While he would be the first to admit his ignorance of female body language, Duncan picked up on Yoko's attitude quickly, though he had no way of chastising her without dropping appearances. Privately determining to have a quiet chat with the girl later, he gave Mei a professional but friendly smile, prompting her and her companion to continue. Duncan pointedly ignored Gracelyn's sarcastic entrance, aware that he probably deserved the sass for sending them out on such a daft errand to begin with. When the contacts finally began their debrief he lit a cigarette, taking long slow drags as he analysed what was being said. No new data for SeeD of course, but the important thing wasn't what was said but [i]how.[/i] Garden didn't yet fully trust the Faction given it's history with Galbadia, but this contract was simply too lucrative to let go; it would be up to Duncan and his team on the ground to decide just how to handle them. Mei didn't seem to be lying at any point, nor withholding any information; perhaps the Faction didn't have access to the same amount of intel as SeeD? Or was the girl just so low on the totem pole that the higher ups didn't give her all the information? it was hard to be sure, but he suspected that Mei herself was clean; time would tell whether the Faction itself was too.

[b]'That, my good Jericho, is where we come in.'[/b] Duncan stepped forward with Yoko, giving the contacts a polite nod as he took centre stage. [b]'Garden intelligence has identified him as one Major Wiggs of the Presidential Guard. His record is covered in red tape but reading between the lines, it looks like he's spent time in the special forces and even served as Deling's bodyguard for a time.'[/b] Stepping forward to place a holographic display on the table, Yoko couldn't help but smirk at how much better organised SeeD was looking so far; the Faction certainly had money, but it was sorely lacking in information and professionalism. The hologram sparked to life a few seconds later, revealing a middle aged man in a dress officer's uniform. Walking around the table slowly, Yoko pointed to a number of annotations on the hologram. [b]'Major Wiggs is a savant when it comes to CQB, but otherwise his mind is, shall we say, lacking. Interestingly, before he joined the Presidential Guard he was a promising officer with high marks at both the academy and university. It is unknown whether his mental regression is psychological in nature or if the Guards receive some kind of mental conditioning. In either eventuality, he will not go down easily.'[/b] The two of them soon settled down to explain the next day's plan, dismissing the team some hours later once all the details had been thrashed out. As the team dispersed, Duncan called Mei's companion to one side. [b]'I had some accommodation prepared for you, but I'm afraid we only expected one contact.'[/b] He gave the young man an apologetic smile. [b]'I'd nick the bed first if I were you.'[/b]


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[b]'All teams, report in.[/b]
From his vantage point atop one of the garrison's many guard towers, Duncan swept his rifle across the parade square to get a feel for the area. Patrols were light and the lookout had been asleep when the SeeD had scaled the tower to slit his throat. Clearly the Galbadian Army had grown lazy after almost twenty years of occupying Timber; indeed while there were rumoured to be many resistance groups in the city, there hadn't been a single attack in almost a decade. Whether that was the work of Galbadian spooks or ineptitude on the rebels' part was unclear. [b]'Kein here, I'm in position by the carpool.'[/b] Duncan cast an eye over to the left, where Kein and two others were poised to steal a getaway truck; only a handful of the team would egress that way but since they would be taking the target with them, it was a high priority task. [b]'Good man. Keep alert, I see two patrols in your area.'[/b] For once the plan was stupidly simple; kick down the front door, slaughter the garrison and kidnap the officer. Kein's team would drive Wiggs out of the city, then make their way back to the safehouse via the sewer system; by the time the target reached SeeD's ahdoc holding cell, the rest of the team would be clinking glasses for a job well done. The other two teams would soon be in position too; both the front and rear entrances of the main garrison building would need to be breached at the same time, while Duncan provided sniper support and mission control from outside. A textbook snatch and grab, SeeD style. He waited patiently for the others to report in.