Lennon79

Final Fantasy VIII: Tempus Veneficarum [7/10 Slots]

Not fantastic post there, but it gets the point across. Corvo's debrief will be offscreen, so for now you guys post your characters doing whatever they want for the rest of the day, be it crying, telling their mates how easy the test was or just sitting in the infirmary with an IV jammed up their arse. We can move on once everyone's ready.

Final Fantasy VIII: Tempus Veneficarum [7/10 Slots]

For Duncan, the rest of the trip back to Garden passed like a slow molasses, every second a balance between the pain of losing a student, guilt over the fate of Dollet and the disconcertingly pleasant feeling of Eika asleep against him. He wished he could summon the will to check on his students, but with all that had happened Duncan just wanted to get home and hit the bottle. But first he had responsibilities... The airships surfaced near the town of Balamb, rising gently into the air as they veered toward the Garden. Within minutes they were setting down by the main entrance, where a small crowd had gathered. Medics, engineers and a couple of grim looking suits, the sort of welcoming party you would expect. As the doors swung open, Duncan gently shook the girl attached to his arm, trying to disengage himself before any of the brass got the wrong idea... One he had extricated himself from Eika's embrace, the instructor dismounted to help the wounded and unconscious to their stretchers. It was distressing to watch Xerox and Syrus being wheeled off to the infirmary, but not quite so much as the cold glint in Head Instructor Corvo's eyes as he swept over. The old man stopped inches short of Duncan's face, gaze drilling into his eyes. '... Come debrief me in five, Lerwick.', he whispered in an almost sympathetic tone, quite in contrast to his stormy expression, before sweeping back off toward the main building.

The hell was that..? Duncan's confusion would have to wait though and he turned to his remaining students with a grim sigh. 'I, we... Ah hell, where do I begin...' He sparked up a cigarette, trying to get his thoughts in order. '... Bad things happened today, but you all responded as you were trained to. Nothing that happened was your fault; we cannot dictate the actions of our enemies, especially not one so powerful as the Galbadian Army. Dollet will survive, though it will not be easy. And either Riella will be rescued or she... she will be remembered.' He found himself choking on his words; even though he had known the girl barely an hour, the loss was keenly felt. 'For now... you are dismissed. Get some food, have a bath. Sleep. The Field Test results will be announced at 0930 tomorrow in my classroom. Please don't be late. And you, Jericho? Thank you for your assistance today. You know who you're supposed to report to.' He stood up straighter and gave them all a slow salute, before walking slowly toward Corvo's office. He wasn't looking forward to reliving the last few hours...

Final Fantasy VIII: Tempus Veneficarum [7/10 Slots]

Not a major point either way; besides, I never specifically stated that Kein was in the same airship as Duncan so if it comes to it, he'll respond.
Scratch that, Eika mentioned Kein.

Final Fantasy VIII: Tempus Veneficarum [7/10 Slots]

There's not a lot for people to post aside from jumping on the birds and heaving a sigh of relief, so I'll give you guys til Thursday night to get what posting up that you'd like.
Then it's time to get yelled at.

Final Fantasy VIII: Tempus Veneficarum [7/10 Slots]

Paige hasn't replied to my PMs so I think its safe to say that Riella won't be coming back. Still, it will be left ambiguous just in case.
And Duncan's body is ready.

Final Fantasy VIII: Tempus Veneficarum [7/10 Slots]

Well she may not find out until later; it's not easy to look out the window when you're 300 metres underwater.

Final Fantasy VIII: Tempus Veneficarum [7/10 Slots]

It can be assumed that the main element of SeeD, which is not retreating just yet, might be able to save a few civilians.
Or not.
Depends on... things. Dollet's pretty fucked though, overall.

Final Fantasy VIII: Tempus Veneficarum [7/10 Slots]

In hindsight, perhaps he should have come up with a plan before jumping off the tower.

Duncan and Eika hung in freefall as the instructor realised with horror that he had already used his last Float spell. Time seemed to flow slowly as they fell, perhaps due to the Haste spell or simply because of the mind-breaking terror he suddenly felt; either way it gave Duncan time to reflect on the last half hour, which was apparently to be his last as well. And perhaps that wasn't such a bad thing; the thought of giving Corvo the debrief for this mission chilled him more than the the sight of earth leaping up to meet him. Just about when he was near making his peace, Eika came back to herself, demonstrating her superior magical affinity by creating their very own short-lived open air bath. Under other circumstances going diving with a young lady might have been a pleasant experience.

He lost himself for a moment, disoriented by the sudden dunking, but Eika's voice quickly dragged him back to the here and now. 'Wait, what?' For a moment Duncan tried to make sense of his student's random apology; indeed if anything, he ought to be the one prostrating himself. A minute later and Eika might have found a little less of Duncan to be saved. But unfortunately this wasn't the time for such pleasantries; the order to withdraw took priority and while he couldn't personally save everyone, he could ensure that this one student escaped in one piece. 'T-time for that later! Just follow me and bloody run!' Grabbing at her hand, he took off at a sprint toward the initial drop site. A short distance away, Kein was of the same mind. 'Way ahead of ya!', he yelled back to Charlotte, legs pumping as the gunship flew overhead. He was the first to the drop site, signalling manically to the waiting airships.

When he caught up Duncan pushed Eika aboard the first airship, hanging back to guide the others on. Once the last student had boarded, the Instructor climbed in as the gunship came into range. 'Alright boys and girls, strap in and hold on tight; there may be some chop.' The pilot's cocky tone did nothing for the mood. Kein leaned out the side of his bird, watching the gunship come into firing range. 'Oh man, we are so screwed... Oh shit, missiles!' A dozen guided missiles, long and fast moving, streaked in toward the airships. The pilot's voice suddenly lost it's cockiness. 'Shoot them things down, I don't got flares dammit!' Duncan and Kein tried their best, pelting spells as past as they could cast them; in the end it fell to to the magical specialists of the group to protect their arse.

Before long they were out over open water and the gunship was bearing down upon them. Once pilot opened up his comms to the other. 'One click out, prepping for dive.' Suddenly the open sides on both birds slid shut and the candidates ears popped with the sudden change in pressure. '... three, two, one, dive dive dive!' Both airships tilted up for a moment before arcing down toward the sea, picking up speed as they dropped. Behind them the gunship's controllers figured out what they were planning to do, unleashing a futile hail of chaingun fire as the two birds slid into the water with barely a ripple of disturbance. '... and we are clear. Depth, three hundred metres, speed, seventeen knots. We'll have you home in an hour candidates. Good job.' In the silence someone started to laugh. Duncan wiped a tear from his eye as he finally realised that they were safe with no casualti- Wait... I'm... missing someone... He backtracked mentally, recounting those he had waved aboard.

'W... where's Riella?'

Final Fantasy VIII: Tempus Veneficarum [7/10 Slots]

Yup, but this early in the plot she's still by the train station, spreading her damn rules like a scientologist.
This RP only loosely follows the canon storyline. We've got to work with what we've got, so a lot of the original themes (namely time travel and orphanages) have to be modified to fit the characters we have. Not to mention that every action and decision your characters make affects the world around them; who knows, maybe destroying the tower was a really big plot point with far-reaching consequences. Maybe.
Anyways I'll try to post soon.

Final Fantasy VIII: Tempus Veneficarum [7/10 Slots]

In the same sense that Trabia Garden was wiped out.