Ultimate Fantasy

Spirit Within

Esthar was alot farther than I had thought

Esthar was a lot farther than I had thought. It really took three and a half hours. About five minutes away, the radio lit up. "This is Esthar Aerostation Control calling incoming ship. Please identify, over?"

I hit the send switch and spoke clearly into the mic. "Roger, control. This is the Ragnarok out of Balamb Garden, ID number 10047-02, en route to land at your station for a mission, over?"

"Uh.. wait one... OK, Ragnarok, you're clear for landing. President Laguna is on the way to the pad. He'll meet you just when you land. Have a good one."

"Roger control. Much obliged. Out." With that I turned off the radio. "Laguna, huh? Must be a big one."

"Yeah," Quistis replied. "He doesn't usually meet us at the pad. This could be bad."

"Hope not," I said as I banked to the left and made a pass over the entire city. It was almost as I imagined it would be: Lots of illuminated buildings, translucent walkways, people dressed funny, the works. Cars drove across various overhangs. I could tell I was going to have lots of fun, given the chance. I spotted the pad and vectored in. As I came in for landing, I saw a middle-aged man standing on the edge of the landing area. Tall, long hair, and wearing an islander shirt, it must have been Laguna. I didn't see Kiros or Ward though. It struck me as odd, but I was too busy to think about it for too long. I lowered the landing gear, and throttled down until I felt the bump of the landing. I killed the engines, stretched and said, "That was way too easy."

"Quit showing off and get your car out there," Quistis said.

"Yessir!" I said, snapping off a salute and headed back towards the elevator. It took me a total of five minutes to unhook the truck. They had bolted it down tightly, but had left a wrench so I could undo the nuts. Needless to say, Quistis was already talking to Laguna when I pulled out.

"Scott!" Quistis called. "I'm taking the limo. You follow us, ok?"

"Ok, no problem," I replied. The limo moved fairly quickly, and I was glad to have the chance to see how well my work held up. I must admit, it was excellent work. Steering was a bit tight, brakes a little loose, the clutch was salvaged from one of the others, and it slipped sometimes, but it was a good vehicle. When we got to the city's center, we all got out and entered the building. I told the people taking the limo away to leave my SUV right where it was. They gave me an irritated look, but left the truck alone.

Laguna led us up to the top floor and into his office. Quistis sat down in one of the chairs in front of the desk while I stood behind her. Laguna sat down in a big, comfy looking chair on the other side.

"Well, now," he said as he eyeballed me from head to toe. "New cadet?"

"No," Quistis said. "He's a full CeeD, Laguna, and I'll hear no more about him being new."

"Easy, Quistis," Laguna said, putting his hands out. "Just gettin a first impression, that's all. Fine looking man, too. Strong."

"Thanks," I said. "Now to business."

"Ahh, yes. Your job. Very simply, you'll escort a derelict from Timber here for a meeting."

"What kind of meeting?" Quistis asked. "I can't say at this time. But, believe me, it is a friendly one." He leaned back in the chair and nearly fell out, catching himself at the last moment. "Damnit, where are Kiros and Ward when I need them to tell me not to do stupid stuff?"

"Who's the person we're escorting?" I asked.

"A very cool man named Jonathan Medernich and his family. They're coming here to rest as well as to talk business. You'll stay with them for two weeks."

"That long?" I asked. "Why does he need a guard? Is he in danger?"

"No. Well, a little. He's the one who pushed for the Sorceress Edea's removal from the Planetary council all those years ago." The Planetary council was supposed to deal with international troubles years ago. From what I heard, most were from Edea. When Edea had been removed, she took revenge on the council by destroying the council building and all in it. This Medernich had been away at the time, raising a family from what I heard. Anyway, He survived, and the council was done for. So he headed out to Timber and began a project there to get the television station working. He almost did it, but was cut from the project five years before it came back online. Since then, he's played ambassador to every country. So I could see why he was a target.

"He arrives in a day or so. You have free time until then. Enjoy the city, and everything's on me. All the shop owners know who you are; they'll let you have anything you want. No charge."

"You're too kind, Laguna," Quistis said. "We'll see you when the derelict arrives."

"Cool, girl, cool. See you later then!"

We left the building, and decided to go to dinner at the best restaurant the city had. We took the truck, and drove a few blocks to Che Estar. French-style food, French-style accents, lots of rude waiters. It was very expensive, but Laguna did say it was on him, so we indulged a little. The food was delicious, whatever it was. I had let Quistis choose our meal.

After dinner, we drove all around the city. There were more lights than New York and Las Vegas combined. We had a blast. We found a Karaoke Bar in the northern area, and I got her to sing Eyes On Me. It was beautiful. After that, a little business. We went to a shop and bought a few potions, some ether, and a tent. It was late when we returned to the mansion. We had both had a wonderful time. We fell asleep in each other's arms, but were awakened early by a messenger. I answered the door.

"What is it?" I said.

"Sorry to wake you, sir," he said. "But the derelict is arriving. Mayor Laguna wants you to meet him at the aerostation."

"We're there. Thanks." The messenger bowed and left. "Time to get to work, Quistis."

"Already?" she said as she stretched out on the bed. "I'm still tired and in need of your touch."

"I bet, but we have work to do today."

"You're right, but I don't have to like it."

I smiled as I donned my gloves and Gunblade. Quistis stood, grabbed her Chain Whip, and attached it to it's hook on her belt. We left the room together and, after a bit of driving, got to the airstation right as the ship was landing. It looked a little like the Ragnarok, but it didn't have the arms or the snarling face on the nose, and it was completly blue. It landed smoothely, and the hatch opened with a hiss of air.

The man who came down looked very professonal, in a business suit and carrying a briefcase. The woman who followed was fairly pretty. The marrying type. The two children tugging at her dress were cute as well.

Quistis met them at the bottom of the ramp. "Greetings Mr. Medernich. My name is Quistis Trepe, and this is Scott Wolf. We're your escorts until your business is completed."

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Trepe. Please call me Jonathan. I don't like formalities."

Smiling, she replied, "Then you can call me Quistis."

"It is nice to meet you two, Scott."

"Likewise," I replied. "You have a beautiful wife and cute children."

"Oh, forgive me for not introducing them," he said, turning towards them. "This is Charlene, my wife, and my children, Jules and Robert."

"Very nice to meet you both," Charlene said.

"Well, if you will all walk this way, we'll head over to the Mayor's place," I said, motioning, to the truck.

"I apologize for the terrible transportation," Quistis said quickly, "but we had no idea you would arrive so early this morning, and had no time to arrange better. I'm afraid you'll have to use Scott's 'junk bucket' for the time being."

I gave her a quick glare, but let the comment slide. I only hoped she was joking. We all walked to the truck and I opened the back seat doors for the girls, let the children jump into the cargo area, and had Jonathan up front. When everyone was in, we started off.
We hadn't gotten more than thirty feet when all hell broke loose.

An explosion about ten feet ahead forced me to slam on the brakes. I looked around quickly to see where it had come from, and saw a man on the catwalk above reloading an RPG launcher.

"Crap! Everyone hang on!" I shouted as I threw it into reverse and gunned the engine. The second rocket hit a few feet from where we had sat. I raced back to the last intersection we had crossed, slammed on the brakes while cutting the wheel left causing us to 180, then threw it into first gear and jammed on the gas. No sooner did I complete the maneuver, when another car appeared behind us. Another man was hanging out the window, holding a sub-machine gun and firing in our direction.

"All important people and their families, please get down!" I shouted as I changed gears rapidly. The man wasn't very good at aiming, but he did get lucky as I felt impacts on the rear door. Thank god I had reinforced it when I found the door.

I swerved as much as I possibly could to avoid the gunfire and traffic, but I wasn't getting much distance between us. No matter what I did, the guy kept up with me.

"Quistis, this is getting very annoying," I said calmly." Would you please handle it?"

"On it," she said back.

"You people do this often?" Jonathan asked from where he was bent over.

"First time for everything," I replied as Quistis leaned out her window, charged a spell, and released it towards the car. It was hit with a bolt of lightning, and exploded. I heard the children shout in joy as they watched the fireball climb to the sky. I was about to shout myself, when Quistis yelled a warning that there were personal hover craft rapidly approaching.

"How far?"

"Not very!" she replied. "About 150 feet and closing quick!"

"Time to try some of those 'modifications' I made," I said as I pushed a button on the steering wheel. On the roof, a hatch was opening and Surface to Air Missiles were raising up into view. The middle of the dashboard slid aside, and a monitor popped up.

"Jonathan, when you hear the tone and see a red circle around the nearest hover craft, would you be a pal and hit the red button twice? I'm a little busy driving."

"Uh, sure," he said as he rested his finger over the button. Beeping could be heard, followed by a tone, then the swish-swish and smoke as he pushed the button twice and loosed two SAMs. Both were on target, and the hover craft blew apart. He whooped in celebration, but quieted when he looked at the monitor again. Five more were coming in. He again waited for the tone twice, fired four times, and obliterated two more. The enemy was down to three, but we were out of missiles. Calmly, I hit another button. The launcher rack retracted, and another hatch opened to reveal a small heavy machine gun. Another hatch opened above the seat behind me.

"Quistis, man the gun!" I shouted over the noise of enemy gunfire and missiles. she stood up on the seat, gripped the handles, and opened fire. Her first few shots went wide, but her next burst caught the lead pilot in the chest, making him fall out of the hover craft, which promptly crashed. The other two avoided her fire. I looked up and saw a tunnel, up ahead. I yelled at Quistis to get back in, and when she safely was, I retracted the gun and closed the hatch. I then reached over to the stick shift, flipped the top up, and pushed the blue button it had concealed. The truck got a sudden burst of speed, and rocketed though the tunnel entrance. The hover craft attempted to follow, but were a little big for the entrance and collided with the walls and each other, crashing to the ground.

"Whew," I said as I let off the speed. "That was close. Every one ok?" Every one was, so we proceeded to the Mayor's Mansion.

At the mansion, we escorted the Medernich family to Laguna's office, where we found him with his head buried in his arms. Very calmly, we all entered and sat on the couches while Jonathan took a chair in front of the desk. In an official tone, I said loudly, "Sir, your five o'clock is here."

Laguna bolted upright and, seeing Jonathan and his family in our care, gave a yell of joy. "I KNEW you'd make it! I just KNEW it!"

"Take it easy, Laguna," Jonathan said. "I was under these two fine people's protection."

"And CeeD is the best there is," Quistis chimed in.

"Well, let's get to business," Laguna said. "Would you two wait outside?"

"Yessir," Quistis said. "Come on, wolfman."

"Ya Volt!" I replied, and followed her out.

When we were out with the door closed, she pulled me to a corner and started kissing me.

"I actually had fun," she said after a breath, "when we were being chased back there"

"Glad you did," I replied.

They were in there for almost two hours, and I was getting bored. The doors swung open just when I was about to express my boredom. Jonathan and Laguna walked out, followed by his family.

When Quistis inquired to the problem, Laguna simply answered, very seriously, "Follow us."

We walked some distance to a large room with computers everywhere and a huge monitor in the center. It was a war room, I could tell right off. People were walking back and forth, carrying clipboards, technical manuals, charts, and other things that looked important. The screen was blank except for a little blinking light in the corner, to notify it was standing by I guess.

"Wow.." I said in amazement. "Never saw this in the game..."

"Excuse me?" Laguna asked.

"Er, nothing," I replied quickly.

"What game?" Jonathan asked. He had obviously me clearly.

"Uh..." I stammered, but Quistis came to my rescue. "He's too much into games. Probably associated this mansion with one of the levels in a game of his."

Jonathan gave me a weird look but didn't press the question. I breathed deep in relief, and nodded to Quistis in thanks. She mouthed back, "You owe me another," and winked. Somehow I knew paying her back wouldn't be too terrible.

"Bring up sector 37, in the alpha containment zone," Laguna ordered to a tech who now stood at the controls of the monitor. I didn't know what he meant at the moment, but when the monitor flickered to life and showed the entire planet and moon, I started to get the idea. The screen focused on the moon, zoomed in, and clarified the picture. What I saw was amazing. Millions of dots were milling about, making it look like a red blob.

Laguna ordered the tech to zoom in, and soon I was starring at millions of monsters. I had seen this before, back home when I played the game. Back then, it was just an in-game movie. It was much more ominous in real life.

"Jesus, you're right John," Laguna said.

"The moon monsters?" Quistis asked.

How soon will they be coming down?" Laguna asked.

"A weeks time, maybe less."

"You're kidding me, right?" I asked. I had taken everything the Garden's Training area had to offer and chewed it up. Those monsters made the Garden look like a newborn baby's rattle. I definitely wasn't sure I was ready for even one of those things.

"I'm afraid not," Jonathan replied. "They're coming, and this time it's for keeps."

"We've got to get back to the Garden and warn Squall," Quistis said.

"He was wondering about those things as well," I said. "This'll be some report."

"We have to move quickly then," Jonathan said when his young son Jules ran over and gripped his leg like a tree climber on a redwood. He picked him up and continued. "If we're to defend against this new threat, we need to have everyone as ready as possible. I'll go with you to your Garden."

"I'll go too," Laguna said. "Kiros and Ward got back while you were picking up

Jonathan. They'll see to the safety of the city and it's people." He lifted his comm and spoke into it as Jonathan said, "Is your Garden capable of stealth?"

"I don't know," Quistis replied. I tuned everything out, and starred at the growing mass of monsters. I was so attuned to the scene that I didn't notice little Robert standing next to me. He startled me when he said, "Are those bad guys?"

I caught my breath and said, "Yeah, they are."

"Will daddy be able to stop them?"

"I don't know," I said, looking down at him. "But I plan to help."

"I wanna help too," he said.

"Oh really? Well, then. Go help your mother by staying with her. She looks the scaredest of everyone here."

"Ok," he said and rushed over to Charlene, who really did look extremely unnerved.

"Scott," Quistis said, getting my attention. "Go prep the Ragnarok for launch."

"I'm gone." I said and ran out the door. I rushed to my truck, and hopped in. I was startled by the passenger door opening and Robert climbing in next to me. "And where do you think you're going?"

"My mommy said she was ok and said I could go with you," he replied as he closed the door.

"Well," I said, as I closed my own door, "I guess you can come too then. Be sure to put your safety belt on." He was secure by the time I got the engine into gear and raced toward the aerostation.

There were no troubles getting there, and after flashing my ID to the guard there, drove it straight into the Cargo hold. Not taking the time to bolt it down, I jumped out, grabbed the now unbelted Robert, and ran to the cockpit. After setting him down in the copilot's chair, I started the pre-flight warm-up. Robert went to push the arm weapons button, but I caught his arm, saying, "Don't touch anything, ok? It's dangerous. I'll let you push buttons in a little while."

He was a little angry, but said ok and pulled his arm back. I finished, and headed back toward the Cargo hold with Robert following. "What'cha gonna do now?" he asked.

"Now, I have to secure my car. Wanna help?" I replied.

"OK, but I'm prolly not strong enough."

"Nah," I said. "You look just strong enough."

By the time we had the truck secured, Quistis had arrived with everyone. Charlene walked right over to me and asked if he had been too much trouble. "Not at all," I said. "I like kids."

"Everything ready?" Quistis asked.

"Pre-flight's done," I replied.

"Good. I'll escort our guests to the passenger deck, and meet you up there."

I headed up into the cockpit again, and strapped in. I looked outside at the tech, who was waving the all-clear signal. I gave him a thumbs up, and closed the cargo hatch. After Quistis arrived and strapped in, I lifted off, pointed the nose in the drection of the Garden, which was still docked at FH the computer said, and accelerated over the city.

Once again, the ride was three hours long. It was boring, so I went down to he Cargo hold, and did a check-up on the truck. Running like a top, as I suspected. I was closing the hood, when I heard a small cough behind me. I turned and was not surprised to see little Robert standing there.

"What's on your mind, little man?" I asked.

"Nothin," he replied, scratching his arm.

"Nothin? There's gotta be something running around up there."

He shrugged and walked over to lean on the truck. Looking up at me and not seeing a disapproving look, he folded his arms and tried to look like a tough guy. He wasn't very good at it. I walked to the back of the truck, opened it and pulled out an old ice chest I had in there. "Want a soda?" I asked. He nodded once, still trying to be a toughie. I threw a can to him. He tried to catch it, dropped it, picked it up again, and gave me a look of "I meant to do that." Opening a can for myself, I said, "You might want a fresh one. Those get temperamental when they're dropped."

"I can handle it," he said, just before popping the top. As expected, the fizz of the soda shot out and hit him in the face. Undeterred but soaked, he drank the soda in one shot.

"Well, ain't you tough?" I said as I tossed him a towel to wipe off with.

"Tough enough," he said. He wiped himself clean, and tossed it back to me. I walked over next to him, crouched down, and leaned back against the truck. This position put me just barely shorter than him.

"So," I said, looking straight ahead. "What's your beef?"

"My what?"

"Beef," I explained. "Your problem."

"I ain't got no problems," he said, with some arrogance.

"Sure you don't," I said and took a drink off my soda. "But if you did, what would they be?"

"It would be my daddy, I think."

"How so?"

"He's been really busy lately, and he hasn't had time to play."

"Ahh.." I said thoughtfully. "All work and no play... I can see where you're bothered. I'm sure you understand that he's got alot of problems to work on." He nodded. "And sometimes his work can get to be so much he spends his playtime finishing it, right?" He nodded again. "Well, that's the way of the world. Sometimes work is more important than fun. Hey, I'm a CeeD, and I know what it is to have to work." I was lying and I knew it, but I had to say something to give him contrast. "Us CeeD give up all our free time to protect who we're told to. Me 'n Quistis aren't supposed to have any fun while we're with you guys. How do you think I feel?"

"If you have to give up your free time, how come you became a CeeD then?" he asked.

I had to think for a minute. What was the real answer? I knew I originally had just wanted to be a hero. But after a while, the hero-seeking part of me vanished. Now I truly didn't know why I had become CeeD. To fight? To be someone? For recognition, and if so, from whom?

I finally looked to Robert and said, "I joined because it was the right thing to do. I wanted to help people who needed help. I wanted to belong."

"Belong where?" he asked, confused.

"I wanted to belong somewhere, to have a place where I could fit in and... be needed." I had paused because I noticed Quistis standing near the back of the truck.

"You wanted to be important?"

"Not exactly," I said, looking pass him at Quistis. She just stood there with a smile on her face. I looked back at Robert and said, "I wanted to be a hero when I first started, but, eventually, I wanted to help people. I still want to be a hero, but now, after I've had all the training, I realized it's not about being a hero."

"It isn't?"

"Nope. It's about doing what has to be done. That's what your daddy does."

"Oh.." he said. "So if he doesn't..."

"If he doesn't, who will?"

He was quiet for a moment, starring at the floor. then he said, "No one."

"Right. He does it because he thinks no one else will."

"I think I understand. I'm still a little mad, but I know he does it because he has to."

"Good. You want another cold one?" I asked as I stood up.

"No thanks," he said. "I'm gonna go back to the others now."

"Ok," I said. He said bye and left. Quistis walked over to me, put her arms around me, and gave me a deep kiss. "Who says we can't have fun?"

"No one," I said.

"Well, right now we can't," She said pulling back a bit but not out of reach. "Laguna and Jonathan are ready to give a report to Squall. We're about an hour and a half away from the Garden. I want you to be ready to report too."

"Ok, hun," I said. "I'll be ready.

"Good," she said, drawing near again, a wicked smile on her face. "We have an hour and a half till we touch down, and everyone's busy forward of us. What are we gonna do?"

"Well, there is the matter of paying you back..."