[i]Shit, that's a lotta blood...[/i] Syrus had the worst of it; the Major's attack had caved the poor guy's chest in and now Kein had to work furiously to keep his guts from spilling out. Good thing he had his full medical kit too; Syrus was too far gone for simple curative magic. A few expensive Curagas and Regens had sealed the flesh and started to mend those powdered ribs, but the SeeD had slipped into a coma that could last weeks, if not more. At least his other patient was conscious, barely; Freya's arm had been snapped in two and thrown into a solid wall. The impact would have knocked most out instantly, but somehow the SeeD had endured. But no matter how tough she was, it would take time to heal such a majorly broken bone. With the last of Syrus' guts secured, Kein administered a sedative to them both... and then a big dose to Wigg's colossal bulk too, just in case. the other two extraction team members bickered back and forward as they strapped Major in place; with solid steel cords criss-crossing his body, there should be no chance of him moving even f he did wake up. [i]Probably.[/i]

[b]'Military intelligence.',[/b] Duncan replied vaguely, not even sure who had asked. At this point they needed any information possible about Galbadian troop movements in the region, especially given the ultimate aim of this deployment. [b]'... With Wiggs gone, I assume they'll assign a new commander here, but...'[/b] He paused mid-explanation as a small figure made its presence known before him. [i]Eika's doll?[/i] About the only thing he knew about the mysterious PuPu doll was that it regularly provided him with apples; it occurred to Duncan that he had begun to take that for granted... [b]'... but by taking copies of Wiggs' files, we can stay one step ahead of them when they do.'[/b] [i]Elixir? What, the medicine?[/i] He knew where the doll was pointing and could guess what it was trying to say; it still took an inordinate amount of willpower to turn toward the exhausted Eika. [b]'Uh... Well. You look like hell, um... no, I mean you look well, given the... the... circumstances...'[/b] Duncan Lerwick was not a man easily given to embarrassment but the moment he looked into his erstwhile student's eyes, he felt a furious blush overtake him. [i]Shit. Shit. Focus. Be professional. Shit. Fuck.[/i] It wasn't as though she had professed her undying love or anything, all Eika had done was draw some of his magic; the fact that she had chosen such a... [i]direct[/i] method was irrelevant. [b]'I can give you more support magic, if you need- wait, no. Didn't mean it like that, I... Fuck it.'[/b] His dignity utterly spent, Duncan threw up his hands in surrender and began casting a battery of support magic upon her, once again avoiding her gaze...

[b]'These may prove of interest to you.'[/b] [i]Oh thank fuck, a distraction![/i] He skimmed the files Jake handed over, nodded vaguely in reply; he was right though. The outcome at Dollet had been a disaster for both sides, but from a military standpoint, the Galbadians had had total superiority without needing to bring in extra reinforcements. Considering the size of the army that hit Dollet, that implied a substantial and disturbing increase in the size of the Galbadian Army; if they had invaded Dollet six months earlier it would have taken up all their reserves. Was the President gearing up for a larger conflict..? There were other useful bits in there too, little gems that Garden Intelligence could use. [b]'Thanks Jake. Corvo's gonna love this...'[/b] For a moment at least, Duncan was able to regain his composure. [b]'Alright team, listen up! Primary directive is achieved, time for exfil. You know the drill, split up and make it back to camp in twos; avoid conflict, but if you can't then draw them away from the base before breaking contact. I'll see you there.'[/b] [i]And now for the awkward part...[/i] Each SeeD had a designated partner for the return to base; Duncan had planned to go back with Syrus but in the circumstances... He bit the bullet. [b]'Eika, you come with me. We'll head back through the train lines.'[/b] As the team split up, he led the injured girl eastward out of the compound and into the service tunnels that led to Timber Station. Duncan braced himself for a very awkward walk home...

As the others split up, Kein and the other two SeeDs were getting the car ready for their escape. He couldn't drive for shit and the other two had set up guns so they could hang out the windows for protection; that left Xerox in the hotseat. [b]'Hey man, hurry up! The engine's hot and I got a satnav set up to lead us out to the first sewer outlet.'[/b] He grimaced, knowing full-well how bad those sewers were gonna be. With the dead and wounded loaded on to the jeep, getting back to the base was gonna be a mission.