In the previous chaptyr, everything seemed to be going well for our little family. Then Squall was called to the battlefield by his friends who just can't do it by themselves. Now 30 year-old Squall will return to his SeeD lifestyle and raid Gartier's base. What will come of this raid? Rinoa has a bad feeling about all of this...
I own Gartier, Ian, and Kaytsu, but no others.
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As soon as Squall boarded the ship, he was handed a special suit to wear. He slipped into it without hesitation, happy to trade the well insulated, heavy seal coat and pants in for the breezy, form-fitting, ebony suit. The only things that broke the monotonous darkness were the navy blue lines that played along the stitches, and Squall's Griever chain.
Squall entered the darkened bridge with the Lionheart's illumination drawing the attention of all who were on the bridge. Those who had never seen it were in awe as they viewed the great sword and the wielder that basked in its blue light.
"Lookin' good!" Selphie called from the cockpit.
His face remained somber and cold as he pressed to the front where the familiar faces were. "You've told me everything about Galbadia," he spoke quietly among his friends, "but what of... Esthar?"
"("Esthar?" You mean to ask what became of Odine, your father's murderer.)" Quistis surmised. However, she would not tease and teach him to express himself because this was such a sensitive matter. "Esthar was assisted by the White SeeDs in search of Dr. Odine. They found him a couple of years ago when Ellone finally was able to tap into Odine's nearest past, or present..." Quistis frowned in her confusion. She never really got it. "Anyway, she figured out he was in the moving lab and the White SeeD ship picked him up."
"Moving lab?"
"You know," Irvine turned, "the lab with the Ultima Weapon."
"Oh, man..." Irvine shook his head in disbelief, "how could you forget the Ultima Weapon?"
Quistis finished Esthar's story, "The White SeeDs didn't bring him back to Esthar, however. Kiros wanted Odine to serve a life term in prison, but the SeeDs had another plan in mind. They slaughtered the doctor outright, forcing him to ingest broken glass."
"(I should have been the one to end his life...)"
Squall took a seat apart from his comrades, and they let him to himself. The remainder of the flight was taken in complete silence. The ride on the Ragnarok was long despite its speed and lonely despite its familiar company.
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Tears rolled over the sides of his up-turned face. He bit his lip. Another swig of alcohol scared away some worries, but did nothing to drive away the pain. Heavy boots strode over and sat on the edge of the desk next to the man who sat on the floor. The man wiped his face curling up and rolling into the side of the desk away from the new comer.
General Caraway looked over his left shoulder to the depredated man. "(There was so much promise from this young man... Now he is a pitiful sight, lying here drunk on the floor...)" Caraway sighed and brought around his gaze to the floor in front of him.
The two men stared into nothingness.
Another swig? No, it wasn't helping. Zell placed the bottle beside him. He was beginning to feel a little talkative. "...The people... My people... I wanted so much for them. Seeing them in the throws of war so long ago... As their leader, I didn't want to see them suffer anymore. ...I... came up with another way for Galbadia to get along in the world..." Zell's voice was breaking, so he paused to gather his strength. "but, it would seem, despite all my efforts, war and death will always preside over Galbadia. Its own people turned against me!" A real swig, now, that burned well up into his nose.
"Good intentions are not always enough," the general assured. "You've done a fine job. Don't you give up on us now, President Dincht.."
"A fine job...?" he scoffed. "I've done nothing but cause civil war."
Caraway took a look at President Dincht. "You caused it? No, it is Gartier that attacks us."
"...I can't even... protect these people from Gartier... or my Ma."
"President Dincht, your strategic planning has saved us all. Under anyone else, Galbadia would have already fallen to Gartier's force. But it hasn't. And it won't. Victory is on our horizon."
Zell turned and threw an incredulous look to this seriously deluded optimist. "(We won't have victory. Trabia has left our shrinking army while Gartier continues to grow.)" He looked back to his bottle thinking, "(I'll take what he's having...)"
"Tonight, Squall Leonhart will lead a SeeD force to assassinate Gartier."
Zell spun around, grabbed the corner of the desk, and rose to his feet. "Squall!" he asked excitedly.
The drunkard was wobbly on his feet and Caraway stood up to balance him out. "Yes," Caraway smiled heartily. Dincht laughed and brought the general into a strong bear hug. He choked a bit and patted the president on the back.
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"This is it!" Selphie announced.
Squall walked over to the window expecting to see the lights below, but all was pitch black. The light from the moon revealed little.
Headmaster Trepe called for them to move out. The group rushed to the elevator and then to the cargo area where the headmaster then opened the hatch. The wind swirled through the cargo room trying to pull them in. The SeeDs held fast to the ropes as they moved towards the gaping hatch. They waited for the headmaster's signal...
Just when Trepe turned to signal the jump, Squall rushed past them all, plummeting into the night's sky. His legs were above his head and pressed together as he fell chest-first to the earth below. With his eyes closed, he looked as though he was resting, but suddenly his eyes flashed open and, "Float!" he yelled into the wind. Wings appeared on his back and he was yanked upright, his legs pointed to the ground. The wings' struggle to slow his descent was tremendous. Squall touched down as gently as a feather, and the float spell retired.
Everything went according to plan. The floodlights were activated and sirens blared as the Arturine soldiers crowded around the invader, guns drawn. Squall remained still with his sword planted in the ground in front of him.
"Th-th-that's the Lionheart!" a soldier warned his comrades.
Squall's audience began to clamor. He then got in his stance and criss-crossed the sword in front of him causing the Arturine soldiers to jump back in fear. Just then Quistis, Xu, Irvine, and the 5 other SeeDs came falling out of the sky, their floats also gave up upon reaching the ground.
"Squall!" Trepe yelled over the sirens.
It was time to put the plan into action. He brought the heavy sword to the ground and ran at the Arturo. The scared soldiers cleared the way making it easy for the 9 SeeDs to move on Gartier's headquarters. Squall kept the soldiers at bay while Xu worked with a code-breaking device at the door and the 4 unnamed SeeDs secured the other sides of the compound.
Irvine laughed as he ran past Squall, "This is too easy!"
Squall threw a glance over to Irvine. "(Whenever someone gets cocky enough to say that...)" Squall gripped the Lionheart firmly feeling that something was amiss. Something was not right. For him, the sirens seemed to quiet down as he scanned the area. The sirens stopped. "(...Nothing.)"
Out of the blackness of the night a GIM52A flew out from Squall's left side, knocking him clear across the way with its shoulder. It rotated its shoulders as Squall slid across the dirt.
Trepe turned to Xu and yelled for her to "Get that code!"
Squall found himself on the ground kneeling, and was about to rip apart that machine when another appeared on his right firing Micro Missiles. He leapt away from the missiles' path as they curved inward. The explosion found him on his back where a Wendigo galloped out of nowhere and moved on top of him. It lifted its heavy fists and brought them crashing down, but Squall moved his head just in time.
Irvine rushed in with a spell.
The Wendigo then tried to crush his head with one hand, but found that it suddenly couldn't see. It roared wildly as it stretched itself skyward and rubbed its eyes. Squall kneed the creature in the rear, sending him rolling to Irvine.
Quistis was beginning to feel very claustrophobic as the fighting was closing in on them. Just then the decoder device chimed and the door slid open. Quistis and Xu smiled as they moved in.
Irvine cocked his Exeter and shot at the Wendigo ineffectively. The blinding black cloud shifted over its eyes sometimes permitting some vision. It saw the shooter and rambled over to him. Irvine coolly reloaded as the heavy beast came at him. He put out a hand to meet the monster's head and wheeled over the creature and shot him in the back of the head. The bullet tore through with a tail of blood. The Wendigo fell over, dead.
Squall hopped to his feet and charged at GIM52A that had fired the missiles. The machine prepared its self to attack the approaching enemy, but Squall called out a Thundaga and short-circuited the machine long enough to move in close. He then brought the adamantine sword through the middle of the machine, cutting it in half. Sparks flew from the fallen robot. Squall moved in and drew some Thundaga before the machine's eyes were faded completely.
Squall looked to Irvine who was busy fighting a Thrustaevis. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the yellow figure of GIM47N approaching fast. Squall leapt into the air and the GIM47N buried his fist into the ground. Squall landed on the machine's great fist and ran up onto his arm where he tried to jam his sword into the moving parts of its head. A great deal of sparks flew, but the Lionheart couldn't pierce this armor. The GIM47N rocked to its feet, and sprang his arms up sending Squall flying. He flipped in the air and landed nicely.
"Look out!" one of the SeeDs called from the roof as he ran to the battlefield (now that the headquarters were penetrated, the headmaster ordered 2 to assist).
Squall turned and saw a stocky SAM08G bring its arms over its head. Squall caught a hold of the machines heavy arms as they came down and shivered as he struggled to keep them from crushing him. His strength was waning. Irvine and the other 2 SeeDs were moving towards them, but it was as if they moved in slow motion. The SAM08G swung its tail around, landing it on Squall's side. He yelled out in his pain and Quezacolt bolted from the sky. The battlefield was swept with the GF's powerful current that seemed to consume all except the SeeD members.
When the light cleared, Quezacolt was gone and Squall panted as he knelt over the ground amongst the mechanical ruins. He reached his left hand to feel the other side of his body, which was numbed. He looked at his gloved hands. Blood.
"Curaga," Lan casted upon reaching Squall first. It helped, but it did nothing to stop the bleeding.
The Arturo spirit was encouraged at the sight of Leonhart's blood. It was like a sign that he was mortal and could be brought down. The arms within the crowd clicked. And the crowd marched in on the SeeDs among them a giant figure bearing a cleaver of sorts.
Squall leaned against the Lionheart and pushed himself up.
Just then Headmaster Trepe emerged from the compound kicking Gartier to the ground. All eyes turned to the general and the headmaster. Gartier stumbled to his feet trying to run to the safety of his army, but stopped in his tracks upon seeing 4 uniformed SeeDs. He was surrounded. All he could hope for was to be captured. "Stop!" he commanded the Arturo as he tasted his own blood. Gartier wiped the blood that was streaming from his nose. "Do not fire on the SeeDs!" he sputtered out as his weak knees gave in. "I sur-sur..."
Trepe trudged over to Gartier. "We are not looking for your surrender." She leaned down and whispered into his ear, "Those are not our orders..." Then his head was ripped back making him gulp for air. She brought around a hunting knife and slit his throat wide open and threw him to the dirt. The surrounding area was quickly consumed with the darkness that was his blood.
"It's over!" Xu announced. The remaining 2 SeeDs appeared on the rooftop.
Quistis pointed the bloody knife at the army as she bellowed, "This means any action taken will be of your own accord and you will be judged! You are free men and can do as you please, but know that your benevolent president welcomes you home!"
The lost soldiers murmured in their astonishment and delight at such a kind gift to traitors— complete and total amnesty. The crowd slowly diffused.
Selphie landed the Ragnarok skillfully on Gartier's headquarters. Squall sagged against the building. He didn't have the energy to climb it. Lan reached her hand from the top as Irvine gave him a boost.
Lan almost caught hold of his hand when she felt a shadow on her. She looked up and her Asian eyes were wide with fright. "Oh, no... Duck!"
Irvine threw back a look and saw a massive mechanical giant. With the crowd dissipated it had slowly crept upon its targets and now was executing its cleaver attack. Irvine ducked down purely out of instinct. Squall seemed to hang in midair as the attack swiftly closed in. The cleaver would have sliced him in half if it weren't for his high vitality. Instead, it sent Squall flying.
"Nooo!" Irvine screamed as he cocked his gun. He blasted the Iron Giant again and again to no avail.
Lan quickly used a blind spell on the giant, then she began to summon.
"All of you, wait here! Selphie, prepare to take off as soon as we're aboard!" Headmaster Trepe commanded.
"Yes, ma'am!" they all shot back as she fled Ragnarok's cockpit to rescue Squall.
As she passed the giant she used a Sleep, but Irvine's 'mad rush' woke it right back up again. Quistis jumped off the side of the building, landing hard. She looked back at the battle and was surprised to find that the Arturo were using electric stones against their Iron Giant. Quistis ran to Squall's aid.
Anubis, called by Lan, put the giant to the test of time. The shinny finish lost its edge and rust ate holes at its joints, but still it stood. The Arturo kept up their electrical onslaught, but overall the giant was unaffected by it.
The Iron Giant screeched as it brought its cleaver down on Irvine. Irvine easily evaded the attack and now called on his own GF. Leviathan slithered from the very moisture in the air and snaked its way to the rusted out machine. Leviathan wrapped itself around its enemy and erupted into a rush of water, entering the machine through its holy exterior.
The wounded SeeD hobbled back with Trepe under his arm, helping him along.
Sparks sprayed from the Iron Giant as the light of electricity danced over its body. Everyone was all smiles as they took pride in their victory. It then began to tip forward, releasing a wave of electrically charged water. Irvine's smile faded as he turn and ran up the wall behind him. Lan helped to pull him up.
Trepe stopped, dead in her tracks as the surge of water came straight at them. She could do nothing to save them. She was like a deer caught in the headlights. Suddenly the water froze solid in front of her. The couple looked to the roof and saw Shiva standing next to little Selphie who was waving ecstatically. Quistis relieved her breath with a little smile. Squall groaned as they continued their jog.
Once aboard the Ragnarok, Selphie sped off to Esthar where the finest medical technicians were.
Xu, Quistis, Irvine, and Lan, who felt guilty, were all gathered around Squall. He was laid on his back and his shirt was cut off. On the left side (where the cleaver had hit) all of his ribs were broken, his lungs undoubtedly pierced. Irvine apologized profusely as Squall appeared to slip in and out of consciousness. Cures and Remedies were administered, but in the end, the SeeDs had no real medical knowledge.
The wounded lion grabbed Irvine's coat with his remaining strength. "Tell..." he whispered so softly that Irvine lent his ear all the way to Squall's lips. Squall spoke in between shallow breaths. "...Tell Rinoa and... Kaytsu..."
Irvine shut his eyes tight, hating to hear Squall giving up.
"I... love them."
Irvine brought a hand around and griped Squall's collar tightly as if to keep him with them.
"Tell her... not... to be angry." He sighed and his grip on Irvine loosened.
Irvine rubbed his face against Squall's as he hugged him dearly.
"Phoenix Down! Now!" Quistis commanded.
Irvine kept his back towards his friends as he walked away. He still stayed in the room to listen to the attempts to bring his comrade back.
Xu turned to Quistis, "It's not working...!"
Quistis shoved her out the way and began to compress his chest. "1... 2... Oh, God!" she cried as blood ran out of his mouth and down the side of his face.
Lan turned in disgust.
"Come on!" Quistis prepared to perform more compressions, but Xu pulled her away. Quistis struggled with Xu until she broke down in tears. Xu held her close and rocked her gently.
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This has been a long, stressful chaptyr. I'll need a break... You crying? I'm crying too. :'(
