[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/vRUKakI.jpg[/img]
[sup][color=7d7d7d]"And so begins our requiem; our repose for the souls of the damned and fallen."[/color][/sup]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/1VZ8uq5.png[/img][/center]
[hr][sub][i][color=405159]SOLIDER Base; command hub and centre.[/color][/i][/sub]
[hr][indent][color=e4ebef][i]E[/i]yes of a writhing, tumultuous cerulean peered heavily trough gilded lashes and heavy-laden lids of a somber reflection: their depths endless and extracting; deducing with a critical intent and perception that shifted through the images flickering rapidly across an azure coded screen. The message was cryptic and burdened with the mystery akin to the code it had been transmuted into, done by her very gestures nimble and precise over the various symbols gleaming in illuminations of the common tongue. Poised to strike the sequences of proper keys, the producer of Saboteurs and infiltration replayed the code thrice, letting it sink into the conglomerated hypothesizes teeming about a mind constantly warped. A scowl descended over a perpetually apathetic glamour, creasing the pout of her lip as a grimace displayed.

This was a silent feud of rapid coding, trying to defuse and decimate the assault of bits and data that swelled and fused into a matrix of complexity. Galloping after her prey with fingers descending rapidly across the lit board, Elite SOLIDER Magdalena traded blow for blow with her adversary with a mute efficiency despite the frustration beginning to illustrate across the usual indifference she was infamous for.

Every bit of the battle field was escalated and carried over signals, transferring to one wall and penetrating barriers meant to diffuse these particular assaults. Magdalena's concentration increased ten fold, erupting her from her delegated seat and posture as she shot up, hammering her keyed-in persecution with more lethal elegance. The control center echoed with her copious amounts of inputs, bouncing from steel plated wall to steel plated wall all bundled up in the azure glow of her screen. More lights flickered to life, summoned by the introduction of two more individuals as they descended into Magdalena's office whilst she gathered up the force of her modules to finally pin down the hacker attempting to break into her system. 

"Lena, calm down." A smooth baritone commanded finally, fringed with a soft, underground and buried tone of affection and reprimand. Calloused fingers assuaged over tresses long since grown and styled into a curious tail piled onto her crown, soft strands slid through thick digits and the distressed master of sabotage gradually stilled and sighed. Narrow shoulders bunched, but didn't flinch as she palmed away his touch, giving only a slight, reassuring squeeze in silent gratitude in being grounded.

"I'm sorry Rene.. SeeR hackers are good, almost too good. I'm barely able to decipher this code and date, it keeps changing." She admitted, plying away from her station and gesturing to the constant, eye-searing wink of the text nearly mocking her capabilities.

"You sure it's meant for us?" Articulate, smooth, and luscious in all its cadence, another voice conjoined with the duo as an ebonette of a tall, confident stature peered at the offending message. Her brow fell, perplexity illustrated across her visage whilst the glanced to her beloved companions. "Or the higher ups? Has President Rayne been informed yet?"

"No," the smallest uttered, perching dexterous fingers on the pout of her lip and the slope of her chin. "I just received the interference through the usual scan on the database. I detected the small bleep when I was running diagnostics on the defenses." She indicated to the mass of her board. "I've been attempting to crack and pin-point it since.”

"Think they are just trying to test the systems?" The tallest, Rene, inquired, with thick arms crossed overly a barrel chest as he stared down at the petite form of his wife. She was admirable and well regarded at her occupation, years of training and endless nights of perfecting her skills had honed and primed well into the residing commander and secluded hand that twisted, and manipulated the massive amount of spy networks webbing across Viera like the tendrils of an unpleasant beast. To witness her out of sorts and visibly troubled was alarming enough, the SOLIDER network and base had been impenetrable for years by SeeR hackers plucking and pecking at the firewalls she had purposely designed - of which he had been privy to by spouse privileges and applying his own intelligence into fortifying the capital mainframe. 

"That would make sense, if they aren't attempting to plague the data with viruses, seems logical that they are trying to test how well we can pin-point and crack it." The ebonette, Olivia, provided, gesturing idly with her slender hands that were poised, deadly, and every bit of refined as her infiltrating friend glaring eternally at the screen equally harsh and glaring right back at them.

"That may be..." She began, and braced her palms against the board, illuminating strands of light shining through the membrane of her fingers, tinging their edges vermilion. "But there's more to it, the particular sequences used is a code I designed for my Sabotuers to use during transfers so SeeR wouldn't be able shadow the data and matrix." 

Silence descended, swelling into a pregnant pause and only punctuated by their quiet eyes and expressions. Years of working in flawless unison had conceived the ability to read one another without a break in their countenances to betray what was reflecting in the depths of their shared gazes.

"So who else would know to use this code on purpose?" Olivia murmured, ill-prophecy coating her voice thick, making her usual accent drop a few octaves. It was a voice used only on her subordinates and it often replaced altruistic methods with something far darker: hardened and worn and leaving no gaping access. 

"You won't like the answer," was Magdalena's sullen response, her fingers redoubling their efforts and hammering back into the code and resuming her endeavors. A swift look passed between Olivia and Rene, the latter who had remained silent during the exchange, but the harsh border of his glare was enough to give wealth to what he thought about the situation and the answer he knew that Magdalena wasn't prepared to give. 

Deserters were hardly tolerated by the capital, most were exiled or imprisoned until their selected days during the trials. However, SOLDIER, was far more ruthless. Swift executions were carried silently and usually without the media to feed and backbone the courts. There were some, though, that were beyond SOLIDER reach and these were the betrayers whom were hidden deep into the thicket of SeeR rebels and swarmed by the masses to keep them from being found. Such cases were rare and usually snuffed by proper channels and methods, but two recording cases were left open like gaping, yawning wounds on the SOLIDER protocol, and Rene didn't like the ominous dread settling across the broad width of his shoulders as his wife continued to hack and work against their current enemy.

A trio of eyes: azure, peridot, and sable, suddenly flickering to the pallid text spaced there, the complex coding singled and finalized down to the cryptic drop that suddenly bore down on their shoulders and was growing cumbersome the longer they were transfixed by this threat of no ill-words, but only silent malice. 

[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/pvJCqYD.gif[/img][/center]

“What does that even mean, we know what you are?” Rene hedged, hooking his index fingers into quoting bites as his mouth wore into a smirk. “We know what we are too, SOLIDER isn’t exactly a hidden existence.”

“That’s who we are, what.. implies something else.” Magdalena whispered, her voice often pitched low and heavy, the tolls of a funeral march; dulls bells and all. “What we are, versus, who we are is meant to be two entirely different things.” 

“That doesn’t make sense, SeeR has been fixated on gaining more sympathizers as the days go by, why try to expose something that Viera is aware of?” Olivia voiced quietly, her dulcet tone still fringed in stone. "Unless, this is the reason why you won't answer my question." She directed the inquiry to her pale companion whom had won the assault, but was left peculiar and disturbed.

"We should inform President Rayne." Was all she said and gnashed her slight finger against her screen, trying to pry at the words displayed and dig out the text as if to present it physically. The following mirage of numbers and letters in a foreign repetition was all she could see and there was only one person who knew the exact specifications of her coding and gateway. Olivia was visibly displeased with her response, but her slender fingers clasping over Magdalena's, and giving a slight cinch of their conjoined touch, was enough to dissuade her disagreement. 

"I'll gather the council." And she departed, intent on doing just that with the resonating clack of her armour being the key of her departure. Magdalena quietly sighed, a deep sound pitched in her throat as she dismantled the data once more, taking reassurance in her husband's silent companionship, though she knew very well the amount of fury that was boiling away beneath his extremities. He wouldn't lash out to her, no, save the out bursts for the council and President. A quick glance proved that theory the further she began prying into the matrix of her enemy, and tried not to wince at the familiarity laid bare for her to witness now that she had captured it.[/color][/indent]
[hr][sub][i][color=405159]SOLIDER Base; Council Room.[/color][/i][/sub][hr][indent][color=e4ebef][i]I[/i]t did not take long for the council to assemble, as Olivia's method of retrieval was swift and her summoning cryptic enough to bait the delegated members to gather on haste. The fact that SeeR had managed to penetrate into the mainframe was enough of an alarm, but also the obviously shaken hold it had placed onto one of her most trusted companions. She didn't much appreciate being excluded from the answer, upon which she knew the council would demand, but she did not possess the trust of the pale woman simply on chance; years and years of working together had been the foundation of their current friendship. The Elite SOLIDER stood with arms laced at her breast and carefully watched each of the council members as they filtered into the room and descend down the steps to their assigned settees. A sphere of Viera hung suspended above the round table with a soft glow on the cusp of the miniature model by the visual panel located in the centre. 

President Rayne was the last to gather; a man of tall stature, a thick brow and a penetrating gaze accompanied by his massive baritone that commanded attention and reverence. He was young, perhaps rumored to be too youthful to be in charge of the Dalmastice Government, but few were able to argue his ability to lead and herald intimidation in regards to those who opposed his reign. Often stationed at the SOLIDER base in Dalmasca, he was deeply wed and involved into their deployments and inner workings, despite that their ranks were controlled more so by their Commanders and Generals. Olivia quickly acknowledged the former and latter, giving swift dips of her head as a proof of respect as her leaders filed in.

A quiet cough sounded at her right, which earned a swift glance as the head doctor of the capital joined her down in the foyer. They were quiet, a true pacifist at heart when compared to their kin. Olivia welcomed Kim with a warm smile, easing the tensed bunch of zher shoulders as they stood beside her. Greetings and well-wishes would have to wait, despite Kim's parted lips to inquire after zher brother and Magdalena when Rayne suddenly spoke up.

"Well, Commander Celestine, we are all present. What is this prompt concern and meeting for?" He intoned, blanketing the room in his rich timbre.

Olivia made a small salute and gestured off to the flank where Magdalena and Rene came into view, earning soft smiles from the both of them at Kim's perked up visual and response as they stepped closer and turned to address the gathering.

"This morning, at precisely 0600 hours I found an irregular bleep in running diagnostics on the system." Magdalena approached the table and indicated towards the lit up pool in the centre and produced the code she had deciphered and had been formerly feuding with. Series of numbers and letters twisted into view, illuminating the veneers of her superiors as she carried on.

"At 0700 hours I was finally able to crack and dismantle and this cryptic message was lain in the remains of it." Another flourish and the aforementioned missive was displayed and various members of the council suddenly stilled, and Rayne's face even paled.

"Was this all that was relayed in the data?" He inquired brusquely, causing Rene to stir and Olivia's teeth to clench. Kim visibly flinched and gripped tight on zher belongings clutched in their grasp; all medical charts and precious data on SOLIDERS that they had been inclined to bring. A mission had been rumoured and floated through the residential quarters and SOLIDER recruits were becoming restless at the prospect of being sent into battle. They had been silent and peaceful for far too long.

"Yes, Mr. President." Magdalena finally supplied, clasping her hands behind her back and at her spine, addressing Rayne with her chin notched up and her gaze cool and still. There was a pause, a dragged out, chilling pause that caused each of the SOLIDERS present suddenly to feel threatened and on edge - there was more to this message than Rayne and the gathered council was comfortable with addressing, especially with them present among the fold. Eyes glanced to one another, a silent thought, a single string of words and symbols passed between shared gazes and swift nods, and Rayne suddenly speaks once more; it's final.

"I was led aware, Commander Abendroth-Faye, that the defenses you designed were impenetrable. Now you're telling me that some insignificant SeeR hacker was able to go beyond that and as far as to try and play against us." 

"With all due respect Mr. President, I was not anticipating an attack of his caliber, SeeR has remained psychical in their intent and gaining more sympathizers." She paused, debating with herself to continue on, and Rene was already shaking his head in a silent refusal as she tacked on: "And the message was able to be transferred thus because they used the very code I crafted for my Saboteurs."

A collective of murmurs and hushed voices exchanged, droning into a plethora of backdrop noises that was muted under Rayne's tone.

"So you mean to tell me one of our own has deserted ranks and now has taken to the SeeR cause and used [i]your[/i] gateway and such to place this ruse among us?"

"Yes." She answered in a clipped tone, coiling tight with the edge of his baritone slicing her down to the marrow.

There was further exchange among the council, Generals whispering to one another whilst Rayne continued to peer endlessly at Magdalena. In their silent companionship, Rene, Olivia and Kim quietly stepped up beside her, poised much like she was save for Kim continuing their clasp on the pamphlets in their collection. It did not go unnoticed by President Rayne whom passed his eyes between each as if quietly assessing each of them; they were on the same side. What exactly did this text mean, as if each of the five words present posed such a threat of some reveal that would unravel Rayne and SOLIDER to the core. 

[i]... What are we?[/i]

"Commanders Abendroth-Faye, Celestine, and Faye, you are all here-by ordered and directed to ignore the contents of this message and relay all data to me and the council. This is obviously just a ploy on SeeR to try and scare us into thinking they've found a way into our mainframe and information. Such will not be tolerated, we'll respond accordingly and not just using simple and easily-stolen coding." President Rayne suddenly announced, earning a sharp retort that burned harsh and festered on the edge of Rene's tongue.

"The code-!"

"Silence Commander, less I already lose what restraint I have against your [i]wife[/i] for allowing this to occur." The threat hung above the SOLIDERS, angled just so to slice further and impale the pale warrior more so than she was already struck. It deserved silence and Rayne stood from her seating and boomed with such a magnitude, it echoed forth to the steel walls and elevated his command.

"Assemble some of our newest and best SOLIDERS. Traces of SeeR has been found in the tundra of Zalera where they've migrated down from Archadia, we've been configuring a mission for this since discovery. We need to put them down, wipe them out and send a message to whatever hacker believes that they can try and use these poor tactics against us. This will not be tolerated and will not go unpunished. Losing Rabanastre to the foolish plight was bad enough, I won't allow a single SeeR grunt into my Galbadia, not if I can exterminate them. And is that not your job, SOLIDERS?"

Olivia was the first to respond, bristling with such a fury and rage that the air crackled with her abundance of disbelief, small sparks danced on the fringes of her skin to illustrate her emotions. Oblivious to the difference, she was the first to depart from the meeting, allowing the gathering to dwell within the near, thunder like clap that was assumed to be a metal door slammed shut. Kim passed zher eyes between zher kin, clutching tighter on the information in hand and quietly gesturing for Rene and Magdalena to follow after Olivia, albeit not executing the same theatrics. Frigid azure passed with burning peridot and the former spoke: "Yes, Mr. President. There's a new batch of SOLIDERS that haven't been on the front lines yet, we'll send out the missive that they gather here."

"Very well, the details of the mission will be left with you in exchange for the data. You're [i]now[/i] dismissed." He concluded, gesturing with his chin and gloved sheathed fingers in such a manner that Rene didn't hesitate in dragging his sibling and partner from the foyer. The sound of steel and boot was amplified, following by such a roar of metal slamming shut that the council flinched in their seating and hurriedly composed themselves despite the resonating thunder of anger from the gargantuan SOLIDER.

Rayne only smiled.[/color][/indent]
[hr][sub][i][color=405159]SOLIDER Base; Residential Quarters.[/color][/i][/sub][hr][indent][color=e4ebef][i]I[/i]t was early, but SOLIDERS were prepped and conditioned to rise in the pre-dawn hours and the halls of the residential quarters were already full and teeming with warriors of various sizes and aesthetics. There was a collective buzz gossiped betwixt their routines, creating a whorl of activity that was intensified and impaled by the sudden flaring of lights that flickered red and white. Screens stationed on either width of the halls bloomed alive in colour, shuffling profile after profile and SOLIDER numerical that was used to identify the masses occurring with each. There was eleven of them, each of their designed identifications supported by the deep baritone that sounded over the speakers thrust up in to the ceiling of each hallway. Speakers sounded to life as each name was called out and each profile was repeatedly shuffled as he continued onto the next SOLIDER in the sequences of photographs and numbers.

[center][i]SOLIDERS one-four-eight through one-five-nine, First Class, assemble in the Council Room for a prompt mission. You have ten minutes.[/i][/center][/color][/indent]