"All right," Ember whispered with some difficulty, "We admit defeat. We will join you."
Wasting no time, Kayla and I removed the Sais from the sisters and released them from the nunchaku. We then cast a few Fire spells on them until they felt well enough to stand. They stood up, then immediately bowed before us.
"We swear allegiance to you, Masters," Ember swore.
"We will serve you from this day forth," Blayze promised.
"Awesome!" Kayla exclaimed.
"We accept your offer of service," I told them.
The sisters nodded and they melted into the amorphous figures they had been when they emerged from the lava lake. They continued to change shape until they were nothing more than two orange stones lying in front of us. I picked up the stone that had been Ember and Kayla took Blayze. We slipped the stones into our pockets and turned to our brothers.
"So," Kayla smiled smugly, "What do you think of us now?"
Our brothers were staring at us in disbelief.
"Hey, I hope you guys recorded how long it took us to do that," I reminded.
"Oh yeah!" Luke looked down at his watch and pushed a button. He grinned. "Not bad. Twenty three seconds left."
Kayla and I smiled at each other. "I knew we could do it."
"Was there ever any doubt?" Kayla grinned.
"I wish I had heard about those GF sisters before now," Vaughn commented as we started back through the Cavern. He winked mischievously. "I wouldn't mind having them swear their servitude to me."
Kayla scoffed and I laughed. "They would've kicked the crap out of you."
"Yeah," Vaughn agreed, "But it would've been fun."
"You're hopeless," Kayla insisted. We hurried through the caves, only stopping to use the Fire draw point and to fight a few monsters. We emerged a few minutes later into sunlight that, compared to the inside of the Fire Caverns, felt artic. Cale was waiting for us.
"Did you get 'em?" he asked.
"Yep!" Kayla and I showed him our matching orange GF stones.
"Awesome. Now, let's see," Cale looked at his watch. "It takes about four minutes to get from one end of the cavern to the other so I'm gonna say you finished with about…" He did the calculations in his head, "Twenty-five seconds left."
"Pretty close," I agreed, "Luke clocked it at twenty-three seconds."
"Let's get back to the Garden," Kayla suggested, "I wanna rest up before we have to leave for our SeeD exam."
I agreed and the five of us trudged back to the Garden. We had barely stepped inside when I ran into my mom.
"So, how'd it go?" she inquired.
In one breath, me and Kayla told my mom about the battle in the Fire Cavern and the GF sisters. She smiled in amusement at the way we spoke over one another and sometimes finished each other's sentences. She spoke when we were finished.
"Sounds like you had fun," she grinned.
"We did," I assured.
"Major fun," Kayla concurred.
"Oh yeah, I have Shiva for you." I concentrated and unjunctioned Shiva. I felt the stone return to my hand and I opened my eyes. "Here." I gave the stone back to my mom.
"You guys did very well," My mom praised, "and I'll see you at 1300 hours."
"Okay, see you then."
After leaving my mom, me and Kayla thanked the guys, then headed back to our dorm. Because of the battle and the heat, we were both covered in dried sweat and a fair share of dirt. We each took a shower and changed into a clean (or what passed for clean with Kayla) uniform. By this time it was 1239 hours, almost time to meet at the front gate. We rested for a few minutes, then cleaned and in my case, sharpened, our weapons. Once this task was complete we left the room in search of Tal. We found him in his room, pacing back and forth in the front room. His roommate, a younger cadet, wasn't taking the SeeD exam with us so he was in one of his classes.
"I'm so nervous I can't sit still," Tal told us. "So how did you do in the Fire Caverns?"
"We scored," Kayla informed and we showed him Ember and Blayze.
"Cool," Tal acknowledged. "I guess we're all ready to go then, huh?"
"As ready as we'll ever be," I admitted.
Tal grabbed his Blaster Edge off a table and the three of us headed towards the main entrance to wait for our instructions. When we arrived, there were already five or six cadets gathered. They appeared more nervous than we were and were continually pacing the floor in front of and around the Garden Directory. There were also several SeeDs present, including Luke, Vaughn and Cale.
"What are you guys doing here?" we asked as we joined them.
"Mom asked us to participate in the SeeD exam," Luke grumbled. It was obvious that he wasn't too happy about it.
"Why didn't you just tell her no?" I inquired.
"Yeah right!" he exclaimed, "You know that you can't tell Mom no. Even if I did, she would've told the old man about it and he would've come down on me like a ton of bricks." "The old man" is what he calls our dad. It's supposed to appear like an insult but I think it's really a term of affection.
"Hyne, I hope one of them doesn't get assigned to whatever squad we're in," Kayla mumbled.
"You know, there's a possibility that we won't even be in the same squad," I told Kayla and Tal.
Kayla regarded me with shock. "How can you say such a terrible thing! We have to be in the same squad! I've never fought without at least one of you by my side!"
"Even if it does happen," I assured, "We'll be fine."
Kayla's nervous energy seemed to pick up a notch and it was also laced with despair. "I don't know what I'm gonna do if I'm by myself." She began to pace the floor with a few others.
By 1259 hours, a group of about 30 cadets and ten SeeDs had gathered in front of the Directory and the main gate. The only person now missing was one Quistis Almasy. At precisely 1300 hours, she joined the group. She smiled warmly at the gathered SeeDs and cadets, then took a place at the front of the group.
"Hello everyone," she greeted, "I'm glad to see all of you are on time. We've sometimes had a problem with that in the past. Luckily, since all of you are on time, no points will be deducted from your final score. I'd like to congratulate all of you for making it this far and would also like to wish you good luck in the upcoming trial. We will be departing for Fisherman's Horizon shortly, but first, you'll be split into teams of four with a SeeD as team leader. Let's begin. Team 1 will consist of…"
My mother read off the names of each cadet and the SeeD to be placed with them. There were a total of eight teams and I ended up on Team 5 with Tal, Kayla and a boy named Dominic. He is a year older than us and very stuck up. He thinks he's the greatest fighter in the world and I don't know why my mom put him in a group with us. It's probably some kind of test. Anyway, the SeeD assigned to our team was a girl named Shana Richards. None of us really knew her and she didn't know us so we figured it would work out good. Anything was better than getting stuck with Luke, Cale or Vaughn as superiors.
"All right," my mother began after everyone had been assigned to their teams, "We'll be leaving very shortly but first, Commander Leonhart would like to say a few words."
While we had been separating into our groups, Commander Squall Leonhart had joined my mother by the Garden Directory. He nodded at her and stepped forward, clearing his throat as he did so. We all saluted as he stood before us.
"At ease," he said. As one, the entire group relaxed. "I just wanted to congratulate all of you on making it this far as a cadet and hopefully all of you will be SeeDs before tomorrow. Good luck on your mission."
He turned back to my mom and she smiled at him. He nodded slightly and then disappeared back into the main area of Garden.
"Poor Dad," Tal commiserated, "he never was good at public speaking."
"Now that everything has been taken care of here," my mother spoke again, "it is time to embark on your SeeD exam. We will be traveling by watercraft to Fisherman's Horizon. You will be briefed on your way there as to what the situation is and what your job is. Cars are waiting out front to take us to Balamb. Please remain with you SeeD superior until we reach Fisherman's Horizon." She turned and headed through the crowd, towards the exit. Once she had gone through the gate, the group turned and followed her out.
Outside the Garden were nine cars waiting to take the teams to Balamb. Shana Richards led us to one of the cars and we climbed in. Once everyone was inside, the head car, which contained my mother and a few other top ranking SeeDs, started towards the town and the others followed. The ride to Balamb was a short one, thank Hyne, because if I had to watch Dominic shine his sissy daggers one more time, I was gonna kill him.
When we arrived in Balamb, everyone left the cars and gathered at the docks, where two teams were assigned to each boat. We ended up with the team led by Vaughn Kinneas. One of the high-ranking SeeDs also joined each boat and my mother was on ours. Once everyone was securely in the boats, we departed for Fisherman's Horizon.
The trip to FH was about thirty minutes by fast cruising watercraft so my mother began briefing us as soon as we were on the way. She stood towards the front of the vessel and began her instructions.
"Fisherman's Horizon is currently being inhabited by two factions," she explained, "the first are pacifists loyal to the mayor. The other is a new group that thinks FH would prosper if they had a strict military government. They call themselves FFFH or "Fighting For Fisherman's Horizon." Yesterday, FFFH decided that in order to gain control of the city, they had to do away with the mayor. They raided his house yesterday and took him and his family hostage. It isn't known whether they are still alive or not. Our job is to clear out the FFFH faction and rescue the mayor and his family if they are still alive. Are there any questions?"
Tal raised his hand. "Who paid for this mission? I mean, if we're on the side of the pacifists, don't they think that we're wrong for fighting?"
"That's a good question," my mom agreed, "the pacifists don't believe in violence but they also don't want to end up under a military rule. Their only choice was to hire SeeD to eradicate the FFFH."
"So what do we do when we get there?" Kayla inquired.
"Right." My mother turned to a screen behind her, which lit up with a map of FH. "Team 5 will be stationed here," she pointed to the top of the stadium stairs, "to make sure that once we are in the city, no more FFFH members get in. Team six will be stationed here." She pointed to the docks. "To make sure they don't bring reinforcements by boat. All SeeDs will report immediately to the mayor's house and deal with the problem there. If all teams do their job and keep the FFFH from coming into the city, you'll pass your SeeD exam with no problem."
"This is going to be a cinch," Dominic scoffed, "I could do this blindfolded."
"Then why don't you?" I suggested.
"Hey," he smirked, "Don't be jealous just because my father is a general in the Trabian army and yours is nothing but a lapdog."
Before anyone could stop me, I was on top of the little twerp, trying to strangle the life out of him. I had thought about pulling out my Sais, but strangulation is so much more personal. As I squeezed tighter I began to yell at him.
"You bastard!" I screamed into his red face, "How dare you call my dad a lapdog! I kill you!" As you can probably tell, the smirk, lighter hair and green eyes weren't the only things I inherited from my dad. I also got his temper, though I have a longer fuse.
"Kaisa, get off of him!" my mother shouted behind me, but I ignored her. I just kept squeezing the little jerk's neck until his face started to turn purple and his eyes bulged.
Next to me, Kayla and Tal were trying to pry me off of him but it was no use. My strength was fueled by rage. My mother continued to shout at me as well and the others stood around us with wide eyes. Suddenly, I felt someone wrap their arms around my waist and I was hauled off of Dominic, who slumped over and gasped for breath. My mother went to see if he was all right as I was set on my feet. I turned around to see who had pulled me off the little snake and found myself face to face with Vaughn Kinneas.
"What the Hell's your problem?!" I demanded.
"I could ask you the same thing," he replied coolly.
I glared daggers at him but he seemed oblivious to it. "Nothing's wrong with me." I jerked my thumb towards the still gasping cadet. "He's the one with the problem."
"Yeah," Vaughn agreed with a grin, "a bunch of bruises and a crushed windpipe."
"Kaisa Edea Almasy!" my mother suddenly screeched from by the little roach. I turned slowly around as she stormed up to me, her face red and her hair in disarray. She looked seriously pissed and I found myself thinking about jumping off the boat. "What in the name of Hyne do you think you're doing?"
"You heard what he said about Dad," I insisted. I knew I should just cower and apologize, but my pride wouldn't let me. Another "Dad" trait. "What was I supposed to do? Let him get away with that?"
"Your reaction was far overblown for what was said," she scolded, "You could've killed him!"
"One less disgusting little bug in the world isn't going to matter," I told her, while mentally telling myself to just shut up.
The red on my mother's face darkened and she looked like she should be blowing steam out of her ears. I knew I was in big trouble. "I am deducting 20 points off your final SeeD exam score."
"What?!" I exclaimed. "Why?"
"Why do you think?" my mother shot back, "This behavior is unacceptable for someone who is about to take the SeeD exam. This reflects badly on SeeD, on the Garden and on me. Luckily it didn't happen at FH or I would be forced to cancel your chance to take the exam."
I stared at her for a few seconds, my green eyes burning into her sapphire ones. Finally, unable to take this injustice sitting down, I said, "This is bullshit."
"Excuse me?" my mother inquired angrily.
"I said 'this is bullshit'!" I repeated, pronouncing every word slowly and deliberately. I should've just shut up but no, the old Almasy pride wouldn't let me.
"You've got detention for a week for that one," my mother told me, "and you have to clean up after the SeeD ball, which, if you don't quit right now, you won't be attending."
"This is unfair!" I cried, "he started it!"
"And I'm finishing it," she told me, "Go sit down. I don't want to hear another word out of you for the rest of the trip. If I do, it'll be two weeks detention and no SeeD ball. That is, if you pass."
I glared at my mother and she glared right back. Finally, I pushed past her and sat down in between Kayla and Tal. Kayla stared at me with wide eyes but after a quick look from me, she looked away. After the little incident, everyone sat back down to await arrival at FH. Across from me, moaning like he was dying, Dominic spoke in a low voice so my mother wouldn't hear.
"You only got mad because you know it's true," he snickered.
The little punk just didn't know when to quit. I started to go after him again but Tal and Kayla grabbed my arms and forced me back into my seat. I glared at both of them but neither of them would let me go until I slumped back into my seat again. I would've been so easy to just fry the little creep where he sat but I would be jeopardizing my entire future. He definitely wasn't worth that. Still, if he kept saying things, he was gonna get hurt.
Lucky for me and even luckier for him, Dominic remained silent for the rest of the trip to FH. As we approached, my mother stood in front of us.
"We're approaching Fisherman's Horizon," she informed, "Once we land, each team will go to their designated areas and will remain there until the SeeDs have completed their mission or until a retreat has been ordered. Remember, retreat orders take first priority. Good luck."
A few moments later, the watercraft landed with a soft thud and the cargo doors opened, revealing the blue sky and the outskirts of FH. We all piled off and gathered on the docks with the other teams.
"You all have your orders," my mother told us, "now go!"
As the SeeDs took off towards the mayor's house, all cadet teams went to their designated areas to wait for any activity. As we came to a stop at the top of the stadium stairs, we encountered nothing more than a few pieces of trash, blowing in the wind. We stood at the ready but no one came along. Apparently all the FFFH members were concentrated in the middle of the city.
"This is boring," Kayla complained.
"Yeah," agreed Tal, "how are we supposed to say that we're big shot SeeDs if all we had to do for our SeeD exam was stand around and wait for the bad guys?"
Suddenly, from farther in the city, a loud siren began to wail into the sky. Startled by the sound, we turned towards it's source and judged that it was coming from the old train station. We heard footsteps approaching behind us and we turned around. A group of four guys dressed in identical green outfits were heading toward us.
"They must be calling for reinforcements," Kayla shouted over the siren.
"Good," Tal smiled and checked his Blaster Edge, "let's get this party started."
I pulled out my Sais. "You guys junctioned?"
"Yep."
"Yeah."
Dominic was silent. I turned to him and was surprised to see that he was white as a sheet. "Hey, rat boy, you okay?"
He flinched as if I'd struck him and clutched his daggers so tight, his knuckles were almost as white as his face. "Yes, I'm fine."
"Are you junctioned?" I repeated.
"Y…yes."
I raised an eyebrow at him questioningly but didn't have time to further press the matter because the first group of reinforcements was upon us. They stopped in front of us and stared at us in confusion.
"Who the Hell are you?" one of them asked.
"We're SeeD candidates," Kayla answered proudly.
"SeeD?" another repeated, "You gotta be kiddin' me!"
"If you think we're lying, why don't you come over here and find out?" Tal invited.
"You're gonna be sorry kids," the third one said and they rushed us.
As we had been trained to do, we each took on one opponent so the odds were evened. Two of the men had gunblades, one had a sword and one was using his fists. I took one of the gunblade guys as I'd had quite a bit of training in defending against one. Kayla took the one fighting with gloves and Tal took the one with the sword, which left Dominic the other gunblade. Without hesitation, we threw ourselves into the battle.
The guy I was fighting was fast but I was faster. He swung at me with his gunblade, obviously confident of his skills but I easily dodged and sliced him with my Sais before he even knew what happened. He hissed in pain as the cuts began to bleed and charged at me again. This time he brought the gunblade down on me but I rolled away and cast a Blizzard spell on him as I did. As the guy was frozen for a second, I heard footsteps behind me. I turned around and just had time to get out of the way as the other guy with the gunblade charged me. I rolled to safety and was on my feet before his weapon hit the ground.
As I sprang to my feet, I searched the vicinity for Dominic. I figured he must be hurt and was going to aid him if I could when I saw the little rat running back towards the ships as if Cerberus himself were nipping at his heels.
"Dominic!" I screamed, "YOU COWARD!"
I didn't have time for further insults because the two gunblade guys were now charging at me, full speed. I spun out of the way, slicing the closest one in the process. Because I was outnumbered now, I had very little time in which to recover from any mistake I might make. After spinning out of the way I brought my Sais up just in time to deflect one of the gunblades from cutting my head off. The other guy circled behind me and I tried to turn in a hurry but the first guy's gunblade got tangled up in my Sais. As I turned, my weapons were ripped out of my hands and I was left defenseless to face the second man. He saw me lose the Sais and was smiling sinisterly when I came face to face with him. Before he could attack, I did.
"Ember!" I shouted and my GF appeared before me in all her crimson glory. As she melted into shape, she smiled at her enemy and whispered, "Fire Storm."
While Ember was successfully flaming the second guy, I turned back around to the first. He had tossed my Sais out of reach and was advancing on me. I couldn't back up as I would walk right into Ember's attack. My only choice was to stand my ground and hope I didn't get gutted. I cast a Fire spell on the guy, but it wasn't enough to seriously wound him, only slow him down. By this time, Ember had dealt with the other guy, who was laying in a charred heap behind me. I began backing up but unfortunately I tripped over something and fell to the ground. Seeing his opportunity, the guy rushed towards me but when I had fallen, my hand landed on the other guy's gunblade. I grabbed the handle of it and swung it up just in time to deflect the first guy's deathblow. He was caught off guard by my counterstrike and stumbled back a few steps, giving me time to get to my feet. He regained his balance quickly and came at me again but this time I was ready for him.
Because I admire my dad so much, there was a period of time when I wanted to master the gunblade just like him. As a result, I had trained with it for a few months until I discovered that the Sais were the weapon for me. In other words, I can handle a gunblade pretty well. Apparently the FFFH guy wasn't prepared for my expertise with the weapon and all he could do was block as I repeatedly attacked him. Finally, as my arms began to grow tired from the weight of the weapon, I decided to pull a trick I had learned from my dad. I held my hand out and yelled "FIRE!" The spell slammed into my opponent, knocking him back a couple of steps. The moment's distraction was all I needed and I ran forward and rammed the gunblade into the man's abdomen. His eyes rolled up into his head and he fell to the ground, the weapon sticking out of him. He twitched a couple of times and then lay still in a pool of his own blood.
Sickened by the sight, I turned away quickly to look for my Sais. I found them a few feet away and bent to scoop them up when my vision clouded with tears. I had never killed anyone before. I had exterminated countless monsters, yes, but never a human being. I blinked the salty droplets out of my eyes and picked up my weapons. I turned to where Tal and Kayla were, both fighting the man with the sword. The other man lay a few feet away, dead as far as I could tell. I rushed over to help them and in a few seconds he had joined his companions.
"Is everybody okay?" I asked as we tried to catch our breath.
"Yeah," Kayla assured.
"Hey," Tal started and squinted his eyes, "Where's Dominic?"
"The little traitor took off as soon as the fight started," I informed.
"He left?" Tal asked, astonished.
"Yeah, he ran back towards the landing point just like a little sissy," I told them.
"There goes his hope of ever being a SeeD," Kayla commented.
"Good," I said, "SeeD doesn't need nasty little weasels like him."
Our conversation was cut short as another group of FFFH men came at us. We dispatched them, as well as a few more groups. Suddenly, the siren that had been wailing almost since we got to FH fell silent. The three of us looked at each other, worry written on all our faces.
"Why'd it stop?" Tal wondered.
"Do you think that's a good thing?" Kayla inquired.
"I hope so," I said.
All of a sudden, a loud rumbling filled the air and shook the ground beneath our feet. We wobbled a bit but managed to stay upright. After the rumbling stopped, we looked at each other again, worry replaced by fear in our faces.
"I don't think that was a good thing," Kayla commented.
"Me neither," I agreed.
"What do we do?" Tal asked, "Should we go into the town to help?"
"We were told to stay here," I reminded, "If we go, we could fail our exam."
"But what if the others need help?" Tal insisted.
"They're SeeDs," I said, "They can handle it." The real reason I didn't want to go is because I remember that my Dad failed his second SeeD exam for not following orders. I love my dad, but I don't necessarily want to follow in his footsteps.
From the middle of town, near the mayor's house came the sound of automatic gunfire. It was very loud and my first thought was that it came from some sort of machine rather than a human with an Uzi. We all looked at each other again.
"That doesn't sound so great," Tal admitted.
After the gunfire, the answering sound of a shotgun echoed throughout the town.
"Vaughn," Kayla whispered and it was obvious that she was worried about her brother.
"Hey," I smiled, "if he just shot something, that means he's alive right?"
She nodded but I could tell she was still worried. Although my face didn't show it, I was worried about my mom and my brother. I wanted to keep my spirits up for Kayla though so I said nothing of my own worries.
The electric sound of lightning sizzled through the air as someone cast a high level Thunder spell somewhere farther in the town. All of us twitched as if we had been hit with the electricity.
"Something's wrong," Tal insisted, "We should go help."
"If they need our help, they'll come and get us," I countered.
Luckily, before any more argument could be had, a group of cadets raced past us towards the landing site. They were gone so fast that we didn't even have a chance to ask them what was going on. We were still staring after the first group when yet another team of cadets rushed by. We managed to stop one, a girl with short brown hair and gray eyes.
"What's going on?" Tal asked her.
"It's coming!" she shrieked, "Oh Hyne, it's COMING!" With that said, she broke out of Tal's grasp and hurried after her companions.
"What's coming?" Tal wondered.
We only had to wait a few seconds to find out. Almost on the heels of the last group came the SeeDs, apparently running for their lives. My mother was at the back and she was shouting orders to the others and occasionally casting Thundaga spells on something that we couldn't quite see yet but was coming up behind them. She turned forward again and caught sight of us.
"Retreat!" she shouted, "retreat back to the landing point!"
The three of us hesitated, too shocked to even move. What the Hell was going on? Suddenly, a barrage of automatic gunfire erupted behind my mother. She dove to the ground, as did the others in front of her, but not before she took a couple of rounds in the back. Luckily, she had a strong protect spell cast on herself and it deflected the bullets. She was on her feet again within seconds and running towards us again.
"Go!" she screamed as she approached and we fell in with the group of SeeDs that were fleeing FH. I found myself running next to Kayla and Vaughn Kinneas and directly in front of my brother. Neither he nor my mother seemed to be harmed worse than a few scratches and minor burns.
"What's going on?" I shouted as we ran.
"Damned rebels souped up the BGH251F2!" Luke answered from behind me. I gasped in shock. The BGH251F2 was the machine that Aunt Selphie, Uncle Irvine and Uncle Zell had come to FH in after blowing up the missile base during the last Sorceress War. The SeeDs had left it in FH because they figured it would be useless to them because they were all pacifists. Now those damn FFFH jerks had fixed it up and were using it on us!
I looked over my shoulder and saw the huge, lumbering machine round a corner and speed up to catch us. I was pumping my legs as fast as they would move and still the stupid thing gained on us. My mother and a few other SeeDs were casting Thunder spells on it but they didn't seem to be doing any good. Suddenly, the gatling gun on the front of it began to spin.
"Get down!" my mother shouted and before I could react, I was being shoved to the ground by Vaughn. It was a good thing that he reacted so quickly or I probably would've been cut down in my tracks. After the onslaught of bullets, we got to our feet and ran towards the landing site. Because she was shorter than most of the SeeDs in the group, Kayla began to fall towards the back of the group. Afraid that the others would leave her behind, I slowed my pace to stay up with her until we were directly in front of my mom.
"Run!" she yelled at us and we did.
Suddenly, I saw Kayla go down beside me. I skidded to a halt and my mom ran right by me, obviously not realizing that Kayla had fallen or that I was going back for her. I ran back to where Kayla was and knelt down beside her.
"Come on!" I screamed. Behind us, the machine was dangerously close.
"I can't!" she wailed, "My foot's caught!"
I looked down and saw that Kayla's right boot was stuck in between two pieces of metal in the disrepaired dock. I yanked on it but only managed to wrench a cry of pain from my best friend. I glanced up at the advancing BGH251F2 and then back at Kayla's black boot. Frantically, I pulled on it again but only got the same response.
"Slip your foot out of the boot," I urged.
"I can't," Kayla cried. I looked at her face and saw tears flowing down her cheeks, "my foot's twisted."
Suddenly, Vaughn, Cale and Luke appeared at my side.
"Get outta here!" Luke yelled, "We'll help her."
"I'm not leaving her!" I insisted and felt tears prick my own eyes. I'd die before I'd leave Kayla there.
"It's coming," Cale warned as he and Luke tried to pull Kayla's foot free.
"I'll slow it down," Vaughn offered. He stood up and ran a couple of steps forward, his black trench coat floating behind. He took aim and fired a volley of shots at the machine. Although powerful, the attack only managed to stop it for a second and then it came with more conviction than before.
"Where's Mom?" I asked Luke as he and Cale continued to work on Kayla's foot.
"She led the other's back to the ships," he informed, "You'd better go too or she's gonna be pissed."
"I don't care," I shook my head. "I'm not leaving without Kayla." I stood up and walked over next to Vaughn, who was shooting another round at the enemy.
"Ember!" I called and watched as my GF attacked the machine with her Fire Storm attack. I turned back to Kayla. "Kay, can you summon Blayze?"
She winced as one of the guys leaning next to her pulled on her foot. "Yeah."
"Do it," I insisted and I called for Ember again. Both sisters emerged this time and performed their Crimson Volcano attack. The assault stunned the BGH251F2, but it recovered too quickly.
"Get back!" Vaughn ordered, "It's gonna fire the cannon!"
My mind was racing as I thought about what was going to happen. If we just got out of the way, the cannon would fry Luke, Cale and Kayla. Without thinking about what I was doing, I ran towards the BGH251F2.
"Kaisa!" I heard Vaughn shout behind me, "What the Hell are you doing?"
To tell the truth, I didn't know. All I knew was that I had to disable it before it shot the cannon. I reached the front of the machine and saw the gatling gun begin to turn. While this was bad for me, I was glad because it meant delaying the cannon. I jumped to the side just in time and hoped that no one else was hit. After the gunfire, I grabbed onto a protruding piece of metal and climbed onto the machine.
"Kaisa!" Vaughn was running after me but I didn't turn to look. I managed to get on top of the BGH251F2, where it had no weapons. Once up there, I looked around, trying to figure out what I was going to do. My eyes fell on one of the stacks that released the pressure from the inside and I smirked. Excellent.
I ran over to the nearest stack, pulling off my cadet jacket as I went. When I reached it, I stuffed the jacket into the stack, thereby blocking the excess pressure from being vented. Of course, there were five other vents to deal with as well. Casting a Blizzard spell on two of them successfully froze them up and a Thunder spell melted another closed. Only two left to deal with. Suddenly, the BGH251F2 began to shake underneath me and I had the feeling that something very bad was going to happen. Smoke began to pour out of the two remaining stacks and I could tell that the pressure was too much for just the two of them.
From down below I could hear Vaughn screaming at me to get down and I was happy to oblige. I ran to the edge of the machine and was about to jump off when one of the stacks exploded. I was sent flying off the thing, into the air. I remember feeling my body shoot across open space and then begin to fall back towards the ground. I closed my eyes waiting for the impact. Just before I landed I felt someone catch me. Both of us were sent to the ground and another explosion shook the BGH251F2. I felt pieces of hot metal and other debris raining down around me and I tried to cover my head the best I could.
When the debris stopped flying and everything grew quiet, I chanced a glance to see who I collided with. I found myself laying on top of Vaughn Kinneas. He was on his back, his cowboy hat laying a few feet away. He smiled when he saw my eyes on him.
"You okay?" he asked. I nodded, not sure what to say. "Good." He started to push himself up and I scrambled off of him. Finally, as he winced when standing, I found my voice.
"Oh Hyne Vaughn, are you hurt?" I asked him.
"I'll be fine," he assured me with a smile. He started to bend over to pick up his hat but groaned in pain. I ran to his side and picked it up for him. He nodded in thanks and placed it on his head.
"You're not okay," I insisted as he walked over to where Luke, Kayla and Cale were still sitting on the ground. "You're hurt. Probably a broken rib or maybe a few. You should take it easy until Dr. Kadowaki can take a look at it."
"It's nothing," he said and stopped next to the others. "Everyone all right?"
"Yeah," Cale nodded, "but Kayla's foot is still stuck."
"What about that thing?" Kayla asked and pointed to the BGH251F2, "Do you think it's really done?"
We looked back at the BGH251F2, which was missing the entire top half of it's structure and was still smoking in places.
"Yeah, I'd say it's done," Vaughn grinned.
"What about Kayla?" I questioned and tried to brush some soot off of the white shirt I was wearing under my cadet jacket. "How're we gonna get her out of there?"
"I've almost got it, I think," Luke told me and bent down near her foot. "We just need to pull this piece away from that piece a little more and she'll be free."
He and Cale each grabbed a piece of the metal and pulled with all their might. It barely moved, but it was enough to get Kayla's foot free. She pulled the boot from in between the metal and the guys let go, then helped her to her feet. Because of all the pulling and because it was twisted, her foot had swelled up and was painful. I helped her to her feet and she leaned on me and Cale for support. We were just starting towards the landing site when my mother and a few other high ranking SeeDs rushed up to us.
"What happened?" she demanded, "Where is the BGH251F2?"
Vaughn pointed to the smoking heap of metal. "Right there."
"What happened?" my mother repeated, wide eyed. "How did you destroy it?"
"Kaisa did it," Kayla explained, "she climbed up on top of it and plugged up the stacks. Then it just exploded."
My mother looked at me and I saw the disbelief and worry in her eyes. It quickly turned to relief and she hugged me tightly.
"Don't ever do anything like that again," she ordered, "do you hear me?"
"Yes Mom," I assured and hugged her back. When I pulled away, she had tears in her eyes, but she quickly blinked them away. "Okay, let's get back to the ship. I sent the others ahead but had one wait for us."
"Mom, Vaughn and Kayla are hurt," I told her.
"How bad?" She looked at the Kinneas siblings.
"I hurt my foot," Kayla informed, "I can't walk on it."
"That's okay," my mom assured, "We can carry you." She turned to Vaughn. "What about you?"
"I'm okay."
"Where are you hurt?"
"His ribs, I think," I answered for him, "He caught me when the BGH251F2 exploded."
"Caught you?" my mom questioned and the same look of uneasiness filled her eyes as when she heard that I had climbed on top of the thing in the first place.
"Yeah," I nodded, "It started rumbling when I was on top of it and I tried to get off but one of the stacks exploded and I flew off. Vaughn caught me on the way down."
My mother turned back to Vaughn and he smiled sheepishly. "She makes me sound like a hero. What really happened is that she landed on me. I was just trying to get out of the way."
"No you weren't," Kayla contradicted, "I saw the whole thing. You kept looking over your shoulder to see where she was and then you caught her."
Vaughn glared at her but didn't have time to say anything before my mother spoke.
"Thank you Vaughn," she said. He nodded. "Okay, let's get back to the ship. Luke, carry Kayla."
Luke nodded and scooped her up as he would a child and we headed back towards the landing point. It was a relatively short walk and no one said much. When we reached the landing point, one ship was left to take us back to Balamb. We boarded quickly and in no time we were headed home.
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Thanks to Wolf of Light for reviewing. I promise I'll read your story as soon as I get the chance.