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Squall, Lavitz, and Shana arrived at the fortress town of Hoax that evening. The whole town was surrounded by dense forests, filled with unusually loud birds. The town itself was rather small, comprised of four or five houses connected by various staircases and tunnels. When they entered the town, the group were greeted by the Knight Captain in charge of the place, Kaiser. Kaiser had dark brown hair, and was adorned in gold-plated armor, and had a snazzy red cape on his back. "Lavitz! It's good to see you again, my friend!" Kaiser said with a friendly smile.

"Indeed, it has been a while," Lavitz responded, shaking Kaiser's hand.

"I heard the unfortunate news about your Knighthood," Kaiser said to Lavitz with a somewhat more somber tone.

"Yes, and I accepted full responsibility for what happened. We must end this war, to prevent further tragedies!" Lavitz said, once again trying to sound as noble and "knightly" as possible.

"Well said, Lavitz!" Kaiser was apparently impressed by Lavitz noble-talk, "and who are your companions?"

"Ah, of course. These are the people who helped me escape from Hellena. This is Dart..."

"Greetings Dart!" Kaiser said to Squall, holding his hand out in greeting. Squall shook his hand without making eye-contact, or verbally responding in any way.

"...and this is Shana." Lavitz informed.

"A pleasure to meet you, Shana!" Kaiser greeted her, once again holding his hand out.

Shana shook his hand, and responded with a polite "Hello."

"Shall we go, and discuss our strategy?" Kaiser suggested, leading the group to the strategy room. The strategy room was clearly a repurposed dining hall. There were two other soldiers present, studying a map of the surrounding area, which had little figures placed around it, representing possible enemy locations. As the group stood around the table, Kaiser stood at the front, ready to inform the group of their situation. "We've been preparing for an attack for about a week, so far. We know for certain that the Sandorans are going to attack soon. What concerns me the most right now is the information that the Sandorans have a dragon on their side. If that dragon attacks, then we have basically no means of defense against it."

"I've seen the dragon," Squall interjected.

"You did?" Shana asked with concern.

"Yeah, a big green one, right? I encountered it as it was leaving Seles," Squall stated formally, conditioned by his military training.

"Any information you could give us would be appreciated," Kaiser said with a slight tone of relief.

"It was a large insect-like creature. Bottom-heavy, so I doubt it can fly. It also had a hard exoskeleton, which I was unable to cut through."

"You fought it?!" Shana asked, even more worried.

"I had a brief skirmish against the dragon," Squall reported, "however, before I could get an accurate measure of its battle capabilities, my fight was interrupted. Another traveling warrior disoriented the beast, and led me to a hiding place. The dragon did not appear to be particularly intelligent, as it gave up searching for us fairly quickly."

"That's unfortunate, but I thank you for the information. You say it can't fly?" Kaiser inquired.

"It did not appear capable of flight, no."

"Then at least we'll see it coming. We'll be able to evacuate the premises if necessary," Kaiser noted to the group, "but that's enough strategy for now. Our scouts will be back by morning, so we'll hold our strategy meeting then. Lavitz, Dart, I'm assigning you to night watch duty on the Southern wall."

"Yes sir!" Lavitz saluted. Squall simply nodded.

"I can help prepare meals for the soldiers!" Shana interjected without prompt.

"That sounds lovely! Thank you, Miss Shana!" Kaiser said oddly gratefully.

"Whatever," Squall mumbled.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!" Shana asked with a pouting face, somehow hearing Squall, despite his expert skill in mumbling.

"It means you've burned every meal you've cooked, so far!" Squall wanted to say, but instead just responded, "...Sorry."

"Hmph, whatever," Shana said in a mocking tone, before wandering off to the kitchen.

"Heh heh," Lavitz laughed uncomfortably, "come, Dart, it's almost nightfall. We should go take our post."

Lavitz and Squall made their way up the fortress, to the Southern wall overlooking the main entrance to the fortress. Lavitz dismissed the guardsmen posted there, and the two took their positions at the wall. Their evening shift was mostly uneventful, save for Lavitz once again asking Squall if he could hold his gunblade, which Squall still refused.

It was a calm, dark night. Lavitz had paced back and forth along the wall, whilst Squall had been leaning against a corner, keeping careful watch of the pathway to the gate. Lavitz stomach audibly grumbled as the two could hear. "Ah, I'm going to go get a bite to eat," Lavitz said with embarrassment, "do you want me to get you anything?"

Squall smirked, "No, I'm good." Lavitz stopped and stared at Squall with a big grin. "What?" Squall asked indignantly.

"So, you can smile!" Lavitz teased.

"Whatever."

Lavitz broke into laughter. "I'll be back soon," Lavitz said, as he walked away. Once Squall was alone, he had spotted a dark figure in the road. "Stop! Who goes there!" Squall shouted towards the figure. Complying with his demands, the figure indeed stopped, but did not answer his question. Squall got a better look at the person. It was a little difficult to tell, but Squall recognized the person as the woman in dark clothing whom he had seen the night before. "She's been following me?"

"I asked you a question!" Squall demanded, but she just stood there, motionless, staring at him. "Imperial Sandorans!" one of the guards from the Northern wall shouted out, before Squall had a chance to address the woman again. He turned around, and saw a storm of flaming arrows rain down upon the North side. Grappling hooks grabbed the walls from all sides, as the Sandoran troopers stormed the fort. Squall drew his gunblade, ready to fight. He easily dispatched a few soldiers, before noticing Lavitz at ground level, surrounded by soldiers. Squall swiftly jumped down to the ground, and killed a few of the soldiers attacking Lavitz. The soldiers scattered when Squall broke their formation. Lavitz smiled and thanked Squall for his assist.

"Hmph, you two look like you might be trouble," said a voice out of sight. The two warriors looked around, until they spotted the source, a Sandoran ninja standing atop the roof of a nearby house, looking down on them. "I'd better not take any risks in dispatching you. Kongol! It's time to make your entrance!" the ninja announced. Seconds after he said it, a gigantic man burst through the Northern wall, leaving a massive hole in its wake. "It can't be! It's a real Giganto!" one of the terrified Basil soldiers cried out. The ninja jumped down to ground level, to help the Giganto surround the two.

"I'll take the big one," Lavitz told Squall, "You think you can handle the little guy?"

"Don't get cocky!" Squall retorted, rushing toward the ninja.

The ninja artfully dodged each of Squall's slashes. "Damn, I'm not fast enough!" Squall backed off, and prepared to cast a Haste spell, but the clever shinobi knew better than that, and tossed a volley of shuriken to keep Squall on his toes. Meanwhile, Lavitz was keeping the Giganto at bay with passionate strikes, but they had little effect on the enormous man. "I guess I'll have to try my new move on you!" Lavitz boasted as he took a charging stance. He charged forward, and thrust his spear to the giant's massive chest, then proceeded to spin about, slashing the monster repeatedly, until ending it with a most powerful slash, and announcing the name of the technique, "Rod Typhoon!" Unfortunately, this seemed to do little more than anger the gargantuan warrior, as he grabbed Lavitz by the neck with swiftness, and held him up in the air, choking him for a while. Lavitz gasped and grappled with the monster's strength, but before he even knew it, the Giganto choke-slammed Lavitz into the dirt, causing Lavitz to cry out as he felt his neck being crushed under the massive weight. The titan then lifted Lavitz back into the air once more, and chucked Lavitz limp body at Squall. Squall was caught off guard by his flying comrade, and got knocked over, face down in the dirt. The ninja took advantage of Squall's vulnerable position, and tossed a long weighted chain out, which wrapped around Squall's body, immobilizing him.

"Now, Kongol! Finish the job!" the ninja commanded of his elephantine companion. Kongol approached, drawing his battle-axe from his back, raising it above his head for the finishing blow. Squall could do little more than wait for his inevitable demise.

"Squall!" a woman's voice shouted out, as a rapier flew down from the sky, landing next to Squall and breaking the chains that bound him. All four of them looked up, and saw a winged woman, in dark armor, staring into Squall's eyes intensely. "Awaken," she stated, "Spirit of the Red-Eyed Dragon!"

Suddenly, Squall began to float in the air as the red stone in his pocket glowed with power so bright it could be seen through his clothes. Fire cloaked him as the stones power fused with his own body. He burst out into a flaming winged form, and cut down the ninja before he even had a chance to react. The fire around Squall's body dissipated to reveal his new form. He was covered in bright red armor that covered every part of his body, yet didn't constrict his movement in the slightest. His gunblade had grown thicker, the chamber bit replaced with the design of a dragon's head. Upon his back were wings, identical to the woman's. Squall turned towards Kongol, who lowers his axe in front, to take a defensive stance. Squall flew toward the giant in a flash, and ran his gunblade through the Giganto, shattering his axe in the process. Kongol coughed up blood, and tried to grab Squall and crush him, but his strength was nothing compared to Squall's newfound power. Squall pulled the trigger, causing the blade to create an explosion within Kongol, and blow a massive hole through his torso. Kongol backed away slowly, looking at his gaping wound in disbelief, before collapsing, dead on the ground.

"Dart... what are you...?" Lavitz asked somewhat fearfully. Squall turned around to see that Shana had helped Lavitz to his feet, and they were both staring at him with frightened looks. Before Squall could try to come up with an answer, his form reverted, and the sudden loss of energy caused Squall to pass out.

"What did you do to Dart?!" Squall could hear Shana crying as he groggily awoke. He softly rubbed his forehead, trying to get his bearings. He was lying in a bed, somewhere in the fortress. Standing around him were Lavitz, Shana, and the woman in dark. Shana stood defensively between Squall and the woman as she looked towards her with accusing eyes. "Oh, Dart, you're awake," Lavitz noticed, the two girls looking back toward him immediately after. "Dart, this woman says she knows you!" Shana proclaimed, her eyes on the edge of tears.

"If you'll let me explain! I saved him from a dragon!" The woman desperately tried to reason with Shana. "Dart, is this true?" Shana asked.

Squall glared at the woman with spiteful eyes, and didn't answer their questions. His glare seemed to hurt the woman's feelings, as she looked noticeably saddened when Squall looked at her like that.

"Who are you?" Squall finally spoke.

"My name is Rose," she responded hesitantly.

"Why have you been following me?" Squall immediately followed.

"Be-because I'm a fellow Dragoon. I wanted to help you awaken to your powers," she responded, trying her best not to sound guilty.

"A Dragoon?" said Lavitz, "You mean the legendary warriors of the Dragon Campaign who led the Dragons assault against the Winglies?"

"Yes, these Dragoon Spirits are symbols. Proof that we deserve to rule over dragons," Rose stated proudly.

Squall was too upset to listen to their babbling about legends and dragons. "Whatever," he said as he got up, and stormed out of the room. "Dart, are you okay?" Shana asked as he walked away. "None of your business," he said, slamming the door behind him.

Squall leaned against the rubble of one of the destroyed houses, as he waited for Rose to inevitably follow him outside. Rose left the house, alone, to try and find him. "Dart, I-..." she started.

"How do you know my name?" Squall interrupted her.

"Wha-... Your friends told me," she responded, a little thrown off by the question.

"Shana and Lavitz don't know my name," Squall stated with an increasingly irritated tone. "How do you know my name?"

"Dart, I don't un-..."

"That's not my name."

"But, Dart I-..."

"Say my name!"

"Stop!" Rose shouted out. Squall was taken aback by how emotional she sounded by it. "Squall, please. I want to help you... however I can."

Squall calmed down a bit, and composed himself. "So you want to help me, but you can't tell me what you know?"

Rose nodded, "I'm sorry."

Squall sighed, "Fine, whatever."

Rose's expression brightened up upon hearing his catchphrase. She looked as though she had a lot to say, yet for some reason kept tight-lipped. The whole thing bugged Squall to no end, but it seemed like Rose knew more about his situation than anybody else he'd met, so he'd tolerate it for the time being.

Suddenly, a messenger ran through the fort shouting for Kaiser. Kaiser, Lavitz, and Shana all came outside, as everyone gathered around the messenger to hear what was so urgent. "It's the Seventh Fort in the Marshlands!" he stated, breathing heavily, "they're under attack by a dragon!"

"What?!" Kaiser said in a pained voice, as he held his abdomen painfully. He had apparently been injured in the battle last night. "Kaiser, be careful! Your wound..." Lavitz said with great concern for Kaiser's well-being.

"Damn it! I can't do anything in this state..." Kaiser moaned.

"Don't worry about it! I can still fight! I will offer my assistance to the Seventh Knighthood!" Lavitz said with determination.

"Are you sure you're all right? That Giganto really did a number on you," Kaiser asked with uncertainty.

"Just a few scuffs and bruises. I'm fine," Lavitz assured him.

"It won't matter. Only a Dragoon can defeat a dragon," Rose said with a sort of smug superiority.

"Then, can I count on you and Dart for assistance?"

Rose shrugged, and looked back to Squall for the answer. Squall raised an eyebrow at her odd behavior.

"...Whatever."