we fighting for?"

"Fortifying the Horizon Bridge," Kiros said, as if it were obvious. "Timber's not doing their job, so we're doing it for them."

"When we can just blast it?" Laguna replied, shaking his head. "You know that's what Timber was planning to do the whole time if Esthar attacked? Blow the bridge. Dollet's navy has got 'em beat on the seas, so the only way they can cross is the Bridge. Timber's got it wired with explosives."

"How do you know?" Ward asked.

"Power of the press, Ward," Laguna replied with a grin. "The truth can't be kept quiet, not even with Vinzer Deling in charge. The word gets around. Timber's got the Bridge covered, and Deling knows its covered. That means we've got no reason to be here, so why are we here in the first place?"

"You think its a power grab?" Ward questioned, thinking about it.

"Only explanation," Laguna said. "Deling's just trying to take the whole continent, and we're helping him. I'm not some goon for a power mad dictator! We joined to save Galbadia from its foes, and all we're doing is helping Deling's world domination schemes!"

"Dang, my man," Kiros said, shaking his head and nodding. "You've got a point. That's why you've been avoiding the front?"

"Yeah, well, with my record, this won't seem strange to the commanders for me to get lost," Laguna said with a chuckle.

"You planning on deserting?"

"Desertion? No way!" Laguna said, shaking his head. "We'd get shot if we were caught! But I dunno . . ." Laguna looked off into the treetops. "I really want to quit after this war's over. Maybe get a real job in the newspapers, tell 'em about my time in the war and where I've been. Yeah! That's it! As soon as things quiet down, I'm outta this army!" He looked back at his comrades. "What about you guys? Interested in seeing the long world?"

"You mean, 'wide world?'" Ward asked with a chuckle. "I'm not sure. I don't think I'm up for travel, but then again, I don't like settling down, either." The big man slapped Laguna across the shoulder. "I've got too much of you in me!"

"What about you, Kiros?" Laguna asked. "You wanna come with me after we get outta here?"

"Why not?" Kiros replied with a chuckle. "Someone's gotta keep you from making a fool of yourself."

"Alright then!" Laguna said with a grin. "We can just wait here for a bit, let the fighting die down, and then head back for the front and make a report on getting lost. Knowing Colonel Derlin, he'll toss it out without even reading it."

"Especially since he wouldn't even think you'd have gotten us lost on purpose," Kiros added, and all three men chuckled.

"We're going home," Laguna told his buddies. "Deling City, here we come!"

-------------------

If Squall could have shook his head, he would have done so, but as it was, he was stuck in Laguna's body.

Who was this guy? And what was going on? He immediately got the impression that he was dreaming, but things seemed too vivid and real for what he was experiencing to be a dream. He thought about his last concious realizations before passing out, and knew beyond a doubt that whatever had happened was entirely unnatural and definately connected with what he was experiencing.

But what was he experiencing? And were Selphie and Zell also "dreaming" of the same thing?

Squall ran back over all that he had seen. Clearly, Laguna, Kiros, and Ward were Galbadian soldiers, and it seemed they were fighting a war in Timber, possibly the same war that had brought Timber under Deling's domination eighteen years ago. But if that was true, then he was dreaming about the past . . .

But this couldn't be the past, as he was looking at it right now, in real time. Not only that, but Squall was experiencing it all. He could feel the sweat on his face, and also feel the exhaustion in his limbs and the lack of breath in his lungs, as well as the soreness of his feet as he - no, Laguna - now trudged into a Galbadian base camp on the front lines.

Squall didn't like being confused, he didn't like uncertianty, and he damned sure didn't like not being in control of himself, but that was what was going on, and he didn't know why.

Right now, Laguna was walking into an officer's office in the camp, likely the colonel that Laguna had discussed a while before. Laguna stepped into the refreshing (relatively speaking) coolness of the tent, but before Squall could take in the surroundings through Laguna's eyes, everything suddenly went black, as if he'd passed out again.

Squall momentarily got the impression of lying on the floor. He felt carpet digging into his cheek, and he opened his eye for an instant.

That was when Squall saw Zell and Selphie, still asleep on the couch in the SeeD cabin in the train. That realization had Squall's blood pumping as he tried to stand, but the unknown and unnatural tiredness swept over him again. Before Squall could stand up or even move from his prone position on the floor of the SeeD cabin, he was engulfed by blackness.

Then, Squall found himself sitting, looking out a window of a Galbadian armored vehicle.

And once more, he brushed a mess of long black hair out of his eyes.

-------------------

"How long 'till home?" Laguna asked, turning away from the small window and looking back at Ward, who was driving.

"Couple of hours," Ward replied.

"We would have been there yesterday but you got us turned around," Kiros added with a chuckle from a seat behind his comrades.

"Again," Ward commented. "You're worse with directions in a car than you are on foot."

"Aw, shut up," Laguna said , looking away. "At least you guys got to see the missile base under construction out there."

"True," Kiros said with a shrug and grin. "The missile base on the other side of the desert."

"Come on, man, give me a break," Laguna complained. He gestured out to the flat, brown, featureless terrain out the window. It was part of the vast desert in Galbadia's southwestern region, a dry, barren, empty place. The region had long ago been lush and full of life and teeming with lakes and rivers, but the water had left one day without leaving a forwarding address, and now the only inhabitants were desert animals and monsters.

"How can you not get lost out here?" Laguna sked. "The closest thing we've got to roads out here are dirt tracks."

"Well, what do you expect when there's no one out here?" Kiros replied. "Its a monster-infested desert. I'm amazed we still haven't seen anything over the last few days we've spent wandering around."

As they were talking, Ward steered the armored vehicle over a hill along the track road, and as the vehicle crested the rise, one could see blueish-green grasses many miles to the north. Those plants were the first heralds of the Great Plains of Galbadia, which stretched south and east of the heavily populated northlands of Galbadia, and served as Galbadia's "bread basket."

"About time we got out the place water forgot," Ward commented as the armored vehicle descended the hill. Oddly, this hill was strewn with almost a dozen small boulders, colored the same yellowish brown as the sands and dirt of the vast desert the Galbadians were leaving behind.

"That's weird," Laguna said, nodding towards the large rocks, all roughly around the same size and shape. "You don't usually see rocks like that in the desert. I wonder how they got here."

Kiros leaned forward between Ward and Laguna, squinting at the boulders.

"As much as I hate to admit it, man," Kiros said. "You've got a point. Those rocks are funny-looking."

By now, Ward had driven the vehicle halfway down the hill, and the closest of the the strange rocks was only about a hundered feet away. Ward, too, was a bit worried about those unusual stones, and had slowed down as they approached. At this close range, all three soldiers could see odd green markings across the rocks.

"What in Hyne's name?" Laguna asked, scratching his head. "I ain't ever seen stones like that before."

Kiros stroked his chin thoughtfully, while Ward continued slowing down, obviously hesitant to get any closer.

"You know," Ward said, "I've got a bad feeling about this. Haven't you guys heard some of the rumors about the monsters in this desert?"

"Yeah," Kiros agreed. "You don't think . . ."

"I do," Ward replied, bringing the vehicle to a stop about twenty feet from the nearest stone. He reached for the gear shift, about to throw the vehicle into reverse-

-and one of the many yellow and green rocks exploded to life, standing up and unfolding itself. The monster, and that was indeed what they were, had rolled up into a roughly boulder-like shape and hidden its burly arms and legs underneath its bulk, effectively disguising itself. Now the monster stood, and charged at the vehicle, running on all fours like a gorilla. Behind it, more boulders rose to the attack as well.

Now that they could see the monster, all thee soldiers within the armored vehicle realized what these monsters were. They were Wendigos, huge and powerful monsters of the Galbadian deserts. Wendigos were roughly humanoid, and built like body-builders, with muscles upon muscles. Unlike humans, though, Wedigos oddly enough had no heads. Where the head should have been there was . . . nothing, giving the hunched over, six-foot tall monsters a disconcerting appearance. They preffered physical attacks with their fists, and had little use for tactics beyond "charge in and smash."

"Back up!" Laguna shouted, scrabbling for his machinegun. "Back up!"

Ward did just that, throwing his vehicle in reverse even as the initial Wendigo closed. As the Galbadian vehicle began backing up, the monster slammed headlong onto the armored car, almost knocking it over. The Wendigo closed one hand around one of the topside lights and, perched on the front of the vehicle and dominating the front view, began slamming away on the car's top. In spite of the armored plating around the vehicle, the monster's smashing fist began to dent the roof inward.

"Get us outta here!" Kiros shouted, and Ward began to back away quickly. Thinking fast, and showcasing driving skills he didn't know he had, Ward spun the vehicle to the right hard, and the Wendigo suddenly found its feet no longer on the front of the vehicle due to centifugal force. Ward continued the sharp backing spin, and suddenly the Wedigo was gone, the light it was grasping torn free by the monster's tremendous weight.

Ward had turned around to a one-hundred and eighty degree angle to the charging Wedigo pack that had been following the initial charge, so the monsters were coming at the trio and their vehicle from directly behind. This didn't occur to Laguna and his comrades until the Wedigos actually slammed into the backside of the armored car, and began pounding away on it.

"Drive!" Laguna said to Ward. "Drive!" Ward began to do just that, turning the gear shift so they could pull out, but then the soldiers heard a screeching sound, one of metal scraping against metal, and Kiros and Laguna looked back to see a Wedigo using its incredible strength to pry the rear hatch off. The door was already halfway gone, and a second Wedigo was trying to fit its girth in the portal. One of its muscular arms reached in, huge fingers grasping.

Kiros's katals severed those fingers, then gashed the hand and arm as they ran up the monster's limb, striking in rapid succession. Kiros finished the attack with a quick crossing slash across the monster's chest and then thrusting the creature right where the base of its neck should have been. The Wendigo fell away, not dead but not in any condition to fight either.

Even as that monster fell back, a second rose to fill its place, shooting a fist through the gap as the Wendigo forcing to door open worked the opening somewhat wider. The fist struck Kiros right in his chest and staggered him, but to everyone's surprise (none more than Kiros himself! ) the lithe soldier came right back, his katals crossing over the monster's hand like the jaws of a wolf, severing the hand clean off. The monster howled somehow, but continued trying to get inside the vehicle. It clubbed Kiros with its stump of an arm, knocking him backwards, and as the Wendigo grasping the door forced it further open, it came all the way into the vehicle, its bulk filling the back.

Of course, that made it difficult for Laguna to miss. A stream of hot metal tore into the monster's chest as Laguna poured gunfire into the Wendigo from his spot behind Kiros. He'd been unable to help his friend a moment before, because the small man was right in his field of fire.

The bullets tore into the monster's hide, and the force behind the sheer number of rounds pushed the beast practically right out the door.

One of the Wendigos outside finished taking the dying monster out of the portal, grabbing it by its intact arm and pulling is dead bretheren out of the way.

"Ward, get us outta here!" Laguna shouted, firing upon the new threat that loomed into view. He held down the trigger, and bullet ripped into monstrous flesh, but this Wendigo ignored the hail of fire as it came in. Laguna's machingun ceased its stream of bullets and began clicking, and he frantically moved to reload. The Wendigo, hurt but still standing, finished working its way inside the vehicle and wound up for a mighty punch. But then Kiros interposed himself between his friend and the monster, convincing it to halt its attack with an argument of katal slashes and thrusts. The monster fell back, and like its comrade before, it was yanked out of the way by more Wendigos outside.

Those Wendigos were suddenly distant as the Galbadian vehicle took off, Ward driving away at full speed. Laguna was about to ask why Ward had waited so long to leave, but then realized that time during the battle had dialated, making the fight seem far longer than it actually was.

"We're losing 'em," Kiros reported, looking out the back hatch at the pursuing but rapidly diminishing Wendigos.

And as if on cue, something slammed, and slammed hard, into the rear left side of the Galbadian vehicle, spinning it around so the car was pointing at an angle perpendicular to its original route. Laguna looked out the window to see a Wendigo, likely the same on that had leaped onto the vehicle in the first place, holding onto the side of the car. Before Ward could throw the car back into full speed, that same Wendigo let go of the vehicle's side and ran around back.

"Its coming in through the rear!" Laguna warned, but as Kiros spun around to face the incoming enemy, the Wendigo's arm shot through the open rear hatch and grabbed the soldier. Then, with almost casual ease, the Wendigo spun, and Kiros went flying out the back hatch and into the throng of oncoming monsters, rapidly gaining on them.

"Kiros!" both Laguna and Ward shouted, and both soldiers, heedless of their own safety, scrambled to help their comrade. Laguna was out of the car in an instant, blasting his machingun at point blank range into the Wendigo that had stopped them and grabbed Kiros. The monster stumbled back, and if it made any noise, it couldn't be heard under the pounding blasts of Laguna's gun.

Ward, having to get out of his seat, was a moment behind Laguna, begining his charge out of the car with a hurled harpoon. The metal spear blasted right through one Wendigo as it approached Kiros's prone form, and then it continued on to bury in the chest of a second. Ward paused for an instant, surprised by the power behind his throw. He was a buff man, but he wasn't that buff . . . .

Kiros, having been bought a momentary second of respite by Ward, rose up, his katals slicing rapidly and precisely at the reaching hand of another of the yellow and green-skinned monsters. That hand fell, severed from its arm. Before the Wendigo could really comprehend what had happened, the katals dug deep lines across that monster's chest.

The monster Laguna was shooting wasn't dead yet, or at least, it didn't know it was, so it still stood despite its chest being torn to shreds by hot steel. Laguna quickly kicked the monster in its chest, hurling its body several feet backward, and firing another burst into the dying monster to ensure it would stay that way. It didn't occur to the soldier that he didn't normally have enough strength to knock that huge of a monster that far back with a single kick, since Laguna had already switched into combat mode. The enemy was down, that was all that mattered right now.

The Wendigos, realizing the rest of their prey had come out to fight as well, began to split up, many breaking away from Kiros to go after Laguna and Ward. As the group broke up, Laguna could tell how many foes there were. There were nine of the monsters, it seemed. Four were still attacking Kiros, and three more went after Ward, seeing him unarmed. The last two went for Laguna.

Kiros spun and sliced as those Wendigos surrounding him came in. After a few fingers and a hand were lost, the monsters backed away, forming a circle around the agile and dangerous fighter. One of the monsters suddenly sped forward, diving at Kiros, The lithe soldier spun to meet the monster, and raised his katals as if he was going to meet the charge head on. At the last second, however, Kiros spun to the side, and the Wendigo's momentum carried it past. Kiros's blades found targets in the passing monster as he spun back around, slicing cleanly into its leg and side. The monster rose quickly and stumbled away, hurting badly.

The monsters charging Laguna met sweeping blasts of automatic fire, but Laguna didn't concentrate his fire on any one monster, so the bullets did not down either attacker. Both monsters closed in, their fists swinging. Laguna ducked under on blow, only to have it strike the metal of the armored vehicle behind him, leaving another dent in the battered car's body.

Laguna had to step aside as a fist jabbed at him, from the other Wendigo. He didn't get completely out of the way, and the blow sent him spinning, right back through the hatch and into the back section of the Galbadian vehicle. The monster that had hit him was right behind Laguna, scrambling through the open hatchway and cocking its fist back for another mighty punch.

Laguna, lying on his back, quickly curled up, bringing his legs up before him, with his knees over his chest. Even as the Wendigo came in, Laguna kicked out, striking the monster in its chest as. The Wendigo was hurled back, right out the hatch, and was stitched with gunfire before it hit the ground. The monster did not get back up. The second Wendigo also charged into the vehicle after Laguna, but this time, Laguna was ready for it, and before it had even scrambled halfway through the hatch, his gunfire had literally stopped it dead.

Ward found himself engaging three Wedigos, unarmed. Not a good situation, even for someone as tough as him. But as the first Wendgo came in, with the other two circling around, Ward recalled how he'd downed two of the monsters with a single throw of the harpoon.

The monster directly in front of Ward threw a powerful hook at him, but the man's hands came up and blocked the monster's blow cold, to the surprise of the monster, but not to the human. Somehow, Ward realized, he was far stronger than he should have been. Far, far stronger.

Taking advantage of that new strength, Ward's hands closed over the monster's extended fist, and he spun, yanking the arm hard. The monster's feet left the ground, and it spun around in midair as Ward turned. He released the monster's fist as he came round, hurling the creature into one of the Wendigos encircling him. Both went down, hard.

Then Ward found himself ensnared in a bear hug as the third Wendigo slipped up behind him and wrapped its arms around the soldier, pinning his arms to his side.

The three intact Wendigos circled around Kiros, and then all came at him at once. The small man spun aroud like a top, his blades extending and slashing, rising and falling like the edges of a screw. The monsters, expecting to bury the tiny man under the sheer weight of their bodies, found themselves being sliced open byKiros's spinning blades. One creature fell back, both its hands gone. A second featured a long, deadly cut across its chest, having pierced its heart. That one could not hold its footing and fell down, dead. The third was not so badly off, having taken only a half-dozen minor hits, and it came in at Kiros anew, punching hard.

Kiros hopped back out of the monster's way and then came right back in, both katals diving for the monster's chest. The twin blades cut in, and then Kiros snapped the blades out, tearing the monster's chest open. Even as the monster began to retreat backwads, Kiros came right in after it, both katals slashing upwards and cutting twin lines across the Wendigo's chest. The monster dropped.

Ward, taking offense at the Wendigo's grapple, flexed his arm muscles and broke free of the bear hug. He took a quick step forward, and then spun around, cocking a fist. The subsequent punch seemed to have come all the way from Deling City itself, slamming the Wendigo in its chest and huling it nearly fifteen feet away. Ward spent a second gaping at the feat.

"Hot damn," he whispered, awed by his newfound power. But then he saw the two other Wendigos untangling themselves, and he dove for his harpoon. Ward qiuckly extracated the metal spear from the dead monster's chest it had been imbedded in, then spun around even as the first Wendigo of the pair closed in, hands raised to slam Ward into the ground.

Ward's harpoon speared it in the chest, hurling it back to the dirt.

The last Wendigo was still coming, and passed its dead companion, cutting Ward off from his weapon. Ward, not to be deterred, set himself to stop the powerful monster's charge. The monster came in, eager to bowl Ward under and pound him into meat.

And just as they were about to connect, the monster suddenly began to stumble, its faltering accompanied by the pounding gunfire from Laguna's machinegun. The man himself was standing at the hatch of their car, firing away into the monster's back.

Even as the Wendigo stumbled forward, Ward took the initiative and stepped forward into the monster's stumbling charge. He slammed his shoulder into the monster's chest and straightened, and the Wendigo flew up and over Ward's back, to slam into the dirt ten feet behind him. The monster began to rise, until a pair of katals, guided by Kiros's hands, dove into its back, finishing the monster.

Even as that monster went down, the trio of soldiers scanned the nearby area, alert for any more incoming Wendigos.

But the monsters had had enough. Those that could still flee were doing so now, scrambling away from the three mighty humans and their dead and torn bretheren. All three men let out tired sighs, and turned back to the vehicle.

"'Deling City, here we come?'" Kiros echoed sarcastically.

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Yikes! That took a while to do. Apologies for my failing to get this to you guys. A friend of mine just got back from USMC boot camp, and we've been engaged in much "mischevious behavior" lately...that and other real life complications have reared their ugly heads. But now that things are settling down, I'll try to speed up posting new chappies.

Also, I'm starting up some planning on a new Matrix-oriented fic, and I'm reexamining Foreshadow. I'm probably gonna keep the core storyline, but alter the time frame and so on. I've also got a few one-shots floating around in my skull, and I think I'll make 'em at some point.