The slap jarred Duncan from his semi-concious state and he grimaced through the pain while searching for the offender. So... he had been captured. His fault of course, never should have let his guard down. Still, it was embarrassing for an experienced SeeD to be taken by a handful of grunts... not to mention that Galbadia had something of a reputation for treating prisoners badly. He would know; his father had always bragged about the number of Timber soldiers he had executed during the invasion. [i]Doesn't leave much hope for me... shit.[/i] Refocusing his gaze, he looked up at the soldier before him. An officer probably, wearing that textbook I Have You Now glare... [i]Fuck my life...[/i] [b]'... I guess I have. Then again, I'm sure you've caused your share of trouble for the good people of Dollet, hm?'[/b] He tried to put on a tough front but for all his training, without his junctions Duncan was just a normal man; he wouldn't last long if they brought out the thumb screws. SeeD generally had a good track record for recovering lost agents, but this time around he had gone off-mission to an area not covered by Garden intelligence... he doubted that anyone even knew he was missing. A series of muffled explosions in the distance brought him some measure of satisfaction at least. [b]'Ooh... hear that? That'd be those towers coming down. Right on top of what's left of your friends at the substation. What with the others clearing the city and wiping out the rest of you vermin, it's a pretty bad day to be a Galbadian soldier.'[/b] Duncan gave a bloody grin, determined to give a good show if nothing else.

---

[b]'Yeah... I suck so hard man...'[/b] At least he was functional, though Kein was still terrified that he might have gotten the rest of the candidates killed through his incompetence. [b]'Wait, Duncan's alive? How do you know?'[/b] He vaguely remembered Eika being some kind of clairvoyant but he didn't put much stock in such things. Surely they weren't going off-mission purely on a whim..? The number of questions was rapidly outpacing answers and Kein felt powerless to resist the peer pressure. [i]We're gonna fail. We're so gonna fail.[/i] He staggered along with Syrus' assistance as the pain faded, determined to catch up with Eika before she did something rash. The sudden appearance of another figure almost caught him off-guard, but Kein was able to recover into a combat stance and... and it was a false alarm. Heaving an anxious sigh, he jogged up to the SeeD and saluted. [b]'Kein Marx, class F-2. I uh... I've been unconscious for a while so I don't know where the others are.'[/b] He nodded after a rapidly disappearing Eika. [b]'I don't know where she's going but, the others a-and the instructor... Aw, you know what? Fuck it! Fuck it all, I'm goin' with her. I don't care anymore.'[/b] Throwing his arms up in surrender, Kein gave up thinking and charged off after Eika; they had all failed this test anyway... might as well go hilt deep and shaft some Galbadians.

---

When Rue found Vinzer, it was lying by the side of the road, its wings pockmarked with bullet holes. The bitebug had scuttled as far as it could on legs not built for the weight but its strength had given out. Whether or not it understood the moomba was unclear, but it waved a limb in tired acquiescence. Summoning up the last of its energy, Vinzer climbed up Rue's furry arm to nestle in his mane; until it got treatment for its wings, the bug was pretty much dead weight.