Chapter 7: First Impact

The dispatcher quickly opened a channel to all available Magitek armors and soldiers, "There is a security breach in Sector 5!" his voice shrill from having been quiet for so long, "I repeat, ALL soldiers and Magitek pilots assemble by Sector 6!! Lethal force HAS been authorized! DESTROY HIM!!" With that last order, the dispatcher fell backwards into his chair. His heart was racing, and he had become exhausted from all the excitement. He wanted his own war, and he was about to get it . . .

Barracks and Hangars of Neo Vector, Sector 6 . . .

It was night already, the moon floated heavily in a clear and crisp night wind. Dim lights lined the ceiling of the otherwise dormant Magitek armor hangar and through the only window, an empire insignia flew on a flag hanging from the ceiling. It was the calm before the storm . . .

Lights suddenly came to life, the massive bulbs warming quickly as each one brought more brightness to the hangar than the next. In a matter of seconds, each of the lifeless mobile armors was dully illuminated. A lieutenant rushed into an office on the second floor catwalk and took some keys out of his drawer. He scrambled as fast as he could, tripping as he went back outside to activate the hangar's support grid. With an anxious twist of his wrist, he set off a powerful alarm and the grid flashed with hundreds of lights.

Bulbs of soft light flickered on throughout the compound alongside an orchestra of painful sirens, quickly alerting the entire facility. The shriek was so loud it echoed into the depths of Sector 6 through the air and caused thousands of night lights in the surrounding residential area to switch on. The young officer flipped on yet another switch and the massive room finally came to life. Spotlights came on, one by one, casting a silhouette onto each of the Magitek armors consecutively. After a couple seconds all thirty were basked by their light and eagerly awaiting their drivers. Engineers scurried about, yelling at each other as they hurried to lock the fuel lines into place.

The lieutenant's heart raced as the first battle of his career loomed imminently in the glow of early moonlight. He slammed a flashing yellow button next to the spotlight controls and the entire place began to quake and shudder. The activation an immense hydraulic system caused the hanging lights to sway and glass everywhere to vibrate almost to the edge of breaking. The cranking sound echoed deep into the hangar, steam shooting out from the axels and pistons as each part of the intricate machine worked fast to open the Empire to the world. Water dripped from each of the hinges as the doors were pulled apart, allowing a cool, faint mist to roll onto the warm ground around the hangar.

Bunk Area

The alarm woke up all one hundred soldiers and the handful of pilots allotted to the 97th Empire Battalion with quite a stir, "What the hell?!" one of the privates sleeping there yelled out as he slammed his head against the top bunk. Each of them seemed to jump up at the same time out of their beds and immediately tore open their footlockers to put their battle armor on, "What's happening?" the private asked his buddy as he rubbed his head and put his feet into his black army issued slacks.

"Someone is attacking us! We're going to war!!!" the other young recruit shouted.

The first soldier mouthed the words 'war' with a befuddled look on his face. Who would be crazy enough to attack the Empire, let alone their base of operations at Neo Vector?

"Come on ladies! Get your ass in gear! This ain't no drill! MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!!" their drill sergeant screamed at the top of his lungs, "I want to see everybody lined up in ONE minute!" As each person finished dressing, they grabbed their rifles and set up next to each other in a straight line. The drill sergeant hurriedly expected each one of them, fixing their uniforms before shoving them out the door, "I won't be there to wipe your baby asses any more dearies. Remember your training and you WILL come back alive! Now GO, GO, GO!

The halls they ran through were dark and ominous; each corner had a red arrow of light that projected to the other wall, leaving the whole place in a glow of red. It was as if the planners of the compound were trying to accustom them to the sight of blood. Little did the soldiers know that it would be their own and not the enemy's. Sirens and new blue arrows suddenly appeared as the stampeded down the hallway, making them aware that they were quickly approaching their destination . . . the hangar.

Hangar

The doors rumbled against the ground as they came to a screeching halt against metal. The sirens continued to wail, calling out as loud as ever but there was still no sign of troops.

'Where are they?' The Lieutenant leading the operation thought. He listened for anything . . . the doors were wide open and a hard wind from the dark landscape blew across his face. The air was cold and it sent a chill down his spine.

A minute went by and faint footsteps could be heard somewhere off in the distance. The footsteps grew steadily louder, growing into a dull roar as they came closer and closer. The roar suddenly became an earthquake hundreds of men screamed at each other and stomped down the hallway with their heavy Empire-issue boots. The officer turned his attention to the far right corner of the hangar, looked towards the door as he heard more men yelling in response to the first. He knew as well as anybody that the troops were just as anxious as everybody else in Neo Vector to get into a fight. Most had joined after the events of the World Cataclysm, and had yet to test their skills in battle.

One by one they stampeded out of the entranceway, spreading like a swarm of bees protecting their hive. The lieutenant's eyes lit up as each of the pilots jumped into their respective Magitek armors and strapped themselves in. The foot soldiers were all busy scurrying about, taking a shield from the armory located in the back of the facility and then a rifle and sword in the racks lining the back wall. Chests heaving and hearts racing, once their preparations were complete the soldiers sprinted to the threshold of the huge door and waited for a signal from their squad leaders.

The lieutenant had grown giddy seeing his massive force collect in front of his eyes. Never before had he controlled the power he was about to unleash onto the world. Magitek armors were coming to life all around him, their diesel engines power cores growling and pumping like work horses as he ran down to the floor. Their noxious fumes filled the room as the bodysuits lifted the pilots up into the air and readied their weapons. Everything was in perfect formation.

The lonely private was being pushed every which way as he looked outside the doors, seeing only uncertainty . . . darkness. He turned himself around and viewed the Magitek armors standing fearlessly behind the shock troops, poised and fully equipped to handle anything. Shoving was taking place all over the anxious battalion now. This would be the first real test of the Empire's powers and their newly trained army. Rifle butts were being slammed on the ground, magazines locked in place, diagnostic tests being conducted in each of the walking armors . . . it all mixed together into a symphony of steam and steel. The intensity became overwhelming. No one could take it anymore.

"CHARGE!!!" the overzealous Lieutenant screamed as he held up the grappling arm of his custom Magitek armor and pointed forward. The eighty plus storm troopers yelled with unbound ferocity and ran as fast as they could out of the door. The armors started their stomping once the foot soldiers had filed out, their fuel lines snapping and blowing off to the side with explosive force as each landed on the ground with ear shattering clangs. All thirty vehicles of destruction pounded the ground in unison and stomped out the door in perfect harmony. The sound of battle in Neo Vector had never been this loud before . . .

Narshe

"Evasive maneuvers now!" Setzer ordered his crew down in the engine room. He turned the ship hard right, causing every object not tied down to be thrown around and over the side. Boxes were destroyed as they hit the metal hull and the engine could be heard going into overdrive as it tried to pull away from the chaos nearing and overtaking the Falcon.

"SHIT!" Mik exclaimed as he lost his balance and fell backwards. He tumbled backwards, hitting his head each time he rolled and flailing about. There was nothing he could grab on to as he scrambled and scratched the surface of the oversized zeppelin. A few more knocks to the head and he was too lightheaded to think. Little crates filled with fuel and provisions fell over the side and dropped peacefully to the ground below before shattering violently. The bodyguard clawed at everything, trying to grasp onto something solid. Shadow watched in horror as Mik rapidly approached the railing, only mere feet from the side of the ship and certain death. He had to take action quickly, or it would be all over. A torn rope that had come undone from the balloon dangled in near him. Without thinking the ninja wrapped it around his waist and bolted down the almost ninety degree deck, building up more and more speed, passing the falling debris and making a mad dash for his comrade.

The ship was almost vertical at this point, and Setzer had strapped himself into a harness as he leaned into the wheel and tried to right his precious ship. Mik's hands reached out wildly as he hit the side with the heels of his feet and flipped over into the fiery orange sky, "Ahhhhhhh!!!!!!!"

"Man overboard!" one of the secured crew members called out from the mast of the ship.

Shadow came to the edge a millisecond later and did a free fall over the side, tying the rope in a knot on his leg as well as his waist as he jumped. Mik was falling fast, but Shadow tucked his arms close to his body and sped closer to him with only a few feet left of rope. Setzer had begun to right the vessel, leaving even less slack as the fearless shinobi reached out and grabbed Mik's arms as tight as he could.

"I won't let go of you!" Shadow told him as the ship jerked back upright and sent them both flying upwards with their makeshift bungee cord. Shadow outstretched his hand as they zoomed back towards the ship and clung onto the railing, throwing Mik over the side as he struggled to pull himself up. A wet spot appeared where the rope had been tied, stained red with the hero's blood. Mik helped Shadow to his feet and they hurried for cover in the decks below.

"SHIT!" Setzer screamed as little pieces of rock struck the deck of the Falcon and started small fires over its hull. His only choice was to land the ship before he lost all control of it. A helmet sized rock of flame clipped the nose of the ship and tore a huge chunk out of the prow. This sent the already teetering Falcon out of control and it took everything Setzer had to keep the ship level in order to land it.

As Setzer was descending, almost out of control, he managed to view Narshe out of the corner of his eye through the hole in front of his ship. It was buried in a haze of orange and red. Smoke was billowing high into the atmosphere, creating an unusual nighttime setting at high noon. Under the smoke he saw ferocious flames dancing on the rooftops of the houses, eating through each of the structures in seconds and spreading fast across the town. More of these hellfire rocks, these meteors, fell along the mountaintops, creating catastrophic avalanches and landslides that obliterated the outlying houses and shacks in the small mining city. Setzer was never a man of religion, but he knew what this was. It looked like Armageddon, the end of all life as he knew it. There were a few townspeople running out of the town and from their houses, but it was all in vain. Fire fell like rain from the heavens destroying all life in the area and leaving no survivors. The land had become scorched and was no longer a place could harbor anything living.

Setzer regained control of the Falcon, taking it a few miles out of this meteor storm's path to land it when he looked back and saw the end of Narshe. A meteor the size of a house parted the smoke and came crashing down on the mountains, tearing through the mountainside and igniting the ore within its veins. Explosions rocked entire upper continent as the peak blew off and fell into the side of the ravine where the first Esper had been found. A bright light appeared before a final explosion enveloped the entire surrounding area.

Those people that had been running from their houses were overtaken by the shockwave and were incinerated in the heat from the impact. No one had enough time to escape. The magnificent and massive explosion collapsed both cliffs on each side of the ravine and ripped through the rock that lay beneath the town. The heavy stones tumbled down and crumbled away as massive sinkholes swallowed the whole town in its wake. With nothing left to support the city, houses . . . dogs . . . people . . . everything was sucked in. If anybody had somehow survived the first wave of destruction, the collapse ultimately insured they were swallowed up by the earth. Setzer decided that the ship would be in danger if they stayed in the area any longer so he lifted the Falcon off the ground again and left the region of Narshe.

Mik couldn't take everything that had happened to him anymore. He snapped. This day, this horrible day had brought more terror and despair to his life then he had experienced any time before. His mother, his sister . . . they were all gone now. His whole family was killed and was buried beneath the tons of burning rock and smoldering ashes. "They're gone," Mik moaned as tears fell from his eyes, "I've let them down . . . I DIDN'T MAKE IT IN TIME!"

Setzer spoke in disbelief, putting the palm of his right hand over his eyes to cover his tears, "Locke, Mog, Umaro . . . even Celes. NO!!" he screamed, dropping to his knees, "This didn't happen! NO!! I won't accept this!" he grabbed his long white hair, pounding the tattered wood deck of his ship in frustration. The Falcon flew out of control towards the ground as soon as Setzer let go of the wheel and the turbulence from the dive began to rip apart his damaged ship faster than the meteors had.

Shadow noticed pieces of wood and metal flying past his head and instinctively grabbed the wheel, bringing them back up to a safe altitude as he winced in pain under his mask. He set it to autopilot and went up to Setzer, grabbing his own side. Gripping Setzer by his lapel with his right hand, Shadowed landed a harsh punch to his jaw then punched Mik in the stomach with the other, "What the hell is wrong with you two? Snap out of it!" The pilot slowly crouched to the ground after having the wind knocked out of him.

"They're dead, THEY'RE ALL DEAD!!" Mik wheezed as he stumbled around the upper deck. He started to show signs of a crazy man, defying his friends . . . a man ready to take his own life.

"So you guys thought it would be okay to let us die too?!" Shadow grew very angry, the skin below his disguise growing hot as the two lowly persons huddled on the deck.

"How . . . how will the resistance fight on now?" Mik shot at him as he dejectedly sat down.

"We will fight on. There is nothing we can do about their deaths! We must move on, the Empire must be stopped once and for all and wiped off the face of this planet," Shadow retaliated.

"Screw the Empire," Mik stated, "I'm outta this war now . . . there's nothing left to fight for. They'll surely take advantage of this and kill us all! How do we know they didn't cause this?"

Nobody knew for sure what had happened, who had caused it, and what could be done about it, but Shadow contemplated his counterpart's words before replying, "Their memories," he said, "and for everyone that believed that the Returners could succeed with this, their last mission . . . and more importantly, for me."

"Huh?" Setzer said curiously, regaining his composure.

"A fourth of our army was stationed in Narshe. Right now we need everyone who can fight or we will surely perish against them. Your fallen friends would have wanted it this way. They were willing to fight to the end. If only you could have been there, standing up atop Kefka's Tower staring down his beam of destruction . . . then you'd understand. Don't tarnish their last memories of you . . . don't disgrace everything they fought for by just up and quitting. If you give up on this war, you're giving up on their beliefs and saying that the Empire has already won," Shadow stated with rare compassion in his voice.

"I know what you are saying," Setzer followed while rubbing his stomach, his temperament already changing for the better, "we have to fight and win to make sure that what they believed in will always be the way of life for all those living on this planet. Peace . . . we must attain it. There's no other choice now. I know what needs to be done. It's time to travel to our last stronghold, Figaro Castle. Sabin will have to take charge. I'm sure he'll be capable of leading us as well as Edgar did . . . hopefully."

Setzer took control of the helm once again and turned the Falcon a few degrees to the south. It flew off leaving a trail of smoke behind it as the waning moments of sunlight, their bickering and emergency maintenance to the ship taking up most of their day. Shadow grabbed his injured side as he helped up Mik. They both watched as the fiery town faded into the horizon. Mik still hadn't come to a realization that he had to move on though, but there was a new direction in his life now. The ruins of Narshe symbolized his past, the coming darkness of the sea at night his future. Determined to fight for his comrade's cause until the end, Mik turned his attention to the sea.