Chapter 3

Mysidia

Mysidia itself had its origins in ancient Centra. Like everywhere else, it had been ravaged by the Mother of all Lunar Cries – referred to by Steiner's people simply as 'the Calamity'. Mysidia was once a thriving port settlement served by all corners of the old empire, as well as an epicentre for intellect and technological innovation. It had remained well populated during the rise of the succeeding Kingdom, coming under the 'shire' of Yorn and being the seat of the second most powerful House, von Heiligeberg, who had successfully seized the crown numerous times across the centuries. Early imperial Esthar had sought to repopulate Mysidia, and its crumbling harbour had unwittingly welcomed hundreds of their vessels two decades before.

Twenty years later, Mysidia's fractured concrete roads had been eclipsed by the same raised blue highways typical of Esthari settlements. Transportation tubes snaked around the low square buildings, carrying residents from the beachfront to the suburbs in a matter of minutes. During rush hour, hovercars and buses soared about the town. The forum of old was shadowed by a raised shopping district. The ruined buildings, as well as many statues and monuments, had been restored by the finest cosmetic repairers throughout the Empire.

Overall, the harbour town had retained much of its character, and it was a prime tourist location for the Empire. While Palamecia to the east resembled a miniature and much less densely populated Esthar City, what resulted at Mysidia was a tale of two eras. The Empress herself had preferred to break at Mysidia whenever she visited her Province.

In the shadow of Mount Ordeals, a tower overlooked the town from the south, which predated even the early city-states that had come to be collectively known as Centra. This edifice was similar in design to the Tower of Owen on the western continent and the Tower of Babil on the eastern continent, the origins of all three being poorly understood. All that was known was that each of the three great landmasses had one, and they were constructed of a robust material ahead of its time that, once understood, accelerated humanity's settlement building. Most theologians believed that Hyne had placed the three towers there. Another legend was that Sage Vascaroon, held to be an outworlder, had brought them forth from the inside of the Planet with his remarkable power.

'Okay, everyone,' Thalassa said to her people. 'We've got a problem.'

The latest sitrep from Squall was that the entire colony was heading to Mysidia. Every settlement other than Palamecia had been abandoned, with all colonists being escorted by the military. It was slow going, even for the sleek electrical hovercars, which were currently juxtaposing for position along the interstate roads of the colony. Masses of military ships and merchant vessels were gathering at Mysidia's four piers, and some had already departed.

Squall believed that Governor Chrysanthe had invoked Article Fifteen of Esthar's constitution. This would mean arms would be distributed among every able-bodied colonist, and Thalassa's bold force would suddenly be vastly outnumbered. By a conscript army, albeit greatly outnumbered all the same.

The Unlikely Army were travelling across the open plains, moving parallel to an interstate road, about ten miles away from Mysidia. Shadow had returned half an hour before. The POWs had moved into the now abandoned Cornelia overnight , occupying its hospital with their masses of wounded. With the mass exodus, Thalassa did not believe the POWs were now in danger from the air. All aerial units were reportedly covering the evacuation effort.

Now that she had been junctioned with Leviathan for some time, Thalassa had developed a link with him that remained over a longer distance, evidenced by Riptide not reverting to her former gunblade, Kotetsu. She called him back to her now, even though she would not use his waves to assault Mysidia, nor would he obey a command to do so.

'There's many soldiers at Mysidia right now,' she started. 'Although they're preoccupied with the evacuation. If we wait for them to finish, collateral damage would be non-existent, but they'll fortify against us, and we'll be faced with having to take a garrison much superior to our force in size.' She regarded each of her people as she spoke. 'We're going to have to strike early!'

No one responded. The tonberries, cactuars and wraiths were all some distance away, but she was addressing them too.

Thalassa walked toward the ancient hoplites, stopping before their own leader. His helm looked to be made from an iron giant's armour, with an impressive crest of behemoth hair – a trophy from the slaying of those terrible Lunar beasts. Thalassa looked into those empty eye sockets. It was impossible to determine the emotions of the wraiths when they did not have faces.

'What's your name, Captain?' she asked, for Griever had earlier addressed him by the same title.

The captain moved his spear arm forward fractionally. He began writing something in the loose earth with its handle.

Kronos.

'Kronos,' Thalassa addressed him now. 'Your people will be familiar with ancient Mysidia. The Esthari have built on top of it, but I've been looking at the town from here,' – she took her phone from her SeeD tunic, and Kronos' head lowered toward it – 'and the harbour hasn't changed that much. There are four piers, walled off on the southeast edge of the town, jointly used by civilians and the military. There is one entrance with a military checkpoint, currently jammed due the evacuation effort. If we breach one of the walls, we can move across the waterfront and cut the Esthari off from the harbour.'

It was an audacious move, and likely one her father would have come up with. The Armageddon Fist had been famous for striking with the suddenness and devastation of a thunderbolt, both in the Octagon and on the battlefield. Thalassa had witnessed her father's heroics during the Battle of the Alcauld Plains, through Ellone's power. Instead of cowering with the vastly outnumbered Balambi at the Gaulg Mountains, Zell's final blitzkrieg resulted in him steamrolling Colonel Astinos' force and reaching Ultimecia. Zell could not have resisted the opportunity to end the war then, though that bold gambit had led to his death.

'Kronos, here's the important part. We'll need to cover your hoplites, along with the tonberries, until we can seize the armoury. Then you will have the same shields against plasma fire that we do. I'll need most of your people to commandeer the two airship carriers there. We need the large vessels to bring at least several thousand of Steiner's people here on the first crossing. You're the only one with the numbers to do so. We'll take essential crewmembers hostage, and then make sure they steer towards the coordinates at Lenown.' She paused. 'We saw you fight at the Necropolis. I implore you not to kill anyone unnecessarily, Kronos! Your very presence should be enough to terrorise the crews and keep them in line!'

Kronos was motionless as Thalassa spoke. When she finished, he made no gesture for a time. But then he thrust his spear to the sky three times, and the rest of his army followed.

'Excellent,' Thalassa said.

Relm had appeared by Thalassa's side. 'So, what happens after that?' she asked.

'We hold the base,' Thalassa replied simply, 'until Steiner's people arrive.'

There was some audible doubt among Edea's SeeD now.

'But that will take days, Captain!' Noctis said, stepping forward.

'It won't,' Thalassa assured him. 'Not with Leviathan and Pandemonium aiding the ships' path. I believe it will take less than forty-eight hours.'

'That's still a long time,' Gerra said now, on Thalassa's other side. 'A long time to be under siege, without two of our GFs. Do you really believe we can do this?'

'I do,' Thalassa resolved firmly. 'There is no choice! We will hold those piers for as long as it takes! Leviathan will take care of the aerial units before his departure, and we'll knock the smaller ships out of commission. Their best soldiers died at the Necropolis; an army of hastily assembled conscripts will oppose us, likely with a handful of Lunarians and Magitek units. Ifrit and Phoenix will have them march through hellfire! Gilgamesh will make legions of them taste the wrath of Ultima Weapon! They will be faced with an unceasing hail of cactuar needles, and the collective grudge of the fallen, held within the tonberries' lanterns! Some of Kronos' hoplites will remain with us, and their phalanxes will by then be protected by the artificial as well as the physical!'

When Thalassa looked at her own people, she could see that although a few of them still looked doubtful, they believed in her.

'Matron watches over us!' she said, a phrase oft repeated by their fallen elders. 'For two days, we will give them hell! We will make Kurin, Celes and Minwu proud!'

One by one, her people all gave the SeeD salute.

'Yes, Captain!' they said.

'Damn, I can't wait!' Gilgamesh said excitedly, rubbing four of his hands together. 'This is going to be like when Galuf held the Big Bridge against me! Only now, I'll be on the defender's side!'

'Who's Galuf?' one White SeeD wondered of him.

Ptolemy. He was dark-skinned and lean, being the only one among the crew from the Kakashbald. Ptolemy favoured a polearm and the hanging short swords made famous by Kiros Seagill, who was known as the Wanderer among his tribe.

'One of the First Warriors of Dawn,' Gilgamesh replied patiently. 'He's gone to the Void, now.'

'Bring me the runic sword!' Thalassa ordered.

Another White SeeD stirred. His name was Sendo, a Centran; he had been one of Steiner's people. He had upright brown hair and a brooding expression, usually speaking very little.

'Yes, Captain,' he said.

The blade Thalassa referred to had been Celes' weapon. Tempered by Sorceress Edea, it could absorb a near unlimited amount of para-magic, and had served as White SeeD's portable draw point over the years. Rather than presume to wield it himself, Sendo had kept the sword sheathed with his pack. His more mundane broadsword was at his waist. Thalassa took it from him, brushing against each of the eight elements contained within. She could also feel traces of the Ninth Element, shadow, which was too volatile for most para-magic users to wield. The sword's power alone could cause more damage to Mysidia than a Valkyr bombing run.

'There's more than enough power within this to see us through the battle!' she stated.

'Celes never gave it a name, did she?' Relm asked.

'Not that I know of,' Thalassa responded, then said, 'Relm, I'm naming you Deputy Captain now. I'm a gunblade wielder, so the runic sword will feel alien in my hands. It will go to you.'

Relm made a show of drawing it from its scabbard, fingering the scripture engraved below the cross guard as Interceptor barked twice. She slowly swung it fore and back, then twirled it a few times.

'If it's going to be mine, then I'll be calling it Rune,' Relm said, then added, 'After my brother.'

'Strangely fitting,' Gerra commented.

The eyes of Shadow lingered upon Relm. Both Rune and Relm's mother, Princess Thamasa, had been murdered when Shadow's past had caught up with him, driving the man once known as Clyde into exile. He opted to say nothing, though, continuing to tend to Reaper after their sleepless night.

Noctis seemed a little dejected at being passed up for Deputy Commander and being the new wielder of Celes' sword. Gilgamesh walked toward the prince's posse.

'No need for the long face, Your Highness!' he said. 'I have something that belongs to your House!'

Gilgamesh drew Ragnarok from his cloak, making Noctis gasp, before giving the outworlder an accusing stare.

'Hey, I found it in the ruins of Lenown Castle!' Gilgamesh said sheepishly. 'I didn't understand its significance at first, though don't worry, your old man knows I possess it! The thing is,' Gilgamesh trailed off, turning the charcoal blade over, 'it belongs in a museum! While visually impressive, it's an heirloom! There's not a trace of magical power within it! And it's so old, it would probably shatter if used in battle!'

Gilgamesh started laughing with that high-pitched chortle of his.

'I don't care!' Noctis said, stepping toward him. 'Give it to me!'

'Hold it!' Gilgamesh said, extending three palms in the prince's direction. 'I was going to offer you something better!'

He drew a gleaming broadsword which Thalassa knew was from his homeworld.

'This is Excalibur,' Gilgamesh explained. 'It belonged to Bartz Klauser, of the Second Warriors of Dawn, and the finest swordsman between two worlds! Bartz was the only two-arm to ever defeat me in a duel, for the Crystals gave him the wisdom of every blademaster who ever lived!' he reflected happily. 'You can wield Excalibur for the coming battles if you desire, Prince Noctis! And, I'll wager it contains more power than Rune! It is a sword fit for a prince. But never forget who it belongs to, as I will see it returned to Bartz one day! If you don't give it back, I will hound every last member of your House until you do!'

Noctis nodded gratefully, taking Excalibur.

'Thank you,' he said. 'On the honour of House Christophe, I will return it to you before your departure.'

While Noctis was letting Prompto and the others take turns in hefting Excalibur for the benefit of their phone cameras, Thalassa got some bird's eye view screenshots of the naval base back on her own phone. She looked at the tonberries, then the cactuars, quickly formulating how she would go about the assault.

'Give me a couple of minutes,' she said to her people.

First, she needed to do something else. She highlighted Fujin in her contacts and pressed the button for a video call. Fujin answered on the fifth ring. She was in the White SeeD Ship's common room with Ellone, meaning that they hadn't reached Cornelia yet. At this time and day, the children on board would be in class, and Thalassa could hear only the creaking of the ship.

Fujin's long, white hair was neatly tied back. Ellone's own long hair was loose but brushed. They were both dressed casually in loose fitting combats and tank tops. Perhaps they had both used the quiet period to get a session in the ship's rudimentary gym. As the maimed Fujin only hand one hand, she placed the phone upright against something on a coffee table. The question Fujin asked Thalassa was comprised of six words, as opposed to her preferred singulars.

'Do you need me to fight?'

'As much as I want you to, Fujin,' Thalassa started. 'it's actually Pandemonium we need. For now.'

Thalassa told them the plan. If they thought the taking and holding of the naval base was too bold, they did not show it. To Thalassa's knowledge, Fujin had never parted from Pandemonium from being a junior classwoman at Balamb Garden. Though if her own relationship with Leviathan was any indication, then their link would remain robust even over a great distance. Fujin just nodded once.

'Understood,' she said.

Ellone leaned forward now. 'Whatever it takes, Lassa. We're a couple of hours downriver from Cornelia now, so we don't need Pandemonium's assist on the sails. But, damn, I'm dying to help those POWs!'

'Why not have Pandemonium transport you there, Elle?' Thalassa suggested. 'Then he can head here. He should reach those ships by the time we reach the naval base.'

Ellone smiled now. 'You know, I've been to outer space before, but I've never been able to fly!'

Thalassa needed to cut the call short.

'Give my love to Edea and Ifrit,' she said. 'We need to move.'

Fujin said her name suddenly, stopping her from hitting the end-call button.

'Congratulations,' she said, which Ellone repeated, before adding, 'Zell would be so proud!'

'Thanks,' Thalassa said gratefully. 'It means a lot coming from you two. I will see everyone through the next couple of days. I don't want my captaincy to be short!'

After destroying every aerial unit he could find, Leviathan headed out to sea, in pursuit of two large Esthari vessels that had already disembarked from Mysidia. One was a merchant vessel, and the other was a cruise liner, both with the high passenger capacity that Steiner's people needed. The shipping lane to Esthar suddenly became unsurpassable for these ships as they met rising giant waves, and they gradually became stationary despite their advanced propulsion. When Pandemonium joined Leviathan, the two GFs steered the vessels back toward the harbour with their combined power, leaving their crews completely perplexed at the bridge.

On land, the assault of the naval base begun before noon. Not wanting to jeopardise the link she developed with Leviathan, Thalassa had Relm junction with Jumbo, whilst Noctis junctioned with Tonberry King. Relm summoned the towering Jumbo on the western side of the base. With one mighty kick, the wall crumbled and a sea of cactuars skittered through the breach, junctioned White SeeDs laced within them as they headed for the piers with super speed. Gilgamesh and Gerra followed. Marines bravely stood their ground against the squeaking cactuars and augmented White SeeDs, only to be effortlessly cut down. Most of the navy personnel within fled their stations. Civilians waiting to board airship carriers abandoned their grounded vehicles and ran for the military checkpoint in droves.

The piers were taken within minutes, along with the armoury, where the White SeeDs acquired many projectile shields. Led by Kronos, the unshielded wraiths and tonberries moved along the waterfront, beyond a wall of roaring fire erected by Gerra. They each reached into a crate for one of the small, rechargeable devices that would shield them from gunfire. Three hundred preselected wraiths then moved to stem the flood of colonial troops hoping to retake the base from its conventional entrance, which Gerra had covered with another wall of flames once the last of the civilians escaped. Gerra abated the flames now, to conserve power, though the wraiths would answer any Esthari charge with a now indomitable phalanx.

In the meantime, the rest of the wraiths infiltrated two airship carriers, driving many of the deckhands to the rails at spearpoint, before moving into the hatches. White SeeD and tonberries went about systematically sabotaging all smaller vessels. The tonberries used that strange power within their lanterns, whereas White SeeD used either para-magic or captured explosive weapons. The colonials had already lost their air superiority, and now they had lost most of their ships, too.

Thalassa boarded one of the airship carriers. The vessels were around sixty-thousand tonnes with a light crew, as their entire air-wings had already been redeployed to aid the evacuation, and increase the ships' capacity for the colonists. Some of these colonists were already on board. The wraiths were in the process of assembling the remaining passengers out on deck, surrounding them in a heavy circle. When Thalassa approached, the wraiths parted marginally to let her through.

She identified the ship's captain by her uniform. It was a middle-aged woman with more grey than blonde in hair that was neatly tied beneath her hat, and her face was wrinkled. A lifelong sailor. Despite her own fear, the captain was trying her utmost to calm her crew, who were looking between the wraiths with terror as more crewmembers were being unceremoniously marched from below decks.

'What is the meaning of this?' the captain demanded of Thalassa. 'What are the Wraiths of Zefer doing aboard my ship?'

'Captain,' Thalassa addressed the officer respectfully. 'I am Thalassa Dincht, leader of White SeeD, and the bearer of Leviathan. This, along with the neighbouring carrier, is now under my command.'

'Dincht?' the captain did a double take. 'You're the Armageddon Fist's daughter?'

'I am,' Thalassa returned. 'And you are?'

'Captain Helen Adrasteia, of the EIN Silver Lamia.'

'You have a new destination, Captain Adrasteia,' Thalassa told her. 'Lenown. The Uncrowned King awaits passage, and tires of the Empire's feet within his domain. You are going to bring his people here.'

Adrasteia said nothing. Thalassa knew it was time for some white lies.

'If you do not,' she began, 'or if you attempt to deviate from this course, Leviathan will drag both carriers into the deep. You strike me as an honourable officer. We captains are renowned for going down with our ships, but can you commit thousands of colonists to the same fate? As the same will happen with those two merchant vessels that disembarked earlier. You will inform their crews of their new course, and they will be joining you. Any crewmembers who resist will be killed on the spot, as the wraiths have no mercy. The colonists already on board these vessels will be their hostages.'

'So, I'm to dump thousands of colonists on the Lenown Plains?' Adrasteia asked now.

'Don't worry, the rest of King Steiner's people will treat them with charity, until the end of this conflict. If they swear fealty to him, they will even be allowed to return here. Now, Leviathan and Pandemonium will greatly speed up your voyage. I expect all four ships back here in less than forty-eight hours, with no less than five thousand of Steiner's people.'

'You're asking a lot,' Adrasteia said bitterly. 'My crew and I will be branded traitors! We will be executed for aiding you!'

'Then defect to the west,' Thalassa countered. 'I will personally see to it that you and your crew are not imprisoned, and the Allies would gladly welcome two airship carriers after the battles in Galbadia. Your Empress is going to lose this war, Adrasteia. That is almost a certainty, now that Sorceress Rinoa is junctioned with Griever.'

Adrasteia looked thoughtful for a time, and the eyes of her crew were on her.

'I'm a patriot!' she said desperately. 'For thirty years I have served the Motherland!'

'Your Motherland, yes,' Thalassa acquiesced, but then said pointedly, 'not Ultimecia.'

Adrasteia lapsed into silence, her jaw set.

'Choose your crew carefully, Captain,' Thalassa said now. 'As a good will gesture, I will allow any sailors you deem unnecessary to leave the base unharmed. And don't even try to bullshit me, as I've spent most of my life at sea. You need to ready to disembark in thirty minutes sharp. Understood?'

Adrasteia only hesitated a fraction, before nodding.

'Yes, ma'am.'

Thalassa swivelled and departed the carrier, walking to the other side of the pier to have the exact same conversation with the other carrier's male skipper, who was named Hector Artorius and around the same age. The result was much the same.

Half an hour later, a single line of frightened sailors were walking freely from the base to a waiting cordon of Esthari beyond. Nearly seventeen hundred wraiths departed with the two carriers, which were soon doing a blistering fifty knots with Leviathan and Pandemonium assisting their passage. Kronos and a trusted three hundred remained behind, along with the rest of the Unlikely Army.