Chapter 8
Strago climbed up the ladder that led from the sleeping area to the control centre. He'd been getting a headache what with Relm's usual attitude and Locke complaining of seasickness. Though frankly, he didn't know how a person could get seasick when, technically, they weren't even at sea. They were under it.
It'd been a whole day since they had submerged and Edgar had assured them all that they were well on course. But Strago wouldn't put it past Edgar just to say that so he wouldn't have to tell them they were hopelessly lost.
The old mage looked around the control room. There were a number of panels and strange equipment, each being manned by a Returner. Strago noticed Gau was watching a screen which had a strange sweeping line going across it and a large dot in the middle. Sabin was at the front of the room sitting next to Cyan. Each of them was at a wheel similar to the one Setzer used to steer the Falcon. Speaking of Setzer, he was standing by the wall, upon which was pinned a map, which he was adding details to as Gau called them out.
Seated in the centre of the room was Edgar, still wearing that ridiculous cap. Strago walked up to him and tapped his shoulder.
"Edgar, I do not claim to be an expert on machines, but we seem to be missing something quite important."
"Oh?" The young king raised an eyebrow quizzically. "And what would that be?"
"A front window!" Strago pointed to where Sabin and Cyan were apparently steering the ship without any way of seeing where they were going. "I hope you're not going to tell me that you're steering us through a set of complicated underwater tunnels, purely on guesswork!"
"Of course not." Edgar stood up and motioned for Strago to follow him. "Come on, I'll show you how it works."
He walked up to the panel Gau was standing at.
"You know about my noiseblaster, right?" He asked Strago.
"Yes, but what does that have to do with seeing where we're going?" Strago replied.
"It's quite simple. Around the outside of the Sub-Mariner, I've fitted some modified noiseblasters. Not as powerful as the one I use in combat, but they emit sound waves that bounce back from solid objects, letting us know what's all around us." Edgar pointed to the screen which showed the shape of the tunnel they were currently traversing. "It's similar to how a bat finds it's way around in the dark."
The screen showed the tunnel splitting into two ahead of them.
"Fork ahead!" Gau called out loudly.
"Yes, thank you Gau." Edgar waggled his finger in his ear.
"Where abouts are we, Setzer?"
The silver haired gambler picked up one of his maps and held it next to the one he'd been filling in.
"By my calculations, if we take the right tunnel, we'll be heading towards the centre of the Veldt."
"That sounds promising to me." Said Edgar. "Alright Sabin, Cyan. Hard a starboard."
"Aye, aye!" Sabin answered with a grin. He was enjoying himself. Cyan, on the other hand, was still not entirely comfortable with handling machines. No offense to Sir Gau, but it also made him slightly nervous that the boy's excited commands of "Arrrgh, stop!" and "Uuooo, left!" were the only things that kept them from crashing into the tunnel walls.
"Uh, oh." Everyone looked up as Gau started jumping up and down and tapping the screen. "Edgar, Edgar!"
"What in Gaia's name is the matter, Gau?" Edgar joined him, yet again, at the panel, with Strago peering over his shoulder. Gau continued hopping from foot to foot, and pointing at the screen.
"Lot's of little thingies coming towards big thingy! We big thingy, right?"
Indeed, the screen now showed a large number of smaller blips moving towards their position. Edgar moved back to the centre of the room and reached up to a small hook on the ceiling. He gave it a tug and down came a metal cylinder with an eyepiece at the bottom. He turned his cap around so he could look through it.
"Oh dear." He said.
"What? What's 'oh dear'?" Strago asked.
Edgar hurriedly sat back down and gripped the sides of his chair.
"You all might want to hold on to something."
(Scene Change)
"Uhhh, I think I'm gonna be sick!" Locke was sitting on his bunk with one hand on his stomach and the other covering his mouth. Celes was sitting next to him, rubbing his back.
"Honestly Locke, you can be such a baby sometimes!" She said.
Locke gulped and fixed her with a glare.
"I'm a baby? You're the one who's still afraid of the dark!"
"I am not afraid of the dark! I just like to know what's going on around me. Besides, I don't know what you're complaining about. The ship isn't even moving."
At that moment, (of course) the Sub-Mariner suddenly tilted sharply to the side! Locke and Celes fell back against the wall of Locke's bunk. Terra and Relm ended up in a similar position on Terra's bunk, where they had been playing cards, and Mog, Umaro and Gogo were all thrown to the floor.
"What was that?" Gogo started to get back up, only to be knocked down again by a second shudder.
A hatch opened and Strago climbed down to join them, only just making it before a third jolt forced him to his knees.
"Monsters. A whole swarm of them are attacking the ship. Edgar said he was ready for this, and for everyone to just hold on tight."
"What's he going to do?" Asked Terra.
"How should I know? You're just gonna have to trust him." Strago grabbed Relm and held her close to him as he braced himself against the wall.
"Okay, now I know I'm gonna be sick!" Locke moaned.
(Scene Change)
Anguiforms. The eel-like monsters grouped together in a big swarm and rammed into the Sub-Mariner. Sabin and Cyan were just able to keep it from being smashed into the wall.
'This bunch seems surprisingly well organized.' Edgar thought to himself as he watched their movements through the eye-piece.
"Sabin, are you ready with the launchers?"
"Ready and willing, brother!" Sabin answered with a grin.
Edgar watched the anguiforms regroup once more.
"Fire!"
Two panels opened up on the side of the Sub-Mariner. Helping to carry the ship hadn't been the only favor Sabin had asked of the Vector Air force. Rockets shot out at the monster swarm, ploughing into them and exploding on impact. Since the anguiforms were so close together, each explosion took out three or four of them.
When the clouds of smoke had cleared, Edgar could see the few remaining monsters swimming away, down the tunnel.
"There, that wasn't so bad." He dusted his hands off. "Good shooting, Sabin."
"Something else coming!" Gau started pointing at his panel again. "This much bigger!"
Edgar looked through the eyepiece again. Sure enough, something was coming. As it approached, Edgar was able to make out it's features.
"It can't be." He said out loud.
"What?" Asked Sabin. "What is it?"
"It's a cephaler." Edgar answered.
Sabin arched an eyebrow in confusion.
"You mean one of those little squid thingies?" He said. "What's so dangerous about that?"
"What's dangerous is that it's as big as a house and it's tentacles are coming right for us!"
There was a series of violent shudders and the sound of groaning metal filled the room. Cyan tried the controls.
"They won't budge! Yonder monster must have it's vile appendages tethered to our vessel!"
"If that means it's got it's tentacles wrapped around us then we're in big trouble!" Said Setzer.
"Can we still attack with our rockets?" Edgar asked.
"Nay, the launchers are blocked." Said Cyan.
"Plan B then." Said Sabin. "Come on, Gau."
"Uuooo!" Gau bounded over to the ladder and began following Sabin down below.
"Where are you two going?" Said Edgar
"Outside. To kill that thing before it crushes us." Sabin replied.
"Outside! At this depth? You'll barely be able to move!" Exclaimed Setzer.
"Don't worry. We strong. Mr Thou and Gau train under waterfalls." Gau answered cheerfully as he and Sabin disappeared down the hatch.
"So that's what they were doing on their trips to the country." Said Cyan. "Nature hike indeed!"
(Scene change)
Sabin and Gau had changed out of their royal clothing before boarding the Sub-Mariner. Sabin was in his fighting gear; a dark blue sleeveless shirt, white pants and black shoes. Gau wore something of a similar style; his shirt was white and he had donned some brown shorts. His feet were bare.
The two of them jumped down the last few rungs of the ladder. Sabin continued on down the corridor, while Gau stuck his head into the sleeping quarters.
"Umaro, Mr Thou say we need your help." He said.
"Kupo! What's happening?" Mog squeaked.
"Squid monster crushing ship. Mr Thou going out to fight."
"I'm coming too!" Celes reached for her rune blade and Locke grabbed his own sword, instantly forgetting about his sea sickness. Gau shook his head.
"No. Setzer say water very heavy down here. Mr Thou and Gau used to heavy weights and Umaro have giga strength. We do okay."
Umaro gave a small roar and followed Gau down the corridor.
"Be careful, you guys." Locke called after them.
"Kupo! Umaro, don't throw Sabin or Gau!"
Author's notes: In the next chapter; the fight against the giant cephaler! Thanks again to everyone who's read and reviewed. Keep those opinions coming. I'll try to get the next chapter up soon, but it's exam time, boo!