NORG
Yet again, however, he'd made one, huge, ludicrous flaw-he'd forgotten about the Galbadian missile base, trusting to the famed Galbadian military integrity to keep him safe. This had been greatly eroded by Edea. NORG had, understandably, gone completely berserk when he'd discovered what Cid had done, but by then, he was too late to affect the scenario as it panned out. Official Garden policy was to await the approval of the full board for any Seed mission which would involve a senior government official, but Cid had ignored this when he had ordered Edea eliminated. Perversely, the attempted assassination had actually strengthened her. She'd showcased her power while the Galbadian soldiers waited for orders that never came, showing her audience that she was a force to be reckoned with. She also had shown that supposed foreign powers feared her, and that her strength could make Galbadia powerful. Many of the soldiers were either veterans or the children of veterans of the Sorceress War, and they'd seen what a sorceress could do. She'd masterfully directed them towards the one institution the G-Army hated more than sorceresses –those soulless, amnesiac child mercenaries of Seed. And soon, ICBMs were winging their way towards Balamb and Trabia.
Why, O why Zell, did you not say 'Balamb' in the TV station?
Aware of Cid's connection with Edea, NORG had believed him a lovesick fool, and rallied the faculty. He had a completely valid point, but before Cid could come to terms with his situation some of the students had rallied to his support, and were spilling each other's blood. He would not easily forget it. But he would try.
Cid sat in his office, listening to the clash of steel throughout Garden. It was drawing closer. As he listened, he heard running feet and drawn steel outside. Something heavy struck the locked door, which rattled in its frame.
"You sold us to the sorceress, Headmaster! Come face the music!"
He stood up, slowly, opening a drawer in his desk and removing a weapon he hadn't drawn in anger since the Sorceress War. A gunblade, as befitted a knight. It was a laughable anachronism, a crude, ugly thing with none of the smooth lines or twin blades which impressionable youths were so impressed by in newer models. It had been made during a war, when smiths wasted no time with frippery. The door rattled again, and Cid heard it crack. It couldn't hold against junctioned students for long. He moved to one side of the door and waited.
When the first student burst in, his challenge ended in an explosive scream of agony as Cid's blade buried itself in his thigh. Blood sprayed across the room as the student screamed, and his two companions looked from him to Cid in mute shock. They'd fallen prey to one of the two preconceptions so common among teenagers –contempt for their elders mingled with undeserved respect. Initially astounded that Cid, benign, genial Headmaster Cid, had just stabbed their companion, they instinctively obeyed the voice they'd been trained to follow as Cid barked "Move! Would you rather see me die or your friend live? Take him to the infirmary!"
And they were gone. Resealing the door, Cid slumped in his chair, staring at the blood on his hands.
NORG had made one error. The Garden Master was a shadowy, unknown figure to most of the students, as it was not widely advertised that he was a Shumi, while Cid was the figurehead they had been taught to obey. So, despite the fact that the Garden Master had valid reasons for his coup, a slim majority of students had backed the Headmaster. The faculty rallied to him however, and inevitably, casualties on both sides had occurred in the battle. NORG, a better creature than Cid could ever be, used monsters in his attack to spare his supporters their lives, while Cid had been forced to shield himself with human lives. And there had been deaths. Not many, thank Hyne, as Dr. Kadowoki was both completely impartial and very quick off the mark, but enough. Now Cid could truly be said to have murdered his children. Was he really more benevolent than Edea?
Trabia, the only Garden with no hand in the assassination attempts at all (unless you counted Tilmitt, who, though trained in Trabia, was a Balamb Seed), was devastated by the missiles, having no way of defending itself. Poor, innocent Trabia, had taken heavy casualties,while Galbadia was almost unscathed and Balamb untouched though divided. A sorry mess indeed. And all of it could be laid at his feet.
NORG was subsequently killed by the very assassination squad who caused all the difficulty. An ignoble end to a creature, who, despite everything, had been largely benevolent, if unable to control his emotions. So many problems just melted away-in doing so, the Seeds had cowed the other board members. Now, they feared Cid, and he had a free hand to do as he wished.
The students would forget the debacle that followed, but Cid would not.
