A small pile of burnt out cigarettes lay at Duncan's feet as he poured over the notes gathered the night before. It would probably have been safer to do so indoors, but he needed the fresh air after working on the prisoner. He hadn't consulted with Mei yet, but going by the standing orders given by Garden command in conjunction with those of the Faction, he already knew their next objective. The support team had been hard at work overnight, planning a suitable exfiltration plan for both elements of the team; an airship would pick the wounded up from a location along the coast, while the main team headed toward the capital. Despite his misgivings Duncan had also elected to leave a team behind in Timber; acting as both reserves in case of more casualties and a reliable source of information, it would be Yoko's first command. It'd also cut the numbers right back for the field team, which was a double-edged sword... As much as he would prefer to have the numbers, stealth was their main priority from now on. Duncan paused his thoughts, irritably flicking a strand of hair from his eyes; that had been happening all damn night... Perhaps he needed a hair cut. Come to think of it, his shoulders ached too... Probably just the strain of yesterday's battle. Flicking away the last fag-end, he headed back into the base.

Before he could key the entrance, it opened from within and he found himself face to face with an unfamiliar girl, be-speckled and rather in his strike zone... He instantly dropped into a combat stance, one hand shooting toward the combat knife at his hip. But before Duncan could call this stranger out, another one popped up behind her, prompting him to draw and prepare to throw the knife. Something stopped him... some odd sense of familiarity... As the two of them bickered back and forth, the truth slowly began to dawn on him. [b]'What... did you do... Xerox?'[/b] Finally Duncan's eyes dropped down to his own... breasts... He (she?) stood still for the longest moment, totally absorbed by what he found under his shirt. The knife dropped to the floor with a resounding clatter and his distrubingly slender hands soon found their way onto his chest. [b]'... Fuck me, they're huge...'[/b] A giddy grin snaked across Duncan's freshly feminine features as he ran his hands up and down his body, excitedly exploring every nook and cranny. [b]'X-Xerox, you're a fucking genius!'[/b] It seemed that some of the others had avoided... whatever the Hell their resident mad scientist had done, as evidenced by the remarkable calm displayed by Jake. [i]As expected of a Galbadia Garden student; nothing fucks him.[/i] But what of the others..? Duncan felt a sudden burning curiosity for the others in the team... What would Syrus look like, or Kein? And w-what about Eika..? He dashed into the building, an immensely girly grin on his face. If this was only temporary, he was damn well gonna make the most of it.

[hr]

It took him some hours to get over the euphoric daze of having tits, but Duncan calmed down in time for the evening's briefing. He called everyone together and tried to maintain his usual professional air, even though he now barely fit into his shirt. [b]'Alright then kids, it's time to move onto the next phase of the operation.'[/b] Yoko (one of the few to avoid Xerox gender-bending spree) flicked on a projector with a map of the Galbadian continent. A dozen major and minor cities were marked, along with transport links between them. [b]'From here we split into three groups; the injured will evac to Balamb along with half the support team while the rest remain here under Ono's command. The rest of you, i.e. the field team plus a few replacements, will continue on to Deling City.'[/b] He smiled flatly. [b]'I'm sure you can all guess what we're going to do there, but keep it to yourselves. The plan will be relayed to you [i]in situ.[/i] Our priority is getting on the right train.'[/b] At Duncan's nod, a member of the support team spoke up. [b]'We uh, acquired some tickets for the intercity trains. They're being checked just outside of DC though, so you'll have to get off at a service station a few miles outside the city. From there you can catch a taxi into town. Sir?'[/b] As she spoke, the information flashed up on the projector. The station was barely an hour's walk from the city limits and just outside of the recently installed security cordon. [b]'Deling's paranoia grows with each passing day, quite rightfully I might add. With the extra checkpoints on public transport, a cab is our best bet.'[/b] 

Pausing for a moment, Duncan's thoughts were interrupted by burst of static from the team's open radio. An icy dagger pierced him; no-one was supposed to have that frequency bar top level Garden staff. It was meant for emergencies only... Steeling himself for the worst, Duncan pressed the transmit button. [b]'Bravo, identify yourself. ID numbers please. I wasn't informed of any additional support.'[/b] While he had good reason to be suspicious, there was at least the certainty that the line wasn't tapped. They could say what they liked without fear of giving up information.