An unprovoked attack against a neighboring country, an assault by a strike team deep into enemy territory, and a declaration of war against the world plunges a previously peaceful existence into bitterness and chaos. Thrust into the ensuing madness is a young man named Squall Leonhart, a cadet in the Garden military academy of Balamb. A lone wolf by the standards of others, Squall's relentless drive to become the best leads him into SeeD, an elite mercenary unit. His final test as a graduating cadet of SeeD is to settle the growing hostilities between the neighboring countries of Galbadia and Dollet. What was already a confusing set of events takes a turn for the worst when Galbadia begins its invasion on the rest of the world.

         For Squall, the turmoil of the world around him is nothing compared to the turmoil inside of him; his encounter with a free-spirited young woman named Rinoa Heartilly has turned his well-ordered universe upside down. As an intense man who thrives in the regimented discipline of the military academy, Squall finds Rinoa's carefree attitude fascinating. Yet there is no time to ponder these thoughts, for Galbadia's irrational hostility has been linked to a sorceress named Edea, a powerful magic user.

The job of dealing with this new threat has fallen to Squall and the rest of SeeD. Focused on this new task, they can only ponder what the future will hold.