Chapter 6

Under Siege (Part II)

Thalassa had heard telepathically from Leviathan. The ships had arrived at Lenown's old harbour some time ago and the exchange had gone without a hitch. The navy captains had honour enough to not risk the lives of thousands of colonists, and the merchant crews were terrified of the two GFs steering their ships. More than five thousand of the Uncrowned King's retainers would soon be on their way, along with every chocobo they had reared on the southern sub-continent.

The Centrans' ETA at Mysidia was to be at first light tomorrow – sooner than anticipated. The White SeeDs had suffered no fatalities yet, and the lull allowed those injured to be completely healed, courtesy of Rune. The cactuars were able to replenish some of their energy. Those tonberries previously mauled by toramas, or wraiths who had lost too many appendages to continue fighting, were arrayed in the middle ground of the base. Gerra was given leave to incinerate the dead on a makeshift pyre, as that was the best that could be done under the circumstances.

To Agricola's frustration, the wraiths moved the bodies of the iron giants and behemoths to plug the two openings to the south, before arranging bodies of fallen Esthari to the western and eastern breeches. None of these makeshift walls would last forever, though they would gain the defender's valuable time. If the Major had not been ordered to abort the assault, the defenders would have never had time to do this.

Agricola waited until dusk to resume his assault. Although this allowed Edea's SeeD a much-needed respite, he played the long game of depriving them of sleep. Infantry assailed all four openings to the compound, going about the painstaking process of breaking down the walls of bodies. The defenders simply waited.

Gerra went for a slow burn and shock approach. Intermittently, the ground on the Esthari side would suddenly be engulfed in fire, consuming all sappers trying to remove the bodies, and it would be a while before they had the heart to try again. Agricola made it clear that insubordination would be treated as mutiny, and reluctantly the sappers always renewed their efforts. This way, the less secure 'walls' plugging the eastern and western openings lasted almost an hour. Eventually, the Esthari had made enough headway to breach the compound, though when they did, the Unlikely Army were there to meet them. It was nightfall before the colonials had a fighting chance of breaching the compound. Though when they finally did, Agricola played his trump card.

Beneath those same cloaking spheres that had veiled his Paracelsus cannons were four hovering flatbeds, containing bound marlboros. Those dreaded plant monsters were not from the Moon, but they were bountiful upon the Great Plains of Esthar. Odine had yet to manufacture large enough slave diadems to fit their huge heads. Instead, their many tentacles were chained to those hovercrafts, and their reflexive bad breath would be the only weapon Agricola needed.

Of course, the defenders could not see them. Thalassa knew something was amiss when the lamp-like eyes of the tonberries seemed drawn to them, and Ifrit's gruff voice sounded in her head, informing her of their presence. Naturally, unable to move and suddenly amidst the Unlikely Army, those helpless marlboros felt highly threatened. All four of them gave blood-curdling shrieks and started discharging their notoriously foul breath.

'Scatter!' Thalassa desperately cried out.

Gerra was flying towards them on Phoenix's golden wings, encompassed with a fiery sphere that would ward off the stench. But he was too late. Most of the tonberries were caught within, along with half of the White SeeDs. The breath affected them almost immediately, causing them all to stagger, sway and hit the ground hard.

At the same time, several elnoyles swooped over the compound walls from varying directions. Other Lunarians were also deployed, iron giants and behemoths joining infantry for one big push. The scattering of the White SeeDs left the western opening undefended, and at long last, the Esthari were inside the compound proper.

At the piers, a series of explosions happened in unison. The Unlikely Army had left a minimum of ships intact on each harbour, should the compound fall and they need to escape. The backup plan would have been to sail away and regroup at Cornelia. But now, escape was denied to them. Agricola had deployed the colony's best frogmen from down the coastline, and they had successfully planted charges upon those ships.

Gerra used his GFs' ethereal sight to locate and set the marlboros aflame. The fires were so potent that Thalassa caught glimpses of them behind the distorting cloaking spheres, and she pitied the captive beasts as they died, despite them being the most hated monsters on the Planet.

Thalassa steered Reaper towards the flood of Esthari now pouring through the western gap. She saw Gilgamesh, Relm and Noctis still standing at the front of the White SeeDs, ready to meet the rush of assailants. Though many White SeeDs were convulsing on the floor behind them. Most of the tonberries were motionless. Gerra suddenly erected a single crescent of fire across the ground from north to south, veiling the growing Esthari insertion from view. Keeping the fire there would drain his power; they needed to regroup fast, and she doubted it would stop the iron giants.

Throughout the whole siege, Thalassa had commanded from the rear. Now it was time for her to lead from the front. She approached a common cactuar and extended two open hands towards it. It squeaked and leapt at her. Before they made contact, the cactuar passed through her like a desert mirage, and she felt an alien sense of junction that she had not known before. She drew her gunblade and was immensely pleased to see it had remained as Riptide, albeit with the gherkin green hue of a cactuar.

Tonberry King appeared before her. 'My kin go into a dormant state to fight the foul breath, or it shall kill them,' he explained in his slow patois, as though he had all the time in the world.

'Hynedamn!' she said, as the cries of agony from her people cut through her. 'If only it was so easy for us!'

Thalassa knew the ramifications of this. Most of his race were within this compound. Tonberries had been long extinct in Gerra's era; it was still possible they could go the same way in this one. She turned to the White SeeDs that were still on their feet, and the cactuars.

'Relm, Noct, Gerra, Gilga, we're gonna hold them here!' she said. 'Viviana, Ptolemy, you're with us, too! The rest of you, start moving everyone down the first pier, now!'

The rest of the White SeeDs started the painstaking process of moving the marlboro victims to safety, aided by the cactuars. The iron giants had already stomped through the flames. Gilgamesh had only the range to shoot down two before a third reached him. Gerra rose out of range of one giant sword, circling another.

When one reached Thalassa, she ducked under its axe and drew on Rune to conjure an upsurge of water, hitting it with a variation of the attack that her father had called Dolphin Blow, emphasised by the apparitions of two dolphins appearing either side of them. Even with the cactuar's amplifications, Thalassa knew that her fists and elbows would assuredly shatter against that onyx armour. She struck its helm with her blade, and the iron giant rocked back a step.

Zell had told his daughter of their comparatively glass jaws. The Children of Fate had faced several of them on their way to answer Laguna's summons, at the height of the Lunar Cry. Her father had also had a penchant for naming all his patented attacks. The devastating strike Thalassa followed with now was called My Final Heaven, only she struck it with Riptide's edge after surging forward on a small wave. There were not many weapons that could penetrate that armour, but Riptide was one. The rippling aquamarine blade cut deep into its chest, causing it to emit a ragged groan as it toppled.

'Captain!' she heard the deep voice of Ptolemy cry.

There was another iron giant behind her, poised to swing its weapon. Ptolemy struck it sidelong with his polearm, but it was only a glancing blow. The distraction gave Thalassa an opening to cut cleanly through it achilles, and this second giant toppled. Ptolemy was also being approached from behind. But in alerting his captain, the Kakashbaldi White SeeD did not have time to defend himself. He saw the next giant at the last second, and tried to role with a hammer blow, but it struck him sidelong. Ptolemy was hit with such force that he landed in front of Thalassa. The giant that struck him was now met by Viviana, and Thalassa moved to cleave the head of the giant now thrashing on the ground.

Then, ascertaining there were no other iron giants nearby, she knelt by Ptolemy. His dark face was contorted with agony, and his cactuar had appeared on his other side. It gave a compassionate squeak.

'Hyne, Ptolemy,' she said. 'You saved my life!'

'Edea's SeeD… needs… its… Riptide,' Ptolemy struggled to say.

Thalassa felt a surge of emotion. She wanted to hug him but knew it would likely only cause him more pain. Instead, she placed his fallen White Beret back onto his head and his hanging dangers in his hands. His eyes drooped closed as he crossed the daggers over his chest.

'Matron's waiting for you,' she said to him. 'The Wanderer, too.'

Ptolemy smiled laboriously. His tribe were like the indigenous Balambi in that they would spend their whole lives craving a glorious death on the battlefield. So long as Ptolemy was content, she could reluctantly leave to die.

On the other side of the compound, the elnoyles sought to flank Kronos' force, whose mighty phalanx was finally becoming undone, as dozens of the hoplites were plucked from the ground and torn limb from limb. In a bid to buy them time to regroup, Kronos himself tried to draw them away. He broke rank and ran into their midst, whacking his spear on his shield in challenge. They swooped at him, and although he got in several clean cuts, was swiftly overwhelmed. The elnoyle that ripped the ancient's captain skull from his spine threw it at the wall of round shields, and the Esthari beyond the opening cheered callously.

Thalassa gave Gerra leave to aid them, and her lover flew for those winged demons now. He effortlessly ducked between the elnoyles' claws, seemingly naturally adapted to the sky on those golden wings. He led them away from the wraiths before nimbly dealing mortal blows to them with Maralith. The elnoyles screeched horribly as magma spurted from deep gashes, writhing as they struck the ground. The beleaguered wraiths were able to closed back as a unit, no less effective without their fallen captain. Although they had lost more than half of their number now, and had given precious ground to the Esthari.

After all the marlboro victims were taken down the first pier, Thalassa gave the command for fingers of the Unlikely Army to close into a fist. Her fist. Gerra snuffed out his protective wall of fire, and the whole force formed up around two of the piers. A stretch of about two hundred yards wherein the Esthari could come at them from three directions, between outbuildings. They needed a minimum of one pier for two of vessels containing Steiner's fighters, but they would try to hold two so he could unload his entire force upon his arrival. The night was young, and the Uncrowned King was still hours away.

The wraiths were still high enough in number to cover the roads from the east and north. This left the remaining White SeeDs and cactuars to hold the road from the west, bolstered by Gerra, Gilgamesh, and any tonberries that had been out of the marlboro's range. Relm had surrendered Rune to Sendo temporarily, so that he and any other White SeeDs learned in white magic could start the mammoth task of casting panaceas to all those still suffering from that fatal discharge. It was slow going, but each human or tonberry healed gradually strengthened the western defence, every White SeeD bristling with Rune's para-magic as they rejoined the fight.

Agricola had apparently foreseen this move. He now dispatched his remaining toramas and behemoths to try and smash through both lines. Simultaneously, he sent his remaining assault boats, as not all had been docked during the seizure of the base. Frogmen were suddenly seen advancing down both harbours to take the Unlikely Army in the rear, the ships they had departed from cloaked from sight. Thalassa implored Gilgamesh to deal with one onrush. She dispatched Gerra and Noctis' posse to confront the other. The latter group could use their GFs to seek and destroy those cloaked vessels. Gilgamesh was already sending his bladebeams at where he thought the ships were, and two had already gone up in a plume of smoke.

Yet to the east and south, the wraiths were faltering without supernatural aid. One behemoth stampede tore right through their ranks, grounding many of their bones to the concrete, and then the toramas were among them. The White SeeDs and cactuars had their own problems, as they were still too few in number. Reluctantly, Thalassa gave the order to fall back to a single pier, and the wraiths began a tactical withdrawal.

When it seemed as though the Esthari might outflank the White SeeD, Viviana suddenly rushed through the Esthari, forcing a path with her big staff. Her para-magic was as deadly as anacondaur venom or marlboro breath. Most Grandidi warriors favoured the poison element, and Fujin had reportedly tutored Viviana in a unique spell, known simply as 'Pain'. Dozens of colonials became engulfed in a toxic cloud that took form up to fifty square yards around Viviana, as she expended her whole para-magic stock in an all-out move. A centenary of Esthari gagged and went into seizures all around her, blunting their sortie enough for the White SeeDs and cactuars to regroup.

Yet they could only watch as Viviana was then cut into from several directions. Without a tongue, she could not form words, but Thalassa would never forget her screams as she fell to those vengeful Esthari. They continued to ravage her body with pick-axe gunblades even after the life left her body. As they joined back with the White SeeDs, less than a third of Kronos' three hundred remained. The whole force was now at the beginning of the pier that Gerra, Noctis and company were in the process of securing.

This left Gilgamesh stranded upon the other pier, and the Red Reaver was soon fighting as the one-man army he was. He had not been exaggerating when he told Thalassa he could hold off a thousand Esthari. Each broad arc of Ultima cut through a dozen at a time, and the sheer power within that demonic sword knocked its victims flying dozens of yards, unrooting even more. Every time Ultima recharged from wherever it was its power was sourced from, Gilgamesh phantom cleaved the ground, and sapphire waves of energy rippled along it, branching out into several destructive beams that caused untold damage to the Esthari.

Thalassa yearned to stand with her friend, but knew that without Leviathan, she would be more a hindrance than help. The colonial troops were petrified of the outworlder as he waited for his sword to recharge again, now wisely forming a crescent just outside of its range.

'Come on!' Gilgamesh roared. 'You sissies should go and guard Castle Tycoon, for how well you fight!'

At the low hum of an aircraft, Thalassa scanned the sky for what she believed was a drone. Though it was a small aerial unit, resembling a flying jet-ski. It was hard to determine the colour in the darkness. On it was a single rider. Thalassa could make out the emerald and amethyst officer's armour over the broadly built rider. Underneath the handles was a single cannon, and a rich ray of blue plasma shot at Gilgamesh. His projectile shield was overwhelmed as it struck with an expanding blue flash that briefly veiled the outworlder from sight. When it cleared, Gilgamesh had been launched from his feet. Both he and Ultima went soaring over the edge and into the deep.

'No!' Thalassa cried.

Edea's SeeD shared her anguish. They knew their captain had considered the outworlder a close friend. That bond had started with her father. Thalassa had first met Gilgamesh before the fall of Balamb, when Zell had entrusted the outworlder with Sorceress Nakano's Masamune. Most humans were afraid of Gilgamesh, and their camaraderie had meant as much to Gilgamesh as it had to Thalassa over the years. He had saved her from Ultimecia at Galbadia City, redeeming himself for arriving too late to do the same for Zell on the Alcauld Plains. And now Gilgamesh was gone, too.

Thalassa was still staring at the rider as Gerra and Noctis came to her side. She realised that officer was in command as he flew circles around the colonials like a carrion crow, shouting orders as he signalled forcefully with one hand. The wraiths had consolidated around the entrance to the pier, and the Esthari were getting into position for another charge. Thalassa looked down the pier to where Reaper was resting, being tended to by Shadow.

'I'm going after that bastard!' she declared. 'Noct, Gerra, stick with Relm until the rest of our people are back on their feet!'

'But-!' Noctis started, though Thalassa was already bolting down the pier with her cactuar-driven speed. Gerra, on the other hand, knew better than to question her resolve. Reaper gave a 'Kweh!' as she reached him.

'Shadow, I need Reaper again!' she told the mercenary.

'Of course,' Shadow offered.

Thalassa placed a hand on Reaper's beak and then mounted, her gunblade flashing from its sheath. She flew to and then above the enemy officer, waving her rippling weapon to get his attention, as it shone like a moonlit shard in the clear night sky. He banked and approached Thalassa, stopping several yards away. Despite his broadness, he looked to be not much older than her. His hair was dark, his jaw was strong, and he wore some afternoon shadow at this hour. The officer made a show of drawing a gladius.

'So, you are the Daughter of the Armageddon Fist!' he said. 'You may be my adversary, Dincht, yet it is an honour! I am Major Julius Agricola!'

'You know nothing of honour,' Thalassa said icily. 'You're a coward, doing Gilgamesh in like that! He was my friend, not just my ally. I've known him for most of my life!'

Agricola made a ponderous sound. 'You sit on your high chocobo and speak to me of cowardice? I stand as but a loyal subject of the Empress! White SeeD have come into this Province like thieves in the night, seizing this base along with its ships and taking our colonists hostage! Was murdering Governor Claudius not enough? With your junctions, you possess a gross advantage over my force, and I have suffered nigh on twenty thousand casualties! Had I not stopped the Red Reaver, I would be losing more hundreds more even now! This siege will go down as one of the most bitter in all of history!'

The Major struck Thalassa as the kind that liked the sound of his own voice. That voice was deep and carried far, and he had a way with words that likely convinced himself he was an effective orator. His diction spoke of high birth. Much like Ultimecia, he pronounced every word to its fullest.

'At least your troops can fight back,' she argued. 'You fight for an empress that killed hundreds of thousands at Dollet City. All to make a statement to the western leaders.'

Agricola furrowed his brow. 'Guardian Forces are naught more than weapons of mass destruction. I didn't bind them within magicite, nor have I ever desired to command one. If it were up to me, they would have no place in warfare!'

'To hell with your self-righteous crap!' Thalassa snapped.

She spurred Reaper toward him. Having spent months in a chocobo forest after Matron and Cid's death, flying on the uncommon black breed of chocobos had been one of her favourite pastimes. It had not taken long to come back to her. Only now, instead of the wooden sword she had kept from the orphanage, she had Riptide. They both moved forward on two lines as though in a flying jousting competition – which, incidentally, was one of the Esthar's favoured national sports. Agricola wore a look of confidence. Being from the aristocracy, it was likely he had participated in many such events, perhaps even won a few. Their blades met with a crunch, Riptide slicing through Agricola's gladius and unsettling him in his seat.

'Yet another unfair advantage!' the Major shouted as his jet-ski meandered through the air. He dropped the handle of his ruined weapon and steered back toward Thalassa. 'Was your mother not Balambi?' he presumed now. 'How would her clan feel about such dishonour?'

'My mother was a heroine, you asshole!' Thalassa shouted. 'Outnumbered twenty to one by your cyborgs, she gave her life for Garden's junior class members!'

'Admirable,' Agricola acquiesced. 'I should not have mentioned her.'

'No, you shouldn't have!' Thalassa said. 'Riptide or not, I'm still cutting your head off!'

'What was her name, if I may ask?'

'Adira,' Thalassa responded. 'Of the Masako clan.'

Agricola unholstered a sidearm that Thalassa had not noticed until now. It was a long-barrelled Sepultura revolver. She wondered as to how Agricola had acquired it, rather than over his preference of an old Dollean six-gun over a plasma pistol. For all the use guns in modern combat, armies may as well issue flintlock pistols as last-ditch weapons now. Thalassa brushed her finger over the switch on her projectile shield to ensure it was turned on, even though it would not help her at pointblank range.

'Noble death is a treasure that none are too poor to buy!' Agricola stated, citing a line Thalassa remembered from a children's tale. She had never forgotten that line, and her father had liked it, too. Now, it made her think of Ptolemy and Viviana. 'When I speak of our joust, I shall give as much mention to your mother as your father! After all, their union birthed a true riptide! Let us finish this, Daughter of Adira!'

They resumed. Agricola's arm was almost shy of a locked elbow, his revolver raised. The Sepultura was single action, so he would only get one shot with the speed they would pass one another. Just before Agricola got within Thalassa's shield, she summoned a swirling barrier of water around her and Reaper. Agricola fired, the bang of the Sepultura assaulting both their ears and heard by the fighters below. The whirlpool protected Thalassa from the high calibre round, but also limited her vision. She swung Riptide broadly, and felt the snag as it made contact, followed by a sharp cry of pain.

When she dissipated her barrier, she saw Agricola slumped in his seat. He had moved his revolver to his left hand and was clutching his wounded side, his hand covered in blood. He awkwardly banked his jet-ski and looked at her with a pained expression.

'I stand bested,' he allowed. 'Yet I don't have to die here! Not when my overall victory on the ground is certain!'

Agricola went into a nosedive as he sought refuge behind enemy lines. Thalassa started to pursue, but knew he was baiting her. She would be killed quickly if she continued after him. Reluctantly, she pulled up on Reaper as Agricola landed, circling back to the pier.

'I'm sorry, Gilga,' she whispered.

On the ground, Gerra had closed off the entrance to the pier with another fire wall, giving the white mages enough time to treat the last of the marlboro victims. The wraiths were in a formation behind, several lines deep, ready to meet the next enemy assault as soon as Gerra took the flames away.

'How much power have you got left?' Thalassa asked him as she landed.

'Not much,' he admitted.

Along the pier, the White SeeDs and tonberries could only watch as the wraiths attempted to hold the entrance. They were assisted by a few cactuars that bounced atop their shield wall, but most of the cactuars stayed behind to replenish essential energy. There were roughly four cactuars remaining to every White SeeD, but most of them were now depleted. Agricola sent the last of his Lunarians to gain as much ground as possible. He dispatched more frogmen along the pier, but most died before scaling the emergency ladders, and he quickly aborted this tactic.

Another hour went by. Then another. With each that passed, the Unlikely Army were moved further along the pier. Gerra unleashed his GFs upon the Esthari whenever they regained enough power, but it was never enough to deter them. Rune had held an enormous amount of magic before the battle, but now that too was almost depleted. Noctis had Excalibur, and while that otherworldly blade was devastating at close range, he and his posse were stuck uselessly behind the wraith lines.

Every time Thalassa looked to the end of the pier, she was hit with the acceptance that they would all be forced over the edge and swept out to sea before Steiner's arrival. A timely high tide was due in a couple of hours. Agricola remained above his soldiers on his jet-ski, always facing its nose in the Unlikely Army's direction. He must have expended its plasma against Gilgamesh, as he did not fire upon them. Thalassa had mounted Reaper again once in pursuit, but Agricola had immediately descended to the sea of Esthari, and she had not attempted to acquire him again.

If only she had Leviathan, she would wash that smug look from his face in the literal sense.

Almost another whole hour passed before things changed. A gale force wind suddenly kicked up, expunging several dozen Esthari from the pier and into the water. This unseen tempest then materialised as a tornado in front of the wraiths, and advanced toward the Esthari in a deliberately straight line, causing them to run from the pier in terror. Above the enemy force, Agricola lost control over his jet-ski and disappeared over the roof of a barracks.

'Forward!' Thalassa urged the wraiths, and they immediately darted to regain their lost ground a safe distance behind the twister.

Thalassa knew of only two people with such command over the wind element. One was Ellone and Raijin's eldest daughter, Raine. The other was Fujin.

Thalassa heard Relm shout, 'Home!' as she pointed with Rune. The White SeeD Ship had appeared on the eastern edge of the harbour, having ceased its emulation of Esthari cloaking technology. On board were hundreds of people in grey prison uniforms, all holding weapons. The plank was lowered, and the Cyclone herself led a dozen White SeeDs onto the pier, followed by as many Galbadian and Timberian POWs as the ship could ferry.

'Reinforcements!' was all Fujin said.

The White SeeDs with her had been nominated by Kurin to pass down the teachings of Edea's SeeD to those crew members too young to earn their White Beret, and to ultimately make sure their organisation thrived long into the future, regardless of the war's outcome. The remainder were masters of their chosen disciplines; the best of Edea's SeeD. Thalassa was not among them because she had been accompanying Gerra to the Fire Cavern at the time of their insertion. As much as Thalassa was pleased to see them all, they had been given an immensely responsible charge which was now being heavily jeopardised.

Among them was Raine's brother, Raiden. In addition to Xu's daughter, Tian. Technically left in command of the ship was Kurin's son, Kintara. Kintara had his father's clan's prized katana at his waist, though he also shouldered a yew bow that had been passed down through his late mother's clan.

'Hynedamn it, Kintara!' Thalassa berated him. 'You should have stayed in Cornelia! You guys are our future! If we all fall here, Matron's legacy is done for!'

Kintara shrugged. 'Father's orders didn't expressly forbid us from coming to your aid.'

'You should have known better!' Thalassa snapped. 'I would have forbidden it!'

Raiden had that stupid grin inherited from his father, that always sparked memories of his and Thalassa's previous relationship.

'The way we see it,' Raiden said, 'if you all die here, it'll be a whole generation before we can fight at this level again, ya know. By then, the war will be done. In Gerra's timeline, we were always in hiding, right? Was there really any point to that? What good was Matron's legacy if we never stood a chance of avenging her death, anyway?'

Like his father, Raiden had never been the sharpest blade in the armoury. But he was very practical, and his words had a ring of sense to them.

'We couldn't live with ourselves if we left you all to die here, Lassa,' Tian said. 'Especially not you. Edea's SeeD needs you!'

Thalassa sighed, remembering Ptolemy's words. 'So, people keep telling me. Where are the children?'

'With Ellone,' Kintara replied. 'At Cornelia.'

One of the POWs approached Thalassa. She recognised her from their meeting on the plains. The Timberian woman was quite ravishing even with a shaved head.

'My name's Sophia. I wanted to tell you before, but my mother commands the Forest Fox. She sheltered your father during his first SeeD mission, at Timber City! I was there! Mom tanned my hide for charging your dad for a look out my window, at the TV station! Anyway, I'm honoured to follow in Mom's footsteps and aid the Armageddon Fist's daughter on this night! Let us fight side by side now, and then we'll see the liberation of the Forested Plains together!'

Thalassa smiled warmly at her, as her father had told her the tale. It had been after his 'grave' mistake of informing Vinzer Deling that his team were from Garden, and Zell had never forgiven himself for being too guilt-ridden to thank the Forest Fox leader for her hospitality.

'The cactuars and tonberries are back at full strength now,' Thalassa said now, scanning the POWs, 'and there's enough to junction with every one of you! Take your pick!'

'Gladly!' Sophia replied. 'Some of my people have junctioned with moogles. We're familiar with the strength it will grant us.'

The conversation was interrupted by an enormous splash, as though from a whale. Gilgamesh was pulling himself up over the pier edge, Ultima Weapon next to Yoichi on his back. After a somersault, he landed expertly in a crouch, then started shaking himself off like a cat. The White SeeDs gasped with relief.

'Gilga!' Thalassa said gleefully. 'You're alive!'

The outworlder rose to his full height of eight feet, holding out all six of his hands in a confused gesture.

'I don't know about that,' he said sheepishly. 'I'm undead, remember? It just took me an age to retrieve Ultima Weapon. Have I missed much?'

Thalassa darted forward and embraced him tightly, and Gilgamesh enclosed all of his broad arms around her, the gesture warmer than his touch. Gerra stepped towards him, too.

'It's great to have you back, Reaver!' Gerra said.

Thalassa pulled away, wiping a tear from her eye. She looked around at everyone again.

'Matron is smiling upon us!' she said. 'We've got the strength to take back another pier now, and we will hold them until Steiner's people get here! Ptolemy and Viviana have given their lives for this! Let us honour their noble sacrifices and do our elders proud!'