Chapter 3: Unwelcome Surprise
Squall was up early, climbing off the plush chair he had been granted in the basement hideout. Everyone had needed some rest after the planning session, which was remarkably short. Their target was the Number Five Reactor, and the plan was almost the same, except the infiltration would be via subway train tunnels as opposed to the surface route yesterday. Xu had obtained maps of the underground train tunnels and highlighted a chute that bypassed most security measures. Then plan would involve hijacking the train itself and destroying the engine car after safely detaching the passenger cars so no innocents would be killed.
"After all," she had said, "We're the good guys, right?"
Overall, the plan was sound - the destroyed engine car would be perceived as the planned attack, and if all went well, they'd blow the reactor before anyone even knew they had infiltrated the facility. Squall recalled his training and memory of Shinra response times and assured the team that the defenses around the reactor, while formidable, would be lax, not expecting another attack so soon after their initial strike. They may, however, encounter trouble on the way, he warned them.
Squall rode the elevator back up to the ground floor, where the rest of the team was eating a hearty breakfast. Squall sat down quietly, though the rest of AVALANCHE did not move out of his way or otherwise treat him badly. Last night's argument had been all but forgotten in the face of the mission planning.
"Too bad Xu will be missing the fireworks," Zone commented with a grin between bites of egg. "But I'm glad Quistis will be on the team to fill in."
"Don't screw up with the explosives," Xu warned, her leg still bandaged.
"Don't worry, ma'am," Watts said quickly, sitting beside her. "Squall will take care with the bomb, won't you?" Squall nodded. The plan was, once again, to have Squall and Zell, with Quistis supporting them in Xu's stead, infiltrate the inside of the Mako reactor, where Squall, who would carry the bomb, would plant the explosive inside the ventilation shaft. In the case they couldn't put the bomb in that way, Squall would just drop it off the bridge into the Mako. Simple.
"The tricky part will be the train," Quistis stated. "I'd prefer if we detached only the car behind the engine car, but there will be too much momentum with all the cars together."
"So we'll have to detach them separately," Zell replied. "It'll take longer, but shouldn't be too difficult. We'll have to do everything before the security checkpoint."
"Otherwise we overshoot the shaft leading down into the reactor," Zone finished, reciting the plan. "Once there, we sneak inside, you three drop the bomb while me and Watts cover the exit, then we clear our asses out of there. We hop on the next train out from Sector Four while Shinra is still crapping their pants at how we did it again."
The group finished their breakfast shortly afterward, though Squall, silent throughout, finished first. He moved to the far end of the bar and was busy checking over his weapon of choice, the gunblade he had dubbed the "Revolver." He quickly polished the steel of his gunblade, then popped open the chamber.
The gunblade's internal mechanisms were complex, in spite of the simple appearance of sword married to gun. The weapon was loaded with concussive-force shells, or just "bullets" as Squall called them. Each shell contained powerful explosive force that, whenever the trigger was pulled, would be sent down the length of the blade, with the strength to turn flesh to jelly and armored plating to shattered slag. Each "bullet," however, did not release all it's force in each shot, but rather contained multiple charges for multiple blasts. Each time the trigger was pulled, another "bullet" slid into place via the revolver system, in case something had gone wrong with this particular "bullet" and it couldn't fire anymore, and also to just keep the mechanisms inside the already complex weapon as simple as possible. The revolver chambers would keep turning with each pull of the trigger, until all the shells had lost their explosive power, at which point they'd be removed and replaced. Each "bullet" in Squall's gunblade had four charges, more than enough for the coming mission, especially with the low likelihood of conflict. And even if he did run out of charges, Squall had plenty of additional ammunition on the bandoleers around his leg.
The gunblade, of course, had a tremendous recoil. Or it would, if it weren't for compensators built into the handle to absorb the shock of the blast and to keep the gunblade in line. The compensators ultimately reduced the recoil to almost nothing, allowing the wielder to strike with amazing precision, yet hit his foes with devastating strikes.
But, the gunblade was a difficult weapon to master. The unusual design and shape of the weapon made most conventional sword disciplines worthless, meaning that the weapon required its own martial style. The curving handle and the trigger were among the most difficult aspects of the weapon to properly control, requiring a totally different grip and wrist movement. Properly learning to pull the trigger when swinging added to the difficulty; Squall had spent a few months in a firing range to get accustomed to firearms, to help him understand the complexities in the weapon. By the time Squall had finally mastered the gunblade, he'd come to understand why only the most skilled and dedicated swordsmen could properly wield the exotic weapon, much less utilize the gunblade to its fullest potential. Squall preferred to fight with a brutal, cleaving style that used the gunblade's sheer weight and mass.
Weapon loaded, Squall checked the trio of bandoleers around his leg, confirming he had enough gunblade ammo to last a week's fighting. Squall finished up his preparation by checking his equipment belt. He had a good supply of potions of different types: regular healing potions that worked amazingly fast, antidotes for poisons, eye drops in case he was blinded and needed healing for his eyes, echo screens to restore the ability to cast spells if they were somehow lost due to a magical effect, and a few phoenix downs, powerful potions that restored extremely grievous injuries.
One last thing Squall did was to check his back-up weapons: a pair of solid steel ten-inch combat knives. One he slid into a wrist sheath on his left forearm behind his materia bracer, the other into a sheath on the right side of his waist belt.
His preparations complete, Squall turned back to the rest of the group. Zell was outfitted, though that simply consisted of prepping his materia. Squall watched as Zell placed one green orb over the bracer on his left arm, the orb seeming to melt into a pool of shimmering emerald light and flow into the slot, where it became a simple shining light source.Zone and Watts were loading their sub-machineguns, already equipped with some basic materia. Nothing overly powerful, just materia that bestowed healing magic, as they wouldn't need offensive magic in their supporting role. Quistis, on the other hand, had already equipped herself with a number of materia, both offensive and defensive. Squall watched her attach a long whip made out of a supple metal chain, with a curving, scythe-like blade on the end. It was a rante ber gangedug, a chain whip, and a very deadly weapon.
The blonde woman was outfitted for combat today, though she didn't immediately look it, wearing a high-collared peach zip-up vest, a similarly colored skirt that ran down to below her knees, detached black sleeves, and long black boots. A belt ran from her upper left hip down to her lower right, and hooked to it were her item pouches and backup knife.
Zell threw on a light, short-sleeved red jacket with blue flames running up the sleeves, along with a pair of long, baggy blue shorts, before lacing on a pair of durable red sneakers. Once he was finished, he turned back to his team with a grin.
"Alright, let's do this!" he shouted.
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The train was more populated this time, but that was to be expected of the morning rush hours as opposed to the middle of the night. Still, there weren't many people on the train; Sector Eight was one of the poorest of the slum sectors, and not many of its people used the train to reach the plate. There was also a rumor going around about something happening up top, and so a lot of people were staying home.
It looked like things would be fairly easy, so the quintet simply relaxed at first, not wanting to set off any alarms until they were in the tunnels. No one on the train objected to their carrying weapons on baord; most slum denizens were armed anyway. Squall waited beside Quistis, and ran through the plan one last time with her.
"The only way to unlock the couplings between cars is the maintenance panel on the outside of the train," he recited. She nodded. "I just need to enter the four digit code for each car to detach it."
"Exactly," she replied. "Its simple enough. Zone and Watts will go ahead and force everyone to the back of the train car, so you can detach that car without interference."
"Simple enough," he conceded. "Everyone knows the codes, right?" Quistis nodded, and they fell silent. They rode on in silence for several long minutes, until the train entered the tunnel signifying that they were rising to the upper plate.
"Look alive, people," Zell muttered. "As of now, the operation is a g-"
Red lights flashed throughout the train, and a brilliantly loud klaxon sounded throughout the train.
"Warning!" a bland, computerized voice announced over speakers throughout the train. "Unidentified personnel detected on board the train. Train lockdown commencing. Please wait while Shinra security units arrive to apprehend intruders."
The voice repeated the mantra over and over again, while the members of AVALANCHE looked around in confusion.
"What the hell?" Zell growled, but after a long moment, Squall ran to the back of the train and opened a window. He leaned out, and was not happy to see what he saw.
Pursuing the train were a half-dozen small robotic units, looking like small metallic flowers turned upside down, their "petals" flapping in the air as they flew at high speeds. Along with the small sentry robots were a squad of least eight men, clad in a light suit of red armor, and equipped with a set of night vision and thermal goggles. Each of them carried a machine pistol in their right hand, while their left held onto a parasol-like device with rapidly rotating propellers that spun like a helicopter's rotors. The strange device was what allowed them to fly at high speeds, and the combined force of sentry robots and Shinra paratrooper commandos was rapidly closing with the train.
"Bad news, " Squall stated even as the paratroopers and their escorting robots neared the rear baggage train. "We have Shinra forces arriving. They'll be on us in moments."
"Move up the train!" Zell ordered. "Zone, Watts, take the lead."
"We won't have time to enter the codes," Quistis began to say, but Squall cut her off.
"Cover me, I'll handle the codes." he drew his gunblade, startling several passengers, and ran down to the front of the train car. A single swift kick took the train door off its hinges.
"Get ready to move ahead!" he shouted and dropped to the metal floor. "They'll conduct a car-by-car check, but if I can disconnect the cars it'll slow them down!" Squall pulled himself out so he was almost hanging halfway over the edge of the doorframe, his brown hair flying wildly in the rushing air.
"You two, up ahead!" Zell shouted to Zone and Watts, who reluctantly nodded and brandished their weapons, before running ahead to the next car. "I'm heading up top," he added to Quistis, who nodded. The brawler ran ahead, opening the door between cars, and climbed up on the outside of the vehicle, scrambling up onto the rooftop.
From his vantage point, Zell saw three paratroopers on the roof of the baggage car. They, and the pair of sentry robots with them, saw him as well. The paratroopers activated their propellers and began to fly forward, albeit slowly, considering they were moving along with the train. The sentry robots sped ahead, painting Zell with blood-red laser sights. Zell knew from personal experience that the robots were designed to incapacitate rather than kill, and their weapons were designed to render the target immobile. However, if Zell was paralyzed on top of the moving train, it meant almost certain death for him. And even if he did survive, the paratroopers would simply arrest him, and being in Shinra custody was not a pleasant place to be.
A flare of green light heralded Zell's solution, and he gestured toward one of the robots. A bolt of lightning tore into the machine, blasting it apart with sheer force alone and throwing the delicate machine back down the train tunnel.
Below, Quistis watched as Squall input the last code. A split-second later, the door to the baggage car flew open, and a quintet of the red-armored Shinra paratroopers burst in, brandishing their machine pistols. Quistis spun to face them, and her left wrist flared. A fireball lanced out into the lead soldier, striking him in the chest and throwing him off his feet to crash heavily into the two men behind him. Behind Quistis, at the head of the car, the train uncoupled, and Squall rose from his spot.
"Come on!" he shouted, throwing open the door and pushing her through even as the two rear paratroopers raised their pistols. Bullets were spat in the two intruders' general direction, but Squall managed to slam the door between cars shut in time to stop a pair of bullets that would have nailed Quistis in the back. Squall threw open the door to the next car even as the two vehicles slid apart. Quistis jumped in, followed by Squall, who looked back for Zell, though the brawler was not in sight.
A shape flew overhead in the tunnel darkness, and Squall recognized Zell's baggy shorts in the shadows. The brawler hit the rooftop running and bounded ahead, even as the second flying sentry robot marked him. The brawler spun and lashed out with a second magical blast, the electrical magic blasting apart the little robot. He then had to continue runing, as the trio of paratroopers had caught up and were firing at Zell. Zell managed to make his way to the front of the car and began to drop between cars, but launched a second magical blast, the electricity striking one soldier's propeller and blasting it out of commission. The man fell out of sight behind the train car, even as Zell dropped out of sight between the two train cars.
The quartet of sentry bots that had been in the baggage car were now flying outside and parallel to the train, even as the four remaining paratroopers from inside the car rushed forward and out of the door. They flew on in hot pursuit, four paratroopers trailing while two more closed with the train car. Those two readied their pistols as they closed, flying out wide to either side.
Squall dragged Quistis down to the floor, having already spotted the pursuing paratroopers, just before they opened fire with their machine pistols. Bullets strafed along the car as the men swept their weapons across the vehicle, automatic fire raking along the train. Many of the surprised and confused passengers had not had Squall's foresight, and as the glass of the train windows shattered around them, the passengers were cut down. Blood splattered and erupted everywhere as the lights were shot out. Someone screamed from inside the train, not a cry of fear or pain, but one of rage, and electricity lanced out from where Zell had entered the car. The lightning magic was the brawler's protest against the barbarity of Shinra, and it struck true, taking one of the paratroopers in the chest and tossing him back against the tunnel walls, his corpse quickly left behind by the speeding vehicles.
The other trooper ceased fire momentarily, to line up his shots at the brawler's position from the front of the train. The man began to squeeze the trigger when Squall rose, his hand extended, and bolt of lightning erupting from his open palm. The magic speared the man, killing him in midair and throwing him down to the tunnel floor.
Squall grabbed Quistis's shoulder, helping her to stand amid the wreackage of corpses and glass, and ran ahead to where Zell stood, shaking in anger. Squall agreed, even the cold mercenary outraged by the brutal act perpetuated by Shinra's paratroopers. What undoubtedly made Zell angrier was the fact that the train shooting would likely be attributed to AVALANCHE, knowing Shinra's ways and control of the media.
Still, they had no time to waste, as the remaining eight paratroopers were still in hot pursuit, along with their sentry robots. Squall didn't bother with uncoupling the cars, and instead ran on ahead to the next car, Zell and Quistis right behind him. He looked back a second time, and saw the paratroopers and their robots entering the car to sweep for the intruders, their thermal goggles glowing a bright red in the darkness. Squall reached into a pocket inside his jacket, unhappy he would have to do this, as it would definitively scrub the mission.
"Is that our bomb?" Zell muttered, seeing the small explosive in Squall's hands. The ex-SeeD nodded, and set the timer to five seconds before sliding open the nearer door into the blasted train car. The paratroopers spotted him instantly, but the lead man grunted as something hit him in the stomach. The man looked down at the object in time to see the red numbers indicating two seconds prior to detonation count down to one second.
Squall closed the door and hit the deck as the bomb detonated, utterly annihilating the train car and everyone inside it, man and machine alike. The car exploded into a burning mess of twisted metal. Squall rose from his spot on the floor and shook his head. He turned back to Zell and Quistis, angry he'd had to resort to that measure.
"This mission's scrubbed," Zell stated, and Squall nodded. Even if they had managed to defeat the paratroopers without using their bomb and uncouple the remaining cars, they still would have been stopped long before they got into the reactor, with the alert. It would be best if they simply aborted from here.
"We'll need to stop the train and work our way back to base," Squall explained, and the other two rebels nodded, even as Zone and Watts rushed back to their position.
"Sir!" Watts shouted, catching their attention. They looked up, and suddenly, they came to a realization as they actually looked into the car they were standing in.
It was empty. Not a single soul was in this car. Not only that, but there was nothing in the car at all. It was just a flat metal floor within two walls and a roof.
"The hell?" Zell asked, and Watts nodded.
"Its the same for the next car too, sir," Watts explained. "We didn't go to the engine car, but we're sure the entire train is empty like this. Only the first two cars had people in them."
"What's going on?" Quistis asked, and Squall shook his head, a very bad feeling working its way into his gut. That alert had sounded awfully early . . . almost too early. As if "preplanned" early?
"Is it just me, or is this train moving faster?" Zone asked.
"Engine room, now!" Zell shouted, and they bounded ahead, through the door leading to the next empty car.
Only, it was no longer empty. Three men stood in the car, two large men flanking a shorter, overweight, blonde man clad in a garish business suit and smoking a cigar. The other two men were outfitted for combat rather than a social function, each one wearing light but durable torso armor and a metal helmet that included a gray plexiglass visor that swing down over their eyes. They wore short-sleeve shirts under their chest armor, fingerless gloves, and bracers on their left arms glowing with the green light of materia. A pair of loose black pants stuffed into heavy boots ended the outfit, one that Squall recognized all too well. It was an outfit he'd hoped to wear one day, over a year ago.
"President Shinra," Squall stated, looking to the fat man. The man nodded, cocking a quizzical eye to Squall, not immediately recognizing him. Finally, the man nodded, and actually laughed.
"My, my," Alexander Louis Shinra said, shaking his head. "No wonder . . . so, I take it the five of you are this piddling annoyance called AVALANCHE?"
Zell slapped a fist into his palm and nodded.
"Name's Zell Dincht! I'm in charge here!"
"No, no, my friend," Shinra commented, shaking his head and laughing again. "You seem to have made a mistake. I am in charge here, not pitiful you." He turned to Squall. "I didn't recognize you at first, but now I do. You're that former member of SeeD that was supposedly killed a year ago, correct?" Squall nodded. "Ah, yes. That explains how such amatuers were able to actually destroy one of my reactors. Forgive me if I forget your name. Even the names of our most elite soldiers tends to escape me . . . except, of course, for those like Sephiroth."
"Sephiroth?" Squall muttered darkly, clenching his teeth.
"A brilliant man," Shinra replied with a nod. "Too brilliant. Ah, such a waste. But I digress. I am getting off the topic here. I suppose now that its time to end this little game of ours, hm?"
"What game?" Quistis asked, and Shinra openly laughed, taking his cigar out of his mouth.
"You don't understand?" he asked. "Oh, I'm sure our SeeD friend does, hm?"
"The train was a trap," Squall stated, and Shinra nodded. "You knew we would use this train and set it up. That security alert was intended to get us to the front of the train."
"Exactly," Shinra replied. "We suspected you were based out of the Sector Seven slums, but weren't certain. To tell the truth, all the trains out of the slums have been set up the exact same way. My advisors told me not to come out here personally for the trap, but since I strongly expected you to use this train to reach your destination, I made arrangements. Now, I finally get to see the thorn that has cost me so much."
"You're gonna see more than that, you fat bastard!" Zell promised. "I'm gonna beat you so bad you'll see your guts staining the inside of this train long before you die!"
"How charming," Shinra replied, sounding bored as he replaced his cigar. "However, I do believe it is you who will be dying here today. For, you see, these men behind me are not regular Shinra soldiers. They, as your friend undoubtedly knows, are members of SeeD."
"Just two?" Zone commented, not impressed.
"No, not just two," Shinra replied, smiling. "These were just to make sure you didn't do anything rash. In actuality, the real danger is the fact that this train has been set up to impact with a very durable barrier set up about a couple of minutes down the track. The impact will crush all of you into something that the maintenance personnel will need paper towels and scrapers to remove."
"Bastard!" Zell repeated, and took a step forward. Immediately, the pair of SeeDs rushed around the President, one pulling a broadsword off his back while the other extended a quarterstaff. Squall rushed forward as well, stopping right in front of the pair of SeeDs, the Revolver drawn and readied.
"Oh, what is this called? Some form of standoff, I'd say," Shinra commented before turning around. An instant later, the train exited the tunnel, and passed through an open section of the central pillar of Midgar. Shinra turned and smiled as the thwipping of a helicopter's rotors could be heard overhead.
"I believe it is time for me to be going. I have a luncheon to attend." Then, he spoke in a lower voice. "Keep them busy. Don't let them escape!"
"Yes, Mr. President," both SeeDs answered, their tones grim and faces set into impassive masks of death. They were loyal to the company, totally and utterly, and would give their lives to protect it. Shinra then spun and ran for the door leading to the engine car even as the helicopter noise grew.
"Damn, he's getting away!" Zell shouted, beginning to move forward. He was stopped by Squall's left hand, rising up to ward the brawler back.
"Zell, move everyone back to the rear car and uncouple it," Squall ordered, his left hand moving back to his gunblade, not an instant too soon, as one SeeD's broadsword leapt forward into a jab at Squall's chest. Squall parried effortlessly, and caught the second SeeD's quarterstaff easily enough as it shot in a wide arcing strike.
"Go! I'll hold them!" Squall shouted over his shoulder.
"But Squall!" Quistis objected. Squall's response was cut short as he parried another hit from the sword-wielding SeeD.
"Go!" Squall shouted. "I said I'd be there for you when you needed me, and you need me now! Go, before we're all killed!" The Revolver weaved and intercepted three quick strikes as the two SeeDs struck in harmony, quarterstaff rising and jabbing while the broadsword cleaved.
"Let's go, Quistis!" Zell shouted Squall worked his gunblade furiously. Zone and Watts were already moving back, and the brawler had to forcibly grab and pull Quistis, who was locked into watching the doomed battle between her childhood friend and the impassive, suicidal SeeDs. Zell pulled hard, lifting her up with all the strength that his bulging muscles and ki could manage, and dragged his comrade back into the empty third car.
The door slid shut, and Squall backed one step away, repositioning his feet. The SeeDs paused, detecting a sudden shift in their opponent. Then, as one, the two SeeDs lifted their visors back, revealing their eyes. With a simultaneous motion of their hands, they removed their helmets, and threw them away.
Squall nodded, his glowing blue eyes meeting two pairs of glowing brown. The SeeDs answered his nod, an unspoken greeting of honor between the two elite soldiers and their enemy, the silent camaraderie of true warriors meeting those of their same class.
Pretensions were thrown aside, loyalties were forgotten, and battle began, pure and beautifully deadly, a dance of bloody death.
Squall deflected a jab and a swinging staff, and leaped up and over the parried metal rod. The SeeD with the staff retracted the weapon and swung it upward at Squall's face. Squall parried in midair, the tip of his gunblade deflecting the metal rod aside. Squall hit the floor in a roll, whipping around and slicing across with his gunblade, forcing the SeeD to take a step back. The Revolver rose up in a weaving strike, hitting the SeeD's staff and forcing it aside, to block the cleaving slice of the sword-wielder.
Squall's left leg shot out in a sweep, taking the staff-wielding SeeD's legs out from under him, before rising to meet the sword-wielder. The man took a step back as Squall charged ahead, striking hard and fast with a cleaving chop of the Revolver. The SeeD's blade shot up to intercept, but Squall pushed on, using his weapon's weight and sheer brute strength to force the blade aside and smash his shoulder into the SeeD's chest. The SeeD flew off his feet to crash heavily to the floor.
The staff-wielder rose from his spot on the floor with a quick jab that almost took Squall in the ribs, but he reacted with lightning speed, spinning away and smashing his gunblade down on the weapon, forcing it down. Behind Squall, the sword-wielder rose, weapon rising for a decapitating shot. Squall ignored him, instead smacking the butt of the Revolver into the staff-wielder's mouth. The man fell back, clutching his blasted mouth (where several teeth were now missing). The sword wielder's weapon sliced in, but Squall was already ducking, the blade passing harmlessly over his head. A flick of Squall's wrist angled the backwards-turned gunblade toward the sword wielder's chest, and Squall spun, thrusting out with his right arm as he did.
The Revolver thrust through the SeeD's stomach, right through the opening he'd left with his cleave.
The man fell away, knowing he was already dead even before Squall tore the bloodstained gunblade free of his stomach. Squall then spun on the stunned staff-wielder, and rushed forward. the man raised his staff in a perfect block of Squall's first cleave, but then Squall applied pressure to the staff, turning it over. The SeeD reacted appropriately, pressing back against the staff as Squall attempted to angle his gunblade in for a thrust or cleave. But then, the staff-wielder was pressing his weapon against nothing, as Squall retracted his gunblade, in a manuever that put the SeeD off-balance. The Revolver jabbed right back in, however, behind the staff as it shot across, blocking a gunblade that wasn't there anymore.
The Revolver took the SeeD's throat, crunching through cartilage and windpipe in a fatal hit.
Squall pulled his weapon free and spun back to the car where ha had bid the rest of AVALANCHE to flee. He ran to the back door and opened it, to see Quistis, Zell, Zone, and Watts standing at or in the door of their car, far behind. Squall raised his hand in salute, glad that the rebels, and Quistis in particular, were safe - their car would stop long before the engine car he was riding impacted with the barrier ahead.
Quistis opened her mouth to say something, but Squall didn't hear it. Instead, he climbed to the top of the train car, a place where he knew his only hope of surviving resided. Wind whipped past him as he reached the roof, and Squall glanced back once more at Quistis' distant form. He waved farwell, and wondered if he'd ever see her again, before running forward along the rooftop.
He could see the barrier ahead, only seconds away, and reached the engine car. His only hope was to reach the front of the engine car and leap clear over the barrier - and then hope that he hit something soft, as just beyond the barrier was a hundred feet of empty air that overlooked what Squall guessed to be Sector Five's slums.
Squall reached the front of the engine car mere seconds before the impact, and leaped with all of his Guardian Force-enhanced strength. He flew over the barrier, and into the empty blackness beyond, into the perpetual night of Midgar's slums.
Squall leaped into darkness, and he knew no more.
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Well, do you like it so far? Its certianly an interesting experiment to write, I think. Of course, one of the central themes in this storyline is "What if?" and to this end I'll be exploring certian aspects of the various characters that we never get to see in the game. The characters' backstories will be modified signifigantly, and therefore the resulting characters may, at times, act drastically different from the way they acted in FFVII and FFVIII. This will be especially true in the next chapter.
As a side note, the name "rante ber gangedug" is the original name for the model of chain whip that Quistis uses. I don't know where it came from, but the whip's name was found in Sowing the SeeDs, by Greenbeans, who did some serious weapon research. I'll often refer to it simply as a rante, as I do in The Gunblade Saga.
Also, to quell some fears: this will not be a Quall. In fact, its important to the story I'm writing that this does not become one. Squall will not fall in love with Quistis, I will guarantee it. In fact...well, you will see aspects of Squall never explored in FFVIII, after all. Same with Zell, Quistis, and everyone else.