Chapter 8: Stillness
"What the-"
"The Commander is-!"
The two SeeDs didn't get a chance to finish whatever it was they were saying. Squall's left hand dropped to his gunblade's handle and pulled the weapon out in a single smooth jabbing motion, the handle leaping from the scabbard and smashing into the chin of the SeeD on the left. At the same time, Squall's right hand balled into a fist and smashed into the rightmost SeeD's nose, crushing it and rocking him back. Squall stepped forward, around the SeeD, and his elbow slammed into the side of his head, hurling him against the wall and blasting him into unconsciousness. The other SeeD was still dazed by the impact, and Squall snapped his left leg up into a kick that hurled him away.
In less than two seconds, Squall had taken down two of Garden's best with two moves each.
The Commander paused at the bodies, grabbing one man's personal radio and clipping it to his other ear, and then stepped over the men's unconscious bodies and moved cautiously down the hallway outside. He closed the door behind him and locked it, using his personal code. He was a bit surprised it actually still worked, but he doubted anyone realized he had escaped. It would take some time for them to realize that, and if he was lucky, Squall would be long gone by then. In the meantime, his codes would be useful for getting around unseen.
Squall kept close to the wall, ears primed and alert as he advanced. This route would lead him toward the elevators, though he'd be a fool to actually take the lift up. An enclosed, easily viewable space was a surefire way to get seen, surrounded, and captured.
The elevators were a short distance ahead, past an intersection, and Squall paused at it, quickly drawing a knife and pressing his back to the wall. He started down the corridor ahead of him, and made sure no SeeDs or cadets were coming from that direction, and used the reflective edge of his knife to check the corridor beyond. The mirrored edge of the weapon showed the path was clear, so he stepped out into the hallway and quickly toward the elevator. Squall hit the call button, and the lift rapidly descended. The Commander ducked around to the side, pressing against the wall by the elevator, and waited patiently as it dropped.
The lift stopped a moment later, and Squall, waiting with his knife's reflective edge, was able to see a single SeeD on board. Before the elevator doors had even completely opened, Squall rolled around the wall and into the lift, an uppercut rising up into the SeeD's jaw that staggered him. Squall grasped the front of his uniform and spun, slamming the man against the wall and knocking him out cold.
Squall started the elevator up, sending it toward the upper floors, but brought it to a halt it after only a second with a quick jab of the stop button. He fired off a quick bolt of fire magic into the control panel to keep the elevator in place, and then reached up toward the ceiling, an popped open the topside maintenance hatch, before quickly climbing up. Once up inside the shaft, Squall located the ladder and began climbing. He didn't have a lot of time, though disabling the elevator would slow down the rest of Garden from finding and recapturing him. What he needed now was to find a way out, and Squall figured he knew an effective way outside; the only catch being that it was on the second floor.
Zell's arms shot out and snatched the unsuspecting Estharian officer as he passed the supply room. With frightening strength and speed, he yanked the man off his feet and into the supply room that Zell had been crouched within. Lex shut the door behind them as Zell launched the man across the room to crash heavily into the wall, where he was quickly grabbed by Fujin and pushed back against it. She pointed one of her chakram at his throat, the tip of the blade poking into his neck. At the same time, Raijin stepped forward and grabbed the front of his helmet, and ripped off the faceplate, exposing the man's head to the intruders, and pointedly removing his radio so he couldn't call for help.
"Think dragon," Laguna muttered to Raijin quietly as Zell stood in front of the disarmed and exposed officer. "Only with eyebrows."
Raijin nodded and stepped in front of the man, crossing his arms and doing his best to look intimidating, which made him look really damn intimidating.
Between the blades pressing into his armor, the two mean-looking muscle-bound warriors, and a distinct lack of comprehension and a great deal of shock, the soldier was thoroughly intimidated by his opponents, and was quickly receptive to answering their questions. He accepted the punch across the face that Zell offered and was knocked out cold in an instant.
"They're holding Ellone in this room," Laguna said, recapping what the officer had given up. He held up a small projector that displayed a holographic ma of the base, and highlighted a room just outside what looked like a large underground hangar complex. "it's a secondary communications facility. She's being held by a man named Simmons."
"I know that name," Lex piped in. "A mercenary. Very nasty guy, tends to get hired for some pretty unsavory things."
"Right," Laguna continued. "They guy who took out the train and killed all my men, too. The soldier didn't know too much, unfortunately, but he knew enough. We can approach the room from this angle, through this hallway." Laguna then highlighted a particular stretch of corridor with a number of rooms branching off. "No patrols along this route, as this part of the base is disused, and there's plenty of cover to hide behind if someone does wander by. We cut through there, and get inside the comms room and save Ellone. We use that room to radio for some help, and then pull out until the cavalry arrives. Anything sound wrong with this?"
There was a general shaking of heads, and Laguna nodded.
"Alright, then," he continued. "Let's move out."
Squall dogged open the hatch slightly, and poked his blade out, the knife's reflective edge bouncing the images in the hallway beyond back to his waiting eyes. The hallway looked clear, and Squall had yet to have heard an alarm in the few minutes since his escape had begun. That was good, but he knew not to trust his luck too well. He had to find a classroom, preferably on the bow side of the structure, which was directly facing Fisherman's Horizon.
Squall slowly opened the hatch covering the ventilation shaft near the ceiling, and dropped out, landing quietly on the deck in a low crouch. He sheathed his knife again, but kept his hand on his gunblade as he looked up and down the curving hallway. Still no sign of any SeeDs, good. He rose and sprinted down the hall, toward the bow end of the structure.
Running like this would not help him hide, but he didn't need subtlety or stealth at the moment; he needed to escape. Squall quickly rounded the hallway, passing by two startled younger cadets, barely into their teens, and continued on. The numbers on the classrooms flashed past as he ran. H-121, AT-121, AT-221 . . . He was getting closer to the bow end of Balamb Garden.
Then, a trio of SeeDs came into sight just ahead, around the bend, and Squall wasted no time drawing his gunblade as he barreled into them. All three looked startled, but they were also alert; they must have heard him coming, and were aware that Squall was a prisoner in the lower levels, so they had their hands on their weapons as a precaution. They weren't expected him to so suddenly appear and attack, however, and the trio only managed to react after the flat of Squall's gunblade had smacked against one SeeD's temple, knocking him to the floor in a daze.
Squall spun as the other two drew their weapons, a war-axe and a halberd, and his gunblade rang solidly against the head of the axe as he snapped it across. The blade twisted around the axe, Squall deftly maneuvering it around the head, and it dove forward, at the SeeD's face. The SeeD recoiled, surprised Squall was acting in such an apparently lethal manner, but the Commander did not follow through with the strike. He whirled on the other SeeD, raising his blade and catching the descending head of his halberd as he chopped down with it. Squall planted a hand against the back of his gunblade and used the leverage to twist the other SeeD's weapon around, driving it down into the axe of the first SeeD. Both weapons dropped down to the floor, tangle dup in one another.
Squall's left elbow shot up, into the halberd-wielder's face, knocking him back, and the butt of his gunblade whipped up into the axe-wielder's forehead, knocking him back as well. The SeeD Commander then spun around fast, leg arcing up into a wide circle-kick that crashed into the halberd-wielding SeeD's jaw and hurled him across the hallway. A second smack with the butt of Squall's gunblade decked the remaining SeeD.
The very first SeeD was starting to recover, so Squall made it a point to nail him in the gut with a vicious soccer kick, launching him across the hall and removing him from the fight.
The SeeDs had been dealt with in less than ten seconds, and Squall ran on. The sounds of combat would not have been lost on those around Garden, and Squall knew he had even less time to escape now. The radio he was wearing was starting to get jammed with reports of a disturbance below, and from SeeDs failing to report in. As Squall came into sight of one of the classrooms at the bow, a sudden call sounded over the radio.
"Commander Leonhart has escaped from Interrogation One! I repeat, the Commander has escaped Interrogation One!"
Within moments, a klaxon sounded throughout the entirety of Garden, and Squall knew his time was up. He rushed straight for the classroom, the alarm blaring in his ears, and could barely hear a shout to his left. He glanced that way as he neared the door, and saw a pair of SeeD rushing in his direction, weapons drawn, one leveling a rifle at him.
"Sir!" demanded the rifle-wielder over the alarm. "Drop your weapon now!"
Squall's response was to burst through the classroom door. He entered a chamber filled with two dozen cadets seated behind their study panels, looking up at the blaring alarms and trying to talk to one another. The Instructor on duty stood up as Squall entered, but he paid her no mind, dashing across the room. The SeeDs burst in right behind him, one shouting for everyone to get down as the other opened fire with his rifle.
Bullets cut across the room and the cadets hit the deck as they'd been trained, diving behind their study panels. The air around Squall screamed as bullets flew past him, impacting against the panels and floor around the Commander. One cracked into his shoulder blade, but Squall seemed to ignore the sudden pain, raising his left hand and pointing it at the window. Fire ripped past him, melting a chunk of the wall as he ran on. Icy magic surrounded his palm, and lanced out at the glass impacting against it and freezing the window. Squall ran up to it, raising his gunblade, and spun around in a whirling slash that chopped into the frozen glass and shattered it.
Then, without missing a beat, Squall jumped out the window, leaving both pursuing SeeDs shocked and amazed at the suicidal act.
"Yes, sir," came a voice from the inside of the room, and Laguna paused, furrowing his brows.
"I know that voice," he whispered. He glanced back at his comrades as they crouched down the corridor, in a darkened segment of the base. Raijin and Fujin were taking cover in a doorway leading into an abandoned supply room, while Zell and Lex were pressed against the walls, almost invisible in the darkness. Laguna was crouched closest to the communications room, just outside the light cast by the harsh fluorescent bulb outside the room's door.
"Understood. Thank you, sir," the voice continued. "All right, boys. The Director's done with our comms network. Let's move back to the main room now." There was the sound of a general collection of men standing up, gathering equipment, and speaking among themselves, and the group of intruders ducked further back into the shadows around the corner.
"Who is that guy?" Raijin asked.
"One of the old Adel loyalists," Laguna replied. "Hard-core and fanatical. Wasn't sure with his voice over the radio, but I'm certain of it now. Back when Adel was in charge, that was Staff Sergeant Eric Malachi. One of the best men in her regime. Heard he was dead . . . ."
As he was speaking, a group of soldiers filed out of the room, moving up the corridor, but Malachi was still in the room, apparently speaking with someone.
"Now, you be a good boy and behave," he snarled to whoever else was in the room. "You do anything to the hostage without orders, and I will make sure you can't do it again."
There was a sigh from inside the room, and a moment later a large, powerfully built man with a blue beret and sniper rifle strode out of the room, walking up the corridor. Laguna watched him go, and nodded.
"That's Malachi," he confirmed. "And they must have Ellone in the room. That man inside must be Simmons, then."
"We can't leave Ellone," Zell muttered. "Not alone with that guy. Let's get in there!"
As Zell was speaking, Simmons crossed the communications room and closed the door. With a grin, he locked it, numerically sealing the doorway, to ensure Malachi wouldn't walk in on him again.
"Ah, privacy, finally," he said, and looked back at Ellone, a sick smile crossing his face. He walked toward one of the consoles and started tapping buttons. "Better get to work on this now. Just a little bit and . . . There. Set to record, and . . . Done." He turned back to Ellone, twirling his pistol absently.
"Illarra wants me to ensure I can broadcast a live transmission of what I'm going to do to you, if your brother doesn't come through. Of course, she also wants me to be bale to transmit it after he goes through with it, too, just to piss him off." Simmons chuckled.
"But hey, I figure that a recording is just as good as a live broadcast, and with Major Fucktard out of the room and locked outside, there'll be no more interruptions. I'm getting sick of waiting around for this." Simmons crossed the room, smile expanding and dropped his pistol on the table beside him. He ran his eyes over Ellone, and saw her shudder. The mercenary's smile grew even wider. He liked them scared and helpless, just like this.
"Now, let's get started, shall we?" Simmons said, advancing toward her, a hand dropping to his pants. "How about right . . . ."
"NOW!"
Simmons spun, and then was sent hurling back as the door exploded inward, hurtling across the room and slamming into the mercenary, smashing him against the far wall. Zell Dincht plowed into the room, Raijin right beside him, and with Laguna a step behind.
"Ellone!" he shouted as he rushed in, rifle in hand, and spotted her, relief exploding through the President.
"Laguna!" Ellone gasped, a smile filled with surprise, joy, and hope spreading across her face. "Zell!" The brawler rushed across the room, Raijin with him, and they quickly pulled her to her feet. The two muscle-bound warriors wasted no time removing the manacles, gripping the cuffs and simply pulling them apart, the metal ripped open by their raw strength. In seconds, Ellone was free for what felt like the first time in months. She grabbed the first person near her, Zell, and hugged him tightly, which caught the brawler off guard. Beyond them, Lex had entered and stepped over to the communications boards.
"The comms system is offline," muttered Lex as he looked over the panels. "They locked it down. No way we can send a message without access."
"We'll improvise," Zell replied.
"Right," Lex continued. "Hmm. I think I can . . . Well, the best I can do is rig this thing up to send an anomalous signal as far as it can. Just a moment, and . . .there. Got it."
There was a groan from where Simmons had fallen, and Laguna stepped over to the mercenary, who was halfway covered by the fallen doorway.
"You're Simmons," Laguna snarled, and he looked back to Ellone. "Elle, he didn't hurt you, did he?" She shook her head, and looked to the mercenary, hate and disgust filling her eyes.
"No," she said quietly. "But he was close."
Laguna turned back toward Simmons and, anger filling him, he kicked the mercenary in the gut, making him groan in pain again.
"Get outside," Laguna said quickly, glaring at the mercenary. "I'll be with you guys in a second." Without a word, the group rushed outside, where Fujin was waiting, and Laguna pointed his rifle at Simmons' head. The mercenary looked up, dazed, his eyes focusing on the rifle.
"Who hired you?" Laguna demanded. Simmons blinked, and Laguna kicked him savagely in the ribs again, eliciting another groan of pain.
"Who?" Laguna snarled, and Simmons shook his head.
"The Director," he muttered.
"Director of what?" Laguna asked.
"Estharian Bureau of Intelligence," Simmons stated, and Laguna paused, eyes widening in shock.
Crell Varines? One of the Wisemen? What the . . . How? How the hell did he . . . .
"He's a loyalist," Simmons continued. "To Adel. All of them are. Not the Wisemen, but all the guys planning this. They've been planning it for years . . . Ever since you took out Adel. He was Major Virago, back under Adel's regime."
"And Ellone?" Laguna asked.
"Blackmail," Simmons explained, grunting in pain as he clutched his ribs. "Blackmailing Leonhart into blowing up Garden, and assassinating Cid Kramer, President Caraway, and Duke Haroldington. Illarra wants your son to do it all himself, so she can laugh at him the whole time. Fucking crazy bitch . . . ."
"Then what?" Laguna asked, and Simmons chuckled.
"Told you all I know," he explained. "I'm not in the loop here. I don't know anything else about their plans."
"You sure?" Laguna asked, and Simmons nodded.
"Sure." The mercenary seemed to relax, at ease, as if he knew that the admission would keep him safe. After all, Laguna was a civilized man.
"Good," Laguna muttered, and he squeezed the trigger, drilling a trio of bursts into the mercenary's head, blasting it apart in a shower of blood.
Apparently, Laguna was not as civilized as Simmons believed.
"That's for the people you killed today," Laguna hissed at the mercenary's corpse, and turned around, walking back outside. Just as he stepped out into the hallway, there was a pained scream, and the President turned to see an Estharian soldier fall apart, slashed in half by Lex's katana. A second soldier was clutching his throat, where one of Fujin's chakram was buried. She savagely ripped the blade out, and moments later, a klaxon sounded throughout the hallway.
"They've found us," Zell commented, almost unnecessarily, and Laguna nodded, hefting his rifle. An instant later, a fully armed squad of Estharians burst into the corridor from an adjoining passageway, running into a right hook from Zell and a sweeping bo staff strike from Raijin that launched two of the men away. Lex dove into the middle of the formation, katana striking swiftly and cleanly chopping apart two of the enemy in as many seconds. Fujin raised her chakram, wind magic rippling off her fingers and hurling several men down the corridor, while Laguna gunned down an enemy soldier. Ellone dove for and grabbed a dropped plasma rifle as Zell slammed into another soldier, bearing him down and pounding the man's faceplate in. Raijin was right beside him, his heavy staff beating another soldier down, and the battered survivors began to fall back, shouting for a retreat. A chakram buried into one man, Laguna cut down another, and Lex's katana chopped into the gut of the last soldier.
"Time to get the hell out of here!" the SeeD shouted, leaping over the bodies, and the others followed immediately, agreeing wholeheartedly.
The escape had begun.
Squall rushed out into open air, his feet kicking off the windowsill and launching him high. He didn't leap at full strength, however, and quickly dropped down toward the curving face of Balamb Garden's alabaster hull.
The maintenance staff is going to kill me for this, he thought as he fell, and hit the hull on his feet. He quickly slid onto his back as his boots slipped on the glassy-smooth hull, and started to plummet down the face of the structure. Without hesitating, Squall flipped his gunblade over, and stabbed Lionheart into the Garden's hull, driving the blade in deeply. The weapon's flat side was angled downward, to slow Squall's descent, and in that regard it worked well. Within moments, the gunblade had stopped him cold, and Squall was left hanging on the side of Garden, barely supported by his weapon.
He got his feet underneath him, and started to awkwardly stand. In the brief few seconds that Squall had spent dropping and sliding, he had descended halfway to the first level. Squall put his hand into the crease he had sliced, and scanned the area ahead of him, nodding as he did so. Directly off Garden's bow, less that fifty feet away, was one of the numerous water towers ringing the city, well within jumping distance. Squall gathered his legs beneath him and hurled himself across the distance, pulling his gunblade free, and flying through the intervening air between the two structures.
His aim was true, and Squall landed with a roll on one of the catwalks high up on the front of the structure. He quickly stood and looked back at Garden, seeing dozens of faces staring out the windows at his feat. The Commander paid them no mind and moved out, running toward one of the ladders leading down to the lower levels. In Fisherman's Horizon, with its jumbled, industrial-age architecture and myriad of equipment, it would be easy to escape any pursuers.
Troops from Garden mobilized, SeeDs from both Galbadia and Balamb Gardens rushing out into the metal forest and twisting, jumbled ways of FH to locate the escaping Commander. However, Squall quickly vanished amid the structures of Fisherman's Horizon, disappearing as readily as a ghost escaping from a mortal body.
The garrison was on alert immediately. A squad of soldiers was no longer reporting in, and the guards at the entrance to one of the bunkers were found dead, to the man. Two other units reported sighting the enemy rushing through the corridors and trading fire with them, always coming away from the battle with casualties. The reports of the weapons the enemy was using confirmed what Malachi had quietly suspected: old model ballistic rifles, hand-to-hand combat, esoteric weapons like katana, a staff, and a bow and arrow. The enemy's prowess also lent his notion credence; Laguna Loire, with his SeeD and ex-SeeD bodyguards, was alive, and had managed to penetrate the base and extract the hostage.
Things were serious, but not bad, Malachi mused. He had thousands of troops on base going on alert, and the facility was quickly being secured. He directed his men to seal off exits, and ordered them to triple the usual number of guards protecting each area, as well as deployed immediate patrols. His men had specific orders; engage the enemy, and attempt to heard them toward the hangars. Malachi then sent alerts to the men in the hangar, trusting in their overwhelming firepower. They needed Ellone to be recaptured alive, but emphasis was put on killing Laguna Loire, as well as his guards. Malachi himself was en route to the hangars as well, to personally ensure the operation ended with Loire's death.
"Sir," one of his lieutenants said as Malachi stalked through the corridors. "We've gotten a report from the team that was sent to secure the secondary comms room."
"And?" Malachi asked.
"The squad that responded to the alert is all dead," the officer explained. "Also, they report that Simmons was found killed as well."
Malachi chuckled as he neared the entrance to the hangars, and took his rifle off his back. He checked the heavy weapon, a sniper rifle better suited to men in powered armors, and loaded it.
"Got what he deserved," the Major said off-handedly. "The Director needs to choose men who think with their heads, not their cocks." They neared the door, and Malachi paused outside as the officer with him readied his weapon. A dozen additional soldiers with them mimicked the maneuver, and Malachi stepped through the door, into the expansive chamber beyond.
"Let's end this," he snarled.
"Duke Haroldington," President Hibrom Caraway said with a warm smile, extending his hand to his counterpart of Dollet's government. The heavy-set, officious Duke of Dollet captured the extended hand in his own grasp, a similar smile on his face.
"President Caraway," he replied. "Its an honor to finally meet you face to face." As he spoke, a thousand flashes filled the air around the two leaders as reporters from across the planet took pictures of the historic meeting of national leaders. The last Duke of Dollet had been on particularly hostile terms with Vinzer Deling; the notion of a Galbadian and Dollet leader smiling at each other, much less shaking hands, was enough to draw attention.
"Our countries have had our differences," Caraway continued as the two turned away from the train station, their respective entourages following right behind them. "but today I hope we can get past them and establish a real, lasting peace."
"War is a tiresome business, I agree, President," the Duke continued as they walked out into the open plaza beyond the train station. Both national leaders raised their hands as a tremendous applause filled the air from thousands of people, many of them journalists and many more citizens of Fisherman's Horizon. The two leaders then moved out onto a central platform, surrounded by dozens of blue and green-uniformed soldiers.
"Security is tight," Caraway commented. "But that's expected."
"Yes, sir, it is," said a man approaching from the Duke's right, an aged, weathered blonde Dollet Marine in full gear. His shoulders were bare of any insignia, but Caraway could tell from his expression and bearing that he was a commanding officer, particularly by the experienced green-eyes he possessed. The Dollet Marine extended his hand to Caraway.
"My apologies, sir, I forgot to introduce myself," he continued. "My name is General Randolph, Dollet Marine Corps. I'm head of security at today's proceedings, at least on the Dollet end."
"Pleased to meet you, General," Caraway replied, and extended his hand. Randolph shook it, and gestured to the trio of podiums.
"We've got the entire plaza secured, sirs, no one gets in or out during the speech. There's a dozen sharpshooters and nearly seven hundred men on duty, including Galbadia Garden SeeDs. E would have more, but the Estharian delegation and troops haven't shown up yet."
"Odd," the Duke of Dollet mused. "I wonder where President Loire is?"
The butt of Laguna's rifle cracked into the back of the officer's skull, and the man fell limply to the floor. Raijin crushed the last enemy soldier before them between a staff and a hard place, while Fujin, Zell, and Lex loosed a barrage of fiery magic down the corridor behind them, ripping into the ranks of a squad of enemy soldiers and forcing the survivors to take cover before the onslaught.
Laguna leapt over the body before him and moved to the door just ahead. Raijin was right beside him, and he slapped the control panel, opening the doorway. Laguna moved into the portal, sweeping it with his rifle, and found himself looking on a massive room with no enemies in sight. He waved Raijin and Ellone forward, and the others were right behind them.
"Whoa!" Raijin commented as Laguna rushed into the room. A moment before, he'd only had a glimpse at its dimensions, but now that was actually inside the room, the vastness of the chamber amazed him.
It was almost a mile long and about half that length wide, tunneled out of the rock A hundred catwalks criss-crossed the walls and stretched across the expanse, surrounding what looked like eight massive structures, hovering in the air over ocean waters below. To Laguna's left, a wide, gargantuan door stretched along the length of the hangar, doubtless for the massive structures that were contained within. The sheer size of the place astonished the Estharian leader.
"Holy shit!" Zell declared as they entered. His eyes tracked over the huge structures, and the SeeD did a double-take as he saw them.
"Hey, those look like . . . " Lex began to say.
"Garden," Zell finished.
Indeed, Zell was correct. While not possessing the exact shapes of Balamb or Galbadia Gardens, these structures were similarly designed, featuring the wide base, tall, rising structures, and the distinctive glowing, circular anti-gravity rings that marked the unique flying structures used by Garden and SeeD as their mobile bases. But while the Gardens were things of beauty, unique, flowing creations that were as much art as they were functional, these structures were simply huge domes set upon wide bases, tapering down to narrow tips around which solid, glowing rings circled. They were nothing more than mass-produced weapons, gunmetal-gray war machines.
"What the hell are they doing?" Raijin muttered, and then, the group could see what was below, in the open spaces around the central domes of the massive fortresses. What looked like hundreds, or thousands of soldiers were moving around inside the fortresses, along with legions of robotic war machines, vehicles, crates of weapons and supplies, munitions, artillery, even hovercraft and aircraft.
It was an army, a massive, heavily equipped military force using the extreme mobility and carrying capacity of the mobile Centra Shelters that the Gardens had been built out of.
"An invasion," Laguna breathed. "They're preparing an invasion. Everything that's happening . . . Its just setting things up before this army launches its attack . . . ."
Laguna's words were cut off as a plasma bolt slashed past them from a catwalk below, and they were immediately reminded that the situation was still extremely desperate.
"They herded us!" Ellone commented, and Laguna nodded as they moved across the platform they stood on. Behind them, in the hallway they had come from, dozens of enemy soldiers came rushing. Zell took the lead, running down the platform and onto a catwalk beyond. They hurried down it as klaxons resounded throughout the room, and the multitudes of soldiers n the floating structures below began to move.
Zell screeched to an abrupt halt as they neared a branching catwalk spanning off from the current one, and jumped over the railing, down a flight of steps toward another one just below this walkway. The reason why became clear when an entire company of enemy soldiers came running up the path they were using. Fujin tossed a wind spell their way, disrupting the initial charge, and the rest of the group rushed down the steps, Zell landing before them. A single startled soldier was in their path, who Zell dispatched with a spinning kick to the jaw that launched him off the walkway.
"Run, run!" Zell roared as the entire hangar dropped in around them, mobilizing to cut off their escape.
The door creaked open, and Squall stepped in, pistol raised. He swept the interior of the small building, beneath the large red sign, and saw the old, abandoned building was clear, excepting a single man, bald, with dark skin and smoking another cigarette. Squall recognized him; he was the one who had provided him with the bomb and the earpiece.
"You again," he muttered, and the man nodded. He reached down beside him, and hefted a briefcase. This one was large, the kind of thing that would be expected to hold a rifle or something, and the man tossed it to Squall. The SeeD Commander opened it, and saw his guess was right: the parts for a sleek Galbadian sniper rifle were contained within, not assembled yet.
"You know what to do with that," replied the smoking man as he walked past Squall, out the door. "Don't waste any time." With that, the figure left, leaving Squall with the disassembled rifle before him.
"I'm sure you remember the rifle courses, don't you, Squall?" Illarra asked him, and Squall grunted. "You could assemble and disassemble any SeeD, Galbadian, Dollet, or Estharian weapon in your sleep. Put the rifle together and take up a position on the south side of the building. You'll have a perfect shot into the plaza."
Wordlessly, Squall listened to her, and closed his eyes, before reaching for the rifle's grip. Slowly, silently, the SeeD Commander hefted the weapon's body and slid it into place, a loud snap! filling the room.
President Caraway stepped up to the podium for the Galbadian Republic, Duke Haroldington standing at the one beside him for the Dollet Dukedom. He tapped the dozen mics before him a couple of times to ensure they were working, and raised his hands at the cheers and shouts, silencing the crowd after a moment. Slowly, calmly, Caraway cleared his throat.
"Good day, people of the world. As of right now, this message is being transmitted across the world, to any television, radio, or holo-projector that can receive it. Today is a tremendous, historic day for all of us, the world over. Today, the nations of the world are convening under the protection of the finest military forces in the world in order to create the first lasting international peace between our various nations. This sort of event has never occurred before on this scale, and promises to usher in a new era of peace across our planet."
Zell flipped off the cybernetic soldier's chest, his feet launching the heavy soldier off the platform. A stream of plasma and bullets flew through the space he had occupied moments earlier, cutting down two more men, and Raijin jumped into the gap, crushing a fourth unlucky enemy soldier. Lex and Fujin dashed past, magic erupting from their hands and blasting apart another group of enemy soldiers, and Zell leapt over the pair's heads, landing in the middle of the group and launching them every which way.
Plasma fire stuttered in all around them. From every catwalk, platform, and walkway hundreds of Estharian soldiers were closing in, many taking potshots at the group as they ran. Enemy fire sizzled against the catwalk they stood on as they rushed forward, bearing in on another group of enemy soldiers directly ahead as yet another group swept in behind them.
A loud crack! filled the hangar, and Lex pitched forward, crying out in pain. Zell spun toward his fellow SeeD, to see an inch-wide hole blasted in his leg, just above his knee. Without his junctions his leg might have been blown completely off. The brawler reached out and grabbed the other SeeD as he fell forward, lifting him up.
"Ah, shit!" Lex shouted, clutching his wound. Zell grabbed his arm as he Estharians closed in behind, waving curved swords and shot-axes, and suddenly Lex threw his arm off, clutching his katana tightly with his other hand. Zell recoiled in surprise, and the other SeeD shook his head.
"I have to," he hissed, leaning against the railing.
A sniper round whizzed past Zell's shoulder, almost blowing his arm off, and the brawler fell back, scanning for the unseen sniper.
Malachi pulled back the bolt on his rifle again, tracking Zell as the brawler ducked. The rifle kicked, and the round flew past Zell's head. Malachi cursed and pulled the bolt back a fourth time. His aim had never been this bad. Three rounds and no kills? Unthinkable.
Malachi zoomed in again, swearing he was going to finish the dodging SeeD off. Even if he had to get down and dirty, he was going tofinish this.
"War is a messy business," Caraway continued. "At times it is quite necessary. The Sorceress War that brought great destruction to all our nations three years ago was necessary to save this world from the threat that the Sorceress presented. Countless men died in that conflict. But, those men who died in that war did not die in vain. Their lives were the necessary sacrifices on the altar of peace that were required to show us how worthless war really is. Those men's lives were not wasted."
Do I have a choice here?
Squall screwed the barrel into place, eyes closed. He felt it close tightly with the body of the rifle, and then reached for the stock.
Why has this happened to me, here, now?
"Go!" Lex shouted, pushing Zell back as another sniper shot impacted nearby. "He'll kill you! Leave me!" Zell hesitated, and then nodded, turning away from Lex and running down the catwalk. The brawler didn't look back, not wanting to dishonor his comrade's decision.
Lex turned on his wounded leg as the Estharians closed in, axes and swords ready. They advanced quickly, intending to run Lex over and continue on. The first man closed in, axe arcing back.
Then he fell apart as Lex brought his katana back to his sheathe.
"Bring it!" the SeeD shouted, and another soldier rushed in. From shoulder to waist, a long line traced across his body, and he slid apart. Lex took a pained, limping step back, and chopped down another enemy soldier with a whisper of his blade.
A fourth Estharian dove in, stopping just outside the reach of Lex's blade. Not hesitating, the SeeD took a step forward, and the soldier's head went flying even as the blade dropped back down to the SeeD's side. Another soldier shouted something in rage and rushing in low, and his weapon arm fell to the floor in a fountain of blood, followed a moment later by his head, even as he realized he had been cut.
A half-dozen more men died the same way, and the enemy soldiers began to fall back, Lex advancing after them, the wounded SeeD striking hard and fast into their ranks. However, though the SeeD's will was strong, his body was not up to the task. Lex advanced, and suddenly pain erupted in his leg anew, and he fell back himself, almost falling over. An opportunistic soldier stepped forward, and then fell in half as Lex struck again.
The SeeD landed on hi rear, in a sitting position, and tried to rise as the enemy soldiers closed in around him, staying out of reach. Even as Lex began to stand up, one of the officers waved his hand, and a dozen plasma rifles were leveled at the wounded SeeD. Lex paused, seeing the firepower arrayed against him, and clutched his blade tightly. The Estharian officer nodded, and gestured again.
"Fire."
"A wasted life is lost in the vain pursuit of a dream or ideal, and I pledge to you, people of the world, I will not waste lives again. Galbadia has grown beyond the evils of insane dictators such as Vinzer Deling and Adel Harbringer. with the combined efforts of our great nations, I am hoping that, today, we can ensure that no soldier's life will have to be sacrificed or wasted again in another war."
Why me? What is this all about?
The stock clicked into place, and Squall grasped the scope of the rifle. The scope trembled in his fingers as he clenched his teeth in anger.
I was happy, until you ruined it. Why did you do this to me, Illarra? What the hell did I do to you?
"Illarra," whispered one of the enforcers, and the woman seated at the console turned toward the man.
"Yes?" she asked. The enforcer, an intelligence agent from the bureau, looked grim.
"We may have a problem at the island," he explained. "SeeDs survived the attack and managed to recover Ellone Loire. They're trying to recapture her as we speak. Simmons is dead."
"Hmph," Illarra replied, and glanced back at the numerous feeds from around the plaza. "Well, then. Squall might get rebellious if he found out. Go to Plan B. Find his girlfriend." She casually pulled a knife from her left wrist sheathe, the same place squall kept a knife of his own, and lazily twirled the weapon in the air.
"I'll enjoy cutting off her pretty little face anyway."
The others had moved ahead of Zell, Raijin event hen crushing an unfortunate enemy soldier into the metal walkway. Zell chased after them, when a shot from below sizzled up, a massive bolt of plasma that struck the walkway. A ten-foot-long gap boiled away right in front of Zell, and the brawler came to a sudden stop, almost falling over into the water below.
Something hit the catwalk behind him, but before Zell could turn on his own, a hand grasped the back of his jacket and spun the SeeD around. Zell found himself looking into the scarred face of the man Laguna had identified as Major Malachi.
Malachi seemed to evaluate Zell for a split second, and then head-butted the SeeD. Zell's skull was rocked back by the impact, and he was lifted up and tossed off the platform with casual ease. Zell crashed down hard onto a catwalk far below, and began to rise, a bit dazed, when he heard Malachi land directly in front of him. The SeeD shot to his feet, to see the enemy commander calmly walking forward, cracking his knuckles. No enemy soldiers were immediately around the pair.
"You're Dincht," Malachi stated. It wasn't a question.
"That's the name," Zell replied, and watched with a bit of apprehension as Malachi reached up to his shoulder and drew his knife. Zell rubbed his forehead, which throbbed from the impact with the man's skull. He was strong . . . Too strong for a normal person. Was he . . .a SeeD?
"You've caused me a lot of headaches," the Major replied, twirling the knife around his index finger. He paused, and then extended his knife hand forward, laying the blade back across his forearm. Malachi dropped into a crouch, eyeing Zell from behind his blade.
"Always wanted to test myself against another SeeD," he explained. "The last one I killed wasn't a great fighter."
Zell hesitated, and then nodded, before dropping into a balanced crouch, hands raised in a guard. This guy was serious, he knew. No ordinary opponent; few had killed a SeeD and lived to tell about it.
"Fine, then," Zell replied. He punched the air quickly as he prepared himself.
"You want a real SeeD? Let's go."
"With the great wisdom and knowledge of our various national leaders and diplomats, we hope to construct a new series of international agreements. We hope that, by working together, we can forge a new, strong, unified spirit between our peoples. Our differences in the past have been great, but we must all understand that every life on this world shares the same planet, breathes the same air, and eats the same food from the same ground. We are one people, and the sooner we can recognize this fact, the better for all of us."
Everything she's done today has been planned to ruin me, in one way or another.
Squall calibrated the scope an set it onto the rifle. He glanced through it, ensuring it was working, and then moved toward the window facing the plaza.
Why? I don't understand this! Why the fuck did shepick me?
Fujin buried her chakram into another soldier as Raijin pounded a second into the metal walkway. They leapt over the corpses, and turned as the catwalk bent to the left, and suddenly came to a stop as dozens of enemy soldiers stood in their path, plasma rifles leveled. Laguna glanced back behind then, and saw dozens more closing in on the other side. More men gathered on the catwalks above and below, rifles leveled at the quartet.
"Freeze!" an officer ordered, and the group set itself up, back to back, facing outward at their foes. Even so, they knew the hopelessness of the situation.
There was no way out for them.
"I pledge that today, at this conference, we shall unify our nations into one body, a World Council that will forge a new path into the future. Together, we can end war and devote ourselves to ending sickness and poverty, and creating a truly great society on this world. That is my hope, and the hope of all the delegates gathered here today, and I swear that, by Hyne herself, we shall succeed!"
Caraway raised his hands as the crowd before him erupted into cheers and applause.
"In position," Squall hissed, and Illarra chuckled.
"Speech is done, Squall," she whispered. "Now, its time to finish it all. Two shots, while they stand there. I know you can do it."
Squall wordlessly raised the rifle, setting it on the windowsill, and zoomed in. He saw Caraways' smiling face as he waved to the cheering people, and hesitated. That same man had been responsible for so much during the war. Without him, much of their intelligence would have been useless. Without his fighters they would never have invaded the Lunatic Pandora.
And most importantly, Caraway was Rinoa's father.
"Rinoa," he whispered to himself, closing his eyes.
"What?" Illarra asked, and he opened his eyes, narrowing them.
"Fuck you," Squall whispered.
"Fine, then. Hold on while I pipe you through to Simmons. He'll be very happy."
"No!" Squall quickly protested, the image of Ellone's face flashing before his mind. He hesitated, and then looked back through the scope.
"Then do it," Illarra ordered. "Finish him and it'll all be over, Squall."
Squall stood there for a moment, and silently nodded. He leaned forward, poking his rifle outside of the window and centering the crosshairs on Caraway's forehead. He settled the sights right between his eyes . . . The eyes of Rinoa's father.
Squall whispered a pair of words for the second time in as many hours that day.
"Forgive me."
A single shot resounded through the plaza.
-
Oh, boy. What has Squall done? Can Laguna and Zell get out of this mess? What is Illarra planning? No one knows! Except me! Well, at least the day can't get any worse, can it? Things are already bad enough nothing could get any worse for Squall, right?
Don't bet on it.
Peptuck's Shout-Outs!
TerribleT: An inspired moment, I assure you. I was watching Die Hard when I wrote that.
Chris Ganale: I'll see what I can work up. :P
Daniel Wesley Rydell: Gettin' warmer. You're on the right track, I'll say that.
LittleGenius90: Okay, no Irvine and Selphie this chapter. But that's alright, because holy crap! This chapter was tremendous fun to write.
Solid Shark: Yep. I'm surprised not many other people caught the Dirty Harry reference.
OniRazz: Bingo. He's nobody's bitch. XD
DBZ Fanfiction Queen: German, huh? Sound like fun. Great language for fights. And as for Rinoa, well, remember one of the rules of 24: no matter how powerful you are, if the enemy wants to capture or kill you, they generally do.
Chloe: Thank you! I try my hardest.
Leonhartilly: He didn't die a horrible death, but hey, he died. And laguna was so cool when he did it, too. I loved writing that scene.
Kolostramin Indincranin: Remember in Gunblade, during the final battle with Squall? Hyperion was broken. Just making some continuity between the two stories,a s this is based off the story of Gunblade. Consider Gunblade to be the first part of this storyline, so to speak. And yes, Illarra has a connection with Squall. What it is, I say nothing!
Psylockian Emperor: That's cool. A review's a review, except for that "nightblade42876349837645" asshat who posts those damn one-word reviews in Gunblade.
Nightfire04: Thanks for the compliment! Yeah, its tangled. Trust, me, though, its getting more and more tangled each chapter. You haven't seen anything yet. Wait until you learn more about Serra . . . .
Kimahrigirl: Seifer's part of the story is based off Riddick from Chronicles of Riddick. I'm drawing a lot of inspiration from everyone's smooth bald psycho-killer for his personality here.
As for VAs...well, David Hayter (Solid Snake)is my idea for Squall, with Cam Clarke (Liquid Snake) as Seifer.The guy who did Duo's voice in Gundam Wing is the guy who keeps popping into my head when I think of Zell. Aside from them, though, no, I don't have any idea of voice actors to fit the voices of the characters in my head.
Anime Obsessed Fan: Alucard is cryptic, because that's kind of his role in the story. He's the "meddlesome, cryptic olld man with tremendous power hidden within" archetype.
Adel is important to Malachi because he's an Adel Loyalist. Think Nazis with plasma rifles and you'll get the idea. :P
Sorceresses will be fairly important to the plot, but not incredibly so. This plot focuses not so much on the Sorceresses so much as the source of Sorceresses. I wonder what the source of Sorceresses was? That may give you a clue here.
E: You're gonna like Zell next chapter. XD
Lionheart614: Seifer is a goodguy. just a bit...misguided. :P
Elachim: Saving you for last. I need to go get something to drink here before I respond:P
Yeah, I use "blasted" too much. Its a word I keep forgetting has enough synonyms to avoid repeitition. Or maybe its just because I like Star Wars so much.
Illara pronunces it "stat-us". She has an American accent :P
Okay, you win on the eyepatch :P (for now...)
Yes, Randolph is already here, in this chapter. In fact, he may have abigger role than you think. I seed little clues throughout the chapters as to other things that may have signifigance. Very rarely is an off-hand comment or oddthought a mistake; usually I place them very, very deliberately.
As for Serra and Veronica, I say nothing! Except you're a bit warm on that notion.
Alucard's background is made up by myself, for the most part. I'm basing osme of it off another story someone I know wrote, but its not from a myth or legend...that I know of, at least.
Malachi is sort of evil. He's not a nice guy, but he's not a sadistic, vicious person like Illarra, Simmons, or even Crell. He's pretty much just a soldier who liked it under Adel.
I'd like the edited versions, but my computer hates Word and any .rtf files. I can store them but I can't open them. Its a pain in the ass that makes my job so much harder. Also, I write fast because I have nothing better to do than write, as I am on summer vacation. :P that, and my other secret is Red Bull.
The story will be fast-paced throughthis part, but it is going to slow down once the initial struggle against Illarra ends. It'll pick up again once both Squall andSeifer learn...er, I almost spoiled something, didn't I? (Yes, my little readers, cry in torment as I string you along with my little morsel good tid-bits of story!)
Darn spell-checker :P This is what happens when you use something worthless like Works to type stuff. (as a complete side note, "Malachi" always comes out as "MalachI" in Works, for some reason I can't explain. Drives me bonkers.)
"TAKE OF EVERY ZIG" and other all-caps things are references to the ever famous "ALL YOUR BASE" phenomenon from a horribly translated game called "Zero Wing" which had such famous Engrish-ings as "Someone set us up the bomb" and "You are on the way to destruction!" the most famous line, of course, was "ALL YOU BASE ARE BELONG TO US." There's your lesson in internet culture for today, kiddies.
I like the idea of a guesisng game as to the traitor. The traitor will be revealed soon enough. As for his name, I won't tell, and you'll only get minor clues from me. Granted, if you look very carefully, you'll maybe see who it is. I've left a few clues here already.
Yes, yes, Lex is too cool to die. its such an injustice. :P
Yes, Alucard tends to just appear and do things. He's very mysterious that way. he'll have a much more active role in the things to come, I assure you.
Okay, that eveything I can think to respond to? Okay, great. Now, back to work on the next chapter.
Until next chapter!