Chapter 16: Timber

The Forest Owls' train managed to slip into Timber unnoticed, and quickly dropped the SeeDs and Rinoa off at a platform. Watts wished them luck as the train pulled out. The speeding engine almost left him behind in the Forest Owls' hurry to get out of town before the Galbadians found them.

"Do you know where the TV Station is?" Squall asked Rinoa as the foursome walked off the platform. Rinoa nodded as they joined the flow of pedestrians walking on Timber's streets. Once again, Squall made note of the apparent lack of amenities or technology that he was used to in Balamb Garden. The city seemed to be stuck in a previous age, decades in the past.

Squall also made note of something else: there were a lot of uniformed Galbadian troopers walking around on the streets, patrolling in large squadrons. Groups loitered around at intersections or in front of important buildings, or wandered the streets, doubtless keeping an eye open for resistance members.

"There's a lot of blue out here," Zell muttered, to which Squall nodded. The patrolling Galbadians would definitely be something they would have to keep an eye out for. It wouldn't do to be caught now, especially with their client in tow; they were going to have to tread softly.

"We'll try to dodge them," Squall ordered, and the group nodded. They knew the group's best defense would be stealth. He glanced back at his comrades. Neither he, nor Zell or Selphie were well known to the Galbadians in any sense, but Rinoa . . . .

"Rinoa, are you well-known?" he asked her. She blinked in surprise.

"You could say so," she replied, sounding a bit uncertain.

"What do you mean?" Squall asked.

"The people here in Timber know me, and some of the soldiers might recognize me," Rinoa explained. "I am a somewhat familiar face."

"Are you wanted?" Squall asked, now suddenly very wary of the Galbadian soldiers. He scanned the nearby streets for any patrolling squads. There weren't any present, at least here.

"No, not wanted," Rinoa said with a shake of her head. "Its just I might be recognized by the soldiers. But they don't know I'm a resistance member."

Squall nodded, and then paused, spotting a small squad of Galbadians rounding a corner ahead and headed their way. A quick signal of his hand told Zell and Selphie to look inconspicuous, and Squall did the same, pulling Rinoa into a nearby building, a large hotel. Squall glanced back out the window as they entered the hotel to see Zell and Selphie standing in front of a store window, looking in. Zell had an arm resting comfortably around Selphie's shoulders, giving the perfect illusion of boyfriend and girlfriend.

Squall then turned around and quickly scanned the lobby of the hotel for any potential threats. Aside from the receptionist, her son, a girl operating a model train in a corner, and a few scattered guests sitting around, the lobby was empty.

"Let's try to look inconspicuous," Squall began to say, but Rinoa shook her head. She gestured to the receptionist behind the desk.

"I know Mrs.DiMarco. She's a friend of mine," she explained, and walked toward the woman behind the desk, smiling. The woman looked up from something she was doing behind the desk, and spotted Rinoa's approach.

"Oh, Rinoa," she said with a smile as Squall followed his client. "I'm glad to see you. I heard about the kidnapping attempt and I was worried. Those Galbadian soldiers mentioned that they had left a trap for whoever went after them . . . ."

"Nah, by bodyguard protected me," Rinoa replied, gesturing to Squall. As she said so, a burst of laughter came from an open door down a nearby hallway. Squall glanced in that direction, to see the open door led into a small cafeteria. Inside, he spotted a number of Galbadian soldiers, sitting around on various pieces of furniture - or just lounging around as if they owned the place, busying themselves with talking and eating. Squall tapped Rinoa's shoulder, suddenly thinking that being here wasn't such a good idea.

"Rinoa, there's-"

"Galbadians?" Mrs.DiMarco replied. She frowned and shook her head, looking down that hallway. "Shouldn't be saying this out loud, but there's a bunch of Galbadian roughnecks staying here after the government said we should house them for the President's visit. They've taken all the rooms here. It's not safe."

"I understand. We'll be out of here soon," Rinoa said with a nod. "Thanks, Mrs. DiMarco."

"Rinoa," Mrs. DiMarco said with a smile. "How long have we known each other? Two years now? Call me Francesca."

"Sorry," Rinoa replied. "Blame my father. He was always one for etiquette."

"You can't blame him," Francesca responded. "After all-"

"Street's clear," Squall reported, looking out the window. He put a hand on Rinoa's shoulder. "We should go, now." Squall glanced back at the soldiers in the cafeteria, and Rinoa reluctantly nodded. She thanked Mrs. DiMarco again and they stepped outside onto the busy street. They quickly linked up with Selphie and Zell, who were walking out of the same store they'd been looking into. Squall noticed Selphie was stuffing a small stuffed bear into her backpack. He glanced at Zell, his expression questioning.

"Had to convincingly pull off the boyfriend routine," the martial artist explained with a shrug. "Selphie insisted we do it to dodge the soldiers."

"Mmm-hmm!" Selphie nodded with a smile, hugging Zell. "My boyfriend's really sweet, isn't he?" Squall shrugged.

"You two can get a room when we get done with the TV Station," he replied with his usual dead serious humor. "Speaking of which," he turned back to Rinoa. "Can we get there from here without traveling down the main streets? We need to avoid the majority of the Galbadians."

Rinoa nodded.

"It's this way," she said, turning back to the alley they had ducked down a moment before. "Follow me." The trio of SeeDs followed her through the alleyway, past trash-filled bins and around a corner. The alley opened into a side street, which they quickly crossed.

"Hey, Squall," Zell muttered to Squall's rear left as Rinoa continued to guide them. They crossed a major street and a bridge overlooking a train track.

"Yeah?" he responded.

"While we were window shopping, we overheard a few of those soldiers."

"And?"

"They're getting suspicious," Selphie said from Squall's right.

"Apparently, Watts's intelligence-gathering alerted some of the Galbadians," Zell continued. "They connected his politeness to a face, and from that, they connected him to us."

"You mean they're onto us?" Squall asked.

"Yup," Selphie stated.

"Great," Squall muttered, glad he had chosen to travel the side streets and avoid being seen. The group exited an alley and found themselves on another bridge, this one overlooking a number of train lines. Rinoa paused here, looking over the bridge at the tracks.

"What is it?" Squall asked.

"The lines are shut down," Rinoa said with a shake of her head. "Usually the local trains would be running through here. Lots of hustle and bustle . . . ."

"The Galbadian military must have shut them down," Selphie stated as she leaned over the bridge's railing. "The soldiers said they were checking the trains out. The only open line is the one leading to Galbadia Garden's southern station, for the commuters. They said something about reopening the lines after the President leaves."

"So the Galbadia Garden route is the only viable escape we have if we need to leave town," Squall said with a nod. "Rinoa, you know how to get there?"

"Of course," she said. "Come on, the TV station's not /i far away." With that, the group set off again.

Two alleys, another bridge, and ducking through a resturant where everyone knew Rinoa personally, it seemed, the small group stood at a street corner. Just down the street there was a police barricade, manned by at least three platoons of fully armed Galbadian soldiers. Squall spotted the green uniforms of Galbadian paratroopers and special forces among the blue and red of regular soldiers and officers. Heavy machinegun emplacements and armored cars were located behind the barricade.

Zell whistled faintly.

"Uber-tight security," the martial artist whispered.

"This street leads towards the main road in front of the TV Station," Rinoa explained. "They're not letting anything get near the station. There has to be another way in . . . ." Rinoa thought for a second, furrowing her brow. "Wait, I remember! There are side roads that bypass the main streets. They might not be as well-guarded."

Squall nodded, indicating she should lead the way. Rinoa led them down another meandering course through alleys and buildings, until they reached a shadowy, curving alleyway that Rinoa said would open onto the main road in front of the station. They began to round the bend in the alley when Squall held up a hand in warning, hearing voices colored by a drawling Galbadian accent up ahead. He waved the rest of the group back and crept forward silently, stopping by a dumpster.

Poking his head around the corner, Squall saw a group of men in blue uniforms. They weren't Galbadian regulars, however, as they wore blue jackets, pants, and hats. Each man had an old, bolt-action rifle and a pistol, as well as shoulder straps and bandoleers with extra bullets within easy reach.

"Timber militia," Squall reported back to his comrades.

"They'll let us through," Rinoa began to say, but stopped when she heard the Galbadian voices again. Squall spotted a pair of red-uniformed officers step out of a nearby doorway and slam it shut. The Galbadians then gestured for the Timber militia to follow.

"Okay, we finish checking this alley and we'll leave you guys at the entrance," one of the officers stated. "I'm sure you Timber boys will be able to keep those rebels away." The officer's voice was dripping with sarcasm as the group continued up the alley, towards Squall's position.

He held up a hand and waved his group back; the patrol would be arriving there soon. He began to back away too, but still kept an eye and an ear on the officers. If they went to check again, Squall might be able to signal to the militia and sneak his group past.

The patrol group paused, the officers checking nearby doors to see if they were locked. If they weren't, they made sure to search inside before returning. After a few minutes of checking, they were satisfied and returned to the squad of militia.

"Better keep your eyes peeled," one of the two officers growled. "Especially after we leave you yokels here. If one resistance member gets through, your kids are, well," the officer grinned evilly. "Well, dead meat." He laughed quietly as the group resumed its patrol. The militia members didn't reply, although several clenched their teeth or narrowed their eyes at the threat.

As the patrol approached the bend, Squall glanced back again at his own group. Selphie had stepped into a nearby doorway, out of sight. Zell was crouching in the shadows near her, unnoticeable as well. Rinoa was closer to Squall, by the dumpster. He gestured for her to get closer to him, and then ducked behind the trash container. Rinoa crouched beside him as the voices rounded the corner, the officers still taunting the militia members.

"I hate this," she whispered. "The Galbadians are so mean. I can't stand to see the militia treated like this." Squall nodded. He wasn't unfamiliar with insults, though they often came from Seifer, and he didn't like them much either. The Galbadians were unnecessarily humiliating the Timber soldiers. In a distant part of his mind, Squall wondered then how the Galbadians would act if those guards were hardened SeeDs, fully armed with magic and junctions, instead of lightly armed militia with families.

"Everyone here supports the resistance," one of the officers remarked off-handedly. "You guys are such fools. Imagine how much this town would thrive if you were loyal to us. No heavy taxes, no tariffs, no technology restrictions . . . I guess Timber'll be stuck in the backwoods forever."

That remark must have struck a nerve with one of the guards, as he stopped and spun to face the insulting officer.

"And you?" he asked, jabbing a finger at the Galbadian. "Are you happy with your life? Blindly following orders everyday like a damned machine, doing things you probably don't believe in? You're no better than your war robots!"

"Yeah," another replied, joining his comrade. "So what if we're undeveloped? We're not looking to thrive. We just want to stand on our own feet, to be independent and live according to the ways we believe."

"You'll never understand," a third remarked. "Having thrown away our pride and dignity. Mitch is right, you're no better than robots."

"We're not the fools," the militiaman named Mitch added. "You are." The rest of the militiamen nodded in agreement, voicing their assent.

The two officers, however, were visibly shaking with rage. One of them leveled the gun on his right arm at Mitch, who took a step back in shock. The other officer followed suit, pointing his armguns in the general direction of the other militiamen.

"You're dead!" the first officer growled.

Rinoa tensed beside Squall, and before she could even begin to tell the SeeDs to intervene, Squall had already signaled Zell and Selphie as he was rising.

The officer threatening Mitch was caught off-guard as Squall vaulted over the dumpster, the Revolver flashing down and cutting into his gun. He opened his mouth in shock as Squall landed on his feet, his gunblade arcing up and then down, around the armgun Squall had chopped. The gunblade dove low, taking the officer's knees and laying him out flat on the pavement. The weapon arced back up into the air in a wide curve, before Squall brought it down again into the officer's back. He let out a stunted cry of pain and lay still, his back cleaved open by the chop.

The other officer took a Fire spell in the face and fell back, away from the militiamen he was threatening. He then found Zell in front of him, leg rising into a kneeing blow that smashed the red-armored soldier in his stomach. The man doubled over, presenting his helmeted head for a perfect headlock. Zell grabbed the officer, his right arm wrapping around the man's neck, left dropping to grab the soldier by the front of his armor. Zell lifted and then fell back, rolling onto his back and slamming the headlocked soldier's head into the pavement with brutal force. The helmet absorbed the brunt of the hit, but it was still enough to crack the officer's skull and flatten his helmet.

Zell heaved the unconscious officer over and away from him, and rose from his prone position. He flashed Squall another tumbs-up, to which Squall nodded as he extracted his gunblade from the dead officer's corpse.

The militiamen around them stood frozen, clutching their weapons and eyeing the SeeDs cautiously. The teenagers had saved them, of course, but the militia still weren't certain what the motives of the well-armed were SeeDs, or at least not until Rinoa stepped out from behind the dumpster. The militia stood down immediately on seeing her with the SeeDs.

"Rinoa," Mitch greeted with a smile and a nod. "Are they with you?"

"Yeah," Rinoa responded with her own nod. "SeeDs sent to support the Owls."

"SeeDs?" Mitch exclaimed in surprise, and there were echoing murmurs scattered throughout the group. "Well, that explains a lot," he commented, glancing at Squall as the SeeD calmly wiped his bloodstained gunblade on the dead officer's uniform. Mitch turned back to Rinoa.

"Thank you for helping us. I think we got a little carried away when they kept taunting us . . . ."

"We heard most of it," Rinoa said, frowning. She looked down at the dead man and the unconscious soldier. "What about them?"

"We'll fire a few shots," Mitch explained. He looked back at his men. "Resistance members attacked our patrol, killing one man and injuring another because they were at the front. We opened fire and drove them off." The rest of the group nodded. The story sounded reasonable, and it certainly made the militia look like heroes.

"Can we get through?" Rinoa then asked the militia leader. Mitch sighed and shook his head.

"I'm sorry," he explained.

"We need to get to the station," Squall stated bluntly as he returned his gunblade to its sheath.

"I can't let you through," Mitch explained, voice apologetic. "Even if it is just a bluff, I can't risk the life of my daughter." There were murmurs of assent from the rest of the squad, and a few angry grumbles directed at the Galbadians. Squall clenched his teeth, but he had to agree with the militiamen. This route was closed.

"However, there is an alternate entrance to the station," Mitch added, his voice hushing a bit. "The rear door of the Aphorora Pub leads to an alley that connects to a rear maintenance access to the TV Station. Its unguarded."

"Thanks!" Rinoa said with a smile. "Let's go!" She waved for the SeeDs to follow her out of the alley.

"You know where Aphorora Pub is?" Zell asked as they cut across town. Rinoa nodded.

"Its pretty close to the Timber Maniacs building, right next to one of the train platforms," she said as they crossed the bridge overlooking the multiple tracks once more. "Its not too far away."

"Good. Let's get this damn mission over with!"

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

The two Galbadian soldiers exited the cafe and walked towards the parked military truck in the parking lot.

"And so, the guy says 'My wife wasn't eating any popcorn!'" one of the soldiers delivered the punchline to his joke as he reached the truck's driver side door. The second soldier burst out laughing, and the first joined him.

"Yeah, I know, funny as hell!" the first man commented. The second continued laughing, and then dropped to his knees and fell over on his side. The first man began to comment on how he didn't think the joke was quite that funny when he saw the figure that had been standing directly behind his comrade. The man - no - a kid rather, was holding a weird sword- gun thing, the butt of the gun aspect being held right where the back of his comrade's neck had been.

The soldier began to grab for his own sidearm when the teenager's gunblade shot forward, gouging him through the shoulder. The teenager pushed forward, forcing the soldier back and pinning him against the side of the truck. The kid's free left hand rose up and closed around the soldier's neck, cutting off his air.

"Keys, now," he ordered, scowling. The soldier tried taking a breath, still off-guard from the sudden attack, and he didn't immediately comprehend the kid's order.

The blonde teenager's scowl deepened as he tightened his iron grip around the soldier's throat and twisted his gunblade ever-so-slightly. Pain jolted through the man's shoulder.

"Give me the keys to your truck, now," he ordered again. "I don't like searching dead bodies." The soldier, realizing that if he didn't act his life would end swiftly, dropped his right hand to his belt. At first acting as if he was slowly and cautiously reaching for his keys, the soldier suddenly reached for and extracted a knife. He stabbed forward with it, hitting the kid in the stomach with a solid jab. Somehow, though, the blow didn't seem to penetrate right, as if this teenager was wearing body armor.

Suddenly the hand was gone from his neck, and the soldier could breathe. Then he felt the gunblade being torn from its spot in his shoulder. The man gasped in pain right before he saw the kid's sword arm shoot across, the butt of the gunblade smashing the Galbadian's jaw and laying him out cold.

Seifer Almasy grimaced and cast a quick curative spell on his stomach wound. On any ordinary man that would have been serious, but thankfully his junctions had stopped a lot of the damage. He grimaced again as he bent down and dug through the man's pockets, pulling out a set of car keys.

"Idiot," he muttered as he opened the driver side door. As the cadet sat down, he paused, thinking about that word. It could just as easily describe what he was about to do as well.

"Guess we're all idiots then," Seifer muttered with a laugh as he shut the door and started the engine. "Just hope you idiots armored this truck properly." Seifer glanced down at the controls, recognizing most of them. The armored car didn't handle much differently than any ordinary car, thankfully. He reached for the door, about to slam it shut, when a hand jabbed through the open door. It stopped at his neck, a stainless steel knife poised millimeters from Seifer's throat.

Seifer, sitting frozen in his seat, eyed the knife carefully. Even with his hardening junctions and curative magic, a slice across the throat would be very bad for him. His eyes flicked to the hand holding the knife, noting the dark, detached sleeve on the slender arm and gloving the delicate fingers. That sleeve and arm told Seifer volumes.

"Sorry about being so rude, Quistis," he remarked offhandedly, smiling. "Didn't think it was much more than a love tap, myself."

"Get out of the truck," Quistis ordered, her voice like steel. Seifer turned his head a few inches, and looked into her blue eyes. He noted the slight, rising bump on her head and couldn't help but grin.

"You should really get that checked out, you know."

"Out."

Seifer shrugged and moved to step out of the truck. Quistis moved with him, hand still poised at his throat.

But then, Seifer was moving in the opposite direction, away from her knife, inhumanly fast. Before Quistis could react, Seifer's left hand shot up and closed around her right, holding the knife hand like a steel bar. Quistis managed to open her eyes wide in surprise as the cadet then jolted forward, pushing her back and stepping around behind her, twisting her knife arm back and behind as well. A flick of his wrist sent a painful jolt through her hand, and she dropped the knife into Seifer's waiting right. That hand rose up and placed the knife against Quistis's throat.

One moment, she'd been in complete control; the next, Seifer had disarmed, grappled, and held her helpless.

"Missing something?" he asked, smiling. "You seem a bit slow today, Instructor." Indeed, she was slower than normal, her reflexes and strength not anywhere near equaling Seifer's without her Guardian Forces. He then glanced at the bump on the side of her head. "Wow, this thing looks even worse from this angle, you know," he added.

Then, in a surprising move, Seifer released Quistis's pinned arm, his left hand dropping down to her belt. With a single swift motion, he snatched the coiled rante and another backup knife off her belt, effectively disarming her. That done, Seifer took the knife away from Quistis's throat. She blinked again in surprise, turning to face the cadet as Seifer took a step back and dropped her weapons behind him, including the knife he'd stolen from her hands. The blonde cadet leaned back against the side of the truck and crossed his arms.

"One thing I will say, Quistis," Seifer said, smiling once more. "You certainly are persistent. That's twice so far I've gotten the drop on you." An annoyed look crossed her face as she crossed her arms.

"You need to go back," she said simply.

"And you're the one to do it?" Seifer laughed. "Alone? Unarmed, no Guardian Forces, nothing whatsoever, and you're going to take me back?" He shook his head. "Sorry, Instructor, no way. Not until I'm done."

"You mean not until you've killed yourself," Quistis responded evenly. It was a statement more than a question. "I know what you're about to do. Its suicide. You'll throw away your life for nothing?"

"Its not nothing," Seifer rplied, scowling. "If I take out Deling, Timber will be free, simple as that. I owe it to her . . . ." he said the last bit quietly, almost to himself. Quistis caught it, however.

"To who?"

"No one," Seifer replied, shaking his head. "It's nothing." Seifer then stood up straight, and grinned. "Well, its nice knowing you're in town, Instructor," he added, moving towards the open door of the truck. He began to step inside. "Keep an eye out for the fireworks."

"Wait," Quistis began, taking a step forward. "You'll need someone to cover your back." Seifer stopped and laughed.

"Quistis, you've got no junctions," he stated."You're just gonna slow me down. I appreciate the concern and all, but," Seifer slammed the door shut, "I don't need you."

A blast of fire slammed into the door, jolting Seifer and getting his attention. He looked at Quistis in surprise, seeing her pointing a hand at the door.

"Not all SeeDs need Guardian Forces for magic," she stated, then shifted her aim, pointing at the engine of the armored truck. "I have Thundaras stocked." Seifer understood the threat implicitly. A Thundara could set off the gas tanks, and junctions or no, that would be extremely unpleasant for Seifer.

"Okay, fine, you win," Seifer conceded, and reopened the door. He stepped out, shut it, and leaned against the truck again, arms crossed. "You can come along, just stay out of my way." Quistis let out a sigh of relief and stepped over to retrieve her weapons.

"No GFs, though," he added. "You understand, right?" Quistis nodded as she affixed the rante and knives to her belt.

"But after this is over, you will come with me back to Garden," Quistis said, looking Seifer in the eye. He hesitated for a moment, then shrugged.

"Fine. Let's get moving; the President isn't going to wait around all day."

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

"I've had enough of this city!" came a shout as Squall led the group into the Aphorora Pub. It came from a bruised and battered-looking man sitting against a door at the back wall of the pub, doubtless the door leading into the alley. The drunken man spoke with a slurred voice, the somewhat refined Dollet accent slipping through as he ranted and raved, waving a green-labeled bottle around.

The room itself looked rather trendy, featuring deep blue and purple colors on the walls, chairs, and tables, with a more brightly lit semi- circular bar. A large television was positioned high up, showing a commercial for some sports team in Galbadia with a morphing cat-like creature as their mascot.

"I came here to have me a good time," the man growled. "But now, the damn trains aren't running, I can't stay at any hotels because of some jerkoff official, and then those damn Galbadian soldiers took my cards!" The man took another swig. "Bastards. Think they can just push people around and get what they want through brute force. Hell, this town's an example!"

Several people from around the club joined the man with agreeing shouts. Squall, on the other hand, frowned. The drunk was blocking the door leading out of the pub, and they needed to get past him. The mention of cards, however, prompted an idea.

"I'll talk to him," Squall told the others, who nodded and waited by the door.

"Everything's messed up since the resistance tried to kidnap the President," the drunk muttered as Squall worked his way around the tables. "Thanks to them the trains are all locked down and there's soldiers all over the city, all because of their stupid asses! Stupid, boneheaded, good- for-nothing resistance . . . can't they see I'm the one suffering from their actions?"

While the drunk's earlier remarks had garnered him some sympathy from the other people in the pub, those words had suddenly lost it. There were murmurs of surprise and a little anger, which was unsurprising, since the term "resistance member" would apply to most of the people in the room. Squall paused and glanced back at Rinoa, whose eyes had widened in response to the insult directed at her.

His eyes met hers, and the expression he gave her told her it would be best to ignore the drunk's words.

"We need to get through," Squall stated bluntly to the drunk. The man looked up and glared lasers at the SeeD.

"And now I'm getting dissed by some punk," the man complained. At this close range, Squall had to wince at the stench of alcohol coming off the drunk. "Like hell I'll move."

The SeeD suppressed an urge to simply grab the man and toss him aside, and instead reached into one of his pockets. The man may have been obnoxious, but Squall doubted he'd be so caustic if he showed the man what he'd found outside.

"These yours?" Squall asked, crouching in front of the drunk, holding a deck of Triple Triad cards up for inspection.

"Yeah!" the drunk's slurred speech came back, his eyes widening at the cards. "How'd you get them?"

"Found them outside," Squall replied, which was sort of true. They had found it, on the corpse of one of two now dead Galbadian soldiers who had challenged the SeeDs outside the Aphorora Pub. They must have either recognized Rinoa or received descriptions of them from other soldiers, as they'd attacked immediately upon seeing the SeeDs.

A quick block and cleaving counter from Squall had dropped one man, while Zell and Selphie had taken the other. A disarming grapple by Zell and two quick and shockingly powerful whacks by Selphie's nunchaku had taken the second trooper down.

"You want them back?" he asked the drunk, who blinked in surprise.

"Are you serious?" Squall nodded. "Wow." The drunk then smiled. "You know, I'm feeling like a nice guy. That's not my best deck anyway, so keep it."

It was Squall's turn to blink in surprise. Triple Triad cards, and especially large decks, were not something most people parted with easily. The cards were very valuable. That this drunk had given the deck away was very significant.

"You sure?" Squall asked.

"Hell yeah!" the drunk replied, laughing. "Don't worry, my brother owns a pub in Dollet called the Shining Bomber. He's loaded with cards. He'll replace 'em for me." The drunk then began to get up, but his coordination was obviously suffering from the booze he'd been chugging. He almost collapsed back against the door, but Squall caught him and helped the badly drunk man move out of the way.

"Thanks, kid," he responded as Squall helped him sit down. The SeeD nodded and waved the rest of his group on. They exited out the back door of the pub and into the alley.

"I didn't now you were so diplomatic," Rinoa remarked as she led them down the trash-lined path, tall buildings looming up around the small band.

"We're SeeDs," Squall replied simply. "We're trained to succeed."

The group moved down the alley for a short while until they passed a small, rusted iron gate. They came to a stop, and looked up at the tall building looming above. The structure was huge, many stories tall, with a series of metal steps leading up and past it, doubtless the maintenance access Mitch had told them about. The building featured a giant television screen at the top, with scrolling red gibberish running up the screen.

"This is . . . kinda creepy," Rinoa remarked as they walked up the stairs and stopped at the catwalk at the top. In front and to their left, they could see the skyline of the city of Timber stretching out, grays and blues stretching away, but Rinoa's attention was focused on the giant television and the gibberish. Squall afforded it a look, and, watching the red letters ascending up the black screen, he couldn't help but feel a bit of a chill as well. He had no idea what the words were, or even if there were any words, but something about the content of the screen bothered him.

"Its noise," Squall commented, recognizing what he was seeing, if not comprehending it. "Its jamming signals, broadcast over most of the frequencies. Its what denies us access to radio waves and communication. Something has to be done about it before Galbadia can transmit over the air."

Rinoa nodded, and the other two SeeDs watched the screen for a moment, mesmerized by the rising red characters. The clanging footsteps on the stairs below snapped the small group out of it, and the SeeDs spun around, readying their weapons in case of a threat.

It turned out to be another false alarm, as the person was only Watts, running up the stairs after the group.

"New intelligence!" Watts shouted as he stopped a level below where the SeeDs stood. He paused for a second, panting. "The guards are on high alert now. The President is in the studio, and they've got the place sealed tight. No way you guys can get through, sir!" Squall nodded at the rebel's words, and frowned.

"So we can't just rush in," Rinoa commented, echoing Squall's thoughts. "We've got to come up with a new plan then. When the President's gone, maybe the guards will be too? That's when we can do our broadcast. Maybe not as influential, but it's better than nothing, right?" Squall turned to Rinoa, surprised again by the very informal and hesitant way she seemed to be going about this operation.

"Whatever," he said, shrugging. "We'll fight based on your decision," he added, to which Zell and Selphie nodded. However, they didn't seem exactly eager to do so. Neither was Squall, to tell the truth, but he didn't want to voice his opinion in front of his client.

"It's our job," Zell added with a shrug. "Tell us to go, we go. Even if it is suicide."

Rinoa considered their words, and apparent willingness to dive headlong into an impossible battle. She looked down at the catwalk below their feet, and shook her head.

"Acting on our decision?" she asked in a serious tone, surprising Squall again. "How easy that must be to not think about what you're doing. To jump at our orders regardless." Squall's eyes narrowed.

"Call it what you will," he replied. "We're SeeDs. Mercanaries. It's our job. You pay us, we do your dirty work. All we care about is making sure you succeed with our help, and then getting paid." He looked away, off towards the city skyline. "But I find it hard to believe you could do that," he added quietly.

"What?" Rinoa asked, shocked. "What do you mean?"

"Forget it," Squall replied, shaking his head. "Just forget I said anything."

"No," Rinoa replied, scowling and shaking her head. "Tell me. That's an order."

"Fine," Squall hissed, turning to face her. "How serious are you, really? The three of you plop down on the floor to discuss strategy, and crank out a plan too liberate a nation in five minutes. On top of that, you can't make any decisions without our input. How do you think we feel, working for such an organization? Do you think we like serving a group that acts like kids?"

Squall could tell his words had had an impact. Rinoa looked away, her lower jaw working in anger as she digested Squall's harsh criticism. Squall turned back to his group, reading their expressions. While Zell and Selphie definitely looked like they agreed with his assessment, they didn't look too happy about his commentary on the resistance group.

"You know," Rinoa remarked quietly behind him. He sighed and turned back, to see a much more serious expression on Rinoa's face. "Maybe this was just a big mistake. I thought everything would turn out fine once SeeD came to help us." She turned around and looked out over the city.

"I guess I was wrong. You're hired. It's not like you're one of us. You guys think its all a game to us, right?" Rinoa shook her head. "It's not. We're serious. So serious, it hurts. Watts and Zone lost their fathers when Galbadia invaded; Deling murdered them himself. And the rest of us have been hurt too. We want Timber freed, no matter what it takes. But . . . ." She let out a breath and turned back, a look of determination on her face.

"We'll cancel the plan and fall back for now," Rinoa stated. "No way we can take them on, right?" Squall nodded. "Okay. We'll disperse and meet back at the base train in about two hours. I'll have Watts send word to you when it arrives."

Squall and his squad nodded in comprehension as Rinoa spun and hurried down the steps. Squall turned back to his team.

"We'll let Rinoa get ahead before we follow, so we don't raise-"

Squall stopped as he noticed out the corner of his eye that the red and black screen of gibberish suddenly turned into static.

"They're broadcasting!" Selphie shouted.

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I have to apologize for how long it took me to do this chapter. The Timber sequence seemed to drag on and on, and was definately my least favorite part of the game. But next chapter, we get to see of my favorite sequences: Seifer's betrayal!