The Terra Episode Chapter 17

Fifty

By Magicite54

General Fencross arrived at the assembled troops outside Warehouse 5. Their weapons have all been readied as they had the structure surrounded. None have seen any activity from within the structure just yet, but they were about to initiate contact with whomever was inside. They didn’t know about Captain Wells’s troops inside. They were just following a tip about the warehouse being the current whereabouts of their escaped prisoner, Tina Branford.

"Activities?" Fencross asked.

"None yet, sir," a captain answered.

"Are your men, ready?"

"They have the place surrounded, general. If she is really there then she is trapped."

"Is she armed?"

"We can only assume, sir. The warehouse is a storage area for low-security equipment. She will not find a weapon she could use that will be a threat to us."

"Don’t be so sure of that, captain. She is her own weapon." Fencross took a megaphone from the captain, but before using it, he barked a few orders around him. "I want her alive for questioning. She has information that could expose rebel activities within Vector Capital. Use stunners only!"

"Should we gas the place, general?"

General Fencross looked back at the structure and found that the windows and doors were all sealed.

"Good idea. Ready a launcher, three smoke gas grenades and two teams for assault. Put them on standby outside both entrances. We may need to make a hole on the wall first as all the openings are sealed shut. Remember--she can use magic!" The captain saluted once, and then went off to carry out the order. General Fencross then raised the megaphone to his mouth and spoke.

"Branford! You are surrounded. All exits are covered. Surrender peaceably now, and you will not be harmed." Fencross thought about how much time was needed to get the soldiers in position. "You have five seconds to come out with your hands up! If you do not do this after five seconds then we’ll just have to do it the hard way!"

A response came immediately. It was a jolt of the metal door as though it was hit from the inside with tremendous force. Then came another after a few seconds. Then another…

**********

"One, two, three charge!" shouted Wells.

Six soldiers carrying a long, sturdy box like a coffin charged the door and rammed it in an attempt to break outside. The door shook as it thundered, but it still showed no sign of break or wear. The soldiers stepped back to retry. Once again, Wells gave the signal. "One, two, three, charge!"

Thud! Crash!

It appeared that the long, sturdy box wasn’t strong enough. The bottom of the box collapsed, and the contents spilled out on the floor. Wells cursed out loud. "Well don’t just stand there! Get these junk out of the way, and find me another box!"

The soldiers enacted his order immediately.

"Captain?" called out one of the soldiers who were trying to gather up the spilled contents of the first box. "Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t these…"

"Explosives!" exclaimed another soldier upon seeing the objects on the floor.

Captain Wells took a closer look. They were right. They were all explosive materials in marked canisters with red warning labels.

"Good gods! What are these doing here?" asked another.

"Stay back!" Wells barked. "Don’t touch them!" He spun around, and faced the other crates piled on top of each other. He drew his sword and approached one of the boxes. He raised his sword above his head and struck the lock on the crate, completely breaking it apart. He opened the box and saw more explosives in shells.

"Captain!" shouted a soldier from behind him. They all stopped and turned towards the direction of the soldier. "I hear something from the outside!"

Everybody hushed until they could all hear.

"That was your last warning!" said a man from the outside, his voice booming with the use of a megaphone. "If you do not come out this very minute we will open fire!"

Captain Wells’ eyes widened. His thoughts were echoed by the questions of his troops.

"What in the world is going on outside?"

"What did we do?"

"We’re gonna die!"

Captain Wells wasted no precious seconds. Whatever the soldiers outside were up to they had no time to figure out. So he did the only thing he could do at the moment.

"Get these crates out of the way now! The second exit is behind them! Move it! Move it! Move it!"

**********

A portion of the wall fell easily with a well-aimed fireball magically shot by Tina Branford. It left a hole in the wall of the Magitek Facility. The alarm within the facility blared also, but with the red alert siren howling in the entire Bronze Compound, it was easily ignored. The alertness of the soldiers was focused on one structure--the locked down Warehouse 5.

Tina Branford went through the entrance without incident. Inside a single, fully-powered Magitek Armor waited for a rider. It stood ten feet tall looking like a beast ready to pounce out of its burrow. It resembled a stooped animal with two legs, a fearsome mouth and two arms. It had heavy metal armor plating for a skin. The arms were its secondary weapons while the front (mouth) was its primary blaster.

Tina climbed stepladder that was readily set up and waiting for her. She mounted the top of the Magitek Weapon hastily where the Armor could fully be controlled and maneuvered. The Armor was already active. Like natural instinct, Tina flipped switches, pushed buttons and steered the Magitek as though she had been trained to for years, and yet she hasn’t. The knowledge must’ve been added to the Slave Crown’s programming.

The Magitek Armor moved forward towards the closed bay door. The stepladder fell. It stopped just a few feet from it where she waited. Within the controlled body, a prayer…

May the stars that have guided me for years help the souls who will suffer this night.

**********

"She’s in position."

"And so is everybody else. But we wait for a few more seconds. I want Wells to feel the terror for just a few more seconds!"

**********

"The minute is over, sir. Still no response from within."

"Then ready those blasters, and aim high for the windows. Once they’re open fire the gas!" Fencross ordered. "On my signal! Ready… aim…"

**********

Tina heard her own voice. If she only had control her heart would’ve skipped a beat.

"Fire!"

.

Chapter 18

Final Fantasy 6 Fanfic