Chapter 4

After a short series of running battles, they emerged into the town square, quickly dispersing the small handful of troops that were hanging around by the fountain. As the last man fell Seifer looked around eagerly for more opponents, but there were none left in the immediate vicinity. With a huff, Seifer leaned against a wall, tapping the flat of his gunblade agitatedly against his shoulder.

"Standby…how boring." He complained and the rest of his team exchanged looks.

"Hey, we were just told to free the town square and hold it until the order to withdraw." Zell reminded him and Seifer shot him an irritated look.

"Yes thank you for that oh-so-blatant reminder chicken-wuss."

"Hey, at least they can't fault us. We've done what we were ordered to." Rhia interjected as Zell began to bristle.

"I was expecting something a bit more exciting than this." Seifer complained and Rhia shrugged and walked back to the fountain, taking a seat as Zell began to pace.

Step, step, step…step-step.

Rhia cocked her head at the second sound, barely audible over Zell's movement and she hissed at him to stop, listening intently.

Step-step. There it was again, closer this time and she swivelled around to pinpoint the source of the noise as the others turned to regard her curiously.

"Three men, moving fast." She told them, counting the sound of the footsteps.

"Go check it out." Seifer ordered and Rhia nodded, slipping into the shadow of a nearby alleyway and disappearing from view.

"Hey man, I don't have a good feeling about this." Zell said protestingly. "You sure it's safe to let her go off on her own like that?"

"Oh put a cork in it chicken-wuss. Rhia's a big girl, I'm sure she's more than capable of taking care of herself, and, if she isn't…well…less competition to worry about." Zell just stared at him for a moment, rendered speechless by both Seifer's callous disregard of Rhia's well-being, and by the fact that Seifer saw all of them as nothing more than competition. Squall didn't understand why Zell was so surprised. After all it was Seifer. He wasn't exactly known around Garden for being congenial and considerate of others.

Seifer looked up suddenly, his expression thoughtful as the sound of distant whistling reached his ears. He ran to the mouth of a narrow street, his weapon drawn and poised to strike when Rhia stepped out into the square and looked at him.

"At ease Captain." She told him sarcastically as she went and sat on the edge of the fountain. "Jeez, you're jumpy aren't you?"

"I'm not jumpy, I'm bored." He told her. "Well? Report in girl-scout."

"What's to report? Three men, as I said. Runners. They were planning to travel to this point together and then split up to deliver their messages."

"Were they unarmed?" Squall asked interestedly and Rhia gave him a withering look.

"Squall, this is the Galbadian army we're talking about here. No one in that army goes around unarmed."

"…right."

"So is that it?" Seifer demanded, clearly disappointed. He'd been hoping for something juicier, something that would help to make things more exciting.

"Nope, not at all." Rhia replied smugly. "But because of that girl-scout crack I'm not going to tell you what else I found out."

"Summers! I'm giving you a direct order!" he growled and Rhia pretended to quake.

"Ooh he used my last name, I'm so scared I better do as he says." She responded in a mock-afraid voice. Seifer took a threatening step towards her and she arched an eyebrow at him, waving him to a halt.

"Oh fine, if it's that important to you. The scouts I encountered were on their way to order the rest of the Galbadian troops to withdraw."

"Withdraw! Withdraw where?"

"Up there." Rhia pointed with the tip of her staff to a distant hilltop where a run-down building leaned pathetically against the late afternoon sky.

"There? What's up there?" Seifer asked.

"Well, I stopped to talk to some locals on the way back here and apparently that dilapidated building up there is an old communications tower."

"Communications tower huh? Well, I couldn't care less why they're going up there, all that matters is that that is where the action is. Let's go."

"Um…but we weren't told to leave our post." Zell pointed out and Seifer gave him an amused look. "Fine, you can stay here. I don't need no wusses on my team. Anyone else got any complaints?" Zell looked plaintively at Squall who shrugged and said,

"It will give me a chance to test out my training." Everyone looked at Rhia who just looked at Seifer and also shrugged her shoulders. "Hey I thought we made it clear at the outset that whatever we do, we do as a team. It's your call oh mighty leader, so do what you want so long as you know that if we get pulled up for leaving our post, then it's your responsibility to deal with the consequences."

"The only consequences we're going to have to deal with are the ones that come with being heroes for liberating the tower. Move out!" Seifer proclaimed. The rest of the group exchanged glances before rolling their eyes and falling into line behind Seifer.

0o0o0

The town of Dollet receded far behind the group as they charged across the bridge leading to the tower, killing whatever resistance they met on their way. They had just started climbing the hill when a Dollet soldier crawled across their path, severely wounded. Rhia pushed her way to the front of the group and knelt beside him, looking over his wounds in a detached, precise manner. "These wounds weren't made by any weapon of man." She declared as the soldier was suddenly dragged out of sight and Rhia jumped back, her weapon close to hand. "Uh guys, we'd better be extra careful, I think there's…" A large snake-like thing slithered out of the bushes and glared at them. "…monsters around here." Rhia concluded lamely.

"Excellent. More excitement." Seifer said smugly as he cocked his gunblade. "Well, don't just stand there, let's kill it."

Against the four of them, the thing didn't stand a chance and was quickly dispatched, Seifer charging on ahead as soon as its body hit the ground. Looking rather hard done by, the rest of his team pushed on, all four dropping to a crouch at the summit as they watched Galbadian soldiers walk in and out of the tower.

"We're going in." Seifer told them and Zell immediately looked dubious.

"C'mon man, they probably outnumber us. This is stupid. We shouldn't be here."

"If it bothers you that much chicken-wuss, then stay here and keep a lookout."

"Chicken-wuss! I'll give you chicken-wuss!" Zell hissed at him, throwing a few experimental punches and Seifer smirked.

"What's the matter chicken-wuss? Swatting flies?"

Leaving Zell to steam, Seifer jumped over the cliff and stormed towards the entrance of the tower. Exchanging looks, the rest prepared to follow when…

"Squad C! Squad C wait up!" They all turned as a girl crested the hill, Rhia giving Squall a puzzled look as he groaned audibly, recognising her as the one he'd shown the directory to.

"Selphie-chan slow down!" Another voice called and as the owner of the new voice caught up, Rhia smiled and waved, calling out, "Hey Shadow!"

"Oh hi Rhia! How's it going?" She shrugged and rolled her eyes.

"How about you two? What brings you all the way up here?"

"Looking for you." Selphie answered. "I have a message for your captain. Where is he?" Rhia pointed wordlessly at the tower and Selphie stared at her in disbelief.

"You're kidding."

"Nope. Mr brave-bold-and-stupid thought it would be a great idea to leave our post and liberate the tower. Come on guys, it'll look bad if we just stand around while he does all the work." She took a few steps back to give herself a running start.

"Yo, Rhia, that's like, a sheer cliff!" Zell told her and she shrugged before running forward and jumping, landing neatly at the bottom. Squall just shook his head before following her example and with a heavy sigh, Zell jumped on the bandwagon and rolled to a stop at their feet.

"Hey guys wait up!" Selphie called as she jumped down, Shadow right behind her, a protective gleam in his eye. "We'll come with you."

Nodding, Rhia set off for the tower and led the strange group inside, up the elevator to the top where there was no sign of Seifer, but instead there were two Galbadian soldiers messing with a bunch of wires.

"What are they doing?" Selphie whispered and Rhia shrugged, jumping nearly a mile as the metal beneath their feet hummed with power and, above their heads, the receiving dish of the tower unfolded to its full length, the signal arm sweeping about as it checked for open frequencies. As that occurred, one of the soldiers wandered around the other side of the tower.

"They're…fixing this heap of scrap?" Rhia asked incredulously. "And where the hell is Seifer?"

"Who cares, there are Galbadians here and we need to stop them." Zell whispered back. "You know chicken-wuss, I find myself agreeing with you there."

"CHICKEN-WUSS!" Zell's enraged yell carried to the soldier and he looked up sharply to see the strange group gathered around the elevator.

"Hey Biggs, who are those guys? Biggs? BIGGS!" He covered his head as Squall and Zell charged in and started attacking, both of them backing off as the second soldier ran into the fray. As the seed candidates prepared themselves for another charge, a gust of wind knocked the pair of soldiers off the tower and all five of the students looked up as a sudden shadow blotted out the late-evening sun.

"Uh…what is that?" Squall asked and Rhia gulped.
"THAT, ladies and gentlemen…is an Elvoret. Nasty piece of work."

"Dude, how the hell do you know that?" Zell asked.

"Cos unlike you chicken-wuss, I don't fall asleep in class. If you have any lightning class-spells in your arsenal, I suggest you use them. It's weak to pretty much all magic except wind, so throw whatever you've got at it. And watch out for those wings! They pack a mean punch."

The students spread out around the thing, Squall charging first and slashing with all his might before Zell jumped in with a pretty fantastic looking combo. Selphie cast magic while Shadow lunged in and drove his sword through the monster. Rhia, seeing an opportunity, sent a bolt of lightning travelling down Shadow's sword and into the creature where the wound began to sizzle as it screamed in agony. As Shadow withdrew his sword, Rhia charged in and hit it several times before driving her staff through the same wound Shadow had created and letting off another lightning bolt. It shrieked again and fell back as Selphie, Squall and Zell leapt at it for one final assault.

As the Elvoret's body faded from sight Seifer stepped around a corner, grinning as though he'd just been for a stroll around the block. "Well, well, fancy meeting you guys here." He told them switching his attention to Selphie as she stood in front of him, a serious look on her face. "Who are you?"

"Selphie Tilmitt of Squad B. I'm here to tell you that the order to withdraw has been given and that we're to be back at the boats in 30 minutes."

"Well then," He looked at his team as he flicked the switch on the elevator, "I suggest you guys run." His mocking laughter floated up to them as the elevator descended.

"SEIFER!" Rhia found herself screaming. "Get your ass back here!" he didn't reply and Rhia found herself cursing viciously.

"Hey, Rhia calm down it's not that bad." Shadow told her and she growled.

"Yeah, I mean, he's your leader so it's gonna look pretty bad if he shows up back at the beach without his team." Selphie suggested timidly and Rhia cheered a fraction.

"Yeah, you're right." She said with a small smile as the elevator returned. "Let's get back and watch the fireworks between him and the instructors." The party jumped onto the platform and Rhia pressed the button to take them to the ground floor. As they ran out the doors and up the road, a barely conscious soldier at the foot of the tower pressed commands into a remote control, programming in a new target for the weapon.

Rhia's party halted at the sound of stomping behind them and they turned to see a giant mechanical spider bearing down on them at breakneck speeds. Shadow drew his sword and stepped forward, a strange gleam in his eye. "The rest of you go on, I'll take care of this!" He told them over his shoulder and they all looked dubious, Selphie most of all. "But…Shadow…" she began, only to be silenced by a very direct look.

"I'll be fine, the rest of you get your asses to that boat!" Still looking rather doubtful, the rest began running again and were soon back across the bridge and in the town proper.

Rhia skidded to a halt and looked back over her shoulder, seeming to come to some sort of decision as she hefted her weapon. "I can't leave him to deal with that thing on his own." She told the rest of the party. "You guys keep moving, we'll catch up to you." Squall looked at her for a long time before nodding and gesturing for Zell and Selphie to follow him. After wishing her good luck, they turned and followed Squall towards the beach. Rhia took a deep breath and ran back, praying that she wasn't too late.

0o0o0

CRASH! Rhia ran up just in time to watch the mechanical spider collapse into a heap of lifeless and twisted metal, Shadow turning and smiling when he saw her.

"What are you doing here Rhia?" He asked, still grinning and she shook herself out of her shock in order to answer him. "I came back to…uh…help you." She said and he laughed softly. "Thanks for the concern, but it wasn't necessary."

"Uh…yeah. How did you do that? I mean that thing was…I mean…"

"Galbadian technology, like anything else, has its flaws. If you know where they are, you can exploit them."

"Yes but how did you…?"

"Oh look at the time, we'd better get a move on if we're going to get back to the ships on time." Casting haste spells on both himself and Rhia, Shadow pushed her firmly back towards the bridge, Rhia casting puzzled looks over her shoulder at the remains of the thing that had been chasing them. How had he taken care of that thing so easily? And, for that matter, why had she never seen him around Garden before? When they were back on the boats, Rhia made a mental note to check the student listing to see if she could find him. There was something amiss here and she was going to find out exactly what it was.