Chapter 37: Only a Plank Between One and Perdition
Nearly five hundred were out of the battle, Squall quickly estimated, judging from the losses he, Quistis, and Zell had suffered in their battle. Zell, by far, had the most losses between the collapse of the Quad and the furious Galbadian charge, he had lost over three hundred fighters, most of them killed in the collapse. Casualties elsewhere were lighter, but reports were coming in that Dollet had taken some hefty losses upstairs with turning back the enemy assault.
"SQUALL!" came a shout as Squall was running the reports through his head. He looked up to see Zell rushing at him, pushing through the seeds and cadets around him.
"What is it?" Squall asked as Zell approached.
"It's Rinoa!" the brawler replied urgently. "The collapse! She fell in the collapse of the Quad!" Squall suddenly froze, his heart stopping momentarily.
"She's still alive," Zell added quickly, "but she's hanging onto a ledge outside. I don't know how long she has!"
"Commander!" came another shout before Squall could think of anything else. He spun to see Xu and Quistis, both bloody, also pushing through the army.
" Galbadia Garden is beginning to come back in!" Xu shouted urgently.
"They're massing on the upper floors, too," added Quistis. "Randolph and his men are going to be hit hard. We have to reinforce them."
"But we have to hold here, too!" came another shout from Selphie, who was right behind Zell.
"But Rinoa-" Zell protested. Squall quickly raised his hands before they could start arguing. He quickly filtered through his options. They had two fronts the enemy would likely come in from, probably more. He had to commit forces to defending all of them before Galbadia Garden got closer. But there was no way in hell he was going to leave Rinoa to die while the larger battle was being fought.
"Quistis, Xu," he quickly ordered. "Take command here. All the Phalanxes must defend this position at the front gate. That's where they'll hit us the hardest. The Sabers and the Dollet troops down here are going to move up to the second floor to reinforce the 125th, except for the patrols to keep the interior secure and protect the garage. I'll lead the reinforcements. Selphie, you're with me."
"What about--" Zell began to ask, but Squall turned to him.
"Zell, get to Rinoa. Do whatever it takes to save her. Understand?" The brawler nodded grimly, yet determinedly. Squall paused, and looked over everyone, and then to the rapidly closing Garden beyond. "Hold them here!" he ordered quickly. "We win if we can beat them back!" The SeeDs and cadets responded with immediate salutes and began to form up, while Squall, Selphie right behind him, rushed through the crowd. Within moments they had gathered up or sent orders to the Saber units and the Dollet troops. But it was immediately after this that another problem reared its head.
"The elevators will take too long!" Selphie complained, and Squall nodded. The elevators would ferry only a limited number of troops at a time. It would take time to move all their troops up to the second floor, and that was time that they didn't really have to spare.
This fact was punctuated when, behind him, Squall heard the roar of exploding magic and summoned Guardian Forces.
"SeeDs first!" Squall ordered, leaping into one of the elevators, along with Selphie and two squads of additional SeeDs. "Cram in! As many as they can carry! Go, go, go!"
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"Galbadian bastards!" Randolph snarled as he smashed an enemy soldier's mouth in, before ducking for cover behind one of the terminals. Bullets filled the air overhead as Galbadian soldiers covered their allies' advance. This attack was much more intense than before, with hundreds of their blue-clad enemies pouring in through the windows. It looked like the Galbadians had decided that Dollet's defenders would be easier to take down than SeeDs. Well, it was up to him to disabuse them of that notion.
"Hold here!" he ordered as more soldiers, on both sides, poured into the classroom. Those Dollet troops closest to the invading Galbadians engaged them hand-to-hand, while the remainder exchanged volleys of gunfire with the enemies pouring in. The Dollet troops held them, however, cutting down many who leaped into Balamb's upper floor and trading fire with the others, buttstocks, bayonets, and swords clashing together. It was furious and brutal, and the corpses piled up quickly - more Galbadian dead than Dollet, but not by much.
The swarms of enemy soldiers suddenly slowed, and in their stead, huge, armored blue robots began to storm through the windows. The regulars already in the room either dove for cover or dropped to the floor where they stood as the robotic units opened fire and used their thrusters to push themselves ahead. The heavy machineguns mounted on the war machines' arms poured fire into the Dollet ranks, while their huge metallic arms and fists smashed into the olive-clad soldiers. Dozens of Dollet soldiers fell in those first hellish seconds of the second wave of Galbadian might.
But it would take more than a force of stupid robots to break the defense the 125th was mounting, and they returned fire immediately, hurling grenades and, when forced to do so, smashing their rifle butts against the enemy weapons in an effort to at least damage them. Several were riddled with bullets, taking heavy fire and collapsing under the deadly barrage, while and were blasted apart by grenades. Two Dollet troopers hefted rocket launchers and fired into the enemy machines, blasting them apart. Even as those fell, however, more robotic units leaped to the attack, and beside them were more Galbadians.
"Left flank!" Randolph shouted as a combined fore of robots and Galbadians launched a concerted attack on the left side of the classroom, driving back the Dollet soldiers and killing any who tried to stand their ground. If they could get to the far-left side of the classroom, they could cut off the doors, and trap the Dollet troops in the room.
In response, heavy gunfire swept over the attackers, blasting apart several robotic units and giving those troops on that side they cover they needed to launch a counteroffensive. However, the focused fire cost the remainder of the force, as the enemy pushed ahead in that brief moment of respite, driving the Dollet troops back even further. Randolph found himself fighting hand-to-hand again, beating off two Galbadians.
Magic suddenly sizzled into the battlefield, and for an instant the Dollet troops thought that SeeDs had arrived to reinforce them. But in fact, the magic came not from SeeD backup, but from a squad of green-clad Galbadians who swept into the room quickly and expertly, launching blasts of magic from their hands at the Dollet troops. The Galbadian paratroopers had arrived.
Randolph cursed as even more paratroopers swept in, and the robots continued to push his men back. Galbadian regulars filled in the holes as the huge assault force advanced, tearing into the Dollet ranks.
"Can't hold 'em!" one of the sergeants shouted as he blasted apart another robot. The Colonel was about to reply when a bolt of magic ripped into the soldier and hurled him away. More Dollet troops fell, and as Randolph paused to reload, he knew the truth.
They were outmatched, outnumbered, and outgunned. If they tried to hold the Galbadians would steamroll them.
"Retreat!" he roared, rising up and pumping more bullets into the enemy. Three soldiers and a paratrooper were dropped, and he lobbed a grenade at a cluster of Galbadians and robots. The explosion tore the soldiers apart but only staggered the blue robots. "Fall back into the hallway!" The Dollet troops, those still alive, began to do just that, pulling back and firing as they did so.
The glass overhead shattered, and more Galbadians rappelled into the classroom from above. These men were also paratroopers, and they dropped among the Dollet soldiers, swords flashing and cutting many men down. Randolph cursed as he ducked a swing and smashed his attacker across the head with his rifle. He grabbed one of the man's grenades, pulled the pin, and replaced it on the soldier's belt before hip-tossing him into a pair of advancing Galbadian regulars, tripping them all up. He spun away and dove behind a terminal, and the grenade blew, blowing them all the bloody chunks. He quickly rose, firing even more as he retreated toward the door, out which were streaming more Dollet soldiers.
"Move, sir!" shouted a corporal, stepping behind Randolph and firing. Randolph nodded and rose, dashing for the exit. The corporal followed. Two paratroopers tried to intercept, one launching a bolt of ice magic at Randolph's back. The corporal dove in front of the blast and intercepted it for his colonel. The only thing Randolph could do to repay the man's sacrifice for his commander was to put a burst into the offending paratrooper's helmet before deflecting the other man's sword and crushing his jaw. He grabbed the stunned enemy special forces soldier and shoved him into the path of bullets from a half-dozen other Galbadians, and the man was courteous enough to take the sots. Then the Colonel turned and dove for the door. Bullets chased his leap, and one caught his right leg, but then he was outside, scrambling to his feet and ignoring the pain in his body as he spun around, pumping bullets into his enemies.
"Damn Galbadians!" he hissed.
" Three o'clock!" came a shout to the Colonel's right, and he spun, to see yet more of their enemies breaching another classroom, spilling out into the hallway. Dollet soldiers fought them hand-to-hand, but as robotic units, more paratroopers, and even more Galbadian regulars flooded into the hall, it was obvious that once again they wouldn't be able to hold.
"Pull back!" he ordered, emptying his rifle into a robot and finally dropping the war machine. Galbadians were bursting out of the classroom he had been fighting in now, but the single doorway they used to escape served as an effective bottleneck in which the Dollet troops trapped them and cut them down with concentrated gunfire. Even so, they enemy came on, heedless of their losses, and very quickly, Galbadians began to rush out with protective shields around them, magical spells doubtlessly cast by the paratroopers that gave the fanatical warriors of Edea the few extra seconds of life they needed to close in and tie up the Dollet defenders and allow even more Galbadians to burst free.
One of the walls nearby exploded outward, metallic and ceramic shrapnel tearing into the ranks of both the Galbadian and Dollet troops, and a dozen and more of the blue war machines leapt through the gap, firing and punching. Galbadian soldiers and paratroopers streamed out after them, followed by more war machines, and the hallway was suddenly transformed into a single massive, chaotic melee.
Randolph pulled a healing potion from his belt and poured the entire bottle onto his leg wound, instantly healing it up, and not a moment too soon as an entire squad of Galbadians rushed him and a pair of PFCs. They met the charged without hesitation, buttstocks and bayonets meeting enemy swords. The Colonel crushed one soldier's neck with a brutal swing and turned, smashing another man across his helmet and throwing him down. His fellow soldiers fought furiously as well, but the Galbadians matched them in ferocity, and even as a third enemy soldier was felled by Randolph, the two lower-ranking Dollet soldiers fell, one cut down across his chest while the other took a stab in the stomach and then had his head cloven.
Then, the Galbadian squad was blasted apart as a tall figure opened up upon the enemy from behind, precise fire from a pair of revolvers cutting the remaining enemy soldiers down. Then, as a pair of soldiers tried firing upon him, he spun around low, brown trenchcoat flying out wide as he crouched and fired twice from each weapon, dropping both men. Behind the new arrival were a small force of SeeDs, joining the battle with assault weapons and potent magic.
"Glad to see you, Kinneas," Randolph stated as he spun around, back to Irvine, and fired into a cluster of Galbadians.
"Figured I could make time to join ya'll," the sharpshooter replied, sliding a pair of speed loaders into his revolvers before rejoining the battle with a series of quick shots. "In between dropping presents off for my sister, baking a cake, and drafting plans for world peace." The revolvers ran empty quickly, and Irvine switched them out with a pair of AB-10 machine pistols. They spat streams of metal into the path of a Galbadian platoon, dropping over half of them before running empty. The sharpshooter then switched back to his Valiant, launching a heavy buckshot blast into the remainder of the enemy force.
Back-to-back, Irvine and Randolph traded fire with their opponents as the chaotic windstorm of death, screams, and blood swirled around them.
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Fire, lightning, and ice crashed into the Galbadian ranks as they rushed again, though their charge seemed to be a little less enthusiastic this time. The likely reason was that they were charging over the bodies of many who had fallen in the first assault, and many had already walked away from one battle against the SeeDs before. Nonetheless, they were heedless of the damage as Ifrit, Shiva, and Queztocotl tore into the first few ranks, and the SeeD spell casters and riflemen opened up once more. More than a hundred fell in that first blast, and just as many fell in the second barrage. Quistis and Xu, leading the battle, did two-thirds of that summoning.
But then, the artillery troops who had bombed the Quad returned to the battle, launching missiles and rocket-propelled grenades into the front ranks of the SeeDs, surprising them. The explosions blasted holes into their forces, and threw them into confusion under the missile attack.
Thinking quickly, Quistis did the only thing she could think of to salvage their formation before the Galbadians hit hard.
"Charge!" she ordered, and the SeeDs rushed forward, their battered forces meeting the equally battered Galbadians in a repeat of the hellish battle from before. The impact was not as fearsome or dramatic as it was last time, as the ragged lines met, but the battle was just as furious, vengeful Galbadians and desperate SeeDs smashing into each other. Only this time, the Galbadians were even more aggressive, and the SeeDs were still reeling from the losses of the previous battle and unexpected missile strike. The SeeD forces found themselves being pushed back under the sheer weight of the enemy press despite the fact that they were killing and dropping their foes faster than the Galbadians could do the same to them.
Quistis and Xu worked together to fight their foes, just like last time in the garage. Quistis avoided using her wide-flying whip in this battle, due to the dangers or possibly striking one of her comrades, and instead focused on using magic, both her normal stocked spells and her Blue Magic powers. Xu acted as a counterpoint to her, unleashing quick and brutal combos with her sai.
Three Galbadians rushed them, and one died before he knew he'd been hit. Of the other two, one was skewered with a bolt of shining magic from Quistis' eyes, and Xu danced around the last with a quick parry and two slices and a stab that traced a fine cross along his throat. Yet another opponent went for Xu as she was striking, but Quistis covered her with a quick blast of icy magic that laid him low. More enemies closed in, and the pair met them as well, working expertly to divide up and slice apart the enemy. Within seconds they had diced up a Galbadian Squadron and moved on, striking hard at enemy units that were attacking SeeD groups.
Even so, they were hard-pressed to hold. The Galbadians were slowly gaining ground, and if it hadn't been for their charge, they would have been fighting close to the actual archway leading into Balamb Garden. Even so, every minute saw them advancing. At this rate, they'd be pushed inside Garden. And if that happened . . . .
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"Clever bastards!" a SeeD cursed, slamming the butt of his polearm into the helmet of another Galbadian soldier. The man fell away, to the Quad below, taking another soldier with him down the cable. As the soldier dropped, the SeeD drew his knife and sliced the cable. Nearby, a cadet from Balamb faced off against a regular Galbadian soldier as another one tried climbing up into the cafeteria. The cadet managed to finish his foe and kick the soldier climbing up in the head as he poked it through one of the shattered windows, and the man dropped as well.
"Damn!" Zell cursed, as he danced around another soldier and planted a kick to his side that hurled him across the room. A mixed force of SeeDs, cadets, and Dollet soldiers was heading up a furious defense of the cafeteria, as the Galbadians who had remained in the Quad tried to climb up to the Garden's dining area. So far, they'd had little success, occasionally getting men upstairs but not long enough to gain a foothold. The SeeDs and soldiers kept beating them back.
The brawler had arrived, hoping to use the secure cafeteria to get into the Quad, but Galbadian soldiers still held the Quad. Many of their troops had been redirected to elsewhere, such as upstairs and to the front gate, but nonetheless, Zell was overwhelmingly outnumbered by the enemy still occupying the Quad. The small SeeD and Dollet force in the cafeteria couldn't help him; they were too busy keeping the enemy from escaping the Quad and causing trouble elsewhere, and didn't have the numbers to take the enemy in a stand-up battle regardless.
Zell had offered his assistance, but what he really needed at that point was a means to get into the Quad. But with the Galbadians still there, there was no way he could get inside and rescue Rinoa . . . Not to mention that he still didn't have any idea of how to reach her. The only ways he could see to get into the Quad without fighting an overwhelming force was to go over the rooftops or flying using a Galbadian hoverfoil - neither of which was an appealing option for him.
Zell took out his frustration on another unfortunate soldier, smashing in the top of his helmet as he climbed up. Maybe if they kept this up, they could bleed the Quad force enough to mount a rescue operation, but Zell wasn't certain. All he could do was pound the enemy and hope that an opportunity would show itself.
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Squall, Selphie, and the SeeDs around him burst from the elevator as it finally arrived at the second floor. They found themselves in the middle of an impromptu hospital on the walkway overlooking the lower floors. Dozens of wounded Dollet soldiers were scattered around the walkway, with many medics crouched over them, administering healing potions to those either least injured and most capable of rejoining the battle, and those most injured and in danger of death. Nearby, a line of soldiers was laid to the side, but no medics tended their still forms. They were beyond any help.
Beyond the walkway, however, Squall could see a fierce battle raging. So far, the Dollet troops were holding the enemy from this walkway, but just barely, the commander realized. He stepped past the injured men, leading his small but capable SeeD force into the heart of the battle. They found themselves reinforcing a large contingent of Dollet troops in the hallway beyond, who had just beaten back a Galbadian assault and were tending their wounded and moving their dead.
"Who's in charge here?" Squall demanded, and a bloodstained soldier turned back, his insignia indicating a staff sergeant.
"Me, Commander," he replied. "We're pretty badly off, sir. Casualties are high and getting higher as we speak. Galbadians are hitting us with everything they've got, including robots and special forces. I don't think we can hold much longer. They're trying to bleed us all out."
"Where's the Colonel?" Squall demanded, and the staff sergeant pointed ahead, to the middle of a ferocious melee between the Galbadians and Dollet troops.
"On the other side of there, sir," he replied. "He picked up some reinforcements from the SeeD group that was up here and was rallying as many men as he could, but they've been pushed back all the way to the ballroom. The Galbadians just keep coming, but we're keeping them from setting up any real solid force. It's chaos all over the second floor. I got word that the Galbadians were massing for an assault on the ballroom to crush whatever the Colonel had brought together."
"How many men do you have here?" Squall asked, looking around at the Dollet force.
"About a hundred, sir," the staff sergeant replied. "We're trying to keep the elevator secure so we can receive more reinforcements."
"Hold your force here," Squall ordered, and looked to his SeeD group. Behind them, the elevator had returned, and another dozen or so SeeDs had arrived. They quickly formed up. Squall knew that all around the upper floor, other SeeD groups were assembling and fighting the enemy using the other elevators.
"We're going to go straight through," Squall told his group, and both the SeeDs he'd come with and those who'd just arrived nodded. "We blast our way clear through to the ballroom. Kill anything that's not Garden or Dollet on the way there, understood?" He received acknowledgements, and nodded to the sergeant.
"Hold here, and keep the door open for our troops. Tell any you see to go straight into the battle and kill as many Galbadians as they can." The man nodded, and the Squall turned back toward the fearsome melee, where Dollet troops hacked and smashed against Galbadians, and both sides had all too many dead lying along the floors. He raised his gunblade.
"Charge!" he roared, and the SeeDs rushed forward, brandishing their weapons. They were small in number, but they made up for that in sheer power behind them moments later, as they reached the outer edge of the melee, they proved their effectiveness as they cut into surprised Galbadian soldiers and blasted apart robotic units. Squall cleaved through two soldiers with a single cut, before shoulder-checking another soldier who was about to finish off a Dollet trooper. The enemy soldier was hurled to the ground, and Squall kicked him before he'd even hit the floor, launching him through the air and taking down a small crowd of Galbadians. A sword flew at him, and he parried and countered instinctively, cleaving off his attacker's arm at the elbow before smashing him with the butt of his gunblade. The surprised soldier was hurled against the wall, and looked down at his severed arm in confusion as the SeeDs blasted past.
Beside Squall, Selphie was focusing on spellcasting, launching potent blasts of magic precisely at enemy soldiers, dropping them in mid-swing. She juggled her offensive spell casting with supportive, dropping healing spells and defensive shields around wounded soldiers, restoring and protecting them. Every now and then she had to take up her nunchaku in defense, whipping the iron bars around like clubs and smacking aside any Galbadian who had struck at her. Behind and beside the two leading SeeDs, the remainder of the SeeD group cleaved and slashed, hurling magic and firing rifles into any blue-uniformed enemies they saw. As theyplowed through the chaos, the SeeDs found Dollet soldiers rushing in their wake, many men joining the offensive rush. The SeeDs soon found themselves the spearhead of a force that rumbled through the hallways toward the ballroom, blasting through Galbadian troops and pulling even more Dollet soldiers in their wake, while leaving other soldiers to battle the weakened Galbadians they had left behind. They occasionally even passed groups of SeeDs fighting Galbadians as well.
Within minutes the growing assault force led by Squall and Selphie had reached and breached the ballroom, to find the once pristine and beautiful chamber where Squall had danced with Rinoa had been transformed into Hell.
The dance floor was now the site of a battle even more insane and chaotic than the one in the halls as Dollet and Galbadian troops intertwined in a ballet of death. Nearly two hundred Dollet soldiers fought twice their number in Galbadians on the dance floor, and over half of those men were paratroopers, Galbadian elites. Other Galbadians and Dollet soldiers fought in the sheltered regions beneath the upper level, and both Galbadian and Dollet troops traded gunfire on the upper levels amidst the pillars up there.
Squall didn't hesitate, rushing forward, raising his gunblade and calling for another charge right into the middle of the dance floor. SeeDs and Dollet troops streamed down from the doors and into the middle of the war zone, striking the backside of the Galbadian force. Their sudden assault brought new hope to the rallied Dollet forces, and they fought on even more ferociously.
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"Y'know," Irvine commented, reloading his revolvers, "If we could calm this spot down, that balcony out there would be a good place to start sniping from."
"I'll make a note of it," Colonel Randolph replied as he put a burst of machinegun fire into another Galbadian head.
"Reinforcements!" came a shout from one of the soldiers on the upper floor, and both Randolph and Irvine looked away momentarily from the enemy crouching behind pillars on the other side of the ballroom. The pair found themselves looking down at the SeeD force, leading an army of Dollet troops down into the middle of the chaos below.
"Damn good news," Randolph commented. He leaned around his pillar and fired another shot, dropping a foolish paratrooper who was looking out at that moment. Return fire caused him to duck beck behind safety. Beside him, Irvine had spun out, emptying a pair of handguns at Galbadians across the way, felling several. He came back behind his pillar and reloaded.
"I'm guessing Squall's leading that group," he stated.
"I'd love to give the Commander a hand, but we're a bit busy now," Randolph commented, firing another burst at a pair of ambitious soldiers rushing to another pillar, killing one and sending the other diving for cover. Something exploded nearby, and one of the huge blue robots burst through the floor, firing down below at some target. The sharpshooter, the Dollet commander, and the small group of soldiers clustered around them opened fire immediately, showering the robot with bullets and tearing it apart. It dropped to the floor, burning as parts of it detonated.
"Hate to say I agree," Irvine replied. He popped out again, and fired another shot, this time from a stolen Galbadian M4 rifle, and dropped yet another enemy soldier. He glanced down at the battlefield, and paused, spotting a familiar yellow dress, and its wearer launching magic furiously about the lower level. "Wait a minute," he exclaimed. "Selphie's down there!"
"What are you talking about, Kinneas?" the Colonel muttered, before watching in astonishment as Irvine suddenly rose, drawing both his Calicos. He rushed forward, around the pillar they were taking cover behind, and dove off the top of the upper level, right into the middle of the melee.
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Squall drove his gunblade into an opponent's side, ripping it up out of his back, before spinning around, planting a punch across a Galbadian's jaw and then slashing down with his gunblade into his enemy's chest. Beside him, Selphie covered his back with a blast of fire that blasted a pair of enemies away and scattered several more. A pair of Dollet troops rushed into the gap, smashing away with the butts of their rifles. Selphie covered them with defensive spells as Squall cleaved through another enemy and came around in a hard slash that split an opponent's skull. She spun low, jabbing the butts of her nunchaku into a nearby soldier's stomach, and as he doubled over, she smashed them into the top of his head, laying him out cold on the dance floor.
The arrival of a large, solid force of reinforcements had almost instantly turned the tide in the battle. The SeeDs, with Dollet soldiers behind them, had crashed through over a third of the battlefield like a tidalwave, pushing back or outright destroying any Galbadian troops in their path, and had linked up with the Dollet troops fighting in these areas, adding to their momentum. Even the Galbadian paratroopers, as skilled and well trained as they were, were being driven back by the enemy charge. Squall had focused on eliminating the paratroopers as soon as possible, as the more dangerous, spell-casting soldiers could present a threat to his force.
As Dollet troops tried fighting their way back across the battlefield to where Squall had rallied his force, the Galbadians began to gather as well, trying to crush whatever resistance remained. However, an explosion in the midst of their ranks threw them into momentary disorder, and that was when Irvine Kinneas chose to break through, pumping bullets out from one of his Calicos while lobbing a pair of grenades he had stolen from a Galbadian corpse. More explosions scattered and felled many more Galbadians, and he burst through the enemy lines and linked up with Squall and Selphie as they ripped apart another Galbadian squad.
" Irvine!" Selphie cried out as soon as she saw him. "Duck!"
Irvine threw himself to the floor and a bolt of lightning ripped past, forking between two Galbadian paratroopers trying to attack his backside. Squall leaped past Irvine and took down a third paratrooper with his swinging gunblade.
"Having fun?" he asked as he rolled over onto his back, emptying his Calico into another group of foes. The soldiers fell, except for a pair who rushed forward furiously. Squall intercepted one with a stroke that cleaved the man's head in half, while Selphie snapped out her nunchaku and smashed the other foe in the skull, denting his helmet inward. Irvine's free hand drew one of his revolvers, then put two shots into the Galbadian, dropping him. Selphie helped the sharpshooter to his feet, only for both of them to get thrown down again, as did a majority of the combatants, as Galbadia Garden rammed Balamb Garden again.
"That pilot they've got over there is really pissing me off," Irvine muttered as he jumped back up. Squall had managed to keep his feet despite the impact, and was taking advantage of the many collapsed foes around him. The SeeDs and the Dollet troops that were still standing did so as well. They rushed forward, driving the enemy back momentarily and earning the group a bit of breathing room.
"Let's take him out, then!" Selphie offered, and Irvine nodded. Squall had managed to fight his way back to them by that point, chopping down another opponent who had tried to rise.
"I overheard," he said. "Taking out their pilot won't stop them. They'll just put someone else up there."
"Not if we take out their controls," Selphie replied, a mischievous grin on her face. "Dollet's got plenty of heavy firepower on hand, right?"
"You two think you can do it?" Squall asked, and they nodded in unison.
"Snipe the pilot, blast the controls, easy," Irvine replied. Squall nodded.
"Do it," he ordered. "I'll take care of things down here." He threw them a quick salute and turned back to the battle. Selphie and Irvine broke away, he pausing only to fire at any opponents who had gotten close and she only to heal the wounded and cast supportive spells. They rushed through the fearsome battle, back toward the stairs leading up to the entrance. SeeD and Dollet reinforcements seemed to trickle in through the doors, coming in steadily and joining the ferocious battle as they beat back the enemy in the halls. They turned and rushed up the stairs to the second level, Irvine drawing his Calicos again and spraying gunfire across the way at the enemy on the other side of the second floor. The Dollet forces were doing well up there, as the sudden and ferocious arrival of Squall's force had evened up the battle below. Within moments they had returned to where Colonel Randolph crouched, reloading his rifle yet again.
"Kinneas, welcome back," Randolph said with a nod. "We've got them pinned down. That balcony you commented on hasn't quite been secured yet, but we've flanked the majority of them and are tightening the noose. Once we've got this handled we can assist your comrades."
"That's good news," Irvine said. "You got any long-range explosive on hand?"
"A couple of RPGs, but they're not going to be too useful. They're pretty spread out over there, can't put them to good use. We were saving them for a special occasion."
"Well, we've got one for you," Selphie replied with a devilish grin. "Where are they?"
"Over there, with Corporal Edwards. If you're going to use them, feel free."
"Thanks, Colonel," Irvine replied, and they scrambled across the battle field, dodging Galbadian return fire, Irvine and Selphie returning the bullets with bolts of magic and concentrated fire. Within moments they had made their way to where a group of Dollet soldiers were crouching, taking cover and trading conservative fire.
"Afternoon, gentlemen," Irvine commented. "Colonel said we could borrow some of your explosive toys. You mind?"
"Not at all," replied a soldier marked as a corporal, likely Edwards. He turned around and hefted a grenade launcher. It wasn't the large, boxy ones the SeeDs used, but rather a sleeker, twin-barreled weapon. Selphie took the weapon, grinning like a kid in a candy store, and scooped up two reloads worth of grenades as well. Suitably armed, the pair burst from cover again, pinning down the Galbadians with ranged firepower as they circled toward the balcony. Irvine, however, paused well before they reached the balcony, and took the PSG-1 sniper rifle off his back. He crouched behind a pillar, and raised the weapon, zooming in on the balcony. At most angles he couldn't get a good shot through the doorway, and a force of about eight or nine enemy soldiers were outside on the balcony, using the doorways for cover and keeping the Dollet troops from passing in front of the doorway. Not only was the balcony a good spot to snipe into Galbadia Garden, but it also would allow the Galbadians to command this upper floor and keep Dollet from flanking them.
Irvine's bullet punching into one of the soldier's faceplate suddenly challenged that tactical advantage. The Galbadians were startled by the sniper, and he was able to pick off three more before they took cover. Half of their foes dealt with, Irvine and Selphie moved again, rushing across the upper level and loser to the balcony. He exchanged his sniper rifle for the pair of Calicos, and surveyed the situation.
"Not good," he muttered, shaking his head. "I've got armor, but those soldiers will probably not be an easy assault. Can't go in front, they'd cut me down-" He paused as a transparent shield formed over the front of his body, and glanced back at Selphie.
"Protection spell," she replied, grinning.
"I'm not a fan of magic, buy hey, if it works," Irvine replied. He rose, readying his weapons, and then dashed toward the balcony doorway. The Galbadians outside immediately opened fire, but their bullets bounced harmlessly off his shield. Irvine's return fire, however, was far more effective, and two of the enemy succumbed to his gunfire before the other pair ducked back out of the way. The sharpshooter burst through the doorway, but spun low, Calicos crossing over his chest. He fired, holding down the triggers, and automatic fire sprayed on opposite sides of the balcony. Both men were cut down.
Selphie was right behind him, leaping out onto the balcony. Irvine quickly turned around, and spotted Galbadia Garden to his left. He took down his PSG-1 and readied it, leveling the weapon up at Galbadia Garden's top, scanning the front for the location where the pilot would be.
"Why not just let me blow him up?" Selphie asked as she readied her launcher.
"Because you might miss," he replied. "Those things aren't very precise. I'll probably only get one shot at the pilot, and if I miss, he won't let me get another one. Once I take him out, you can hit the control room and blow everything - there!" Irvine paused, stilling his breath as he spotted a lone Galbadian soldier, clad in red, manipulating a large lever similar to the one that Nida used to fly Balamb Garden. The pilot was at the very top of the cobra head of Galbadia Garden, an easy target.
Irvine settled the crosshairs over his target's faceplate, and brushed the trigger lightly. The distant glass shattered as the pilot paused to check something, and then the man crumpled to the floor.
"Okay!" he shouted, nodding. "Blast it, Selphie!"
"Whoo-hoo!" she shouted, and raised her grenade launcher. She took careful aim, and then white exhaust trailed a small explosive from one of the barrels. She fired a second shot, just to be sure, and that one also lanced out at the cockpit. It took several long seconds for the grenades to reach their targets, but then they struck, and a huge yellow fireball of exploding electronics and shattered glass flew out from the top.
"Booya!" she shouted, pumping her fist in the air. "Control's gone!"
"Better let squall know to back us away from Galbadia Garden so they can't send reinforcements in," Irvine added as they turned around and hurried back into the ballroom.
But it turned out that was unnecessary. Even as the pair rejoined the battle, the Galbadians seemed to have realized something was wrong. Perhaps it was that the Dollet and SeeD force that had assembled in the ballroom now outnumbered the Galbadians, or it was the heavy losses they had already suffered in the assault. But whatever it was, the Galbadians were already appearing to be on the verge of defeat. Within a minute or so of the pair's return to the larger battle, the Galbadian troops had begun a complete withdrawal from the upper levels, leaving only their robotic units to provide what cover they could.
Less than ten minutes after the duo had destroyed Galbadia Garden's ability to maneuver, the last of the Galbadian soldiers upstairs fell dead to the floor or had already retreated.
--------------------
Xu and Quistis paused, taking heavy breaths as the enemy retreated. Quistis quickly cast a spell, healing her left arm, which a Galbadian sword had sliced badly, while Xu turned her attention to a badly wounded cadet nearby.
The battle had been ferocious indeed. The Galbadians had pressed even harder this time against their front ranks, pushing the already battered force back to the entrance, the enemy scrambling over the turnstiles to get at them. There were a lot of wounded, but many more dead Galbadians than dead SeeDs and cadets. Even so, casualties had been high among their force, with nearly two hundred more out of the fight, dead or badly wounded. If the enemy had kept up the assault for much longer, then they probably would have broken through. Another attack like that one and they wouldn't hold at all.
"We're pretty badly off," Xu said grimly as she looked over the wounded, who were hard to tel from the dead with all the blood that had been spilled. Cadets desperately applied bandages to the wounded while others cast spells on injured fighters. Potions were poured over damaged or, in several cases, severed limbs. One group of grim SeeDs carried the mortally wounded to the sides, where they silently administered painkillers so those who could not be saved would die in peace.
"We can't hold if they attack again," Quistis added in the same tone, shaking her head.
"I don't think they can," Xu replied, nodding toward the destroyed control room on the enemy Garden. The Garden was getting somewhat smaller then, as Nida backed Garden away.
"Then we won?" asked a young cadet, who was casting a healing spell over a comrade.
"Not yet," Xu answered after a long moment. "The Sorceress is still on board that Garden. She can't attack us, not yet, but we can't leave her alone.
"We need to report back to Squall," Quistis added.
--------------------
Her arms burned from the exertion. Rinoa had been hanging on for a long time, many minutes, as she had heard the battle rage around her. Galbadia Garden had rammed them twice, and each time she had almost lost her grip. Even with the junctions, she wasn't able to hold on forever. Even the strongest man couldn't defeat gravity when his only lifeline was a slippery string.
The rocks she clung to slowly began to crumble under her grasp. She didn't have much time left at all.
Then they broke, and she went sliding down again, her hands clawing desperately for purchase. After two long, heart-stopping moments, a large crack in the wall found its way around her finger tips, and she grasped it frantically, holding tightly to her last lifeline. There was barely anymore stone below, and if she lost her grip, she was gone.
"Squall . . . ." she said, imagining him at that moment, and somehow taking strength in the thought.
--------------------
Squall was on the bridge, having discarded his coat, which had been torn, battered and shot beyond repair in the battle. Now he just wore a white muscle shirt, stained thoroughly with enemy blood, but none of his own. Selphie and Irvine stood with them as they looked at the damaged Garden.
"Squall!" came a shout from behind, and Squall turned to see Zell behind him, stepping off the elevator. He looked frantic.
"Did you save her?" he asked, but Zell's expression told him Zell hadn't.
"No way in hell I can get in there, Squall!" Zell replied. "Even when they pulled out, they still had more of those bastards in there! I can't fight through all of them! The only way to get to her is to go over the roof or fly, and I don't think either of those is gonna work."
"Dammit!" Squall hissed, pounding a fist into one of the consoles. Moments later, the elevator rose up, now carrying a bloody Colonel Randolph, along with Quistis, Xu, and, surprisingly enough, Doctor Kadowaki.
"How's the situation below?" Squall asked, and Quistis shook her head.
"We're very badly off. We've got a lot of dead and wounded. Another attack on the front gate and we won't hold."
"My men are hurting as well, Commander," Randolph said, tiredly. "Over half the battalion is dead or too badly wounded to fight. We just barely squeaked by when your people took that control center out. We can't survive an attack on the upper floors like that one again."
"A lot of wounded have ended up in the infirmary," Kadowaki stated. "The medics for both the SeeDs and the Dollet battalion are hard-pressed to care for everyone."
"Their Garden has more men and resources," Squall stated. "Though they've probably run almost completely out of paratroopers and robotic forces. Still, they've got more than enough regulars to overwhelm us in another attack. We can't defend here. I should have realized that. Our troops are better suited for offense than defense."
"We can still run, Commander," Nida offered. "Their drive system is down. We can escape."
"No," Squall stated firmly. "We are not running. They're wounded and depleted. So are we, but they've been hurt more. Our only option here is to fight. Otherwise, everyone who died has died in vain. They'll just hunt us down and crush us later. We have to end this here, now!"
"Yeah!" Zell roared. "Eliminate and annihilate!"
"But what about Rinoa?" Selphie asked. Squall paused, looking down at the lifeless gray deck. Rinoa . . . He couldn't let her die. But there was as much, if not more, at stake in the larger battle . . . .
"Whoa, wait a second," Irvine interjected. "You just gave up on her, didn't you?" Squall looked up, surprised to see Irvine's face set in one of the most serious he'd seen on anybody's. Ever.
"You didn't give up on her back when the monsters were attacking her in Deling City, did you?" he asked, and Squall shook his head. "Then don't give up on her now. Don't give up until you are absolutely certain that you can't save her. There's a chance, no matter how small, right? Then take it!"
"But I have to lead the-"
"We'll handle that," Quistis stated, stepping in. "Go to her, Squall. Find her, and save her."
"Yeah!" Selphie added. "You have to! If anyone can do it, it's you!"
"We got faith in you, Squall," Zell added, nodding and clenching a fist. "You can do it!"
"We all believe in you," Nida added, turning away from his steering lever. "You don't know it, but everyone in Garden looks up to you, even the people from Trabia and Galbadia Gardens. You're our commander, and the biggest inspiration for all of us. We all believe in you, Squall." He turned around, looking to each and every one of his comrades and fighters. He evaluated each of them as Nida's words filled his ears.
Zell, the ferocious brawler, fighting for Balamb, for Garden, for his family and comrades, and serving fearlessly beside Squall, following his lead. Quistis, the experienced SeeD who cared for everyone, commanding both the loyalty and respect of everyone within Garden, and had some of the deepest relationships with Squall, but one he had only just realized. Xu, one of the most experienced fighters and SeeDs in the room, who nonetheless looked up to Squall for guidance, trusting in him. Selphie, from Trabia Garden, who had seen her Garden destroyed and her friends disappear, who had fought alongside him in her first engagement and had remained a steadfast, if overlooked, friend all this time. Irvine, the sharpshooter who had reminded everyone about their pasts, and had followed Squall, even in battle against his own Garden, despite the fact that he was an outsider, and had fearlessly fought for all of them. Even Colonel Randolph, the Dollet commander who followed a man less than a third his own age, trusting in his judgment and that Squall would further make his nation secure and safe.
All of them had fought together with him, in the same cause, and trusted in him, despite their differing backgrounds, nationalities, and beliefs. All of them were his soldiers or his allies. And it was his job to lead them.
"Squall," Kadowaki said, nodding as she saw his evaluative gaze over each of his comrades. "You've just understood one of the tenets of leadership. You've come to realize that you are a leader of men, and what that responsibility entails. You know yourself and what you are." She nodded toward the intercom. "Speak with your soldiers, Squall. They need to hear your voice, to urge them on into battle. All of them, be they SeeD, cadet, or Dollet soldiers. This is your moment."
Very slowly, very solemnly, squall nodded. Nida reached for the intercom switch, but Squall shook his head instead doing it himself. The mantle of leadership was now resting across his shoulders, and he was now ready for it.
"Everybody," he stated after a long moment. "This is Commander Leonhart." He paused.
"How is everyone doing? I've seen the battles myself, and I know a lot of you are tired and wounded, and some of you can barely stand up. It's been rough, I know, but we have held. Now, I need everyone to listen, because despite the pain and the ache and the exhaustion, one thing stands clear.
"We can win this. The opportunity is here. The tide is turning in this battle. We've got them hurting and bleeding, and they've surrendered the initiative they held throughout this battle. And we're going to take it. We're going to go in, we're going to take this war back to them, to fight on their ground, to remind them why SeeD is the greatest military force in the world, why Dollet was the greatest empire in the world, and why it is our destiny to protect this world from the Sorceress who threatens its safety. This is our destiny, our clash against this threat to everything we hold dear. We're going in, we're going to hit them hard, and we're going to crush them.
" Balamb Garden will ram Galbadia Garden head on. I want the corpsmen and the medics to take care of the wounded. Cafeteria defenders will remain to bottle up the enemy that is still inside the Quad. The remainder of our forces, everyone who can still fight, will assemble at the front gate. Colonel Randolph, Xu, Quistis, Zell, Irvine, and Selphie will lead the attack. We punch in, get inside, and drive them out and away. This is it, the final push. It's our only chance at victory, and we have to take it.
"Garden was founded to fight the Sorceress. This battle, here and now, is our destiny. The destiny of Garden, the destiny of those of you who have come here to fight. it's a grueling battle, and I know many of you are exhausted and wounded. But I do not want this to be a day which I regretted leading everyone here. This is not a day in which I want to look back and think that we failed. This is a day I want to look back upon and realize that this day, what we did, was what had to be done."
Squall narrowed his eyes, and slammed both hands down on the console. "This is it! Our battle! For our future, we have to win this! Today, here, now, we have to give everything we've got! For yourselves, for your homelands, your families, your friends, and for me!"
Squall went silent, and after a long moment, the comm system popped once, and then, a roar sounded over the intercom, the cheers and cries and claps and hoots and war cries of every soldier, SeeD, and cadet inside Garden. It went on for a long time, but Squall, already short on time, cut in through the middle of it.
"Everyone, assemble at the front gate. Let's win this." He then cut off the intercom and turned back to his comrades. "Don't worry," he told them quietly. "I've got this."
"That was beautiful," Doctor Kadowaki said, smiling. Then, she turned to Nida. "Ram 'em!"
"Yes ma'am!" Nida replied. Squall momentarily considered belaying that order. But he knew that Rinoa had her junctions, and if she hadn't been able to hold on with all the ramming that was being done by the enemy Garden . . . .
"Not too hard," he added as Nida rotated the Garden. The pilot nodded as he aimed directly at Galbadia Garden.
"Just give the order, Squall, and I'll ram this Garden right down their throats."
"No, not yet," Squall replied quickly. "There's something I need take care of before we move."
---------------------
Squall had given specific orders. He carried a flare gun on his belt, along with climbing gear, including a long, synthetic rope and self-inserting pitons. His plan was simple: go to the second floor, set a piton on the outside wall, and then begin to rappel down to where Rinoa was hanging. It seemed easy enough when Squall had first considered it, but as he found himself on the second level, running past what seemed to be a carpet of torn, bloody and mangled Galbadian and Dollet corpses, he realized how complicated this plan really was.
The complication was expanded as he turned down one of the halls toward a balcony. He neared an emergency door for escaping the second level of Garden in case of emergency, when the door to the balcony crashed inward and two hoverfoils featuring Galbadian soldiers flew in.
Squall cursed as he saw them, realizing they must have been either scouts or stragglers. Both of the enemy soldiers flew directly toward him, one clad in blue, the other in paratrooper green. Squall had time to launch a single bolt of lightning, blasting the nearer, blue-clad soldier away and sending his hoverfoil bouncing. Then the paratrooper slammed into Squall, knocking him on his back and throwing the air from his lungs. Squall quickly stumbled to his feet as the pilot swerved around in the middle of the hallway - no small feat - and accelerated, smashing him against the wall, right next to the emergency door. The pilot backed away, lining up for another smash. Squall gasped in pain from the impact; any normal human would have been killed.
Squall, thinking quickly, stepped to the side and slapped the emergency release for the door. It slid open as the hoverfoil's pilot smashed into Squall, who grabbed onto the front and held on for dear life.
They tumbled out the front door, and along the long inflatable yellow rubber slide that extended from the bottom of the door, intended to get people on the upper levels out quickly in case of emergencies. The slide dangled out over open air, and the hoverfoil tumbled down and then off it, dropping into momentary free fall before righting itself. Squall found himself on the underside of the hoverfoil, and reached up, grabbing the pilot's straps. A swift tug unbuckled one of them, and the pilot's mouth opened as he slid out. The paratrooper managed to hit a switch as he fell that extended a long towline beneath the hoverfoil. He grasped it desperately, and reached up with his other hand, pulling on Squall's boot. Squall, his grip not secure, slipped free and fell as well, also catching the line. Both of them slid down to the bottom of the line, before they were able to catch themselves, the paratrooper planting his foot on a ring at the bottom of the line, while Squall managed to coil the line around one of his boots and plant his other foot on top, locking him in place just above the bottom.
"SeeD punk!" the soldier cursed over the roaring wind as the hoverfoil flew on, uncontrolled. He reared back and punched squall across the face with his armored hand, smacking the SeeD and snapping his head back. "You're gonna die!"
He punched again, smacking Squall once again, but the SeeD turned his head with the blow and, gripping the rope tightly with his left hand, sent a powerful jab into the paratrooper's face. The man's head flew back, and Squall followed through with another punch, a right cross that struck the soldier's helmet. It hurt Squall's fingers, but he knew that the injury was minor in this sudden struggle hundreds of feet above the earth. Squall punched again, but the Galbadian managed to get his left hand up and absorb the hit on his gauntlet. He then reached forward and closed his hand around Squall's throat, trying to strangle him as they flew near the upper floors of Balamb Garden.
Squall got his right arm inside the grab and weaved the man's arm back out, before grabbing it and holding tightly to his wrist with his right hand. His left released the line and, using the soldier's left arm to hold himself up, he jabbed again, his knuckles crushing the soldier's nose as the hoverfoil broke away from Balamb Garden and began to move toward Galbadia Garden
Squall punched again, but the soldier lowered his head, the blow bouncing off the top of his helmet, and shoved forward, smashing his head into Squall's chest and blasting the air from his lungs again. The paratrooper yanked his arm free from Squall's grasp, and at that moment, it seemed the SeeD was going to fall.
But somehow, Squall managed to snap both arms forward and catch the cable again, an instant before he fell too far back and lost his grip. As the hoverfoil flew between the two Gardens, it began to dip uncontrollably. The Galbadian, tired of this slugging match, reached over with his right hand and pulled a combat knife free from its sheath by his shoulder. He stabbed down at Squall's left hand as he recovered, and the blade dug in, inciting a yelp of pain from the SeeD. He instinctively pulled his arm away from the blade and off the rope, and the soldier began to slash down at his right hand. But Squall dipped his left hand to his belt and tore one of his knives free and managed to angle it between his opponent's blade and his other hand.
"Hynedamned SeeD!" muttered the paratrooper as his knife was parried. He thrust the blade at Squall's face, but the SeeD angled his head back and snapped his own knife up, slicing the soldier's wrist. The man cried out in pain as his knife flew from his hand and dropped far below, and then Squall stabbed again, this time driving the blade into the soldier's stomach. The man gasped in pain, his hands reaching to the wound, when Squall reared back, releasing the buried blade and swinging his arm back. He twirled it once to gain momentum, and then it shot forward, a lightning fast smash that seemed to have picked up momentum from miles away and struck the wounded soldier in the middle of his visor.
The paratrooper was blasted clean off his perch and into the depths below.
Squall pulled himself back up the cable quickly, ignoring the pain in his cut hand, seeing that the hoverfoil was dipping low, having almost reached the antigravity ring of Galbadia Garden. He managed to get up to the pilot's seat and hit the ascension control, raising the hoverfoil up. Some careful maneuvers and positioning later, Squall was standing in the pilot's seat and maneuvering the hoverfoil. He'd never actually used one, but the controls were easy enough to understand, especially considering their simplicity and how clearly they were labeled. Within a few moments of seizing control he had the craft under his command and was flying it around Balamb Garden, toward the Quad.
He carefully surveyed the side of the Garden, watching intently for any hint of where Rinoa was-
There! He spotted her hanging on tightly to a large crack in the stone of the Quad's foundation, and angled his hoverfoil in, flying above her and dangling the cable below. She looked up as he approached, hearing the roar of his engines, and her face lit up in exhilarated relief as he approached, the lifeline right in front of her. Rinoa grabbed it, hooking a foot into the ring at the bottom, and Squall pulled away, hearing her almost giddy laughter at the rescue.
He ascended, and then pulled the flare gun from his belt, almost as an afterthought, and fired it up in the air, past the bridge.
---------------------
"By Hyne, he did it!" Doctor Kadowaki commented as she saw the flare, and the small, distant figure of Squall on his hoverfoil, carrying Rinoa with him. Nida nodded, momentarily too shocked for words, and then reached down, flicking on the intercom.
---------------------
The combined armies of Dollet and Garden had assembled at the front gate, doing last-minute checks of their weapons and gear, hurriedly preparing spells or loading weapons and securing ammunition, and in a few cases, tightening the bandages on wounds that they were willing to ignore to be part of the end of this battle.
At the forefront of the army stood the six Squall had directed to lead the charge. Zell was moving around nervously, ready for battle and trying to conserve his energy for the final assault. Quistis did what she could to direct and order their troops, and Xu and Randolph assisted her. Irvine was reloading and checking all of his weapons, while Selphie stood anxiously at the head of the group, nunchaku held loosely in her hands.
They were startled out of their preparations when Nida's voice cut in.
"Attention, everyone! He did it! Squall saved her!" There was a collective cheer from the assembled armies, which was only tempered by the slight motion they all felt as Balamb Garden accelerated.
"We're moving in," Nida added. "Everyone, brace yourselves, we're about to ram them!"
"Yeah, baby!" Zell roared. "Let's kick some ass!"
-----------------------
"Sir Almasy, the casualty reports have come in," one of the majors who had survived the battle reported. Seifer, who was returning to the throne room Edea had fashioned, nodded absently.
"Almost all of the paratrooper and robotic units are gone, sir," the major continued. "We estimate that nearly half of our regulars are gone as well. We're still trying to regain control over the Garden's drive systems, but the damage in the cockpit is pretty severe. We're stuck here for now."
"In other words, they've got the initiative," Seifer answered, smiling. He turned back to the major, who was confused by his smile.
"Sir?" he asked hesitantly.
"Enemy casualty estimates?" he asked.
"Um, we estimate that we've depleted nearly half their forces, though many more of those are wounded as opposed to dead," the major replied. "We guess that the remainder of their force is something along the lines of five hundred or more SeeDs, maybe a thousand cadets, and a thousand Dollet soldiers. We've still got them outnumbered nearly two to one. We can break through if we launch another attack, though casualties will be high."
"Of course they'll be high," Seifer replied. "This is SeeD we're dealing with." He paused, and looked up at the ceiling, and his smile widened.
"They've got the initiative, which means they will come for us once they've caught their breath." Seifer nodded to himself. "Order your men. Tell them to prepare for an enemy offensive. They're coming in, and we'll meet them."
"Will you be heading the defense, sir?" the major asked, but Seifer shook his head.
"Delay them, beat them back, and bleed them," Seifer ordered. "I don't think we'll be able to stop their assault, but we can hurt them before they get inside. But tell your men not to worry, because this battle is still ours."
"What do you mean, sir?" the major asked.
"Because, even if they're SeeDs, even if they have Dollet backing them, and even if Squall himself is leading that charge, we still have our trump cards on board this Garden." Seifer pointed up at the ceiling. "We have me, and we have Edea. Let them come. They only think they've won, but we're going to show them just what it means to face a true Sorceress and her knight, and just why they're so feared."
Suddenly, a tremendous crash sounded throughout the Garden, followed by klaxons and shouts of alarm. Seifer grinned as the major looked around in shock.
"Well, speak of the devil," Seifer commented, laughing. He was actually laughing, at a time like this.
"They're here," he added. "Go to your men. Fight them, kill them, hurt them. We'll be waiting."
"Yes, sir!" the major replied with a quick salute, and he turned and rushed off. Seifer watched him leave, and then turned back to the elevators.
"Come on then, Squall," he whispered, smiling darkly. "It's time we put an end to our little game."
---------------------
The confusion was instant, immediate, and complete. Practically the instant the front gate had crashed upon the outside of Galbadia Garden, the entire united SeeD and Dollet force, with the six leaders at their head, had thundered out in a furious rampage. A few Galbadians had been outside the Garden's main structure when they had met, but they were quickly plowed under as the two thousand and more soldiers of Garden rushed out fearlessly, crossing the wide expanses of open terrain that Galbadia Garden featured. It took the enemy a long while to even react to the invasion, but then, from seemingly every doorway from every structure within the compact construction of Galbadia Garden, Galbadian soldiers rushed forward, many in the blue and red of Galbadian infantry and officers, with only a few in the green garb of paratroopers and maybe a few dozen surviving motorcycle troopers, rushing in a disorganized countercharge.
"Bring it on!" Zell roared, and a unified cheer went up among the Garden ranks, and then, the next instant, the leading edge of the unified Garden armies met the first of the Galbadians, and all order and sense of tactics were instantly lost in a maelstrom of chaos and fury, clashing blades, roars of victory and cries of pain and death. Magic sizzled and thundered amidst raging gunfire as dust flew high and explosions sounded across the battlefield.
It was entropy, complete lack of order as the opposing armies that had fought so hard in the last hours met in their final clash on the open fields of battle, tangling together in a thousand and more grim dances of death and violence.
Zell, Quistis, Xu, and Colonel Randolph found themselves in an impromptu alliance as they were lost in the swirl of war. An entire platoon of Galbadians rushed at the quartet, and the three SeeDs responded with blasts of magic while Randolph emptied his rifle's magazine into the enemy. The Galbadians staggered and were scattered by the barrage, and the group rushed in immediately, Zell and Xu side by side. A blast of fire ripped into a pair of enemies, launched by Quistis, and in the resulting confusion, the pair plowed in. Zell spun around low and sent out a wide-flying kick that struck a Galbadian in the gut and hurled him away, while Xu's sai flashed and interwove between two soldiers, cutting their hands and elbows and disarming them. Before they could react she had cut down both of them and taken a step back, spinning and stabbing with both sai into another soldier's chest. The man fell back and dropped to the dirt, his blood pouring out, while Zell crushed an opponent's throat with a hook and then caught another foe's swinging sword arm by the armpit and hip-tossed him to the dirt. A subsequent stomp finished his opponent. The Galbadians would have surrounded them, but Quistis and Randolph kept them at bay, magic and bullets cutting down any who neared the fighters, and the fighters cutting and smashing down anyone who got past the magic and gunfire.
More enemies came on, closing around the battling quartet and trying to cut them off from support. Randolph and Quistis found themselves engaged in brutal close-quarters battle while even more enemy soldiers rushed against Zell and Xu, trying to overwhelm them. Quistis snapped her whip around, the blade cleaving through an opponent's throat and then diving forward like a striking snake, cutting into a foe's chest and biting at his heart. She pulled the whip in close and wrapped the chain around a charging Galbadian's blade and spun, redirecting his momentum and hurling him off his feet and to the dirt. Another opponent came at her from behind, but Randolph crushed his helmet inward with his buttstock and then spun, impaling a foe on his bayonet. He tore the weapon free and fired a burst into another closing enemy before stepping back out of range of another Galbadian's sword swipe and rushing forward, inside the arc of the cut and smashing his chin with the stock of his rifle.
Beside them, Xu and Zell more than held their own, his lashing feet and fists and her flashing blades cutting up and blasting away any foe that dared to challenge them. A thrusting sword jabbed at Zell's stomach, but one hand slapped it down while the other rose up, an elbow solidly impacting against the Galbadian's nose and crushing it. Zell's left foot rose and kicked the man away. Zell then ducked into a crouch, evading the slash from another opponent, and rose in a jab that doubled his foe over. Zell then grabbed the man's arm and spun with him, hurling him onto another group of charging enemies. They fell into a confused heap of legs, arms, and swords, upon which Zell leaped and began pounding.
A short distance away, Selphie and Irvine had formed their own team, working to beat back any enemies that came against them and supporting other SeeDs and soldiers. Whenever a cluster of Galbadian showed themselves, they put their combined firepower to devastating effect, Irvine using his Valiant and its special ammunition and Selphie with he magic to blow apart unified groups of Galbadian soldiers. The enemy obviously didn't appreciate their efforts, but in the complete havoc, no organized force could come against them. However, more than enough Galbadians tried to take them on individually to keep the pair on their toes. Irvine often switched from his Valiant to one of his lighter machine pistols or his Calicos, sometimes even his revolvers and handguns to beat back enemy soldiers that charged in too close. Selphie put her nunchaku to effective use, snapping the bars out and hurling aside enemy soldiers as they came at her, and, when they got too close, beating upon them with the iron bars as if they were clubs.
One opponent rushed her, sword raised high for a strike, when she swept the nunchaku around and smashed him across the face. Selphie reversed the momentum of the attack and sent it back across, slamming the man on the opposite side of his head and throwing him down. A second foe closed in, too close to whip the bars at him, so she simply crossed the bars in front of her and took the blade where the two rods met. A quick twist kept one bar pressing down on the blade and holding it at bay while the other crunched into the man's chin, stunning him for the instant she needed to smash both bars into the soldier and hurl him away. Magic flew where he had stood, blasting another pair of soldiers who were bearing down on a pair of cadets.
Behind her, Irvine emptied the last shotgun shell he had loaded into his Valiant and switched to normal ammunition, not having time to load more shotgun shells. He fired furiously as a large number of Galbadians rushed him. They dropped, but not quickly enough, and he released his rifle as it ran out, instead drawing his AB-10s and emptying them into the enemy. A dozen soldiers dropped from the hail of lead that the machine pistols spewed forth, their highly inaccurate fire proving itself useful and deadly with so many massed enemies. But as they ran dry, a pair of the enemy that still survived rushed at him, almost within striking range. Irvine discarded the spent pistols and snapped out his revolvers, firing both of them point blank into one soldier and then spinning around the man as he fell. The other soldier tried hacking at Irvine but missed, instead hitting the falling man as Irvine used him as a shield. The sharpshooter fired twice again, and both bullets struck down the last soldier. He then ducked as another opponent hacked at the back of his head, and spun around low, jamming both revolvers into his foe's stomach and firing again. The man jerked as if a hundred-pound weight was thrown at his chest, and then fell away.
More opponents closed in on all sides, and the pair braced themselves, firing, blasting, and striking in the middle of the ferocious war.
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"We're going down, right in the middle of it!" Squall yelled to Rinoa, who clung to the side of the slightly overbalanced hoverfoil. She nodded hesitantly, but firmed her jaw. nonetheless.
"Don't worry," he assured her. "Just stay close to me!" She nodded again, and looked down to the hellish war below. The SeeDs and their allies were battling with all their hearts, driving the Galbadians back and overwhelming them. The enemy had the advantage of numbers, but that could only last for so long. And she knew, even more importantly, that when the SeeD army knew that Squall, their leader, was fighting somewhere nearby, that their ferocity and heart for the battle would grow even more.
By now, she could see the soldiers battling below, individual warriors dueling with their opponents. The battle had been overbalanced at the beginning, the Galbadians having more manpower, but she saw that many had begun to retreat, fleeing their powerful opponents, and many more lay dead or wounded, out of the battle, while the SeeDs held strong. The lack of organization among the Galbadians was proving to be more of a hindrance than anything, as they could not take advantage of their numbers in the confusion. It did seem as if they were trying to form some sort of organization, as a large force was congregating toward the center of the battlefield, under the direction of a Galbadian major.
Squall sent the hoverfoil flying low, and she saw the ground just below her feet. She dropped off, and Squall set the craft down a second after she touched down, and dropped into the middle of the battlefield. He drew his gunblade immediately as they were enveloped in the furious melee.
"We're going to punch straight through!" he shouted. "We have to keep them from forming up and driving us back!" She nodded, and Squall turned in the direction of where the Galbadians were starting to organize, and then glanced back to her.
"Stay with me," he said, more quietly, and she nodded. Then, Squall rushed into the battlefield, gunblade raised. Galbadian soldiers immediately stood in his path, some trying to attack him while others simply bumbled into his route as they fought other Garden soldiers. The former were blasted clean through while the latter would suddenly find a gunblade slicing into their backs or sides or cleaving through their necks or heads. Rinoa trailed right behind him, just focusing on keeping up with squall as he roared across the field of battle, and wherever he went SeeDs and soldiers fought their Galbadian foes with more ferocity, and many began to follow in his wake. Squall soon had an entire platoon of mixed SeeDs, cadets, and Dollet soldiers following in his wake as he tore through enemy platoons the spearhead for a wedge that drove straight through any resistance the enemy attempted to mount.
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"Motorcycles, heading our way!" Xu shouted a warning, and the quartet, along with a force of SeeDs and Dollet soldiers who had found their way into the group amidst the battle, wheeled to face the threat. Most of the surviving motorcycle soldiers, about thirty or so in number, where accelerating across the battlefield, directly at their position. It was not hard to miss the group, as Galbadian corpses had piled high around them, and every attempt at a concentrated assault on the now sizable group had failed miserably. They were an island in the chaotic sea of the war, and were growing greater with every passing second as more troops joined. The biker troops were clearly trying to break that island and any efforts at organizing their soldiers.
"Set up!" Colonel Randolph suddenly ordered. "Form a line!" The Dollet troops, and the SeeDs and cadets a split second later, formed up into a quick, rough defensive line, and as one, they opened up with magic and rifles as the enemy rushed in. The first of the Galbadian bikers stopped as if they had struck a solid wall, many of them flying through the air or their riders tumbling from their vehicles, but many more came on, rumbling toward the line and splitting up into a loose formation to make them harder to hit. The SeeDs and cadets unleashed another barrage of magic and gunfire, and joined in that assault was a stream of magical projectiles from Quistis as she unleashed her potent Blue Magic upon them. More Galbadian bikers fell in the assault, but then they were upon the group, and the Balamb forces had to break up or be crushed under their wheels. Zell leaped forward in one of his typically brutal attacks, and smashed an opponent off his bike with a single devastating punch. Quistis sidestepped another soldier who drove past, snapping her rante out. The blade sliced through her opponent's helmet and threw him from the bike. Xu stepped between two enemies and slashed with her sai, and both of her targets fell from their bikes, throats slashed. Concentrated gunfire from the Dollet soldiers, SeeD riflemen, and Randolph took down several more opponents, their bikes skittering across the battlefield. But even with the casualties, the motorcycle troops had almost done their job, and several Dollet troops and SeeDs were down, slashed or flattened during the charge. The bikers turned around for another assault, half their numbers depleted but fearlessly coming on.
Something exploded in their midst, throwing several bikers and their vehicles into the air, and the Seed and Dollet force opened fire again, magic sizzling and freezing many of the enemy and bullets dropping others. Within moments the bikers were reduced to only a handful, and they scattered before they could be attacked again.
Through the confusion, Irvine and Selphie appeared, he holding a smoking Valiant and she holding a smoking Dollet-issue grenade launcher, the same she'd used against the Galbadia Garden control room.
"Boom!" she shouted, pumping a fist in the air. With the failed motorcycle attack, even more troops were rallying to them, their numbers swelling to almost a hundred men in the sea of war. The Galbadians themselves were backing off from attacking the assembled and growing force. But only for the moment across the battlefield, beyond the continuing chaos of the war, they could see the Galbadians assembling for another rush, a large, organized counteroffensive. It would not be enough to drive the SeeD army back - too many Galbadians had fled or were dead, and the SeeD forces had almost reached parity with the enemy in terms of numbers. But the organized assault would do one thing: it would kill more SeeDs and Dollet troops, and that was doubtless what this entire desperate stand was all about.
"If they charge," Quistis said, pointing toward the assembled force.
"They'll do a lot more damage before we can stop them," Randolph finished. "We have to stop them before they can finish assembling and get more organized."
"But we don't have enough manpower," Xu protested. "There's got to be six hundred or more men over there. We can stop them, but break them?"
"We have to try," Randolph replied, shaking his head. "Many more will die if they launch that force in an organized manner. We can't afford to not try."
Then, there suddenly came a jubilant shout from across the field, and the group spotted a number of Galbadians fleeing from a large force of SeeDs, cadets, and soldiers bulling through the battlefield in a large, rough wedge formation. And at the tip of that wedge, cleaving fearlessly through the Galbadian ranks--
"Squall!" Quistis cried, and saw precisely where he was aiming: directly at the massing Galbadians. She quickly spun back to her comrades. "Hurry! We have to assist him!" The others nodded and, with a unified shout, they charged across the battlefield, directly at the amassing enemy. Now, with two large SeeD and Dollet forces moving to assault the massed Galbadians, it seemed they not only had a chance to break the enemy, but a very good one.
The Galbadians, of course, failed to miss the presence of two large (and growing) enemy groups pushing through the chaos of the battle, but the major in command knew that his army was in trouble. Still, he did not hesitate, and he sent immediate orders to his men to charge. They formed into their own wedge, to split the enemy force apart, and he sent them into a furious rush, intending to stop and break their charge and kill as many as he could. After all, those were his orders: to kill. Not to win, not even to hold out. Just to hurt the enemy. And that he planned to do.
They rushed in, closing with one another. Soldiers from both sides either leaped out of the way or rushed to join the assault, depending upon whose army was closer, and both grew, snowballing as they rushed across the war zone. Seven, then eight, of the Seed force rushed a few steps further, as even Rinoa was caught up in the charge. They drew closer, and then closer, to the point where they could see details on one another-
And they met, a sudden furious impact of violence and death.
The Galbadians' leading edge was simply thrown back by the impact with the SeeDs, and they bore in, striking and fighting with bloody abandon.
Squall led the charge and scored the first kill, an overhead cleave that bit into the top of one man's helmet and down through his neck and out of his chest. The SeeD commander spun, gunblade slicing up into an opponent's chest before snapping across into the space where his first foe had been standing, cleaving down another opponent beyond. Galbadians assaulted him, stabbing and slicing, but his gunblade weaved inside every strike to counter and parry, and many foes found themselves dead before they even realized they'd missed. He chopped, he cleaved, his fists lashed out, and in one case he head butted an opponent in the chin before chopping him down.
While Squall fought on sheer momentum and brutality, Rinoa, who stood behind him, used her magic to support SeeDs and soldiers, casting healing and defensive spells on her comrades. She kept a careful eye on Squall, and tried to stay near him, though in all honesty she was worried that he would possibly strike out against her in the instinctive, brutal mode he had slipped into during the charge. As the battle raged around her, she herself slipped purely into a supportive stance, only casting spells and, when an enemy appeared to be threatening her comrades, an offensive spell. All around her, the SeeDs and Dollet troops pushed against the numerically superior Galbadian force, but every passing second saw more Galbadians fall and more SeeDs and soldiers rush to join them. Squall's fierce fighting inspired all those around him and threw terror into the Galbadian ranks. As an enemy head was severed and Squall rushed in, chopping down with his gunblade into another foe's ribs, many Galbadians backed away, trying to escape from the brutality of the SeeD commander.
On the other side of the Galbadian force, the other Garden group bore in as well, Zell taking the lead on his side and crushing Galbadian troops directly before him. Quistis, in the tight press, could not put her whip to effective use and focused on magic, hurling potent spells into the enemy ranks. Beside her Selphie followed suit, launching magic as well, and the pair were able to drive their enemies back before their combined magical onslaught. Nearby, Xu and her sai flashed quickly and lethally into any foe who neared her, sending them sprawling to the ground as their limbs were slit and throats cut. Irvine stayed near Selphie and Quistis, using his rifle's wide-spreading buckshot shells to clear out entire squads of Galbadians at a time. Colonel Randolph stood with his fellow soldiers and fought ferociously, the elite members of Dollet's 125th battling for their distant homeland and its future safety. It wasn't long before the attrition from those six warriors alone began to substantially weaken the Galbadian force, and as more and more SeeDs, cadets, and soldiers broke free of the fighting across the field and joined the unified force, it became increasingly clear that Garden's warriors were going to emerge victorious in this clash.
Squall cleaved through two more foes and found himself facing a high-ranking Galbadian officer, a major, judging by his insignia. Not just any major, but the one that was directing the entire enemy effort. The Galbadian officer, fearing Edea's wrath if he retreated or surrendered, even when he was so clearly losing, rushed forward, preparing to open fire upon Squall with his arm-mounted cannons. But, in that instant, Squall had gestured toward the man, and a bolt of lightning struck the officer, staggering him back. Squall closed the distance between himself and the enemy commander in a heartbeat, and struck.
The major, behind his visor, blinking in confusion as he felt an intense impact in his chest. He looked down, to see Squall's gunblade impaling him. The SeeD commander tightened his fingers around the trigger, and the gunblade exploded, blasting the man in half.
The Galbadian major was very dead, and along with him went any possibility that the Galbadian army would hold under the SeeD onslaught. The massed Galbadian force began to disintegrate around the two forces boring into it, and any remaining sense of order was lost as chaos took the field once more, a chaos in which the remnants of the Galbadian army fled or were totally and brutally annihilated.
Within twenty minutes of the major's death, Squall Leonhart's gunblade had felled the last Galbadian soldier that had not retreated to the shelter of Galbadia Garden's interior.
Silence crossed the outside of Galbadia Garden, and Squall turned around, looking upon his battered and tired army, covered in dust, sweat, and blood, and blinked. They all stood as well, looking upon him where he stood over his last foe, in the middle of the field filled with torn bodies. He glanced down at his chest, and saw his white shirt was soaked in blood, stained a brutal crimson color. After seeing this, he looked back up, seeing his own army similarly bloodied, but standing tall and triumphant above their fallen enemies.
Squall raised his gunblade high above his head, and the cheer of victory, the understanding that they had not only survived, but they had won against such impossible odds, sounded across the battlefield.
They had won that day, a disparate force assembled in a hellish war for survival, against an implacable foe. It had been a massive, painful, and brutal battle. It had been the first true war SeeD had waged, not for money or even out of duty, but a war waged for destiny and survival. And they had won.
History would forever mark that day, that hour when Squall Leonhart had raised his gunblade and committed his army to war, as the moment when SeeD had gone from a simple mercenary group to the definitive force that would guide the world into the future. It was the moment when destiny had been seized.
History never forgot that day.
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Alrighty, time to stop and take breather, because dayum. That was insane. One big, huge, wild, death-death-murder-kill war. Was immensely fun to write.
I apologize for this chapter being sorta late. ISP problems forced me to edit it and load it from the university. I had to take the edited version my editor sent me, so there may be errors or weird punctuation or whatnot that I missed. Let me know if you see something weird, that's probably the reason its there.
Next chapter: the final confrontation! Duels and Sorceress battles, and maybe a surprise or two.
Anyway, what next? Oh, yeah, shouting out to the peeps. Damn, there's a lot here, too. I guess I was right when I figured people would love last chapter.
-Daniel Wesley Rydell: Yes. Squall does indeed pwn.
-DBZ Fanfiction Queen: Ah, more craziness. XD
Yeah, if you go back, you'll see tons of errors, especially capitalization. That's what happens when you don't have an editor or spell-check.
Hey, now, I liked the second and third Matrix movies. I don't get why people don't like them.
-Prodigy: Wha? Huh? NO! You can't quit! Its, like, a tragedy on a monumental scale. Seriously. You're better at this stuff than I am, I admit that wholeheartedly. I'm a crappy writer (at least, in my own estimation) After all, it was competing with you that was one of my big drives to write this damn thing anyway.
Man, it kinda sucks to know you won't be out there doing this. I think I'm the last serious one. Nique's new author person hasn't updated in months, and what she has written is kinda . . . weak, in my opinion.
-Dragoon Swordsman: I always figured that the Garden cadets, at the very least, could fight a Galbadian soldier evenly in a straight-up battle. Not exactly at a twelve-to-one ratio as you're suggesting. I mean, these are Galbadian elites, and the regulars themselves are no pushovers . . . its just that Squall and Co. are so damn good and that SeeDs are very powerful fighters.
-Angelo di desiderio: Yeah, I did make Squall seem invincible, didn't I? Again, its that Aragorn influence.
-Aaron: Yep, I'm crazy . . . LIKE A SQUID!
-Kimahrigirl: Yar. Glad you liked it.
-Rusty Knights Productions: One of the big motivators for me to write this was to do the Garden war and improve upon it.
-Chris Ganale: I have Halo 2, and it is much awesomeness. I may just implement boarding, too. XD As a side note, Esthar's army will be very similar to the Covenant in their technology. Personal shields, energy weapons, hovering technology, and the generally alien feel of their culture.
-Xephon: The Dollet troops will not stay on Garden, I'll spoil that. However, I'm planning on writing a series of fics after this on that bounce off some of the aspects I developed, and one of them will be that Dollet and Garden are closely allied due to their history of fighting and bleeding together.
-OniRazz: Zell's speech was also partially inspired by a quote from a Marine in Halo, right after he pasted a Grunt. "Sit down, bitch." XD And yeah, like I said, I made Squall one badass mo-fo.
-Kaiser-kun: I think I will go sleep. I'm pretty tired. Damn you, Halo 2! Making me stay up all night!
Shadow Hearts sounds kinda like Hellsing. Alucard is the badass anti-hero while Paladin Anderson is the Vatican warrior. Very similar. Also, I think you have to be twenty-one here to get a firearms license, though I may be wrong. After all, you can enlist at eighteen, so maybe its at that age?
Akira Stridder: Thanks for the compliments!
-Cherieandpepe: If you want. I'll have to copy-paste all my older chapters, as my new computer doesn't have them on it. It may take a bit (again, ISP problems) but sure, I'll send it to you. Keep, uh, dogging me if I don't. I may forget. XD
I know what you mean when you say I should show the battle from the enemy's perspective. I have done it before, but for some reason it didn't mesh well with the rest of the battle here.
Seifer's bits are simply to show what he's doing and give an insight into the real status of the Ga;lbadian army and what they're planning.
It would be hard to get this published. FFVIII is Square-Enix's property. XD
-LordPanther14: I've said it before, I'll say it again, description is the name of my game, as if detail. I love details. That's part of the reason why, over the last few chapters, I went into detail on the status of Garden's fighting forces. It's a tough schedule for me to work on, but people like you guys are what often drive me.
