Book II, Part I: Outbreak - Vector's Gambit
Chapter VIII—Balance
[July 12, 2152 | Galbadia City, Streets | 1:53 PM]
Darius' face was locked into a stone-cold expression as he drove through the Galbadian streets, probably faster than he should have been going. Given the message he'd gotten just prior to a phone call from one Fiona Carmichael, however, his speedometer was the last of his worries.
'If you want to know the truth, meet me downtown in 30 minutes. It's the only chance we'll have.'
An address had followed a few seconds later, one that he was hastily heading in the direction of with vengeance on his mind. He wasn't interested in knowing whatever truth Lindsey's murderer felt like spouting; he already knew the truth years ago when he watched his girlfriend breathe her last in a café courtyard here in the city.
His rifle lay beside him in the seat of his car, and he was loaded for bear - he'd brought some of every kind of ammo he had that wasn't guaranteed to level a building.
Wait, no - he had some Pulse with him. Scratch that, then.
Granted, he didn't really need all the armament to take out one single person, but he wasn't going to take any chances. Overkill was underrated, after all, and SeeDs were nothing if not absurdly over prepared for missions.
His GLD rang at his hip for half a second before it stopped, going straight to voicemail. He wasn't going to stop now, not when he was so close. Not for Revolver, or Silvia, or Andréa. No one was going to mess up the one chance he might have to finally get some closure to what happened to his former love.
Fiona's sport bike weaved through traffic almost effortlessly, the nearly-empty streets giving her free reign of the lanes as she zipped and dodged around sedans and trucks on her way downtown. She knew Darius was on his way - there was no way he'd let this chance slip by, and that was what she was counting on. A ringing chimed in her ear as her phone's earpiece went off inside the helmet, but she ignored it.
"Little busy," she muttered, cutting onto a side street and earning a series of loud honks and colorful language from the car behind her. She'd deliberately chosen a place out of the way, far from prying eyes or any real housing, simply because she knew how this was likely to go down. She was going prepared - as prepared as she got, anyway - but it was still a gamble. If Darius wouldn't listen to reason, this was going to go downhill nearly instantly, and she had too much riding on this to let anything happen now before she got a chance to see it through.
Then again, she liked taking gambles. How did the saying go, again...?
He who dares, wins.
"Fi, answer the damn phone..."
Sam resisted the urge to toss the phone across the room as it kept ringing, gritting his teeth as he waited for Fiona to pick up on the other end. He stabbed a finger into the 'end call' button with a look of disgust, then swiped his finger across the screen as he moved through menus.
"Something wrong?"
A female voice cut through the air directed at Sam, and he looked over to address the speaker.
"We're moving. She's either in trouble, or causing it."
"You're sure?"
"She should've checked in forty-five minutes ago. She's been antsy about this whole thing since it started, especially since she was just waiting on our clearance," Sam replied, finally finding what he wanted on the phone as a map of the city showed up with a single blinking dot on it, slowly moving north. "Got her...where's she headed...?"
"She's moving?"
"Downtown, looks like. Don't know where, but we can find out on the way. Get Astens and meet me outside."
"He's not answering. We'll have to go get him."
Revolver's voice held more than a slight bit of annoyance as he gestured for Andréa and the rest of their squad to follow him out.
"What did you find out there?" Silvia asked, curious as to Revolver's sudden rushing.
"I'll explain on the way, but if Darius isn't careful, he's going to cause a far bigger mess than he realizes with his rash actions."
The engine of Darius' car quieted as he stepped out and into the area surrounding the warehouse he'd arrived at, pocketing his keys and drawing one of his pistols as he exited the vehicle. The area was quiet, with no one around that he could see or hear, and he took the opportunity to take a look around. It was a pretty barren lot, mostly dirt with a paved parking lot at the back and chain-link fence surrounding the entire structure. He did notice, however, a sign sitting near one side of the lot that proclaimed it for sale, which had been covered partially by another sign simply reading "sold." The building itself was in good condition, two or three stories tall and with a steep roof rising high above the fencing below. There were a few windows dotting the building's length with a myriad number of cracks and pieces missing in several of them, but whether it was from accidental damage or vandalism he couldn't say.
He frowned deeply as he looked around, searching for any sign of anyone else besides himself and coming up empty. Gripping his pistol tightly, he put a lid on his emotions as he started to advance towards the building, keeping alert for any signs of an ambush. It wouldn't do for him to die now, being so close to finally avenging Lindsey's own death. Nothing and no one jumped out to greet him as he made his way to a side entrance, examining the doorframe for traps quickly before tugging the handle open and looking inside, pistol raised as he cleared the entrance.
The warehouse inside was pretty standard as storage areas tended to go. Crates, both metal and wooden lined some of the walls, with various pieces of equipment sitting unused around the area. He could see a couple forklifts as well as a single flatbed trailer, along with some machinery and various other objects such as ladders, chairs, and tables. He carefully peered around the area, looking for any signs of motion around and above him as he walked further inside.
"You finally made it, I see."
A female voice caused him to turn sharply to the right, pistol raised instantly as he watched a woman walk out from behind one of the forklifts at the back wall of the building. He took in the features of the woman rapidly - short blond hair, blue eyes, a pistol at her side as well - as he kept the gun trained on her.
"Well, well. You must be Fiona Carmichael," he intoned, eyes locked on the one in front of him. "You're a hard person to find."
"Which is exactly how I like it most of the time," she replied, a hand on her hip. "But right now, I'm here on business."
"Would that 'business' have anything to do with trying to kill me the same way you did Lindsey?" Darius retorted, his anger bubbling back to the surface again.
"That has to do with why I called you out here. You don't know everything that happened that day."
"I know that my girlfriend died in front of my face at a café here in this city, and I know now that you were the one who did it," he replied, taking a step closer. "I think I know everything I need to know."
"There's more at stake here than -"
"Shut up!" Darius yelled, firing and sending a round ricocheting off the forklift beside her. Purposefully, of course; he was close enough that there was no way he would miss unless he intended to. "Just shut up. I don't want to hear your excuses, or your apologies. You took her from me, and it's time to balance the scales."
"Don't do this," the woman said, her voice quiet despite the situation.
Darius didn't respond, simply aiming his pistol again at Fiona's head and pulling the trigger.
"Wait...you're telling me that she's with them?" Andréa asked Revolver, sitting in the front seat alongside him. "That's absurd. She's just a common criminal, skilled or not."
"It would explain a lot...records wouldn't be hard to expunge or fake with that kind of pull behind you," Silvia said, digesting the information that Revolver had given them while they drove.
"She left the information there on purpose," Revolver said. "It's impossible that someone of her caliber would just leave such incriminating data there for me to find on accident."
His eyes narrowed. "If she really is the one who killed Lindsey Geneave, there will be a lot of questions to ask when this is all said and done."
"You're a few years older, but you haven't changed much," Fiona said, a mirthful expression sliding across her face as the vestiges of energy from the shielding that blocked Darius' bullet faded away in front of her. "Still as impulsive as ever. I told you that I came here to talk, you know."
"And I told you before that I don't want to listen to it," Darius replied, even as he took a more wary position. Personal energy shielding was technology that was extremely difficult to get hold of for anyone outside of military officials. Esthar mainly used the technology to supplement their ground army, pressing the technological advantage they'd had for so long, but the Senior had managed to acquire some of the technology that was now being used in Trabia Garden's standing defensive forces. Darius slowly started to reevaluate the level of danger that the woman in front of him possessed. If she could get her hands on tech of that nature, then there was much more to her than just a common assassin.
"Whether you want to or not, you need to. You're right in the middle of something that you're better off not intruding in," Fiona remarked, still making no move to draw her own weapon. She wasn't entirely sure she could talk Darius down, but she wasn't going to give up until it was absolutely clear that he wasn't going to listen.
"Like another assassination?" he sneered, shaking his head. "I've had enough of your disingenuous assertions."
The pistol rose again as he snapped off more shots in Fiona's direction, only to watch as they were deflected by the energy shield that sprang into place around her. The shots were only a leading attack for him to - a bit uncharacteristically - start closing to melee range. Darius knew that energy shields such as the one she was using had a minimum range that they activated in, as well as tending to have a minimum threat velocity to activate so that things like sitting down in chairs didn't cause them to activate when they weren't wanted. Haste magic flashed around him in addition to his Protect spell as he charged, leading with a series of flashing punches and shots from his pistol that Fiona immediately found herself hard-pressed to dodge. Her movements were fluid and exacting, carefully chosen to turn aside all of Darius' strikes and divert his gun away from her body as he fired. A sweeping kick was lightly hopped over by the woman before she jumped back, her own pistol rising and firing off a burst of shots that Darius' defensive magic protected him from as they separated again.
"If you're intent on doing this, I won't hold back," Fiona said, twirling the pistol in her hand. "You're going to listen to me, one way or another." Her clothing suddenly seemed to...shift, for lack of a better word, the colors fading away and giving way to a stark white material that looked more like ceramic armor plating than anything else.
Armor that Darius recognized.
"You...I know you..."
Darius' free hand clenched into a fist as he looked at the woman in front of him, watching as she reached up and pulled off the blond wig that she was wearing to reveal sky blue hair underneath.
"You're the woman that we saw in Vector that day."
Hikari Tanaka merely nodded, keeping a close eye on the boy in front of her.
"Are you ready to listen to me now?"
Hikari could almost see the emotions swirling on Darius' face as he processed what he'd just been shown. She remembered their encounter in Vector's First R&D Division, and she was hoping that remembering her actions there would help to show Darius that she wasn't trying to be a threat to him.
"I..."
Darius started to say something but seemed to change his mind at the last second, shaking his head firmly as the anger returned to his face. "No...this just proves that Vector was involved with Lindsey's murder. Once I'm done with you, I'll find out what they're hiding if I have to tear that entire place down to the ground."
He took a deep breath, his gaze turning into a dark look of focused intensity as he stared at the woman in front of him...the woman responsible for killing his girlfriend, for ruining his life.
"The scales balance here," he said quietly, never taking his eyes off the armor-clad assassin. "Equivalent exchange is the world's one and only truth, after all."
Energy swirled around him as he concentrated, calling forth the sole Guardian Force he kept in his possession and saturating the air in power as the summon made itself manifest. Long yellow and green wings faded into existence on either side of a large, avian body, followed by a streaming green tail that forked at the end. A featureless avian head was the last to materialize, lined by flowing yellow tufts resembling chest feathers around its neck, and the Guardian Force of Lightning, Quezacotl, screeched a challenge to Hikari as she reached behind her back. A bolt of lightning blasted from the summon's beak as she pulled a boxy construct that Darius couldn't see until now from one of the magnetic clamps on the back of her armor, flicking it out and causing it to shift form into a squat-looking assault rifle. The holographic display Darius had seen in Vector Industries before appeared in front of her face, and she rolled behind a nearby container on one side of the room to dodge the shot before popping up and unleashing a stream of bullets at the summon with pinpoint accuracy. Spurts of magic and sparks erupted from the creature's neck and chest as the shots impacted, but it seemed undeterred as it fired again, and Hikari was forced to move as the bolt cored the metal barrier she had taken refuge behind.
"...I suppose I need something bigger," she said to herself, dropping the gun to her side and pulling her left hand back in preparation. Specialized nodes built into the suit along her arms, back, and neck began to shimmer with pale blue light, and magic crackled around her hand before she showed herself again, thrusting the hand forth towards Quezacotl and sending a ball of black energy at it. The summon flapped its wings powerfully, lifting itself up and back, but it was to no avail as the energy ball exploded underneath it, erupting into a vortex of churning gravitational power that started to suck it back down. Darius' eyes widened as he watched the large creature pulled helplessly into the depths of the spinning vortex, and he raised his pistol again for another shot even as he watched Hikari prepare another magical attack.
Another orb of dark power flew towards the ensnared Guardian Force, moving more quickly than the last, and the effect this time was much different. Almost the instant that it touched the boundary of the localized gravity field, it detonated in a violent burst of magical energy, taking the entire singularity with it in a keening conflagration that caused Darius to shield his face and Quezacotl to screech in pain as its physical form was shredded by the pulling forces. As the energy dissipated, Quezacotl dropped to the ground, its wings and chest a tattered mess that sparked and crackled with magical lightning, and it started to fade away as Darius looked back at Hikari, wide-eyed at the magical prowess she'd just displayed.
'She was supposed to be a marksman, not a mage...!'
His initial plan shot full of holes - perhaps literally - Darius decided it was time for plan B.
A hand dropped to his side, reaching for the other pistol he had on him as he charged the guns with his mana, letting fly with magical shots that were imbued with elemental power and debilitating magic. Hikari's shield intercepted the blows as she ducked back into cover, and her suit's nodes glowed again with a jet black aura as she leapt upward, the gravitational energy she wielded reducing the effect of gravity pressing on her and letting her jump much higher than normal. The assault rifle spewed a torrent of shots towards Darius as he made for cover of his own, letting off a few parting shots as he slid behind a nearby crate to try and come up with an idea to deal with the magic she was using. Gunfire flew between the pair as they traded shots, with Hikari using her gravitationally-lightened body to maintain a higher position and try to get an angle on Darius. The gunfire slackened for a few seconds, allowing Darius to catch a breath and peek out for a better view...
Only to find no one there.
'Where...?'
His eyes dropped for a moment, noticing the light dimming around him, and then darted up quickly as he noticed Hikari falling towards him at a much faster rate than he expected. He dove again out of the way as she landed with crushing force, having amplified the effect of gravity on herself to gain power behind her attack. This time he went with a magical approach, Thundaga magic playing over his fingers before engulfing the armored figure. Hikari staggered back as her suit crackled with electricity from the magical attack, the energy shield having helped but not fully negated the effect, and Darius saw opportunity.
He was within about ten feet of her, too, which meant this was going to hurt.
Both pistols rose as they started shining with bright red, furious energy, and he smirked as he finished charging, confident that he was going to put her down here with or without her shielding.
"Bang."
The Kazkata shot exploded from Darius' pistols like a cannon blast, forcing his arms upward from the recoil as it crossed the distance between his body and Hikari's in the blink of an eye. The energy shield around her flared a brilliant blue before giving way, diminishing the attack's power only a little before it hit her with all the force of a speeding train. Hikari screamed as the force of the strike sent her flying, the rifle ripped from her hands as her body tumbled across the floor to land in a ragged heap dozens of feet away. Darius took a few deep breaths - using that skill always took a bit out of him - before he started to move towards the downed woman, keeping his pistols trained on her for any sign of movement. She made no attempt to move as Darius approached her, however, and Darius thought for a few seconds that he might've killed her outright until he saw her slowly start to stir. Before she could get back to a sitting position, Darius was standing over her with one of his pistols aimed directly at her face.
From this range, he knew, the energy shield wouldn't save her.
Hikari shook the cobwebs from her brain as her eyes refocused, letting her clearly see the pistol-wielding alchemist in front of her. She'd known he was powerful, but knowing it and seeing it were two different things entirely. Her rifle lay discarded several meters away, and she knew that there was no chance for her to use any of her gravity-manipulating abilities without Darius putting a bullet between her eyes.
Darius kept his pistol leveled squarely at the woman's head as he stood over her downed form, daring her to make a move so that he could mete out his own brand of justice.
"Why? Why Lindsey Geneave?" he asked, searching for some kind of answer to the question he'd asked all his life. "What made her so special?"
"It wasn't my choice," Hikari replied calmly. "I did what I was asked to do, and didn't worry about the reasoning."
"Damn it!" Darius yelled, his face contorting in anger. "She was just a girl, and you killed her for no reason? Don't give me that! Why did Lindsey get chosen?"
Hikari said nothing in the face of his anger.
"Answer me!"
Still, Hikari refused to respond, causing Darius to tremble with rage at her continued stubbornness. He yelled out angrily, ready to kill the person in front of him whether she answered his question or not.
"Drop it!"
A sudden series of crashes and shouting startled him out of his anger, and he looked up to see a trio of figures approaching him from different parts of the warehouse they were in. Each was clad from head to toe in form-fitting black armor and helmets that were almost undoubtedly military-grade, and held sleek-looking assault rifles in hand, shouldered and aimed directly at him. Hikari, surprisingly, looked equally startled to see them, and she turned her head to address the one who had spoken.
"Butler?" she asked, apparently recognizing the lead figure behind the armor."I thought I told you not to interfere in this."
"Sorry, ma'am, but you're too stubborn for your own good sometimes," Butler replied, keeping his gaze trained on Darius. "I said drop that weapon, now."
Darius was a trained SeeD operative, and well-versed in reacting to unknown situations. He knew the rough positions of the two behind and to the sides of him, and the armor that the one in front of him was wearing was quite clearly top of the line. He wasn't sure what connection they had to the murderer in front of him, but what he did know was that no matter how angry he was, cooperation would likely be the only way he'd survive to see a chance at his vengeance.
Slowly, he lowered the gun from Hikari's head, moving it away and tossing it to the ground some distance from the both of them along with the lowered pistol in his other hand.
"This was supposed to be my operation," Hikari protested as Butler walked over, lifting her up by one arm and checking her over for injuries.
"Not anymore," he replied, shouldering the weapon and doffing his helmet to reveal the bald, dark-skinned face of 'Fiona's' associate. "Division Commander's orders. We've got enough airtight evidence out of that place to shut down the entire complex for good. You're clear."
The stone-faced look on Hikari's face gave way to realization, and her uncaring facade slipped just for a moment as she looked at Butler. "The whole complex...how many years has it been?"
"Too many," he replied, nodding. "But it's time to take them down."
"Forgive me for interrupting," Darius started, now tired of standing around and watching, "but am I missing something here? An explanation wouldn't exactly be a bad thing, you know."
"You stumbled into something a little bigger than you think, mister DeValle," Butler stated as he gestured for the others around them to lower their weapons, seemingly satisfied that Darius wasn't going to be a threat. "Do you want to explain, Commander?"
"...Fine," Hikari replied, turning again to face Darius as she reached for one of her pockets.
"What do you mean, 'Commander?'" the red-haired SeeD asked carefully, watching Hikari for a tense moment as she pulled out a small identification card, handing it over to him a moment later. His eyes scanned over the card for a few seconds, reading the information contained there, and his gaze lifted to the blue-haired girl once again as he finished, a look of skepticism on his face.
"You're kidding."
Hikari simply shook her head.
"I'm Commander Hikari Tanaka, leader of the Estharian Presidential Guard's Abel Squad. Come with us, please - we'll fill you in on the way to the palace."