Chapter 80

Into Darkness


Raine was about to give the command to board the stealth pod when the newly freed Tiamat sought them out. Their first warning was when the high noises of the moogles were drowned out by the bellows of the wendigos and the pounding of chests. The half-Elder's indigo shadow suddenly dropped from the break in the canopy caused by the pod, then floated to where Aranea and the other Dragoons were standing. Raine turned to see a stream of indigo fire as the dragon took corporeal form some distance above them.

The fire scattered the creatures of the forest, sending them running in all directions. Some of the moogles stood their ground, cream-coloured rays from their wands striking Tiamat's scales but bouncing harmlessly away. Wendigos leaped and swung their iron weapons but could not reach; even as Liu and Zhang summoned Brothers she knew their GFs would have the same problem.

Dear Hyne, Raine thought. Has Tiamat come here to finish what he started? But he's free now! Why is he attacking the Dragoons?

Raine thought for sure the flames would finish all but Aranea off, but they begun to swirl around the four Dragoons and recede. Then, they disappeared completely unto Dragonhair, which Aranea held above her head as it shone neon-blue. Then, all was quiet for a beat, until a summoned Diablos announced his presence with a roar. Tiamat matched the roar, the ear-splitting challenge resounding around the entire Roshfall, though he shot upward in a corkscrew, tearing through the canopy and gone as quickly as he appeared. While Minimog and the wendigo elder attempted to restore order, Raine and the twins ran to the Dragoons.

'Does he know who he's talking to?' Luna was saying. 'The Island Closest to Hell? I'm a descendant of Fang!'

'I didn't hear him say anything!' Raine said.

'He spoke to our minds!' Aranea informed her. 'Said, "I shall await the four of you on the Island Closest to Hell."

'It's the ultimate trial of our forebears,' Deist elaborated. 'Tiamat will test every thrust of our lances, every beat of our hearts for dragon's blood, every ounce of our resolve!'

In ages past, Dragoons would have to survive for weeks alone on the Island Closest to Hell as the final part of their initiation. Many did not make it to this stage, and many more did not survive even this. As a result, anyone who had ever been awarded the Wyrm Armour was held in the utmost regard. Unlike the numerous Paladins of each generation, there had been less than a hundred Dragon Knights across two millennia; in many ways, this would have made them superior to even SeeD. There had been discussions of reintroducing this archaic trial, but there had been little time or stomach for it before the coming battles. Raine knew there had been bitter truth to Ultimecia's words when she had mocked the present day Dragoons as cosplayers.

Aranea knew it too. One look at the silver-haired lancer's face was enough to speak of her resolution. She would lead the remnants of her regiment to the World's most feared landmass and return to the Allies as true Dragon Knights, herself freely junctioned with Tiamat. But that was a trial for the morrow.

The SeeDs entered the pod, with the two Garlands getting in next, and then the four Dragoons piling in after. An additional two moogles joined them in case Sacred and Minotaur did depart, and after flying up and down the length of the cramped interior, they decided to perch on an empty munitions shelf. Despite newly being junctioned with a moogle, Nadia seemed to be the least familiar with them. She made kissing noises and patted her thighs as though inviting them to sit on her lap. One responded by waving its leaf-shaped sword at her. 'Moogles are not pining, dim-witted cats, kupo!' Damian cued everyone else laughter with his loud guffaw, and Nadia went a similar shade to her crimson locks.

Derfel had been the designated flyer on Damian's squad; the Trabian had been certified in all manner of military aircraft from all nations and the skill needed for their insertion would give him a chance to shine. Still, his nerves were getting to him. The anticipation was making him quake in his seat, and Raine noted it when she adopted her agreed spot on the floor, where she was soon joined by the burly Siegfried and Sanakht. At her command, Derfel set the pod in motion, and they exited the forest, rising above the elevated sequoias.

Now, Raine commanded them all to bring up the pictures of the charcoal husk of what had been Yaulney Forest. It was now a hastily erected camp with an unsightly zigzag trench dug from north to south, from mesa to mesa. Within this, dug in like abyss worms, were scores of Magitek mobile units and cannons, which were continuously fed by ceruleum tanks placed against the rockface in the southeast. There was at least a full imperial legion in the camp itself, understood to be commanded by Livia Junius, with more than enough legionnaires to resupply the Magitek and frequently switch operators.

The Galbadians had not been able to make a lasting salient, although the bulk of their land force was now amassed upon the Monterosa. Although Ultimecia could eliminate them in one fell swoop, as Quistis had done to Hikaru Akechi's force several weeks earlier, she could not risk depleting Eden's power before the Children of Fate challenged her. Knowing this, President Martine and acting General Wedge had risked committing the whole Galbadian force to the Monterosa.

'It is critical we allow the Galbadians to break through, whatever the cost!' Raine said.

'Yes, ma'am!' some of the SeeDs returned.

Morfydd's voice was notably absent. Raine looked at her.

'Even if it means all our lives?' the Trabian girl questioned.

'Why did you become a SeeD, Morfydd?' Raine asked.

'In honour of the Guardian of Trabia, of course,' she responded. 'Sorceress Selphie saved mine and my brother's lives during Trabia Garden's defeat. Because so many others died, I was determined to earn my deliverance, and I strive to make it up to Selphie every moment of the day! Derfel and I gave all our SeeD assessments one hundred and ten per cent. One day, we hope to make as much difference to the World as Selphie has!'

'Our role here could very well make the difference between Esthar's victory or defeat,' Raine told her. 'If you are to die helping the Galbadians break through, a war raging for two decades could be over within days. You will have fulfilled your ambition, and the Guardian of Trabia will recognise that.'

With a single, blast-proof window encircling the side of the pod, the huddled group could not see the pockets of fighting on the plains as they crossed the Obel. Except for the two moogles, from their vantage point on one of the shelves. 'Fire and blood, kupo!' one of them squeaked. Derfel took them to a kilometre-high ascent and kept them at that level as they crossed. He notified them whenever an imperial or friendly aircraft was within shooting range, but in the heat of a battle the chances of an uninvolved stealth engine being picked up were slim. It was an uneasy half hour, but they reached the mesa encircling the southern half of the Monterosa without a hitch.

Now came the dicey part, as there would assuredly be imperial airships patrolling this area to repel any hopeful enemy excursions from the south.

'Show 'em what your made of, Derfel!' Raine said encouragingly.

'Yes, ma'am!'

Rather than fly high, Derfel kept them as close to the vertical rock face as he could. The monitor in front of him showed an ever-changing, lattice-like display of the approaching terrain, like a web being spun, and he could adjust their path accordingly. As they started north, the jagged cliff face seemed sometimes no more than a couple of feet away from the nearside window, and some of the jutting rocks would almost certainly have damaged the pod had Derfel not weaved them out of contact with a second to spare.

As the minutes crawled by, everyone was uneasy in their seats. 'Sitting chicobos', Morfydd had described it. Damian's vertigo seemed to have returned now that he was not soaring on Diablos' back; Raine now knew he had always been truthful about needing a secure base. As he sat rigidly, the neighbouring Luna moved to put a hand on one of his tattooed arms, in which Damian recoiled in embarrassment.

'I'm fine!' he insisted.

Luna shrugged. 'Suit yourself,' she said, in that raspy Centran strine.

He exhaled deeply. 'I should have just flown on Diablos. I hate these fucking pods!'

'Me too,' Luna agreed. 'We're like tinned fastitos in here!'

'Tell me about it,' Aranea drawled.

A few of the passengers laughed, if only to relieve their tension. After a moment, Damian asked, 'Why did you come with us, Luna? Aren't you technically First Lady now?'

Luna shook her head. 'Sarona doesn't do that shit,' she said. 'Besides, I'm just a fiancé. And I know I could never talk Jericho out of fighting on the front line. Getting through to a vysage would be easier.'

'President Vossler saved our lives on these mesas,' Liu said.

Luna nodded. 'He's a great man. His people will follow him all the way to the Tower of Babil.'

'Incoming!' Derfel warned suddenly.

Everyone's heads snapped toward him. Raine adjusted her position on the floor so she could see him over her shoulder. 'What is it?' she begun to ask, but she was cut off by a shrill, no-nonsense Esthari voice coming through their radio.

'Identify yourself! Over.'

Derfel cleared his throat before answering. When he did, his guttural northern Trabian accent had been switched to a blunt and rough-edged northern Esthari. Importantly, he sounded relaxed.

'This is Gubernator Antoine, unit nine-thirteen. We're completing our patrol. Over!'

Raine realised he had given his nameday; on the spot, she probably would have done the same. There was several seconds before the voice returned.

'Repeat your unit number. Over.' Derfel did. There was a pause of almost ten seconds before the voice returned. 'Unit nine-thirteen was shot down yesterday! I have no choice but to command you to descend and land. You will be boarded and-'

Taking the initiative, Derfel switched off comms. In the next instant, the pod swerved violently away from the mesa wall, sending Raine, Sieg and Sanakht sliding into the legs of everyone on Damian's side. The two unjunctioned moogles squeaked as they fell away from their perch, not regaining flight quick enough to prevent landing on Nadia. The whole vessel shuddered subtly as Derfel sent two rays of violet plasma toward the enemy pod. At least one struck to be absorbed by its shields, and Raine saw the beetle-shaped craft fly evasively east. Derfel looked behind him, looking at Liu and Zhang on the western side.

'Get Brothers to do their thing!'

The twins looked at each other before their summoning orbs appeared in unison. But the blue and purple clouds leaving their bodies did not take form inside the pod, as if even just summoning Minotaur into the limited space would be a wise idea. Instead, Brothers passed through the hull to become one with the earth and all its geological creations.

Derfel kept them on their course and they were still cloaked from the naked eye, but any other pods would be able to read their signature. And now they had been discovered, they were now flying much faster and farther from the cliff face, which would also increase their chances of detection. Raine got to her feet to try and look for the pursuing pod. Assuming it had not been knocked out of commission, it would only be able to match their speed, but it would already have called for backup.

'That was quick!' Derfel remarked, who had been joined by his sister, who was anxiously gripping his chair and looking between all the monitors.

An opening just small enough for the pod to turn into was approaching on the left. Derfel slowed the pod marginally, veered away, then banked into it before bringing them to a halt. The pod now hovered in blackness, and Derfel swivelled them around to await their pursuer, adjusting some settings on the cannons that would turn their output to maximum.

Derfel must have had the eyes of a thrustaevis, as he was not looking at the infrared or night vision displays. The initial anxiety he had shown was but a distant memory now. Raine barely caught the enemy airship's movement before the Trabian had the target locked on and the dual cannons blew it off course again. Then, suddenly, the light in the tunnel diminished as the opening swiftly closed in on itself, and there were only a few seconds before the pod's interior was lit only by the monitors in the bridge, seemingly trapped within the plateau.

'Great fuckin' Hyne,' Sieg muttered.

Raine heard Derfel flick some switches. Some more lights came on, and the Trabian calmly repeated the pod's about-face to turn them into the abyss. He could have switched on recessed lights on the exterior of the hull to illuminate the tunnel but opted to spare the pod's electrical charge. One of the monitors was showing the changes within the mesa as they happened, its neon-green display shifting and spreading like a spinning spider's web, showing Sacred and Minotaur hard at work.

This new tunnel would be carved in a northwestern and downward direction to get them to their target, though its formation was taking time, and they were moving through the blackness at a fraction of the speed they had been moving before. The noise must have deafening outside the pod, but the sensors built into the hull were purposed to mute any sounds over a certain decibel during a hectic air battle and kept them all in a surreal silence.

'How far from the target were we?' Raine asked now.

'About four klicks to the east of the camp, ma'am,' Derfel responded.

She turned to face the hybrid team, who had resumed their positions pre-discovery, her back now to the Trabian siblings. Except for the two moogles, who had remained on Nadia, perched on one leg apiece. Despite their defensiveness earlier, they both seemed to enjoy having the back of their heads scratched. Deist, along with one of the C-rank SeeDs, looked ill at ease, and Raine surmised that they were claustrophobic. She herself was uneasy at their predicament, as she knew how difficult it seemed for Sacred and Minotaur to agree on anything; their survival was now hinging on the GFs' ability to coordinate well. Not forgetting that escaping the plateau itself would put them in the midst of an enemy encampment.

Raine glanced behind her, over Morfydd's shoulder, to the dashboard. It occurred to her that they should play some music to try and relieve the tension. Ordinarily, the Esthari pods were not compatible with their technology, but the Island's engineers had retrofitted a Bluetooth surround system.

'Connect your phone, Morfydd,' Raine said. 'Play something calming.'

Still behind her brother's chair, she looked over his shoulder in surprise. 'Okay, ma'am,' she said, her voice a fraction softer than it had been previously. 'How about some folk?'

Damian's eyes lit up. 'Hey, our new single started streaming yesterday!' he announced loudly.

'No, Damian!' Raine said firmly.

This made the Dragoons chuckle.

'How about some B-rock?' Zhang asked hopefully.

'Hyne, no!' Luna said.

'The Black Mages?' came from a C-ranker.

'I said calming,' Raine asserted. 'Just put on some Uematsu. That's got something for everyone.'

'Okay, ma'am,' Morfydd said, now occupied by her music app.

Carefully crafted, synthesised beats filled the pod. After a couple of minutes, Deist at least seemed a little calmer.

'So, why did you join SeeD, Raine?' Morfydd asked suddenly.

Good question. As a child her answer simply would have been, 'Because my uncle is the Lionheart!' It had been an obsession, though her mother had forbidden her enrolment at Battleship Island until finishing elementary school, which had felt like a very long waiting room before the fun started. Even so, Raijin had schooled Raine and her brother in the quarterstaff as soon as they had been able to hold one, and she had been able to close the gap against Liu, Zhang and any others that had been killing bitebugs from their fifth nameday. Besides, by eleven, Raine had been bigger and more robust than all of the other junior classmembers. Her intelligence and leadership qualities had been quickly noted.

Though in reality, she had been strived to become a SeeD because of the stories of her uncle's heroics; Raine had grown up seeing SeeDs as protectorates of the realm that always fought for the righteous cause. Though after being hired by the same radical party twice, she had learned that it was not always that clear cut. It was no longer a case of fighting Sorceresses, either. That 'true' purpose had become muddied the day Rinoa had inherited Edea's powers, and Selphie and Quistis had gone onto become Sorceresses themselves.

SeeDs were just glorified mercenaries at the whim of those with the money to buy them. During Xu's era, the organisation had become so cash-strapped that they continuously accepted long-term contracts from federal police to aid in fighting the war on drugs, with freshly badged SeeDs faced with spending years on operations in Centra's bandit country. Not that this was Xu's fault; the gil needed for getting the long-abandoned Deepsea Research Facility operational again had nearly bankrupted almost everyone involved. Once every couple of years, when Esthar had expanded its frontier to lay claim to another remote part of the world, such as the Sorbald or the Fulcura, a batch of SeeDs would be sent on a fruitless mission to help the local militias resist the imperial forces. The majority never returned. Despite the respect people had held for Xu. many had requested their discharge when they realised what being a SeeD now amounted to, and most of those who were refused it simply went AWOL.

After Timber's annexation, Squall had returned to the helm, and with it came a radical shake-up of SeeD's mission. Their overall objective of fighting malign Descendants of Hyne was reaffirmed, with the new batches to be prepared specifically for the inevitable showdown with the Successor to Sorceress Adel. Most of the SeeDs who had deserted over the last ten years came back in droves, and suddenly, Neo-SeeD seemed like it could be more than just an echo of the SeeD of old.

Uncle Squall had tried to so hard to make the SeeD the organisation Raine had grown up believing it to be, she knew that. But Argus pulling her strings for his own personal gain, as well as some of the orders she had been expected to carry out, had made plain for Raine where things could still go wrong.

She leaned back on the hard floor as she sat back down, putting her hands behind her. The passive stretch would ease the ache in her back.

'This will be my last mission,' she confessed, without answering the question.

Stunned silence fell like a pall.

'Are you serious?' Damian asked incredulously.

'Because I don't wish to be manipulated any more,' she said. 'My father was never a SeeD, but he always pledged his GF's power for a just cause. It's past time I did the same.'

'But you're one of our best!' one of the C-rankers lauded.

'Possibly the best!' another added. 'You're the Lioness!'

'If SeeD is as noble as Commander Leonhart believes it to be,' Raine said. 'I doubt we will ever be on opposite sides of a battlefield.'

'Where will you go, Raine?' Aranea asked.

'I'll freelance for Thalassa until the end of the war,' she answered. 'After that, I don't know. Winhill is gone now.'

'No need to remind me,' Damian said bitterly.

Siegfried grunted in agreement, and no one said anything else for else for a time. Those seated were all looking into the darkness outside. That was, until Liu addressed the two moogles on Nadia's lap.

'Well, Brothers won't be coming back for a while,' he said resignedly. 'Ready to junction?'

This had already been agreed, so they quickly filled the voids left in the now GF-less sons of Xu, leaving Nadia looking dejected. Instead, the Garland summoned her own moogle to take their place, though it evaded her touch and flew for the rack the other two had been perched on earlier.

'That tickles, kupo!' it squeaked.

'I'd rather have a moomba,' Zhang muttered. 'At least they look menacing.'

The moogle pointed a ball-tipped wand at him. 'You should be thankful! We moogles are each worth ten of those mindless beasts, kupo!'

It took over an hour, but the surreal journey came to an end. All of this redistributed rock had to go somewhere. Unbeknownst to the passengers, Brothers had already opened their exit, from which large rocks were now being fired all over the encampment and causing all sorts of disruption. Many years later, having never been privy to the truth, Galbadian veterans of the Third Sorceress War would humorously tell their grandchildren that Gargantua and all his vysages had started defecating boulders upon the unwelcome Esthari. One discharge had already flattened the pompous tent of the Legatus, though unfortunately, she had not been inside at the time. Most were directed at the long-range Paracelsus artillery providing support for the trench.

Derfel elatedly informed them when their exit was finally displayed some distance in front of them. There they hovered, the Trabian pilot awaiting Raine's command to proceed.