It didn't take long for Duncan to reach the mansion, even with the odd tail that needed shooting. As he trudged up the stairs into the house, he was greeted with a scene of organised chaos within. A dozen aides and soldiers ran to and fro, carrying bundles of paperwork one way and weapons the other. His father was overseeing the work, yelling orders in typical dictatorial fashion. [b]'... Busy preparing for the takeover, Father? I hope you don't need us to deal with the Senate as well.'[/b] Duncan's flippant attitude soon changed as Constantine turned to give him a hard glare. [b]'Use your brain, boy. Something has gone seriously wrong. My contacts within the Security Agency have gone dark, they have agents attacking key Faction targets and I've lost all contact with the Army outside of Deling City.'[/b] To his son's horror, the Field Marshal produced and lit a cigar; the last time Duncan had seen his father smoke, the nation had nearly gone to war with Esthar. It was a clear sign that he was rattled. [b]'I don't know what's going on Duncan, but we have been outplayed.'[/b] The SeeD hadn't hung around to listen.

[b]'All SeeD callsigns, repeat all SeeDs this net; regroup at the mansion immediately, out.'[/b] He ran upstairs, his mind racing through the possibilities. They had already established that it had been the PSA tailing them, but he had passed it off as typical black ops spook stuff, just them keeping an eye on their investment. But for the Agency to be directly attacking their erstwhile allies, something had gone seriously wrong. Reaching his bags in his old bedroom, Duncan rummaged around until he found a plain black canister; the ICE contingency plans, courtesy of Head Instructor Corvo. It was only to be opened in case of a mission critical emergency, but if this didn't count then nothing would. He broke the seals and unravelled what turned out to be a detailed set of instructions for various contingencies. [b]'Come on, come on... Betrayal by employer, betrayal by SeeD infiltrator, WMD- [i]aha.[/i]'[/b] The document was entitled 'Interference from Outside Organisation and/or Unknown National Conspiracy'. Fitting, considering the part SeeD had played so far. He headed back downstairs, sitting at the now empty round table to mull over the paperwork. It was surprisingly detailed, explaining the multiple exfiltration strategies Corvo had planned as well as likely routes by which they might be pursued. Unfortunately, every plan required them to escape the city first... Duncan looked up as the first of the others began to show up. [b]'Well done team. Solid execution.'[/b] He smiled grimly. [b]'But I think things are gonna get worse before they get better.'[/b] He waited for the others to turn up, every so often flicking through another page of the increasingly complicated contingency plan.