Chapter 6: Ensnared
Things had gone from bad to worse in the few minutes that it had taken them to ditch the enemy Corsair aircraft. Zell had led the way into the woods for the rest of his group, pushing deeper into the thick tropical forest. He made certain to avoid any clearings; that would just reveal them and draw fire, especially if the enemy was using thermal sensors.
The problem was that the Corsairs were very dogged in their pursuit, and the direction they were moving in was causing them more trouble than good, as steep cliffs began to rise up around them.
"We're moving into the mountainous area," Lex guessed, and Zell nodded. He slowed down, as did the others, and looked around. It was hard to see in the thick, verdant forest, and the thin mists surrounding the trees made it even harder to see, but cliff walls were visible in the distance to their left and right. The way back was clear, and the way forward was as well, but that only gave the group a few options.
"Zell, wait," Laguna said as the brawler was considering their options. Laguna looked back behind them, brow furrowed in concentration. Zell's face screwed up in confusion, but then he heard a distant whine, steadily growing louder.
"What is that?" Raijin asked, hearing the noise as well.
"Scout bikes," Laguna responded, shaking his head. "They've dispatched scouts to find us on the ground."
"No way we can outrun them," Argus muttered. He flicked the safety off on his rifle. "Should we lay out the welcome mat, guys?"
"Yeah," Zell replied with a nod.
"AMBUSH," Fujin added. She turned, looking across the area they were in, and quickly gestured to a couple of fallen logs. "SNIPERS, THERE."
"Gotcha," Zell added with a nod. "Okay, here's how we're doing this . . . ."
Ten minutes later, a five man unit of Estharian soldiers whizzed through the forest, atop long, armored, camo-green hovering devices that looked like a mix between a flying motorcycle and a sled, with twin plasma cannons mounted on the front and faintly glowing anti-gravity devices on a pair of "wings" flaring out under the vehicles. The unit, referred to by the Estharian military as a "lance", deftly moved among the trees, despite the limitations the terrain imposed on them. They ranged out wide, keeping their eyes open, but stayed in the same general area, in a roughly oval formation, with two at the front, two further back and out to the sides, and the fifth in back as a rearguard.
They slowed as they entered a slightly wider open area, keeping their eyes on their surroundings. They knew who they were looking for, and knew that they were still running. Eventually, they would catch up with the survivors, though their mission was not to engage, just to locate and track.
They suspected the possibility of an ambush, but did not give it any real concern, which was their undoing as the first pair floated past a series of fallen wooden logs. To their left, something moved, and before the men in the second pair could shout a warning, a huge figure rose up, and lifted one of the fallen logs with his bare hands, hurling it with a furious roar. The leftmost scout bike in the second pair was crushed under the log as it struck his vehicle. Raijin roared again, this time in victory.
There was a flash of movement from the tree closest to the lead bike on the left side, and the pilot got a chance to swerve aside an instant before Lex's blade slashed out, the SeeD right next to his vehicle. The driver survived, but his left arm was severed, and he flew out of control to smash hard into a tree, crushing the front end of his bike and spilling the mortally wounded man across the bark. The bike exploded a moment later, taking its rider with it.
The other lead man suddenly found the right side of his bike dipping in that direction, and then a fist capped by metal knuckles crush his skull, hurling him from his bike as Zell settled in behind the controls.
A gray-feathered arrow stabbed into the chest of the remaining order of the second pair, and then the explosive tip detonated. The bike spun out of control and smashed into a tree as Fujin strung a second arrow into her bow. The wrecked vehicle settled to the ground a moment later, as did the remains of the driver, torn in half by the detonation.
The last pilot managed to spin his bike around in the face of the immediate and deadly ambush, but that just present Laguna and Argus with better targets. They perforated his bike with a salvo of bullets that tore the man apart, but also shattered and rent the electronics, causing the bike to explode in a brilliant blue-white flash of fire.
Zell spun the bike he had stole around awkwardly, pumping a fist in triumph. The enemy hadn't even gotten a chance to shoot back.
"Score one for the good guys!" Raijin crowed as Zell steered the bike into the middle of the battlefield. A quick check showed that none of the enemy soldiers had survived, and only Zell's vehicle was in any condition to be piloted. They quickly looted what gear they could use off the corpses, mostly just food and some medical gear, as well as flares and a radio from one man's helmet.
"These fires are like flares," Laguna commented, looking at the burning bikes all around them. "Those Corsairs are going to come running in minutes."
"You sound like that's a bad thing," Zell responded with a clever grin as he listened to the radio.
"What do you mean?" Laguna asked.
"Simple," Lex cut in, shaking his head. "Zell's got an idea."
"You bet," the brawler replied with a thumbs-up.
"Okay, okay, we are lost." Irvine admitted as they rushed along through the forest. "We lost Serra, we lost where this path was going . . . Hell, we even lost them."
The other slowed down, panting, and Selphie had to nod tiredly. The screams had abated a few minutes ago, leaving the SeeDs in complete silence. The forest was quiet and peaceful again, though none of them were precisely certain how long that would last. The mystery men were nowhere to be seen, at least, and they had a brief reprieve, during which Victor moved to cast another spell over his wound.
The Trabian SeeD gestured at his wound, and called up healing magic, but nothing happened.
"The hell?" he muttered, shocked. The others looked to him, and saw his gesture at his wound again, and this time healing magic did emerge from his fingertips, but weaker than he expected.
"What is it?" Irvine asked, and Victor looked up, honestly perplexed.
"Something is suppressing my magic," he said, shaking his head. Selphie blinked in confusion.
"An anti-magic field?" Irvine mused, and Selphie quickly shook her head.
"No, if it was, my Guardian Forces would have been suppressed too," she replied. On impulse, she pun, and whacked one of the trees with her nunchaku. She watched with satisfaction as the bark cracked under the impact. "I still have my strength."
"Use magic," Victor suggested, and Selphie did so, channeling up a fiery bolt and directing it at the same tree. To her surprise, the bolt was little more than a spark of flame, not even a candle's light, and instantly faded. Selphie concentrated, and a moment later, the bolt did shoot forth, striking a snowy embankment and reducing it to mist.
"Weird," she muttered. "It should have been a lot bigger. I used a strong fire spell, and enhanced the magical yield too . . . ."
"Okay, this is enough weird shit for one day," Irvine proclaimed, shaking his head. "First the crazy guys in white, then Serra, and now this? Someone please explain to me what's going on here?"
As if in response, another inarticulate scream sounded nearby, and the trio reluctantly took off down the path again, as another axe flew past.
"This never ends," Selphie complained. They hurried through the woods, cutting through a small break between two clusters of trees, and found themselves running along a shallow ridge. A sword-wielding madman leapt into their path, but Irvine blew out his kneecaps with a pair of quick gunshots, and Selphie clobbered him off the ledge. As she did so, she spotted something below them, shrouded in the woods below, but visible among the trees.
"Down there!" she quickly shouted, pointing, and the others looked below, to see what appeared to be an old, ruined fortress, built in a long-past, bygone era. Irvine blinked.
"Remember what we said when we were coming here?" he asked her as they neared the end of the ridgeline and, without hesitation, turned toward the ruins.
"What?" Selphie asked. "That thing about no old castles?"
"Yeah," Irvine muttered, and she shrugged while running.
"Hey, at least there's no cackling old witch."
The room within Garden's basement level was referred to as Interrogation One, and was intended as both a holding room within Garden, and as a place to interrogate individuals detained by SeeD forces. It consisted of a mid-sized room with a single chair, table, a lone overhead light, a camera, and a one-way plexiglass window, behind which the observers stood or sat, obviously observing the process.
Unlike other, similar interrogation facilities in other nations, such as Galbadia or Dollet, Garden's interrogation procedures were different. While those nations were not hesitant to utilize more . . . pressing . . . methods of interrogation when speed was required, Garden, due to Cid's personal beliefs, used only psychological pressures, not physical duress.
That was little comfort to Squall as he sat behind the table, matching eyes with Xu, who stood across from him, glaring at the Commander. She had been staring at him for several minutes, her face steadily shifting between anger, disbelief, and now confusion.
"I don't understand," she finally asked after a few more silent moments. "Of all the people . . . ."
Squall didn't immediately answer her, but finally looked away, closing his eyes.
"Why would you turn on Garden?" she asked him. "Of all the people . . . You've been with Garden for so long. You're part of Garden. Hell, you're the one who defeated Galbadia and Ultimecia! What the hell is going on here?"
"I wish I could say," Squall answered after a moment.
"What do you mean?" Xu asked. "You have any idea what it was you've done? You betrayed Garden! You were going to murder the Headmaster!"
"You don't think I know that!" Squall snapped angrily, causing Xu to pause. "You think I had a choice? You have no idea what's going to happen now, do you?"
"Easy, Squall," Illarra's voice cut in, stopping Squall's outburst cold. "Simmons hasn't been unleashed yet, and I can tell him to take his time if you do start talking."
Squall settled down after a second, his jaw clenched tightly, fists shaking in rage.
"What is it?" Xu asked, and Squall shook his head.
"I can't tell you," he replied. "If I do . . . Things will only get worse."
Xu sighed and shook her head.
"If you're going to be that way," she muttered, and turned and left the room, shutting the door behind her. Squall waited a few moments, before angrily pounding his fist aginast the top of the table.
"Now that we're alone," Illarra cooed, almost making it sound as if they were sharing an intimate moment, "I've got a new job for you."
"Escape and kill Cid," Squall muttered under his breath, and she chuckled.
"Killing the Headmaster would be nice, but its really unnecessary now," she replied. "You've been made out to be Garden's enemy, and the bomb is still ticking. No, I have a bigger coup for you to pull off."
Squall paused as he listened to her, looking out at the window. He considered the option of making a signal or something to the people on the other side, telling them what was happening, but decided against it. He couldn't be certain if Illarra did or did not have taps into the security cameras.
"First is simple. Escape," Illarra continued. "Second is not so simple. There's a man waiting on the east side of the main plaza of FH's train station, inside one of the buildings. He's under a large red sign, and you need to be there within the next hour and a half, when the big speeches from President Caraway and Duke Haroldington are being given. He'll give you another package: a sniper rifle. You can guess what needs to be done with it."
"Assassination," Squall hissed, closing his eyes.
"Perhaps I can have Simmons pipe in an audio feed through this channel while he has his way with your sister?" Squall jerked slightly at that, clenching his fist tightly.
"Glad to see you understand," Illarra relied with a chuckle. "Of course, there are people who matter just as much to you as Ellone. I wonder what you'd do if we were to bring Rinoa into this? We can easily expand the scope of this operation if need be."
Squall didn't answer, too horrified by that proposition to say anything at first. Finally, after several moments, he did have a proper response.
"When I find you . . . ." he hissed.
"I certainly hope you do," she cut him off. "I've been dying to meet you face to face. Maybe when this day is over we can have some private moments together, hm?"
"Pray that we don't meet," Squall answered. "Not even Hyne will save you once I find you."
Illarra burst out laughing at that.
"You don't know anything, do you? Escape, first. Then make your way to the structure under the large red sign. If you don't, you know what happens."
The door into Cid Kramer's office flew open again, and the three occupants of the room spun toward the entrance. Quistis and Xu's hands dropped to their belts, grasping at their weapons, but they relaxed as they saw who was coming in.
"Where's Squall?" Rinoa demanded, the Sorceress quickly crossing the room, obviously distressed.
"In the detention center," Cid replied from behind his desk. He glanced over at his broken window, and then back at Rinoa. "Interrogation One."
"Why?" she quickly asked. "What happened?"
"He pulled a gun on the Headmaster," Quistis answered, obviously just as concerned as Rinoa was. "Xu was able to intervene just in time." She shook her head, obviously not understanding.
Rinoa didn't say anything immediately, her mind whirling with the news. It was difficult for her to fathom what Squall had just done, and it seemed to be the same way with the others.
"It not his fault," Cid stated after a moment, and the others looked to the Headmaster. He sat forward, brow furrowing in thought, apparently unaffected by his close brush with death less than fifteen minutes ago.
"Squall told me he had no choice," Cid continued. "From what I could tell, he was being forced to do this against his will by the same terrorists that attacked President Loire's train. He told me that something terrible would happen if he didn't do what he did."
"I got that impression too," Xu replied. "He said as much when I was talking with him."
"Why didn't he tell you?" Rinoa asked. "If he's acting against his will, he should have said why."
"The terrorists must be listening in," Cid responded, shaking his head again. "If they are, that means that they are probably observing him, and may have taps somewhere on his body. We can't risk trying to find or remove them . . . But if they are observing him, that means that they have some type of camera or watcher inside Garden. And that would mean they have access to the interior of Garden."
"The easiest way to gain access is through someone on the inside," Quistis commented, and she glanced at Xu, and then Rinoa.
"A traitor?" Rinoa whispered.
"We need a new plan," Cid said quickly, rubbing his stubbled chin. "We have to assume that the terrorists are planning to act now that the task they forced on Squall has failed. Quistis, take charge of our intelligence forces. Send alerts to the Dollet Marines and Galbadian forces on guard to heighten their alert level to maximum. Assume a terrorist attack is imminent. Maximum security for the President and the Duke."
"On it," Quistis said with a nod. Cid looked to Xu.
"Xu, take charge of Garden security. Find the traitor, find the observers or cameras. Locate any external taps into Garden's ethernet or mainframe. Put our personnel on heightened alert. I want all SeeDs and cadets to go on full standing alert. All personnel are to check in every fifteen minutes. Reinforce security at all critical locations. Find out how they got to Squall and how they are keeping track of him. That might lead us directly back to their base of operations."
"Right," Xu responded.
"And Rinoa," Cid said, looking to her. She stood up a little straighter as he addressed her.
"Yes?" she asked.
"No tap can track telepathy," he said quietly. "Find out from Squall who or what the retaliatory target is. I'm sorry to have to ask you to use your powers, but we need them now more than ever." Cid quickly reached into his desk and pulled out an ID card. "Give this to the guards in Interrogation One. It will give you my authorization to have them leave and let you take care of things. Don't go inside the interrogation room, either. They may have tapped the cameras."
"Are we going to let him go?" Rinoa asked as she took the card from the Headmaster, and he shook his head.
"No, we can't," he replied. "We release Squall, and there's the possibility they will try to force him to perform another attack, either on me again, or on another target. There are plenty of them here today. We risk letting him go until the threat has been neutralized. We'll be counting on you to figure out what angle they're using to force him into this."
"I understand," Rinoa replied.
"Let's get to work," Cid said, standing, and the women nodded, rising. Cid's subordinates began to leave the room, but Quistis and Xu paused outside the entrance to the office to hastily salute a figure approaching. Xu held the door open for the man as he walked in.
His face was worn and craggy, and his blonde hair was a bit grayer, but the old-fashioned Dollet military uniform worn by Headmaster Martine Cayes of Galbadia Garden was brand new and immaculately clean. He nodded to the saluting SeeDs and stepped into the room.
"Martine," Cid said with a smile, moving around his desk and shaking the other Headmaster's hand.
"Cid," Martine responded brusquely, taking the offered hand. He glanced at the shattered window, and at the situation room beyond. "I heard about the attack, and I came right over. What happened?"
"Let me fill you in," Cid responded, gesturing to a seat across from his desk. "I apologize about the mess, but we are in a crisis situation here."
"I fully understand," Martine answered. "The moment I heard there was an assassination attempt, I put my entire Garden on alert. I hear that the assassin was apprehended, am I right?"
"Yes, he was," Cid answered, and shook his head. "You won't believe who it was, or why we think he did it . . . ."
"Okay, get ready," Laguna hissed, crouching lower amid the bushes and ferns. "Here they come."
A short distance away, Fujin and Argus mimicked Laguna, their eyes scanning the forest. Fujin slowly pulled a high-explosive arrow out of her pouch and fitted the projectile to her bow, while Argus slid the safety off on his rifle. They were ready.
Overhead, the oblong shapes of the trio of Corsair airships drifted overhead, each ship's trio of plasma cannons sweeping the woods below as they closed in. Laguna glanced to the foot of the cliff, where the intact scout bike lay, its engine gutted and blazing blue-white fires. The destruction from the battle had brought the enemy aircraft over like moths to a flame, and the traitorous Estharian soldiers were about to get burned.
Slowly, the three ships drifted closer, dropping beneath the top of the cliffs and descending, their sides opening. A few armored troops leaned out of the bays, peering over the battlefield. Several drop lines began to lower from the transports, and the troops started to rappel down. Two of them were drifting close to the cliff face, their attention mostly on the ground below. Perfect.
Laguna glanced to his two comrades and nodded. They raised their weapons, Fujin drew back her bow, and each of the trio immediately unleashed a hellish barrage at the enemy. Precise rifle fire from Argus and Laguna plucked enemy soldiers off their drop lines as they came down, and others began shouting in surprise and confusion. An arrow lanced up, driving into one of the guns beneath a Corsair, and detonated, blasting the cannon off.
The Corsair guns pivoted instantly, however, and the remaining weapons opened fire, white bolts of destruction lancing down at the woods below in general suppressive fire, intended to force the attackers into cover and possibly score a kill. Foliage exploded and was set ablaze, and the three attackers on the ground split up, dashing away from their firing positions. They had done their job: the Corsairs and their troops were looking below. They wouldn't see the attack coming from beside them.
"All right!" Zell Dincht roared, and he looked to Lex and Raijin, who were a little further down on the cliff face, clutching the wall with their fingers tightly. They had no harnesses or other climbing gear, relying only on their own raw physical strength and training to get up the cliff face. The plan had been crazy, but that was the point; the enemy never would have expected this attack from this direction. They were so intent on the flames below that they hadn't even bothered to check the cliff face for a threat. Stupid of them, and perfect for the good guys.
"Banzai!" Zell roared, and he released the cliff, falling back, before spinning in midair, coiling his legs beneath him, and kicking off with all his strength, directly at the open bay of one of the Corsairs. Raijin and Lex did the same, kicking off the cliff face, and leaping toward the other Corsair nearing the wall.
Two soldiers were standing in the open doors, looking down, and didn't see Zell as he collided into them, hurling them, and a half-dozen others, against the inner wall of the Corsair. Zell extracted himself from the pile of human bodies with a roar, striking out with an arm even as he was standing up. One of the standing soldiers was hurled back hard enough to crush the bones in his body, and Zell wasted no time tearing into the half-dozen standing men with raw fury. His fists pulverized bone, his feet shattered skulls, and the enemy was driven back from him like leaves in a windstorm. In the tight quarters, none could get a weapon up and around to strike at Zell, a disadvantage the brawler did not suffer from.
Raijin mimicked Zell in action, bowling over a trio of soldiers standing at the entrance to his target vehicle, crushing and tossing them and many more around the interior of the transport. Even as he was rising, throwing his arms out wide and hurling his enemies back, Lex dropping into the troop bay, his katana flashing out and slicing apart two of the enemy.
Below, plasma fire continued chasing the distracting trio. They paused only to look up, level their weapons, and fire again, to keep the enemy's attention on them. Fujin destroyed another gun turret with her arrows, lessening the barrage launched at them, while Argus and Laguna finished off those soldiers still on the drop lines. With the boarding team keeping the enemy in two of the Corsairs occupied, they could focus on those soldiers pouring out of the third one.
Unfortunately, the muzzle flashes from their rifles made the pair prime targets, and the Corsair's gunner was getting better at tracking them. Argus took cover among a small copse of trees, while Laguna opted to simply run, plasma exploding around him as it chased the President.
A bolt whizzed past his head, burning off part of Laguna's ponytail, and he yelped in surprise. An instant later Laguna's foot found a tangled tree root, and he fell without warning, tumbling down a small slope and crashing hard into a tree. He lay there, dazed, for a moment, and then found Fujin standing over him.
"RUN!" she hissed. "UP! AWAY!" She grabbed his arm and started to lift Laguna up, when the enemy fire slashed even closer, igniting the woods around them. Fujin looked up, and realized that the plasma barrage was going to hit them in moments, and even she, with her junctions, couldn't survive that much destructive power.
In a matter of moments, Zell's overwhelming physical power and raw fury, as well as his remarkable skill at close quarters combat, had pulverized the enemy resistance inside the Corsair. He tore apart a dozen men and sent the rest scrambling, tumbling, and flying out the open door with a blurringly fast barrage of punches, kicks, throws, and head-butts. Holding nothing back, Zell had killed practically the entire force inside the aircraft, and the remainder tumbled to their deaths below. Two remained alive, standing in front of the entrance to the cockpit, and both leveled plasma rifles at him.
Zell ducked and dove low as plasma slashed past his body, and tackled both enemy soldiers at the waist. They crashed to the floor along with him, and he rose, one foot rising in an axe kick that crushed his target's throat, and then spun into a slamming punch that shattered the other man's neck. Zell spun toward the door to the cockpit, and rushed forward, kicking it open.
The pilot and gunner flinched as the door flew inward, and the gunner spun, leveling a pistol at Zell. Zell's response was to reach out with a flashing arm, seize the man's wrist, and snap it with a flick of his fingers. The man howled in pain, and Zell grabbed him by his shoulders, hauling him up out of his seat, and smashing the man down onto the pilot. Zell lifted the impromptu human club up again and slammed him down on top of the pilot, before spinning and hurling the man out the door of the Corsair and into the troop bay. The gunner flew all the way to the far end of the vehicle, where he crashed against the wall with a wet crunch.
The pilot was still dazed by the unexpected attack when Zell wrapped an arm around the man's neck and twisted, shattering it. He quickly pulled the dead man out of the seat and tossed him out into the troop bay, before plopping down in the chair himself and seizing control of the airship.
Raijin and Lex were just as effective as Zell. The huge warrior literally managed to catch over half of the enemy on one side of the Corsair, and proceeded to systematically crush them with his bo staff, raw physical power, and strength-enhancing junctions and powered armor attachments. Lex, on the other hand, quickly sliced as fast as he could, not bothering to sheathe his katana for proper iaijutsu strikes, instead simply cutting with both hands. His blade tore through armor at lightning-fast speeds, quickly tearing apart any enemy that stood before him. In close quarters, the SeeD and his bodyguard comrade were nearly unmatched.
Lex managed to clear a path to the door of the cockpit, and proceeded to kick it open. His junctions allowed him to knock the door inward, but rather than rush inside, he grabbed a small, shiny white orb off one fallen foe's belt, and primed the grenade. He tossed it into the room, and spun, slapping Raijin on the shoulder. The big man nodded and fell back, away from the few surviving opponents, and both intruders leapt out the open doors, using the drop lines to descend.
Behind them, the cockpit exploded outward in a flash of plasma, and the Corsair immediately dropped, out of control, toward the ground.
The Corsair's fire tracked closer, death only an instant away as Fujin yanked Laguna to his feet and began to drag him out of the line of fire. She looke dup at the enemy ship, watched the bolts homing in-
and suddenly turn away, the cannons leveling at a new target. A stream of automatic gunfire erupted from a copse of trees, and Fujin watched in horror as she saw Argus roaring a challenge, standing in the open and firing up at the Corsair overhead. His bullets bounced off its armor, and did not strike any of its troops down, but the gunner must have been angered by his sudden, daring act. All three cannons on that ship swiveled to face Argus, and the SeeD suddenly broke off, diving for cover.
The plasma exploded around where Argus stood, annihilating the trees and igniting the ground around him in a hellish firestorm of destruction. The cannons blazed away at where he stood, pounding the ground until nothing remained but a blackened slab of glass and ashen wood.
As if in response, one of the boarded Corsairs swung around, its two intact cannons rising up at the murderous aircraft. The ship opened up inexplicably, plasma slashing through the open troop bay and immolating the soldiers inside, before burning out the other end of the ship. The fires tracked toward the cockpit, washing over it, and even as the assaulted ship began to brings its guns to bear, the energy cannons tore through the cockpit and vaporized the crew. The ravaged Corsair hung in the air for a second, and then drifted out of control, diving down and crashing against the cliff face before exploding in a blue-white fireball.
Silence filled the woods around the battlefield, cut off only by the humming of the captured Corsair's engines as it drifted down lower, toward the treetops. Moments later, Raijin and Lex trudged through the forest, sweating and covered in enemy blood, but otherwise none the worse for wear. At Fujin's feet, Laguna rose, shaking his head.
"Hey," Raijin asked after a moment, looking around. "Where's Argus?"
"Gone," Fujin answered quietly, nodding toward the blackened glass patch.
"Dammit!" Raijin responded, and smashed his staff against a small, younger tree, breaking it in half. "Fuckin' bastards!"
"They killed Argus?" Laguna muttered, recovering from his daze. The Corsair Zell had seized settled down into a small clearing, and the brawler hopped out, running toward them. The brawler's expression was filled with elation, but was also marred by rage. His fists were clenched tightly, clearly angered by what had just happened.
"I saw him," Zell said, shaking his head, his voice laced with the fury in his eyes. "He distracted to Corsair to save your lives . . . ."
Another dead hero. Just like Reynolds and his crew. Just like the guys on the train. Just like the SeeDs and Dollet soldiers in Centra.
"Let's get the hell out of here," Zell snarled. "Let's find out where these bastards are based and bring back the whole damn army and flatten the place."
"Ellone," Laguna said quickly, shaking his head. "We have to find Ellone first. They kidnapped her for a reason, and since I'm supposed to be dead, they have to have taken here for some other purpose."
"Blackmail," Lex added. "I know what they'd do with her. She's the Commander's sister. If anything, they'd use her to get to him."
"Okay," Zell said, with a nod. He gestured back toward the aircraft "Priority shift. There's a terrain map on that ship's computers, and I think it has a map of where these guys are based. We go there, we kill all the bastards we find, find Ellone, and get the hell out."
And this time, hope nobody becomes another hero.
"I like that plan," Raijin answered grimly, nodding. "Let's roll, ya know?"
"Copy that, Garden Control, I am on station," SeeD Captain Mike Devine said, the Ragnarok he was piloting swooping over the trackless ocean. "I have confirmed debris on the ocean surface, Estharian polymers and design floating. Sensors are confirming that there is exhaust from Estharian Pyromancer missiles still in the air as well. Looks like one of the airships fired on the other, ma'am. Over."
"Just what we're suspecting," Quistis replied. "Treachery again. Its becoming too common out here today."
"Copy that," Mike responded, bringing his ship around. In the distance, he could see the burning remains of the ruined train. He shook his head again. Zell was a good man, as were Argus and Lex. He wanted to pay back the enemy who did this personally.
The radar beeped, and he glance at the holographic readouts. Mike tensed for a moment, and then relaxed, smiling when he saw what was approaching from the Estharian mainland. A dozen fast-moving contacts, of a familiar shape and formation.
"Ragnarok airship, this is Esthar Air Force Commander Antil, Raptor Squadron," cut in a friendly voice over the radio. "Ministers Seagill and Zaback sent us out here personally to help with the search efforts. Hope you don't mind if we fly with you, over."
"This is Ragnarok," Mike responded. "Glad to see you, boys. Good to know there's some people I can trust flying out here with me. Over."
"Mike, that you?" asked Antil, and Mike sent an affirmative reply. "Been a bit since we flew together. What have you found, over?"
"It was definitely a Ragnarok-class airship that did this," Mike responded. "Pyromancer exhaust, and I found debris from one of the escorts in the water. Keep your eyes open, we may have a hostile contact a any time, over."
"Copy that," Antil responded. "Raptor Three, set your communications frequencies. Start scanning for any distress beacons. Ragnarok, we heard you picked up a beacon, but it was cut off. Where was the origin? Over."
"Pretty close to here, Raptor Lead," Mike answered. "This general vicinity. Wouldn't have found the site without it, either. Over."
"Right," Antil answered. "Okay, that leaves us at . . . Wait, what's that? Hold on, Ragnarok . . . Understood. Ragnarok, Raptor Three has picked up Estharian-band radio transmissions coming from an island approximately twenty-two miles north of the train destruction site. That island is not currently being used by the Estharian military, but we're picking up an unusual degree of comms traffic, some of it distress signals. There are reports of attacks occurring there. Interesting. Think we should have a look?"
"Sure thing, Raptor Lead," Mike responded, and brought his ship around as the nimble Estharian fighters looped around his own ship, taking flanking positions. "Let's have a look-see, eh?"
-
This chapter was a bit tough, but somehow I got it out a day early. Yay!
It was largely a transitionary chapter, setting things up for the next one. I know, I lied, there is no Alucard this chapter, but trust me, he will be showing up again, very, very soon. The storyline really picks up soon, as well. I assure you that, from about htis point on, the action will really start to get good. Real good. Zell and laguna will find themselves hip-deep in battle, and Irivne and Selphie, well, things will get a lot worse for them. And Squall . . . no, his day will still be bad for a while longer.
Some obvious references in this chapter. The Corsairs, for example are sort of like fatter versions of Halo's Phantom dropships, and the scout bikes are a lot like Ghosts.
Okay, that's enough for my commentary. So, without further ado . . . .
Peptuck's Shout-Outs of SHININING JUSTICE!
Daniel Wesley Rydell: Well, good. I'm glad you don't. I happen to like my villians though, even if they will meet some fairly violent ends.
Karaoke Risa: Rinoa is a key to the whole plan, yes. Crell said as much in the prologue, remember? And surpisingly enough, Squall won't be doing much behind bars . . . especially considering he won't be spending much time in them in the first place. its when he gets out that things start getting interesting. Remember a similar scene in Gunblade, involving Seifer? Hee.
Chris Ganale: Yeah, the situation is pretty bad. it will get worse, if that is possible. Trust me.
Prodigy: Illarra . . . she's fun to write. She will meet a bad end . . . eventually. Hopefully. Possibly. If you ask really nicely.
Xephon: Yes. Those evil, evil villainous bastards. Wait until you meet the next batch. Yes, the bunch we've seen thus far isn't all of them. Wait until you learn who the little girl is . . . .
LittleGenius90: Logic? Logic? Since when does logic play an important role:P Quistis will, however, be taking an important role once the leash on Squall is dropped . . . if it ever is. And laguna was back this chapter, I hope you enjoyed their adventures, even if Argus died. Meh, he was just a red-shirt SeeD anyway.
Solid Shark: A bad day? Oh, trust me, it smoe than just a day, I assure you. Things will be bad for a while. :P
Katy: The plot thickens. You may or may not expect what happens in the next few chapters. Hee!
OniRazz: Don't fall off your chair. The suspense is going to heat up soon!
JadeAlmasy: Hey, take your time. I have no problem with waiting for people to review me.
E: The traitor won't be revealed for a little bit, trust me.
DBZ Fanfiction Queen: I like that kind of reaction! And when Squall meets Illarra . . . sparks are going to fly, I assure you. Their story is a lot bigger than you think . . . the title of the story does refer to the reason behind their emnity. What that reason is, I say nothing!
As for Serra, I say nothing! Except you are right on at least one thing. What, I won't say.
As for Laguna, expect some serious heroics from him soon. And Malachi, remember him? Wait until you see him in action!
And the confrontation between Squall and Illarra . . . heh. Well, its going to get interesting.
Kimahrigirl: Soon, hopefully! We may see Seifer soon! And it will be awesome, I assure you!
Leonhartilly: Well, what do you know, oyu predicted my plot element! Darn you!
That everyone? Good. Now, back to work.
Until next chapter . . . . (ooooh, ending it with dramatic ellipses! How cliffhangery!)