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CHAPTER 3 – UNCHARTED WATERS
All was silent. All was darkness. And yet, unlike all the times before, there came no awakening from his vision of the past. Despite Laguna's drug-induced loss of consciousness, Squall's remained perpetually tied. There he lingered in the void, unable to see a thing, much less move. His paranoia began to further mount with each minute passed; the complete and total sensory deprivation was becoming too much for him to bear.
Ellone? Can you hear me?
No response came. For minutes longer he idled in the nothingness, doomed to perpetuity in a world which seemed to defy the very concept of existence. He had no corporeal form, nor any reference of where or when he might be. For however restrictive being confined to Laguna's mind might have been, this was so much worse. Without a mouth, he could only hope his thoughts might somehow reach her.
Please, Ellone… speak to me…
[… Squall? Is that you?]
Had he a detectable pulse, it surely would have quickened.
Yes, it's me. You sent me into Laguna's mind again, right?
[I don't… oh, I must be sleeping. Sorry, it just happens on its own sometimes when I'm asleep. Most of the White SeeDs have experienced it at least once, where I'll accidentally send them into each other's minds. I've probably even done it to you a couple of times before over the years without knowing it.]
Squall couldn't recall having experienced any other dreams so vivid before his first as Laguna on the morning of the field exam. But then, there had already been so much of his life that he'd forgotten until recently.
So, you can't control your power?
[Not completely. I've gotten better at it with time, but it still occasionally does whatever it wants. I don't know why I have this power, but… at least it's allowed me to see how much I was loved and cared for back then. And to make sure you're still alright.]
Before… you said you needed my help for something. What were you trying to do?
Ellone did not answer right away; the black vacuum of nothingness around him was deafening.
[Laguna… after I was kidnapped, he went on a mission to save me. He managed to get me out and bring me home to Winhill. But then, he said he had to go back to Esthar. I don't know why. He swore he'd return one day, but never did. Raine passed away a few years later. All she ever wanted was to see him one more time. I wanted to know what happened to him. To know why he wasn't there for her. Or for me. Or…]
She trailed off. Although Squall's knowledge of Ellone's family extended no further than his visions, it still struck him to learn of Raine's passing. As he mulled over all she'd explained to him, free from any distraction courtesy of the void, an epiphany suddenly occurred to him.
[But, it doesn't matter now. There's no changing the past, and I don't want to inconvenience you any more than I have already.]
Wait, Ellone! Please, my… my friend, Rinoa… she's fallen into a coma, and none of us are sure what caused it, or how we can help her come out of it. Is there any way you could take me into her mind in the past?
[I'm afraid I can't. I can only send you into the mind of someone I've met before. I'm sorry, Squall. And besides that, our connection's starting to wane now. I can only ever sustain it for about an hour at a time.]
Then, what if I bring her to you?! You're still on the White SeeD ship, right? Where are you now?
[We're… out west, somewhere along the Centra coast. But please, Squall…]
Tell them to hold position until we arrive! Tell them it's the headmaster's orders! We'll be on our way soon. Wait for me, Ellone…
"You can't be serious!" Cid reeled.
Edea standing at his side behind his desk looked every bit as incredulous. Squall himself could hardly believe he would ask such a thing of the headmaster; diverting the Garden's course solely for Rinoa's sake seemed selfish at best, and completely irresponsible at worst. The way he saw it however, his and SeeD's own interests were one and the same. Both were contingent on Ellone's safety.
"We learned back in Balamb that the enemy's taken our assault boats out to search for her," he explained. "It sounds like the White SeeDs have managed to evade them so far, but there's no telling how long they'll be able to keep it up for. It stands to reason that she'll be safer aboard the Garden now."
"And what if Ultimecia possesses me again?" Edea worryingly asked. "We'd be delivering Ellone right into her hands."
"We'll take whatever precautions we have to. Besides, she's no good to her until she can merge Adel's power with yours, right?"
She had no response. Cid likewise remained mum with his hands clasped over top his desk. Squall understood the risks; there was every possibility that they might be playing into Ultimecia's plan. Their enemy was one from a time beyond their own, with the annals of SeeD's recorded history seemingly at her disposal. Furthermore, there were still the lingering remnants of Galbadia's invasion force to attend to. With the remaining troops having fled further east towards Esthar, the most sensible course of action would be to pursue them instead. With their forces decimated however, and without their sorceress figurehead to keep them in rank, they would be bound to fracture. He doubted Seifer alone could hold them all together.
"Whatever the case, we're still a good few days out from finishing up repairs," the headmaster finally spoke. "And we'll need to return to Balamb to resupply first."
"That's fine," Squall conceded. "It's bound to be a long voyage around the continent."
Despite how restless he was to get on the move, he recognized the logistics involved. Heading straight south was out of the question; the Garden was far too big to fit beneath the Horizon Bridge. Trying to bypass it by cutting across the southeastern tip of Galbadian territory would take them too close to Timber, which had been heavily reinforced according to Zell, Selphie and Irvine. Battered as the Garden already was, they would be no match for the army's heavy artillery. Their only realistic option would be to circle the continent and turn south along the west coast. It was a route he expected would take them no less than a month to travel.
Let's just hope they'll be willing to stay in one place for that long.
"One step at a time," Cid reminded him. "We'll discuss this again once we're back home."
"Yes, sir," Squall saluted. He prepared to turn on his heel, when Edea suddenly stepped forward and placed her hand on the back of her husband's chair.
"If… if we round the continent, and keep heading south… wouldn't that bring us by…?"
She said nothing more. Judging by the look on Cid's face, she hadn't needed to.
"That's right," he answered. "It's okay. We don't have to go there if you don't want-"
"But I do."
The look in her eyes, just moments ago so anxious, now showed only resolve.
"The orphanage… those poor children… I know it wasn't my fault. I did all I could to resist her. But still, I… I need to see it all with my own eyes. It's the only way I'll ever be able to find some closure. Please, Cid…"
A warble began creeping into her voice. As she closed her eyes preemptively, Cid stood up to embrace her.
"I understand, dear," he spoke softly to her, gently stroking her hair. "We'll go together. If you think you can find the strength to face it, then so can I."
Squall awkwardly idled in place. He realized he was unwittingly intruding on a very private moment, and yet couldn't bring himself to take his leave. Out of the blue, Edea had all but tossed him a life-line in convincing the headmaster to go along with his plan. He stayed standing there, hoping for any kind of acknowledgment. It came in the form of a curt nod. Satisfied, he saluted again, and made his way to the door.
After another three days spent tending to repairs, the wounded, and whatever loose ends were left to tie up with the Trabia administration, the time had come to return to Balamb. They pivoted due south back along the Bika Snowfield, leaving behind Galbadia Garden in the hands of its new student body. The road to recovery had already been long in the wake of the missile strike. Now, with yet another catastrophic loss of life piled on top, there was so much further left to go. Though Squall couldn't imagine it being an easy hurdle to overcome, he wondered if perhaps their new home might give them the resolve to make it through.
As for SeeD, a five day trip back to Balamb awaited them in the short-term. Although their supply stores were in no immediate danger of running short, they would need to be fully stocked to make the journey to Centra comfortably. In addition, there were still the captured POWs to account for; each would only make for another mouth to feed along the way. And so, upon settling back on the small island nation, they were swiftly rounded up and marched out of the Garden by a newly organized battalion of SeeDs. Within the following two days it took to adequately resupply, a makeshift internment camp had been set up on the town's outskirts. Squall understood that in doing so he would be further reducing their already diminished manpower aboard the Garden. In the interest of getting the most mileage they could out of their rations however, there was no other choice. Provided they could stay clear of the Galbadain navy, there would be no need to re-engage so soon.
They cast off again on the morning of Thursday, April 22nd, bound due northwest for enemy territory. At Squall's behest, the navigation crew continued to steer far off the coast for the first few days. Headmaster Dodonna had confirmed for them that Dollet had fallen; it would take just one off-shore sighting for all of Galbadia to know their position. Only once they could be sure they had reached sufficient latitude did they start closing in towards land. Time was the price paid for their caution; it took nearly a week to begin circling Holy Glory Cape to the north. Once around the bend, they would be secure for a while yet. Long Horn Island, which jutted out sideways from the continent's apex, was known to be overrun by teeming wildlife, and as such had yet to be colonized. Continuing straight along its trajectory would do well to keep them out of sight from Deling City and its surrounding coastal provinces as they kept moving further west.
A sense of normality, however tenuous, had begun returning to the Garden over the course of their voyage. With the infirmary no longer overcrowded, and classes starting back up for undergraduates, things were finally starting to resemble how they had been before Ultimecia's rise to power. Of course, things would never truly be the same again. Day after day, Squall would emerge from the dormitories into the atrium, and find himself perturbed by how considerably quieter it had grown. Regardless of how overbearing the morning hustle and bustle could sometimes be for him in the past, its absence rang far louder in his ears now.
Rinoa's condition had stayed the same ever since. With the infirmary having finally caught up on its backlog of patients, she'd been given an MRI scan at the earliest possible convenience. To Squall's dismay, they'd found no trace of anything out of the ordinary. By any reasonable standard, her body was perfectly healthy, and yet she clearly was not. Heading into her 4th straight week hooked up to an IV drip, her physical condition was visibly deteriorating. Her face had turned gaunt, her arms becoming increasingly slender.
Still, Squall came to check up on her every day, hoping desperately for a miracle. Occasionally, he would arrive to find her assigned med student or one of his friends seated at her bedside. None had given him a greater initial jump than Irvine; opening the door to him dressed in his charcoal Galbadia Garden uniform had naturally thrown him off.
"Was wondering when you'd show up," he grinned.
"Don't tell me you've been wearing that out in the open," Squall asked him point-blank. Despite the Garden now being long clear of captured sorceress' knights, brazenly flaunting their colors about campus was asking for trouble.
"Why not?" the sharpshooter replied. "I grew up in that Garden. It's who I am. It's who I'll always be. And besides… for all we know, I might be the only one left."
In a flash, his line of reasoning became so much more clear to Squall. They'd still yet to learn what had become of the Galbadia Garden student body and administration once they'd been forced out of their home. While it was possible, and even likely, that the most combat-ready among them had been forcibly conscripted, there was no telling what Ultimecia had decreed be done with those younger. Cid's account of what the SeeDs he'd sent to the orphanage had found gave him no assurances.
"Have it your way," he acceded. "Just don't go getting yourself in over your head."
"Right back at you, Commandant."
Asshole…
"Anyway, looks like our princess isn't doing too well."
His word choice couldn't have been deliberate; he'd yet to have become involved with their group back when they'd known her as such. All the same, it did the trick to jog Squall's memory. How could he have expected things would progress so far, so fast?
"Maybe she'll wake up with a kiss from the prince," Irvine ribbed him.
"Was there something you wanted?" he impatiently scowled.
"Yeah, that sphere you gave Selphie? She can't use it."
"What do you mean, she 'can't use it'?"
"I mean she's been trying for the last few days, and nothing happens."
A lump caught in Squall's throat. He couldn't fathom why she, the most experienced GF wielder among them would be having difficulty, least of all with one of an identical elemental disposition to her original. There couldn't have been anything wrong with Xu's sphere. He'd seen firsthand the gleaming holy energy contained within.
"Maybe… maybe she's just out of it," he concluded; there was nothing else he could think of. "She did put a lot into that last attack, just like Rinoa."
The theory seemed to placate Irvine for the moment, if not himself. So-called Guardian Force Fatigue certainly had recorded precedent, though usually never lasted more than a few days at most. It made no sense for Selphie to be suffering from it now, nearly a month later. But then, neither could he explain Rinoa's persistent coma. It led him to wonder if perhaps there were more to the spheres' potential side-effects than memory loss.
Nevertheless, just a few short days later, he found himself at Selphie's beck and call in the training center. There she toiled amid the familiar foliage where he'd previously instructed Rinoa. True to Irvine's word, she was struggling; no matter how hard she fought to harness the sphere's energy, nothing would materialize.
"You can't even catch a whiff of it?" he asked after several fruitless minutes. He'd never seen someone with so much prior training exert so much effort to no results.
"Not… really," she heaved. She brought the sphere up in her hand, staring at it as if it might speak back to her. "I can definitely feel something there, but whenever I try to get a grip on it, it slips away. It's like… have you ever had a word right on the tip of your tongue, but you just can't spit it out?"
You think I talk to enough people to know?
"I already gave the other one I got when I enrolled a try, too. No luck there, either. Guess that means it's a 'me' problem, huh?"
"Just give it a rest for now," he advised her. "Nothing good's going to come out of pushing yourself too hard."
"Yeah, I know," she sighed. "It just… it feels like I've been kneecapped. What help am I gonna be to you guys if I can't even cast a simple spell now?"
Squall had no answer to reassure her. Troubling as this newest development was however, it had fortunately come at a most convenient juncture; so long as they continued to keep their distance from the shore, they were in no imminent danger of having to fight again any time soon. With a quick recounting of the circumstances, she agreed to postpone her efforts for the time being, hopeful that her aptitude would return of its own accord before long.
More than 2 weeks since setting sail, they finally began turning south. They kept their arc wide so as not to encroach too far into Galbadian territory. As they continued to dip further in towards the coast however, another dilemma reared its head. The quickest route down along the continent involved navigating the channel between the western shore and the Rhem Archipelago. Alternatively, they could continue further west until they reached the next gap running through the long stretch of islands; given their size, it could take them days longer to wrap around.
Having taken things so slowly and carefully thus far, Squall had to wonder if cutting a few more days off their journey was worth the risk of bringing themselves so close to the mainland. With Esthar directly across the ocean, the waters and airspace along Galbadia's western coast had been a primary front during the war. Its defense had only grown tighter in the wake of the communication interference, the army always standing at the ready should another attack come at any time. It was entirely possible some of those forces had been diverted since Ultimecia's takeover, but far from a guarantee. And so, they continued to arc outwards from the continent's northwestern tip. He only hoped Ellone and her bodyguards could wait for them a while longer.
Threading the archipelago was no challenge once they'd found a sufficient passage through. As with Long Horn Island, the region had never been settled by man due to its high density of wildlife. Of particular infamy was the island furthest west, appropriately shaped like a claw, jutting out into the sea from the rest of its brethren; so vicious were the creatures there that it had long been known as the 'Island Closest to Hell' since the days of the Holy Dollet Empire. The waters by comparison were largely tame; but for an occasional blip on the sonar, they passed through the channel without complications. A straight shot south to Centra awaited them on the other side.
They began drawing near the island where the orphanage lay after just over a month. They deviated down and around the south side to find enough room for the Garden to come ashore. As they made their approach, Squall caught sight of the old lighthouse still standing on the shore, just as he remembered. Up on the hill just behind sat the only home he'd ever had before Balamb Garden. Whatever structural damage it had sustained in the years since, whether by Ultimecia or time's hand, he couldn't so easily tell from up high on the bridge. As he descended with Edea, Cid, and their SeeD security detail to see them off, his eyes were immediately drawn to the flower field stretching due south towards the great stone house. It was just as breathtaking as he remembered, both from his youth, and Laguna's visit all those years ago. It gave him satisfaction to know that despite all that had changed in the world, some things had still been left untouched.
"Bring back memories?" Edea asked him.
"A few," he answered. "Whatever's left, I suppose."
He swept his eyes over the land; it all looked so much more quaint now. To think there had been a time when he couldn't imagine a world beyond the island's boundaries. He'd grown so much since those days, and yet, not nearly enough until very recently.
"Are you sure you'll be okay here?"
"We'll be fine," she assured him. "The further I am away from Ellone, the better. Make sure you give her my regards when you see her. And tell her how sorry I am for all of this."
"Will do," he said. He bit his tongue as the instinct to ask her about the so-called 'nightmare' from 13 years ago flared up again; knowing full well the grief she had returned to face, he had no desire to contribute any more.
"The Garden's in your hands now," Cid reminded him. "Remember, Squall… it's your duty as commandant to lead by example."
"I know."
He nodded to the SeeD platoon. They saluted him in return before taking their leave with the headmaster and his wife. Squall had no doubt they would be able to handle things; they were the same contingent he'd traded off guarding Edea with for the last seven weeks. The question now was whether he could do the same without any higher authority to fall back on. Although Cid had already left most major decision making to him since they'd set out from Balamb, his presence had given Squall some semblance of a safety net should he need help. He was on his own now.
Following their brief detour, the Garden promptly set out again to the ruined southern continent. Squall began to take up residence in the headmaster's office as opposed to his own dorm room, as he and Cid had discussed prior to their parting; a permanent position on the top floor would naturally help him to relay orders to the bridge crew at a moment's notice. Despite how comfy the king sized mattress was to lie on, his nights were rarely sound. It was unbelievable how far he'd come in such a short time. He'd just moved into that dorm after graduation 3 months earlier, only to now be sleeping in the room reserved for the head of Balamb Garden. Indeed, he now in fact was the highest ranking authority aboard.
I swear I'm going to wake up anytime now…
They reached Centra's northwest tip within a matter of days, remote as it had ever been for the last century. No longer encumbered by a need to keep their distance from the shore, they were at leisure to trace the coastline for as long as necessary. Just exactly how long, Squall couldn't guess. Ellone had yet to reach out to him again throughout the entirety of their voyage. He had only her word that she'd been somewhere along the west coast to guide them; surely she would have tried to contact him had the White SeeDs been forced to retreat elsewhere.
So they pressed onward, following the continent's edge day and night. Long had he known of its all-encompassing desolation, but never had he seen it firsthand before his vision of Laguna at the excavation site. Through his binoculars, he could glimpse absolutely no trace of civilization left standing along the shoreline. Vegetation was scarce across the barren wasteland. More numerous were the occasional packs of monsters he could spot roaming about. The more he saw, the more he pondered what could have happened all those years ago to cause so much devastation.
After another week, there was still no sight of the White SeeD ship along the coast. With only so far left to go before they began rounding the southern cape, Squall began to worry. Myriad possibilities shot through his mind, to be just as quickly silenced as one of the nav crew called out to him from across the deck.
"Commandant!"
He turned his attention to the SeeD stationed by the sonar readout. While a relatively new addition to the team, Nida was already every bit as familiar to Squall as the rest; he'd been one of the three assigned to Xu's squad for the field exam.
"What is it?" he asked as he traipsed over.
"We just picked up a pretty huge bogey," Nida explained.
Squall followed his pointing index finger to the display screen. Sure enough, a persistent blip due southwest from their position continued to pulse.
"It's coming from off shore?" he asked. Turning his gaze back out the window in its general direction, he could see nothing but open ocean.
"Yeah, but it's the first I'm seeing anything like it. Do you think it might be worth checking out?"
Squall furrowed his brow. For all they knew, it could be a whale, or some other mammoth form of marine life. On the other hand, he realized it could just as likely be the ship, or even one of Galbadia's scouting the region. Whatever the case, heading out to investigate would only be liable to set them back an hour or two at most. They had nothing to lose.
"We'll take a look," he finally answered. "Keep an eye on it, and tell me if anything changes."
"Yes, sir!"
With another order to the crew at large to change course, they pivoted to starboard and started out away from the coast. The ocean stretched out for untold miles, with nary a landmark to keep them directionally oriented. The constant blip on the sonar was all they had to guide them on. It continued to register for some time, despite not appearing to be drawing any closer. Whether it were owed to the limited display or the bogey's sheer size, Squall couldn't tell. Perhaps it were even a full fleet of ships tightly clustered together. In any case, there remained no visual on the horizon.
For another hour they sailed onward into the open sea, until at last, some progress was evident on the sonar. The closer they crept, the more anxious Squall became. His eyes darted about through the window, searching for any sign of what the disturbance might have been. And then, soon enough, something poked into view upon the water's surface in the distance. He quickly brought the binoculars back up to his eyes and increased the magnification to maximum. To his dismay, it was not the White SeeD Ship. More pertinently however, he had no idea what exactly it was to begin with.
There, out in the middle of the ocean, floated a large man-made structure akin to an oil rig. Its exterior was visibly dilapidated, with huge chunks torn from the rusted metal plating. At the apex loomed what looked like a control tower, nearly as tall as the Garden's own. An assortment of destroyed metal cranes and scaffolding surrounded the facility on all sides. Some had crumpled inwards, forming a set of makeshift angled bridges to its upper levels. Others had been completely sheared through. Whatever the cause, it was clear the derelict structure had been abandoned for some time.
"What is that?" one of the nav crew wondered as they drew closer.
"Looks like some kind of old naval base," another suggested. "Galbadia?"
"I… can't tell," Squall hummed. "Whoever built it, they're probably long gone by now."
"Orders, sir?" the one at the helm asked.
Squall hesitated. Although they couldn't neglect their primary objective to find the White SeeD ship, this new discovery had certainly piqued his interest. And then, in an instant, his curiosity increased exponentially. A red streak suddenly shot up into the sky from the desecrated facility. It climbed higher and higher, generating a thick trail of smoke just behind. Squall's eyes widened as he watched it soar upwards and finally detonate in midair. He just as quickly turned his binoculars back down to the flare's source. The billowing smoke's obfuscation kept him from making out who might have sent it up. Nevertheless, the signal couldn't have been any more clear: the base was not abandoned after all.
He removed the scope from his eyes, and glanced around at the rest of the crew. Their collective attention was trained on him. None spoke a word, all waiting patiently to hear his command.
"My team and I will go aboard," he announced as he strode over to the intercom. "Bring us in near that scaffolding up front."
"Sir!" they all replied in unison.
Squall snatched the receiver from its holder, and pressed the button to cue the loudspeaker system's four tone chime.
"Attention, Operatives Quistis Trepe, Zell Dincht, Selphie Tilmitt, and Irvine Kinneas," he spoke rapidly. "Please report to the second floor starboard side emergency exit for immediate deployment. Repeat: Operatives Quis-"
A tremendous collision against the Garden's outer hull cut him off. He stumbled in place, causing him to drop the binoculars held in his other hand. He promptly threw it out to grab hold of the command deck's railing. The rest of the crew appeared no less shaken.
"What the-?!" someone roared.
"Did we hit something?" another asked.
Squall wondered the same. Before he could offer a response, another impact came. Although he couldn't be positive in his state of disorientation, both appeared to have originated from higher up the Garden as opposed to sea level.
"Seems like something's hitting us!" a third crewman deduced.
Squall agreed. His mind raced a mile a minute as he fought to make sense of the circumstances they'd entered into. Had the signal flare been a trap to draw them into range for an artillery bombardment? He glanced back out the window to the facility in the distance. Save for the fading wisps of smoke from where it had gone up, there was no sign of weapons' fire. And then, suddenly, all view of the outside was blotted out as something swooped past the window. It disappeared just as quickly beyond the edge of the glass pane in a giant blur of dark blue scales.
What fresh hell is this?
A bestial roar followed, clearly audible even through the window. With no time to think things through, Squall brought the receiver back up to his mouth and began relaying orders on the fly.
"Attention everybody, please remain calm and brace for further turbulence. Quistis, Zell, Selphie, Irvine, get to the second floor starboard side, on the double!"
"You're not still going out there, are you?!" Nida frantically asked as he clicked off the intercom.
"There's no other option. It could be the White SeeDs and Ellone trapped on that base for all we know. Everyone start turning the Garden to port, and head back towards the coast. We'll deploy as planned, and try to draw this thing's attention so you can make a clean getaway. Just be back here in the morning to pick us up."
Before anyone else among the crew could protest, Squall leapt clear over the right-hand railing to the red carpeted floor below. The impact barely registered to him. He quickly dashed into the headmaster's office, slung on his belt harness with all of his essential effects attached, clipped his sheathed gunblade to his side, and rushed back out towards the elevators. Their aerial attacker continued to sporadically pound against the Garden all the while, generating tremor after tremor. As he stepped aboard the capsule, with its cracked glass paneling still freshly sealed back together, he wondered if perhaps the stairs might be a safer alternative; his previous close call from when he'd been swept straight out by a Galbadian mech still haunted him. Taking a deep breath, he jammed the button for the second floor. However unnerving, however risky, his time was short; they needed to deploy fast before the Garden turned too far away.
The elevator slowed to a stop without incident. He was out the doors the moment they dinged open, blazing along the walkway to the atrium's outer rim. As he turned to circle around to the starboard side, he was relieved to see no students or instructors congregated in the halls; clearly, safeguarding the junior classmen had become routine in the wake of Norg's insurrection and the Battle of the Gardens. His concern for their safety aside, he was most immediately relieved to not have to contend with dipping and dodging around them en route to the emergency exit.
He arrived on the scene to find his teammates fully armed and clustered around the door. All wore life-vests atop their respective attire, with a spare presumably for him held in Quistis' hands. On the floor just before the hatch lay a white, inflatable lifeboat with a raised motorized propeller fixed to the back. Although it looked spacious enough for the 5 of them, Zell evidently had other plans; he held his T-Board kicked upright at his side.
"What's the situation?" Quistis asked as she extended the vest to him. "Are we under attack?"
"The picture's still not too clear," Squall grunted as he quickly buckled it around him. "We're headed for some kind of abandoned naval base out in the middle of the ocean. A distress flare's been sent up. No confirmation on who it is yet, but…"
He trailed off, hoping he wouldn't need to explain himself any further. He was commandant now; his orders took precedence. Indeed, the compulsion to expound had only come from a sense of duty to his friends.
"But we've gotta check it out, right?" Selphie nodded her head in understanding. "Fine by me. So, what's hitting us?"
"Only one way to find out."
He made his way forward to stand beside the emergency exit, and grabbed the left-hand release lever. Irvine wordlessly mirrored him on the right. They heaved together, and threw open the door. On cue, the long yellow slide shot out like an airbag from below and draped itself across the water. The ruined structure loomed directly ahead of them; its metal facade, however damaged and deteriorated, still gleamed in the afternoon sun. As the Garden began turning however, so did the slide begin to drag away.
"C'mon, get in!" Zell gestured to the boat. "I'll give you guys a push."
Squall promptly took a seat at the head. He gripped hard onto handholds set on the rim just as another tremor rocked the academy; even so far from the upper levels, he could feel the impact reverberate all the way down. Quistis, Selphie and Irvine were right behind, filing in as quickly as they could. Zell set his T-Board to the side of the hatch, hunched down, set his hands to the boat's rear, and shoved with all his might. Unsurprisingly, it took little effort for him to move them forward; besides merely his technical know-how, his penchant for using his GF to enhance his physical strength was a valuable asset, indeed.
They slid off down the flume the next moment. Squall held on tight as they rapidly began picking up speed, and finally splashed down onto the water's surface. The boat rocked as they came to a rest, sending he and his team bobbing about. The moment they settled in place, Quistis lowered the rear motor into the water and pulled the start cord. It revved to life, and with a crank of the accelerator they lurched forward again towards the base. Satisfied, Squall turned his attention backwards just in time to see Zell come surfing down the slide after them.
He then craned his neck up to the height of the Garden, hoping to finally catch a clear visual of their attacker. With the sun beginning to set to his back, it didn't take him long. Up above, a large winged blue dragon circled the academy in a frenzy. Using the Garden as a reference point, he estimated it to be at least 20 feet from its horned head to its tail. Its giant wings extended out further still; in addition to its standard limbs, a pair of silver claw-like appendages jutted out from the top of each. The beast soared, dipped and dived at a whim, coming to a rest only as it pulled back from its next glancing blow against the outside.
"Holy shit!" Irvine blurted out. "What'd we do to piss that thing off so bad?!"
Squall concurred; rarely had he ever seen a creature act so viciously without provocation, especially against something so much larger than itself.
"Doesn't matter," he dismissed his concern. "We need to draw it away before it does any more damage to the hull. Think you can handle it?"
"Say no more."
The gunman swiftly pulled his weapon from his back and took aim. It was a new one Squall had yet to see him wield, presumably recovered with his uniform from Galbadia Garden. The scoped assault rifle was significantly bulkier than his shotgun, which was likely the reason why he had not brought it along on their trip to Deling City instead; Squall could imagine it being difficult to keep concealed within his old longcoat. A single-shot grenade launcher attachment was fixed underneath its barrel for additional firepower. At such long range however, conventional weapons' fire would be his only hope of hitting his mark.
Irvine fired short, controlled bursts up into the air. That his bullets could even come close to the dragon given its frenetic movement spoke volumes of his expertise. Not content to sit idly by, Squall began channeling his GF's energy. Regardless of the extreme improbability of him landing a hit, it was imperative they put as much pressure on the creature as possible. A fireball promptly formed in his hand. He unleashed it the next moment, sending it flying up through the air. Quistis followed suit with a blast of ice from her palm. Among the four of them, Selphie remained the only holdout. He didn't need to ask why; clearly nothing had changed since they'd last spoken on the subject. Disheartening as it was to learn, Squall knew there was no time to dwell on such things now.
The gap between their boat and the Garden continued to grow wider as both sped away from one another. Zell zoomed alongside them on his T-Board, likewise unable to contribute in any other meaningful way due to the nature of his GF's element. It made no difference to Squall, nor evidently the dragon; it continued to hammer away at the Garden persistently no matter their collective efforts. As he prepared to shoot another fireball in vain however, a faint luminescence brimming beneath the water suddenly caught his attention. He first thought it might be a trick of the sunlight. As it grew ever brighter however, swelling in volume to encompass a wide stretch of ocean, he realized something was awry. And then, it happened.
A truly massive beam of pulsing neon light erupted from the depths, shooting straight up into the sky. Its diameter was enormous; despite the distance they'd put between themselves and the Garden, it had still come close to engulfing all of them. Squall gazed up at the pillar of energy with a sense of awe. So transfixed was he by its shimmering beauty, he failed to see the oncoming tidal wave until it was too late.
"Shit!" Irvine yelled. He quickly holstered his gun and jumped ship without another word.
Acting entirely on reflex, Squall did the same. He dove straight into the water, sinking like a stone until his life-vest's buoyancy took hold. He began gently bobbing to the surface, until the wave violently forced him under again. He tumbled and turned, losing all sense of direction. He held his breath fast, just as he did his gunblade clipped to his belt. When he finally found the courage to open his eyes, what he saw lurking beneath the surface forced an involuntary gasp from him. The water surging into his mouth barely even registered.
At first glance, it seemed to resemble a monstrous jellyfish; a gigantic domed top hung over a single tendril extending down nearly as far as it was wide. As he strained his eyes to peer through the stinging saltwater, he realized there was so much more to it. Tufts of what looked like white feathers adorned much of its body, broken up every so often by traces of muted violet sinew. The underside of its massive dome seemed to be adorned with some archaic markings he couldn't make sense of. He wouldn't dare to try. Neither could he attempt so before his life-vest brought him to the surface.
He started hacking and coughing uncontrollably as his body involuntarily forced the water from his lungs. The moment he could take another steady breath, the result was instead yet another gasp. There, right before him, the mammoth creature from the depths idled with the tip of its head stuck out of the water. He remained frozen in awe, having lost any sense of self-preservation. He hadn't even yet begun to fathom where it had come from, or why. His mind simply refused to accept a form of life so massive could even exist on the planet. He was abruptly snapped out of his amazement by a familiar roar. He turned his focus back up to the sky to see the dragon come swooping in to engage. A blast of fire jettisoned from its maw, aimed squarely at the monster's exposed top. Potent as the fireball obviously was, it was practically a pebble by comparison.
Before the blast could even impact, another burst of light shot out from atop the giant jellyfish. It trailed diagonally up this time, clearly aimed for the dragon. It gracefully dipped out of harms way before circling back around to fire another volley of shots. It was then, as he waded in the water helplessly, watching the battle unfold, that some semblance of reason returned to Squall. His squadmates needed him, as did those who had signaled for help from the facility. He couldn't afford to let himself be swept up in the spectacle, least of all when he could be so easily killed in the crossfire. With no other recourse, he turned his back to the imminent clash of titans, set his sights on the base, and started swimming as fast as he could.