Chapter 4: On the Way Back to Balamb Garden

[waterlily43]

WOOOOOOOOOOOOT PAGE 6!!! *dancies!!* XD


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"Erm..." Jun ventured awkwardly after Polaris stopped talking, clearing her throat a little as it seemed to have dried up after the unpleasant realisation of how stupid her earlier suggestion was. "My Dragon GF could give the rest of us a lift...three or four people shouldn't be a problem for him to carry ."

{Funny...don't recall you asking me for permission before hand.} Sapphy snorted huffily.

Come on... Sapphy! Don't do this to me! Didn't you promise you'd help?!! She shook her head slightly, reluctant to imagine what she would say to her teammates should Sapphy refuse to cooperate.


{I didn't know my responsibilities included ferrying SeeDs from one destination to the next?If you had wanted a transportation GF you should've looked for someone like Doomtrain. Haha.} Sapphy peppered his deep rumbling laughs with several snorts, sounding highly amused by his own joke.

SAPPHIRE DRAGON!!!! IF YOU DON'T AGREE I SWEAR I'LL...

{Alright alright...Geez. Completely no sense of humour.}

Jun's expression immediately evovled into smug satisfaction. She knew that she would get him to agree, it just took a little bit of theatrics and pestering. And he had let her get away with it this time. But of course she had clean forgotten about the stroke that threatened to happen just seconds ago.

"Sapphy has agreed to ferry up to four people." She paused. "But he says that it's a non-smoking flight so, yeah. Those who don't mind a scaly ride, follow me."

She beckoned with a hand, making a move towards the door.

[ani]

OOH XD PAGE 6! MWAHAHAHAHA Oh! disclaimer! Ash said I can give a little nudge to Blaze and Deo
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Stardust frowned at Sho acting like a little brat. He better take care of the ruby then. she thought to herself and turned to listen to the others discuss their way out of the airship. Stella had a good point. Since her GF was useless as always, she figured it would be better if she just rode one of her teammates' guardian force. It wouldn't hurt if she went with Jun. Atleast she wouldn't have to worry about landing on a different place. Vanesse's GF? She just didn't trust an outsider.

Placing her parachute back on the stalls, Stardust turned towards the door and disappeared with Jun. Stardust looked behind her to see the other person who followed after her. It was Blaze.

"Great..." she mumbled as she hurried along behind Jun. "Here's hoping your dragon won't drop us."

~*~

Vanesse watched Jun head outside and get followed by some of the SeeDs. She was sure Deo and Jaime were with Paridge, and she needed four more people.

"Four people can ride with us." Vanesse said and looked at the rest of them. "Don't worry, Paridge won't shake you off him." The airship shook once again but everyone seemed to have gotten used to it and paid no attention.

~*~

Hadrian grabbed the parachute Stardust dropped and wore it on his back. "Sorry, I'll go with the parachute. I'll get my GF to swerve the airship's path away from Garden, so don't worry about that." He glanced at the others. "Unless you want to share parachutes with me, you better choose what you wanna do. We don't have much time." He walked over to the controls where Jax was. The others could decided for themselves. He was probably one of the last ones to jump.

"So, can't evade Garden, huh?" he asked Jax.

[waterlily43]

Rayden watched as the Jun, followed by Stardust and Blaze headed for the exit, while Van started asking for people to join the Opps team.

"Nah. GF transportation ain't for me. I don't relish having to walk bowlegged after the ride, thanks very much." Rayden said, grabbing one of the parachutes from the stall, before hesitating and grabbing yet another. "I'm taking one for our pilot." Saying which, he made his way to the controls, where Hadrian was already talking to the pilot.

"Hey dude." Rayden fixed his glance on Jax. "Correct me if I'm wrong but since you're still manning the controls, you'll be one of the last to leave." He tossed the parachute at Jax, before shrugging his own on. "So you better get those on before you do anything else. The consequences of forgetting are disastrous, you know."

[Stella]

Stella was lost in all the commotion. It seemed like everyone was going to be able to get off the ship with out a problem. So she did the only sensible thing she could think of. Grabbing a near by parachute she strapped it on.

Without a word she turned and headed for the lift again, ready to leap off the ship before it crashed.

[miyavi]

"Well, I'm going along with you, Pixie!" Sho announced rather excitedly, as if he was going on a rollercoaster ride and not trying to bail on a quickly-falling ship. "Since all the parachutes are already taken..." He smiled charmingly at Vanesse. "Aa, don't drop me, okay? Xu'll hate having to go scuba diving to retrieve the Ruby from my dead body."

[Polaris Lyn]

Polaris watched Jun leave, Stardust and Blaze in tow, while Sho stood with the three Opps. Stella, Hadrian, Rayden, and the pilot, Ajax, were apparently taking parachutes. That left her, Gemma, and Gone to go along with either Vanesse or Jun.

Polaris turned her head towards the front window. Balamb Garden seemed to loom closer. Too close. Ajax still hadn't moved from his seat, despite Hadrian's continued statements that his GF would ensure the airship's missing B. Garden. Polaris hesitated, then reached out with a slim hand, touching the pilot on the shoulder. She leaned towards him.

"We should be evacuating now, before it's too late," she remarked quietly. She straightened, turned to Gemma and Gone.

"You two should hurry up and choose who you'll be evacuating with. I'll go along with whoever still has room on their Guardian Forces."

And she turned back to watch Balamb Garden.

[Myacu]

"So you better get those on before you do anything else. The consequences of forgetting are disastrous, you know."

Yes! He knew! And he was well aware that the thrusters were out! Did everyone seem to forget that he was a certified pilot? Being in charge of mission transportation had always been a source of pride for Jax. To be ordered around was unfamiliar to Jax.

But now was not the time. Sighing in defeat, he grudgingly grabbed the parachute with a half-hearted nod. Once he had fastened the heavy harness around his waist and secured the shoulder straps, he returned to the his seat, slightly uncomfortable from the added weight.

Checking on the others, he could see some SeeDs beginning to clamber onto a massive dragon. However, there were still others simply standing around, lost in the chaos.

"Eh, y'all gotta get moving! Those of you without a parachute, let's load up!"


He searched the deck for the blue-haired man.
"Oi!" he yelled, hoping to attract his attention. As the two made eye contact, Jax reached deep down into his pocket, and pulled out a G-Returner. "We got people who need rides!"


"Now then," he said smirking, as he turned towards the SeeD next to him. "What do you want to do?"

[ani]

"Aa, don't drop me, okay? Xu'll hate having to go scuba diving to retrieve the Ruby from my dead body."

Vanesse glanced at Sho and found herself smiling for the first time in a little while. "Silly," she told him. Polaris stated that she was going to have to go with the ones who have space for their GFs. Of course, Paridge was the best choice. Rayden, Hadrian, the girl named Stella, and the other three ladies already had a ride. It was time for them go, this airship didn't look like it was going to last long.

"All right! Everyone! Let's go." Vanesse hurried but paused when she noticed the girl named Gemma. She didn't seem to specify where she was going to go. It probably wasn't her business but... "Hey, excuse me..." Vanesse called out to her. "Do you want to come with us? My GF can definitely take you!"


~*~

"Now then," Jax, the pilot, walked back to Hadrian after calling the others behind him. "What do you want to do?"

Hadrian lifted his eyes from the control to face Jax. He smirked. "Destroy your airship." He nodded, casting an eye on Rayden. "It's almost piece of junk anyway. You guys better jump. I'll follow afterwards."

The whole airship shook malevolently and everyone had to grab onto the nearest object to hold their ground. There was no hope for this airship any longer. And all of them better get out of it fast.

[waterlily43]

Rayden nodded, turning to Jax with a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry I'm sure she would be proud to go in such a way rather than coughing gas at age 100 in a discarded garage." He grinned quickly, moving towards the front where the rest were gathered for escape.

[Myacu]

Vanesse hurried but paused when she noticed the girl named Gemma. She didn't seem to specify where she was going to go. It probably wasn't her business but... "Hey, excuse me..." Vanesse called out to her. "Do you want to come with us? My GF can definitely take you!"


In truth, Gemma didn't want to leave yet. It was probably the "big sister" side of her coming out, but she couldn't force herself to leave without knowing if Jax would be able to make it out. Right now, despite the destruction and chaos surrounding the situation, all she was concerned about was the welfare of her little brother.

The girl was asking her if she wanted a ride. To say no would be dumb, as Gemma knew there were no more parachutes left. Eyeing her GF, she decided that it would be a decent flight down to Garden.

"What? Oh yes, thank you."

Casting her gaze on Jax one last time, as he was readying his own parachute, she lifted her hand in a gentle farewell, and ran after the girl.

[ST]

Since it's not specified, I'll just say B. Garden is stationed at Balamb But it's not docked, so it's floating XP
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And so, proceeding to their various escape route, the SeeDs and the Opps jumped out of the crashing airship. Hadrian was the last to leave after he unleashed Corpora Quadrigemina on the cockpit's controls. The tentacle wires crawling out of the GF messed with the internal motherboard and placed the airship into a frenzy, changing its course from Balamb Garden straight to the ocean.

There was a big explosion as the airship nosedived into the sea, sending big splashes of waves along the seashore. Sapphire and Paridge easily made it to Balamb shore, while the four parachuters had to swim to get to the dry land.

Hadrian collapsed on the sand, coughing the salty water that he just drank. It was a bad idea to get the parachutes, now, his gadgets were soaked.

"Everyone," the hacker chocked on his words, " everyone okay?" he said. Maybe he should ask that on himself. The majority of the people were unscathed.

[miyavi]

As soon as the giant griffin touched land, Sho jumped off, landing neatly on the sand with only a little windmilling of his arms. He bounced, heard Hadrian coughing up a lung, before the hacker asked, "Everyone okay?"

Sho turned his attention to the people on Pixie's GF. They looked like they had their limbs in working order, and Sho answered, "Pixie's people are a-okay!!" in a loud, cheerful voice. He bowed to the griffin. "Thank you very much!!"

< ...You are much too obnoxious to wield me. >

Sho beamed brighter, if that were possible. < Zephyr! You're back! And just as big of an ass as the last time!! >

< ...*ahem*...yes...I suppose I should...thank you. > Zephyr sounded positively irked.

Sho waved away the gratitude. < Aa, thank YOU for taking Bahamut's Mega Flare attack. I'll have to go find that pilot and thank him for that G-Returner. But FIRST!!! >

He looked up at the people still straddling Pixie's griffin Guardian Force. "LADIES!" he bellowed, grinning. "Jump and I'll catch you!!!!!" So saying, he held out his arms and turned puppy dog eyes upon the riders. "But not all at the same time, okay?"

[Polaris Lyn]

Polaris felt a gentle bump as Vanesse's Guardian Force landed gently on the sand. Sho jumped off with the exuberance of a five-year-old and the grace of one who knew their body well, and engaged in a short, shouted conversation with Hadrian - who currently looked like he was choking to death on the sand - before returning his attention to them.

"LADIES! Jump and I'll catch you!!!!! ...But not all at the same time, okay?" He gave them all a beatific grin and held out his arms.

Polaris felt herself grin slightly. "Show-off," she muttered, but obliged with Sho's request, sliding off the back of the massive griffin and landing with a slight grunt in Sho's arms.

Sho set her down gently, then winced. "That crazy axe on your back hit my arm," he accused. "Are you trying to break my bones??"

Polaris shot him an exasperated look, and he shut up. "Just asking," he said brightly. "Okay, Pixie, you next!!"

Polaris adjusted her weapon, strapped to her back, and made her way over the the people who swam to the shore, Hadrian in particular.

"Are you alright, D'arcell?" Polaris queried, raising an eyebrow. "You sound like you're ready to just cough up all your internal organs."

[Stella]

Floating through the air with the parachute carrying her along was exhilarating. The splash landing in the ocean, however, was not.

The water closed over her as Stella tried to get rid of the parachute. It was just dragging her down faster. Struggling, trying not to panic, she finally got the back off and kicked as hard as she could for the surface. The sky was a brilliant blue as she came up, gulping for air. Determined not to look a fool in front of these new SeeD, Stella started to swim toward shore with long easy strokes. Good thing she had learned to swim back at her home garden.

The waves on the Balamb shore were gently, carrying her in to the warm sands. She stood easily pulling her pistols from there holsters with a sigh of dismay. It would take a few hours for the firing mechanisms to dry. In a pinch she might be able to fire off one or two shots, but she didn't want to put her weapons in that kind of risk.

Stella headed further up shore to where the other Seeds had landed with their GFs. Standing quietly near by she listened as the exchanged retorts.

[Myacu]

A gust of wind tossled Jax's hair as he slowly descended through the clouds. High above him, trails of smoke and fumes were the final remnants of his beloved airship.

The Eponine, his baby, had been with Jax for as long as he could remember. It took every ounce of strength for the remaining parachuter to shove Jax off the airship.

His final sight of the her was as she careened towards one side, dark grey exhaust fumes billowing out from behind, and barely missed crashing into Garden. Instead, she took a devstating landing against the side of mountain. Sounds of destruction were emitted through the air.

And now, here he was, suspended like a puppet, in the middle of the sky. Feeling helpless, he could only remain still as the ground grew closer and closer.