Chapter 15

The Quicksilver Moogle

Thalassa believed that Gerra took well to being the trawler's latest apprentice over the first few days. After being provided with more suitable clothing, Gerra was inevitably used as a cleaner, given light deckhand duties during the day and used as the cook's porter during the evening. Any of those tasks would be a cinch compared to the childhood mining Gerra had alluded to. George also had Gerra filleting all the decent cod and haddock with Thalassa after each big haul. When not on shift the crew would float between playing Triple Triad, poker and chess; using seagulls as target practice; fishing recreationally with rods; playing instruments and of course, drinking.

The old trawlerman that had glowered at Gerra when he had first walked starboard was called Hodson. After acting reserved for a time, Hodson gradually spoke with Gerra more, often leading to a predictable story of being at sea and something untimely happening to the ship or a crewmember. One such story had involved his brother falling ill while long lining for salmon off the coast of northern Trabia. 'But a couple of mouthfuls of this and he was fit as a fiddle!' he assured Gerra, handing him a spirit bottle. The label said it contained gin, eucalyptus, menthol and liquorice. Already addled on George's complimentary brown ale, Gerra necked a mouthful of the concoction and felt it all the way down to his chest.

On the penultimate evening before their departure, most of them were making merry in the mess. George was jamming an acoustic guitar on request. Gerra was sitting in a corner, draining ale from a wooden tankard, when the skipper began playing a solo that he recognised from The Onion Knight and the Cloud of Darkness – still popular in his own time. Perhaps after consuming one too many tankards, Gerra began to sing the stanzas in a resonant baritone. Everybody looked to him and listened respectfully, Thalassa being the most attentive – and probably the most sober – of them all. When the song came to an end, the crew cheered and raised their tankards to him.

In the predawn hours, they had the Timber coast within sight. It was time for Gerra and Thalassa to depart. Making sure there were no patrol boats around, they were waved off by George as they rode in an inflatable dinghy to a bay, situated twenty miles from the nearest harbour town of Cedar.

Outwardly, the bay could have been on a postcard. It lacked bunker defenses as it was not an optimal location for a sea invasion, being too small, with narrow steep cliffs beyond it. An unchecked fastitocalon population meant that it was not used as a retreat. In the moonlight to their right, they could see the silhouettes of tell-tale, orange fins lining the sand. Thalassa placed the deflated dinghy between two large rocks. Meandering around any fins, the White SeeD led the way through a natural path between two cliffs. As soon as they reached the top, Gerra turned and admired a view that would not have been anywhere near as picturesque in his own time.

Thalassa took out her sat phone, dialling the number of a SeeD named Damian Reno.

Damian's phone had been switched to silent for the coming operation.

At twenty-two namedays, Damian was technically a Neo-SeeD, having been inducted by Commander Leonhart after Balamb Garden's fall. Known among his comrades as the Wraith of Winhill, Damian had passed out with the magnificent Lionheart gunblade on his shoulder six years before. He had been seconded to the Forest Fox since Timber's annexation.

Having previously spent two decades occupied by Galbadia, the dissatisfied people of Timber still possessing the will to resist Esthari oppression had opened the old resistance networks after its surrender. The Fox being one of many underground factions, it was commanded by the now senior female veteran of the war with Galbadia, who had once sheltered the Children of Fate on their first SeeD assignment. This nocturnal raid on a supply convoy was one of many undertaken by the Fox, which had stepped up its operations due to the increased Esthari activity in preparation of their Galbadian invasion.

Crouching on the large branch to Damian's right was Rickard, the son of the Fox's leader and five years his senior. They were hidden from the road below by the thick forest canopy, which contained about two dozen Fox members. Although Esthar had continued Galbadia's deforestation of two decades prior, this part of the country was still densely covered.

The convoy finally came into view, headlights switched to full beam and ruining the night vision of any Fox members who did not have Esthari headgear. Rickard closed one eye to preserve his, waiting for the sign. All electric-powered, the lead vehicle passed quietly below them, followed by the next. Behind that was a flatbed truck. The front vehicle hit an improvised explosive device, ruining one wheel and grounding it to a halt. The resistance members above the rear of the convoy had already thrown grenades at the last vehicle.

Damian cooked his own grenade for three seconds, as did Rickard. After three lights on the countdown display lit up, they simply dropped them over the branch and onto to the flatbed. The Esthari would have their invisible shields up, but those unfortunate enough to have the explosives fall within their barriers were blown apart.

The Wraith lowered himself, dropping to hang from a sturdy branch with both hands before falling onto the flatbed. At only five foot six, Damian was one of the shortest of the raiders, but had a stocky build that belied his speed. Ending up directly behind a soldier, Damian drew one of his high-calibre pistols and fired into the back of their neck, nearly blowing their head off. He drew his double-edged axe with his free hand. A female soldier had turned at the sound of the gunshot, and Damian lunged, piercing her throat with a half-moon blade. The next Esthari was ready, his sword drawn in time to parry Damian's backhand, but the Neo-SeeD shot him pointblank in the face at a slight opening.

On the other side of the flatbed, Rickard had killed two Esthari and was duelling with a third. Damian swung into this last soldier from behind, and they met in the middle. Down the line of the convoy, the rest of the Esthari had met similar fates. Only a few had managed to clear their vehicles to defend against the raiders. They were quickly cut down through overwhelming numbers, and the Fox had only suffered a couple of casualties. In all, it had been a success.

'Good work, people! Now let's get these vehicles commandeered!' Damian shouted.

Stepping around the dismembered bodies on the flatbed, he dropped down from the back and pulled out his phone, switching it to vibrate. He had a missed call from a White SeeD called Thalassa Dincht. All Neo-SeeDs and cadets knew of Thalassa and revered her fallen father as a hero. Damian had fought alongside her during the Timber invasion and they had hit it off quite well – despite her rebuffing his romantic advances – and they had stayed in contact. Though this was the first time he had heard from her in several months.

Damian returned the call, and the White SeeD answered on the second ring.

'Damian!' she said sharply. 'Where are you? Are you still in Timber?'

Damian hesitated. 'I was thinking of staying for a little longer. It's the best season for owl watching.'

'I hear there are many tawny ones this time of year,' Thalassa replied.

Satisfied his friend did not have a gun pointed at her head, Damian said, 'We've just finished a raid. Where are you?'

'We docked twenty miles from Cedar. We're moving inland, towards the friendly border. Can you get us two chocobos, or some wheels?'

She sounded like she needed to hurry, and Damian assumed the 'we' referred to other White SeeDs.

He replied, 'Chocobos would be easier. I'll text you my coordinates. Who are you with?'

There was a pause. 'A defected officer called Gerra. It's okay, Carbuncle trusts him. He's helping us prepare for the invasion.'

An Esthari officer?

'Be careful, Lassa,' Damian warned. 'See you soon.' He hung up and turned to Rickard. 'Drop me at the nearest chocobo farm.'

To the north, Rinoa, Xu and Raine had finally reached the stretch of forest that they sought, about ten miles north of Obel Lake. Xu had been contacted by Thalassa after the White SeeD had begun moving inland with her mysterious companion, and they would rendezvous later.

Leaving their hired vehicle some miles from the border, Rinoa had made the trio invisible, and they had simply walked into Timber. They had silently passed within yards of the imperial border guards, through the natural gap in the plateaus between Timber and Galbadia. Procuring chocobos, the Sorceress had kept them cloaked from view and their energy replenished with magic and restful sleep. They had covered a great distance in just a few days and stood before the outer trees of the verdant forest.

Rinoa had always loved Timber. She had secured its independence from Galbadia following her father's rise to power, settling here with her lion soon after and fashioning her dream home on the edge of the Obel Lake. They had lived in the free state until Balamb Garden's fall.

Gathering the surviving SeeDs and cadets following the Fall of Balamb, the Sorceress and Knight had found them a new home in Battleship Island, searching far and wide to recruit a new generation to take up the fight against Esthar. Neo-SeeD was not as powerful as SeeD had once been, but after thirteen years of tutelage from the original SeeDs – and working closely with White SeeD – it was still a force to be reckoned with.

Steadfastly joining Timber's defence two years before, she and Squall had confronted Reina directly. Timber had met the Esthari in open battle while the imperials marched for Timber's northernmost city, Sequoia. Squall had fought General Zebalga before, at Balamb Garden, but it was the first time they had met the enemy Sorceress.

'Zell. Edea. Cid.'

Squall said each name with emphasis before Reina, who they noted bore a strong resemblance to their old nemesis, Ultimecia. Albeit a more human one.

'Kiros and Ward, too. Everyone who fell at Balamb, and all those children under Edea's care. Not one of their deaths will be going unanswered!' he vowed.

The Praetorians flanked their Empress, eying Xu, Rhodry and an accompanying unit of Neo-SeeDs. General Zebalga had evenly stared at them with his dark eyes, revealing his tattooed eyelids with each slow blink.

'The name of each person you mention were responsible for the imprisonment and slaying of Adel, indirectly or otherwise,' Reina riposted, 'which places the two of us in an endless cycle of retribution. Where does it end, Lionheart?'

'It ends when I cut your damn head off!' Squall shot back.

It had been Gilgamesh that dealt the finishing blow on Adel, but Rinoa held her tongue. She had been powerless to do anything in that awful fight, conjoined to Adel's gigantic, masculine chest in a freak junction, her power continually drained. That otherworldly being had saved all their lives. Not only that, they had always assumed Adel had been possessed by Ultimecia before being freed from cryogen. As much a victim as they were.

'By following in the footsteps of Adel,' Rinoa said, 'all you have done is ruin the peace we worked so hard to bring to the world! Why are you doing this, Reina? You could have worked with Laguna in Esthar, to show the world that the Sorceress power is good for something other than supremacy, manipulation or destruction!'

'Do not speak to me of the use of power!' Reina snapped. 'My mother's august power was mine by rights, and you took what remained for yourself! Unable to harbour it, you divided it among your friends!'

'Adel was your mother?' Rinoa asked incredulously.

'Are you really so surprised?' Reina asked. 'Your cherished Matron mothered her Bloodhound, did she not?' When Rinoa and Squall said nothing, Reina continued. 'Rinoa, there was a time when you would have been a match for the Great Hyne himself! His Descendants are fated to rule over mortals, and there should only be one! There shall come a day when He will seek to reclaim what was once His, and if that day is today, we shall fall divided before His wrath!'

'Whatever,' Squall said. 'That's just an old bard's tale! Nothing is going to justify the killing of our friends and your enslavement of the GFs!'

Then Zebalga had broken silence, swinging his khopesh in a circle, speaking in his low voice.

'It's been ten years since Balamb. Think you can kill me this time, Lionheart?'

Leaving the unjunctioned Praetorians to fight Xu's unit, Squall and Rinoa had fought the demonic duo to a stalemate. Zebalga had met his match in her Knight once more, though without a GF, Rinoa had been at a disadvantage against Reina and Tiamat. Reluctantly, they had joined Timber's fighting retreat to Sequoia, lest they risked being cut off from their allies.

Just a few weeks later, her beloved Timber had been annexed again.

Back in the present, Raine was struggling to contain her excitement at acquiring her own GF. It was not a prerequisite to becoming a Neo-SeeD but would make her more integral to the fight against Esthar. With her quarterstaff held magnetically behind her back, she did not hesitate to lead her party into the forest, needing only general directions from Rinoa.

The 'monster' of Obel Lake was in reality a demi-GF known as the Quicksilver Moogle, otherwise referred to as Minimog, who had resided in Timber's forests long before paleolithic humans had started cutting into them. Rinoa said that she and her Knight had become well acquainted with Minimog during their years of peace here, and the Sorceress knew exactly where to find it at any point of the sun's journey. Minimog might not a true GF, but its strength would prove a welcome addition to Galbadia's defence.

After sunset, the Quicksilver Moogle would be meditating in a round meadow between the north side of the lake and the dense canopy as yet unspoiled by Esthar's plasma cutters. It was not far from Rinoa's old abode. They happened upon it illuminating the meadow with a majestic pale glow. The shapes of deer, owls, foxes and ordinary moogles were visible around it, existing in perfect harmony. She could not resist recording a video of the scene on her phone from the edge of the clearing, Liu being the first she intended to show it to before it was posted on the Network. She had never seen anything like it and considered herself very fortunate to do so.

Raine had been close to Thalassa in her childhood, but with the deep friendship between Seifer and Raijin, had been even closer to Tyris. Before the jovial young girl had been evacuated to Centra, and then cruelly taken from them. Longing to see her childhood friend again, Raine had accompanied Thalassa to Centra during one of the White SeeD's rare meetings with the reluctant Esthari officer, but Tyris had not acted any happier to see Raine than she had Thalassa. She could only put it down to envy, as they had grown up in relative peace outside of the Empire, and Tyris had not. But her old friend's adversity had made an impression on Raine, and she could only hope the stoic Tyris returned to them someday.

'Go on, Raine,' Rinoa said. 'Offer your heart and soul to Minimog.'

Raine nodded, trying to put her consternation to the back of her mind as she approached the glowing moogle. She had to succeed here, she thought. Just becoming a Neo-SeeD was not enough. She wanted to be able to fight alongside Thalassa, Uncle Squall and her father in the great battle to come. She wanted to make Ellone and Raijin proud of their firstborn child.

Minimog did not stir as Raine approached. For a moment, she just admired its beauty up close. Then, she slowly crouched to bring her substantial height down to its level. Only then did its eyes open, revealing large black irises ringed with the same pale light of its aura. Raine felt Minimog probing her own invisible aura. It no doubt recognised the essence of Cerberus, Sacred and Minotaur behind her. And of course, Rinoa. Minimog glanced at the Sorceress it was so familiar with, giving an affectionate 'Kupo!'. Then it left its tiny, squat legs, floating towards Raine.

The Quicksilver Moogle was tiny, not much bigger than a house cat. Raine had to resist the urge to stroke its silky fur or touch the pom-pom on its head, which was as red as the ripest apple. But suddenly, she was as sure as she ever had been that it would not be offended. Raine placed one of her hands atop it, and gave it a single, firm stroke down the back of its round head, softly caressing its back.

Minimog abruptly became a shimmering essence, still glowing like the moon. It disappeared unto her the same way Brothers and Cerberus had with Rinoa and Xu, plunging the clearing into darkness as the junction was complete. Unlike her two older companions, Raine could not resist the temptation to trial her newfound power, taking her staff from her back and swinging it around, relighting the meadow with her pale aura.

'Just remember to conserve their energy, Raine,' Xu warned curtly. 'The GFs might seem like deities to us, but they too have their limits.'

'I will, Xu!' Raine promised. 'Thank you all for trusting in me!'

'I didn't have to tell Minimog anything,' Rinoa said. 'It knew your soul was pure.'

'Wow, really?'

'Of course!'

In high spirits, Raine said, 'Well, shall we get to the rendezvous? I'm worried about Thalassa.'