Chapter 3

Old Friends and New rivals

The four friends, with Nooj, Gippal and Baralai ahead of them, enter a room roughly twenty meters long by eight meters wide. Tall metal lockers line the left and right walls and at the far end a few tables which, for now, have bags, clothes and other equipment. People wander about in the room and each one of them looks like a part of some sort of military outfit. They walk about, doing exercises and looking into their lockers.

Nooj claps his hands sharply together once and everyone looks over at him.

"Can I have your attention everyone? This is important so listen up because I'm only going to be saying this once."

Everyone stops talking and turns towards the group and eye up Yuna, Rikku, Paine and Tidus suspiciously.

"Something major has just happened over at the new Macalania City. You have all heard the reports of people across Spira being murdered; well it looks like they have all 'migrated'; we received a transmission from Macalania and it sounded like they were wreaking havoc there."

One of the soldiers puts up his hand, Nooj acknowledges him, "So is this going to be a stand up fight then sir and not a bug hunt?"

Nooj nods, "That's correct, the perpetrators, despite their unusual characteristics and attack methods did have a humanoid shape to them, though they are described as being 'very big people' we're talking at least a height of 7 feet for all of them."

The soldiers shifted uneasily and threw each other questioning glances, but Nooj continues, "Now this is the important part, you will be having a few additional people going out with you on this mission, now I know that you haven't been completely briefed yet so if I can finish introducing you to the temporary members of the group we can get to that quickly. Now there will be four people joining you and you will almost definitely have heard of them so this should be quick. This is High Summoner Yuna, and her friends Rikku, Paine and Tidus."

The four of them nodded their hellos to the rather intimidating group, who looked less than impressed, though a few of the men were staring in Rikku's direction for obvious reasons.

Two familiar female faces move out from behind two of the larger men into the view of the four friends. Both women speak unanimously and with great joy, "Lady Yuna!"

Yuna instantly recognises them and a huge smile forms on her face, "Lucil! Elma! Wow, it's been so long! How are you guys?"

Yuna walks up to them and hugs Lucil who is a step ahead of Elma, "We've been good Yuna. Being part of this group is great; we see lots of action regularly what with fiends popping up all over the place."

Elma takes Lucil's place and she and Yuna exchange hugs, and then walks over to the rest of the friends, "Hey guys its good to see you again. How have you been?" Rikku as chirpy as ever speaks for the other two.

"Hey! We've been alright well up until we found out about the stuff that's been going on, which put a damper on things."

"I know. It's awful isn't it? Still, look on the bright side we're going to hunt these things down and eliminate them," she says it more like a threat than a statement.

Nooj shakes his head, "Actually you are to bring back at least one of them alive, we need to know what possessed them to do this… if they can be reasoned with, but I think you can do that."

"That's fine so long as we can rough him up a lot," says Paine.

"We're all up for doing that," responds Elma

Yuna looks up and down at Elma and Lucil, "What are you doing here though? I thought you were Commander and Captain when we last saw you? I heard no mention of a Commander and Captain being a part of this team."

"Elma and I sacrificed our ranks to join this team, besides there was too much paper work for us back then. We wanted to see action again so here we are."

Nooj clears his throat to disrupt the conversation. Lucil and Elma step back into the crowd slightly, "Sorry sir."

"Let us continue. Lucil is one of the group's sergeants. Elma is one of the corporals. Over there at the back there in the white tank top is another person who I believe you are familiar with. Sergeant Beclem…" he rolls his eyes as he is cut off by Yuna.

"Beclem? Is that really you? My word I'm sorry I didn't recognise you with your mask off!"

"Good to see you guys again. I sort of went down the same road as Lucil and Elma. My life seemed to involve more paper work and less action so I joined the U.S.C.M. Screw my rank I like it here."

"Hey there you big meanie!" pips in Rikku.

"Still haven't forgiven me for what I said when we first met huh? Still, it's nice to see you still enjoy wearing very little when you go to work. How have you been Rikku?"

"I've been good, how about you?"

"I haven't been too bad. Not too bad at all," he grins, realising that they had never actually seen his face before. His spiky brown hair has not changed much since they last saw him. Beclem takes a few steps closer to them and they all realise that his eyes are green and that the irises spiral, Yuna and Rikku's mouths part whilst Paine raises an eyebrow.

"You're one of me?" asks Rikku amazed.

Beclem shrugs "Well actually I'm more like Yuna; I share blood of both the Al Bhed and… former Yevonites. My father is Al Bhed, my mother isn't."

Nooj looks at them both rather irritably, "Can I continue please?"

"Yes sir," Beclem answers, Rikku looks away slightly embarrassed.

"Now I think that wraps up all the people you know in this room. Let's get onto those you don't know. On your left closest to us are Privates Othello and Biggs, they are our flamethrowers," he points first to Othello first then Biggs.

Othello is an athletic looking, dark brown skinned man with short shaved hair, standing at around six foot three. Facially he has a slightly rounded face with cheek bones that are neither high nor low. His most noticeable feature is his blue eyes which stand out clearly from his dark skin.

Biggs is of a similar build to Othello, though shorter by an inch or two. He resembles a classic Al Bhed; except his eyes are not green, nor did the irises spiral. He is tanned and has blonde hair and his eyebrows are golden yellow.

"Behind them is Private Frost also known as 'Frosty', he's our sniper, and he has the steadiest hands we've ever seen," Nooj points to a short stocky man opposite Othello and Biggs.

The man's black hair was shaved to a very low grade, even shorter than Othello's, his eyes looked dull and lifeless, not something you would expect from a sniper.

"Behind him is Private Maddox, he is one of our gunners," the man behind Frost is a tall heavily built man like a cross between Biggs and Frost. His outgoing appearance is much more hostile than the previous three; his dark bushy eyebrows are angled slightly downwards towards the middle of his brow ridges making him look like he is permanently scowling. His eyes, separated by a nose with a curvy bridge, are dark and piercing and he does not acknowledge the presence of the friends.

Sensing his coldness Nooj moves on, "On your right is corporal, Nadine," he points to a woman whose looks would be better suited to a career outside of the army than within, her shoulder length brown hair is better kept than any of the men's hair, her sapphire eyes are much the same as Othello's own eyes.

"Privates Stone and Campbell, they are two of our riflemen," Stone is a powerfully built man and the tallest of the soldiers. He looks like a wrestler and this ideal is only reinforced by the two parallel scars running from the right of his left eye down to his chin. He was the only one of the group to have stubble, making him look quite messy but no less imposing.

Campbell is a classic Al Bhed; his short shaven hair is blonde, his skin is tanned and he has green spiralling eyes. He is a stocky man with beefy arms and a solid pumped up chest.

"Behind them is Private Vasquez, she is our other gunner," he points to an aggressive looking women who, like Maddox, seems to be constantly scowling. Her hair is short, black and scruffy and she wears a blood red bandana tied behind with the knot slightly to her left. Her dark brown eyes look almost sunken thanks to her slightly prominent black eyebrows and the hint of black eye shadow. Everything about her exudes a threatening darkness.

"And here on my left is our medic, Bishop," Bishop appears to be the oldest of the marines, his hairline is clearly receding, he has lines around his eyes and his cheeks are giving slight telltale signs of drooping.

With the exception of Vasquez and Maddox, the rest smile and nod their greetings. The door behind the group opens and three other people appear in the doorway.

"Ah good timing you three, I'm making introductions. Everyone this is the new Lieutenant. Lieutenant Baird this is the crew you are now in charge of," The whole group nods in acknowledgement.

Baird is a six foot beefy skin head with a carefully styled and shaped goatee; his brown eyes scan the marines carefully before speaking up.

"Okay people pay attention, here is what we know: A large number of people over the last day have been murdered across Spira, all the attacks occurred within an hour of each other. The perpetrators seem to be, according to eye witnesses almost invisible except for the light around them which seems to shimmer around them as they move, kind of like rippling water," A couple of the marines shift uneasily.

"They have killed using a variety of weapons from blades to small explosive balls of light. Now where these technologies come from we have no idea, it is like nothing we are able to build that's for sure. Now we were initially unable to think of a place to start looking for them but a short while ago we received a transmission from the new Macalania city site and, well here it is."

He pulls out from his jacket the recorder and plays it for them to hear. He continues to speak once it has finished.

"Now we have received no further transmissions from the colony base there and we have come to the conclusion that the assailants of the guards have quickly moved on over to Macalania. Why they would do that is still beyond us, but either way we have been assigned to go to Macalania and investigate, and if the hostiles are there then we are to capture at least one of them alive for questioning, assuming that they are indeed human."

Several of the marines shake their heads at the thought of actually having to attempt to capture one of these obviously psychotic individuals.

"A full report recording by Nooj Gippal and Baralai will be issued to you all to give you more details on the attacks and other bits of information; I suggest you listen to it carefully once you receive it because these things may be the deadliest opponents we have ever faced. Are there any questions?"

Maddox puts his hand up.

"Yes?"

"Sir I have to ask why we are having these people come along with us. We can handle anything, I know it, we know it and you know it, they are not trained like we are, they would slow us down, get in our way."

The comment had obviously struck a chord with Paine.

"Slow you down? Get in your way? You had better be a mile ahead of us when we get there Maddox or you will be eating those badly chosen words."

"Or else what huh? What are you gonna do about it? Considering you are standing in a room with heavily armed and highly trained marines I wouldn't be the one to throw around threats."

"You got that right." says Vasquez in a low threatening tone.

Paine looks at her disdainfully, staring right into Vasquez's eyes. The threatening look in Paine's eyes lights a spark in Vasquez who gets up and starts walking towards Paine, fists clenched, but is promptly stopped by Lucil and Elma. Paine just stands there unmoved, ready for action.

"Don't try it Vasquez, I've seen this girl fight and she's good and this is neither the time nor the place." says Lucil. Vasquez walks back to her seat never letting her sight leave Paine.

Othello steps away from the crowd slightly, "Sir I'm afraid I gotta agree with Mad on this one, they don't know how we work nor do they know procedure. It could prove detrimental. What about weapons? Are they gonna have our weapons and the equipment too? Because if that is the case then I'm not sure I want them anywhere near me."

Baird puts up a reassuring hand, "Whilst you all have a point I should like to make my own. Firstly, Yuna I hear is a master with a pair of pistols, so for a start I will be giving her a pair of our own pistols, which I think she would get the hang of very quickly. Secondly if it comes to close quarter combat, which it may well do given some of the weapons used by our quarry, Rikku, Paine and Tidus are all good with bladed weapons, in fact Nooj, Gippal and Baralai tell me they are probably better than you guys. Thirdly it doesn't take a genius to work out how to use a pulse rifle; I will be issuing those weapons to these three but to put you a little at ease, no grenades."

Several of the troops looked disappointed at the prospect of newbies handling their weapons. Maddox and Vasquez are now standing together muttering.

"Damn kids, they shouldn't be on this I don't care if they destroyed Sin, it's not like they did that unassisted," said Maddox in a hushed voice, not actually looking at Vasquez.

"Yeah as for that bitch with the red eyes, just gimme a reason, just one," she flashes Paine a glare.

Baird looked over at them suspiciously, "Quiet you two, now get packing I want to be out of here and in the Dropship in a couple of hours," he turns to Yuna and the others, "You guys follow me to the armoury and for a little basic training."

They all leave the room to the grumbling marines.

The five enter the marine's armoury. Weapons of various types are stacked on shelves, which comprise the first half of the room. The second half of the room is a shooting range with ten circular targets.

"Okay you guys listen closely, I'm gonna run you through the basics. Now since we got off to a bit of a bad start with some of the marines I'd better tell you now, do exactly as you are instructed when we leave with them whether it is Lucil, Elma, Beclem or any of the people you saw in that room today, you are on their turf."

"Hey, we were the ones who were willing put ourselves out to help you guys, we could walk away from this and the rest of you be damned," speaks up Yuna.

Baird puts his hands up defensively, "I know, I know and I am grateful but I promise you if you give them some time, or prove yourself in combat they will warm up to you. They are a tightly knit group and they stick together, which is why for now, you as outsiders take a back seat in heir hierarchy. They are also the best at what they do and they know it and that makes them arrogant, so they don't like getting help from others, that's what that outburst from Maddox and Vasquez was about. Oh by the way, those two have a criminal history together and they are extremely close. You aggravate one and the other will be all over you."

Rikku smirks, "Ha, they'd be better off keeping away from Paine than us from them." Paine says nothing but it was plain to see she agreed with Rikku and was eager for a fight.

"Whatever. Now let's go over a few things with the weapons you will be handling. Listen carefully; I'm going to be assigning you with some of our latest and greatest and I'm going to show you how to use them. Now before we continue are there any preliminary questions?

Rikku sticks her hand in the air, "Uh huh, why do we need your weapons? We have our own and we know how to use them."

"Because you are going up against enemies that can shoot from a distance, they will have probably killed you before you even get close to them; you need to be holding longer range weapons."

"I'm not going without my sword, simple as that." said Paine flatly.

"Fine, you can take your sword with you but the gun needs to be your primary weapon until you get toe to toe with these things, assuming they let you get toe to toe with them."

Baird walks over to a cabinet containing a set of bulky looking guns and pulls one out.

"This is the M41-A Pulse Rifle, a rapid firing assault rifle that uses the latest ten millimetre light armour piercing rounds. They are contained in this type of magazine," he holds up a large black magazine, the base of which almost completely covers his palm.

"Each magazine can hold ninety nine bullets. If you look at the front of the gun here you will notice two barrels, the smaller barrel fires the bullets and the bigger one is the barrel for the M40 grenades but as I said I can't let you use those. Now hold the gun handle with whichever hand you are more comfortable with, and make sure the butt of the rifle is sitting firmly into that hand's corresponding shoulder like so."

He holds the handle with his right hand and supports the pump action handle with his left hand; he brings the butt of the rifle up to his right shoulder and looks through the groove sight moulded into the top of the rifle, which to the layman looks like a handle you can use to carry the gun with. Align your corresponding eye with the groove that runs through this top handle to aim at targets, this is a highly accurate weapon, wherever you point this groove the bullets will pretty much hit what's through it every time. Of course that does depend on what range the target is from you. To fire first of all you need to release the safety catch which is on the right side of the gun; it's this little flip switch here. Next press this trigger here not the one in front of it."

Everyone watches and listens to his instructions carefully and make mental notes of the two triggers on the gun.

"When you run out of ammo in a magazine the counter here will read zero now you see this button here on the right side of the gun? Press this, the magazine will fall out; take another one from your stash, make sure the tip of the top bullet is facing in the direction of the open end of the barrel, slot it in and slap it in firmly. Then you're ready to rock and ruin."

"I recommend firing in short controlled bursts as it conserves ammo and increases accuracy of the gun by reducing human error. I will show you how to operate the grenade launcher as well but you won't be given grenades."

Baird takes a silver cylindrical object with the tip of one end painted red, about four times the width of the bullets they saw and about twice the length.

"This is the M40 grenade, despite its size it is very powerful and not to be taken lightly. You slot them into this silver part of the gun on the side here, the red end needs to be pointing in the direction of the open end of the barrel and you simply slot it in. To prime the grenade you need to pump the handle here, and you see the second trigger? That's the grenade trigger. The grenade moves very fast in a straight line, up to a point of course and explodes on impact."

Baird starts walking towards the edge of the shooting range with the others in tow, "Let me demonstrate the rifle firing," he aims at a circular target twenty metres away from him and fires a burst of rounds. The noise the gun makes is a deep throaty sound that creates booming echoes throughout the room. The target at the other end is obliterated.

"Whoa," whisper the four friends.

Baird nods, pleased that the demonstration has impressed, "Yup, that's a good word to describe it. Now I need to show you our standard issue sidearm."

He walks to another cabinet and pulls out a pistol and two magazines and holds them up for everyone to see.

"This is the M4-A4 Pistol; it has been modified from our previous M4-A3 pistol. Simple to operate and its very accurate. If you have only one of these with you, you need to hold it like this."

He holds the handle in his right with his index finger over the trigger and his left palm pressed against the middle, ring and little fingers of his right hand to keep the weapon steady.

"In my case I'm right handed so it will be my right hand that presses the trigger, the palm of your other hand needs to be pressed onto the three fingers that are holding the grip of the gun to steady it. To be able to fire the gun there is a little flip switch on the left side here. When the slide locks up you are out of bullets, there is a small button on the right side of the gun just above the handle that ejects the magazine and allows you to put in a new one, the slide should then automatically click back into place and you can start firing again. Now as for equipment you will need to be wearing our standard issue clothing, boots and armour."

At that point Paine speaks up, wagging her finger from side to side, "No, no, no, Baird I am perfectly happy wearing what I am right now and I especially don't want to wear something that makes me look like I'm an associate of Vasquez," Her tone had just enough of a threatening air to it to stop Baird from questioning her decision though he looked like he really wanted to.

"What about the rest of you? Are you going to stick with what you have?" they all nod.

Baird sighs. "I hope you know what you're doing. I think you're all crazy by the way. Now I'm going to go and address the other group and leave you to get a grip on the weapons. See you in a moment."

Baird walks out and the rest of them stand around and look at each other.

Tidus sticks his hands in his pockets and scans the others, "Well he seems nice enough I guess. And hey I like the look of these pulse rifles."

He walks over to a cabinet and picks up one from the shelf.

"Damn I am not looking forward to this. Looking for things that want to kill us is bad enough but having to search for them with a group of hot heads who hate us is unbearable," hisses Paine.

"I know but let's face it we haven't encountered anything in the past that we couldn't handle by ourselves and if we stick together then hey I don't think we have anything to worry about," plucks up Rikku.

"Yeah Rikku's right it's about time we started to look positively at this. We're all in this together and that's what counts, so let's get ourselves kitted out and lets kick some ass," speaks Yuna, almost as if she were ordering the others like a commander. The group look at her in surprise and no one says anything for a few moments. Yuna's eyes dart from one person to the next and then back again, "What?"

They all shake their heads, laugh and head to the cabinets of weapons to get ready for their next mission.