~*~*~
I stared morosely down at my glove-covered hands as our ship headed for the cape and the orphanage. Zell and my good-bye kept replaying in my mind. Regret at not chasing after him had risen like the plague. There must have been something--I pushed the thought away with a sigh. It's too late. Save the hugs and kisses for when you come back. I adjusted the Ergheiz gloves on my hands with a slight smile. I'll come back, Zell. I promise.
“Listen up, people.”
I looked up from my hands, straightening as Field Commander Xu stepped up to brief the group on our mission. There were six of us: two groups of three.
“Our stealth group still hasn't confirmed the presence or identity of the alleged hostages. We've decided to use this as part of the plan. As the first group enters fully tracked and viewed by the radicals, the second will be beached on a remote section. The first group's duty will be to confirm the presence of hostages and negotiate terms. The second group will use any and all means necessary for the location of the missiles. Once found, Sally, it's your duty to both corrupt the guidance system in case of a launch and neutralize the armament and/or the remote detonator. Do you have your handheld?”
I nodded and patted the left side of my SeeD candidate jacket. “Right here, Commander.”
Xu briskly nodded. “Good. Thomas, Kelly, you're to get her to those missiles using any means necessary. Do you understand?”
Thomas and Kelly nodded. Thomas was a tall and lanky redhead who had taken up the gunblade like Squall. Kelly was of average height and build, a blond with blue eyes, and had taken up the good old-fashioned machine gun. He was good, too. A crack shot like Irvine when he picked up a simple rifle. I had to admit that I felt as if I were in good hands.
“Excellent.” Xu faced the other group. “Rachel, you're squad leader of team two, which means you'll be in charge of the confirmation and negotiation. Thad, you and Kendall watch her six.” They all nodded. Xu looked at each group in turn. “All right then, good luck.”
The ship landed and the hatch opened. Rachel's team disembarked. Then the door closed again and we were off to the beach. I rubbed at the knuckles of the gloves with bated breath, hoping against hope that Zell could feel just how ready I was. For the first time in my life I wasn't terrified. I was scared sure, only an idiot wouldn't be, but it wouldn't affect my performance of my duty.
That made me feel great.
I slightly smiled. I'll be okay, Zell. And when I get back, we'll go to Balamb and swim in the rain. Promise. Although I would still wear my t-shirt. I repressed a giggle and just smiled wider.
Xu sat beside me. “Sally.”
I looked over at her with a slight blink of surprise. “Yes, Commander?”
“We can track the location of the missiles with a satellite. Those coordinates will be sent to your handheld. Thomas is squad leader, but you navigate.”
I nodded. “Yes, Commander.”
Xu handed me a wireless transmitter/receiver barely the size of a large blueberry. “Here. If you get caught in hostile crossfire, let us know. We've got a SeeD Elite group ready to go.”
Elite? That meant Irvine Kinneas. Smiling, I tucked the transmitter/receiver into my ear. “Yes, Commander.”
Xu placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “Be careful, girl. I'd like to live a little longer.”
“What?”
Xu smiled and lowered her hand. “Never mind.” She stood. “Good luck. Keep your eyes open.”
“Yes, Commander.”
The ship beached with a lurch and Thomas, Kelly, and I all stood, retrieving weapons, adjusting gloves, and making sure all of our equipment was safely in place. When we sent Xu an acknowledging nod, she opened the hatch and we exited onto the beach, scurrying to the rock out-cropping that led to the orphanage on the bluff. The hatch closed and the ship pulled away. Thomas, Kelly, and I didn't watch it leave. Our minds were already on the task at hand, per our training.
I retrieved the handheld from the inner pocket of my jacket and turned it on. It booted and I set to work logging into the satellite that would let me find the missiles. All took about 30 seconds.
“All clear,” Thomas whispered. He looked down at me as I crouched against the rock face. “Where's the first missile?”
The satellite zoomed in. “Fifty yards down the beach.”
Thomas gave a brief nod and looked to Kelly. “Watch this entrance. No one gets to the beach.” Kelly nodded and sprinted to the other side of the steps to take up position. Thomas touched my shoulder and then gestured down the beach. “Stay close to the rock face. Let's go.”
“Right.”
We moved fast; head down, eyes and ears alert. Nothing entered my mind but what I had to do, how I would do it, and balancing stealth and speed together just like Zell had taught me. Fifty yards came and went in a flash of running and quick, silent breaths. Then we flattened ourselves against the rock face a moment before diving into the depths of the cave.
Thomas flipped on the electric torch he had affixed to his wrist and illuminated the darkness. I studied the handheld and translated the coordinates.
“Twenty yards to the northeast.”
“Any thermal readings?”
I accessed another aspect of the satellite. “Two. In with the missile.”
“All right. Let's go.”
As we hurried through the tunnels toward the cavern with the missile, I brought up the information on file for that cave. “Thomas, there's a tunnel that goes completely around the back of the cavern.”
“Great. Where's the turn.”
I studied the map. “Five yards.”
We ducked into the tunnel, which was much narrower than the main corridor, and followed it around. When we heard voices, we slowed our steps and then halted. Thomas carefully looked around the cavern wall to gauge their position. I watched the thermal readings on the handheld, tapping my lips with a finger. We couldn't use our GFs because of the missile. Thomas couldn't use his gunblade because of the same reason. If we used magic, we could set off the missile as well.
I tucked the handheld into Thomas' hand. He stared down at it a moment before looking at me. The expression on his face showed that he knew what I planned, just like he knew it was the best way.
I ducked into the cavern, immediately hidden from view by the body of the missile as I pressed my back against it. It was smaller than the ones used against Trabia and Balamb Gardens. I closed my eyes and cast Scan. Purists. As in they didn't believe in the junction of, or use of magic. They focused more on the physical aspect of defense and attack. I carefully looked over my right shoulder to the two men. They were big. Of course, I was only five feet-one inch. Everyone looked big.
I moved my gaze away, adjusting my position. Okay, Sally. Focus. Use what you have. I looked down at the loose dirt at my feet, grimaced at the cliché use of it, and scooped up a handful. Then I carefully maneuvered my way around to the left of the missile, perched as it was against the wall of the cavern. The men stood side-by-side, odd in my mind considering the secondary entrance to the cavern, and faced the main entrance of the cavern. I kept low, concentrating on my footing as I watched the men and their body movements. Watching for that hint before they would turn to look at me.
When I had positioned myself almost directly behind the first man, I stood, kicked his knees out from under him, tossed the dust into the other man's eyes, and followed through with a sharp kick to the gut. He tumbled backwards, losing his footing on a crate behind as the first man rotated to his butt, gun in hand. I kicked the gun free, following through to land a firm kick in his chest.
He lay still.
I crouched and turned, the arm of the other man swung by. I leaped up, punching him twice in the face before landing a left that broke his nose. He fell back and didn't get up again.
Thomas immediately entered the cavern, handing me the handheld as he went to the main entrance of the cavern. “Good job.”
I absently grunted a reply as I
made my way to the side-panel of the missile. The panel was missing, signaling that someone had already been tampering with the unit. I examined the circuitry and found the problem. They had patched in a roughly made remote. I disengaged it without a problem. Then I plugged in the handheld and went to work.
Three minutes.
“Done.”
“Great. Let's get out of here.”
I looked over at Thomas. He'd tied and gagged the two men.
Thomas motioned back the way we came. “Back way. Go.”
I did, pinpointing the second missile as I went. I stopped. “Thomas. Wait.”
“What is it?”
I looked up at him. “The second missile is in with the radicals.”
“What?” Thomas stood beside me to look onto the handheld's screen. “Damn. Is there a third one?”
I checked the map. “No.”
“Check the thermal. How many radicals?”
... “Six.”
“How many are meeting with Rachel's team?”
... “Four.”
“How many on the perimeter of the building where the main group of radicals are?”
... “Two sets of three.”
“Can you access the missile through the Satellite from your handheld?”
I tried it. “No. Somehow they've disconnected the uplink.”
Thomas frowned. “Damn.”
I gnawed my lower lip. I knew that using magic was out. Thomas and I didn't have the access to the spells we would need to confuse the men and blind them to our location while muting them to voicing a warning to the men out with Rachel's team. We didn't even have a shell or reflect spell--
I blinked. “Thomas. I have a reflect spell.”
“What? How?”
I flushed. “I drew it from Zell during one of our training sessions. Before the Fire Cavern.”
“Perfect. Here's what we're going to do. You cast Reflect on the missile. Once it takes, I'll cast Fire on the group. Make sure you follow-up my Fire with either Thunder or Blizzard.”
“And don't summon Shiva or Ifrit.” Darn. I really liked Shiva.
“Right. Let's go.”
We headed out of the cave at a run, keeping close to the rock face as we made our way to where Kelly still held his position at the base of the stairs. Thomas and I didn't stop. Kelly didn't question. He followed up the stairs after us, me between. When we climbed the last steps, we pressed ourselves flat against the rock wall on the south side, waiting for the first of the three-person perimeter team.
Thomas motioned me to stay. I nodded. Then he gestured silent orders to Kelly, who also nodded, and they stealthily moved to the outside wall of the main building. I could hear the crunch-crunch-crunch of the men approaching on their patrol.
They rounded the corner into butts of machine guns, gunblades, and flying fists.
Thomas motioned to me. I hurried to their location. “I figure we have three minutes before the next team reaches this point. Kelly, you stand watch. Sally, you're with me.”
Thomas and I scurried into the building, moving from tattered box to crumbled wall to broken piece of furniture. We arrived at the main room 45 seconds later. Thomas gave me the signal. I closed my eyes and cast Reflect on the missile. It took. I opened my eyes to see Thomas casting a group Fire spell. I immediately started casting Blizzard. Flames engulfed the group and the missile. The men gasped but didn't cry out. Reflected flames hit the wall beside Thomas, but he was too busy readying a second volley.
Blizzard struck, silencing the men in a chrysalis of ice. All but two men hit the ground, and the reflected spell from the missile hit one of them. He fell. Instead of casting Fire, Thomas charged forward and struck the man with his gunblade. The man went down without a word.
I slipped out from my hiding place, hurrying to the missile.
“You have 90 seconds, Sally,” Thomas whispered.
I clenched my jaw and quickly disconnected the remote device. I inserted the communication cable from my handheld into the port and tapped some options. You can do this, Sally. Go. Go.
“60 seconds.”
Tap-tap-tap-drop down menu-select-tap-tap-tap-tap-send “Done.”
“Move out.”
I removed the cable and hurried for the back exit. Thomas' steps were heard after me. When we saw Kelly, he gestured for us to hurry. Thomas and I cleared the building and hurried for the stairs. I noticed that Kelly had moved the other men's bodies. Where, I didn't know.
Kelly's steps picked up after Thomas'. We ducked behind the rock wall of the stairs just as the men came into view. The three of us pressed ourselves flat against the rock face, desperately trying to silence our breathing.
When the men rounded the other corner, Thomas motioned to the beach. We rushed down the steps.
“Xu, if you can hear me, two missiles neutralized, and we're heading out at a run.”
“We read you loud and clear, Sally. Coming in for a pick-up.”
“They're on their way, Thomas,” I reported.
“Acknowledged.”
We reached the bottom of the stairs and waited, hidden against the cliff face as the ship approached. I gnawed my lower lip. They're going to see the ship. “Xu, is Rachel's team free and clear?”
“In process.”
I pulled out my handheld and accessed the thermal scan. The perimeter scouts were on their way back around--They entered the main building. “Xu, the perimeter scouts went inside. They're going to see the mess.”
“Acknowledged. Ordering Rachel's withdrawal. Get to the beach. Now.”
We did, diving into the water--thank goodness the handheld was waterproof--to meet the ship before it had completely reached the shore. We were getting Kelly on board when there was the sound of gunfire.
We all looked toward the main building until the hatch closed.
Thomas, Kelly and I sat down to wait for Xu's report as the ship headed around to retrieve Rachel's team. Let them be safe. Please. I rubbed at the Ergheiz gloves, trying to let Zell know I was fine while hoping against hope there wouldn't be a casualty list.
Xu appeared a few minutes later. “Good job.” She clearly read the expression on our faces. “They're fine. We're heading to the rendezvous point.”
We all released a deep breath and smiled.
Retrieving the transmitter/receiver from my ear, I presented it back to Xu.
“Good job, Sally,” she commended as she took it. “All of you. Excellent.”
We muttered our thanks and then settled back to endure the eventual ride home.