Chapter 9

Henry was back with Squall and the rest. They were heading in a magazine building. But they found nothing of interest, so they left to head to the station. They head to the left come upon a pub surrounded by Galbadian soldiers. They knew a fight was going to ensue to they listen in on their little conversation.

"Man, this is too easy. Although that country bumpkin had some mighty fine goods to sell."

"Man, we might as well relax a little. These Timber folk don't really care for us being here." As they finish their conversation, they look up to see Squall coming down the stairs. We get into a fight. This will be Henry's first official fight as a game character. At first, he is unsure of what to do. But a feeling takes over him, and he is slashing his sword against the enemy and killing them with one swift move. After the fight is over, he had such an adrenaline rush. He was ready to go another round.

"Man, that was fun. Can we do it again?"

"Slow down, my man. I know the feeling, but eventually, the feeling will disappear. And then what?" Squall enjoy the fighting to extend but wanted more than this. He felt he had a calling, but he didn't know yet what that was. Henry couldn't get a read on Squall. Now he sees what Quistis was talking about. If Squall kept bottling up his feelings, he would never find his calling. Rinoa was getting agitated and wanted to hurry and get to the station.

"If ya are doing with yalls bromance. Can we get going?" Rinoa eyed down Squall and Henry, and they all scurry into the Pub. The Pub was the best place to find information. This is the place where people let their soul flow out. Basically, tell all their dirty secrets. They walked into some drunk yelling about how much he hated this city. Henry looked at Squall, and they wonder what they had just walked into. So they continue to listen to man's rambling.

"I can't stand this place. I left Dollet and came here to have a good time. And now the stupid trains aren't running anymore. The stupid officials won't let you stay in the hotel. I being harrassed the damn Galbadian soldiers. My favorite card that has been with me since my childhood is lost. Why can't things go my way for once?" Another man was standing next to the drunk. He must have been a worker, and he was chiming in about the city.

"These soldiers don't even care. They think using brute force will make us obey. Or get what they want," said the worker.

"And now some resistance group goes and tries to kidnap the president. If it weren't for them, the trains wouldn't have stopped running. Now they got soldiers everywhere on guard. It's all their fault!! They don't understand what it means to suffer. And because of their reckless behavior, everything is jacked up." Then the drunk continues to cuss and blame them. This causes Rinoa to get pissed off. She starts to give the drunk a piece of her mind when another patron chimes in.

"What do you know, you drunk? You blame the resistances for everything. When in reality they are actually helping us." Rinoa was surprised to hear someone praising her for trying to accomplish something for Timber and its people.

"They care for us and are trying the best they can do with what they've got. The ones you should blame are the soldiers and that man we call a president. They are all behind what is happening to this town." The drunk didn't even bother to come back with another comment when he knew what the patron said was correct. Henry follows Squall and his team to talk to the pub worker. They were looking for a way to get to the station and had heard someone mention they would have to go through the pub to do it.

"Hey, we need to go out that door to get to the station." But the worker told them the only way through was to move the drunk out of the way. And he was belligerent at the moment.

"Now some young punk was to move me out the way. No way. Hey, pub guy. Get me another drink." Then Henry suggests to Squall get the man another drink.

"Squall, you might as well buy him the drink. That is the only way we're going to get him to move from the door." Squall gestures to the worker to get the man a drink. But then Squall remembers that he had picked up a card. And the drunk mention he had lost the card. Better to give him the card than another drink.

"Hey, I think this belongs to you." The drunk was surprised that the one he called a young punk found his card.

"Hey, thanks. I've been looking for this card for a while. But since you found it. You might as well keep it. I go ahead and move out of your way." The drunk tried to move from the door but couldn't. So he had to ask a worker to move him. They exit out the door into an alleyway. They come upon a staircase. This must lead them to the TV station. As they proceed up the steps, they see the big monitor. It looks like that what the president wants to broadcast on. Then one of Rinoa's crewmates comes to let her know that the president is in the studio. So they hurry to get to the station.

"You can't storm the place because there are too many soldiers." So now they have to think of another way to get into the station.

"Well, the only way the soldiers would leave is if the president leaves. Then we can get in. But I don't see that happening. So what now?" Rinoa wanted to broadcast, but they didn't; it would influence anybody if they did. And if they take the place head-on, they might not make it out alive.

'Let's not worry about that. We will fight base on your decision. So what will it be, boss?" Squall wouldn't make a move without Rinoa's say so. They would fight for Rinoa no matter if they knew they were going to lose or not. Because as a SeeD, it was their duty to protect. Henry just watched on as Rinoa was thinking about what to do next. Henry could see that Rinoa was sad about what Squall said. She didn't feel right about having them fight because she said so, even if it was their duty.

"It must be nice to have this type of life. Doing only what is told of you."

"You know it's whatever. We are only here to help you achieve your goal." Then Squall had made a smart comment, which ticked Rinoa off.

"You know if you have something say. Then spit it out!" Henry sat back watching as Squall told Rinoa exactly how he felt.

"Are you even serious about this? Be for real." Squall was questioning Rinoa's dedication toward achieving her goal. To him, it seems like she wasn't about helping Timber reach their independence.

"There are three of you in this group. You all get together to discuss a plan, but when it comes time to execute that plan, you look at us, so tell me, how serious are you?" Zell felt like Squall was pushing a little too hard and suggested he pull back a little. But Henry agreed with Squall. How could a big organization like the SeeD's be bothered with a group that isn't serious? They didn't have to, but Rinoa begged Cid for his help. And they here to help, but it feels to Squall that he isn't helping but babysitting.

"Forgive, I guess I might have been a little hard with my answer." Even if Squal's words were harsh, he was right. So Rinoa could be mad at herself.

"Maybe asking Cid for his help was a mistake. I thought when I ask for help; everything would work out. But I see things aren't that easy." Henry was sensing that this operation was heading south, which doesn't sound good for Squall and his team.

"How about we call this whole thing off? And will all go our separate ways. Since ya think this is a game to us. Well, I let you know that it's not. We are really serious about this." Rinoa passed by Henry in a fit of anger. Maybe she was serious after all. Then Squall is watching Rinoa run off as Sephie is coming up the stairs. The TV monitor starts coming on.

"Hey, I think it's starting." Henry, Squall, Zell, and Sephie all focus their attention upon the screen. Then a see a man approached the podium.

"Attention. Can you hear me? Everybody is not a recording. We are showing this live. It has taken us 17 years to broadcast, and we finally made it happen. We have our president here with a very important announcement. I welcome you, Vinzer Deling." The team finally gets a look at the real president—nothing extraordinary about him. We can consider him to one of the many villains we will meet along the way. He looks to be about middle age. He has grey hair—sports a black business suit with a blue type as we watch him give this announcement his spouts off about stopping all wars.

"See, it a peace proposal!" Sephie is getting all excited, not understanding the ramification of this proposal.

"Right now as we speak. Some issues stand between Galbadian and other nations. And we need to resolve these if we want to see change. I plan to talk to the other nation so we can resolve them quickly." Then the president introduces the ambassador who will be representing this conference. An ambassador? They waited for this ambassador to show up to the podium. The president was then getting ready to introduce the Sorceress when they see Seifer bust into the TV station. The team is thinking, what is Seifer doing here? Then Seifer takes the president hostage and Quistis with him too. Zell and Sephie are panicky and wondering if they should go and help.

"Squall, are we going to help?"

"No, Our job is to assist the Rinoa and her team. We need to stay out of." Henry is watching and knowing they should go and help. Quistis is talking to the team, and Henry overhears.

"Squall, Quistis is calling for our assistance. We need to go and help them." They then proceed to head to the station. Henry notices as he walks into the station. Seifer is holding his gunblade against President Deling throat.

"We had to find a way to restrain him." Squall sees that Seifer is totally out of mind at the moment.

"What do you want, Seifer?"

"Isn't it obvious? What were you guys planning on doing with this guy anyway?" Squall hadn't planned on doing anything to the president. Squall is thinking about the real reason Seifer is here. Does it have something to Rinoa? Knowing that, he knew that Squall and them were hired to help her out. Zell was about to make fun of Seifer when he called Zell a chicken-wuss. Which he knew saying that name pissed Zell off. Quistis is informing Squall of the reason behind Seifer's behavior.

"Well, he broke out of the disciplinary room and injury people along the way." Squall is shaking his head. This time Seifer has gone overboard. But even while they tried to figure out Seifer's behavior. Zell makes the situation worse by calling Seifer names.

"Zell, not right now."

"So, instructor. You're going to take stupid idiot back to school?" Henry was shaking his head because Zell was putting his foot in his mouth again. That when Quistis and Seifer noticed Henry in the back.

"Whose that?" Squall didn't want to get in about him. So he focuses the attention back on Seifer. Then Squall goes over to Zell and smacks him to shut up. Forgetting that Seifer was holding the president hostage, He didn't know that all of them were from Balamb. Zell rerunning his mouth. Now they were in trouble.

"If anything should happen to me, the Galbadian government will destroy your beloved Balamb Garden." Then Seifer slowly escorted the president out of the studio and into another area. The team followed behind. In the next room stood the president and Seifer alone. Seifer seems to be in some illusion. He hears a voice talk to him.

"My poor child." Seifer seems afraid of this woman and demanded she stay away from him. She is wearing a funny mask. So he can't see her face. The lady cast a spell that stops Quistis from entering the area.

"You have a choice. But the man in you is saying stay back, but the boy is you in is saying come. Which one will it be?" The lady keeps messing with Seifer's head. He is having trouble concentrating. It's like she some hold over him. And Seifer doesn't understand it. Then she somehow makes him release the president. Squall walks in and sees Quistis not moving but looks up to see Seifer with some woman. The rest gang comes in from behind when she cast a spell that blinded them. When they came to, they were gone. Then Rinoa comes into the room from the side.

"Hey, wasn't Seifer here?" It seems that Rinoa already knew that Seifer was here. But they knew he was here. By how come he disappear like that? They all followed Rinoa out of the studio.

"Just wanted to let you know. They found our base, and it's been destroyed." Since it wasn't safe for Rinoa to stay in Timber, she wondered if Squall could find her a safe place. Squall was getting tired of this girl. Is like he had to be responsible for everything she did. Then she uses her authority as the client to force him.

"Remember you still work for me?" What a spoiled brat, Henry was thinking to himself. Then they enter back through the pub when a patron found out about Rinoa's trouble.

"Rinoa. I heard what happen. If you need a place to stay, you can stay with me." Henry was happy for a break. They have been going since they got here. But he knew as soon as they got settled, someone will be wanted to know about him—time for the group to lay low until they get further instructions.

#####

Enjoy!