Nooj, meyvn of the Youth League, reflected sadly on the times as he stared out across the vast expanses of the Calm Lands. He had known, as soon as the white-armored troops had arrived at Mushroom Rock Road, that Spira was in for hard times. The majority of the Youth League had fled their headquarters up on the mountain and scattered to all corners of Spira. One small group had stayed behind, intending to lead the invading troops directly into the Den of Woe, gambling on the hope that Shuyin's despair still filled the dark and fetid cave.

No word had come of that venture, but that gave Nooj a small amount of hope. If there was enough despair remaining in the Den of Woe to get the invaders to kill each other, then his men would also be dead at the hands of their comrades.

Nooj had chosen the Calm Lands as his hiding place for one simple tactical advantage: it was flat, open terrain, and one could see from one side of it to the other. Because of that, he would always have warning if the white-armored invaders made their way into the Calm Lands. And he knew of many places around and under the Calm Lands that he could hide out as long as necessary.

He had been hiding out in the Calm Lands for nearly two weeks now, and in that time, the Empire had taken total control of Spira. One could not look out their window without seeing at least five of the Empire's stormtroopers, as Nooj had heard them called. There were garrisons in every town and along all the roads, and they were closely monitoring all ships moving around Spira. The meager amount of airship travel that Spira had attained had all been grounded by the Empire and its extremely-fast fighters.

The only places that the Empire didn't have control over were Zanarkand and Bikanel Island. Apparently, the Holy Ruins of Zanarkand did not rate enough military value to be guarded by the Empire, and they had deemed the ruins of the Al Bhed Home to be of equal unimportance. Nooj shook his head slowly as he recalled the whispered tales of the fierce fighting on Mt. Gagazet. It had taken an entire week, cost the Empire several dozen stormtroopers, but the Ronso had been all but eliminated.

"A proud warrior race," Nooj said aloud. "What a shame."

He thought back to how he had been told that the Empire was keeping a close watch on all ships moving back and forth between the mainland of Spira and the various islands, especially Besaid. The fact that they paying such scrutiny made it obvious that they were desperately searching for something.

Or someone, maybe… Nooj's eyes widened. Yuna!? Are they after Yuna? Why? She doesn't even have an active public role in anything. But then again, she is the High Summoner. She's a symbol to the people. If the Empire knew that, it would make sense that they'd want to get their hands on her as quickly as possible.

He nodded slowly, leaning against the outside wall of Clasko's chocobo ranch that he was currently hiding out in. Having complete military dominance of Spira is one thing, but if they had Yuna in their grasp, they could hold her as a hostage to ensure that Spira wouldn't dare go against them. If they killed Yuna, Spira would go into a panic. That would make it harder for them to maintain control, so they have to ride a very fine line here.

The chilling roar of the engines on the Empire's fighters drew Nooj's attention toward the sky, and he smirked slightly as he saw four of the little fighters flying a grid pattern over the Calm Lands.

Looking for me again. That means it's time to head back inside.

Picking up his cane from the ground beside him, he turned around and stiff-legged his way back into the chocobo ranch. Nooj did not know it, but the presence of all the chocobos wrought havoc with the fighters' biological sensors, rendering them unable to pinpoint him.

---

Yuna spun around, aiming her guns toward the origin of the scuffling sound around the corner. She quickly relaxed and pointed her weapons to the side when she saw that it was only Tidus, returning with food that Wakka had slipped him from the village.

"Sorry I startled you," he said sheepishly, laying the wrapped parcel of food down on the cavern floor. "I'll remember to call out next time."

"It's okay," Yuna replied softly, sliding over and leaning against Tidus' side. "So how was everyone?"

He slipped his left arm around her shoulders as he unwrapped the parcel with his free hand and looked over the various meats, bread, and fruits that Wakka had secreted for them.

"They're doing okay, I guess. I only saw a few stormtroopers in the village. Wakka said that they mostly concentrate on watching the docks. He thinks they're looking for us."

"'Stormtroopers?'" she repeated, looking up at him with her bi-colored eyes.

"Yeah, that's what the guards are called. Imperial stormtroopers, Wakka said. According to him, they haven't done a whole lot to interfere with the regular village activities. They just wander around and keep watch, making sure that nobody is trying to rise up against this Empire that's moved in."

Yuna shivered slightly, and huddled closer to Tidus. "How bad is it?"

"Well, you have to keep in mind that what Wakka tells me is coming straight from the mouths of the stormtroopers." Tidus sighed; the news he had would not be good. "They control more or less all of Spira. There have been a few uprisings, namely by the Youth League and the Machine Faction. Both groups have been completely wiped out."

He paused, looking closely at her. It was unnecessary; she was shocked, her eyes wide in fear and disbelief, and her hands covering her mouth. He shifted his hand that was around her shoulders to gently rub her back.

"Go on," she whispered, knowing that he had more to tell.

"When they tried to get over Mt. Gagazet to the Zanarkand Ruins, the Ronso wouldn't let them pass."

Yuna gasped, almost knowing where this was going.

"It took a week," Tidus said, haltingly, clenching his free hand into a fist. "The Empire lost dozens of stormtroopers. Finally, they decided that fighting on the ground would be too costly. They must've called their big ship up in the sky. The stormtroopers told Wakka that they used a tactic called orbital bombardment. It's where the ship fires all its turbolasers down on a target until there's nothing left."

"Turbolasers," Yuna said. "Like the fire that they were shooting at us when we got away?"

"Those are called blasters," Tidus replied. "And yes, turbolasers are like that, but apparently several hundred times stronger." He looked toward her again, and saw the tears streaking down her face. "The stormtroopers said that they completely wiped out the Ronso."

Yuna nodded dully, recalling the sharp pain she had felt in her heart a week ago, at the time of this reputed bombardment. She hadn't understood it at the time, but now she somehow knew that her pain was related to the deaths of the Ronso.

"Not completely," she said, almost too quiet to hear.

"Yuna?"

She turned her tear-streaked face toward her lover and smiled painfully. "They didn't kill all the Ronso. Kimahri is still alive."

"How do you know?" he asked, his voice curious, not accusing.

"I don't know. I just do. I feel it, in my heart."

He nodded slightly, then wrapped both his arms around her and hugged her tightly to him. As he did so, she tightly gripped the fabric of his shirt and leaned into him, comforted by his presence.

They would fight; he knew it. Yuna would not take the suffering of Spira's people lying down. She would take some time to get over the shock of everything happening so fast, and then she would be the first to take up her guns and fight. Tidus would be a close second, Brotherhood in hand and staying at Yuna's side.

But not today. For today, they would simply give silent thanks to the fact that they had not yet been discovered. For now, they could simply enjoy the fact that they were together, and alive. The time for fighting would come soon enough. For now, they knew only each other.