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CHAPTER 1 – NEGOTIATIONS AND ULTIMATUMS
"Have a seat," Dr. Odine gestured to the other end of the wide conference table.
Squall obliged, taking the nearest chair. He'd barely settled into the metal seat when one of his escorts seized hold of his right arm and pulled back his jacket's sleeve. Resisting the urge to fight back, he allowed them to slip the metal bangle off his wrist. It parted with a quick swipe of a keycard across its reader.
"Handy little piece of hardware, isn't it?" Piet commented.
The commander sat beside Odine on the opposite end of the table. Beyond them, two windows to the fore of the ship stood on either side of a holographic display screen. There the planet idled in the vacuum of space, just as he'd seen it from aboard the Lunar Base. More concerning now however was the concentrated stream of monsters and upended landmass zooming straight for the surface. Though he couldn't begin to guess the Ragnarok's current speed, the Lunar Cry's was positively terrifying.
"Nervous?" Piet prodded, appearing to have read his facial expression. "It's like Dr. Odine was saying before. Provided it's headed for Tears' Point, there shouldn't be any risk of the continent being torn apart. Things could always be worse."
"I for one find that very hard to believe!" the doctor angrily disagreed. "All the time and money we invested into that base's construction, all the research we still had left to conduct… gone! And then to lose Adel along with it!"
"I think we should count ourselves lucky just to have survived through that," Piet replied, turning his focus back to Squall. "You especially. SeeD or not, I'm amazed anyone would go throwing themselves out into space on a whim like that. And without any prior experience to boot."
Welcome to my life…
It was all in a day's work for Squall at this stage. From abducting a world leader, to assassinating a sorceress, and even assuming command of the world's most elite mercenary army, few were the remaining risks he'd yet to run. And yet among them all, this was the first time he'd accepted the responsibility of his own volition, rather than out of any sense of duty. Rinoa's safety was all that mattered to him in that moment. Now he could finally put his attention to work elsewhere.
"Where's Ellone?" he finally spoke; seeing to her well-being was the very next item on his agenda.
"We've set her up with a private cabin. Whether or not you'll get your own, or end up in the brig with your friend depends on how this conversation goes. So I suggest you think long and hard before you decide to bullshit us going forward. Now, let's get down to it. Who is that sorceress girl to you? And why did you bring her here?"
Squall hesitated. He hadn't a clue where to even start, much less if they would actually believe his account. Even he struggled to fully accept Edea's power having passed on to Rinoa; the thought was too surreal, the ramifications too world-rending for his mind to come to terms with. Time compression and spiritual possession from the future were easier concepts for him to swallow. And though he doubted they would be as readily willing to buy into it all, there was at least a chance that Odine, given his long history with Adel, might be inclined to take him at face value.
And so he started, from the very beginning. For the better part of an hour, he recounted for them all that had transpired over the last few months: Edea's rise to power, his squad's failed assassination attempt, Galbadia's missile strike on the Gardens, the clash at Trabia, the search for Ellone, and his journey into Esthar. Interruptions were sparse; his interrogators were content to let him speak freely but for a few clarifications. Through it all, Odine continued to furiously scribble away upon a tablet reader before him. If nothing else, he was taking the story seriously enough to commit it to writing.
"And you honestly believe all this?" Piet scoffed when he was finished. "That both your matron and your friend have been possessed by some other sorceress from the future?"
"Ask Ellone about it if you need to," Squall doubled down. "She felt what I did in Rinoa's mind. She heard Ultimecia's same thoughts."
"Oh, rest assured, we will," Odine said as he finally set his stylus down and looked up from his notes. "But first, I'll have to see if your beloved is able to corroborate any of this."
"What's going to happen to her?"
Squall fashioned his glare into the fiercest he could manage. With any luck, he'd be able to give the scowl Ultimecia had shot him out in space a run for its money. He knew he was in no position to make demands; he never had been from the moment he'd arrived in Esthar. Still, with the knowledge of how Odine liked to operate, he no longer felt comfortable leaving Rinoa alone with him.
"We'll probably have to seal her away, just like Adel," Piet answered.
"Indeed," Odine agreed. "For the sake of everyone's safety as much as my own scientific pursuits. I'll be needing a new specimen in the event Adel can't be recovered, after all."
"And what right do you have to-?!"
As he started rising out of his seat, Squall was forced back down into place by his retainers on either side. They held fast to his shoulders for moments longer until he finally settled down. Without his gunblade or GF on hand, there was little he could do. Never mind his position on a fully staffed spaceship hurtling back to earth at breakneck speed.
"Whether of her own will or otherwise, she has demonstrated herself to be a potential menace to society," Odine continued, unfazed. "It will have to wait until this current crisis has abated, of course. At least with those bangles attached, she'll be no threat to us for the time being."
The stout man lifted himself out of his chair, placed the tablet under his arm, and rounded the table to the door. He slowed as he drew near Squall for one final gloat.
"You didn't think we'd supply those spheres to your Garden without developing a countermeasure for our own army, did you? Just let you run roughshod over the world?"
"And that's why you shipped them out to Galbadia?" Squall fired back. "To level the playing field?"
Odine abruptly halted in his tracks. For the first time, he looked genuinely perplexed; his reaction to the snipe seemed more befuddled than at any point during Squall's testimony.
"Whatever are you talking about?"
"Those bangles. My comrades and I have seen ones just like them in Galbadia."
"I'm afraid you're mistaken. I've imposed a strict moratorium on the release of our technology outside the country. No one gets hold of my company's work without a contract. Especially not Galbadia. Now, if you'll excuse me, I would very much like to have a chat with our newest resident-to-be. Piet, keep him talking. You two, with me."
Odine shuffled out the automatic doorway without another word. The two guards followed after as instructed, leaving Squall alone with the commander. Though it was hard to get a precise read on his frame beneath the white coat, Piet struck him as a man fully capable of defending himself. Surely the rank he carried hadn't been bestowed to him without good reason.
"For what it's worth, I can at least believe your hands are clean in all of this," he said.
"Strange that the doctor doesn't know where his own technology is being sent to," Squall replied, ignoring the compliment; he wasn't about to let this go.
"You're still hung up on that? It's just as he said: we haven't done business with Galbadia since before the war. Why would we? Now, about this whole 'time compression' spiel, just how would it-"
"Maybe he hasn't," Squall cut him off. "But what if there's an insider? Someone with the means and opportunity to funnel that kind of intel and equipment to them."
General Caraway had practically admitted as much to him in Deling City months before. There must have been a double agent at work here. The fruits of Galbadia's experiments at the Deep Sea Research Center were proof positive they'd known of Esthar's method of GF production. Such intelligence could only have come from someone high up the chain of command. Someone privy to what went on aboard the Lunar Base, with access to the army's latest gear, and a plausible outlet by which to disseminate both to Galbadia. With all those factors taken into consideration, it took scant few moments for Squall to settle on a prime suspect. The only man he could think of was the one sitting directly across from him.
"You mentioned that you've still made routine maintenance visits to all the Gardens," he recalled, narrowing his eyes as he glared across the table. "Tell me… when was your last visit to Galbadia Garden?"
"What are you implying?" Piet asked nonchalantly.
"That you've had an in there ever since its construction. And considering its joint ownership by SeeD and the Galbadian army-"
"You'd better have proof before you start flinging an accusation like that around!"
Squall smirked at the sudden outburst. Not even in the midst of the evacuation had Piet looked and sounded so unnerved. Still, he had a valid point. He had nothing but circumstantial evidence and one suspiciously overblown reaction to pin him to the crime. Fortunately, an eyewitness account would be simple enough to retroactively obtain.
"I could always ask Ellone to probe your mind. It would be easy for her to link Odine's consciousness to yours, and let him see every dealing you've ever had with that Garden's representatives. Is that something you'd be willing to consent to?"
Piet's face turned white as his coat; he'd been well and truly backed into a corner. The tables had turned, leaving Squall in the interrogator's seat for a change. The only question now was the matter of the commander's pride. Would he confess? Or stubbornly continue to feign ignorance? A few seconds of breathless anticipation later, he got his answer.
"They… they approached me 9 years ago," he admitted, his eyes trained to the table. "The wound was still fresh for them over being denied their own supply of GFs, so they asked me for whatever information I could give about the production method. The payout was plenty enticing. And more than that… I always felt like the doctor wasn't going far enough. After all, who's to say how quickly the rest of the world can change while we continue to keep ourselves shut off from it all? What good would buffing up our own army do should yours encompass the globe? Even we wouldn't be a match for the manpower of Balamb, Galbadia, and Trabia united. There needed to be another nation capable of standing up to those spheres. And so, I've continued providing them with intel and whatever else I could get away with smuggling out on my trips. From new, experimental AI weapons schematics, to those bangles."
Squall's sense of triumph, however overpowering throughout Piet's confession, withered away as the ramifications suddenly struck him.
"Those missiles they launched at Balamb and Trabia," he interrupted. "I have it on authority they were equipped with some new AI guidance tech. Are you saying…?"
"It's the same one we developed to shoot off pods into space from the Lunar Gate. I'm sorry."
Unbelievable…
He couldn't have fathomed just how deep Piet's deception truly went. The deaths of every fallen student buried outside the ruins of Trabia Garden, including several of Selphie's friends, lay on this one man's shoulders. He didn't even feel the need to ask about the spider-bot from Dollet which had nearly trampled her.
"The last time I visited Galbadia Garden, they told me to pass on intel about an impending radio wave broadcast to the world. In truth, it was intended solely for Esthar. That facade was purely to keep my accord with them concealed from Dr. Odine and the rest of the government. That was how we came to learn of the sorceress. And then, after the second one, the night she killed Deling... that was when the reality of what I'd been complicit in all this time really hit home."
"Well, you'll forgive me if I don't believe your hands are clean in all this," Squall reprimanded him.
"You don't need to tell me," Piet muttered, still not meeting his eyes. "And I'm begging you to please not tell Dr. Odine, either. Name your terms, and I'll do whatever I can to make them happen."
"Rinoa goes free," Squall blurted out on the spot.
"That's… a bit too high above my station. I can try to put in a word, but I don't think it'll matter one bit to the doctor. Or the administration, once they learn of the threat she poses."
To have ended up right back at square one was more than Squall was willing to accept. And he would not, so long as there was something he could do about it. Somehow, he needed a way to prove Rinoa's inherent benevolence. That she was not the scheming sorceress who'd nearly killed them all, and would have no desire to do so if given the chance.
"She's nothing like Adel," he insisted. "They'll understand that if they just talk to her."
"But so long she has the same power as Adel, it's a risk no one's going to take."
The same power. The magic of Hyne. A different strain of it maybe, but…
It was then, in a flash of intuition, that the solution smacked him right in the face. His eyes bulged. It was so simple, he couldn't believe he hadn't considered it before. And yet, it would prove beyond any doubt that Rinoa had not a murderous bone in her body.
"Those bangles!" he shouted out, causing Piet to bolt up in his seat. "They were designed by reverse-engineering Adel's energy frequency, right?"
"Yes, that's the most basic way of putting it," the commander said.
"But Rinoa's energy isn't the same as Adel's. She inherited her power from Edea, so her energy's frequency should be completely different. And if that's the case, then what effect would those bangles even have on her?"
He let the question hang in the air, anxiously waiting for the gil piece to drop for Piet. There he sat in silence, the gears turning in his head as he processed the proposition. A few moments later, he shot to his feet.
"Follow me!" he ordered Squall as he raced around the table to the door.
He stood up and darted after him as commanded. Keeping up with Piet as he hurriedly navigated the Ragnarok's halls was no easy task. Not once did the commander glance back to see if he was still following, much less slow down. Even as he reached the elevator, he didn't bother to hold the door open button for him; Squall just barely made it inside before the doors shut. Down they descended to the brig, where their mad dash resumed upon arrival. Cell after cell flew by on either side, their interiors fully visible courtesy of one large transparent partition apiece. Most were empty. Several however contained creatures, presumably the ship's last batch of captures from the moon's surface before the evacuation order. Squall barely spared any of them more than a glimpse as he raced by on Piet's heels.
Only as the man in the white coat slowed before one particular cell did he do the same. Odine stood inside, backed by his two escorts. Rinoa sat against the wall opposite, her head craned up to the three of them as the interview proceeded. He could hear nothing of the conversation inside. Neither had their appearance before the window attracted anyone's attention. He assumed the cell to be sound-proofed, and the partition to be a one-way mirror. In any case, the most important factor to consider was Rinoa's clear deference to Odine, and that the doctor and his men were still alive at all.
"You see?" he said. "She's not even putting up a fight. Even if she already knew about those bangles, there's no way she wouldn't try to fire off some magic. Your men never would have gotten her down here in the first place if she'd actually wanted to resist."
Piet's silence was perhaps the most satisfying reaction he'd gotten out of him the entire time. There was no denying what he was seeing. Odine obliviously stood in the presence of very real danger, and yet there Rinoa sat compliantly, not moving an inch.
"I'm telling you, she's not a threat," Squall doubled down. "If Odine's half the scientist he claims to be, he'll understand that. Back me up on this. Help me get her off the hook, and I'll keep quiet about you and Galbadia. Deal?"
Still, Piet said nothing in return. His focus remained fixed on the cell, eyes anxiously darting about in anticipation of an attack that would never come. After a full minute, he finally turned away.
"These kinds of decisions need to be run by the president first," he finally spoke. "We'll have to wait until Adel's tomb has touched down before we can get the radio working. We'll establish contact as soon as that happens, and determine a proper course of action based on what we know. I'll make sure to bring up your theory when the time comes. Until then though, she has to stay in the brig. Does that sound fair?"
Squall reluctantly nodded. All things considered, it was the best outcome he could realistically hope for. Hopefully Odine would find Rinoa's testimony at least as satisfactory. And no matter how difficult a task convincing the president and his administration would end up being, he was determined to see Rinoa go free, even if it meant taking matters into his own hands again. He could never stand to see her taken in as a replacement for Adel. He would get her out of Esthar or die trying.
Hang in there, Rinoa. We'll be home soon…
Quistis could still clearly remember her first view from the height of Balamb Garden more than a year ago. The exhilaration as she'd strode into the Headmaster's Hall, ready to be bestowed her SeeDship, had been matched only by the breathtaking sight of the Alcaud Plains stretching to the shoreline. She'd quite literally risen to the top of her graduating class, with the open world laid out before her as she'd never seen it. In that moment, she'd known her future possibilities were vast as the ocean. Her promotion to instructor within six short months hadn't been on her radar, nor the inevitable fall from grace after another six. And where the myriad events over the course of the last few were concerned, no one could have ever foreseen how far and fast things would spiral. But even that couldn't hold a candle to all she'd become privy to since arriving in Esthar.
What an incredible city…
Indeed, her view from the Presidential Palace's observation deck put the one from the Headmaster's Hall to shame. Never could she have imagined Esthar's infrastructure and technology would have advanced so far in less than 20 years. Innumerable skyscrapers extended into the distance. At which juncture they gave way to the barren Great Plains, she couldn't tell; her only reference point was the Lunatic Pandora's massive metal frame protruding up over the horizon. For all the city's glitz and glamour however, its magnificence became all the more hollow in the absence of its people. With the underground shelter order in effect, the great city was practically a ghost town; no vehicles but the occasional city patrol car zoomed along on the raised highways.
Her eyes shot up to the heavens again; it was still hard to tell exactly what she was supposed to be looking for. The president had simply told her she'd know by the red in the sky. So early in the morning, it was impossible to tell whether its current hue were owed to the rising sun, or something more sinister on its way. She couldn't believe such a phenomenon to be real. Nor that Esthar had managed to weaponize it. Nor even that it was responsible for the destruction of Centra and the crater at the Vienne Mountains.
Most of all, she couldn't believe how reckless Seifer could be; this one alone topped every act of insubordination and irresponsibility he'd yet committed. She only hoped Fujin and Raijin had managed to talk him down, if not in time to stop the Lunar Cry, then at least to cease any further tragedy from befalling the land. Her anger flared up as she reflected once more on all the depravities he'd been culpable in at Ultimecia's behest. From his compliance with the missile bombardment, to leading the attack on the Garden at Trabia, and now this, it seemed there was no longer any depth to which he was incapable of sinking. A visceral rage enveloped her, more intense even than when they'd faced off in the Timber train terminal. Had she only been able to stop him then, things never would have come to this. The feeling was barely containable. For a while now, it seemed her emotions in general had been set on overdrive.
With her attention still fixed on the Lunatic Pandora idling in the distance, she extended her arm out over the observation deck's edge. She unfurled her fingers beneath, and brought them up, to where the monolith now looked as though it were resting in the palm of her hand. How she wished she could crush it so easily. Her fury continued to steadily mount as she indulged in her fantastical daydreaming. And then, there came a spark. Flames suddenly erupted from her palm a split-second later.
What?!
Quistis' mouth fell open as she stared at the fireball lapping at her fingers. Never in all her years of GF training had she ever attempted to conjure fire spellcraft, never mind succeeded. Her sphere's ice disposition left her at a natural disadvantage towards the element to begin with; any attempt she did make ought to have been ineffective compared to a natural fire specialist like Squall. But as far as her eyes could tell, this flame was at least as potent as any she'd seen him summon.
Hold on a minute… when did I even turn on my…?
"How's it coming guys?"
She jumped in place, quickly closed her hand to smother the fire, and spun around. The president had emerged onto the deck. His usual two aides followed him out along with Zell and Selphie. Together, they all encroached upon the communications array erected in the center. The three technicians who'd been toiling all night to get it set up again saluted at his approach.
"It should be set to go, sir!" the leader proclaimed. "We've set it to the Ragnarok's prior reserved frequency. Provided the ship managed to escape the cry's radius, we should be able to get in touch with the crew once it makes landfall."
"Excellent," the president replied. "Maybe now we'll get an idea of what happened up there. Fingers crossed everyone managed to get out in time."
"And you're sure we won't have to?" Zell asked with a finger pointed out to the Pandora. "If that array you've got underneath doesn't do what it's supposed to…"
"Odine's work has never let us down so far. Why do you think I gave him so much leeway on city planning and construction?"
"I still think he went a bit far in some places," Commissioner Seagill interjected. His looming assistant to his side, still yet to speak a word, merely bowed his head in agreement.
Quistis chuckled at the understatement of the century, and crossed to join them.
"I'm just hoping Irvine's safe right now," Selphie sighed.
"Yeah, you and me both," Zell said.
She stopped in her tracks as the thought occurred to her. In the heat of the moment, as she'd fantasized about crushing the Pandora in her grasp, she'd all but completely forgotten about their fellow comrade still aboard. That she hadn't even spared him a thought was telling. Apparently, the intensity of her emotions was beginning to cloud her judgment.
What's happening to me?
"Heads up," the president interrupted. "Showtime."
Quistis looked to the sky once again. Sure enough, the lighting had grown noticeably bleaker, their surroundings now swathed in a dark red. She turned back to the Pandora still idling in the distance. It was there she finally took notice of the massive strain descending from the clouds. Its total width was significantly greater than the monolith, dwarfing it as it sped closer and closer. As the moment of truth drew nigh, she shut her eyes, prepared for utter annihilation. When after a few moments there came no audible rending of the earth below, she finally creaked one open. What she saw took her breath away.
The Lunar Cry had diffused at the Pandora's apex, its accumulated mass cascading down the side like a waterfall. Steadily it built up all around as the fallen hordes of creatures settled upon the planet's surface. They would doubtless start spreading out as more continued to fall. How long it would take until they started moving in towards the city was another matter altogether. For the moment though, they were safe.
"Oh, geez," Selphie exhaled in relief. "I thought I was gonna keel over just from the suspense!"
"Don't get too comfortable," Seagill reminded them. "Now's the time we need to start considering when and how we're going to evacuate."
"I'd say the Ragnarok should take care of the 'how'," the president said, turning back to the technicians. "Any luck, guys?"
"We're trying sir. Ground control to Ragnarok, do you read?"
As the head of the operation released the toggle switch on the comm array, Quistis took note of how little static interference came in over the loudspeaker. The airwaves were clear at last. Such a thing had been practically impossible to achieve for the previous 17 years. Even Galbadia's broadcast from the Timber TV station, while an impressive accomplishment in its own right, could not compare.
"Ragnarok, do you copy?" the technician repeated. "Talk to me, guys."
"We read you, ground control. Loud and clear."
"Holy shit!" Zell swore in disbelief.
"Finally, after all these years," the president spoke lowly.
For as relaxed and carefree as he tended to present himself – he was certainly the least stringent world leader Quistis had ever known – for just an instant, she discerned something more from him. He looked strangely dejected, as if he struggled to come to terms with the interference's end. Somehow, this meant more to him.
"Commissioner speaking," Seagill butted in as he took hold of the receiver. "What's your status? Who's on board? We already have confirmation on the Lunar Base's destruction."
"Sir! We managed to get the full base crew aboard before the Lunar Cry smashed through it. Dr. Odine and the president's daughter are among them."
"Ellone's up there?!"
Suddenly more riled up than she'd seen him yet, the president blew straight past Quistis and the rest. Seagill just barely kept him from ripping the receiver out of his hand altogether.
"Everyone's… uninjured?" the commissioner grunted as he fought to push his superior off.
"Dammit, Kiros, let me talk!"
"A handful of officers unconscious, but they're all in stable condition from what I'm told. We also have two captives on board. Our suspects for lowering the base's shields. One's a SeeD. The other…"
"Squall?!" Zell erupted.
He immediately jumped into the fray, becoming entangled with Seagill and the President as they all fought for the receiver. Quistis might have intervened were she not so taken aback herself. As if neglecting Irvine's safety weren't shameful enough, she'd almost completely forgotten about their rogue commandant, whose whereabouts had remained unknown since before they'd arrived in Esthar. Granted, outer space was the last place she'd have expected to find him.
And that means the other person with him must be…
"Squall's up there?!" Zell shouted into the receiver, having successfully wrestled it out of the two officials' hands.
"And what about Rinoa?!" Selphie yelped, moving up beside him. "She's gotta be the other one, right? Long dark hair?"
"I… I haven't seen either of them myself. All I know is the guy's a SeeD. And the girl with him, well… she's a sorceress."
All lingering pandemonium upon the observation deck fizzled out on the spot. Not one among them so much as uttered a sound. Quistis stood still as a statue, the gears in her head having ground to a dead halt just the same. It made no sense. And yet, who else but Rinoa could Squall have brought up there with him? Ellone was already accounted for. Edea had made clear her intent on remaining at the orphanage. Adel had surely been brought down with the Lunar Cry, just as the president and his men had explained to them. There was no one else it could be.
"Ground control, are you still with me?"
"A… sorceress?" Zell repeated disbelievingly.
"Yeah, another one. I was just as surprised as you are, but… Odine seems… about…"
The transmission turned increasingly garbled as the man continued speaking. Eventually his words became impossible to decipher as another voice overlapped them.
"We're getting interference from another signal!" one of the technicians exclaimed.
"Can we switch to another frequency?" the president asked.
"Just a moment, sir. Let's try…"
With the flick of a switch, the interference was gone. Instead of reverting to silence however, the second transmission which had imposed upon the first continued unabated on the new frequency. To Quistis' surprise, she recognized the voice.
"… now time to end this charade. Let this be our formal ultimatum to SeeD, Esthar, and any other governmental body in a position to act. You will deliver the girl Ellone Loire, and the sphere belonging to Commandant Xu Adrastia into Galbadian custody by the morning of Monday, June 28th. I repeat, Ellone and the commandant's sphere are to be brought to us within one week. If you do not comply by that time, we will reduce Esthar City to a smoldering crater. Followed by Trabia, Balamb, and wherever else until our demands are met. So I wouldn't keep us waiting. This message will be re-broadcast hourly on every common frequency until such a time. For the glory of Sorceress Edea, and the new Galbadian Empire!"
Seifer's declaration finally cut out, leaving stark silence in its wake. Quistis glanced between the faces of her comrades, old and new. Each and every one of them looked as though they'd taken a blow to the stomach. No one moved, much less spoke. And then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Selphie reach into her pocket. From it she retrieved the silver sphere which had once belonged to Xu. She extended it out for all to see. With a press of its switches, it parted, the holy energy contained inside coming to light.
At the sight of it, another wave of emotional resonance washed over Quistis. Whether anxiety, or a premonition of things to come, there was no way to tell. There was still so much she couldn't hope to understand, apparently even about herself. All she knew for certain was that one way or another, the end was drawing near.
Irvine strode purposefully out of the elevator doors the moment they parted. That Seifer had even made such a proclamation to the world was all the proof he needed that Fujin and Raijin's plea had fallen on deaf ears. He'd hoped they if anyone would be able to talk some sense into the megalomaniacal young man, to turn him back from the path of destruction he'd been tempted down before it was too late. Apparently however, there was nothing they could do. Perhaps he was too far gone after all, Ultimecia's grip upon him too tight to be pried free from. The possibility they'd been spared was all he had left to bank on to the contrary. Provided they had, he knew right where to find them.
The soldier guarding the brig saluted at his approach, and opened the door without question. Apparently, his Galbadia Garden uniform carried enough weight to warrant entry. So it had been for the duration of his time spent aboard the Lunatic Pandora, to where he almost didn't feel out of place among the knights' ranks anymore. Still, he hadn't dared venture up to the top levels; there was no telling how tightly knit a unit the former Garden operatives had become over the last several months.
He blew past cell after empty cell, sparing none a second glance until he finally happened upon the only occupied one. There the two lay on the other side of the thick steel bars: Fujin, head bowed to the floor as she sat off in the corner, and Raijin, leaning up against the nearest wall. The muscleman swiveled his head up as Irvine slowed to a halt, and shot him a dirty look.
"Whad'dya want?" he indignantly addressed him.
"Is that how you talk to the guy who stuck up for you?" Irvine shot back.
"Oh yeah, 'cause that jus' did so much for us, y'know?"
"Hey, you're still alive, aren't you? Still… looks like he doesn't think you guys are as tight a posse as you did."
"How do you know about that?" Fujin spoke, rising from the floor. Irvine momentarily lost his train of thought as she did so; apparently she could speak normally when she felt like it.
"Because we've got another friend in common," he explained. He raised his arm before him, making his best attempt at the SeeD salute. "Moody? Likes Black?"
"You know Squall?!" Raijin exclaimed, leaping forward at the revelation. "We came into Esthar with him, y'know? No clue where he's at now, but his pals showed up pretty soon after. It's thanks to them and the government we managed to bust in here, y'know?"
Irvine smiled in relief. If nothing else, at least these two could vouch for Squall's safety. With any luck, he'd have already met up with the others. Perhaps together, they would be able to put an end to Seifer's madness before the world as they knew it became another altogether. One torn apart at the seams, and overrun by hordes of ravenous monsters.
"Well, we can be sure where they'll be heading now," he told them. "We'd better be ready to assist when they arrive. I'm gonna get you guys out of here, and together maybe we can-"
"I was wondering when somebody would show up!"
He spun around to see a lone Galbadian soldier, freshly materialized from further along the corridor.
"There's always bound to be a sympathizer," the man boasted. "Never would've thought it'd be someone in league with that kid, though.
He froze in place, his finger instinctively twitching. Within the span of a second, he determined how long it would take to reach over his shoulder for his rifle. He could definitely make the shot before he had a chance to round the corner back to the brig entryway. The attention his gunfire could potentially draw was another story however, never mind the suspicion should this trooper go missing from his post. Before he could come up with another plan of action, the soldier raised his hand before him.
"Relax," he assured him. "It's just what I've been hoping for. I'm not gonna rat you out to that crazy little shit. In fact, I'm here to see if you guys are interested in a truce. Wedge!"
On command, a second soldier timidly stepped out from around the bend. He obediently came up beside his superior, presenting two silver spheres held in either hand to him.
"There's more to what he's got planned than just that Ellone girl and the sphere," he explained as he took the two from his fellow trooper. "I don't understand it all myself, but with you guys' help, maybe we can cobble something together that'll throw another wrench in things. A little extra insurance for when your pals show up. What do you say?"
Irvine had no idea what to think. That a pair of lowly grunts would think to turn traitor against Seifer wasn't out of the question; they must have suffered through hell since the Battle of the Gardens to have come so far into Esthar territory on foot, without Edea's presence to keep them in line. Still, he had his reservations. Could he really trust them? To their credit, there would be no need to reveal themselves were they intent on exposing his treason to Seifer. And in light of whatever repercussions refusing might carry, it was just enough for him to make a decision.
"What do you have in mind?"