After a brief hiatus from I'm returning with some fresh material. I've got some interesting ideas ahead and hope you'll enjoy reading this. This story picks up just about right where Final Fantasy XII left off, so, obviosly enough, spoliers are ahead.

Now, there was a particular challenge putting this story together in terms of the main characters. As you know, the job system in Final Fantasy XII is almost entirely open ended, so there's no consistancy in what weapons the characters use or their fighting styles. As I played the game, I tried play to the characters strengths. For some characters this was obvious, like, for Vaan, his speed seemed to be his best point, Penelo had the best magic, and Basch worked well with raw power. For other characters, like Ashe and Fran, there was no real obvious strength to exploit. What you will see of the main characters in this story is based largly off of how I played them in my particular game. There will be a few exceptions made to either play to a pre-existing description for the character, or giving them spells or abilities that seem appropriate to their styles and removing those that don't.

Well, that enough of a foreward, enjoy the story.

Prologue

Months of quiet in a dark lab on the sixty-seventh floor of the Draklor Laboratory building were finally disturbed by the soft hiss of the opening door. A man clad in black, heavy plate armor stood for a moment in the doorway, and then entered. After taking a quick scan of the room, the man reached back and touched a panel on the wall, causing the lights to flicker to life.

Judge Zargabaath removed his helm and lowered it to his left side, taking another look over the now illuminated room. Zargabaath raised his right hand and made a waving motion, which summoned a team of scientists into the room.

The lead scientist, a thin man with unkempt brown hair whose height paled in comparison to Zargabaath in his armor, walked up next to the Judge and adjusted the glasses on his tired face. After reviewing a clip board he looked up at Zargabaath for instructions.

"All of it," the old but powerful Judge ordered. "Get started."

The lead scientist stepped away from Judge Zargabaath and began giving instructions out to the others. Zargabaath left the scientists to their work. The door, bracketed by a pair of lesser Judges, shut behind Zargabaath when he exited.

Zargabaath paused after taking a few steps down the hallway and turned back to the guards. "Nobody enters unless I am with them." With that, he continued down the hallway, replacing his helm.

The scientists in Doctor Cid's old lab were tasked with inventorying and destroying the late man's inventions. The young emperor, Larsa Solidore, working in a much different direction than his father or brother, ordered the destruction of the equipment, stating that it does nothing for the good of Ivalice.

The task only took a few hours to wear on the team. The lead scientist found himself exhausted by the work and infuriated by the former scientist's obsession with destruction. He sat at Doctor Cid's desk, holding in his hand what appeared to be another gun. After a heavy sigh, he dropped the gun and threw his glasses down onto the desk, taking a moment to rub the weariness from his eyes.

"When was the last time you slept, Quim?" The pleasant voice of one of the women on his team inquired.

Quim, looked up at the woman and considered her question. "Two days," he replied with uncertainty. "With all of this, I probably won't get sleep any time soon."

"The glorious life of a Draklor Scientist," The woman replied as she brushed a wisp of her golden brown hair behind her ear. While Draklor had a whole host of unique people, Quim found that Inés seemed to stand out to him. One thing that stood out to anyone in Draklor was her origin from Bujerba, as most of the scientists came out of Archades. She had a fiery personality which appeared to be absent from most people at the Laboratory. And with bronze skin on her long legs and athletic body, Quim would be lying if he did not admit that she was more then a bit attractive.

"Not exactly what I had in mind when I was studying at the Akademy."

"I don't think it's what anyone had in mind," Inés replied. "We all wanted to change the world." Inés put on a fanciful tone. "We wanted make life better for everyone in Ivalice." She shook her head and laughed. "Now we're scrounging through a dead guy's office."

"And discovering just how insane he was." It was no secret that Quim hated Doctor Cid.

"Well…" Inés picked up the weapon that Quim had just dropped. "He certainly enjoyed making weapons."

"Hey," another scientist spoke up. "Does anyone else think this is a waste?" The entire team of six paused and looked at him.

"Think what's a waste?" Quim broke a brief moment of silence.

"You know all this." He waved his hand along the shelves. "Destroying this stuff. Isn't there something better we can do with it?"

"No," Quim said, sounding agitated. "Look at all of it. They're all just weapons. This man was a lunatic, and all of this is just a perversion of the technology that we've developed."

"Alright, alright," the other scientist said, returning to his work. "Sorry I asked."

Outside, two men approached the lab, drawing the careful attention of the Judges by the door. They both appeared youthful, possibly in their mid-twenties. The shorter of the two had blond hair and blue eyes framed by glasses. He was wearing a long white coat over plain black clothes and a leather harness with held several small pockets.

The man to his right was just the opposite. He was somewhat brooding with very dark brown, unkempt hair and wore a baggy white gi with the sleeves ripped off as well as wooden sandals. He didn't look directly forward, instead taking a downward angle that kept his eyes ominously shaded by his brow. On his left hip sat a katana, which his hand constantly rested on.

When they reached the door, the guards drew their swords, forbidding the pair entry. "No one is to enter without Judge Zargabaath," One of the judges nearly yelled at them.

"Well then," The shorter man said with a very sarcastic voice. "Allow my associate here to show you the proper authorization." He looked over at his partner. "Odo."

The young man looked up for the first time, his hazel eyes darted from one of the judges to the other. The next thing the Judges knew, their swords were roughly half as long, and Odo was holding his katana in the air with his right hand. The Judges' swords were bent near the point where they were halved by Odo's katana, which glowed red, and was turning white. The air above and around the katana rippled from the intense heat it emitted.

Odo brought his sword down in front of himself with the tip pointing out ahead as he shuffled his right foot back and placed his left hand near the bottom of the hilt. The Judges stood staring at the new tips of their swords, surprised that the katana did not cut though their swords, as much as it melted through them.

Stepping forward, Odo slashed upwards at the guard to his left. His katana melted a hole in the Judges armor as it cut through and it left the smell of burnt flesh in the air. The guard fell to his knees and tried to clutch the wound through his armor. No blood seeped through the cut in his armor, as his wound was cauterized by the heat of the sword.

Not wasting any time, Odo, quickly flipped his katana around and stabbed backwards, running the second guard through. Odo kept the blade in the guard for a minute. The only noises were an eerie sizzling as his katana burnt flesh and entrails, and a quiet moaning as the guard struggled with what would be his final breath.

After removing the katana, the guard fell, and Odo sheathed it, emotion still void from his face. The other man walked up beside Odo and patted him on the shoulder. "Quick and efficient as usual." He then looked down at the guard, who was now taking short, sharp breaths. "Don't worry, pal. Shock will set in soon, and it'll all be over."

The talkative one then looked into a pocket on the outside of his coat. "Now, about that door." After analyzing its contents he closed it and pulled his jacket open, looking over numerous small glass vials that were strapped to the inside. "Wait," he said as he dropped his coat and reached into one of the pockets on his harness. Pulling out another small glass vial he looked at it for a moment and nodded. "This oughta do the trick." He took aim at the door and paused before throwing it. "You might wanna take a step back."

Odo heeded his partner's advice and backed up. The man in the lab coat took aim at the door once more and tossed the vial.

Inés figured that the room would be quiet for some time after the brief argument between Quim and one of the other scientists. The quiet lasted for only a few minutes as a deafening roar accompanied by a powerful shock threw Inés to the ground.

Inés did not have much time to recover, as she could make out through the lingering smoke that a man with a sword was making his way through the room. He quickly moved from person to person, making sure that, if they survived the explosion, it would not be for very long. By virtue of her location in the back of the room, the man approached her last, giving her enough time to react and roll away from his sword.

The man stood still for a moment, somewhat shocked that he had missed his target, and slowly turned his head toward Inés as she threw off her lab coat. She crouched forward and eyed the man up as she waited for him to move. The man's sword slowly drifted toward Inés as he took time to consider his new opponent, not having expected the slightest bit of a challenge from a handful of scientists.

"You're still working here Inés?" A familiar voice called from the doorway.

Inés looked toward the source to see the blond man in the lab coat. "It's actually not that hard to stay employed here, Everard."

"Ah, Inés. Someone as smart as you? You're just wasting your talents here. You should come work for my new employer, hardly any restrictions at all."

"They let you test new poisons on people?" Inés' eyes never left Odo while talking to Everard.

"Odo," Everard said, holding his hand out. "Don't kill her."

The swordsman looked back at Everard quizzically, and reluctantly lowered his sword.

"She's too smart to just waste like this. We might be able to use her."

"If you're gonna drag me outta here, you're gonna have to kill me," Inés answered.

Everard shook his head. "Oh please, there's a much easier way to do this." Everard reached into one of the pouches on his harness and pulled out a small pouch which he threw at Inés. The pouch burst just in front of her face and sprayed a powder at her. After a moment of coughing, Inés passed out.

Odo caught Inés before she hit the ground and threw her over his shoulder while Everard gathered a few sets of blueprints from the office and other pieces of information he deemed appropriate.

When they left Doctor Cid's office, Everard and Odo were greeted by Judge Zargabaath along with four lesser judges.

"You go no further," Zargabaath threatened them.

Everard and Odo looked at each other. "You want 'em?" Everard asked.

Odo's answer was to set Inés down against the wall and draw his sword.

"So be it," Zargabaath said. The judge waved his hand forward and commanded the others to attack.

Their attack did not last long. As the judges approached, Odo took a step forward, and swung twice with his katana. All of the judges were stopped in their tracks, and, after a moment's delay, they all fell to the ground. Odo scanned his fallen opponents and then looked toward Zargabaath, slowly raising his sword.

With an angry grunt, Zargabaath hastily drew his sword and walked toward Odo with a purpose. With surprising speed for a man his age, he took several swings at Odo, all of which the younger man deflected. For once today, Odo appeared to be having a degree of trouble with his opponent.

A heavy swing by Zargabaath pushed Odo backwards a few steps. The judge kept the pressure on his opponent and quickly closed the distance he just created and came in with an overhand swing, which Odo caught on his katana. Zargabaath began to gain the upper hand, overpowering Odo as their swords struggled against each other.

Odo, realizing he was losing this test of strength, quickly changed his tactic. He tilted his sword, turning the tip toward the ground and sending Zargabaath's sword sliding off. With a circular swing, Odo cut into Zargabaath's armor, not quite penetrating. The attack was enough to make Zargabaath drop his guard, allowing Odo time to plant a firm kick in Zargabaath's chest. Odo's kick sent the judge stumbling into the wall. While the impact was not severe, the way Zargabaath hit the wall combined with his heavy armor, it was enough to force the air out of his lungs. Zargabaath slid to the floor and coughed awkwardly as he missed a breath.

"Come on, Odo." Everard stopped his partner. "We don't have a lot of time before more show up."

Odo looked back at Everard, paused, then swung his sword back into its sheath. Everard was now carrying the unconscious scientist over his shoulder, and the two proceeded to the elevator.

Zargabaath sat against the wall for several minutes attempting to catch his breath. "I should have been able to defeat him," he said to himself. "I should have recovered from this by now. I might be getting too old for this."

"Don't be so hard on yourself." Zargabaath heard from beside him. He looked up to see who was standing beside him. Zargabaath already knew who it was, and confirmed it when he saw the helmet in the man's left hand, adorned with horns like that of a ram.

"Are you injured?" Basch asked him.

"No, just winded," Zargabaath answered. "They've made it to the elevator by now. They have a hostage."

"They won't leave the building," Basch promised. With that, he replaced his helmet and ran down the hallway.

As Basch ran he activated a communicator in his helmet. "I need a transport at the sixty-fifth floor, southwest corner, now!" With conformation of his order, Basch continued running down the hallway. As he approached the wall, Basch drew his zweihänder, a large sword, almost the length of his body, with the blade shaped into a wave pattern which he named Verteidiger.

Getting closer to the wall, a point of light began to shine at the tip of the blade. Without breaking stride, Basch thrust his sword into the wall, and jumped though the hole he had made.

Basch was briefly blinded as his eye adjusted to the much brighter light outside. When the pure white that filled his vision faded back to the real world, Basch looked down to see the transport he ordered two floors below him and perfectly positioned for him to land on it. A dull THUD sounded as the roof of the transport bent under Basch's landing.

"What the hell?" Basch heard the surprised driver yell from inside the transport.

"Ground floor," Basch ordered him. "Now!"

"Uh, y-yes sir," the confused driver replied.

Instead of swinging himself down and into the cabin of the transport while it took him down, Basch simply thrust the claw like fingers of his gauntlet into the roof and continued to ride on the top as it descended. Along with the regular traffic of Archades rushing past, there was an intermittent whistling as the air Basch was cutting through infiltrated his armor via small notches and holes where pieces of the mail connected.

When the transport was nearly two floors off the ground, Basch pulled his left hand from its grip in the transport's roof and jumped off, sending himself crashing onto the plaza in front of the laboratory building and leaving cracks in the cement from the impact. As he pushed himself up straight, he could hear commotion coming from just inside the building, telling him he had made it just in time.

"We've got more friends, Odo." Everard was struggling to hold Inés at this point. It was not that Inés was heavy, far from it, but Everard was rather physically weak, and he had been holding Inés for some time now. "Make it quick, pal. I wanna get out of here."

Six soldiers and two judges; with Odo's performance so far today, this would not be too much of a problem.

From the lobby balcony that he and Everard were on, Odo jumped and landed on the railing of one of the two staircases that arched down to the lower level and slid down. When he reached the end, Odo kicked himself off of the railing and did a flip, drawing his sword and slicing through one of the soldiers at the base of his neck.

Odo landed in a crouch, holding his sword out beside himself, and he held the pose for a moment as his sword changed from its glossy sliver color, to red, and finally white; the air once again rippling from the heat as it rose off the blade. When the guards finally made a move toward him, Odo sprung forward and slashed at the neatest soldier, sending him to the ground. With a spin and another slash, he dispatched another two soldiers.

One of the judges moved in to attack, but found his efforts thwarted as Odo swung at his blade, melting through it with his cut and rendering the judge's sword useless. Odo then drew his sword back and thrust it through the judge's stomach. After giving the judge a moment to smell his own burning flesh and realize that he was slowly dying, Odo swung the blade out of the man, cutting and burning through his abdomen and out of his side. With the same swing of his katana, Odo also felled another soldier, leaving one left, plus the judge.

The two remaining opponents slowly backed away from Odo, unsure of how to approach him. The soldier, deciding on using the reach advantage of his halberd, tried to strike Odo from as far away as possible. The attack was easily sidestepped by Odo, who then removed the head of the halberd and moved in to finish the soldier.

At the unfortunate expense of his comrade, the sole remaining judge saw opportunity to strike Odo as he finished the soldier. The judge, however, underestimated the swordsman's speed and, with a quick turn and slash, Odo completely severed the man's right arm. The judge began to scream in pain, but his cries were quickly silenced when Odo sliced his sword halfway through the judges neck, severing and searing his vocal chords in addition to almost instantly killing him.

Odo held his sword out to his side after the follow through of his last strike, taking time to enjoy his handiwork, to the extent that he could enjoy something. After taking a moment to observe the scene, the large wooden doors that served as the lobby entrance were powerfully thrust open.

At first, neither Odo nor Everard could make out who or what had thrown the doors open due to the bright natural light that entered, but after a moment, they were able to distinguish the backlit figure of a man clad in heavy armor, wielding a large sword in his right hand.

"This… could get interesting…." Everard noted when he recognized the ram-like horns on the man's helmet, telling him just who was standing in the doorway. Odo also showed rare emotional reaction as his normally stoic expression turned to one of anger and determination.

"Your rampage ends now," Basch called out to the men.

Not wasting time, Basch readied his sword and walked swiftly toward Odo, who did much the same, except for breaking into an all out run. Both men swung their swords at the same time and, with a near deafening CLANG and a shower of sparks, their blades met briefly, until Basch's superior strength threw Odo backwards into the air.

With a back flip, Odo was able to recover and land on his feet, despite sliding backwards for nearly a meter after landing. Odo once again rushed in to attack, ducking an initial strike by Basch and lashing out with a trio of his own. With limited movement of his zweihänder, Basch was able to block all of Odo's attacks. Basch then returned with a horizontal slice, which Odo ducked, followed by an overhead swing ,which Odo was able to roll away from. More sparks exploded as Basch's sword impacted and cracked the stone floor.

Odo's roll brought him behind Basch, and he used the opportunity to attack. His slash was stopped when Basch reached back and caught the katana on the wrist of his gauntlet. Though Odo's katana burned intensely, it could not slice through the higher quality armor that Basch wore as it could the armor of the soldiers or lesser judges.

With a sweep of his arm, Basch pushed Odo's katana away and brought his own sword forward. Odo once again maneuvered out of the path of Basch's sword and brought his own katana over his head and down onto the Judge Magister. Basch pulled his zweihänder off the floor and up to block Odo's attack, and then used his superior strength to guide Odo's blade to the floor.

With their swords entangled and pointed toward the floor, Basch pressed the size advantage he had over Odo and lunged his body forward, ramming into Odo and forcing him backwards. Basch then held his sword down in front of himself, waiting for Odo to approach again. When Odo did move forward, Basch stabbed at him and slashed upward. Finding the attack unsuccessful, Basch tried again with a horizontal slice, this time planning for Odo to duck.

When Odo did crouch to avoid the attack, Basch released his right hand from the hilt of his sword and brought it back across, timing the strike just right to catch Odo in the side of the face as he stood. The impact threw Odo part way across the room, opening some space up between him and the Judge.

Basch had now decided it was time to finish the fight. He flipped his sword backwards once then placed it on his back. Bringing his arms to his sides and clenching his fists, dark orbs of energy began to form on them. When Basch was content with the size of the orbs, he yelled, bringing his hands forward and hitting them together, which shot a dark beam of energy toward Odo.

While Basch was preparing his attack, Odo had gotten back to his feet and sheathed his katana. Odo then stepped his right side forward and dropped into a low stance, letting his right hand hover just over the hilt of his sword as his left held tightly to the sheath. When he heard Basch yell, he knew it was his time to move.

"Kiyomori," Odo whispered to himself just before stepping forward and slicing into the air the instant before Basch's beam reached him.

Instead of hitting Odo, Basch's attack was stopped short. In the place where the tip of Odo's blade cut, the beam that Basch had fired was cleaved in two, with both halves continuing well wide of Odo and blasting into the wall behind him. The beam did reveal a translucent, red shield where the two were apparently rubbing against each other. The shield that Odo erected with his sword.

"Impressive work, swordsman," Basch said, once again pulling his sword off of his back. "This has become more interesting than I would have liked."

"As good as Odo is," Everard said to himself, still watching from the balcony, "Judge von Rosenberg has gotta be just as good, and he's a tank in that armor."

Basch stood for a moment, holding his sword out in front of himself. After taking a moment to concentrate, Basch swung his sword forward at Odo, even though the samurai was across the room. Basch's slash created a glowing white crescent in the air which flew toward Odo with Basch chasing it in.

Odo swung his own sword first at the crescent that Basch had thrown, dispersing the energy as he cut through it, and then jumped over and behind Basch, avoiding his follow up attack. Given a new opportunity, Odo once again lowered his stance and sheathed his sword for a moment.

"Koutetsu," Odo whispered as he slashed out with his sword well short of Basch. Though he intentionally swung short, a shockwave erupted from his sword and expanded toward Basch. When the wave hit Basch, it pushed him back several feet, and deafened him with a terrible screech. As it continued past Basch, the shockwave shattered a large window behind him.

Basch shook his head, trying to coax the ringing in his ears to stop. He looked up at Odo and noticed that after all that had happened, the samurai was starting to breathe heavily. Basch was also straining for air, at this point the weight of his armor had started to wear on him.

Odo and Basch once again approached each other, slowly this time. As soon as he was within reach, Basch struck out with his zweihänder, but missed as Odo sidestepped the attack. After he evaded Basch's attack, Odo swiped upwards at Basch, and sent the Judge stumbling backwards in pain.

Basch grabbed at his right shoulder with his left hand and backed up; surprised that Odo's sword was able to find purchase on him. Looking down, Basch realized that Odo was able to slip his sword through the joint of his armor and find his skin.

Everard now saw opportunity, and though that his interference could help Odo take down the more feared of the two remaining Judge Magisters. As fast as he could, Everard raced down the staircase and drew his knife, charging at Basch. The Judge quickly became aware of Everard's attack. With a powerful swing of his right hand, Basch struck Everard's wrist with his sword pommel, knocking the dagger from his hand. Basch then reached out with his left hand and grabbed Everard by the lapel of his lab coat, throwing him through the previously shattered window.

With Odo now moving in for a strike, Basch quickly turned and swung his massive sword around. With another loud CLANG and the explosion of several sparks, Basch knocked the katana from Odo's hands. After taking a brief moment to realize what had just happened, Basch rammed the pommel into Odo's stomach, and then struck him in the face with it, sending the now disarmed man to the ground. Finally, Basch brought his sword down in an overhead swing onto Odo. Before the blade could cleave through Odo, the tip of the sword hit the floor on the far side, stopping the edge right above his body.

"Yield," Basch commanded powerfully. He could see Odo acknowledging defeat despite his emotionless expression.

Everard sat up, now in the alley beside the laboratory building, and rubbed his head. "Fighting definitely isn't my thing." After convincing himself that his equilibrium was good enough to stand up, he looked back through the window from which he was ejected and saw Odo laying on the ground with Basch's sword stopped just above his body.

"Alright," Everard said to himself, fishing through the pouches on his harness. "Time for us to get out of here." After Everard took a close look at the vial he produced he nodded and tossed it into the lobby. The vial exploded at Basch's feet, letting off a blinding flash and filling the lobby with smoke.

Basch jumped back and covered the eye slits on his helmet with his arm to shield himself from the flash. When Basch lowered his arm, there was not much difference in what he could see; the black metal of his gauntlet was simply replaced with a dark grey smoke. Basch could hear numerous footsteps approaching the lobby, figuring that reinforcements were finally arriving, though too late.

The additional soldiers arrived in the lobby as the smoke dispersed. There were only two living people in the room at this point: Basch and the unconscious scientist. Basch, thoroughly frustrated at what had just happened, exhaled heavily. His deep breath had blown out the smoke which gathered in his helmet that, from the outside, created a frightening illusion that the Judge himself was exhaling the smoke.

"Is the hostage unharmed?" Basch called to one of the soldiers as he removed his helmet. One could easily tell by looking at the Judge Magister that the fight had exhausted him. Basch was still breathing heavily, and his face was a deep shade of red with light glistening off the fine coat of sweat covering it.

"She's unconscious, but otherwise looks unharmed," the soldier reported back.

Basch ascended to the balcony and took a moment, looking at the hostage that the intruders had tried to take, to organize his thoughts and take control of the situation.

"I want security increased over the entire building," Basch started. "Replace the guard in the lobby and double it, and have two extra guards stationed at the elevators on every floor." Basch looked down to the lower lobby, counting the bodies that were lying on the floor. "I want the names off everyone they killed, have someone inform their families."

"And her?" One of the soldiers asked about the scientist.

Though Basch did not know the extent of her injuries, it could not have happened to her in a better place, with the possible exception that she was standing next to the rare person that was skilled in the art of healing majicks. The lower floors of the Draklor Laboratory building were devoted to medical and biological research and, as such, contained the best hospital in Ivalice.

"I'll take her to the hospital," Basch answered the soldier. "They should be able to take care of her."

As the soldiers dispersed and Basch picked up the unconscious woman, the Judge Magister had much to think about, particularly what the two intruders were actually doing. Though Basch did not know the full extent of it, he did know that they had taken information from Doctor Cid's lab, which meant it was something dangerous. Doctor Cid's work was also rather arcane, even to many of Draklor's own scientists, which raised a question about whether or not they could understand it, or if they knew someone who could.

Either way, Basch figured, just having the information out there is dangerous.