Final Fantasy VIII: A New Generation

[Caije]

"DON'T MOVE" A soldier yelled at them. "OK, DROP YOUR WEAPONS," They did as instructed. Resitch dropped his sword.

"Ok, now turn around slowly, don't pull anything stupid, you can't dodge a speeding bullet." The soldier yelled. He approached them slowly. "Ok, back away slowly from the weapon. Do what your told and you won't get hurt!"

It was too late though. By the time the soldier had finished his last sentence Lukas had run forward and gave the soldier a heel kick. Resitch sighed in relief. The soldier was out cold.

"Where the hell you learn that stuff?" Resitch asked. He took up his sword and had it ready to strike.

"Around, I've been training for as long as I can remember" He said . He turned around and looked at a Junior student who was wounded. The Juniour held his leg, he had been shot.

"There's so many wounded, we can't stay here and help them". Resitch smiled.

"What!?" Lukas cried."There people, what do we do, leave them for dead?"

"No, but the longer we wait here the more students and SeeD are gonna die. Its for the Greater good," He turned and ran forward. Lukas ran after. They snuck up on a pair of guards who were about to shoot a Student defending two Juniors. Resitch slashed at one with his sword, it drove into its back and the soldier fell to the floor. Lukas charged and rammed down the other knocking him unconcious. The student and Juniours ran past them and out of the Libary.

They searched each row of bookshelves. They found nothing. Rinoa wasn't in the Libary. Resitch looked at Lukas and sighed.

"Rinoa isn't here..."

"Now where too?"

"Lets head to the Bridge,...." Resitch said. He began to ran towards the exit of the libary when more gunshots were fired at them. They both took a jump backwards.

"They aren't giving up, are they?" Lukas sighed, he got ready to run again but Resitch held him back .

"I got a better plan" He yelled as he looked at the Bookshelf. He pushed down the bookshelf with the help of Lukas and it collapsed on top of the Inturders. "I guess not all movies lie...." He smiled.

They made there way outside the Libary and ran towards the bridge.

[GrimmJaw]

Sven awoke to blaring sounds of his alarm clock. He sat up, brushed away the strands of red hair that had fallen across his eyes. He stumbled a bit as he got out of bed and headed towards the sink. Sven splashed some water on his face, and pulled his hair back in a tight ponytail. He stared at himself in the mirror. His cold emerald green eyes staring right back at him. Sven broke out of his trance and pulled away from the mirror. He padded over to his dresser and grabbed his black wifebeater and a white button up shirt. He took a moment to get dressed and the grabbed his two short swords and headed out of his room. Quietly, Sven made his way down to the cafeteria. He quickly grabbed a soda and sandwich and went to the library to catch up on some reading. He picked up an old copy of Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy. He took his usual seat...behind the information desk. As he began to read, he slowly began to fall asleep.

Sven awoke to the blaring of what he immediatly thought was his alarm clock. He was sorely mistaken as he saw the flashing lights from the Fire Alarm. Sven quickly collected himself, and looked around the library to see if any students were around. He couldn't see any from where he was. "The alarm must've been on for a while, looks like no one's here." Sven began to head to the nearest exit when he heard noises coming from the other exit.
Sven quietly made his way in the direction of the noises.

"Rin.....here.

"Let...to..bridge

What he saw put him in awe. A couple of students had just pushed over a bookshelf which had caused the domino effect throughout the library. The two students quickly dashed out of the library. Quickly, Sven followed after them. Sven assumed they were headed to the Bridge. Sven saw them head right past a group of students who were wounded. A look of disgust came across his face. Sven stopped and asessed the situation. One student had a broken hand, the other a dislocated shoulder. Sven cast cure on both of the wounded students and then began to question them.

"What happened here?"

Student 1: "Men...with guns attacked the school. We tried to fight them but they were strong.

Student 2: "They said they were looking for someone, and when we said we didn't know, they attacked us."

Just as the student finished his sentence, the sound of a gun going off immediatly caused Sven to spin to his left. He looked in the direction and saw a man with a pistol. Without thinking, Sven rushed forward, dodging to his left in anticipation of being fired upon. When Sven got within range, he drove his elbow into the gunmens face, spun to his left, drew his blade and struck the gunmens lower back with the blunt side of his weapon. The force of the blow knocked the man to his knees. Sven kicked the man down and grabbed the gun. He walked over to the students. One of whom now had a bullet wound. Sven could do nothing for him. So he handed the gun the other student and ran towards the bridge.

[Fehrant]

As Selenia peered through the cafeteria's window, she saw several soldiers fighting with the students. Even though this was a SeeD facility, they still managed to get the upper hand. Except for a few, the rest were getting slaughtered like sheep. A small percentage of students with decent skills was trying to fight back, but in the end they failed.

Selenia had no particular interest to save anyone, but this situation meant two things for her: she wasn't going to be safe, and there surely was someone very strong leading these soldiers. Resolute to find the strong person, she started to think what purpose their raid had. Although, with Selenia's secluded, indifferent lifestyle she couldn't come up with the reasoning for this other than, "they want to kill all students."

She shrugged mentally. Thinking strategically wasn't her forte. "I'm wasting my time here. I should be looking for the big fish," she realized.

The garden was directly connected to the cafeteria on the west wing, but it was also connected to a couple of halls in the west, and north sides respectively. She left her spot, and headed to the next closest exit. Just in time, as she was exiting the garden, the soldiers from the cafeteria were coming in; they had apparently finished the job there.

The hallways were a parade of student bodies, blood, and bullet holes. Broken lights flickered on and off constantly, and some parts were completely dark. She walked through the dark hallway with no particular direction, ignoring the fallen students. The sounds of her steps changed from a solid, rocky noise, to a wet, blood-pond one.

A sudden tug in her trenchcoat stopped her. She turn, ready to strike. A dying student was looking up at her. "Heh," he said with his little energy. "maybe if it's... you, the grey-eyed demon... maybe you can stop them." The student coughed. "Please, you must head... to the bridge. I... overhead they will... will head there."

Selenia pushed aside his hand with the blunt part of her katana. She glared down at the dying student. "So what?" She questioned. "I'm useful to you only when I'm saving your sorry asses?" Looking disgusted, she added, "weaklings are of no concern to me."

"You truly... are a demon," the student managed to say.

"Oh, yes..." Selenia replied sarcastically. "You must have confused me with a Champion of Justice." She chuckled and left the student alone, who had realized his attempts to get help from her were futile.

"Bridge, eh?" She thought. "I couldn't care less what they are trying to do, but finding the tough guys is my priority." As she was considering of heading there, two students, a tall one, and one with short black hair, came running from a hallway parallel to hers. They exchanged glances, but Selenia disregarded the "wanna-be heroes", whom were lost from sight in no time, apparently heading for the bridge.

The hallways, and everything led her to believe she was late; the soldiers had been here. The gunshots were still present, but none of the appeared to be closed to her. "Tch, damn it," Selenia complained.

"Over there," came a voice nearby. "There are students here."

"That's my cue," she said as she ran towards the voices. As she came out of the corner, she was facing 3 terrified students, against two soldiers. Selenia ran past the students, knocking them to the sides, and unleashed one katana swing on each soldier before they realized what hit them. She sheathed both weapons, and crouched towards one of the dying soldiers. She picked up the radio. Apparently for safety precautions they lowered the volume all the way. She raised it, and started hearing voices.

A student from the group who had just been "saved" approached Selenia. "Thank you very..."

"Shut up," she cut him off. The student moved closer, and realized that her savior was none other than the infamous girl with the mismatching eyes. He realized then that his being saved was a mere act of coincidence and left her alone.

As Selenia turned up the volume, the voices became more clear. "Unit A, B, C, report your status..." The radio announced. "Unit F, head to the bridge. Unit..." The messages continued on.

Selenia threw the radio annoyed; it didn't help at all. "Unit G, go back to rendezvous point 1," the radio continued.

"Falling back to point 1," a soldier asked over the radio. "We are close to the training center. Got wounded soldiers."

"Lt. Kuslovich is ordering to hold your ground and not come in here."

"Lt. Kuslovich..." Selenia repeated. "...in the training center. Well, seems the radio was a bit useful after all."

The way to the training center presented no major challenges. However, when she got there, she spotted two sentries, and soldiers coming in and out. She was about to sprint to take on the guards at the door, when a deep voice resounded from the inside.

"What do you mean by 'being hold back'?!" The voice shouted. The doors blasted open. A huge man came out holding a radio. "Must I go there to fix this?!" There was a pause. "Fine, hold your positions until I get there!"

The huge man placed the radio on his belt holder, and looked at the sentries. "Don't move from this position. Allow entry to all wounded soldiers. Kill students on sight."

They both performed the military salute. "Yes, sir, Lt. Kuslovich!" They replied in unison.

Selenia wicked smirk spread across her face once again. "This has to be my lucky day."

She patiently waited for Lt. Kuslovich who came running in the direction she was. As he turned around the corner, he met a girl with a blue eye, and a grey eye, who was pointing a defiant katana at him.

"You are going to have to get past me, you damn gorilla."

Lt. Kuslovich move his head to one side, and the other, making his neck snap. He snapped his fingers, and clenched his fists. "Today's not your lucky girl," he said in his deep voice.

"Oh," Selenia replied amused. "But it is..."

[Caije]

Resitch ran up some large steps, he and Lukas reached the elevator and pressed the Keypad. It was blocked with a password. He tried to press in some random buttons but he found the Elevator was in shutdown.

"It ain't working," Resitch sighed.

"Thats good, right?" Lukas smiled.

Just then the Elevator came on again. It came down to the ground floor and opened. Three females stood in the Elevator and exited as it opened. He knew the three instructors who retreated from the Elevator. Among them was, Xu, Quistis and Seplhie.

"Instructors?" Resitch smiled.

Xu was the first to speak.

"Resitch, Lukas, we are going after the Lieutenant. Help the Injured students escape, Do not bring them to the Infirmary, its been destroyed, Take them to the Quad instead,"

They all ran towards the training ground but were stopped by Resitch.

"Wait, What of Rinoa?" He asked, he was concrened for her healt.

Quistis now spoke. "She was evactuated just moments ago...., Now Resitch, go with Lukas and help the wounded. Do not fight any soldier unless you are given no choice. That is a order!"

They ran off towards the Training centre. Leaving Resitch and Lukas to stare at eachother.

"Come on, Lets go Resitch!" Lukas moaned. He ran and Resitch followed. They came across many wounded SeeD's and Students. The Juniours were the worst though, most of whom were dead.

Resitch sighed in despair, "Blood-thristy animals"

"Freeze!" A soldier yelled.

"Thunder!" Resitch yelled. The soldier was jolted backwards into a solid wall. Resitch smiled. He helped a wounded woman up from the ground. She was a SeeD. Unconcious but her Pulse was still there.

Lukas helped a Junior class mate towards the Quad, which was heavily protected by SeeD's who seemed to be defending the Quad with great force.
They let Resitch and Lukas pass knowing they were helping, and they laid them to rest on two beds beside healers who rushed to their aid.

Resitch panted and Looked at Lukas who was eager to return to the Corridors.

"Are you going back out there....?" Resitch asked.

"I Made a promise to someone," Lukas stated.

"Let me come too, Its the least I can do...." Resitch smiled. They ran back out to the War zone,

[Storm]

"Hopefully it will have quietened down a little..." Lukas said, as the pair proceeded towards the Training Centre.

"You would probably of ran in the middle of them anyway, by what i've seen today," Resitch replied, a slight sarcastic tone in his voice.

"I'm not THAT bad!" Lukas grinned.

The pair entered the Training Centre, which had an errily quiet presence compared to the rest of Garden... and compared to what it was like earlier. Lukas directed Resitch to the area where he left the wounded SeeD. He procceded behind the bushes, finding her laying down. She appeared to be resting. Lukas looked over his shoulder, smiling at Resitch and mouthing the words "thank you". Resitch nodded in gratitude, proceding towards the woman. Lukas stopped him momantarily, as he tried to wake up the pretty blonde girl.

"Hey... I'm back. I've found somewhere safe."

The woman didn't answer. She remained there, still sleeping. Lukas tapped her shoulder, followed by a light shake.

"Come on, I've found somewhere safe."

He grunted, nudging the limp body. A lock of hair fell from over her pasty face. Lukas turned similar-coloured as he pressed two of his fingers on the side of her neck, checking for a pulse. His heart sank. He had promised her he would save her, find her somewhere safe to recover. Maybe she was in a critical state when he found her, maybe she was trying to be brave. He felt his body shaking. He didn't know her name, but he made a promise to her. A promise that had not been followed. He felt a hand on his shoulder, looking up, it was Resitch.

"I don't think theres any hope. We should leave before this all gets out of hand."

Lukas nodded. He sighed deeply, picking a flower from one of the bushes and placing it on her body.

"Im... sorry."

[Fehrant]

"I like that look in your eyes," the lieutenant praised. "It talks about your fighting spirit. Yet, we'll see how long that tenacity lasts."

The huge man known as Kuslovich charged. He opened his hand and attempted to grab his pray. Selenia easily moved to the side, and avoided the huge hand altogether. The other hand came in time, but she ducked, span, and perform a cut on his leg; Kuslovich, however, seemed unaffected.

"Attacks like that are going to cost you dearly," the lieutenant taunted.

Selenia charged this time. Kuslovich performed another clumsy attempt of getting a hold of her, but she simply used his own arm to jump higher. Once in proper altitude, she sliced him downwards twice between the neck and shoulders. Still the man showed no signs of pain. In fact, disregarding his defense, he proceeded to the offense. He used his free arms to get a hold of Selenia, but she deftly gave him a kick flat in the check to rebound backwards. As she was awaiting the landing, she felt a sudden tug on her coat, and fell hard on the ground.

"Got you," Kuslovich teased.

Selenia quickly got rid of her coat, just in time to avoid being stomped by his foot, which left a terrifying mark on the ground. Unfortunately, in the process of getting rid of the coat, she had to let go of one of her katanas. Kuslovich apparently had realized this, but much to Selenia's surprised, he kicked the sword to her reach.

"Let's fight with all our might," he explained solemnly.

Selenia replied by smirking. It had been a while since she had faced such a tough opponent. She took a defensive stance, and awaited for his move. In the same fashion as before, he repeated the same pattern: charge straightforward, try to get a hold her. She, however, decided to try something different. She awaited the right moment, and when the hand was too close for him to avoid dodging, she stabbed it in right across the palm. His thrust stopped, yet no signs of pain.

He grinned. "I told you those attacks," he continued his motion forwards as the katana went through the whole in his hand and ripped at his flesh, "will cost you dearly."

By the time Selenia had realized her mistake it was too late. Kuslovich massive strength forced her to let go of the katana, and he had finally managed to get a hold of her right arm. She wasted no time, and used her other sword to stab through his arm. He looked at her in the eyes. "That hurts, you know?" He joked.

A loud crack sounded across the hall, as Selenia's bones in her arm cracked. She let out a scream in agony. She bit her lip, and smirked. "That hurts, you know?" She mocked. Selenia performed an attack of frantic successive stabs to his holding arm. He let go with a grunt.

The place on her arm were his mighty hand had gripped looked nastily brown, and red. It still hurt hell, but pain was the price to pay for good fights. She sheathed her sword, and picked the one she had dropped when her arm was broken.

"I like you," Kuslovich confessed, "you are no ordinary fighter. Why do you bother with this place? Join us, and I promise you you'll get better faster than here."

Selenia chuckled. "Who cares for this place? Apparently you do more than I. I am only here to fight."

Kuslovich smiled proudly. "Wonderful. Your fighting spirit is remarkable. I will honor that by making fight count. Unfortunately you'll be killed in the process, but I acknowledge you as a worthy foe."

Selenia placed a katana on her mouth, and the other on her working hand. She motioned him to come, and so he did. With his arms wide open, his intent for this attack was clear: he was going to ram her. As the threatening thudding sounds announced his proximity, Selenia jumped in the air. From a tactical standpoint, that might have been the worst course of action to take: dodging airbourne now was extremely complicated for a man his size. His chest impacted her, and he continued running forth. His arms started to close, and his grip tightened. Selenia, who had intended this to happen on the first place, stabbed him across the neck with her katana, then quickly grabbed the one on her mouth. His arms were already around her body, squeezing the life out of her. She felt like she was going to explode. Her breath was running out, and her upper torso hurt was in extreme pain. Gathering as much strength as possible, she stabbed her other katana across his neck once more, from the other side. His grip lightened a bit, and he gasped for air, but still he intended to squash her. She screamed in pain once more, but clenched her teeth, and headbutted him over and over, until she felt extremely light.

Suddenly she was awoken by the impact from her own body colliding with the floor. She gasped for air, feeling like she was going to pass out any time. She stood up as best as she could, and noticed Kuslovich had fallen on the ground, but still had his eyes open.

Without moving his head, he looked at her. He smiled. "Ah, I haven't had a battle like this in a while," he acknowledge satisfied. "I'm glad..." he coughed blood. "It's going to end like this, and not from old age. I... would like to know your name."

"Selenia," she replied.

"I'm glad we met on the battlefield, Selenia," he said.

"Me too," she answered with a smile.

Kuslovich slowly closed his eyes. "Tougher opponents... await you... if you go against them. They are not here... no, but if you continue... you will... meet them. I hope... you become... stron...ger by then." He took out the katanas from his throat and handed them to her.

He smiled one more time, and let out his final breath. His arms collapsed to the ground.

Selenia sheathed her blood-covered swords, picked up her coat, and walked slowly to find a resting place, as her arm and body throbbed with pain.

[Caije]

"Things are getting out of Hand," Resitch sighed. They both stood over the Corpse of the SeeD.

"Tell me about it," Lukas said. His voice was cold. He was angry. Resitch understood how he must of felt.

"Lets go...., Come on, Lets go back to the Quad." Resitch said quietly.

"....Ok" Lukas sighed. He ran out of the Training ground before Resitch could have a chance of following him.

"Lukas wait-" He tried to catch up

"There's another one, SHOOT TO KILL!" Soldiers voices came. Lukas was already out of distance. The guards aimed there guns at Resitch who dived out of the way as a massive wave of bullets headed towards him.

"Dammit!" He yelled. A bullet dodged right off his ear skimming it briefly. He clucthed its sharp pain immediatley and crawled to safety.

"We got him, MOVE IN!" The guards yelled. Resitch stepped up and ran quickly. The closest place to run for cover was the Parking lot. He got there running for his life. He was pursued and hid behind the car. Many bullets flew trough its window-screen, breaking it to small shards of glass.

He hid for his life. The soldiers moved in slowly. They aimed there guns. Resitch took in a deep breath, closed his eyes and waited for the gunshots.

BANG! BANG!

Seconds passed, he was still alive, he opened his eyes and took a breath of relief. He looked up at a figure, he wore a Cow boy hat and smiled.

"Zell, were too Late." Irvive smiled. He helped Resitch up to his feet.

Zell came out of the Shadows.

"What!? Crap, Hey Kid, where are the Main defence squad...." Zell asked Resitch.

"U-U-Um, T-there at the um, quad." Resitch smiled nervous of who he was speaking too.

"Is Selphie ok?" Irvine asked.

"Her, Quistis and Xu are at the Training centre, taking down the Leader of these soldiers." Resitch stated.

"Lets head there then, ok Zell?" Irvine smiled and ran out of the Parking lot, Zell followed after, both leaving Resitch in the parking lot petrified of what had happened. A second too late, he would be dead.

[Omega OwA]

"Sir! Their after Rinoa. We have to-"

"Don't worry. We've been looking for Rinoa, and they probably found her by now on the other side of the building. Other instructors are fending off the troops as well. Others from the Quad are helping students inside but we have to get all these students out of the garden first."

The instructor walked over to the front of the crowd of students and they all quited, walking off of school grounds. He was about to follow them, but he wanted to help. He slowly passed into one of the smashed windows and crept in.

It was very dark and the floor was splattered with blood. He kept his hand on the hilt of his sword as he passed. He soon passed a room where he saw several troops shooting at three students. The door was almost broken down, and Kitere kicked at it hard, knocking down one of them. He slashed another at the back.

He dashed at the remaining two. He was shot once through the arm and another through his left leg, but stabbed one hard through the stomach, throwing the troop at the other. He hurried to the injured three students. Checking at their wounds, Kitere cast Cure on them. He picked them up and put them over his shoulder.

It looked rediculous, though he carried them out of the building and into the hands of a nearby healer in a large group heading away. Rushing back in, he found a group other soldiers. They noticed Kitere and shot at him. He jumped to the side, then jumped up and sliced the arm of one of the soldiers. The other shot him in the chest.

He was gripped his chest, but threw his sword through the neck of the soldier. He took his sword out and jumped back. He clutched his sword with both hands. They aimed their guns at Kitere. The swirls encircling his blade glew bright green and he threw it up. A large blast was thrown at the soldiers and they fell.

Finishing off the others with a hard stab, he walked over to one dying troop.

"Tell me, what's your boss planning?"

"You can torture me if you want, but I ain't telling you a damn thing!"

"Suite yourself.."

He kicked the soldier to the side, walking over to another.

"Now are you going to give me answers, or do you want to die like your friend over there?"

"T-they're going to the bridge....thats all I know. H-hOnest!"

Kitere got up and fled off to the bridge. Others were sure to be there too. "Thanks buddy."

"You idiot....."

"Don't worry....he won't...stop them..."

[Magi of Worlds]

Sleeping for several hours did wonders for Dante's pain. It was so good he slept til dark. He even slept through the fire alarm going off and people being killed out in the hall. What woke him up was someone kicking his door in and shouting that a "student" was there and to kill him. That brought Dante up real quick. He was on his feet before the first bullet left it's gun. Shadow went straight into the soldier who spoke's throat, slashing off his whole head.

Then Dante was upon the other two unfortunates who had walked in. He hacked to pieces one of them and picked the other one up by the throat in his left hand. After placing Shadow in its sheath Dante proceeded to walk out of the room. His eyes widened in horror as he saw not a few but several juniors, SeeD's, and even two Instructor's lying dead in the hall. He instantly shifted his gaze to the soldier in his hardened grip and spoke.

"What have you done!!!" Dante's voice sounded like a demon from hell's. It was full of rage and annoyance. It scared the soldier so much that he stopped squirming and looked into Dante's eyes. "W-w-we killed them..." he whimpered and that was all it took to send Dante into berserkened fury. He crushed the man's skull in and threw him to the ground and stepped on him several times.

Emerging from the dorms brought Dante into the main garden hall. There were many dead bodies there too. There were a few of the soldiers but a majority were of garden students. Dante headed to the gate to intercept a pair of soldiers he saw coming back in. He killed one by picking him up and shacking him like a ragdoll. The other guy just dropped his gun and stood there, mouth agape as he watched his friend die.

Then Dante picked the other man up and broke his left arm. "Who are you and what do you want?" Dante asked him with extreme hatred. "We came to kill Sorceress Rinoah" he got out. Dante smushed his skull in and heaved him away. Someone tapped him on the shoulder and he spun around, expecting another soldier. Instead he saw Instructor Selphie holdie out her nunchuka. "I hope your on our side big guy" she said excited.

Dante just nodded. She smiled and started dancing around. "The hell?" Dante asked and she stopped. "Oh yeah, I have a job for ya! I need you to go find Rinoah and be her body guard for a while. Take the exit from the parking garage. She should be outside close to the mountain" Selphie said and ran off.

Dante shrugged an ran off in the direction of the parking garage. When he got there he found more bodies. One had glove marks on him and another had been shot with big bullets. Dante shrugged and left through the exit. Outside he looked towards the mountain and headed off.

The seven minute journey was quite uneventful and Dante would have preferred to have just stayed in the garden. He came upon Rinoah quite unexpectedly. But it was lucky that he had. She was surrounded by three soldiers who were raising guns at her. Dante stepped in and beheaded one while picking up and throwing another. The last one just took off realizing that he was outgunned in every way. Rinoah laughed when she realized Dante wasn't there to kill her too and even smiled. "I'm your bodygaurd according to Selphie" Dante said and sighed.

[Fehrant]

She had made it to the infirmary, where she had just been hours ago to heal a couple of bruises. Now matters were a bit more complicated, she realized with a grim gaze at her arm. The frame of the door was covered in blood prints, some looking like hands, and others random stains.

Light came from the inside through the half-opened door flickering in and out. Selenia pushed the door slightly, and stood still, alert to any possible noises. The place sounded deserted. Her hand went for the hilt of her katana, and she slowly made her way inside.

The mid-sized room was indeed empty. Signs of people, however, were everywhere. The placed was trashed: cabinets were broken, chairs were knocked down, beds had been toppled, and of course blood was smeared in several places.

Selenia realized that it was going to take more than a light healing spell to get her arm back to its former state. All she could do now was give it some basic medical assistance. Fortunately, she had the knowledge to at least do that.

First things first, she closed the door; she didn't want to be caught off guard. Then she searched for wooden tablets, and bandages. Once she had found them, she placed them on top of a table. Next, something to calm the pain. Perhaps a potion would at least reduce the pain from her body out of the pressure from the powerful bear hug. It appeared that all the potions were taken, but since everything was done in a hurry, Selenia found one had been dropped without having the contents spilt. She removed the cork with her teeth, and drank the sour liquid. The potion release the body pain indeed, and recovered her general well-being, yet it did little for the arm. That was to be expected however.

Selenia place one wooden tablet on the right side of her broken arm, and one in the left, so as to keep the broken bones straight. She twitched at the pain, but she knew this was better for the arm. After that, bandages were wrapped around the tablets, and the arm. She ripped a piece of cloth from one of the beds, tied it in a circle, and used it to create a holder for her arm.

She donned her trenchcoat, and closing the top bottons to hide her broken arm, but still allowing to grip her katanas if necessary. Her hand went to one of the inside pockets, where she had left her cigarettes. She lighted one, and stored the box in the inside pocket again.

She grinned sardonically. "Let's see who complains now about smoking in school grounds."

Selenia checked the room one last time to see if there was anything she should take, but the items remaining were either useless or broken. Satisfied, she opened the door carefully and went out.

It seems this part of the facility was irrelevant to the soldiers, because it was very quiet, not to mention there were few corpses here. Trying to decide her next course of action, she determined it might be a good idea to get a hold of a radio again, although it was unlikely she was going to get lucky to hear something as convenient again. "My other choice..." Selenia thought, "would be to go to the bridge. They are bound to be there, or at least nearby."

She knew the facilities, and there were maps posted on the walls in several places, so knowing where the bridge was, even with the poorly illuminated hallways, wasn't complicated at all. Her steps echoed in the eerily silent facility. The frequency of gunshots had lowered, so either they were close to completing their objective, or their raid had failed, Selenia surmised. As she got close to the bridge, however, the gunshots sounds became more clear.

"Did you hear?" Someone said. Selenia moved with her back on the wall, and inched closer.

"Someone got Kuslovich!" The voice continued.

"You serious?" Another voice replied. "That's insane that the beast would be taken down."

Selenia got a clearer view. They were two intruders. The right one nodded. "I saw the body myself. He looked like he was resting peaceful, even though he had helluva nasty wounds."

She took a zip of her cigarette, and blew the smoke. Opening her eyes wide, she turned around the corner, and dashed at top speed towards them. The two men turned. She jumped on the wall, and rushed forward. By the time they were pointing their guns at her, she bolted from the wall, and slashed one in the throat, and the other one in the chest. They both fell as their life poured out of their bodies.

Sheathing her katanas, she proceeded deeper, towards the bridge.

[Storm]

"I made a promise... my promise failed... People are dead and dying... when will this end?" Lukas hurried to the quad as the instructors told him to. It was too dangerous. He could still hear frequent gunshots. That, and his new-found friend had disappeared. Lukas was already thinking the worst. So many students had been killed or injured, even someone of Resitch's ability could have been shot down. His heart was filled with anger, sadness, fury. He didn't want to fight. He wanted to collapse onto his bed and sleep off the pain. He ran into the quad, nobody in sight. A single gunman entered, walking around unsure of whether anyone was there. He didn't even appear to have seen Lukas, shaking at wits end.

"WHY DON'T YOU JUST KILL ME LIKE EVERYONE ELSE?!!!" He screamed. The gunman looked startled, pointing the gun at the emotional boy. He scowled, running up to him, delivering a strong hedbut into the soldier, who fell on the floor, winded. Lukas grabbed the gun, shooting the man in the windpipe. Tears fell from his face as the ruby blood sprayed into his face. He was scared and confused. He was even more scared at what he had just done. He dropped the gun, throwing his body to te floor.

"F... UCK... YOU.... You're toying with innocent life."

[Caije]

Resitch stepped out of the parking lot. He sighed in relief. He held on to his life for a few moment. He thought fate had made this choice, he was supposed to live. He walked out towards the bridge. He had followed a trail of bodies from the enemy Intruders. The blood stained corridor's were painfull. He clenched his blade hard. He was ready to strike at any moment if the oppurtuinity presented itself.

He approached the elevator and was lifted up to the bridge. The code had been hacked and Resitch stepped out of it into the bridge. He saw many more Students and enemy corpses. He stepped deeper towards the bridge and came to an outside platform. It held 3 soldiers and a older man. He had long grey hair and was in a black suit. He held a large sabre, all had there backs to Resitch and took no notice of his presence.

"Finnaly, a Mobile Base, we can finnaly begin our conquest on Galbadia. There boss smiled.

"How do we move it though, I don't see any visible control for it..." One of the guards spoke.

Resitch would die for his Garden. Die for his home which protected him from the Galbadian troops. He charged forward slicing down one of the troops then hit down another one. He hit off a defending soldier who managed to defend his blow.

"Leave the Garden, and I will spare your life...." Resitch smiled. The other guard and there Leader laughed. There smiles were there weakness, it gave Resitch a oppourtunity moment to slice down the defending enemy. He approached the boss.

"Your power is amazing...., Join me, You shall not regret it," The Boss smiled.

"Sorry, no deal..." Resitch smiled.

"Your loyalty is great, though, it will also be your downfall...." The Boss now sheated his blade. He charged at Resitch.

Fire!

A missile of burning flames was thrown at the boss, the Boss laughed as he dodged it and leapt to the air and slashed back down hitting Resitchs sword breaking it immediatley.

"You now face, Raika Noru Tanasail, General of the Imperial troops," He laughed and stepped backwards. "But I am not as merciless as my Imperials, so I will give you a chance to run....., Go warn the other seed's to stay away also."

"My name Is Resitch Vance, I will die protecting my home, as others did before me...." Resitch stared as his opponent smiled.

The Old General ran forward with his sword and got ready to strike a defenceless Resitch.

[Fehrant]

She had finally made it to the bridge. Several corpses, SeeD and invader alike, loitered the way. It seemed a big battle had taken place here. Oddly enough, however, no one was guarding the elevator. Even stranger, the elevator was going up. Selenia caught a glimpse of a student. "What's going on?" She thought.

She called the elevator frantically. While waiting, she heard noises of swords colliding with each other, then some silence, then something made of metal had fallen to the ground. She couldn't make out the voices, but she wouldn't have to wait anymore: the elevator was descending.

Selenia pressed the button to go up. A big console was attached to the device; obviously it had been hacked. The button did not respond. She hit the button hard, but still no reply; something was going up there, and she was missing it. This time, she tried the console attached to the device, and it worked out smoothly. The elevator slowly made its way up.

When the elevator made it to the ground level, the situation became clear. One of the students was on the floor with half a sword; the other half was lying on the floor, defeated. In front of him, a powerful looking man with long silver hair stood. She had hit the jackpot. Without a doubt, a big fish, if not the big fish.

The silver-haired man ran towards the defenseless student to give him the finishing blow. Apparently he hadn't noticed Selenia, so she felt it was her task to make her presence known. She kicked the elevator ground, giving off a loud metallic thud. The silver-haired man stopped, and looked at Selenia. The other student too, turned his head to see what the commotion was about.

Now that she had got his attention, she walked towards him, disregarding the student lying on the floor.

"Ah," the general said almost delighted. "Another mighty hero in the works. This school is indeed a wonderful place, don't you think?" He asked, and laughed.

Selenia smirked. "Another hero?" She questioned annoyed. "Don't get the wrong idea here. I couldn't care less what happens to the facility. I'm here to battle you." She took out the cigarette from her mouth, and threw it his way.

The general caught the cigarette midair before it hit his clothes, and took a zip, blowing out the smoke peacefully. "I didn't know young students were allowed to smoke," he laughed again delighted.

"Just come!" Selenia yelled issuing a challenge, and took an offensive stance. She spread her legs a bit, and her hand rested on the hilt of her katana. She was ready for a quick draw technique.

"Then I shall," the general announced. He charged straightforward with his saber. When he got within range, Selenia quickly drew out the katana from the sheath, and performed an upwards arc to his chest. He dodged it without any apparent major effort, "you know, that's..." His words were cut off. A connecting downwards slash followed the initial attack. The general jumped backwards, out of harm's way.

"Ah, this institute is full of people with wonderful potential," he commented. "I'd love to continue our fight, but I have two main problems. One, being that I have things that need taking care of. The second..." He pointed at her. "You are incapable of fighting at your complete potential at the moment."

That took Selenia by surprise; had he found out? She decided to play dumb. "What do you mean?"

"What happened to your right arm?" He asked, right to the point.

Selenia unbuttoned the top of her trenchcoat. Her broken arm was revealed. "A gift from Kuslovich," she explained.

"So it was you who killed one of my strongest lieutenants?" He said. "Indeed, I have underestimated you. I congratulate you on beating him, he was certainly strong, but allow me to say that I do not underestimate you when I say you currently have no chances to win against me, especially while incapacitated like that."

She grinned wickedly. "Win, you say? I only here to enjoy a good fight."

He returned her smile. "Then you shall," he conceded. "And allow to say, those beautiful blue and grey eyes of yours... they remind of a particular someone. Any relationship with..."

"Enough talk!" She yelled in anger, clenched her teeth, and charged. The ran to him, then slid to the right, and jumped. She performed a slash, followed by another, and another, and another. A continuous chain of attacks rained down of the general who parried them all in turn. Selenia ducked, and tried to spin-kick him, but he jumped in the air. She jumped too, her sword posed high, but he strongly swung downward, and made her land again. Before he had landed, she sprinted forth. She thrust her katana, but he simply move his head sideways and dodged. Selenia tried to do a horizontal sweep, but he raised his sword to deflect it. They both took a few steps back.

"Now's my turn," the general warned.

He charged forward, but his speed was amazing. Selenia raised her katana just in time to deflect the blow, but she was left vulnerable. A precise kick in legs sent her falling to the ground, but before she could hit it, she was stabbed on the left shoulder. Now her body was being sustained by a piercing blade. Her face winced from the pain, and her arm trembled.

"Now moving your only good arm should cause great amounts of pain. The battle is over," the silver-haired man declared, as he released the sword from her body, as her knees went to the ground.

Selenia stood up with difficulty. She slowly raised the sword, that was as unsteady as her arm. "We'll see about that," she said, defiant.

The general sighed, resigned. "That tenacity in your eyes is the same as his. I'm sure you two are bound to met again. Don't die before that happens." He sheathed his sword, and pointed an open palm towards her. "Lighting!" He shouted, and a lighting bolt hit Selenia who was in no state to dodge. Electricity ran through her body, and her wounds' pain intensified. When the impact has ceased, she dropped her katana, her body about to collapse.

"We will... fight... again," were her words before everything became dark.

"I am sure we will," replied a voice before she lost consciousness.

[Magi of Worlds]

It was somewhere near midnight that Dante walked into Balamb with Rinoah right behind him. He looked around and saw no soldiers in sight. It didn't matter to him though, no one could beat him. Especially in mortal combat. He looked to Rinoah who looked a little tired from the walk over. Dante sighed remembering she was nearing the ripe age of fourty and shouldn't have been made to walk from the mountain down to town.

But she had made no complaints so Dante just shrugged it off. They headed straight for the Balamb Hotel. Dante wanted to make sure Rinoah actually felt safe and so he booked a room next to hers. He opened his door and layed down infront of it as it hit the wall. He wanted to be ready incase more soldiers came after Rinoah.

He stayed up for a few minutes thinking of why he'd had to do this. No answer was good enough and he slowly started getting annoyed by it all. Why had Selphie asked him to be her bodyguard? Finally Rinoah's light turned off and Dante eased back into a deep sleep. He'd just fought for a few hours and hadn't realized he was still injured. How inconsiderate of him!

[Caije]

Resitch sighed. He looked at the Grey eyed demon, one of the toughest students in the school. The Elderly man, though looked feeble, he certainly held some great strenght.

Crawling backwards as Raika approached him. He pointed his sword at his throath and laughed. "It could be so easy, to slice your throath from where you stand...."

"Don't do it," A voice came from Behind Resitch. Resitch didn't want to look behind him to see who it was.

"Headmaster Squall, nice to see you again, nice of you to come in Gardens final moments." The elderly man laughed.

"Drop it..., You seem to underestimate my SeeD and students, most of your soldiers have been severly wounded if not dead, you remain the only one of the Imperial army..." Squall Stated, he was trying to bring the enemy General down, it seemed to be working, Rakai's face had started to scowl.

"You are at my mercy Squall, This student here. He is yours, I can slit his throath," Rakai laughed.

"Kill him and you wont escape here...., I swear it.." Squall yelled.

Resitch now began to panic. He suddenly heard a large sound, it was like the sound of a motor. A black dot came into distance now, it was a Helicopter, large and bulletproof it came up beside the bridge.

"I suppose this is it for now, Squall..., Rinoa will die someday, you can't hide her forever," He backed off into the Helicopter as he jumped from the bridge he landed safetly onto it. The Helicopter took off and flew towards the mountain area.

"Maybe so, but I can protect her forever" He turned to Resitch and helped him up. "You shouldn't of confronted him, help me bring Selenia to the Infirmary,

"Its been destroyed, The injured are being taken to the Quad...." Resitch said. He took no notice of what Squall said before hand.

Squall nodded and Resitch helped him carry Selenia to the infirmary, there were many students here now. They lay her to rest on a bed and a healer immediatley came over to her. Resitch stepped out of the Quad, he couldn't stand the blood so he sat outside. It was well past night now. He sat as people came and went, the war was over, but the damage was severe, it would take alot of time for it to get better. Which would cause the shutdown of the school.