 Politics, magic, technology and pure human emotion fuel a quest for answers in this installment of the wildly popular Final Fantasy series. The hero of the story is Squall Leonhart, a somewhat troubled teen who is a student at the military academy known as Balamb Garden. As the game starts, the antisocial and introverted Squall is preparing to take the final steps to becoming a member of Garden s elite mercenary force called SeeD. During the required field exam, Squall s group (including his hated rival, the brash and arrogant Seifer Almasy) uncovers the beginnings of a plot by the nation of Galbadia, a global superpower with a tyrannical ruler. Squall and his comrades, Selphie Tilmitt and Zell Dincht, are SeeDs less than a day before being assigned to a mission in the Galbadian-occupied country of Timber. It is there that Squall meets Rinoa Heartilly, the young and passionate leader of a rebel faction. It is soon discovered that Galbadian President-for-Life Vinzer Deling has allied himself with the mysterious Sorceress Edea, and it falls to Squall and SeeD to stop them. Squall must overcome the pain of his past if he is to win the day--and Rinoa s heart.