Final Fantasy VIII [2nd Instalment]
Grace Barton
Chapter Five
A Galbadian soldier groaned and fell back against the barrier. His sword slipped from his hands and clattered to the floor. Squall, standing in front, swiped his gunblade and pulled the trigger. Flames whooshed around the soldier and he cried out before dropping to the floor.
They were only on the 10th Floor. The soldiers were still coming out in force. Though most of the main force was below, there were still plenty of soldiers around to deal with the group heading up. Even as the soldier Squall had just defeated fell to the ground, one of the side doors on the floor opened and another trio of soldiers emerged. Without waiting for them to catch up, Squall sheathed his sword and hurried after Rinoa and Selphie, who were running ahead.
On the 11th Floor they were attacked by the wandering GIM47N mech. Although clunky and slow, its fists had amazing destructive power. Squall discovered this the hard way when an unlucky blow to the chest sent him crashing into the far wall. A second well-aimed punch forced the air out of Squall's lungs and he felt his ribs crack. Squall fell to the floor, winded and stunned.
Before the GIM47N could strike again, Rinoa released her Pinwheel and sent it flying towards the robot. The projectile swerved, striking the robot on the side of its head and knocking it off-balance. The GIM47N teetered, its arms flailing.
While it was unable to attack, Selphie charged her nunchaku with Thunder para-magic and swung it. The electric charge flicked from the bars on contact with the robot and went shooting through its body. The robot shuddered and smoke began to pour out of the orifices of its 'face'. Stepping back away from Squall, it stood stiff and then fell back onto the ground. After taking a moment or two to heal Squall of his injury, Rinoa and Selphie helped him up and then ran on.
When they reached the 12th Floor they stopped to catch their breath. There were no soldiers around for the moment, but they kept their eyes on the doors and their hands close to their weapons.
Selphie went over to the rail and peered down the hole. The sound of heavy gunfire was still coming from the floors below, meaning that Irvine and the others were still under attack. Rinoa came to stand beside her, and together they looked down. "Do you think they'll be okay?" Selphie asked her.
Rinoa opened her mouth to reply, but Squall got there first. "They'll be fine," he said, much to Rinoa's amazement. Squall placed his hand over his wrist and a pale green light flowed, healing the wounds made by the chains. As the wounds closed he flexed his wrist, testing it. Satisfied, he nodded. "Let's go," he said.
The women nodded and left the rail. They hurried for the stairs towards the 13th Floor.
Irvine cursed. He reloaded his shotgun and opened fire once more. He had used up more than half his stock of bullets already, and yet it did not seem like he was getting anywhere. For every soldier he shot down another one replaced him. The gunfire got thicker and heavier as more and more soldiers joined the throng.
"Oh, man, this is endless!" the gunman remarked.
"Yo," said Zell, kneeling just beneath the banister, "what's our next move!"
Irvine fired another shot, and another soldier went down. "Hmm…" He held out his gun but did not fire, for he was thinking. While he did so the prison lights dimmed for a moment, though he did not think anything of it right then.
"I got an idea!" said Quistis. "Can't we go up again with the arm?"
"Hey, good idea," said Irvine. He fired his last shots and then sheathed his gun.
"But they gotta operate it from that room upstairs," Zell pointed out.
Irvine made a 'tsk-tsk' sound and waved a finger at Zell. "Leave that to me," he said, much to Zell's annoyance. The fighter clenched his fists, but Irvine ignored him and said: "Alright! Let's head to the floor where the arm's stopped."
Quistis nodded. After a moment, Zell relaxed his fists and nodded as well. They had no other alternative. They had to take a chance that Squall's group would be there. If they were not, then they would be trapped at the bottom of the prison with no means of escape.
Using his gun to cover for them, Irvine signalled for Quistis and Zell to make their way downstairs to the floor below. The two did so, keeping close to the ground as they crawled down the stairs. The soldiers continued to fire. Irvine waited for an opening before he dived beneath the gunfire and raced down the stairs.
Quistis and Zell were waiting for him below. When Irvine came running down the stairs shouting for them to run, they did not waste any time in questioning it. They turned and fled, heading down the stairs to the next floor.
On the 6th Floor, a lone soldier who had been sleeping on duty stepped out of one of the empty prison cells. When he saw the group running towards him with their weapons drawn, he stepped back in alarm. He struggled to unsheathe his sword, but Zell was upon him before he could draw it. A swift uppercut to the jaw was all that was needed to send the soldier reeling backwards. The cell door opened and the soldier fell inside. The door closed, and the soldier resumed his nap.
As they ran along the 5th Floor, gunfire started to rain down on them from above. Looking up, they saw a group of soldiers had gathered on the 6th Floor and were firing at them. After dodging the bullets Quistis swiped her hand. Thunder shot from her fingertips and struck the soldiers. The soldiers cried out and thrashed. Two of them dropped straight to the ground, but one of them continued to flail. He staggered to the rail, tripped, and fell over the edge. He tumbled past the group, still covered in lightning, and fell to the depths below.
They headed on. When they reached the 4th Floor, Irvine ran to the rail and peered down. They were almost at the bottom. He could see the arm, still with the solitary cell inside. They still had a few floors to go.
A bullet pinged off the rail, and Irvine stepped back. Looking up, he could see soldiers mobilising above. They were running out of time. The soldiers were almost upon them, and Squall's group would be reaching the top of the prison at any moment, if they were not there already. They had to get to that arm now, before it was too late.
Daring to peer over the edge again, Irvine judged the distance between them and the arm. There were long, thick cables holding the arm in place. These cables were within jumping distance, he reckoned. If they grabbed those and then slid down, they could reach the crane in no time. The gunman sheathed his gun and turned to Quistis and Zell. He tipped his hat.
"Hey! Hop on!" he shouted to them, and with that, he climbed onto the rail and jumped. He grabbed hold of the cable and slid down towards the arm.
Quistis and Zell ran to the edge. They stared in amazement as Irvine slid down the cable and landed on top of the arm. He waved up at them. A bullet then pinged off the rail. The soldiers were ready to open fire. Quistis and Zell shared a glance before they climbed onto the rail and jumped, one by one. They caught hold of the cable and held on as they slid down to join Irvine on the arm. Bullets started to rain around them, and they hurried to get into the control room.
While Irvine and the others were making their way downwards, Squall and his team made it to the top floors of the D-District Prison. They bypassed the torture level and headed up to the 14th Floor. To their surprise there were no soldiers here, and so they crossed the floor and went up the last flight of stairs to the final floor, the fifteenth.
The exit was right ahead. The door was wide open, allowing sunlight and fresh air to flow into the room. There were no soldiers here either, and the door was left unguarded. Seizing their chance, they ran outside.
Sunlight fell on them, warm and bright. A bridge stretched out before them, leading to a building on the other side. Selphie ran out into the sunlight and spread her arms wide.
"We're outside!" she cheered. She jumped and clapped her hands. "We escaped! We escaped!"
Rinoa raised her head and ran her fingers through her hair, also glad to feel the sun's warmth on her face. Squall walked past her and went to the bridge. As he was about to step onto the bridge, a siren went off.
"Prisoners may not go beyond this point," a computerised voice said through the speakers on either side of them. "You will be terminated."
The sound of the siren died away. A door opened in the building at the other end of the bridge. Two large robots, GIM52A-class mechs, stepped out. A Galbadian officer in a red uniform ran out behind them. When the officer saw Squall and the others he shouted to the two mechs, who turned and ran across the bridge.
Facing them, Squall drew his sword. "They're coming!"
The mechs were drawing closer. As they picked up speed, they moved into single file and charged forward. The Galbadian officer was also running towards them, albeit slower than the two mechs. "You're not goin' anywhere!" he shouted and, raising his gun-arm, he opened fire.
The bullets shot past the mechs. Squall ran to the front and blocked them with his sword. With the swordsman in plain sight, the foremost mech made a dash forward. Seeing this, Rinoa raised her Pinwheel and released it. The weapon whizzed through the air and struck the mech on its 'head'. Knocked off-course by the strike, the mech swerved and hit the side of the bridge. It spun and tumbled to the ground. The other mech jumped over it and continued to head forward.
With the mech approaching fast, Squall and the others stepped back away from the bridge. Hatches opened in the mech's back, and it unleashed a barrage of magic-enhanced missiles. These projectiles rose up and then turned in the air, guided by magic, and headed towards them.
Squall raised his sword again. He swung it as the first of the missiles struck. The blade sliced clean through the missile and when Squall pulled the trigger, the missile was blown apart. The two halves went flying and fell to the floor, harmless. The swordsman did not stop there but struck again and again, destroying several missiles in quick succession.
Some of the missiles made it passed Squall and approached the others. Selphie struck with her nunchaku, knocking the weapons out of the way. Unfortunately these missiles were not destroyed, and when they hit the walls behind her they exploded. A shockwave from the explosion knocked Selphie off her feet and she was thrown onto the floor.
Rinoa dived aside as several missiles passed her by. The missiles hit the wall and exploded, but she kept on her feet, bracing herself against the shockwave. The Pinwheel came shooting through the smoke back to her, and she stretched out her hand to catch it. Once it was caught she turned back to the others. As she turned her eyes widened.
"Squall, look out!"
Hearing her voice, Squall looked up. The GIM52A was already at the end of the bridge. It did not slow but picked up speed and crashed into the swordsman. Squall only just managed to raise his defences in time, using his gunblade to absorb most of the impact. The collision drove Squall back away from the bridge and through the open door behind him. The robot moved with him, and the two of them disappeared inside the prison complex.
Rinoa started to run after him. She did not get far before bullets whizzed past her, and she stopped. She turned to see the other mech—the one she had knocked aside—heading straight towards her. Its fist was raised, aiming to strike her down as the other had done with Squall. Rinoa fired her Pinwheel but the mech was ready this time, swiping it aside and then continuing to charge. Rinoa had no other choice but to dive out of the way as the robot surged past.
Realising that it had missed, the mech turned and moved after her again. Its body was more agile than that of its predecessor, the GIM47N. It turned with ease and thrust out its fist. Rinoa twisted her body out of the way, but a surprise attack from the robot's other fist sent her flying. She hit the wall and fell to the floor, stunned. Lights on its face flashed, and the robot ran towards her.
After finally recovering from the shockwave, Selphie got to her feet. Seeing Rinoa in trouble, she made to go after her. A hand grabbed her arm and yanked her back before slapping her hard across the face. Selphie fell to the floor.
The Galbadian officer stood over her. Panting and out of breath from his long run across the bridge, he glared down at Selphie. Through his mask, his lip curled. He raised his gun-arm and pointed the weapon at her.
"That's as far as you go," he spat, his voice full of hatred. The machinegun gave a click as it loaded.
Selphie stood up. She touched her stinging cheek. "That's pretty low," she said, "hitting a girl." She stood ready and raised her nunchaku. "I'm going to punish you for that!"
She charged. The officer started to open fire, but with a flick of her wrist, Selphie's nunchaku knocked his arm aside. His aim altered, the bullets clanged off the far wall, which was dented from the missile explosion.
Placing her hands on the officer's shoulders, Selphie pushed herself up. The officer raised his arms to defend himself, just as she expected he would. She put her boot on his arms and pushed herself up further, flipping over and landing behind him. She swung her nunchaku and smacked him on the back of the head. The officer gave a groan and fell to his knees, stunned. Selphie grinned and tapped her nunchaku against her shoulder, waiting.
While Selphie was busy dealing with the soldier, Rinoa had her hands full fighting the mech. She managed to dodge the GIM52A's next few attacks but now the mech had her cornered against the wall. It made to strike her and Rinoa ducked. The mech's fist slammed into the wall behind her, piercing the metal. The mech tried to step back but its arm was stuck tight in the wall and it could not get free.
With the mech focused on trying to free itself, Rinoa crawled out of the way. She stood up behind it and started to fumble with her Pinwheel. She had no sooner turned when the mech suddenly managed to free itself and spun around. Rinoa jumped back as its fist came swinging past her. Forced back onto the defensive once again, Rinoa ducked and dodged, trying to keep out of its reach.
This was impossible, she realised as she continued to dodge. This mech was as agile as any human. It was able to keep her on the defensive without providing any openings for a counterattack. Her Pinwheel could pierce its armour, but at this close range she risked injuring herself in the process.
The mech drew back both of its fists and thrust them out together. Rinoa braced herself but the blow broke through her defences and struck her in the chest. The mech drove her back against the wall. Raising its arms, the mech lifted Rinoa off the ground. She was pinned against the wall with the mech's hands pressing painfully against her rips.
Rinoa struggled and kicked, but she could not break free. She beat down the mech's arms, but that was no good either. This was a robot, not a man. Hitting it with fists would do her no good. Instead she swiped her hand and released an electrical charge from her fingertips at the robot's head. As she planned, the shock caused the robot to jolt and loosen its grip.
Placing her feet against its chest, Rinoa pushed. She managed to push the mech back just enough to free her from the wall, and she dropped onto the floor.
The GIM52A continued to shudder, affected by the electrical charge Rinoa had released. Lights on its face 'blinked' as it tried to analyse the situation.
Rinoa got to her feet. She needed to strike now, while it was still trying to think, but how? The robot was far more agile; Rinoa could not begin to match its speed. Nor could she rely on the others for help, for Squall and Selphie were busy with their own battles.
Her only chance was to find some way to match the robot's speed and break through its defences. Rinoa frowned. Didn't Quistis say that magic could be used to enhance the caster's physical or magical abilities? If she could use para-magic to make her body move faster, then she might have a chance to defeat it.
Rinoa extended her hand. She had never tried to use magic this way before; she wasn't sure what would happen. But it was her only chance…
"Haste!"
A flash of light surrounded her. The image of a clock-face shone on the ground beneath her. The hands ticked slowly and then sped up, faster and faster, until they whizzed around the clock at unbelievable speed.
Rinoa felt a strange distortion as the world around her seemed to slow down. Everything—from the mech in front of her to Selphie and the Galbadian officer—started to move in slow motion. But Rinoa knew that it wasn't the world that was slowing down; it was her pace that was increasing.
The clock vanished. Rinoa darted forward. She zipped past the mech, who seemed to move in slow motion as she ran by. She saw the mech begin to turn, but Rinoa was already gone. She circled the mech a few times and then stopped in front of it. She fired her Pinwheel and the projectile—also affected by her Haste magic—gave a loud whir as it whooshed through the air at blinding speed. It struck the mech's right arm. With its added speed and strength it sliced right through the arm's joints, severing it, and the arm dropped to the floor.
Within a second, the Pinwheel returned to her. Rinoa ran again, circling another few times before stopping again, this time behind it. She fired the Pinwheel again and severed its other arm. Rinoa did all of this in the space of only three seconds.
The mech turned its head, confused. One second, its target was cornered and on the verge of defeat. The next second it was gone, and before it could analyse this information both of its arms suddenly dropped to the floor.
There was a blur of movement as Rinoa ran around to the front of the mech. She jumped and released her Pinwheel. The mech caught only a glimpse of her before the projectile sliced through its neck joints and severed its head from its body. A charge running through the Pinwheel shot through its circuits, short-circuiting every electrical impulse running through its body.
Rinoa drew back as the robot exploded. The Haste magic faded, returning her body to its normal pace. She watched as the robot was thrown away from her, in the direction of Selphie and the Galbadian officer. She called out to Selphie.
Selphie heard her call and looked up. When she saw the burning mass that was once the GIM52A, she lowered her weapon and dived out of the way. The officer, who had his back to the battle, raised his arm in triumph. His victory was short-lived as the robot crashed into him and pushed him forwards towards the rail. Both the robot and the officer smashed into the rail and tumbled over the edge. They fell out of sight, and the sound of the officer's voice died away.
Rinoa and Selphie glanced at each other. Then they both ran for the prison doors. There came a yell from inside and a second later the other GIM52A came flying out of the door, narrowly missing them. The robot slammed into the ground. Electricity flickered over its body, and the robot was shuddering as though it was in shock. The lights in the robot's face went dark and it slumped, defeated.
Squall stepped out of the prison. He looked down at the robot. Seeing that it was defeated, he sheathed his sword. He then looked at Rinoa, standing next to him. Rinoa looked back at him. The swordsman was sweating and there was a deep gash on his forehead where a well-aimed blow had caught him off-guard. Rinoa sighed and shook her head. She started place her hand on his head to heal the wound, but Squall brushed her hand aside. It was just a cut, nothing more.
Selphie walked over to the robot and gave it a swift kick in its side. It did not move. It was over.
They were just about to head onto the bridge when the intercom inside the prison room behind them crackled and a voice called out to them.
"Hey, Squall, can you hear me?"
It was Irvine's voice. Squall turned and went back inside the prison. A light was flashing on one of the main consoles. It was from this console that Irvine's voice was coming from. Squall headed towards it.
The intercom crackled and Irvine called out again. "Hey! Hey, you guys!"
"Is this what you were talking about?" said Quistis's voice in the background. "What if Squall and the others have already gone ahead?"
Squall stopped by the console. "I can hear you," he said.
"See! I told you we'd be all right! Squall, go ahead and operate the arm."
Squall frowned and put his hand on his hip. "How?" he asked.
There came the sound of a scuffle and then Zell's voice said: "Squall, push down the yellow button on your upper right hand side." Somewhere in the background Irvine muttered something. He sounded disgruntled.
Squall looked down at the console. Like in the arm's control room, there were a large number of buttons and switches laid out before him. There was only one yellow button on the part of the panel Zell described. Is this it? Squall asked himself. He then shrugged and pushed the button.
There was a pause and then Irvine said: "Alrighty! We'll be there in like a second. Wait right there."
"Hey…" said Zell's voice. "Is it supposed to move this slow?"
"So what?" Irvine replied. "What's the rush?" The intercom crackled and died out.
Behind Squall, Rinoa folded her hands behind her. "Looks like they'll be just fine," she said. Selphie, standing beside her, nodded her head.
They headed back outside. Though Irvine had told them to wait, Squall decided that they should not risk staying in one place for too long. At any moment more soldiers could arrive to intercept them. It was best that they kept moving. Stepping over the deactivated GIM52A, they headed out onto the bridge.
When they are almost halfway across the bridge the group came to a stop. They turned and looked over the side. They stared.
All around them there was nothing but sand. Miles and miles of golden sand that stretched out around the prison and into the distance. There was nothing else out there but miles of endless sand, and no signs of life anywhere.
There was another thing that was amiss. The bridge on which they stood was built at the very peak of the D-District Prison, but it stood more than five hundred feet above the ground. Irvine had said they would find the exit up here, but he was very much mistaken.
The D-District Prison was made up of three cylindrical pillars. Each one was immensely tall and covered in large spirals built out of metal plates, almost like drills. Bridges, like the one they were on, connected the three towers to one another. There were no stairs or lifts that could take them down. They were stranded at the top of the towers with no means of escape.
"So…" Selphie said, leaning over the rail. "How do we get down?"
Rinoa shook her head in disbelief. "No way…!" she breathed. "When I came here earlier, it wasn't like this…"
Squall stepped away from the railing and put his hand on his hip. Whatever was going on, there was nothing they could do about it now. They had made it this far, and that was a start. "Let's just head for that structure over there," he said, pointing to the neighbouring tower.
The women nodded and ran on ahead. Squall stayed behind for a moment and looked out at the desert. Well, now he knew why there was sand on the prison's lower levels. The prison was built in the middle of a desert. Yet Rinoa had said that the prison was not like this when she arrived, so what had it been like before? Squall wished he had the time to think about it some more.
He hurried after Rinoa and Selphie. The two women were already at the other end of the bridge, waiting for him. Squall headed towards them.
Before he could reach the end of the bridge, a loud hum started to rumble from the ground below. Squall stopped and reached for his sword as the bridge began to vibrate beneath his feet. These vibrations grew stronger and the humming sound became louder, almost like an engine that was roaring into life.
Squall heard a click, and the rails of the bridge suddenly dropped down. The swordsman looked around in alarm. He had a very bad feeling about this.
Seeing the rails drop, Rinoa took a step towards the bridge. She was about to put her foot down when the plates lifted up and moved sharply towards her. Rinoa stepped back, and Selphie also clutched her arm. More plates followed, slotting into a panel beneath the bridge.
Seeing the plates disappearing rapidly, Squall turned and ran in the other direction. The plates on the other side were disconnecting as well, and Squall found himself trapped. He stopped and looked back to where the other plates were catching up with him. Realising that he had nowhere else left to run, Squall jumped onto the rail and dived over the side of the bridge.
The remaining plates retreated, and the hatches locked shut. Once that was complete, the giant metal spirals covering the three prison towers began to turn. They churned up the desert sand, seeming to suck it down beneath the earth.
It wasn't just the sand that was being sucked down. The prison itself was sinking. The three spiralling towers acted like drills, forcing the prison down into the sand. Soon the entire prison would be buried beneath the sand, and anything that was outside would be dragged along with it.
As the towers descended, clouds of sand were thrown into the air. They billowed around the towers like a whirlwind. Rinoa, standing at the edge of the bridge, tried to shield her eyes as she peered through the cloud, looking for Squall.
She saw him about fifteen metres away from the tower. The swordsman was hanging on the other side of the bridge, holding onto the rail, his legs dangling over the swirling clouds. Rinoa looked at him and then looked down at the ground below, which was rising swiftly towards them.
"Squall!" she called, her voice drowned out over the roar of the towers. "Hold on! Over here! Hurry!"
Just hearing Rinoa's voice over the roar, Squall turned his head. He could barely see her through the sand. The sand cleared a little and he saw her shouting for him, and Selphie waving her arms. They signalled for him to head their way. The swordsman glanced down and saw the rising sand.
Knowing he had only moments to spare, Squall started to shimmy his way along the rails towards the tower. The sand cloud grew thicker, making it difficult to see and hard to grasp the rail. Once his hand slipped, and he had to quickly reach up and grab hold again before he lost his grip completely. He was aware of Rinoa and Selphie both calling for him but he was already going as fast as he could go.
The noise of the towers was deafening. The sand grew thicker still, blowing into his eyes, nose and mouth. Squall blinked but kept his eyes open as he shimmied his way along. He had no idea how close he was to the tower. At any moment the sand could rise up over him, suck him down, and bury him forever.
Two pairs of hands grabbed his arms. They pulled him up and dragged him onto the ledge. With Rinoa and Selphie still grasping his hands, the three ran through the sand and dived through the tower doors.
The bridge sank into the ground, as the desert closed above the prison once more.