She watched him, lying there, looking more peaceful than she'd seen him since the fall of Balamb Garden. The stress of running the new Garden, as well as fighting his own personal demons had taken its toll on Squall, but now he looked calm and at rest.
Her eyes traced the long scar running down his face, and her mind wandered back to that morning a lifetime ago when he'd acquired it.
* *
Quistis sat in her office, reviewing her files. A small detachment from the Galbadian army had invaded Dollet, providing the perfect opportunity to administer the field exam to the new crop of SeeD candidates. She'd selected five students from her homeroom to take the exam, including Squall, Seifer, and the new transfer student, Selphie Tilmitt, who she hadn't met yet.
Squall, she noted, had yet to visit the Fire Cavern, a prerequisite for taking the field exam, and she made a note to mention it to him after class. She looked forward to the chance to get some time alone with him without having to invent a reason.
The phone on her desk rang. Reflexively, she reached out and answered it.
"Quistis Trepe," she said.
"Quistis?" the voice came from Dr. Kadowaki. "Come get your student."
"Let me guess," Quistis replied, tapping a fingernail against her teeth. "Seifer and Squall hurt each other during their training?"
"Yes, yes..." Kadowaki answered.
Quistis winced. "Is it bad?"
"His injury's not serious. It'll probably leave a scar."
"You know, Dr. Kadowaki, if not for you, those two would have killed each other long ago."
The doctor gave a short laugh, and Quistis could hear the woman rolling her eyes. "...Right. Now please come by."
"On my way."
Quistis hung up the phone, realizing she still didn't know which student she needed to retrieve. She dug around in her desk drawer and produced a coin.
"Heads, it's Seifer, tails, it's Squall," she said, flipping the small disk in the air. She snatched it on the descent and turned it over. "Tails," she declared. "Good for me, bad for Squall." Quistis pursed her lips, adding a notation to the disciplinary report in her mind. "Worse for Seifer."
She moved quickly through the hallways and to the infirmary. Dr. Kadowaki greeted her outside the door.
"He's inside," she explained.
"Thanks, doctor," Quistis answered, straightening her uniform jacket and heading through the sliding door.
It hissed shut behind her, and her eyes did a quick search of the room, settling on Squall, who wore a large bandage over his perfect face. She closed her eyes and sighed, deeply.
* *
"That day was the start of everything," Quistis said, her mind drifting back to the present, to the comatose Squall in front of her. "You and Rinoa, Cid taking away my Instructor's license... Everything."
She rose, circling slowly to the window. "And here we are again, in an infirmary once more." She folded her arms as she looked outside, at the vast, nearly featureless plains of Esthar. The barren, cracked land stopped short of the Garden, which existed as a fertile paradise wholly separate from the largely non-arable land around it.
"I seem to recall a similar situation not long after. A restless young man watching over a beautiful girl as she languished from an unknown curse. Sound familiar?" she asked, turning to Squall. She closed the distance, standing over him, looking down at the lion thus laid low.
"I remember the look of concern on your face. I could see how much you were suffering, and there was nothing I could do about it. There was nothing any of us could do, but I felt it more than anyone. I wanted to make you happy, to make you smile, but," she shook her head sadly, "I just couldn't do it."
Quistis took a cloth from the table and dabbed at Squall's forehead, mopping the cold perspiration that bespangled his brow.
She half-smiled, remembering. "We were all so proud of you when you took Rinoa to Esthar by yourself. Even I was cheering you on." A pause, then, her voice catching in her throat, "And I want you to know that any one of us would do the same thing for you. We'd walk the width and breadth of the planet if it would bring you back."
She sank back in her chair, closing her eyes. Squall's pendant felt cool against her skin. Time passed, and Quistis awoke to the sound of the door opening. Seifer entered, a leather-bound book under his left arm. He raised his right arm in a lackadaisical half-salute.
"Reporting for Squall-watch," he said.
"Good thing, too," she replied. "Things were starting to get maudlin."
"Don't worry. Squall and I will macho the place back up."
"I have no doubt of it," she smiled.
"So... have you heard anything new from the medical team?" Seifer asked.
"They think he's doing pretty well. His brain is functioning normally, and they can't find any difference between... whatever state he's in and normal sleep, so all we can do is let him rest and lend him our strength."
Seifer snorted. "I'm sick of waiting. All we've done since Balamb Garden is wait. Wait for a chance to strike at Mallis, wait for Squall to travel into the past, wait for him to recover... I'm getting fed up."
Quistis shrugged, heading for the door. "Well, I'm off to the office. Maybe I'll turn up an assignment that will let you raise a little mayhem."
He smiled. "Finally! A plan I can agree with!"
"It's funny... " she said, pausing at the door.
"Hm?" Seifer turned to face her.
She fidgeted a little. "I always had these little... you know... domestic scenes that would play out in my head. Where Squall and I were a couple, right? And I always envisioned myself watching him sleep, or taking care of him when he was sick."
"Not what you had in mind?" Seifer asked.
"No," she replied. "Not at all."
She stepped fully into the hallway and the door slid shut behind her. She moved through the infirmary in a trance, her mind pushing aside ruminations on the past and focusing instead on the grim future.
Justinian Varrant, also called Yvaine Mallis. Knight to the Sorceress Adel and Captain of Adel's Royal Guard. Garden Master of Balamb Garden. Warrior. Manipulator. Murderer. Genius and madman.
Mallis had the capability to assuage Cid's paranoia to the extent that the Headmaster hired him to help run Balamb Garden. He managed to cast his net around Garden without Cid suspecting anything, and without running afoul of Cid's own machinations. He possessed untold resources -- including his own private army and an airship thought lost in the deep reaches of space, and the logistical wherewithal to field them both. He improved the quality of life for everyone at Garden, yet coldly butchered a trainload of junior cadets. According to Laguna, his martial abilities had no equal, and his magical prowess rivaled that of many Sorceresses.
Quistis passed through the concourse, still ruminating on the nature of her foe. A small cluster of cadets waved to her and she dimly remembered to wave back. Dawn started to break over Esthar Garden.
Mallis seemed invincible. He studied Balamb Garden carefully before launching his attack. He knew its strengths and its weaknesses, and planned his attack with unerring precision. While SeeD regrouped and licked its wounds in Esthar, he had time to dig himself in deeper, putting all of his considerable wealth and knowledge into securing the site.
She pressed the call button for the elevator and crossed her arms over her chest as she thought. Someone pressed a piece of paper at her and she signed without reading it.
A standard invasion seemed like a recipe for failure. Not that it couldn't work, of course – Seifer and Mallis had both proven the effectiveness of the direct approach during their respective assaults. However, SeeD tended to maintain a focus on small, commando-style actions, as opposed to full-scale invasions. Consequently, most of the organization's logistical support revolved around delivering small groups of individuals to the site of a battle, rather than massive troop deployments. And Mallis had captured most of the vehicles SeeD would use to support such an action anyway.
The elevator doors opened in front of her and she boarded, pressing the button for Squall's office.
A siege, then? Impossible. Before their conversion to military academies, the Gardens – Esthar excepted, of course – existed as shelters constructed by the people of the Centra continent. Each building could withstand a protracted siege almost indefinitely and, worse, could go mobile on command. Starving out a fortress by siege means precious little when that fortress can pack up and go somewhere else.
A small strike might prove equally dangerous. In the time since the fall of Garden, Mallis could have made any number of modifications to the building's security. Such an attack would proceed with only intelligence on Garden prior to its invasion. In the intervening span, Mallis might have even sealed off passages, shifting the building's fundamental layout.
Quistis stepped off the elevator and moved through the office, hands clasped behind her back. She climbed the stairs to the office's top level, and then stretched out on Squall's couch, closing her eyes as she thought.
The captives presented an entirely different set of challenges. Mallis could have killed them by this point, or could have transferred them to a location where he might kill them in case of an emergency. Rescuing the captives and putting them immediately to work against Mallis seemed like a good option, assuming anyone remained in fighting condition after their imprisonment.
Mallis' motives remained a cipher to her. Based on his comment, "sins of the father," she could infer that he intended to strike at Laguna by harming Squall. Further evidence to support that theory came from The Storm's concerted effort to capture Squall right before he boarded the Ragnarok.
But they'd tried to capture Rinoa, too. Why? What purpose could that serve? Torture Squall by harming Rinoa? That made little sense if Mallis had focused himself on making Laguna suffer.
And how did the capture of Balamb Garden fit in with the goal of harming Laguna? Had Mallis not anticipated the possibility that Squall might escape? He'd crafted the rest of his plan with such precision that Quistis found such an oversight implausible.
Quistis picked up the remote control nearby and pressed a button. Soft music filtered from the stereo, the lilting voice of a soprano blending with a gentle piano.
Squall... Rinoa... Laguna... Balamb Garden... The pieces danced in front of her, swirling and mysterious. Some link existed, some common thread tying them all together, and when she found it, Mallis' goal would make itself known to her.
The sound of feet ascending the stairs pulled Quistis from her reverie. She opened her eyes to see Selphie standing over her, a folder under her arm, and a deeply perturbed look on her face.
"What's up, Selphie?" Quistis asked, sitting up.
"Trouble. I just got a disturbing transmission from one of the deep-cover agents I sent over to Videlic Arms." Selphie pulled one of the wheeled chairs close to the couch and sat facing Quistis.
"The company working for Mallis. You have more on the WarMech project?"
Selphie's face remained a mask. "Take a look at this."
She handed the folder to Quistis, who opened it. Inside, she saw a series of black-and-white pictures, taken from the security cameras at the arms manufacturer's research facility. She flipped through them, rapidly, noting the time stamp on each photograph. The locations of each shot varied, showing various hallways and research labs, but all with a common theme: Odine. The doctor appeared in every picture, on his way to meetings or conducting his research.
Quistis closed the folder and placed it on the couch next to her. Removing her glasses, she pinched the bridge of her nose with the fingers of one hand and closed her eyes again, trying to incorporate this new detail into her understanding of Mallis.
Finally, Selphie spoke. "So what do we do?"
Quistis looked up. "Have your agents been able to figure out what he's working on?"
"Not at all. The company's security is intense. We barely managed to get a team inside in the first place, and producing this data was nothing short of miraculous. Whatever Odine is working on, it's very, very secret."
Quistis looked at Selphie for a long moment, then nodded. "Scramble the First Team, prep the Ragnarok, and have everyone in the situation room in fifteen minutes."
* *
Fifteen minutes later, the First Team – minus Squall -- assembled around the massive conference table in the situation room. Quistis started the meeting seated at the head of the table, in Squall's traditional chair, but, feeling discomforted at his absence, quickly stood up to pace the room.
"This is Videlic Arms," she began, pressing a button on the remote control to activate the video display. It showed up an image of the company's main building, a short, three-story concrete edifice with no windows. It resembled nothing so much as a bunker. "A medium-sized weapons manufacturer located on the border between Galbadia and Timber. They're known more for producing new technologies than for the amount of weapons they manufacture."
"They developed the metal alloy used in making Bismarck-model rifles. Their company is the reason those guns are so lightweight," Irvine added.
Quistis nodded. "Shortly before Squall went into the past, Avatar reported some anomalous behavior from the company?"
"Anomalous?" Seifer asked. "Anomalous how?"
"They've shut down their factories across the board. Cancelled all their current projects. Dedicated the entire company to completing a major order for a key client. The anomaly is the fact that there is no visible client. They've received no payments, and there's nothing on the books to indicate the nature of this order. As far as we can tell, they're working for free.
"We know nothing about the project itself, beyond the fact that it's named WarMech. What concerns us is the fact that their factories sit idle until a new part is ready to be built. They build the part and then ship it, along with a truckload of scientists and technicians.
"I'll give you one guess as to where they're shipping it."
Concerned looks flashed all around the table.
"Are you saying...?" Zell asked.
"Yes," she nodded. "The part – and its attendant team – goes directly to Balamb Garden."
She paused for a moment to let this sink in, then continued. "There's more. The reason we're here, in fact. Just a few minutes ago, Selphie brought me these."
Quistis clicked a button on her remote, and the security photos flashed over the display, holding on each one for five seconds, then moving to the next.
"Odine's working with them?" Xu said.
"He hasn't been there long," Selphie supplied. "I just got these from my team at the company today. It was the first opportunity they had to contact me."
"After Laguna exiled him, he must have gone to Mallis, who has some use for him."
"So whatever this 'WarMech' thing is, Odine's helping them build it," Nida ventured.
"That's the inference I drew," Quistis replied. "They're not building anything else, as far as we can tell, so that must be his new job."
"And this isn't just a status report, is it?" Seifer queried.
"No. This is a briefing. We're going to hit Videlic Arms today. I want to be airborne by noon."
"D'you think Squall'll be okay with this?" Zell asked, idly.
Quistis held out Squall's Griever pendant. She held it for a long moment before letting it drop back against her jacket.
"Squall isn't here," she said. "He's in the infirmary, unconscious. I have command now, and this is my decision. If he wants to strip me of my rank for this, that's fine, but right now, we have a problem. Whatever this company is working on, they're doing it for General Mallis. Odine just makes it more dangerous, and we don't have time to wait for further intel. We hit them hard and fast, because, for the instant moment, striking them is the best way we have of striking Mallis. Anyone who objects doesn't have to come along, but I, for one, don't want to see Mallis' plans – whatever they may be – come to fruition."
Zell looked at the floor, chastised, and Seifer placed his hand on the fighter's back.
"I'm sorry, Zell," Quistis said. "I know you didn't mean it like that. But it needed to be said anyway. I'm in command now, and I'm doing what I see as necessary for our sake, and for the sake of everyone we left behind. Squall would do the same. Now," she said, looking around, "does anyone want to sit this mission out? Because the door is open, and if you want to leave, no one will hold it against you."
She paused for a long moment. No one moved.
"Okay," she continued. "Here's the situation."
She clicked the button again, and the screen changed to an overhead view of the area surrounding the Videlic Arms building.
"The red lines highlight the boundaries of the company's land. They've managed to get the whole area declared a no-fly zone by the Galbadian government."
"So soon?" Nida said. "The Ragnarok is practically the only thing in the skies. What are they thinking?"
"Air travel is going to become a lot more common in the near future, especially in that region, since the Galbadian Republic is constructing an airstation of its own. Anyway, getting remotely close to the building with the Ragnarok is impossible, unless we want the Galbadian military crawling all over us."
"So we grab a car, gun the engine, and smash through the gate!" Zell exclaimed.
"Someone already tried that," Quistis responded. "A few years ago, a disgruntled employee loaded a shotgun and decided to assault the people who'd wronged him. He crashed through the gate, blew past the first security team, and made it most of the way into the compound before they stopped him. As a response, they installed these."
The next button press lit up blue lines running perpendicular to the road leading into the compound.
"These are concrete barriers, and can be raised on command from the first security point. Assuming you hit the gate going sixty miles per hour, the barriers will be at full extension by the time you reach them. Tests have shown that they can withstand impacts from vehicles going over a hundred miles an hour and not receive a scratch. The vehicles, of course, were not so lucky.
"Further down the road, here," another click, and another set of blue lights, flashing alternately with the first set, "is a second set of barriers. These remain extended by default, and must be lowered specifically from the checkpoint."
"So what's the plan?" Seifer asked.
"Simple. We take the Ragnarok as close as we can, then set her down and leave by car. We stop at the gate and kill everyone at the checkpoint before they can raise the alarm, leaving someone behind to lower the barricade. Then we hit the building."
"Are we aiming for a high body-count on this mission?" he replied. "I mean, can't we just go around the barricades."
Quistis' eyes darted over to him and she made a small moue of disapproval. "All the grounds are equipped – at least – with motion sensitive sentry guns. I wouldn't be surprised if they're mined, as well, so this brings up an important point. While we're there, do not deviate from the pathways in the slightest. You step on the grass, you die.
"To answer your question, I'm not concerned with the body-count. You don't need to go out of your way to kill people, of course, but there's no good reason to hold back. Our team inside will know enough to get out of the way. If I thought we had the time to spare, I'd be more than happy to make this a nice, quiet stealth mission, not least of all because it would keep us safe. But planning a stealth assault on this place would require time we don't have. Look at this."
She clicked through the next several slides to the few schematics of the building they'd managed to obtain.
"The building itself is constructed as a shell – the bunker you see is only the outer building. It surrounds the inner building, and the distance between walls is at least six inches at any given point. They broadcast white noise into the intervening space, to baffle any outside eavesdroppers. Furthermore, the walls of the inner building aren't straight – they zigzag at random, which creates more surfaces for sound to bounce off."
Irvine whistled. "They're certainly devoted to secrecy."
"This is serious stuff," Selphie nodded. "We had an easier time infiltrating Galbadia's intelligence service."
"There's also an undocumented tunnel system underneath the building. There's no telling how expansive the system is, if it has exits, whatever, so we need to strike before people start to evacuate.
"Odine should be considered our primary objective. I want to take him alive and bring him back here.
"After that, our goal is to find all the information we can pull on the WarMech project. We'll do a cursory examination of it on-site, just enough to figure out where to strike next. Then, we destroy what remains. I don't care if we have to level the building, but we're putting a stop to whatever it is they're doing.
"Any questions?" Quistis took one last look around the table, after a pause. She placed her hand on the stack of Connecters in front of her. "I've loaded the specific assignments onto your Connecters. Let's go to work."
----------
AN:
Sorry for the long hiatus. I had to put the story on hold for a time due to a combination of exams, poor health, and tragedy in the family. Then, I took a few wrong turns in the writing, and had to make some painful choices regarding what material to keep and what to scrap. Things should be getting back on track now, though, as we near the story's conclusion. Your patience is greatly appreciated.