Freya's new situation was enough for even her to wear a frown during the first hour. It bugged her enough to be transferred to a new platoon so hastily, but furthermore she was being shipped off to some stealth op, the worst kind of op. She figured there would be a whole lot of waiting and preparing, and that wasn't what she was about. No, she liked action. However, she also liked her paycheck. For now, she needed another way to entertain herself, and she did always like to know exactly who she was working for. Being a relative newcomer to SEED, she didn't know anyone really well in the platoon. She had heard Duncan's name a few times, but never knew exactly who he was until now. Without any specific or exciting orders -- the only kind she made an effort to follow -- she made the decision to try getting to know Duncan the only way she knew how without throwing her fists at him: rambling on and seeing what kind of person he was.
After waiting through Duncan's short briefing, tapping her uniformed thigh impatiently, she raised her hand. **"Hey, chief."** she called out to him. **"I'm one of the new guys on the block here. Got switched in right before this whole debacle went up, and then started to go down."** She paused for a moment, expression softening into one of contemplation. **"Okay, not switched, since you didn't have to give anything. So really, I'm like a gift, a babe at the doorstep that can walk, talk, punch, use paramagic, the whole bit."** She stopped, and then started talking again after a quick flash of realization. **"Oh, right, my point. Uh, I don't know what to do besides talk to ya man-to-guy-to-anyone-listenin', since nobody's shootin' at me and I don't think this place can be fixed up for anyone. I mean, this scrappy old shelter isn't much better than a dirt nap under a high pier. Not the 'bein' not-alive and buried' kind of dirt nap either, but the 'diggin' a hole out and sleepin' in the sand when your folks are too mad at ya to let ya in late at night,' kind of dirt nap. "**
[IC] Final Fantasy VIII: Tempus Veneficarum [7/10 Slots] Page 9
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Jericho nodded to Duncan and then led the way out of the old air raid shelter back outside through the public bathroom that their new headquarters connected to then out into the city. Unfortunately, Jericho had been forced to leave his scythe behind because of it's size, and admittedly it would be his luck that one of few soldiers to have survived the comm tower would be here visiting or something, but he carried two pistols in substitute, not willing to be completely unarmed in case the two of them found trouble. "Alright, so where to secure provisions..." During the train ride over, Jericho had spent a considerable amount of time familiarizing himself with Timber and now he had to decide which places that had provisions would be the best choice.
On one hand, they could just hit up a store, pay for their provisions, and head back. But they were faced with two problems with that. The first was they could be counted as new by anyone who didn't recognize them, and they hadn't worked on a cover story if someone asked them what they were up to. The second was they would need to make multiple trips to get enough provisions. "So Gracelyn. How should we go about business?"
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Before the train left, Xerox and Rue packed up the turret, miscellaneous material and stored them away. The SeeD who did not know much about Xerox were still confused as to what was going on. Well, this let him talk it up on the train, without giving the information they wanted away. It kept him company and let him find out about the other SeeD. Always dodging the question, while making them laugh as he did so. Ever so slyly.
Eventually the train reached Timber, and they were lead to the safehouse, where they were debriefed by Duncan. Well, it wasn't really a debriefing, just a *we are staying here, deal with it. Also someone get food* in it's simplest form. Xerox gave a shout to Jericho and Gracelyn. "Could you get me some canned coffee?" After which, a number of others gave requests. *Probably should not have done what Duncan did. Oh well.* he thought to himself.
With the time he had, Xerox thought he should continue one of his projects. While rummaging through his **ESS** he found something which was shaped as a rifle. Well actually, it was technically one, however, highly modified. Staring at it for a moment, both Xerox and Rue were trying to remember what it was they were working on with this, before Rue remembered, and tugged Xerox's shirt. "Hm?" Xerox quizzically looked at Rue, whom was starting to motion his hands (or paws) and made a high pitched whistle. "Oh! Right!"
Remembering, Xerox dismantled part of the rifle, making sure the two firing mechanisms were in there, and everything was set up correctly. Making a few tweaks, he reassembled the rifle and attached a bayonet and walked over to Duncan. "Yo. Got something for ya." Throwing the rifle over to Duncan, "Don't know if you remember that time, cause I am pretty sure you got drunk then too, but, you went on about shooting magic from a gun. Well, this is an experimental weapon for you could try out. On the side, there's a switch, to go from regular bullets to paramagic. Basically, you load your paramagic into the gun, it will concentrate it, and you can aim and shoot it like a bullet. Upon impact, it should activate the paramagic. It should handle basic spells like Fire, Scan, Cure, Thunder and etc., however, it will probably break with like 3 Fira shots or something like that. If something's wrong with it, just tell me so I can make revisions. Up to you if you use it though."
With that explanation, Xerox moved a short distance away, to get a little room, to start working on another project.
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Duncan tried not to smirk as Jericho led Gracelyn out of the bunker. While the assignment was little more than a joke, he had in fact given them the best of the work at hand, or at least the least worst; the rest of them would be setting up camp bed and clearing the plumbing all night... Just as he was about to begin giving out work assignments, one of the others spoke up. While he doubted that Freya had met many of the others in the team, Duncan himself had spent some time examining her dossier before adding her to the roster; he had after all handpicked his entire team this time around, a rare treat. Her tutors had marked Freya as an excellent melee fighter with a strong moral compass; she would be useful as a foil to other members of the team who were possessed of less scruples. That manner of speech though... He paused for a long moment after she finished talking, mentally translating as best he could. **'I... I'm sorry, I have no idea what you just said. Give me one minute and I'll, wait shi- the hell Xerox?'** Before he could finish what he was saying, his ex-student has fielded an entire rifle at Duncan's face. It took a few moments to get a handle on the gun's unique design, but along with Xerox' explanation he soon had it figured out. The paramagic intake system was simple enough and the sighting system not too dissimilar to his current rifle. _I might actually be able to hit stuff with this,_ he marvelled. **'You never cease to amaze me mate. You ought to patent this y'know. The Galbadian Army uses a similar system in their mechs and airships, but they've never been able to miniaturise the system; a weapon like this, if mass-produced could change the face of modern warfare... and make GFs almost obsolete. Thank you, I will use it well. Probably.'** It was only after thanking Xerox that Duncan realised his benefactor had already wandered off. Frustrating, but by now expected of Xerox; the guy was a mad scientist at heart.
Turning back to Freya with an apologetic smile, Duncan tried to resume his mental translation. After a few seconds, he hoped he had the gist of what she had said. **'A gift is one way of looking at it, but don't worry; I requested that you be on this mission. Your skills and attitude are well suited for it, in a way.'** _At least for the daytime missions,_ he thought cynically. **'Luckily there's not much for us to do here; I brought a couple of techy guys to finish the hard work, all we've got to do is make it more homely... well, and we've got to sort the toilet out...'** He grimaced, remembering how foul the tiny cubicle had been when he checked it earlier. A stray thought struck. **'Kein, clean up room T1 on the floor plan, will you?'** Kein's nonchalant acceptance of the order made it clear that he hadn't seen the room yet. **'In the meantime, shall we look at the comms room? I'd like to signal our contact soon.'** As he beckoned the others to follow, a despairing scream could be heard from the direction of the toilet.
Spectral Procreation Memetic American Loli
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Freya's eyes followed the rifle with a widened stare as it passed from Xerox's hands to Duncan's. She listened to the explanation with a frown, but when Zerox left and Duncan turned back to her, she righted her expression. Duncan spoke of picking her for the mission himself, and she blinked a few times. It was interesting -- she had the idea that most of the higher-ups at Garden had it in for her. She put these thoughts aside, however, when Duncan talked about finding someone for toilet duty. Her eyes instantly started darting from side to side, looking for an exit. However, that unfortunate task would not fall on her, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Duncan started walking to the comm room, and she followed at his side. **"That guy's too hasty for my taste, and I drew Haste in through my mouth once."** She stuck her tongue out in disgust. **"Nasty stuff. I prefer Bio, but it gives me acid reflux. Blind is a good middle-ground. Goes great with fish. For him, I'd recommend Slow a la mode."**
Catching herself rambling once again, Freya's eyes fell to the new rifle in Duncan's hand. **"So, another one of those paragizmos, chief?"** she asked with a dissatisfied frown. **"You the type that likes to hang back and shoot? Where's the intimacy? Try that in love, and these honorable fists of mine would end up with the girl every time."** She held a fist up and clenched it with a proud grin, but then paused, realizing what she just implied. **"Not that I end up with girls. I'm a guy, but I'm a girl, and I like guys."**
Freya coughed nervously, and tried to change the subject. **"So, chief, besides Lieutenant Haste, can you give me some tender details about any of these guys?"** She motioned to the others following Duncan. **"If I have to do all the heavy lifting, I will, but bustin' concrete's much easier with a construction crew than a lone jackhammer."**
Syrus had been quite upon and entering the compound and entrance of the new recruit. Duncan had gone through a spill and Jericho and his friend had left to go find food. Syrus felt like he was running again. Finding food hiding out with a group of people. Except this time he knew them...or sorta knew them. Xerox then tossed a rifle to Duncan. It was a rifle that could fire paramagic. A brilliant weapon but needed to be refined especially to be as useful as a GF. The last part of that thought was put there by Phoenix herself as she had huffed at the comment Duncan made. He shoot Xerox a smirk as kinda a good job on the weapon and sucking up to the boss. Syrus began to walk with everyone as they followed Duncan. The newbie to the group began to ask about the rest of the group, smirking at the nickname she had given. "Well if you wanna know all you gotta do is ask and since you did you shall receive. I am Syrus Cromwell, SeeD rank six, duel gunblade specialist, and GF Phoenix with a wide range of paramagic." It was the basics and partially a lie since he in truth used real magic but emptied out his paramagic to make it seem like it was used. "So Ducncan do we know the actual contact here?" He asked as he smiled again.
Kissu A Glimmerous Fop
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9 yrs ago
"Don't you think your choice of wardrobe could be any less subtle"?
A droll male voice rang out as a pair of mismatched teenagers approached an old, decrepit warehouse, the owner of the voice glancing over to the female with a cool cerulean gaze. "We're not exactly going on a picnic here."
The female let out a lighthearted laugh in response, meeting his pointed stare with a sweet, if slightly mocking grin. "Please, Tyler. Everyone and their cat knows me around here. If I wasn't wearing my usual style, that would be *more* suspicious", she explained with a roll of her eyes. Truth be told, their choice of clothing clashed quite dramatically. Whilst her companion was merely wearing a slightly worn and tattered Galbadian uniform with some of the armoured plates missing, she herself was wearing a pale pink dress with cute hair adornments, splitting her long brown hair into twintails.
The stark contrast between the two was undeniable.
"You know, I think you just like being awkward sometimes," the male growled, folding his arms crossly. "Especially after the stunt you pulled yesterday. We were supposed to meet up with that Corvo guy together, and instead you run off on your own." He looked up to the skies despairingly. "Mum wouldn't let me hear the end of it."
"Yeah, well I handled it just fine, didn't I?" The girl pouted sullenly. "So I didn't want my big brother to dog me around like a shadow. I can take care of myself," she announced proudly, hands placed firmly on her hips. "I found Corvo, and dealt with it. I want everyone to take me more seriously, and that's not gonna happen unless I take a little initiative."
"Yeah, well try telling Mum that after yesterday. I swear my ears are still ringing." The male known as Tyler rubbed his head gingerly. "Protecting you is a pretty rough deal, you kno-Ow!"
He yelped when the girl rewarded him with a sharp jab in the ribs, the scowl on his face becoming more prominent as they edged around to an inconspicuous side door to the warehouse, two pairs of eyes glancing around for any sign of Galbadian soldiers lurking nearby. "I swear Mei, when we're done here, I-"
"Shh." Mei Song silenced him with a finger to his lips, her eyes sparking briefly with amusement at his annoyance before turning her attention to the intercom. Sources had informed her that SeeD had arrived at Timber, and should have settled in the old warehouse now, but they had settled on a security measure, just in case. Pressing the button on the intercom, Mei spoke in a clear and playful tone towards her brother. "Hey, do you think this warehouse is still abandoned? Maybe there's like, people inside. Or maybe monsters! It could be infested with **bitebugs!**"
SwordfishKnight bad
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Gracelyn sighed at the fact that Jericho didn't know what to do. She turned to him with a manufactured smile and gave a playful sarcastic tone.
"Oh gee, Jericho I don't know. Maybe, if it's humanly possible, maybe we can... ask? You know, go find a store and buy some food? Just possibly? I know it's a stretch, but it may work." Gracelyn motioned for Jericho to follow her.
"Come on you fool. Let's go get provisions."
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Zarkun The Vigilante
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Jericho sighed and kept pace with Gracelyn, his hands in his pockets as they walked. "I simply meant what should our cover story be should we be questioned about our business here in Timber." He looked sideways at some of the Galbadian soldiers patrolling the streets and muttered several names under his breath before pulling Gracelyn around a corner and towards a store. "I suppose we can do it on the spot as usual, but one of these days, it's going to bite us in the rear end." When the entered the store, they could tell it was nothing more than a grocery store that coupled as a small outbound call center. "So, I'll get people's snacks, you get the bulk of the food?"
akirashadow Cowboy kitty monk
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9 mos ago
Jake was leant up against an uncluttered wall in the makeshift Comms room both curious and annoyed. His latest assignment brief didn't go into any specifics about why this particular operation would be a joint one, nor why he'd been assigned to something that required he be a 'team player'. He mumbled his distaste for the situation under his breath as he shoved his hands into his coat pockets. As usual he did his utmost to avoid drawing attention to himself, but in a group this size, acting that way was more than likely still going to draw attention towards him. These Balamb SeeD's, they seemed able enough for the assignment at hand, so why was he needed here? Word around the campus was he was due for another solo reconnaissance assignment, then everything was dropped to make way for a joint Garden operation. Truth be told Jake thought he'd dodged the bullet right before he was summoned to the head master office for briefing. He glanced over to the 'leader' of this operation Duncan. "So... he's the one in charge." Jake commented to himself still mumbling. "Hope he knows what to expect, if things get out of hand with the army again I could be on the receiving end of another de-ranking."
Upon his last comment Jake pulled a slip of paper from his coat pocket. Carefully unfolding it he cast his eyes over his mission overview, he wasn't reading it so much as he was looking at it until he reaches the hand written, extra message left for him 'p.s. your ability to use a GF with respect to this mission are restricted. If you cause problems with the authorities again you will lose a rank.' A short and sweet message to say 'your secret is to remain that way' and that pickpocketing Galbadian Soldiers was not only stupid, but would result in a pay decrease and less interesting future assignments. 'What rank am I these days anyway?' Jake thought to himself. He hadn't exactly kept track of these things, he'd moved up almost as much as he had been moved down, in fact it wouldn't surprise him if he was the same rank now as when he started. The only thing he was sure of was that he wasn't quiet yet scrapping the bottom of the barrel, otherwise they wouldn't be able to leave him that heart warming, yet threatening reminder to behave himself. As a sigh escaped him as he removed his other hand from his pocket as he reached down to the daggers that were sheathed and hidden by his coat. Apparently carrying any of his other weapons on a mission in a town like Timber was considered too high profile, even for Galbadia Garden's standards.
Then there was the town of his assignment, Timber, of all the places they could of sent him. His knowledge of the town and its layout were at least something for him to be proud of. After all, most of his assignments had him going to Timber an 'Intel Hotspot' You might have called it. With this being the main link between the island of Balamb and the mainland of Galbadia you'd see all kinds of passers by. Most of the information learned here was actually pretty useless, however someone had caught wind of this. Unfortunately that someone had been replaced by Jake for support. "I must thank him when I get back to Garden..."
Upon entering the comms room and hearing the voice on the other end out it Syrus' face dropped color to white in mila seconds. "How..." was all that escaped his lips before he pushed past the other and a guy he didn't know who had been leaning on the wall next to the comms. Pressing the but his voice cracked and what came out sounded nothing like he was trying to say. Trying to say Mei he wound up sounding like a wounded animal drawing it's final breath then exhaling all the air it had left in its entire body in the form of a squeak. A few seconds went by and he clear his throat. "Mei!? What the he'll are you doing here!? The last time I saw or heard your voice you ran away from me saying you had to go!" He wasn't angry by any means just flabbergasted. Struck by her again it seemed. He had confidence that night on the dance floor but now he was at a loss. "Um please come in! It seems we have a lot to talk about!" He said a little overly so. Finally sitting down at the table in the comms room he ran his hands through his hair and cleared his throat just in care.
GM
A bemused smile spread across Duncan's face as Freya stumbled over her words. **'I can deal with close combat if I have to, but I'm not so... spry as some of you young ones. Besides, three bullets to the face can take anything down, anything at all, faster than a sword can.'** He paused at the entrance to the comm room, giving her a slightly saddened grin. **'And I do enjoy me some female company, even if the only ones I ever get are untouchable...'** Whatever reply Freya might have given was cut off by Syrus' introduction, saving him a bit of effort. **'Well, aside from Syrus and Xerox who you've met, we have... well, I suppose we have quite a few names to share. Once we've got the contact sorted, I'll pull everyone together for a meet and greet; I'd like to talk to everyone anyway.'** He wasn't able to reply to Syrus' question, partly because he simply didn't know but mainly due to the intercom crackling to life. _Not bad timing,_ he thought dryly. _Right on schedule too and with the correct passphrase._ She sounded a bit young though... As Duncan reached over to answer, he was barged out of the way by Syrus; clearly he knew their contact, which could be a disaster if it meant an intel leak. **'Syrus.'** Duncan placed one hand on his former student's shoulder, giving him a meaningful glare. **'May I remind you of a certain something called operational security..? Stand aside a moment.'** Stepping past his errant subordinate, Duncan pressed the intercom switch and gave the pre-agreed response. **'Bitebugs come from all over this time of year. Door code is Alpha-three-three-seven, come on down'** Shutting the intercom off, Duncan took a heavy step back to look Syrus dead in the eye. **'... Well? How the hell do you know our contact in the _Galbadian fucking Army?!_'** It would only be a matter of seconds until the contact arrived, but he wasn't about to let something this big go.
Spectral Procreation Memetic American Loli
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Freya was a bit confused by Duncan's response. She was just giving him a hard time about the gun, but he did seem to have a sort of sadness about him. Untouchable? Curious. What kind of things had he touched to have that kind of mindset? Her thoughts, broken as they already were, fell apart when Syrus started speaking.
Freya cast her eyes toward Syrus for his self-introduction, sizing him up as he did so. Rank six? Uh, what did ranks means again? Hers was three? Two? Four? Something lower, but she wasn't about to fall in the lines of any kind of hierarchical numbers. Those were the worst kinds of numbers, besides the ones that came next to shapes she never quite understood. Anyways, two gunblades, huh? A serious case of overcompensating, more like. And Phoenix. Phoenix? Where had she heard about that before? Some kind of fire bird that grants wishes. Rebirth, relive, and redie. She didn't like that. She wanted what she killed to stay dead. Fight, kill, and die. That's how it should be. Mucking with that wasn't fair.
**"Well, nice to meet ya,"** she replied concisely. It was all she could get in before the topic turned over to the contact.
Freya snapped shut her talking ears and opened up her listeners for a moment, because honestly she hadn't read any memos, reports, or the words of people talking directly to her face. It was mission stuff -- stealth mission stuff -- and she shut down until something interesting popped up. And something interesting did pop up, or rather, fizzle in through the intercom.
**"Pheeeew,"** she whistled at Syrus. **"In bed with the Galbadians, huh? Now I'm interested! Syrus Cromwell, Seed Rank six, castrated by court martial. Rolls right off the tongue, onto the chopping block."**
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Little_ninja
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2 yrs ago
Working on his own projects, Xerox was having trouble getting enough space. He heaved a heavy sigh. Rue looked up, wondering what he was sighing about. "Oh, it's just that I need more space." he replied, slowly getting up, while letting his stuff return to the ESS. Guess I can ask Duncan if I can go outside for a bit Xerox thought, walking over to the comms room. Seeing others doing the work they were assigned, he realized he wasn't technically assigned anything. More time to work on my own things I guess he concluded.
As he reached the door to the comms room, he heard Freya talking. "Syrus Cromwell, Seed Rank six, castrated by court martial. Rolls right off the tongue, onto the chopping block." Xerox was immediately dumbfounded. Walking in, Xerox could not help but speak. "Syrus, what the fuck did you do for someone to want to castrate you?" Asking the question, all he could do was look perplexed.
Rue had tugged at Xerox, explaining the situation the moomba had heard before they had arrived and what Rue had saw at the ball. "Oh.... Wait. So our contact hooked up with Syrus at the ball dance you say?" Xerox asked Rue, looking at Syrus. "Well, that's something interesting to hear. You warming up to someone so quickly." He continued. "Well, hope it doesn't affect the mission.
akirashadow Cowboy kitty monk
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9 mos ago
So much drama had unfolded in such a short span of time that it left Jake dumbfounded. The first impression that he'd generated for the Balamb SeeD's had been quickly demolished. His eyes darted from person to person as the events occurred before him. First there was the one called 'Syrus' answering the comm link in what could only be described, by Jake, as a rather unprofessional manner. Followed by Duncan's swift scolding, which to Jake was at least a little justified? Fun poking was then carried out by two other Balamb members. Jake shook his head "What is this, babysitting duty?" He had barely projected his voice enough to be heard. It was a comment based on what he had observed in the short time span he had been in the Timber Warehouse.
Jake didn't take long to reflect on what he said before he recalled the post script of his instructors. "No offence of course." Jake directed towards Duncan. "I'm just not used to missions with so much... commotion?.. Commotion." That had been true for the most part, even where he had worked as part of a team. 'Stealth missions, Recon missions, are they not essentially the same?' Jake questioned in his mind before following up. "Might I make a request? Following briefing from our contact I'd appreciate the opportunity to scout the patrol routes." Jake could easily identify patrol rotations amongst the guards and soldiers stationed in Timber with only short term observation. He had hoped that Duncan had been made aware of his pro's and con's in the dossier that would have been supplied by Galbadia. However having witnessed what had unfolded so far he would not be surprised if Duncan had decided against reading it.
Kissu A Glimmerous Fop
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9 yrs ago
As the intercom crackled to life, Mei's cheery expression faded into a stupified one as a choking sound drowned over the static. As she opened her mouth to voice her concern, a very familiar voice rang out, one that she had only just heard the night before. One that she had never imagined hearing again so soon.
"Mei!? What the hell are you doing here!? The last time I saw or heard your voice you ran away from me saying you had to go!"
Struck speechless, Mei's mouth opened uselessly, like a fish gulping for air, as Syrus quickly urged her to enter the building. "So it seems you two have met, hmm?" The unamused voice of her brother murmured beside her as he fixed her with an icy glare. "Fraternizing with the mercenaries? God, Mei, what were you thinking?"
"It wasn't-I mean, it's not like that!" Mei whispered back, her face a torn expression of shock and guilt. "I swear, he just helped me out in Balamb. I never imagined-"
Another male voice suddenly spoke from the intercom, assuming a more professional and composed tone as he replied to Mei's code word with the correct phrase that both she and Corvo had agreed upon. Once he issued the password for entering the building, Tyler wasted no time in punching it into the intercom, and shortly afterwards, an audible click sounded, confirming their right of entry.
Once the intercom's connection cut off, Tyler let out a tired sigh, glancing over at his sister with a disapproving look. "Knew I should have chased after you in Balamb. You're just too damn friendly with everyone."
"Yeah, well...oops." Mei's face pulled into a sheepish grin as she shrugged off Tyler's words and tugged the door open. "Look, I promise I'm gonna be professional about this, ok? You know my loyalty is to the Faction, nothing else."
"It damn well be," Tyler growled under his breath, something territorial gleaming in his eyes as he followed after the girl into the warehouse, where they would meet up with the assembled SeeDs.
Finally, they approached the comms room, where the group of mercenaries were gathered. Mei's eyes glanced over all of them, from the strange, boxer-like girl with a bandage on her nose, to a bespectacled guy in a lab coat and-wait, was that a Moomba?! Mei's hands clapped over her mouth to conceal the squeal that threatened to escape at the sight of the furry little thing, but a steely look from Tyler was enough to force her to keep her composure. Calmly, she looked over at the rest of the group; a scruffy, unkempt male with a serious expression, a familiar grey haired man with glasses (Mr. Duncan! Mei recalled inwardly with a surprised smile,) and last of all..a young male with flaming red hair and a long black coat. Syrus Cromwell, Mei's tour guide and dance partner from the night before.
Mei cleared her throat, wringing her hands together in front of her as she felt all eyes drawn to her. "So, umm...guess that the mystery's solved now, right Syrus?" She murmured sheepishly, earning an exasperated sigh from her brother as she squared her shoulders and assumed a more professional stance. "Mei Song, member of the Galbadian Military Resistance Faction," she introduced herself with an uncharacteristically serious edge to her voice as she gestured to her companion. "And this is my partner, Tyler. We're here for the debriefing, as per the contract issued to us by your Garden. Who is the leading SeeD in this operation?"
Out of all the confusion that had just gone down Syrus had sat back in a chair and had not answered Duncan, Xerox, or Freya. Xerox he could have smacked, Freya he should have kicked her ass, and Duncan was the only one out of the three that he had any respect for at the moment. Finally after a pause and Mei and her partner coming into the room he cleared his throat. Getting up out of the chair he had causally slumped over into he gave a loose but professional salute. "Sorry about that Mei." He said in a calm voice. After all why had he freaked out so much? He chalked it up to she didn't seem like a military girl at all nor did he think that he would see her again. "I think Duncan is still the one in charge for the most part and there is also..." Syrus blanked on her name. The woman that had been sent with them and who was Kein's wife. "...Kein's wife, I can't for the life of me remember her name." Syrus stood there and then turned to Duncan. "Is there anything you would like me to do sir?" He asked kinda hastily.
GM
The amusement garnered from the reveal of Syrus' dalliance was not shared by Duncan. More so than anyone else present, he understood the dangers of getting too close to the client; too many good SeeDs had lost their jobs or worse, their lives because of a stupid one-off fling. Syrus' status as a unique asset made the potential breach even more dangerous. Still... the kid was a teenager. Hormones made people do stupid things. 'That's enough of that.', he said sharply to Freya and Xerox. 'I'm sure Syrus understands how badly this could have gone and how keeping his cock in his pants can now be considered a standing order?' Come to think of it, this wasn't too different from when Duncan had had to cover up for Syrus faux pas with Corvo; the lad was swiftly becoming a recurring headache... As they waited for the contact to enter the bunker, another of the newly transferred SeeDs spoke up, eliciting a wan smile from Duncan. 'None taken. You're not wrong though.' Jake Firesong was an unusual addition to the roster and not one he would have chosen; he had in fact been placed on the mission at Corvo's express order, no doubt to ensure a healthy dose of good old fashioned Galbadian discipline. In light of events so far, it was hard for Duncan to fault the reasoning. 'Good idea. Intel swept the area and got us a map of routine movements, but they've fucked up too often lately. Better to be safe than sorry.' As he was working his way through the most efficient way to canvas the city, a sharp voice spoke up behind him. 'Sir, the outer door has resealed; our contact will be here any second. I respectfully suggest that you stop brooding and brace up.' As annoying as it was to have his toes stepped on by his own adjutant, Duncan understood that Yoko was just doing her job. He muttered a slightly mean reply under his breath while turning back to the entrance, standing at attention.
When the so-called contact waltzed into the room, Yoko couldn't stop a groan of despair... What kind of military organisation hired a child as a liaison? And in that get-up? It would have been less suspicious to walk around in full combat gear rather than... well, that. The adjutant braced herself for what promised to be a long evening. The only silver lining was Cromwell referring to her as Kein's wife; now there was a nice idea. A little chapel in Centra, a reception at Garden followed by a long honeymoon... It took considerable force of will to banish the dumb grin from her face and focus on the conversation before her. '... yes. That would be me. I believe you have seen my file, Ms Song? Unfortunately I can't say the same; we weren't given any information on you bar your name and appearance.' Duncan smiled apologetically. 'Most of the team is here, minus two. If you wouldn't mind introducing yourselves? Once everyone is settled we can move onto your debrief.'
SwordfishKnight bad
Member
Seen
6 yrs ago
Most of the team is here, minus two.
Gracelyn stood at the door and gave a sarcastic gasp.
"Oh no. We have two missing team members? That's terrible. If you want I can go out and look for them. In fact, I already found one. He's right behind me, snacking on who knows what. Oh! Would you look at that! I found the second one. In fact..." Gracelyn looked down at herself. "She's right here! Surprising isn't it? I'm a good detective."
Gracelyn held up a large bag. It was filled with different foods and ingredients for cooking lots of foods. Among them were peppers and greens, Gracelyn's favorites.
"Here's all the ingredients for us to cook with. Hope it's good enough."
looking behind herself, Gracelyn motioned for Jericho.
"Come on, bring all your snacks and such. We haven't all day."
Setting the bag down, Gracelyn took a seat for the debrief.
Kissu A Glimmerous Fop
Member
Seen
9 yrs ago
At Syrus's response to her question, Mei's eyes swept over from Duncan to a young woman that she had neglected to notice upon entering the room. There was a clear look of distaste on her face as she felt the woman's eyes glance over Mei's appearance, before speaking to her in a cool and professionally crisp tone. Kein's wife (or so Syrus had described her) confirmed that she too was leading the operation, whilst assuming that Mei had read over her dossier.
Of course, Mei had done no such thing, having concentrated on only the interesting and vital parts of the operation, and despite attempting to disguise this fact with a carefree smile, Mei was clearly failing. "Oh! Trust me, you wouldn't have been the slightest bit interested in my file anyway. It would have bored someone like you to tears," Mei reassured her with a light, and obviously forced laugh. "But umm, I definitely remember reading about you somewhere! Miss...uhh..."
"Yoko Ono." The relief washed over Mei's face as her subdued brother finally spoke up, saving the embarrassment of being caught in a lie as he took over. "SeeD and field adjutant to Duncan Lerwick." He gestured over to the male standing beside Yoko before continuing. "As Mei has already stated, we're both part of the Resistance Faction. I cover field work whilst Mei handles negotiation and correspondence. Mei visited your Garden yesterday to speak to Head Instructor Corvo, and he has agreed to join us in our cause." He cleared his throat. "Our cause...to take down Deling."
Tyler sharply inclined his head in Mei's direction as a sign that he was done speaking before perching himself against the wall, icy blue eyes watching the group silently. Mei, taking over from her brother, continued. "We've been saving up for enough money to recruit SeeD for the longest time. On our own...we are powerless under the heel of President Deling, but with the strength of SeeD backing us up..." Mei's hopeful words trailed off slightly, before she quickly gave herself a visible shake. "But anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. As you are all aware, Timber-"
A gasp cut Mei short, her eyes blinking in surprise at the two figures standing by the doorway. They were both brandishing what looked like food supplies, and the bald-headed woman that interrupted her gave some kind of sarcastic sneer before sitting herself down on one of the available seats expectantly. Tyler looked as if he was biting back the urge to reply, and it took Mei to give him a quick warning look to silence him before picking up where she left off. "Uhh, right! Guess we're all here now, right Mr Du-Lerwick?" She corrected herself with a sheepish grin before straightening out her shoulders. "Right. Where was I? Ahh, yes. As you're all aware Timber has been under martial law by the Galbadians since the Sorceress War 18 years ago..."
*
"...and that's where you guys come in."
Mei's briefing of the situation in Timber finally reached its end, a satisfied expression on the girl's face as she held their attention. As per her superior's instructions, she had kept the information disclosed on the Faction to a need-to-know basis, and instead focused on the control the Galbadians had over the city, and where they were stationed. There was one particular station however, that Mei would be drawing attention to. "There is an important figure in the Galbadian Army. Someone close to Deling," Mei explained with a hint of a smile, the adrenaline rush of the mission flowing through her veins. "He's currently stationed here in Timber, at their main headquarters just south of the TV station. Tomorrow evening, SeeD will infiltrate the building and contain him for questioning."
Hands on her hips, Mei looked over at the group of mercenaries with an endearingly confident grin. "And that's where we start planning your line of attack! Any questions before we move on?"
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