Chapter 1 - Irvine's Doubt
Ten human-shaped targets lay smoking on the floor. Irvine, his aim as unerring as ever, pressed the pad near him. Instantly, ten other targets snapped into position as he shouldered his sniper rifle.
One down. 'That's for Selphie.' Two down. 'That's for her safe return.' Three down. 'That's for that idiot Squall.'
Soon, ammo shells littered the floor around Irvine as he continued firing. He had not heard from his girlfriend for two weeks and did not know who to blame. 'Squall? He should not have sent her and Seifer on that mission without consulting all of us. But it's not his fault.'
'Still can't get your mind off Selphie?' The hoarse voice behind him told Irvine who had spoken. 'What do you want, Zell?' The generally ice-cool Irvine had no time for Zell's stupid comments.
He turned to face the blond punk and cast a doubtful eye on him. Irvine had met some people with bad dress sense in the past but Zell outdid them all, a hundred times over. Dressed in a rainbow-coloured Hawaiian-style shirt and his worn-out shorts, with his typical pretzel in hand, no-one would have thought Zell was the fearsome fighter he was.
'Just trying to see how you are, pal.' said Zell, spraying Irvine with pretzel crumbs. Irvine brushed his face with the sleeve of his overcoat.
'Listen, Dincht, if I needed help, I certainly wouldn't ask you. Why don't you go bother Squall or Cid? At least, they can stand you.'
Zell frowned deeply, he had been trying to help and this was the thanks he got. 'You know what, Irv……'
He was suddenly interrupted by Shu's voice coming over the tannoy. Her fluette tone rang out over the whole university campus. 'All senior SEED members are to rendez-vous with Squall Lionheart in the staff room.' Zell glared at Irvine, still munching on his pretzel as the tall sniper turned on his heels and headed out of the room. Zell waited a second before following. *One day, that stuck-up son of a Chocobo is gonna get what is coming to him.*
Ten minutes later, Squall entered the staff room to see it filled with his senior staff. The layout of staff this morning, was as normal as ever. The girls as ever stuck close to Irvine, his playboy image, appealing greatly to Shu and surprisingly, Quistis. Understandably though, the usually chirpy Irvine was not his habitual self. Cid and his wife Edea, the sorceress, sat at the head of the table, each one side of Squall's chair where he would sit as leader of the SEED. Rinoa was chatting in a friendly manner with Zell, the two of them having been friends from the start. Four seats lay empty, Seifer and Selphie on their so-called mission but where were Fuujin and Raijin? Seifer's two cronies had been upset since their idol's disappearance but they had attended every meeting so far. Squall sat in his black leather chair, as all the eyes turned on him.
'Right, I think you can all imagine why I called this meeting. Seifer and Selphie left two weeks ago for Norn and we still have no news. Now SEED rules state that operatives on mission must contact base every three days. I know Seifer was never one to go by the book but Selphie does.' he paused, seeing Irvine rise from his chair.
'We all know the details, Squall. What we want to know is what are you gonna do about it?' Irvine's tone was so aggressive Cid and Edea both rounded on him. 'Mr Kinneas, please sit down. We are all worried for their safety.' said Cid in a hard tone. Looking over his glasses at the much taller Irvine, it was clear the older director of Balamb University would tolerate no nonsense. Irvine sat down, looking huffed, as Edea looked over the others, silently quelling any rebellious thoughts they might be having.
'Right,' said Squall once again, 'let's go on to what you don't know. About three weeks ago, the Mayor of Norn contacted us, saying a terrorist organisation was letting off bombs all over town and he needed our help to track them down. He paid our fee up front and I sent Selphie and Seifer on as a vanguard, projecting to send more of a force later on. But since then we have had no news from either of them and all our contacts to communicate with Norn have gone unsuccessfully. So this is our plan of attack. We don't know what happened so I am gonna split the group into several teams, each with a different mission. Quistis.' He turned to face the tall blonde, her whip dangling at her side. 'I want you to take Irvine and Shu and go into Norn under cover. Pretend to be tourists and find out what you can. I expect reports from you every five hours.' He then turned to face the door as Fuujin and Raijin entered. 'Your timing is good. You two, I'm gonna take with me and Rinoa. We're going as an official SEED delegation to Norn. I don't expect any trouble but for crying out loud, arm yourselves well and put in a few hours in the training chamber. Zell, I want you to stay back here and take charge of operations while I'm gone.' 'WHAT????' Zell punched the table angrily. He knew his protests would make no difference.
Ignoring his moody friend, Squall opened his arms out wide. 'Right, everybody move out.' As the group got up to leave the room, Edea called out to Fuujin and Raijin. 'Oh, you two late birds. Before we go, I want you to run round the campus fifty times. Maybe it'll teach you some punctuality.' Squall nodded affirmatively as Fuujin's pale face blanched even more, making her look almost dead.
In the corridor, Squall caught up to Quistis. 'Quistis, I've put you in charge of this group for your leadership experience. Irvine is not himself right now and I need you to try and calm him down. He'll only get himself killed but I can't leave him here. He'd follow us anyway. He cares too much about Selphie.' Quistis nodded and walked away, leaving Squall alone to mull over his thoughts.
Ten human-shaped targets lay smoking on the floor. Irvine, his aim as unerring as ever, pressed the pad near him. Instantly, ten other targets snapped into position as he shouldered his sniper rifle.
One down. 'That's for Selphie.' Two down. 'That's for her safe return.' Three down. 'That's for that idiot Squall.'
Soon, ammo shells littered the floor around Irvine as he continued firing. He had not heard from his girlfriend for two weeks and did not know who to blame. 'Squall? He should not have sent her and Seifer on that mission without consulting all of us. But it's not his fault.'
'Still can't get your mind off Selphie?' The hoarse voice behind him told Irvine who had spoken. 'What do you want, Zell?' The generally ice-cool Irvine had no time for Zell's stupid comments.
He turned to face the blond punk and cast a doubtful eye on him. Irvine had met some people with bad dress sense in the past but Zell outdid them all, a hundred times over. Dressed in a rainbow-coloured Hawaiian-style shirt and his worn-out shorts, with his typical pretzel in hand, no-one would have thought Zell was the fearsome fighter he was.
'Just trying to see how you are, pal.' said Zell, spraying Irvine with pretzel crumbs. Irvine brushed his face with the sleeve of his overcoat.
'Listen, Dincht, if I needed help, I certainly wouldn't ask you. Why don't you go bother Squall or Cid? At least, they can stand you.'
Zell frowned deeply, he had been trying to help and this was the thanks he got. 'You know what, Irv……'
He was suddenly interrupted by Shu's voice coming over the tannoy. Her fluette tone rang out over the whole university campus. 'All senior SEED members are to rendez-vous with Squall Lionheart in the staff room.' Zell glared at Irvine, still munching on his pretzel as the tall sniper turned on his heels and headed out of the room. Zell waited a second before following. *One day, that stuck-up son of a Chocobo is gonna get what is coming to him.*
Ten minutes later, Squall entered the staff room to see it filled with his senior staff. The layout of staff this morning, was as normal as ever. The girls as ever stuck close to Irvine, his playboy image, appealing greatly to Shu and surprisingly, Quistis. Understandably though, the usually chirpy Irvine was not his habitual self. Cid and his wife Edea, the sorceress, sat at the head of the table, each one side of Squall's chair where he would sit as leader of the SEED. Rinoa was chatting in a friendly manner with Zell, the two of them having been friends from the start. Four seats lay empty, Seifer and Selphie on their so-called mission but where were Fuujin and Raijin? Seifer's two cronies had been upset since their idol's disappearance but they had attended every meeting so far. Squall sat in his black leather chair, as all the eyes turned on him.
'Right, I think you can all imagine why I called this meeting. Seifer and Selphie left two weeks ago for Norn and we still have no news. Now SEED rules state that operatives on mission must contact base every three days. I know Seifer was never one to go by the book but Selphie does.' he paused, seeing Irvine rise from his chair.
'We all know the details, Squall. What we want to know is what are you gonna do about it?' Irvine's tone was so aggressive Cid and Edea both rounded on him. 'Mr Kinneas, please sit down. We are all worried for their safety.' said Cid in a hard tone. Looking over his glasses at the much taller Irvine, it was clear the older director of Balamb University would tolerate no nonsense. Irvine sat down, looking huffed, as Edea looked over the others, silently quelling any rebellious thoughts they might be having.
'Right,' said Squall once again, 'let's go on to what you don't know. About three weeks ago, the Mayor of Norn contacted us, saying a terrorist organisation was letting off bombs all over town and he needed our help to track them down. He paid our fee up front and I sent Selphie and Seifer on as a vanguard, projecting to send more of a force later on. But since then we have had no news from either of them and all our contacts to communicate with Norn have gone unsuccessfully. So this is our plan of attack. We don't know what happened so I am gonna split the group into several teams, each with a different mission. Quistis.' He turned to face the tall blonde, her whip dangling at her side. 'I want you to take Irvine and Shu and go into Norn under cover. Pretend to be tourists and find out what you can. I expect reports from you every five hours.' He then turned to face the door as Fuujin and Raijin entered. 'Your timing is good. You two, I'm gonna take with me and Rinoa. We're going as an official SEED delegation to Norn. I don't expect any trouble but for crying out loud, arm yourselves well and put in a few hours in the training chamber. Zell, I want you to stay back here and take charge of operations while I'm gone.' 'WHAT????' Zell punched the table angrily. He knew his protests would make no difference.
Ignoring his moody friend, Squall opened his arms out wide. 'Right, everybody move out.' As the group got up to leave the room, Edea called out to Fuujin and Raijin. 'Oh, you two late birds. Before we go, I want you to run round the campus fifty times. Maybe it'll teach you some punctuality.' Squall nodded affirmatively as Fuujin's pale face blanched even more, making her look almost dead.
In the corridor, Squall caught up to Quistis. 'Quistis, I've put you in charge of this group for your leadership experience. Irvine is not himself right now and I need you to try and calm him down. He'll only get himself killed but I can't leave him here. He'd follow us anyway. He cares too much about Selphie.' Quistis nodded and walked away, leaving Squall alone to mull over his thoughts.