Legacy of Hyne
Chapter Four
Legacy of Hyne
Chapter Four
Four weeks have passed since the alliance was made between the former Sorceress' Knight, Seifer Almasy, and the insidious Dr. Alexander Deling. Those four week were bloody, indeed. Galbadian politics was traditionally cutthroat, but the pair brought a new level of ruthlessnes to it.
Without the support of either the Sorceress or a seasoned dictator like Vinzer Deling, many felt that Seifer and Alexander were too weak to rule. They quickly learned the error of their ways, and a ticket to the Afterlife. They showed no mercy. They spared no one who dared to oppose them. No one was irreplacable.
The methods which the two young men used to eliminate opposition were very different. Seifer preferred to deal with them directly, killing or capturing the more obvious rebels, while Alexander arranged "accidents" for those who used more subtle methods to oppose them. His mental powers allowed no pretense, no false loyality.
Although their bloody rampage left them the undisputed rulers of Galbadia in record time, it also stirred up many hornet's nests. Many resistance groups fomed. Seifer and Alexander's ruthless approach showed a major flaw: instead of having many weak resistance groups, like in Timber, the laws of Evolution, and the pressure of Alexander's secret police destroyed the weak. After several weeks only a few groups remained, but they had professional and strong fighters in their ranks.
Nonetheless, Alexander was pleased with the results. He was in the lower levels of his laboratory, with Seifer by his side. In front of them was an enormous viewscreen relaying info from one of the spydrones, an image of a deserted warehouse.
"You would think we have already eliminated all the unoriginal groups," Alexander said to Seifer, observing the image on the screen.
"This is the last one?" Seifer asked. He disliked being here. He preferred to lead attacks from the front, rather than sitting here in Alexander's stronghold, where he had little control over events. He felt safer battling with enemies than standing next to his "ally".
"The last one which is currently active. Others have gone into deep hiding. We will soon proceed to the next stage of our plan," Alexander replied. "Calm your bloodlust. It is not the duty of the General to always be in the front lines."
Seifer ignored the last comment. Alexander's abilty to read his thoughts and emotions unnerved him, "Connect me to Fujinn. It's time," he said. Most of the control panels in the stronghold could only accesed through psy-link, making Alexander the only one capable of using the technological wonders he created. It was yet another thing Seifer disliked about this place.
Alexander nodded. He activated the connection through the psy-link. Fujinn's iamge appeared on the viewscreen. "AWAITING ORDERS," she said to Seifer in her usual monotone, completely ingoring Alexander.
"Attack!" Seifer commanded, rasing his right hand out of habit, like he was holding a gunblade.
"RAGE," Fujinn replied.
The image on the viewscreen changed, showing the warehouse again. Teams of the Galbadian soldiers stealthily appoached the building, taking positions. Then, a massive tornado came out of nowhere, breaking every window in the warehouse. Fujinn's use of paramagic was the signal for an all-out attack.
The images flickered, showing the attack from different views...
...Front. Rebels made desperate stands, while a group of heavily-armored robots tried to break in. Many robots were destroyed by rebels firearms, but their number was still more than enough to overcome them...
...The roof. Elite soldiers, equipped with flying machines, were cutting trough the roof trying to get behind the enemy's back...
...The sewers below. The group of rebels was retreating through the maze-like sewers below the city. Lightning cracked and hit their leader. With a battle cry, Rajinn charged, followed by a group of soldiers...
...The back of the building. Here was the main attack. The BGH251F2 charged, crushing the wall. Behind this heavy-duty battle tank came Fujinn with the main group of soldiers...
...Another section of the roof. Alexander and Seifer watched as a single figure escaped the carnage...
"Predictable as ever," Alexander snickered. "He will return to the Forest Foxes at Timber. Then, he will contact Garden."
"What did you expect?" Seifer asked, his voice stangely neutral. "He is a SeeD, after all. He has the device?"
"Yes," Alexander replied, "I made sure of that. We can now move to the next stage of plan. It's time to spead our rule of terror to Timber. They have too many resistance factions as it is."
"Is all of this bloodshed really necessary?" Seifer asked, watching the slaughter on the viewscreen. For the fist time, the enormity of the battle touched him. He tended to ignore those feelings while planning, and in the heat of battle, he had no time to squeamish. But watching it like this, cold and detached, made him sick.
"It is the fastest way," Alexander replied. He took a bottle of pills from his pocked and gulped one. He put it back in his pocket and continued. "We work with a limited timetable. Don't tell me the Sorceress' Knight is getting squeamish?"
"No," Seifer replied, almost growling. "I simply don't condone the unnecessary destruction of our property."
"They are insignificant, and easily replacable. The fear generated by their deaths will increase the productivity of others," Alexander coldly replied. "Production in Timber is low as it is. Even if we have to destroy up to 80% of the population, the remaining 20% should be able to maintain this level of production. And calculations show that the casualities, even though they will be higher than here in Deling, will still only be up to 5% of the general population."
Seifer felt an icy chill creep into him. He was used to fighting for his ideals, his dreams, not using war as a tool to achieve his goals, like Alexander did. He was also worried about the limited timetable Alexander often mentioned. He knew parts of the Alexander's plan, but he suspected that there was more to it. Too many little details failed to fit comfortably into their placesto be sheer coincidence. And those pills Alexander used...
"Your worries are baseless," Alexander said, responding to Seifer's thoughts, "My condition will not progress enough to disturb my duties for a month or two. But no more talk about that. Fujinn should have recoved the contract from our inside operative. It's time for you to lodge an official complaint against Balamb Garden for interfering in internal Galbadian Politics."
"SeeDs are mercenaries," Seifer replied. "That complaint is ridiculous."
"But useful, for the third stage of the plan," Alexander said.