Chapter 6: Face of the Enemy
By Craxton
The Crystal Palace of the Lunarians was in something of
an uproar.
Barely half an hour ago, the Palace Guard had been put on full alert.
The reason for this was tragic and simple: FuSoYa, the leader of the
Lunarians, had been killed. Every regiment immediately started
canvassing the huge castle, looking for the murderer. He led them on
quite a chase, too. As of right now, the chase had ended and he was
holed up in the mini-museum on one of the Palace's highest floors. So
the state of alert had been relaxed somewhat. The killer was now
trapped. There was only one door, resting atop a high, open staircase
stretching down into a chamber below, that led into or out of the
museum, and the killer had locked and barred it as best he could. Add
that to the fact that a whole regiment of the Palace Guard was
currently outside that door, waiting for him to come out, and no one
was worried much.
Two members of the aforementioned regiment were trying to batter down
the door with spears. The rest lounged around, some of them admiring
the exhibits outside or the spectacular view through the panoramic,
crystalline windows (a view which was somewhat spoiled by the line of
Invaders camped out just about 1000 meters from the base of the
palace), waiting for the laser torch they had called in. There was,
after all, nothing to worry about. The killer was trapped.
Or so they thought.
Presently one of the guardsmen at the door stopped, and motioned his
partner to do likewise. Then he put his ear to the door.
"What?" the second asked.
"Shhhh! Hear that?"
The second began listening to the door intently, as well. "Something
like a... rumbling?"
"Not exactly. More like a purr or something."
"A PURR?"
"Yeah, a purr. Sounds like it's getting closer, now."
"That's no purr! A purr is softer, more melodious. Besides, there
aren't any animals in there. What's going to purr?"
"Well..." He listened more carefully, now. "It's not EXACTLY like a
purr, now that you mention it. Something very low, mechanical, warlike
almost. Like a growl... but not quite. Getting very close now.
Something like... like..."
The thought struck them both at once. "An engine."
Right on cue, the killer crashed through the door, riding a Lunacycle.
It was basically a hovering motorcycle designed to achieve high speeds
on lunar terrain. It looked something like a cross between a Star Wars
speeder bike and a FFVII motorcycle, a combination that had no doubt
inspired this escape. The two soldiers were knocked down the stairs.
The killer looked down at the regiment briefly before starting down
the stairs on the cycle. The regiment, in turn, looked up at him,
noticing the black clothing, claw-like hands, and jet-black, leathery
wings protruding from his back.
The killer was Craxton. And his visit to the moon was not going well.
======
It had started off well enough. The flight from the AGFF Spaceport to
Moonbase Kujata had been a little rough, but nothing serious. The base
itself hadn't been too bad, either. It had the look and feel of a
frontier town crossed with a military encampment. Two long streets
traversed its length, one north-south, one east-west. Near the
spaceport at the center, they both curved, forming a large circle
around the spaceport. In fact, the spaceport took up almost a full
quarter of the base. The rest was banks, bars, stores, restaurants,
bunkers, bunkers, and more bunkers.
The bunkers hadn't been part of the initial design. Originally,
Moonbase Kujata had been designed as an initial colony. A
stopping-over point for further colonization. The plan was first to
set up a viable, self sufficient community. The colonists would learn
to farm the lunar soil, serve as a permanent human presence on the
moon, and eventually, with the permission of the Lunarians, expand.
Most of the bunker area was originally designated as farmland.
But things had not gone according to plan.
Barely two months after the colony first landed, the Invaders had
appeared. They had struck without warning, destroyed most of the
Lunarian settlements, and kept the remainder holed up tight in the
Crystal Palace. Plans for a self-sufficient colony were quickly
scrapped, and Kujata became a military encampment. They now had a
radically different problem. The corporations that had collaborated on
the Lunar colonization project hoped to send aid to the Lunarians, and
thus had sent soldiers up. Unfortunately, like corporations are apt to
do, they had skimped on the funding.
As a result, Moonbase Kujata barely had enough soldiers to defend
itself. It was spared destruction only because the Invaders seemed
to have very little interest in it. With the exception of a few
skirmishes, they had not attacked Kujata since the siege began.
They were focusing on the Crystal Palace, and would probably
not attack anywhere else until it was captured.
Craxton had thought on all of this as he gazed at an orbital picture
of the structure. It was badly damaged, but holding together. In fact,
underneath the crystal outside, the palace walls were pure Adamant, so
it would be up for some time. This was fortunate. For Moonbase Kujata
as well as the Lunarians.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
Craxton turned around to see his traveling companion, and the acting
leader of the Defenders of Relm, Spork the Spoony Bard. "Even after
all the fighting," he continued with a smile, "all the scars, all the
damage, it's still beautiful."
"Yeah." Craxton said. "I just hope it's still standing when we reach
it. How do we get there?"
"That won't be easy." Spoony responded. "The Invaders, whoever they
are, basically control the entire territory around the Crystal Palace.
The siege line holds about 1000 meters from the walls, and the
surrounding mountains are constantly patrolled. If we went over land,
we'd get caught, and the Invaders never take prisoners. They also have
some sort of atmospheric warships with them, so an aerial approach is
out. The mothership took heavy damage during the initial invasion, and
is currently grounded and being used as a base of operations about
forty miles north-northwest of the palace."
"So the best spot to try and break through their defenses is the
southeast quadrant of the mountains."
"Yes, but it won't be that simple. Even there, the ground and air
routes are way too risky. The only feasible way through is the
caverns."
Craxton closed his eyes, put his left hand on his forehead, and ran it
slowly back through his hair, moaning, "Oh no. Not the caverns."
"I'm afraid so, Craxton. The Invaders try to keep the caverns
well-patrolled, but they're too complex, and mapping doesn't seem to
be the Invaders' strong point. I've been here several times before the
invasion, so I'll be able to find my way through. It's not perfect,
but it's the best chance we've got."
Craxton sighed. "Okay, once we've got FuSoYa, how do we get out?"
"That's going to be tougher. You see, the Palace doesn't connect to
the caverns. Chances are, we'll emerge from one of the many meteorite
craters on the surface, hopefully within the siege line. From there,
it's a mad dash to the palace walls. Fortunately, the Palace has gun
emplacements that will be covering us."
"If they don't assume we're with the enemy."
"They'll recognize me."
Craxton nodded. "Good. But that doesn't answer my question. How do we
get back here?"
Spoony heaved a long sigh. "I don't know."
"What do you mean, you don't know?"
"I mean, I don't know. We won't be able to get out the same way we get
in. Hopefully, the Lunarians have some sort of emergency evacuation
vehicles that will get us past the siege line, but..." he trailed off.
"But?" Craxton asked.
"But, since the siege began, no one has gotten out of the Crystal
Palace. It's practically suicide. It's impossible to reach any of the
craters without alerting the Invaders to our presence, and if we're
running toward them, the palace guns won't be able to cover us
effectively. It will take the flying vehicles fifteen minutes to get
airborne, after that, we're effectively toast."
He sighed again. "Several people have tried to make the run since the
siege began. None have lived."
"Wonderful."
"If we want to find FuSoYa, we have to try."
"I know, I know. Where do we start?"
"There's a motor pool at the eastern end of the base. We can pick up a
hovercar there that will take us to the edge of the mountains. There,
it will be simple to find an entrance to the caverns."
"Okay, then." They started off to the east. After a while, Craxton
turned to Spoony again.
"Hey, Spoony, why is this place called 'Moonbase Kujata'?"
Spoony thought for a minute, then shrugged. "Because 'Moonbase Knights
Of The Round' sounds silly?"
======
'None have lived.', he had said. And now Craxton was forced to not only
attempt what no one had survived trying to do before, but to do so
without
the help of the Lunarians. The thought of attempting such a feat did
not please him.
First of all, though, he had to get out of the palace. And the only
way to do that was to go through these guards.
It only took a moment for the shock of Craxton's unexpected entrance
to wear off. The guards scrambled to their feet, assuming combat
stances.
Quickly, Craxton gunned the engine and charged down the staircase. He
drew his sword, but knew that he would never be able to take down all
of them. Could he go for the exit? No, the guards were all over the
place, and once word of this incident got the alarm raised again,
there was no chance he could elude them. Sooner or later he'd run into
a corridor too narrow for the cycle, and that would be the end.
He needed to get out of the palace NOW. And he'd better have a plan
formed by the time he reached the bottom of the stairs. He shot a
quick glance around the chamber spotting two interesting exhibits- a
steel "canvas" with a modernistic etching on it, hanging from the
ceiling by two taut iron cables, and an abstract sculpture directly
beneath and behind it. And the window directly behind the sculpture...
Now THAT was an idea. Not the best escape plan, but it'd have to do.
The guards were beginning motions and incants, preparing to hurl
spells at him. Hoping his Blue Magic was up to snuff, Craxton began
the Matra Magic incantation.
As Craxton reached the bottom of the stairs, missiles came seemingly
out of midair and began flying everywhere. Craxton made sure two of
them struck the painting's cables, causing it to fall to the floor and
lean against the sculpture, creating a makeshift ramp. The rest he
sent everywhere, making sure they caused as much chaos as possible
among the guards. Craxton turned the cycle toward the ramp and
charged at it, full speed.
The guards were thrown completely off by the missiles. Most of them
stopped their spells to dive out of the way or take cover. One managed
to squeeze off a Bolt spell, but missed.
Craxton pulled the nose of the cycle up and hit the ramp head-on. He
sailed over the sculpture...
And crashed straight through the window.
He was now past the guards and out of the palace, but now he had two
more problems. One was the fact that he was easily a thousand feet
above the ground, and, unlike in FFVII, there was no highway to catch
him.
What worried him more was the fact that once he hit the ground, he'd
have to deal with the siege line. He knew what the Invaders were
capable of...
======
The trek through the caverns had been difficult. Craxton had his sword
out at all times, even when climbing the brief but steep inclines that
were seemingly everywhere. Spoony, likewise, held his harp constantly
at the ready. The caverns were such that you could turn around and
instantly be confronted with trouble, in the form of one of the Lunar
creatures, or one of the Invaders. It was a long, confusing, journey,
with Spoony pointing out the right paths through the maze of natural
passages.
After a few hours, they stopped to rest a minute.
"How much further?" Craxton asked.
"I'm not sure. I'd guess we're a bit more then half of the way there."
Craxton groaned. "Five more HOURS of this?"
Spoony looked at him. "You know, you complain quite a bit, for a
warrior."
"Huh?"
"You complained about the caves, you complained about the Invaders,
you complained about..."
"Just griping, Spoony. Just griping." He paused, then continued. "You
know some people. Not really happy unless they have something to
complain about. Well... I guess that's kinda like me, sometimes."
Spoony shook his head sadly. "Very unhealthy, you know."
"Huh?"
"If you have to have something to complain about, chances are you
eventually start LOOKING for things to complain about. I've seen more
than a few people become Defilers like that."
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Don't know what I've got worth complaining about
anyway. I mean, another few hours trudging through this place is
NOTHING compared to what's going to happen if we don't get to FuSoYa."
Spoony nodded. There was a brief silence before he chose to come clean.
"Why do we need FuSoYa?"
Craxton looked surprised. "What?"
"When this whole mess started, the first thing you recommended is that
we go looking for Fu."
"Well, of course! He's the leader of the DoR, the Guardian of our
protectee! He's going to have to know about this."
"Why?"
Craxton almost laughed. "Why else? To lead us!"
"Well, no doubt. No doubt we need a leader, but why does it have to be
FuSoYa? I mean, call me treasonous if you will, but I think saving the
entire Lunarian race from extinction is kinda more important than
rescuing Relm and killing off some clones, don't you?"
Craxton became silent for a minute. "If what X told me was close to
the truth, this could threaten all of AGFF. Fu should know, at least.
We'll tell him about the situation, then let him decide for himself
which cause is more important."
There was another akward silence.
"That doesn't exactly answer my question, though.", Spoony said. "Why
FuSoYa? Why is he the only one who can lead us?"
Craxton sighed. "Spoony, don't get me wrong. You're a fine warrior, in
your way, and Fu did well putting you in charge when he went away.
But... I just don't think you've got what it takes to lead a large
force."
Spoony raised his hands, almost defensively. "Hey, no argument. I can
hold my own in a melee, sure, but for a leader, we need someone who
can organize, someone who can plan, someone who can do strategy." He
paused to see if Craxton was getting it. He wasn't, so Spoony
continued. "Someone like... you."
Craxton was shocked. "Me?"
"You."
He shook his head vigorously. "Out of the question."
"Why not? You have all the characteristics of a good leader."
"Look, I'm not even a member of your organization, officially. Plus,
most of the others barely know me. You think they're going to trust me
as a leader?"
"True, perhaps. But that's not really it, is it?" Craxton turned away.
"Something is holding you back." Spoony continued. "Keeping you from
committing yourself to the cause. What is it, Craxton? What is it that
torments you?"
There was a long, long silence. For a minute Spoony thought he had
gone too far. He had gotten too personal, too private. He turned away,
resolving to forget the entire conversation. He was about to recommend
they continue their journey when Craxton answered him.
"I can't be trusted to protect the ones I love."
Spoony was caught a bit off-guard. "Hmm?"
Craxton heaved a slow, painful sigh. "Relm... to me... to all of us, I
guess, she's like... a daughter, almost. Can't say I've ever had a
daughter, myself. Not that I wouldn't want a family somewhere down the
line, just... you know... never found the..." his voice suddenly
became more pained. "...never found the right kind of woman, I guess."
"Is that so?" said Spoony. He meant it as an acknowledgement, but to
Craxton it sounded like an inquiry.
"Well... no, not exactly... I... I did, once, but... she..." Spoony
was clearly dredging up painful memories. "I've never..." Craxton
continued. "Never really told anyone about this, but..."
Abruptly, Spoony shushed him. Craxton looked at him quizzically. "Why,
you're the one who..."
"SHHHHHHHH!!! Listen!"
Craxton realized that Spoony had been listening to something else,
probably since he last spoke. Waving his previous thoughts away from
his mind, Craxton listened. They were standing in a chamber where
several tunnels intersected, and from one of them, he heard footsteps.
Very, very, very soft footsteps. The person making them was probably
taking great pains not to be heard.
The footsteps stopped rather suddenly, perhaps realizing detection.
The tunnel from whence they came was situated so that neither Spoony
nor Craxton could see the mystery being, but it was almost certainly
one of the Invaders. Spoony motioned Craxton to wait and, holding his
harp in a combat position, tiptoed over to the tunnel. When he was a
few steps away from the tunnel entrance, he turned briefly, nodded to
Craxton, and then threw himself into the Invader's line of sight.
"FRE..." Spoony began to yell, but stopped abruptly as his face became
a mask of shock and horror. Craxton heard a sound like a gun being
fired and a hiss, and then a rocket came shooting out of the tunnel.
Spoony jumped aside and the rocket missed, exploding instead on the
wall behind him. A second rocket soared out of the tunnel and impacted
the floor almost directly behind Spoony, throwing him across the
chamber. The footsteps started again, much faster this time. Doubtless
the Invader was charging toward the chamber. Craxton held his sword at
the ready, prepared to engage the Invader as soon as he exited the
tunnel. He watched the tunnel exit like a hawk. The footsteps moved
closer, closer, closer. The Invader emerged from the tunnel...
Holy shit!
It was a Quake marine!
Raising his weapon, the marine fired another rocket. In his shock,
Craxton barely managed to dodge it.
"i GONNNA FRAG U BIUaCJH!!!!1!!1!!!"
It was obviously a taunt, screamed in an alien language Craxton
vaguely remembered hearing somewhere before. Where? He couldn't think
about that now, because he had to dodge another rocket. And another.
And another. That thing sure reloaded fast, he thought.
"dIEW, LOZeER!!!!!1!!!1!"
Drawing on his draconic agility, Craxton leapt about the room, bouncing
left and right to dodge the rockets, each leap bringing him closer and
closer to his assailant. Finally, from a position a few feet in front
of the marine, he leaped over a rocket, and straight at the marine's
throat.
Instinctively, the marine raised his weapon to protect himself, so
that Craxton missed his opponent's flesh but managed to knock the
rocket launcher away. Not feeling up to a hand-to-hand confrontation,
the marine quickly retreated into the tunnel. Craxton dared not
follow. His opponent almost certainly had another weapon, and Craxton
would not be able to dodge as effectively in the cramped space of the
tunnel. So, he watched the marine, his sword at the ready, daring him
to make the next move.
The marine did. Grinning maliciously, he drew a fearsome looking
weapon emitting a greenish glow. Although he was no fan of FPS games,
Craxton nevertheless recognized the lethal BFG 9000. It was an
incredible weapon. Even if he dodged it, Craxton would never survive
the cave-in it would cause.
Fortunately, the BFG was an energy weapon.
Craxton stood straight upright, holding his sword straight up in front
of him and slightly diagonal toward his enemy. He gazed into the
Crystal KnightSword's blade, concentrating on the small, barely
visible etchings inside the translucent crystal. They were very, very
thin, almost microscopic, and impossible to see unless you knew they
were there. Craxton concentrated on them, pouring the force of his
mind into them, until they started emitting a very, very faint,
green-whitish glow. Without breaking his concentration for a second,
Craxton said to the marine, "What are you waiting for, punk?"
So intent on the etchings that resembled writing, Craxton didn't see
the marine's smile broaden. He didn't see him raise the weapon and
point it directly at Craxton. He barely heard him say, "l8ERr,
LAMmER." He didn't notice the colossal noise the weapon made as it
was fired. He didn't notice the green ball of energy that screamed
toward him, until it was inches away from him. As Craxton continued
to focus intently on the etchings inside his sword, the blast
contacted them...
And stopped.
Trapped within the blade of the Crystal KnightSword.
The marine stared for a minute, dumbfounded, wondering if he'd been
hit by lag. Then, through the green light of the frozen BFG blast, he
saw Craxton smile. Craxton drew the sword back, moving it to an almost
straight horizontal position on his right side, held an impressive
"action" pose for a second, and then swung the sword directly in front
of him, throwing the marine's blast right back at him.
The marine gaped for a second, then started running, but too late.
"SIHT!!!!!1!!!1!!1!1!!!!!!11!!!" was all Craxton heard before the
energy struck the Invader, vaporizing him and bringing the entire
tunnel down.
Craxton heaved a heavy sigh, wiped the sweat from his brow, and went
over to Spoony. "You okay?"
Spoony was still conscious, though bleeding heavily. Craxton closed
his eyes for a second, and muttered a healing spell. A feeling of
warmth swept over Spoony, and he stood up. "You okay?" Craxton asked
again. Spoony waved him away. "I'll be fine."
"Can you still walk?"
"I think so."
"Good. We better get going. That explosion's going to attract
attention. Which way?"
Spoony indicated the appropriate tunnel, and they set off again.
Spoony was limping, and Craxton had to support him for some of the
way.
"Craxton..." Spoony asked after a few meters, "What WAS that you did
back there?"
"Huh?"
"With the BFG blast."
"Oh, that." He smiled mysteriously. "Just a little trick someone
taught me once."
"Who?"
Craxton sighed wistfully. "The woman of my dreams."
======
Keeping the nose of the cycle up, Craxton fired the thrusters. This
slowed his descent somewhat, but he was still falling. The situation
was grim - limited fuel, and he had to slow his descent enough to land
softly, without over-correcting. The Lunar atmosphere had barely
enough air to breathe comfortably. If Craxton applied too much thrust,
he'd find himself shooting through the ionosphere before long.
Craxton was reminded of that dumb Windows 3.1 game that he was never
good at.
Easy now... just a matter of the right amount of thrust at the right
time, with a decent amount of time between the bursts... not really
hard... don't think about the fact that you always wound up blasting
craters halfway to Alpha Centauri...
Miraculously, he reached the ground safely.
Heaving a sigh of relief, Craxton looked ahead.
He sighed again. "Out of the frying pan..."
Nearly 600 meters in front of him was the siege line. The Invaders had
registered his approach, and were readying their weapons to fire. The
only way out was through them, and the cycle was already closing fast.
He couldn't hope to take on a veritable legion of Quake marines on his
own. And if he didn't get through fast, the Palace guns would open
fire on him. But how could he hope to breach the siege line?
After a second's thought, he reached into his belt pouch and searched
around a bit. He had an idea that would hopefully work. Still, though,
he could not help but feel very insignificant. It wasn't the first
time he'd felt that way...
======
After the encounter in the tunnels, he had to half-carry Spoony to
their destination. After a while, they had headed to one of the higher
tunnels, where meteorite craters poked out onto the surface
occassionally. They found one about 430 meters from the palace, which,
Spoony said, was about the best they could hope for. The site of the
Palace was chosen for it's geological stability, and the craters were
non-existant from about 300 meters in- what ones did exist had been
sealed by the Lunarians when the Invaders arrived. The mad dash to the
palace wall, with rockets zooming at them from all over and the palace
cannons trying to shoot them down, was insanely stressful, but they
made it.
Once inside, Spoony had been escorted to the medic to treat his
injuries. The rockets had given him a complex fracture of his left
leg, a few bad ribs, and some light internal bleeding, but the medics
were able to fix him up. Luckily they had a technique for manufacturing
synthetic Fenix Down. FuSoYa had obviously been alerted to his old
friend's presence in the castle, because he showed up while Craxton was
in the waiting room, reading up on the latest damage reports. (Well,
it's not like the lousy magazines were any better.)
When Fu entered, Craxton immediately rose. "FuSoYa!" he called.
The aged Lunarian turned to face him. He was imposing, even at such an
advanced age. The Lunarian Blade hung at his side, ready for action at
any moment. The hair on his head seemed to have migrated to his chin,
and turned a deep, bright white, implying a wisdom far beyond anything
you perceived. He fixed Craxton with a pair of imposing, determined
eyes. Craxton had never met Fu before- Fu had left AGFF before Craxton
arrived- but, nonetheless, this did not seem like the same Fu who had
led the battles against the Defilers (at least, this was not the Fu
Craxton had heard of.) He had turned somehow... cold.
"Yes?" he said, after a long silence.
Not knowing what else to do, Craxton bowed deeply, then stood again.
"My name is Craxton." he said. "I came here with Spoony."
"Did you now?" FuSoYa seemed rather uninterested. "And what is your
relation to Spork?"
"We are... well, comrades in arms, you could say. I am a... an ally to
the Defenders of Relm."
Fu cocked an eyebrow. "Are you?" There was a pause. "You claim to be
an ally of the Defenders. Spork was left in charge of the Defenders
when I left. I assume, therefore, that your reason for this visit
involves Relm?"
"Yes, Mister... Ummm... Sir, I mean..."
"'FuSoYa' will do just fine."
"Yes, sir."
Fu nodded. "What happened to Spoony?"
"We ran into one of the Invaders in the caverns. He was wounded in the
battle."
Fu's stare became colder. "Now you are lying. We can barely hold off
the Invaders with the advantage of the castle walls, and they never
leave their enemies alive. Yet you and Spoony run into one and
survive?"
"Yes, sir. Ask him if you don't believe me."
"I will, thank you." FuSoYa looked Craxton over, noting the sword
resting in its sheath, the spartan clothing, and the claws. "You are a
warrior, I take it?"
"I am, sir."
"A soldier or a mercenary?"
"A... freelancer, sir."
"A mercenary."
"No, sir."
FuSoYa sighed, and crossed his arms, clearly awaiting an explanation.
"Well?"
There was a brief pause. "I serve what cause I choose, sir. But I
don't do it for money. And I don't turn traitor for a larger reward. A
mercenary tends to do both."
Fu nodded. "An important distinction. Have you ever been debriefed?"
Craxton nodded. "Yes, sir."
"Good. Report to tactical. I'll tell them you're coming. Afterwards,
you will be assigned quarters, and combat position. We need as many
people as we can to defend the palace. Now, if you'll excuse me, I
have to see to my friend."
And he disappeared through the doors to the recovery ward.
======
Craxton withdrew two items from his belt pouch. One was a small, red
materia orb, the other was a fire ring. He slipped the ring on, then
focused his energy on the orb, drawing forth the power of the ancient
spirit empowered inside.
The Invaders looked up in shock as Ifrit burst through the ground
with a roar. Casting a quick glance around the scene, he found his
summoner by instinct. Craxton pointed to the enemy lines, then showed
Ifrit the Fire Ring. He hoped the Esper would get the idea...
He did. Grinning, Ifrit transformed into a raging fireball and charged
the enemy lines. But not at full speed. Once he was in front of
Craxton, he slowed down, allowing Craxton to ride in his fiery wake.
Craxton silently thanked the gods for giving him a hoarding impulse.
The Invaders fled in horror as Ifrit crashed into the siege line.
Marines ran in horror or got burned to ashes. Fuel tanks exploded,
starting a chain reaction that crippled a large portion of the
Invaders' defenses. Prefabricated mess halls, briefing rooms, and
porta-johns were knocked aside or plowed under by Ifrit's flames. One
of the air fighters had a wing blown off and the rest of it half
melted.
After about ten minutes, Ifrit's power faded, and he vanished. But by
then they were well past the siege line. Craxton looked back just as a
beam of energy impacted the ground just to his left. Following him was
a small, jet-like vehicle, looking something like a cross between a
small ID4 fighter and the Epoch from CT. Amidst the chaos back at the
siege line, one of the aerial fighters had managed to take off. Now it
was after him. And out for blood.
======
His first encounter with FuSoYa had been disturbing. He had not asked
about Relm, he had seemed unconcerned about the welfare of his friend,
and he left in a hurry when the conversation looked like it was about
to turn to something relevant. He had seemed threatened by Craxton,
especially after he told them about the incident in the caves. But not
as if afraid for his life. Threatened in the sense that he might be
threatened by a fly: he might be forced to expend the energy to swat
him.
It nettled Craxton quite a bit. He chalked it up to the strain of
commanding a war and the fabrication of stories he'd heard on AGFF.
Nevertheless, he had trouble sleeping that night.
Around one o'clock, he threw the pillows off, stood up, and decided to
go for a walk. He donned his clothes, grabbed his belt, and headed for
the door. He hesitated about whether to take his sword, then decided
it was better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have
it.
He sauntered out into the corridor and down the passage. This level
was designed to be more functional than luxurious. The real spiffy
ones, at the upper levels of the spires, were off-limits- they were
extremely vulnerable to attack.
He wandered aimlessly for a while, until he came to a stretch of the
corridor outside Fu's quarters. The door was slightly ajar, and from
inside, he heard Fu talking with someone over a vidlink. He was about
to walk on when he heard a shout from within.
"YOU COULD HAVE BLOWN YOUR COVER, BOB DAMN YOU!"
The voice froze Craxton in his tracks. For he recognized it.
It was Mr. X.
He leaned closer to the door, but couldn't hear much of anything.
Desperately curious, he went in. The living room was fairly spacious,
with most of the standard amenities: chairs, couch, coffee table,
entertainment center that would impress the guys who put up
Stonehenge, and so on. The voices were coming from a side room.
Craxton crept stealthily to the open door, careful not to be seen from
inside. As he got closer, he heard the words "eliminate Spork,"
"complete domination," and "slap you with a trout." He wished to hell
he could make out exactly what they were saying...
Intent on listening, Craxton accidentally jostled a small pillar. The
vase on top (always has to be a vase, doesn't it?) wobbled back and
forth a bit, then, before Craxton could stop it, fell to the floor and
shattered.
"What the hell?" Fu exclaimed. Craxton looked around for a hiding
place, but found none within range. Fu charged through the door,
holding the Lunarian Blade at the ready. He saw Craxton and, before
the other could react, he cast "Hold." Craxton soon found himself
bound in a standing position by four rings of energy. Completely
helpless.
"Well, well, well..." said Fu. "It appears he is more of a threat than
you thought, boss." Taking a remote control from the coffee table, he
pressed a few buttons, routing the vidlink through to the colossal
entertainment center. The face and upper chest of Mr. X appeared, clad
in a black hooded robe, leaning on some table that was cut off the
screen, and steepling his fingers. It was obviously meant to look
imposing, although to Craxton it looked like X had just stepped out of
the shower.
"Ah, Craxton." said X. "So nice to see you again."
He chuckled slightly. "You know, if you're going to be a threat, you
could at least be a significant one. Running off to the moon to fetch
your brave leader at the first sign of trouble?" He chuckled.
"Pathetic."
Craxton bared his teeth, then changed his expression to a grin. "At
least I don't waste my free time genetically engineering perverted sex
toys. HorneyRelms, 'Super Slut' Relms, NewbieBoinkRelms, what's the
matter, did your other creations get over their oedipal complexes too
soon?"
The amused expression vanished from X's face. Craxton continued. "I
mean, if the only way you can get any is by putting a prostitute's
psyche-prints in a twelve-year old body- and an artificial one at
that, well, you've got some problems."
X glared menacingly, but Craxton refused to take the hint. "Do you
keep a supply of lobotomized Tifa clones for when the guests come
over? A Faris for the occassional transvestite night? Do you have a
Rydia to whip you sometimes?" He laughed. For a second X looked like
he would have struck Craxton if he were really there, but then a
thought struck him, and he returned Craxton's grin. "I have a Celes
for that. But *I* use the whip."
Craxton's grin vanished. Growling angrily, he strained against the
rings, but to no avail. Mr. X simply chuckled.
"As I was saying," he continued, "My friend and I were discussing how
best to sack the Crystal Palace. I don't think I've properly introduced
you yet." He gestured at Fu again. "Craxton, meet FuEySoYa, my finest
creation to date." The fake Fu bowed. "Not some crude regrowth of an
existing genetic pattern, but an exact copy of the real FuSoYa, right
down
to the molecular level. It took some work to create him. I don't think
you
fully realize how long this project has been going on, Craxton. I've
been
planning for these next few weeks since before you came to AGFF."
"Really?" Craxton said. "And what, praytell, happens in the next few
weeks?"
"Ah, yes." said X. "The obligatory
villain-explains-everything-just-before-
killing-the-hero monologue." He chuckled, then checked his watch. "I'd
love to indulge you, Craxton, but I have some pressing matters to attend
to.
See you later. Or not. FuEy?"
FuEySoYa turned to the screen. "Make him disappear. Then send him to
the Cleft of Dimension." X chuckled again, then shut off the vidlink.
FuEySoYa cracked his knuckles and smiled evilly. Craxton tried hard not
to smile back.
What X had ordered would free him. Effect spells from FF games tended
to overwrite existing conditions from other FF games. Some sort of
conflict with the etheral formations, he thought. But Craxton noticed
a small Gem Box attached to FuEySoYa's belt, meaning he wouldn't have
enough time to use his freedom.
At least, that's what they thought.
"Goodbye, dragon-man." said FuEySoYa. "It's been nice knowing you." He
then cast Vanish.
Craxton fell to the ground, free of the rings, but still visible.
FuEySoYa, surprised that his spell hadn't worked, cast it again. And
again. And again. Still no effect. Had he looked beneath Craxton's
tunic, he would have discovered the source of his difficulties: a
Prism Pendant, a magical device designed to negate the effects of a
Vanish spell.
Surprise rapidly changed to fear when Craxton rose from the ground.
FuEySoYa quickly began chanting a more dangerous spell. Lacking time to
draw his sword, Craxton simply leaped at him. A slash from his
draconian claws cut a deep quartet of gashes in FuEy's chest. FuEy
drew his own sword, but another slash knocked it from his hands.
"Now..." Craxton said, ready to interrogate him, but FuEy wasn't about
to give up yet. He shot a fire spell at Craxton's face. FuEy was
panicked, so he missed. But it still hurt like hell. Siezing the
advantage, he ran for the door, digging in his pocket as he went. As
he withdrew a small item, Craxton tackled him to the ground. FuEy was
now flat on his back, with Craxton's angered face staring into his.
"WHERE IS FUSOYA?!?!?!?!" Craxton bellowed.
"Uhhh... Ahhh... Uhhh..."
"ANSWER ME!!!!!!"
"I... I... I don't know!"
With a growl, Craxton slashed the clone's throat. Blood spurted from
the jugular vein as FuEySoYa sucked wind and died.
Afterwards, Craxton calmed considerably. Killing FuEySoYa had been
unwise. He could have gotten some information, or possibly a
bargaining chip of some sort. He normally didn't get like that in the
heat of battle, but Celes Defiling pushed him to beyond the limit. And
FuEy's fire spell hadn't helped. Ah, well, nothing he could do about
it now. FuEy had been an abomination of nature anyways.
He picked up the item the clone had been reaching for. A Warp Stone.
Obviously, the clone had a quick escape plan for emergencies. Too bad
it didn't do him any good. Perhaps he should search the corpse...
"Hey, you!"
Craxton wheeled around to see a guard standing in the doorway.
"Hello. I was just about to come get you. This former..."
He was cut off by a Bolt chant. He jumped aside, barely managing to
avoid it.
"Sir, it's not what you..."
This time it was a Fire chant that cut him off. Again he dodged, and
the blast tore a hole in the monolithic entertainment center. Craxton
realized he could not reason with a man who believed him the murderer
of the Lunarian leader. He could kill the guard easily, but that was
against his principles. The guard didn't realize FuEy had been a fake.
So Craxton took the only option available. He pressed his thumb to a
small circle on the Warp Stone and disappeared in a flash of light.
The Warp Stone landed him in a chamber which was unknown to him. He
knew the guard would alert others, so he ran for an exit, and down the
corridor he found himself in. Five minutes later, an alarm blared and
a voice told all guards to find a man with black wings and bring him
in. Three minutes thereafter, Craxton turned a corner to find a dozen
guards standing there. He reversed direction and led them on a merry
chase.
======
Which led him, eventually, to where he was now. Riding a Lunacycle
across
the lunar landscape, chased by an enemy fighter. The fighter was still a
ways off, and Craxton was going slightly faster than him to begin with,
but the pilot's aim was improving. One blast narrowly missed the engine.
Another he was forced to swerve wildly to avoid. Craxton cast Wall. All
he had to do was hold off until he could oudistance the pilot. Which
shouldn't be...
He looked ahead, and saw a gaping canyon only 100 meters in front of
him.
He almost cried. It was times like this that truly made him wonder why
he went on. Always battling, always questing, always charging into the
fray... for what? Searching for FuSoYa had brought him only a series
of skin-of-his-teeth escapes. Sooner or later, his luck and brainpower
would run out at once, and then he'd be dead. Why not just let it end
right now?
He thought of everyone back at AGFF. Nice people, to be sure, even with
the occasional flame, but worth continuing his pointless existance for?
No.
There was only one person worth living for, and she had died long ago.
While he had watched helplessly.
He ran through his .sig file mentally. Was there anything worth
fighting for in there? Really? Wielder of the Crystal KnightSword...
Future King of FFVI FanFiction... Unofficial Defender of Relm...
Relm...
And suddenly, he realized giving up was not an option. Relm, who trusted
him to protect her, was in danger. And he had to save her. Period. He
may
not have joined any organization or taken any oaths, but Relm trusted
him.
He couldn't betray that trust.
Still, that didn't solve the immediate problem. Namely, that he was
caught between a hostile aircraft and a gaping chasm, and fast speeding
toward the chasm. He couldn't jump it. He couldn't go around it. He
couldn't stop before he hit it.
Well, that was all there was to it.
He looked over his shoulder again, half-turned in the seat, and gave the
aircraft the finger. Then he drove straight into the canyon. The bike
curved downward, like a diver executing a graceful swan dive from the
high board, tumbled in the air, hit the ground, and, almost
nonchalantly,
exploded.
======
"PhUQuE!" the pilot thought a minute later. "WhATTa PHJirE!!!1!
wHaZZZa gASs N DaT ThIUng?"
He was sitting in the cockpit of his AiRKiLL@, watching the bike, far
below, burn on the canyon floor. It was, indeed, making a great fuss
about being blown apart. The pilot looked over the area, trying to
find his quarry, but saw nothing.
The radio crackled. "Y0, PiL0tDeWd!"
The pilot grabbed the microphone-thingy and thumbed it on. "sUp,
K0nTr0L?"
"U gIb DA l@m3aZZ BiK3R-DeWd y3T?"
The pilot explained, as explicitly as possible in his limited dialect,
what had happened during the pursuit.
"pHuQU3!!1!!!1!!1!!!!!!!1" control exclaimed. "D00d hAd B@llZ, D3nY-N
U a fR@G LiK3 DaT. ThiNK H3's AliV3?"
"nO1 C0ulDa sURvIv3d DaT, DeWd."
"K. ReTUrN 2 BaS3, 0r wHaT3v3R."
"K."
He took one last glance at the blaze, then shook his head. "D00d hAd
B@llZ, @lRigHT."
He turned around and flew back toward the siege line.
A few minutes later, Craxton emerged, very much alive, from a small cave
in the face of the cliff, thanking any gods that might be listening that
the pilot hadn't noticed Craxton had wings.
He breathed a deep sigh. For the first time since this wretched night
began, he was out of immediate danger. Now he had to get home. But how?
He sure as hell couldn't go back to the palace. The palace had a radio
link to Moonbase Kujata, and word of the "assassination" would reach
them before he could get there. There were a few other settlements on
the moon, but none where he would be trusted over the word of the
Lunarians. None where anyone knew him.
Wait.
There was one.
And, with any luck, that person would also be able to get him back to
AGFF before the news reached them.
Jumping from his perch, he spread his wings and flew off to the west.