Perhaps Syrus' attitude was to be expected; the lad was a bit overly emotional, perhaps too much so to be a professional mercenary. Duncan suppressed a sigh as he watched the Marx jump aboard the airship alongside Syrus, glumly taking a mental note of the incident; it would have to be taken into account when calculating Syrus' test score. It wasn't that he didn't feel for the guy though... Duncan had chosen Garden over a true military life to escape Corvo's ideal of professional soldiery and yet it hounded him even here. To his chagrin, he realised that Xerox had been talking for some time.
'Uh, price? As in buying price or cost to produce?' The instructor scratched his head, thrown by the randomness of the query. Garden used its own designed airship, built to high spec from the best materials on the market... so maybe...
'Maybe... something in the region of, say... three to five million Gil? As a conservative estimate?' It was probably a damn sight more to be honest; the armour alone probably cost over a million.
At this point he was starting to regret asking for questions. As he moved on to the next examinee, Duncan took note of the sudden gloomy air surrounding Eika.
Oh for the love of... Perfect time to ask the big questions, seconds before starting a mission. He had suspected Eika to be fretting over her family but apparently she had more concern for the enemy; strange kid. But she raised a fair point, one that Duncan had spent a number of years studiously avoiding; was being a SeeD and fighting on money morally justifiable? Probably not. Was killing for money justifiable? No. Had that ever stopped him before? Of course not. So... how does a fighting man answer such philosophy?
'Well... I don't know. Tell me how you feel after the test, any revelations on the matter.' He left it at that, believing it to be one of those questions that everyone needed to answer for themselves. Duncan gave the last of the group a grateful nod, glad that at least of of them had her head on straight. Between doubt, emotion and Craft's pure mechanical ADD, he was starting to fear for their safety...
Duncan took one last look around the entrance, burning it into his mind as he always did before a mission; for all he knew, this could be his last. A few staff and students mingled around, perhaps to see the examinees off. But... there was one who was running, a young woman, barreling straight toward him - and tripping. She went completely arse over tit in a spectacular roll, ending up near Duncan's feet.
'O-oi... you alri-' Before he could finish, she sprung back to her feet and planted a wadge of paperwork in his hands, apologising for her lateness. As far as he knew, there wasn't anything for her to be late for...
Ah, he thought, reading through the paperwork.
God fucking damn you Dorn... A late transfer apparently; normally she would have been assigned to a normal SeeD squad since her admission was so late, but Dorn (the sly barstard) had stuck her with his squad, without any way of him knowing her training or capabilities. Exasperated, Duncan lit up a cigarette and took a deep, calming drag.
'Fuck's sake... Alright then, Riella is it? You're with us for the test, jump aboard. I'll introduce you to the squad and brief everyone once we're in the air.' After waving the last of the students onto the airships, Duncan took his place. Once he was aboard, the engines picked up and the airships gracefully lifted off, heaving westward over the sea.
'Good morning boys and girls. As per international law, we are now classified as hostile combatants in the war between the Republic of Galbadia and the Dukedom of Dollet. The flight will last just over thirty minutes and for the last five we will be in range of enemy AA emplacements; expect flak.' He spoke over the airship's built-in radio, activating a holographic panel set in the floor. A 3D map of Dollet appeared, annotations and markers appearing as he spoke.
'Before we get too in depth, I need to introduce a last minute addition to our roster; Riella Pelax, a master of... ninjutsu... Well fuck it, if she can fight that's all that matters. She's on the other bird at the moment, so those over there introduce yourselves.' He looked down at the transfer notification, which included a rather detailed dossier on Riella and her fighting ability. After a few seconds thought, he cast it out the side of the airship. Paperwork was useless where they were going.
'Back to the important bit. The main thrust of SeeD operations will be toward Lapin Beach; the rest of the force will land and from there, secure the city. We will not be entering the city proper; instead, SeeD candidates are to land on the north side of the city and secure a power substation commandeered by the Galbadians as a resupply and refueling point for their war mechs.' The map zoomed in on a point just outside the city's northern bounds, near the base of the cliffs. A number of structures stood clustered together, including a set of tall pylons.
'We are to and I quote, 'Neutralise the facility via invasive and/or explosive means'. In other words we need to blow that shit up. Xerox and Charlotte will be responsible for this; magic, robots, whatever you can find. Take those electrical towers down. The rest of us will back you up.' He didn't mention the large number of soldiers likely guarding the facility; rather, their presence was to be taken for granted.
'Once again... Any questions? He glanced as his watch.
'Touchdown in fifteen minutes.'
