The capital of Archadies was one of the most advanced and royal cities in all of Ivalice. The towers stood tall, overlooking the bustling city life with cold, stone stares. In the thin streets, townspeople ran back and forth between others, passing along rumors and whispers that they had heard whilst they completed their errands for pine chops and marks of status. Most wore elaborate, rather symmetrical attire, flaunting their class as much as they could with layers of cloth and lace. Because of such distinguishing outfits, it was always easy to tell who was new and struggling in the city of class.
A small cruiser airship flew fast and low into the streets, well past its legal boundaries, causing a commotion of screaming woman tugging down their heavy dresses and men throwing fists at the speeding airship.
"Seems I've caused a bit of a clamor." I glanced below as guards rushed from their stations to threaten me with swords, even though I was clearly too far for them to be a threat. "Quite embarrassing, really." Just to have my fair share of fun, I lowered my ship level with the walkway and winked to the girls beside them. They all giggled, even those still trying to control their billowing skirts. The guards were infuriated, stomping and yelling in my direction. Suddenly a small patrol ship dropped below me, hailing me with its loudspeaker.
"You are flying well below safety limits! Lower your ship and disembark at once!"
"That's no good." I pulled the accelerator forward and shot up skywards before the guard's speech was finished. Like all other times, he pursued. As another turn came up, I pulled roughly into it, disrupting all sorts of traffic when I flew through the intersection. My pursuer followed, sirens blaring to clear the way. There went my first line of defense. I went above the towers, searching for a good escape route in the congested skies. Two buildings were built closely beside each other, with a narrow space between their walls. At full speed, I urged my ship faster.
"I repeat- this a now a federal offense! Pull down imminently!" At the last second, I twisted the steering wheel to ninety degrees, and my ship went on its side. It hardly chafed the buildings, and shot back into open air on the other side of the city. The guard behind me was forced to stop and circle the towers to reach me again. Though I was long gone from that nasty one, he had called in two more guards to wait on the other side for me. The open air was no longer spacious with two more officers ready, but by pulling hard up on the wheel, my craft pulled above them in the narrow clearing. As soon as my ship cleared them, I sped forward at full throttle. I was now committing well over three offenses, so I dared not stop. Besides, I was having too much fun for these high-and-mighty enforcers of the law have their way with this noble pilot. The first officer pulled up behind me soon after, making my company a grand total of three troublesome skydogs. "It's not easy being this popular!"
The city walls were now blurs of browns and greens from my perspective and speed, but I was only exhilarated at how fast I could go. This was just a small ship, a mere toy among treasures, yet I found the ways to coax her into going at such a speed. I was not talented with ship work, but I could fly them.
The ship rocked suddenly, lurching downwards.
"Damn- some peacekeepers they prove to be." I held fast onto the shaking wheel, trying to stay course as they fired down at me. They were directly above me now, and it was easy for one to pull ahead of me. He turned and fired a shot from over his shoulder to the dash of my ship. The bullet shot through the glass, shattering it, and imbedded itself in my shoulder. That arm fell to my side, and my other hand was gripping the wheel so fiercely that the ship turned abruptly to the left. One officer slammed into the side of the craft, and the others sped past. I regained my hold, and quickly lowered my ship. "Not only did they blow a hole in my ship, but now they ruined my favorite shirt-ow!" The cruiser landed with an ungraceful thud, as my piloting was compromised with only one arm. Luckily, the surprise turn had taken me close to the building in which I lived. I would hardly call it a home, though. And since my ship would no doubtfully be found, I had to abandon her after only an hour since becoming her captain.
Draklor Laboratories was an off-limits research facility that my good-for-nothing father started under commission of the Empire. He was planning to assist in the ongoing war with his studies. Though even I was kept in the dark, his research had something to do with talking to rocks.
I quietly stepped into the hallways, leaning to see the next corridor I would have to dash through to make my way to the elevator. Not only was my cotton shirt torn, but it would be stained with blood, as the lab's fancy carpeting would be, not that I minded. I closed the elevator in front of me and exhaled loudly. I disliked coming here, but with the officers searching for me, I would rather tend to my own wounds then risk visiting a hospital. Surely they would look for me there. Though i had pressed the number for my floor, but the elevator only paused when it reached my desired level, and continued rising without so much as opening the doors. "No, no!" I pressed my number again, then all of the others in a frenzy, but the lift did not respond. "Damn!" Finally, the doors opened to a spacious, decorated room. I sighed and turned around into the room. Annoyed, bruised guards stood with their helms under their arms respectfully. They glared as I approached them.
"I will take to this matter with haste, gentlemen. That is all I request from you at the moment, you are dismissed." They bowed to the man addressing them, and stormed past me. As the doors closed, my father faced me with a sigh.
"Is this ship destroyed as well, Ffamran?"
"Those dogs of the Empire fired on me through the windows!"
"Because you refused to relinquish your ship to them." I narrowed my eyes.
"How could I let them steal such a gift from my beloved father?" He seemed suddenly serious before me. His quickly graying hair, aging skin, and those old chestnut eyes seemed resolved.
"I have a much more fitting present for you than a decrepit cruiser ship. Come with me." I followed reluctantly, mostly out of annoying curiosity. Even though I knew I would dislike whatever he offered me, I still wanted to see what it was.
As we walked through a glass walkway above the shipyard, I saw the incomplete structure of what would be a fighter airship. It was much larger than my broken cruiser, about four times, and unique in structure. A pair of retractable wings would pull out to the sides of the ship for more demanding speed, but could remain enclosed during routine flight. There was nothing like her on the lines yet. Could this be what my "other gift" was? For once, I hoped it was. "What catches your eyes? That incomplete ship? She is constructed to be a speed fighter- a new model designed especially for the war." My interest flickered- stronger or weaker I was uncertain.
"I see- another weapon."
"Of course, Ffamran. During a war such as this-"
"Did the rocks tell you to make it, or was it that Solidor tyrant?"
"Vayne Solidor is a noble man- and an exceptional ruler." I did not keep track of the gossip and news like others in Archadies did, but because of who my father was, I learned about the war better then the gossiping public. The way he described Vayne Solidor, ruler of Arcahdes, was contradictory to everything I'd learned on the streets.
"He forced this war upon the other provinces!" I repeated. "From what I've heard, if he's really as good of a ruler as you say, than he would have made peace with the countries instead of raining them with gunpowder." My father stared at me over his half-moon glasses.
"You have been misinformed, my son. Now come, that poor craft is not for you."
