The massive stone door slid up and the song grew much louder. I stepped forward and the moment I was beyond the opening, the door closed. I whirled back to look at what was now a wall of stone. That wasn't ominous at all.
"Come." The voice was coming from my head. "What the fuck did I get myself into?"
"Man of the stars, Come to me." I took a cautious step back. How did the disembodied voice know that I wasn't from this world? "Cautious, good. This will be your strength. Now Come."
Against my better judgement, I walked slowly forward. The hallway opened up to a cathedral. The room was empty except for the massive statue of a bird was in the floor, under a big ass glass dome that glowed. It was like they built the statue then the room around it.
Neat.
An image of a woman shimmered above the dome. "I see you are no coward, Man of the stars."
"Who are you?" If my men heard me voice a question they would freak out. "I am known as Valefor. A warrior in a time, long since passed. The people here call me a part of the Faith. Summoners used our power once. Now, we sleep for there is no need of Summoners any more. We, the Faith have been reawakened by a new threat." A new threat? I frowned for a moment, then a thought came to me. "The People of Gaia."
"This threat will upset the balance between the Faith and the people." Those bastards are a pain in my ass. "Let me take a stab in the dark. The Faith needs my help, right?"
"Yes, we cannot interfere in the world of the living, the Faith can only by giving you the power to fight in our stead, but you are already blessed by Ixion. Bring me the one who flies."
The one who flies? I had only one person who flew, my pilot.
(Cid's P.O.V)
I watched the crowd break out of the transport shuttle like a dam bursting. The crew roared with excitement as they spotted the beach. I barely had time to jump out of the way as they stampeded towards the water. Musaki exited last a look of pure vengeance on her pixie face. Nobunaga stood behind her like a very scary shadow. I could just imagine the fight between them. I knew Musaki from the Academy. The woman was a bag of crazy that made the patients in an asylum seem sane. She seemed to get into more trouble than any other cadet in our group. Yet they never expelled her. I had to wonder why.
Hellfire came down next with some very terrified cadets. He marched them towards the far end of the beach and had them running again. I guess punishments must be completed, even on break time. Poor bastards. "Newind, meet me at the temple."
The Captain didn't bother asking me. "Copy that. Headed your way."
I learned long ago to just jump and don't bother asking how high.
The walk to the village was relatively short and fiend free. I had to hand it to the villagers, they kept a tight ship. Once I reached the village a warrior pointed me to the big ass building towards the back of the village. Captain was pacing at the entrance with an expression I haven't seen since we finished that mission on Delta-Six. He was both pissed and confused at the same time. Something got him thinking and I could just bet he was planning out our next move.
"Captain, Sargent Newind, reporting."
He looked up. "Follow the monk inside and report back."
"Sir." I wasn't given much to go on. But knowing Captain Darksky, it would be a shit show in there.
(Jason's POV)
The waiting was always the worst part of any mission. But this was worse. Valfore wouldn't tell me anything else. She wanted to speak to my pilot. Fucking hell. The man doesn't have the skills for gathering intelligence on anything, he only knows how to fly and fix my ship. What the hell could a grease monkey know about an impending war? I thought back to my decision to go to Macalania. Hindsight is a bitch.
Newind came back an hour later. "Report."
"Uh, Captain? We are fucked."
I had to call my officers to the bridge to go over what Newind found out.
"Valefor gave Newind a warning and then told him how to win the war coming. But, I don't see how this will work." Musaki frowned. "How do we win?"
"A summoner. One we haven't found and have found. What ever that fucking means."
Nobunaga sighed. "This summoner, will be and won't be at the same time. They will be like me. I came here but I do not belong here. Like the rest of us."
"So someone who fell in a black whole or walked into a magical door?" Esqueezeme asked. "Yes and no."
"My head hurts now." HelFire groaned. Nobunaga glared at me then spoke again. "You know them, yet you don't. They belong to this world, but do not. I believe they are someone important to the time line and probably someone we will meet soon."
I grabbed my head as a migraine began.
"I hate riddles." Then I lifted my eyes to my officers. "We stick to the plan. Nothing has changed except now we have a clearer picture of P.O.Gs endgame. Musaki, once the crew is done, have them back at their posts. Esqueezeme, set up a training course for the Hunters. HelFire, try not to kill the cadets. Newind chart a course for the next temple. Nobunaga, begin teaching the medics what you know medicaly. We need to be ready for a fight now. I don't want to be last to know if it's messy." I stood from my chair and left them to their thoughts. My own mind was reeling. What the hell was P.O.G thinking? You can't destroy a faith built up over thousands of years in just a few months. I had the experience and battlegrounds as proof. I made it to my quarters and plopped down on my bed. Should I send them another message? I thought that bastard's head would be enough. Then again, I did let Azariel loose on them with the power of Ifrit. Maybe that angry midget can cause mayhem for me. I picked up the digital frame of my wife that sat on my nightstand. Her smile was soft the picture was taken during the day. Her beautiful hair turn a golden copper in the sunlight. Those beautiful deep green eyes were filled with all the love she had for him. "Oh Trillian, I wish you were here." I missedy wife. No one was more beautiful or more pure than her. She was both my light and my temptation. I wondered once again if I'd ever see her again. There was no point in finding a substitute, no one would compare to her.
A knock drew me from my depressing thoughts. "Enter."
"Captain, I want permission to build a unit specifically for intelligence."
My Leftenant walked in. She looked upset.
"Reason."
"We need more eyes on the opposition. I can't do it all myself." I glanced up from the digital frame. Nobunaga was behind her. "You mean Nobunaga won't let you do it by yourself. Very well, pick out a platoon from the cadets that Hellfire is terrorizing. Make them the faster ones. They have a higher agility than the rest."
Musaki glared at me, but my best friend couldn't argue my point. Nobunaga has been the biggest obstacle in her work. While she is still injured, he won't let her do anything that could hurt her worse.
"Nobunaga can come up with a training schedule for them. I have a feeling he has a few tricks to teach them about stealth if he has been here the whole time and nobody noticed." Nobunaga chuckled and turned to leave. Musaki ran after him, interest glistening in her eyes. Maybe I can take a nap now.