Chapter 2: Impend
The elevator leading to the lower levels whirred and rose, and Captain Jorgen of the Ragnarok-class assault airship Raptor knew one of the crewmen down below was coming up. He knew that the crew below would use the intercom if they needed to perform normal communications, so whatever the reason that the crewmember below was using to rise up, it was serious.
The Captain, sitting in the copilot's seat, looked back over his shoulder as the lift rose, and saw, standing on it, was a soldier in white armor, an Estharian regular. The man steppe doff the lift, and the Captain rose from his seat, not disturbing the comms operator, gunner, or pilot.
"What's happening?" he asked, and the soldier saluted. Jorgen frown, confused. While it was acceptable to salute a superior, the man didn't need to do it on the bridge of an airship, especially if matters were pressing.
"Sir, Private Simmons, with urgent new orders."
"Orders?" Jorgen asked, confused again. "Why weren't these orders sent to me?"
"Because they were meant for me alone," Simmons responded. "They asked me to relieve you from command." And with that, Simmons raised a black, silenced pistol, a western-style projectile firearm, and shot the Captain between the eyes twice. Jorgen fell back, and Simmons pivoted, putting two into the comms operator and whirling on the gunner as he rose, grabbing for his sidearm. One bullet punched through the man's chest, and another penetrated his throat. The gunner fell back into his seat, eyes wide in shock and pain, as Simmons put a third shot into his face.
The pilot had required a moment to react, as he needed an instant to switch the ship over to autopilot or risk a fatal crash. He spun out of his seat, grabbing and leveling his sidearm, when Simmons whirled to face the man. A bolt of green energy from the pilot's plasma pistol lanced out and struck Simmons in the chest, but was simply absorbed by a watery shield around the man's body. The pilot's eyes widened as he realized Simmons had personal energy shielding, and then died as the traitor put a shot into his left eye.
Simmons walked over to the dead pilot and casually pulled the corpse from his chair, dropping him into the center of the bridge, and sat down, putting his feet up on the console. The flyer had been kind enough to turn on the autopilot for him, making the next couple of minutes a breeze as Simmons waited for his watch to beep.
Three minutes later, the watch beeped, and Simmons sat forward. He tapped a couple of keys on the pilot's control console, pulling the comms controls over to his station, and typed in an encryption key. He opened the encrypted channel, and sent a single message.
"Operation Impend is go."
This was followed by bringing the controls for the missile launchers also over to his piloting station. Simmons glanced out the left hand window at the escort Ragnarok on the other side of the President's train, and fractionally slowed his speed. He began to drift back, and typed in a targeting solution that locked onto the other Ragnarok-class ship.
"Raptor, you are falling out of formation," a call came in over the comms, and Simmons smiled. He reopened the comms channel a moment later as he caught a light on the operations panel, indicating that the hangar doors were opening up. The other Ragnarok, staying in defensive position over the President's train, was getting ahead of him now. Perfect; he was in an excellent firing position.
"Raptor, respond. Captain Jorgen, what's wrong? You are out of formation."
"Captain Jorgen can't come to the phone right now, he is currently occupied with . . . Being dead!" Simmons answered sweetly over the comms line. In the ensuing confusion on the other end, Simons tapped a key on his holographic display, the light that would trigger the missile launchers. A dozen dull thumps resound through the hull of his ship, and an equal number of glowing, red-streaking missiles erupted from the wings of the Raptor's hidden missile bays, directly toward the other airship.
"So, the battery ran out, right as they were about to kiss," Laguna said, and shook his head, laughing. "Wow. They never told me about that one."
"Selphie actually ran out and shouted 'CUT!' and asked them to do it again for the camera," Zell continued, grinning. "I think Squall was more embarrassed than he'd been in his whole life. I'm not sure what happened after that, but he and Rinoa hightailed it out of the ballroom so we wouldn't film any more of their private moments together."
"I'm glad to hear they're still together," Ellone added, sitting back on the couch. with the exception of Lex, who had gone to the dining car for a drink, Laguna's hired bodyguards were all seated around the President and his adopted daughter as they were talking.
"Oh, yeah," Zell said with a nod. "Its like they're still just getting back from the flower field, all the time. You should have been there, too, when Rinoa pulled him out of time. It was simply amazing. We were all watching it from the orphanage, and then, all of a sudden, whoosh!" Zell stood up, waving his arms in the air. "All the storm clouds just fly away, and Squall and Rinoa are out there in the field, laughing and hugging. Never seen anything like it."
"Reminds me of how Raine and I acted after we got engaged," Laguna said after a moment, a bit wistfully. There were a fe moments of silence in the car, and then Raijin spoke up.
"Hey, I was wondering something," he asked. "I know Fujin's gonna slap me for not payin' attention, but who came up with this whole peace conference thing?" Fujin made as if she was going to strike Raijin, and her brother recoiled for a moment. However, she didn't follow through, and after a second, Raijin laughed nervously.
"Actually, believe it or not, the Headmaster of Galbadia Garden first suggested we meet at Fisherman's Horizon,' Laguna explained. "He sent a general message out to everyone involved, asking about the potential to get our leaders together to deal with pressing international problems like extremist terrorists in Galbadia and the monster problem here in Esthar. There was some squabbling between Galbadia and Dollet over how much territory Dollet was going to get back in the agreements made two years ago. The representatives in Timber need to discuss their independence as well. There's a thousand other little issues that need to be talked about. We really haven't had time to discuss things over the last few years, and I think its great that we finally agreed to meet like this."
"Yeah, though it might make work for people like us harder, ya know?" Raijin added, and Laguna laughed.
"Trust me, there'll always be a need for people like you guys," Laguna responded, looking to his hired bodyguards.
Any response was cut off as a shudder ran through the train, accompanied by a tremendous roar above the train. An instant later, there were a hundred pings on the outside of the train's hull, as if it were being rained by shards of metal. Fujin whirled and slapped a button on the wall.
"REPORT!" she shouted.
"Ma'am, airship Razor was just fired upon by the Raptor!" came the response over the intercom from the engine car. "We don't-" The next words were cut off by the sounds of explosions and glass shattering, and sudden screams and the whine of plasma weapons' fire.
An instant later, the windows around the Presidential car exploded inward, hurling a thousand shards of glass around the interior of the car. Everyone ducked and shielded their eyes with their arms as a quintet of black-clad figures swept down from the outside roof of the car and into the room. They were equipped with jet-black body armor, and were outfitted like Estharian soldiers, but without helmets, which were replaced by visors over their eyes and shaved heads with barcodes running along their necks. Bulbous implants were attached to their necks and running down into their armor, and from behind the tinted visors their eyes glowed an ominous blue. They brandished plasma rifles and shotaxes and moved to the attack the moment their feet touched the floor.
However, that instant between the report and this sudden assault was all a SeeD-trained warrior needed to react. The instant between the attack and their enemies' touching down was all the SeeD-trained warriors needed to set their defenses. And the instant the cyborg commandos needed to move to the attack was all the SeeD-trained warriors needed to retaliate.
In less than a second, Zell spun towards his nearest foe, roaring a battle-cry as he sent a blindingly fats cross into his target's head, a smash that sent the cyborg spinning to the floor, visor shattered. Its neck was twisted at a very unhealthy angle, and its reinforced skull was blasted inward, its face crushed under the blow.
In an instant, Argus snapped up his rifle and sent a three-round-burst into the throat and mouth of a cyborg directly in front of him, snapping the commando's head back and sending it to the ground, dead instantly.
In a moment, Fujin yanked a chakram off her belt and sent it spinning into the throat of a third cyborg, severing its head with a flick of her wrist. The weapon imbedded itself in the far wall, and the head rolled away as the cyborg toppled to the floor.
And in the twinkling of an eye, Raijin snapped both hands up and stopped two rushing cyborgs cold, closing his meaty hands around their throats. With a single tremendous heave, he spun and hurled both of them out the window they'd come in from, past the train and into the sea far beyond and below.
Laguna, who had been reaching for his sidearm in the desk beside one of the couches, was momentarily shocked at the incredibly fast response that had just occurred. He numbly grabbed the weapon, a heavy .50 magnum, and turned around, amazed to see three instant corpses and four bodyguards, all on instant alert. Argus was already shielding Ellone, while Fujin, Raijin, and Zell were moving toward the doors. It took Laguna a second to realize what he heard outside, and he quickly flicked the safety off the handgun.
"What the hell's going on?" he shouted as he heard the sounds of screams, gunfire, and the clashing of metal through both doorways.
"An attack on the train!" Zell and Raijin said at the same time.
"ASSASSINS," Fujin stated.
"Get Security!" Laguna ordered, but an instant later one of the doors flew open. Raijin and Fujin moved to attack, but stood down as two men in the blue robes of Presidential Escort agentsrushed in, both wielding plasma pistols and one with burn marks on his robe.
"Mr. President!" one shouted. "We're under attack! They're in all the cars, the entire train!" Plasma exploded and flared off the doorway behind the two agents, and everyone inside the train ducked out of the line of fire. Beyond the two men, there were a dozen soldiers and agents trading fire in the car ahead with the black-clad invaders.
"SAFETY!" Fujin ordered quickly.
"Where?" Argus asked, covering his doorway. "Where do we go?"
"Engine car," Laguna quickly ordered, and Zell nodded immediately.
"Get to the front, detach the rear cars, and hightail it to FH," Zell said.
"Engine car also has radios," Laguna added. "We can call for help from Esthar, Garden, Ragnarok-"
"Incoming!" came a shout from one of the agents inside the car, and two more black-clad figures dropped in through the windows, brandishing blades. A chakram and three bolts of plasma cut one down while a stream of hot metal and several devastating slugs from Zell and Raijin dropped the other into a twisted heap. As they fell, the door to the rear car flew open, and a pair of soldiers, one bleeding badly from a slash across his chest, stumble in.
"Sir, they've breached the rear cars," one shouted urgently. "They're moving up fast!"
"How many?" Laguna demanded, and the soldier who spoke shook his head.
"Two dozen, maybe more."
"Same numbers up ahead," added one of the agents quickly. "Sir, we have to get you to safety!"
"I'm not leaving my people if I can!" Laguna replied. "I've got aides and soldiers in the rear cars, and we can't abandon them."
"I'll go get them!" Zell quickly volunteered. Argus nodded.
"I'm with you, Zell," the other SeeD said. Zell nodded toward Fujin and Raijin.
"You guys keep the President safe and get him to the front. We'll evac the survivors in the rear cars, and then cut the couplings!" Raijin and Fujin nodded, and then the two SeeDs turned. The wounded soldiers quickly joined them, surprisingly, as they moved to the rear door.
"Our squad is back there," the other soldier muttered. "We're not leaving our brothers behind."
"Damn straight," Zell said with a grim nod, and they burst through the rear doors, moving to the back of the train. As they did so, Laguna moved to one of the walls of the car and waved a hand over it. A panel slid up, revealing a rack of four blue, claw-like rifles, their front-ends glowing. He removed two of them and tossed them to his agents, and grabbed a third. Then, to his surprise, Ellone moved between Laguna and the wall and grabbed the fourth one.
"Elle," Laguna began to protest, but she quickly shook her head.
"No time," she replied, hefting the rifle. She'd taken self-defense courses after what had happened to her three years ago, and she was a fine shot, trained by Laguna himself. She could hold her own, but she had never been in a real firefight before . . . .
There wasn't time. Laguna heard a man in the car beyond die at the end of a plasma bolt, a scream of pain as energy sizzled into him, and he turned back toward his guards.
"Move, move!" he shouted, and Raijin whirled, Fujin throwing a defensive spell over him, creating a multicolored barrier over her brother, who rushed through the doorway and toward the next car, the others following him into the fray, driving into the middle of the hellish maelstrom the unknown assassins had suddenly brought to bear.
The attack was underway, and Simmons sat back in his chair, feet propped up, watching the explosions below. His fifty-cyborg-strong force had rappelled down from the open hangar doors of his ship and onto the roof of the train as he had been pummeling the Razor with Estharian Pyromancer missiles, the anti-air projectiles ripping apart the loyalist ship. It wasn't destroyed, he knew, but was rapidly falling back, its engines burning from the impact of the missiles, and soon it would crash. It had already fallen below and behind his ship as he sat there, whistling a tune and watching his men go to work.
"Simmons," a cool, yet demanding, female voice suddenly cut in over the comm, and Simmons sat forward, abruptly alert and at attention. "Status?"
"Oh, yeah, uh," Simmons responded, swallowing. He hated talking with Illarra. He glanced down at the screen he had quickly brought up on the airship's computer display panel, showing the image from the sensors. Within the train there were hundreds of flares of heat and flying plasma, and over a hundred bodies entangled in a vicious battle all across the vehicle.
"Well, the team is down and has started the assault," Simmons reported. "They're doing pretty well. No reports yet on whether they've gotten the package . . . But two of the delivery boys are reporting that their own packages are delivered. That noisy fly was swatted out of the sky, too, andwe took outtheir comms so they can't call for help. The President's all alone out here. No one can save him now."
"Make sure we have the package we need from the train. Its more important than killing President Loire. Emphasize this to your men." Simmons frowned at the force and aggression in that order.
"Don't worry, I've already told them. These guys are pros. Your dad picked 'em properly. They've got everything under control."
"They had better," Illarra snarled on the other end, and Simmons' blood ran cold as he heard her tone. "Otherwise I'll mount your head on the front of our new airship. Ensure the package is seized." Simmons opened his mouth to reply, but the line was cut off instantly. He settled back into his seat, and then managed a chuckle. Dealing with Illarra was always like that. Damn murder-crazed fanatics . . .
Simmons glanced back at the sensors, and shook his head. The situation was well in hand. Fifty elite commando cyborgs against an equal number of regular human soldiers and Presidential Escort agents, and a few hired bodyguards. Half of the defenders were already dead, cut down in the first few moments. They had the advantage of surprise, and zero chance for reinforcements with the comms out and the other airship shot down. This battle would be over in minutes.
With that in mind, Simons sat back into his chair again, and relaxed. Easy money.
The shotaxe shot forward in an overhead cleave, arcing at Lex's head. The SeeD hopped a step back, watching his opponent, waiting. He gripped his katana's handle in his right hand, and the sheath in his left, held close to his waist. The cyborg assaulting him retracted the slashing blade swiftly, with the mechanical precision and strength that marked its type, and came in again with an arcing chop at the SeeD's face. Lex dropped below the cut easily, and saw an opening in that moment.
Now!
His hand closed tightly around the handle of his katana, and, in the blink of an eye, the weapon shot out, flashing across in front of him. The cyborg, retracting its arms for another chop, instantly toppled to the floor, a single clean cut bisecting it at the waist. In an instant, Lex had spun, taking in the rest of the car as he smoothly returned his sword to its sheath.
As he had squared off against his opponent, the rest of the soldiers and Presidential Escort agents were engaging in combat with the cyborg commandos that had suddenly burst in through the windows. Acrid smoke filled the air as plasma ripped back and forth across to dining car. A dozen corpses lay on the floor as men shouted and fought, and Lex heard a man scream as a cyborg cut him down.
At least here the soldiers were putting up a decent fight, Lex realized as he turned to face another cyborg. He ducked down behind one of the tables, kicking it over and hearing the sizzle of plasma biting into the wood before him. Lex had seen something moving near the window, and had spotted the stun grenades they were using to detonate the windows, and had managed to shout a warning a second before the glass had shattered and the assault had begun. Moving fast, Lex darted around the table and leapt at his attacker. The cyborg spun, tracking the SeeD as he neared one of the walls and jumped up, his sheer speed and strength letting him hit the wall with enough momentum to run along it for a few steps before he kicked off. The SeeD flipped off the wall and landed beside the cyborg as it turned, and his katana flashed out, severing the commando's head.
Lex skittered to the side, ducking behind another table as return fore chased him. The surviving soldiers and agents, a half-dozen men against an equal number of cyborgs, rapidly traded fire with the enemy from behind whatever cover they could find. Lex started to move out, but plasma sizzled past the SeeD, and he ducked back. More fire struck around him, and he knew he was pinned down. They didn't have time to stay here, because sooner or later the enemy would overwhelm other cars less fortunate than this one and join this battle. The few civilians in this vehicle were already dead, brutally massacred, and Lex knew they could expect no mercy from their enemies. He clenched his fist and focused, calling up magical energies from within him.
Then, as Lex was preparing to step out and unleash bolts of energy, the door leading toward the rear of the train burst open. A projectile flew past, what looked like an arrow, and it dug into a cyborg's shoulder. An instant later, an explosion, like a low-powered grenade, sounded from the struck target, and the cyborg's arm was blasted off, sending the commando spinning to the floor.
A stream of blazing plasma cut past Lex and struck down another cyborg as a force of several soldiers and Escort agents rushed in, many bleeding from wounds or with uniforms blackened by plasma burns. A huge, burly form blasted through the opening, rushing straight toward the standing commandos, swinging a heavy bo staff. Plasma struck him, but bounced off a defensive shield cast before the huge man.
Raijin crashed into one of the cyborgs, smashing his staff down atop its head and crushing the commando to the floor. He whirled, striking out with the staff, and the weapon impacted with another of the enemy commandos, launching it off its feet and hurling it to impact hard against one of the train walls. A chakram whipped past the huge warrior, aimed at a cyborgs head, but the commando raised its weapon and deflected the spinning disc aside. However, in the instant Lex had been bought, he had dashed forward, katana leaping from his sheath in another iaido strike. The cybernetic commando was bisected from left hip to right shoulder.
Plasma fire ripped across the room, striking down those cyborgs still standing, sending them hard to the deck with sizzling, molten skin, and just like that, the brief battle for this car was over.
"President!" Lex said quickly as he spotted Laguna Loire among the reinforcements, wielding a smoking plasma rifle. Beside him was Ellone, her face full of the fear, shock, and exhilaration of a person who had just survived their first firefight. "Sir, we have to-"
"We're moving forward!" Laguna quickly ordered his en and guards. In the train. "We have to secure the engine car and call for help!"
"What about Zell and Argus?" Lex asked as Fujin and Raijin rushed to the other end of the car, covering the doorway.
"They're evacuating the rest of my staff from the rear cars," Laguna said quickly. "We have to get to the front so we can detach the rear cars and call for help!"
Lex nodded, and spun toward the other door. As he came around, the door flew open, and two soldiers rushed in, chased by plasma fire. One man was cut down by a trio of shots to his back, and black clad-commandos rushed into the train car, weapons blazing as they spotted the surviving soldiers, SeeDs, and bodyguards. Laguna answered the assault with a barrage of fiery plasma, and the battle began anew.
The two shotaxes clashed, the Estharian soldier grunting as he felt his weapon stopped cold in its cleave, blade caught against that of his foe's. The commando pushed back, easily pushing the soldier's weapon back, and snapped its other hand across into a backhand that connected solidly with the soldier's faceplate. The man was hurled back off his feet, weapon clattering to the side, and the commando darted forward, raising its axe for a brutal finishing chop.
That axe never descended, however, and the commando was hurled off its feet as a bolt of fiery magic ripped into its side. The commando stumbled away, disoriented by the attack, and then went down under a leaping, roaring SeeD who crashed into it, taking it down and beating on with bare hands, crushing the commando within moments. Zell rose off the dead cyborg and quickly rushed across the train car.
This car was a passenger car, a wide open area filled with rows seats and narrow aisles. There had been about thirty people in this car, mostly aides and civilians, and many of them had never gotten a chance to get out of their seats before the dozen cyborgs that had burst in had brutally slaughtered them. The only humans left alive in this car were a few soldiers who must have retreated from the cars further back, as a small army of nearly two dozen of the cybernetic soldiers were fighting half that many soldiers and bodyguards in this car.
Argus helped the wounded soldier stand up as several more soldiers rushed past, the survivors of the car ahead who Zell and Argus had managed to save. The soldier grabbed his shot axe and turned back toward the battle.
"Is anyone else still alive in the rear cars?" he asked the soldier, and the man shook his head.
"They overran the last two cars. Mostly baggage anyway, we didn't have many men back there," the man replied, and the two of them opened fire, blasting into a cyborg that had separated itself from the melee. Between the two, they quickly dispatched the commando.
Ahead, Zell had dove directly into the melee, fists flying and feet impacting viciously as he engaged his foes in close quarters battle. He caught a slashing axe and twisted it aside by its haft, while planting a side kick into another cyborgs gut that hurled it across the car. He spun back toward the commando whose attack he had deflected, and sent a right jab into its chest, crumpling armor and blasting it about fifteen feet away, to crunch against the train wall. Another axe chopped at the brawler's face, but he leaned back hard, and as the axe flew past, Zell shot forward into a snapping forward kick that shattered the cyborg's faceplate and sent it flipping end-over-end across the car.
"Fall back!" Zell quickly ordered the surviving soldiers as he dropped low beneath an arcing slash, and came up with a jaw-shattering uppercut that broke his target's neck from the sheer power behind it. "There's too many! Fall back to the President's car! We're evacuating!"
The soldiers and agents were well-trained, and they knew when to follow orders, especially in this kind of situation. The Estharians moved backward, pouring plasma fire at the cyborgs in concentrated barrages of covering fire. The black-clad commandos ducked behind whatever cover the y could, while Zell continued to beat back the enemy as a rear guard. He, too, retreated as he fought, crushing any commandos that got near him. The surviving soldiers and bodyguards retreated out the door at the end of the car, eventually leaving just Zell and Argus covering the entrance.
"Cover me!" Zell ordered, and stepped out the door, standing in the open air between the two trains. Argus poured fire from his assault rifle out at the cyborgs, who quickly took cover, but rapidly advanced nonetheless. Argus heard the rush of ice magic being cast behind him as nailed one with a burst to the head, and then heard Zell shout something. The train cars shuddered from an impact, and Argus was then grabbed by Zell and yanked back into the car they were retreating to. The cyborgs rushed forward, but were swiftly left behind as the two cars separated, Zell having frozen and then shattered the coupling between the two vehicles with his monumental strength.
"Taken care of!" Zell muttered with a grin as the car quickly fell away, leaving overhalf of the enemy force behind.
"We're down to thirty percent power!" shouted the co-pilot, Lieutenant Evans, and Captain Reynolds of the Estharian Ragnarok-class assault ship Razor cursed.
"Antigrav system still operating?" he asked, and Evans nodded.
"Aye, sir!"
"Siphon off some of that power, feed it into our engines. Guns, how are we looking?" Reynolds struggled with the controls in his hands as he watched the ocean rising up, and the train ahead with the President onboard being assaulted by black-clad commandos.
"Main beam cannon is offline!" responded Lieutenant Hikaru, at the weapons station. "Pyromancers are offline as well, the missile strike took out the pods. But both forward-firing cannons are operational!"
Reynolds didn't say anything to his comms officer, who was slumped in his chair. The Pyromancer missiles unleashed electromagnetic pulses as well as explosive blasts on impact; the treacherous attack had sent electrical shorts throughout the system, and had overloaded several consoles in the airship. The comms console had exploded in the man's face, killing him instantly.
One more reason why Captain Reynolds was pissed.
"Guns, get me a targeting solution on that bastard," Reynolds muttered as he slowly pulled up on his controls. "Feed all nonessential power into the engines. We'll need it."
The airship began a gradual rise, and as more energy was redirected into the damaged engines, reallocating the limited power from the badly damaged reactor. Slowly, Reynolds brought his wounded warship to bear on the treacherous Raptor. Captain Jorgen was dead, and likely any other loyal crew on the ship as well. It had been captured by the enemy, whoever they were, and was threatening his President.
"Targeting solution acquired," Hikaru said, a degree of vengeful anticipation in her voice.
"Blast that son of a bitch out of the sky."
The next car had been being used as a meeting room for the diplomats who had been riding with Laguna to aid him in he negotiations. Now it was a war zone. As with the previous rooms, the commandos had burst in and killed everything in their path; none of the civilians in the room were still standing, blood pooling across the rich carpet floor. The cyborg intruders were thick in this room, with no surviving Estharian troops fighting them, but that did little to deter Raijin and Lex as they dove into the middle of the fray. Raijin beat two of his foes aside while Lex singled out a single cyborg and cut him down in the blink of an eye. Laguna was right behind them, leading the way asover adozen wounded and battered, but vengeful, soldiers and bodyguards followed after him. Ellone brought up the rear, clutching her rifle tightly in shaking hands. The battle was flying past far faster than she'd expected it to, and even her training in self-defense and marksmanship wasn't enough to prepare her for the brutality of this vicious attack.
A man beside her went spinning to the floor, his face melted by a well-placed shot of plasma, and she ducked down low, firing blindly in the general direction of her opponents. She quickly moved to the side, behind another overturned table, the sounds of shouting, screaming and sizzling fire almost overwhelming her, until a hand hit her shoulder. She glanced up and saw Laguna, who gave her a quick nod. She nodded back, receiving all the support she would need from him at that moment.
"Follow my lead," he told her, and she nodded. He rolled around the side of the table, firing a stream of plasma at a target, and she did the same, right beside him, aiming at the same enemy. Two bolts from her rifle struck the cyborg in the chest as it tried to evade Laguna's fire, and threw it down to the floor, where it lay still.
A bolt struck the table right by her face, however, and Ellone quickly ducked back. As soon as she was behind cover, though, several cyborgs opened fire, plasma striking all around Laguna as he ducked as well.
"Popular today, aren't we?" he muttered, and she nodded. They heard the sound of boots hitting the floor on the other side of the table, and then a close discharge of plasma. A soldier screamed and flopped to the floor beside them, and Laguna spun around, rising up. On the other side of the table as another cyborg, having leapt across the distance and closing in on the two humans crouching behind the table. It leveled its rifle at Laguna, who squeezed off a quick burst, which took the commando in its chest and staggered it. An arrow lodged in the cyborgs head, and then the thing exploded, launching bits of bone and electronics everywhere. Laguna ducked back behind the table, and turned toward Fujin, who was stringing another arrow into her bow, and sent her a wave of thanks. She nodded.
Another cyborg, and then another, and then a third, leapt across the distance between the Estharians and their foes, closing in and fighting at close range. Another landed beside the table where Laguna and Ellone were crouching, and whiled to face them. The President rose, raising his rifle, and aimed it at the commando's head.
The cyborg snapped a hand down to its belt, and flicked something out at the floor, a flattened cylindrical object. There was a brilliant explosion of light from the flash grenade, and Laguna's vision went white as the illumination overwhelmed his eyes. Panicking for a moment, the President fired blindly straight ahead, plasma erupting from his rifle, and he heard the cyborg's metal skin sizzle from the superheated gas. This was followed by the thunk of it toppling to the floor, its weaponfollowing an instant later.
Chaotic sounds surrounded Laguna as he stumbled back, jerking his head around as he tried to shake off the disorienting effect of the grenade. He heard a shout directly a head, and a plasma bolt sizzled by his skull, too close for comfort. Raijin's meaty fist crashed into something, and he heard the rustle of wind magic, accompanied by several impacts. Shouts from the agents and soldiers around Laguna, more energy blasts, a death cry, and the crash and screech of metal on metal assaulted Laguna's ears.
Then, a sound cut in that startled and terrified Laguna Loire. There was a grunt, and then a sudden cry of shock and fear from Laguna's left, where Ellone had been standing.
"Laguna!" Ellone's voice shouted. "Help!" The President spun in that direction, his eyesight now only showing dim outlines, and pointed his rifle, uncertain as to where her attacker was coming from. Laguna perceived a swish of a blade cutting through the air, and another cyborg dropped dead to the floor, likely from Lex's katana.
"Ellone!" Laguna shouted, and he heard Raijin roar something, and his massive outline flew in front of Laguna's line of sight. The President was knocked down as another shape, moving lightning-fast, darted toward him, swinging a weapon that just barely missed his head as he fell. Raijin's figure caught that attacker, which was quickly followed by a sickening crunch and snap of bone and rent metal. Somewhere in his mind, Laguna created the image of Raijin simply snapping the commando's backbone, folding it neatly back over itself.
He heard Ellone scream his name again, and Laguna began to rise to his feet, hi vision returning. He raised his rifle, scanning the dim car for Ellone or her attacker, but saw nothing as he looked around.
"Hey, where are they going?" asked Lex suddenly, and Laguna realized that the cyborgs were in fact retreating, rushing toward the windows and climbing out of them, only a few remaining behind to cover their departure, of whom only a couple escaped as Fujin, Raijin, and Lex quickly cut them down.
"Ellone, where's Ellone?" Laguna demanded, looking around the car. His adopted daughter was nowhere to be found.
Simmons was about to dance with glee. They had it! The package was secured, and the troops were falling back. He'd already fallen back to the detached train cars and had picked up seventeen surviving commandos from them, and was moving up to the forward cars. He settled in over the train, and waited for the troops inside the hangar bay to lower the drop lines to the commandos so they could get back up with their secured package in hand. Idly, Simmons activated the beam cannon, powering it up. Once the men were secured, he'd move on to the final phase, and eliminate the President himself.
"Bringing the package in now," came the icy, emotionless statement over the comm, from the leader of the cyborg unit. Simmons watched in joy as the package was quickly brought onboard, and secured. The rest of the commandos started up-
And Simmons jerked in shock and confusion as his hull rattled with dozens of small explosions. Something detonated in the rear of his ship, and it took a second for Simmons to recover from the shock of the attack. He glanced at his rear sensors.
"Son of a bitch!" he shouted. The other airship that he had shot down hadn't actually been shot down, and was quickly closing in, flames escaping from its engines as it fired its forward machineguns at the Raptor. Hull plates buckled in the rear compartments of his airship as the heavy rounds tore into hiscraft.
"Get your asses up here!" Simmons ordered his commando team as they scrambled up the drop lines. A second volley of fire impacted the rear of Simmons' ship, and something exploded in the rear, throwing him off-course. Several commandos, still clutching the drop lines, were flung off and into the sea.
"Asshole!" Simmons shouted at the surviving airship, and he worked frantically over the control panel for his airship, juggling a dozen different functions in one screen at the same time. He brought his ship around, arming the forward guns, and came about to face the enemy airship, which suddenly rocketed past his vehicle. Simmons cursed and swung around, his ship moving clumsily due to the sheer number of things he had to handle at the same time. He was a mercenary, not an airship pilot, dammit!
The damaged Razor was coming around, aiming toward his ship as he came to face them, engines burning brightly from the dozens of ruptures in its hull. Simmons quickly gauged how fast it was moving. He had severely damaged the ship, and it wouldn't take a lot of abuse to critically damage the aircraft. But they likely had a full crew on the bridge, and he was just one man. They would have a speed and reaction advantage over him, even with the damaged ship.
Simmons glanced down at his beam cannon gauge, and grinned. They may have a speed advantage, but his ship was still intact and with heavy firepower, which more than evened the match-up. He settled his crosshairs over the wounded airship and fired.
His ship shook as the cannons opened up, launching blazing hot metallic death at his foes. Simmons grinned as the bullets smashed into the enemy ship, which quickly veered off course as the two craft neared. As they passed, the Razor as somehow able to pivot partially and fire off a burst of shots into the hull of Simmons' ship, blasting off a chunk of armor and generally pissing the mercenary off.
"Oh, you bastards, that is it." He quickly tapped in commands and brought the ship around, switching over to the beam cannon. His airship rotated clumsily. Bringing the cannon to bear on the retreating enemy Ragnarok as it came about. He settled his targeting brackets just ahead of the wounded craft as it turned, and fired the heavy cannon. A massive pulse of light lanced out at the turning airship, which suddenly managed to stop and drop just below the bolt of destructive energy. The blast ripped past the bridge, missing by less that ten or fifteen feet, and the wounded airship accelerated, finishing its turn.
"No, no, no!" Simmons complained, and he jabbed the firing controls for the machineguns, momentarily forgetting about maneuvering. The other airship poured fire onto his craft, hammering it with hundreds of heavy rounds as he opened up. Return fire streaked across the gap between the two ships, but the Razor skittered to the side despite its wounds, managing to avoid the brunt of the damage as it flew past Simmons' ship. Three rounds collided with the canopy covering the bridge, and Simmons jerked reflexively as he heard the transparisteel crack under the impacts, but the canopy remained intact somehow.
Simmons snarled and turned, bringing his airship around. Those bastards were not getting away after this insult.
"Okay, where's the speed control on this thing?" Lex asked, hunched over one of the control panels for the train.
"Not sure, never learned Estharian," Zell replied with a shake of his head. Behind him, about a dozen men, the few survivors of the battle for the train, along with Argus, Fujin, and Raijin, were covering the entrance to the engine car, in case the enemy came back. Laguna clutched his rifle, but looked like he was on the verge of panic. Zell wasn't too calm either, both of them tremendously concerned for Ellone after her unexpected disappearance.
"None of the engineers survived," Argus commented, shaking his head as well. "That other airship is still out there-" His comment was cut off by more thundering explosions outside the train as the two airships outside exchanged fire.
"Try the comm," Raijin suggested, and Argus nodded. He stepped over to the panel that looked like the comms board, and tapped a holographic control. There was a pop from a speaker on the wall, then a burst of static, followed by a terse voice.
"Maintain fire!" came an order. "Take those traitors down!"
"Razor, is that you?" Laguna quickly asked, and they heard an impact on the other end of the radio, as something smashed into the craft on the other end."
Mr. President, is that you, sir?" asked the commanding voice on the other end.
"Yes, Captain," Laguna responded quickly. "Captain, we've retaken the train, though we lost a lot of people." Laguna paused for a moment, taking a breath, obviously still wracked by Ellone's disappearance. In that moment, the Captain of the Razor spoke again.
"Yes, sir, we saw the retreat," he explained. "They pulled most of the enemy off the train before we fired. We think . . . Hold on, brace yourselves, evasive maneuvers!" he explained. There was a shuddering explosion from the other side, coinciding with one directly over the top of the train car.
"Damage report! . . . Dammit! Top portside is completely gone? Evans, compensate those engines. Lieutenant, prepare to fire!"
"Captain, can you destroy the enemy ship?" Laguna asked.
"We're trying not to,"the Captain admitted. "Lieutenant Hikaru spotted the intruders dragging someone from the train onto their ship, so we're trying to disable the Raptor. Hold on, coming around! Fire, fire!"
More thunder blasts sounded overhead, with a second set of gunshots interweaving among the first set. Laguna remained frozen at the console at hearing the words.
"CAPTIVE?" Fujin asked, and Laguna nodded, horror appearing on his face.
"They kidnapped Ellone," Laguna muttered, shaking his head. "They kidnapped Ellone and tried to kill me. But why?""
Aw, yeah, right up the ass!"the Captain of the Razor cut in, cheering "Knocked out their starboard engines! That'll slow 'em down for sure!"
"NO TIME," Fujin hissed. "ESCAPE."
"Fuu's right, ya know?" Raijin quickly cut in. "We got a chance now, we can save thinking for later. Let's pull out while we can!"
"Right," Laguna said, and took another breath. "Captain, can you come around over our car and pick us up?"
"Affirmative, sir," the Captain replied quickly. "We've gotten a couple of moments from damaging that traitor's ship. We're coming around now, you'll need to climb up top so we can lower the drop lines and pick everyone off the roof."
"Roger that," Laguna replied. "Let's move!" The President raised his rifle, and gestured toward the engine car's windows, which the survivors quickly moved to open. He clutched his weapon tightly, promising himself that he would find out why these terrorists had kidnapped his daughter, and that he would do whatever it took to save Ellone.
"Fucking bastards!" Simmons cursed, and struggled to bring his ship around. He kept an eye on the navigational and engineering monitors, which were showing the steady shift of power from the disable engines to the intact ones, which was slowly evening out his flight. He had automated the task, not wanting to do it himself when he had to fight, but that was slowing down his recovery. As he came about, the beam cannon charged up, and he watched his sensors. The Razor was moving directly over the train's engine car, and as Simmons brought the Raptor to bear, he saw why.
"Running, are you, Loire?" muttered the mercenary, grinning. He could see the survivors climbing onto the rooftop of the intact engine car, and some scrambling up drop lines lowered from the Razor's hangar bay. He settled his crosshairs over the train itself, but quickly worked up a targeting solution for the damaged airship with his cannon. One fell swoop would destroy both the train and the airship, sealing the fate of the stubborn President of Esthar.
"Can't pull out," Simmons said darkly, grin widening. "Won't abandon your President to die like the dog he is, and thus, you die, too, you annoying little fly." Simmons came within firing range, his crosshairs going red, and jabbed the firing controls. His machineguns opened fire, and hundreds of heavy slugs ripped out at the shortened train, starting from the rear car. Bullets tore into it, blasting it apart within moments, and he moved the crosshairs up, blasting into the next car. No one could have survived that barrage, he knew. Simmons understood that only a few seconds remained between now and the destruction of the engine car as he moved his crosshair higher. That knowledge gave the mercenary some pleasure, as he knew that the survivors would realize the same thing, and understand their helplessness as death swept up the train.
The train car two compartments back from the engine car exploded under Simmons' assault, and he raised the crosshairs higher, preparing to sweep them over the engine car, when there was an explosion in the sky directly behind the Razor. A roiling ball of flame appeared, and out of it came a great arm, burned and blackened, followed by a massive, hulking creature with glowing yellow eyes, flaming red hair, and burnt skin, black horns curving over its head and toward its back.
The creature shifted its gaze over Simmons, seeming to look directly at the mercenary with its shining golden eyes, and fires erupted down the length of its body. The flaming aura sheathed the creature in a blazing inferno, and then, without warning, it jetted forward, raising its hands in a pyrotechnical display of a raw elemental firestorm that raged around the creature's body. An instant before it slammed into the prow of the Raptor, Simmons knew what this thing was.
"Shit!" he cried as his ship was engulfed in the raw flames that boiled the hull t the bow of his ship. "Guardian Force!" The airship was knocked out of line by the impact, pushed violently to the left and upward, rocked back by the incredible power of the Guardian Force summon. Those damned, meddling, SeeD . . . bastards!
"You are so fucking dead." Simmons snarled, and he brought his airship back around. He watched as the computer updated the targeting solution for the beam cannon, and as he brought the weapon to bear, he received a solid tone, indicating it was locked on. Simmons let out a howl of victory and slammed the holo-panel, sending the bolt of raw destruction lancing out at the train.
"Go, go, go!" Laguna ordered from the rooftop of the train as the last of his bodyguards rushed up the drop lines. He had ordered his men, as well as the SeeDs and his bodyguards, to go up first. Beside him, Zell was watching the other airship, gauging how much damage he had done with his Ifrit summon. The enemy airship looked badly damaged, but not destroyed, and as it came around, the SeeD saw a telltale flash of light from the beam cannon.
"Oh, shit, he's firing!" Zell warned, and he spun toward the drop line as it cleared, the soldier on it climbing up. He reached out and grabbed it, spinning around and reaching an arm out to Laguna. The president leapt at Zell, arms stretching out as the bolt of coherent light slammed into the rear of the engine car, filling it with a brilliant flash of light that seared Zell's eyes. He felt something hit his hand and clenched it tightly as a shockwave of force buffeted the SeeD. An instant later, intense heat and a dozen minor pains sounded across his body as shrapnel dug in, and then Zell's feet left solid the surface, flying out into the open air. He clutched the rope and the other thing in his hand tightly as his ears popped from the raw explosion that had occurred just beneath his feet.
Finally, after several moments, Zell opened his eyes, and saw himself hanging out in the open over the gray sea. Below him, his hands clutching the front of his shirt, was Laguna, looking ragged but very alive. The President reached up desperately, grabbing at Zell's arm, the fingers of which tightened even further, pulling Laguna up closer. He reached out and grabbed the drop line, holding it tightly, as the line began to be winched up. A few moments later, a dozen hands helped the two climb up into the open hangar bay of the Razor.
"Holy crap, Zell, that was close," Lex commented as the two stood in the hangar, which was filled with debris and several bodies of fallen crewmen killed in the missile attack. "For a second we thought the explosion got you both."
"Not today," Laguna replied firmly. "Let's get to that bridge, now,." He and Zell, along with Zell's SeeD comrades and Fujin and Raijin, moved up through the damaged corridors of the airship and up to the bridge, rising within moments into the battered control center. The pilot, the Captain of the airship, turned his head back to the President as he came onto the bridge.
"Sir, welcome aboard," the Captain said with a slight smile.
"Where's the other ship?" Laguna asked, and was answered by a series of explosions along the rear of the damaged craft.
"On our asses, sir!" the Captain replied, and threw the ship into a dive. Everyone standing on the bridge grabbed at something, stabilizing themselves in the aggressive evasive maneuver.
"Sorry for the rough handling," the pilot said quickly. "Evans, how far is that island you spotted?"
"Less than two miles, sir," replied the copilot. "We'll be over it within thirty seconds."
"What's the plan?" Zell asked, and the copilot nodded toward a holographic display, showing a large, thickly forested island about fifteen miles across.
"Lose pursuit for a second, land there, ditch the ship, and hide until rescue," Evans explained.
"Trick is losing that bastard," muttered the weapons officer. "Sir, give me an opening to fire and I can get him off our tail!"
"He isn't giving us one," the Captain replied, and the ship shook again from more gunfire. "Shit! Losing power to the remaining engines! What's our ETA?"
"Fifteen seconds, sir!" Evans replied. The island in question was in view, and the Captain steered directly toward it, pushing his remaining engines to the max.
"Mr. President, get down to the passenger section and strap yourself in. That's an order, sir!"
Laguna hesitated, and then nodded. Without a word, he, with Fujin and Raijin beside him, stepped onto the elevator and went down below. Before them, the island grew, only a few seconds away. The could see the shoreline and the trees, as well as a couple of mountains towering over the thick forests.
"Hope you SeeDs are made of stern stuff," the Captain remarked, seeing Zell, Argus, and Lex still standing, though bracing themselves. "We're going in hard."
"Incoming! Evans shouted suddenly, and the ship was suddenly rocked off course, spiraling out of control. The island spun over and over as the ship descended rapidly.
"What the hell?" the Captain roared.
"Beam cannon!" the weapons officer cried. "Direct hit to our rear! The engines are gone! I repeat, they are destroyed!"
"We're going in hard!" the Captain shouted, flicking on the intercom. Before them, a wall of green and brown, the thick canopy of forest, swept up to consume their ruined craft.
"All hands, brace yourselves, we're going down! Razor is going down hard!"
And then they hit.
-
This chapter was a bit of a monster to write. I was expecting a good long battle on the train, but it ended up a lot longer than I expected, forcing me to devote an entire chapter to the assassination! Wow, maybe I'm biting off more than I can chew with this story I'm making . . . .
Anyway, next chapter, more on Squall, Rinoa, and also looking into the heads of Selphie and Irvine as they go on their mission! Squall's day is about to go from normal to very, very bad . . . .
I don't think I included any references here outside some Halo-esque technology, which, if you've read Gunblade, is the primary technology style of Esthar anyway.
Shout-out time!
Spikestrife: Imagine Squall as looking . . . More like Aragorn, and you've got the image I'm aiming for here.
DBZ Fanfiction Queen: Alucard is . . . An "exception." There'll be a few new types of creatures popping up in this storyline, and will be explained later. But Alucard . . . He'll be vampire-styled, at least, and there'll be more relation between him and the Hellsing Alucard than just the name . . . .
Don't worry, no facial hair for Seifer! Again, Squall is a bit modeled toward Aragorn here.
There was an assassination attempt, yeah. What, you think I'll kill Laguna? No way!
Aha! You caught it! This story is heavily based off 24. Expect some twists at the end of each chapter, or in the middle of the chapters. Its going to be a roller-coaster ride, juts like the show! Squall will act very similar to Jack Bauer. Also, anyone notice the Garden headquarters room? I modeled it after CTU's main room.
Solarious: Darn real life. Keeps getting in the way of important things! I'm probably not going to use Greenbeans' characters. Silence was cool as hell, but he doesn't fit in here. Alucard is kind of fulfilling his role in a way.
OniRazz: Alucard is brand-new. His role is . . . Undefined as of yet. Don't worry, you'll find out what purpose he serves here sooner or later.
Leonheartilly: Yes, Rinoa had a stillborn child from Squall. Don't ignore the little facts, people! They could become extremely important.
NolianStorms: I'm surprised at how far I've gone myself. I look back at Gunblade's earlier chapters, and then at what happens later on, and I'm shocked at how I grew with each part of the story.
I have no problem with you printing gunblade. Feel free to print and distribute it. All I ask is that someone tell me they're doing it, and not stealing it, and I'm happy. Again, I have no problems releasing my work as long as I know its getting released, heh. If anyone wants to print out or spread one of my stories, just drop a review saying you are doing it, and I'll be fine.
Thank you for the compliments. I hope to write for real someday.
JadeAlmasy: "Pirates" is one of my favorite movies, heh. I was running that dialogue through my head at work while thinking up that scene, and it clicked perfectly.
Tonyo: Combat? Yes, this will have combat. Lots of it, though its intended to be intense as well as action-packed.
Elachim: Ohh, this is what I like. People telling me what I did wrong and deflating my ego. I love it! (seriously, no sarcasm, I like this stuff, do it more! )
You got Haroldington's name right. I purposefully made that name long, because I want to make Dollet seem kind of silly in terms of titles and whatnot, making them sound rather pretentious and such.
I always figured Seifer's friends were a little like him, in some manner. Fujin is very rigid and military-styled, yes, but I can imagine someone having a fetish or imbellishment. Her outfit always made me think "pirate" when I saw her, and I figured she would have added an eye patch to finish the equation. Then again, it could have been for medical reasons, perhaps. Who knows?
The colors of her arrows are functional. Her arrows are of different types; some explosive, some flaming, etc. The colors indicate what type they are.
Irvine and Selphie will be next. This chapter focused on Zell, Laguna, and the others a lot (plus Simmons, who I've quickly come to like writing) and the next will focus on them, as well as Squall. Like I said, Squall's day is going to be real bad.
Guilty Gear is an anime-styled fighting game series with complex controls, kooky characters, and a surprisingly deep and developed storyline. The characters I'll be borrowing from include Slayer, a vampire-styled noble gentleman with excessive power, as well as a few others. Don't worry if you don't get any Guilty Gear references. They will be fairly vague.
Red-Eyed Divine Dragoon: Hmm. That sounds cool. I may have to look into it.
Icedragon6171: Alucard is a trademark meddler in this story. He'll pop up from time to time to aid the various characters involved in the Fisherman's Horizon part of the story, but he won't play a massive role until later on when things really hit the fan.
Trust me, the crazy attack on the world leaders will be crazier than you think.
Kaiser: Nope. Not even starting to get really good. This is just setting the awesome parts up!
Solid Shark: Oh, yes, definitely Rouge Squadron references here.
Daniel Wesley Rydell: If you like Squall having a really bad day, you will really like the upcoming chapters. XD
E: Hey, it was included for humor value, so I'm glad someone like that thought.
Skyedream: Confusion intentional. Wait until you see who the guy behind the desk really is!
Xephon: I certainly intend to, especially with summer rolling around!
Chris Ganale: Bingo! You caught my inspiration for both those scenes perfectly. Good eye, though they were easy to see for those who knew those scenes well.
Kimahrigirl: thank you! I hope you enjoy this, its going to be insane, I think. I'm going insane keeping track of my plot threads . . . .
Prodigy: I intend to exceed Gunblade here. This will take a while (its going to be something of a series, but a very long series, too) but I hope it comes out well!
That everybody? Excellent. Well, now to my homework. Enjoy your new chapter!
Until next chapter!