Chapter 8: Pieces of Truth
We made our way back to garden after learning about a mysterious Sorceress calling herself Thasma. Apparently she was also a skilled scientist, which makes for a deadly combination. Given that we dont know her true intent with everything shes trying to do, we had to proceed as cautiously as possible. Things were starting to get too bizarre for even myself. We met with Squall and Rinoa in the main hall and Seifer explained everything that happened. Squall nodded "I see... Edea, can you remember hearing anything that might be important here since they held you captive this whole time?" Edea paused to think, then answered "I couldnt hear everything during the enemy's conversation, but i overheard Thasma saying she plans to use Ultimecia's powers to literally change this world... I couldnt make out much after that. The device she planted into my forehead made it too hard to act myself... I tried to resist when we fought, Seifer, but it was still too strong..." Seifer looked down "Edea..." Squall asked "Any idea where Thasma might be hiding?" Edea replied "She has a number of castle hideouts in different locations... one of them Seifer's team has already visited. I cannot say for certain, but i believe many of these are being used as research facilities to fulfill Sorceress Thasma's plans." Rinoa asked "But shes a sorceress too isnt she? So why would she use these things to control other sorceresses?" I shook my head and sighed "I dont get it either. Arent we strong enough to use our powers for that?" Edea explained "There isnt just technology in that thing she planted me with... theres a great deal of magic power in it as well. Shes combining science with sorcery to achieve her desires... even a powerful sorceress would struggle trying to fight this much force off herself." Squall hardened his expression "So our enemy isnt just a power hungry maniac without some kind of plan then... this one might worse than the Galbadian incidents of last year. Sounds to me like shes taking world domination very seriously here." Rinoa asked "But why would she want to compress time? Isnt this dangerous technology enough to get what she wants?" I shook my head "We definitely know more now than we did at first, however... i think theres another piece of this story we still dont know yet." Yaru added "I still find it odd shes this strong and cant compress time on her own... isnt that kinda weird?" I shook my head "It takes generations of sorcery training focused on time manipulation to even hope to achieve something that grand. Even a very experienced sorceress isnt always able to accomplish that kind of thing easily. It requires very serious and disciplined going out of the way to successfully compress time." Squall nodded "Now we know who their leader is, at any rate... Edea, how many hideouts do they have?" Edea replied "I believe theres 6 total... but ive only been to 3 of them. I cant remember everything about them either thanks to that thing Thasma put on me..." I asked "What are you going to do about this mess?" Squall sighed and put a hand to his head "...Theres no choice. We need to bomb at least half of these bases." Rinoa cried "What?! But it wont just be the enemy that gets affected by it..." Squall sighed "I know Rinoa, but... their leader is too dangerous. Shes actually serious about destroying everything." I warned him "Squall, this isnt an ordinary enemy youre dealing with... there could be a strong magical barrier guarding these places and then this bombing would be for nothing." Rinoa asked "It would be that strong...?" I nodded and so did Edea "It definitely could be. Look at our enemy; she isnt stupid. Shes strong, and highly intelligent. I doubt she would neglect to make precautious measures such as preventing a missile attack from impacting her end of this war." Squall sighed and shook his head "Youre right, but...we have to try. Ultimecia, can you use your time compression to send the missiles through the barriers if there are any?" I replied "I can try... but it will be difficult. If i use time compression too much all at once i will get tired and cant continue for a while." Seifer added "She's still worn out from globally compressing time and fighting you guys. It will be a while before she has her full strength back." Rinoa nodded "We can try to move more slowly with the process then. And we need to have some investigated before we start bombing any of them." Squall replied "I dont mind waiting for a while, but if we send Edea and Ultimecia directly into enemy territory... theres no telling what might go wrong..." Edea said "We know this is a dangerous mission, and so does Sorceress Ultimecia. But if we dont fight them who will?" Squall sighed and looked down but didnt say anything. Yaru began "Theres a third sorceress right? What about her?" I turned to Yaru and said "Her? I cant think of where she might be..." Seifer replied "Think we should look for her? Its not safe for a sorceress to be on her own in this type of crisis..." Squall asked "Theres a third sorceress who isnt with the enemy?" I nodded turning to him and answered "Yes... shes the one who filled us in about the device that was placed on Sorceress Edea. But after talking she disappeared somewhere..." Rinoa suggested "Looks like we've got something more important to do before the investigation then... i dont think she should be going alone with all of this going on." Squall sighed but then nodded "True... if every remaining sorceress is with SeeD that will grind Thasma's schemes to a halt for a good while. If she has no target outside of SeeD that leaves only one place for her to go to get what she wants." We all nodded in agreement. I added "And if shes desperate enough she will have to attack garden to achieve her true goal. Thats a great plan for narrowing out her possible points of attack, but... are you sure SeeD can handle an enemy this strong? She will be as vicious as possible if she learns that garden has every living sorceress." Squall hardened his expression and nodded "Im sure. And with you, Edea and the new sorceress on our side we can definitely do this as a team. Move out and find that last remaining sorceress before Thasma's men do." Seifer nodded and we all left as a group, heading for the abandoned Galbadian Missile Base.
To Be Continued...
We made our way back to garden after learning about a mysterious Sorceress calling herself Thasma. Apparently she was also a skilled scientist, which makes for a deadly combination. Given that we dont know her true intent with everything shes trying to do, we had to proceed as cautiously as possible. Things were starting to get too bizarre for even myself. We met with Squall and Rinoa in the main hall and Seifer explained everything that happened. Squall nodded "I see... Edea, can you remember hearing anything that might be important here since they held you captive this whole time?" Edea paused to think, then answered "I couldnt hear everything during the enemy's conversation, but i overheard Thasma saying she plans to use Ultimecia's powers to literally change this world... I couldnt make out much after that. The device she planted into my forehead made it too hard to act myself... I tried to resist when we fought, Seifer, but it was still too strong..." Seifer looked down "Edea..." Squall asked "Any idea where Thasma might be hiding?" Edea replied "She has a number of castle hideouts in different locations... one of them Seifer's team has already visited. I cannot say for certain, but i believe many of these are being used as research facilities to fulfill Sorceress Thasma's plans." Rinoa asked "But shes a sorceress too isnt she? So why would she use these things to control other sorceresses?" I shook my head and sighed "I dont get it either. Arent we strong enough to use our powers for that?" Edea explained "There isnt just technology in that thing she planted me with... theres a great deal of magic power in it as well. Shes combining science with sorcery to achieve her desires... even a powerful sorceress would struggle trying to fight this much force off herself." Squall hardened his expression "So our enemy isnt just a power hungry maniac without some kind of plan then... this one might worse than the Galbadian incidents of last year. Sounds to me like shes taking world domination very seriously here." Rinoa asked "But why would she want to compress time? Isnt this dangerous technology enough to get what she wants?" I shook my head "We definitely know more now than we did at first, however... i think theres another piece of this story we still dont know yet." Yaru added "I still find it odd shes this strong and cant compress time on her own... isnt that kinda weird?" I shook my head "It takes generations of sorcery training focused on time manipulation to even hope to achieve something that grand. Even a very experienced sorceress isnt always able to accomplish that kind of thing easily. It requires very serious and disciplined going out of the way to successfully compress time." Squall nodded "Now we know who their leader is, at any rate... Edea, how many hideouts do they have?" Edea replied "I believe theres 6 total... but ive only been to 3 of them. I cant remember everything about them either thanks to that thing Thasma put on me..." I asked "What are you going to do about this mess?" Squall sighed and put a hand to his head "...Theres no choice. We need to bomb at least half of these bases." Rinoa cried "What?! But it wont just be the enemy that gets affected by it..." Squall sighed "I know Rinoa, but... their leader is too dangerous. Shes actually serious about destroying everything." I warned him "Squall, this isnt an ordinary enemy youre dealing with... there could be a strong magical barrier guarding these places and then this bombing would be for nothing." Rinoa asked "It would be that strong...?" I nodded and so did Edea "It definitely could be. Look at our enemy; she isnt stupid. Shes strong, and highly intelligent. I doubt she would neglect to make precautious measures such as preventing a missile attack from impacting her end of this war." Squall sighed and shook his head "Youre right, but...we have to try. Ultimecia, can you use your time compression to send the missiles through the barriers if there are any?" I replied "I can try... but it will be difficult. If i use time compression too much all at once i will get tired and cant continue for a while." Seifer added "She's still worn out from globally compressing time and fighting you guys. It will be a while before she has her full strength back." Rinoa nodded "We can try to move more slowly with the process then. And we need to have some investigated before we start bombing any of them." Squall replied "I dont mind waiting for a while, but if we send Edea and Ultimecia directly into enemy territory... theres no telling what might go wrong..." Edea said "We know this is a dangerous mission, and so does Sorceress Ultimecia. But if we dont fight them who will?" Squall sighed and looked down but didnt say anything. Yaru began "Theres a third sorceress right? What about her?" I turned to Yaru and said "Her? I cant think of where she might be..." Seifer replied "Think we should look for her? Its not safe for a sorceress to be on her own in this type of crisis..." Squall asked "Theres a third sorceress who isnt with the enemy?" I nodded turning to him and answered "Yes... shes the one who filled us in about the device that was placed on Sorceress Edea. But after talking she disappeared somewhere..." Rinoa suggested "Looks like we've got something more important to do before the investigation then... i dont think she should be going alone with all of this going on." Squall sighed but then nodded "True... if every remaining sorceress is with SeeD that will grind Thasma's schemes to a halt for a good while. If she has no target outside of SeeD that leaves only one place for her to go to get what she wants." We all nodded in agreement. I added "And if shes desperate enough she will have to attack garden to achieve her true goal. Thats a great plan for narrowing out her possible points of attack, but... are you sure SeeD can handle an enemy this strong? She will be as vicious as possible if she learns that garden has every living sorceress." Squall hardened his expression and nodded "Im sure. And with you, Edea and the new sorceress on our side we can definitely do this as a team. Move out and find that last remaining sorceress before Thasma's men do." Seifer nodded and we all left as a group, heading for the abandoned Galbadian Missile Base.
To Be Continued...
