Disclaimer:I don't own Final Fantasy VIII… I'll try buying it on e-bay later today…
Chapter 14 – Timber And The Owls
Schala was suddenly aware and conscious as she darted her eyes open, finding herself staring at the red carpeted floor. She immediately sat up, ignoring the –still present –headache and dizziness brought up by her strange dream and sudden awakening, and scanned her surroundings. She let go a relieved sigh as she verified she was back at the SeeD cabin on the train, and that her companions were also there on the couch. Lanara, whoever or whatever it was, was now gone.
Forcing her sore muscles into activity, she slowly stood up, a light glare directed at the other SeeDs that were comfortably laying on the soft sofa as she had spent the last six hours sleeping on the hard floor.We were… all asleep? She wondered as she finally straightened up, stretching her stiff arms.
She caught some movement through the corner of her eyes, shifting her attention back to the others. The blonde SeeD stirred in her sleep, bringing her hands up to her face and lazily rubbing her eyes.
Zanya opened her eyes, seeing only heavy copper hair under her. Frowning she rose slightly to see exactly what was she laying on. Her eyes widened as she recognized the brunet male next to her, seemed that when she fell asleep, she fell over him.
On instinct, or pure panic, the girl stood up with a jump, almost bumping into the other woman that stood a bit away from the couch.
"Schala! Jeez, girl you scared me there for a sec…" Zanya's eyes darted from the frown on the brunette girl's face to the other brunet, now stirring in his sleep. "Ahmm… I was… I mean, I wasn't! It…"
"You ok?" She asked, cutting off her babbling.
Zanya calmed down and nodded as she refocused on the matter at hand. "How long were we out…?"
A heavy and loud yawn from behind her made both SeeDs change their focus on the awakening brunet that was lazily stretching his limbs.
"That was a nice nap… as sudden as it came… What's up?" He asked, seeing the girls' faces so serious.
"It wasn't just a nap. We were all out!" Zanya explained as the young man rose from his seat.
A frown adorned his usual cheerful face as his mind registered the new information. "All of us? How?"
"Hmm… Maybe someone released some sleeping gas?" She said after a second's thought, her eyes rising to meet the others as she added "There're lots of people who resent SeeD."
Schala considered the martial artist's words. Maybe. Better be more careful from now on.
"Was anything taken? Is anyone hurt?" Sorphan suddenly inquired. If someone was responsible for their joint blackout, surely wasn't just for them to catch a few hours of sleep.
The three teens immediately proceeded in a check of their inventory, since none felt any injuries on them.
"… I don't think so." Schala said after her search, Zanya nodding in agreement.
"What a relief!" Sorphan added his own search finished. Then he remembered something. "How long were we out, anyways?"
Three chimes interrupted and at the same time, enlightening them on the matter.
"Next stop. Timber… Timber…" A monotonous voice sounded from the train's speakers.
"The voyage is around six hours… It means we were sleeping all the time!" Zanya stated.
"I guess… well, it kinda felt like six hours passed in the dream I had. It was such a funny dream." Sorphan said suddenly, his mind going back to Lana's world and all that had happened.
Schala frowned. I had a dream too. It was anything but funny, though… She thought, remembering her own horrible experience and realizing she wanted nothing more than to forget every second of it. I dreamt I was a moron…
"But seriously, that Lana was just sooo hilarious!" He kept talking, breaking the brunet outta her thoughts.
Schala didn't even register his words immediately, but when she did her eyes darted in the direction of the other teens.
"Hey! There was a Lana in my dream, too!" Zanya suddenly said, her eyes widening slightly at the coincidence. "She was a strange woman, and a Galbadian soldier… right?"
"Lanara, Kiara and Wada…" Schala whispered, almost making the others jump at her voice.
"Huh!? That's it, those three…" Zanya added, more to herself than to the others.
Her head was lowered in thought. What is going on? Why this strange dream, and how did we all seemed to have the exact same one…?
The SeeDs were brought out of their thought as three new chimes echoed through the chamber, followed by a message in the same emotionless tone.
"We will be arriving in Timber shortly. For those getting off, please be sure you have all your belongings."
"There's no way we can understand this…" Sorphan's words captured the girls' attention after the automatic message died down, both looking back at the brunet. "Let's just concentrate on our first mission!"
… I suppose…
"Very well… We'll put this incident on hold till after the mission."I'll report it to the headmaster once we get back… maybe he can shed a light on the matter. Schala concluded, gaining agreeable nods from the other teens.
Looking out the window momentarily, Zanya noticed they were already above ground and that they were slowing down.
"We should be there soon, eh?" She let out, stretching her muscles and cracking her knuckles and neck. "Here we go… Psyche yourself up, baby!"
And she headed for the door, Sorphan following out after her.
"Still kinda sleepy…" He whispered low, stifling a yawn.
They both left, leaving Schala alone with her thoughts which, despite her efforts, kept going back to the dream. She shook her head and, as the train was just about to come to a full stop, she stepped out of the room to join her companions.
OOOOOOOOOO
A short young woman, with straight brown hair, a blue round cap, a yellow vest, white sweater and short army-green pants, stood just outside the train station that connected the small industrialized city of Timber to the small island town of Balamb. She was leaning against some railing, constantly focusing her small but sharp brown eyes on the people exiting the recently arrived train.
The passengers were all ordinary, some traders and tourists. She didn't even pay too much attention to two teenagers that were cheerfully talking as they descended the steps of the station, one very tall brunet male in an olive-green bid-and-brace overalls and a shorter, spiked haired, blonde female in knee length shorts, until she noticed the large and menacing looking weapon strapped in the young man's back.
She was about to approach and make contact, when her eyes detected a third teenager. She looked up at the last arrival as discreetly as she could, carefully and expertly, hiding her surprise. This woman in black leather walked down the stairs in a steady and calm pace as she seemed to be aware of all her surroundings. She saw her frown slightly at the other two's behaviour but said nothing. Her eyes descended to the strange looking weapon the brunette stranger carried on her equally strange looking belt.
She must be the leader… She concluded, staring forward and waiting for the other woman to reach her position. Once she was close enough, she spoke in the most casual tone possible.
"Oh, the forests of Timber sure have changed!"
OOOOOOOOOO
Schala immediately recognized her contact's password and stopped walking, gazing at the figure that had spoken through the corner of her eyes so that she didn't attract anyone's attention. The young brunette girl was doing the same, her eyes trailed forward as she attempted to keep a casual look to her.
Schala also stared forward, at nothing in particular and, after sparing a glance at her companions, who were talking and hadn't noticed anything, she replied to the greeting, keeping her tone equally casual.
"But the Owls are still around."
She saw from the corner of her eyes as the other girl couldn't resist a small smile as she leaned out of the wall and stepped forward.
"Welcome to Timber, ma'am! Please, come this way, ma'am!" She said as she descended the remaining steppes, heading towards another train line ahead of their position.
Schala glanced sideways and that time the other two seemed to have noticed as they walked towards her.
"You made contact already?" Zanya asked once they got close.
Schala nodded and signalled the young woman on the nearby track that seemed to be signalling to someone, or something, out of their line of sight.
The girl stepped out of the path just as a small yellow train sped up, loudly pulling on the breaks once it reached the platform. The young woman stood safely and calm still ahead of them, waiting for them to follow her.
Sparing a glance among themselves, the SeeDs followed up, avoiding the kid wailing at the closed entrance of a nearby shop, and crossed the track towards the woman.
"This way, please, ma'am, sir, ma'am!" She added before quickly walking up the platform, knocking on the door as the SeeDs followed suit. The door opened and she seemed to talk with someone on the inside before turning to the others and ushering them inside. She looked from side to side repeatedly as they entered. After the last one was in, she stood with her back to the door, still eying her surroundings thoroughly. An arm erupted from inside the train, wrapping around her waist and she was pulled in with a yelp.
The yellow engine train shuttered into life, following the tracks outta town.
They were inside a crude compartment, much like the entrance of the train they were just on but considerably smaller. There was a young man inside with short and slightly spiky, black hair and wearing a blue sweater and blue knee length shorts.
"So you guys are SeeDs?" He asked, his eyes watching their every move as if measuring them up. He took a bit longer as they fell on Schala, a hand went to his stomach as he clenched his fingers on his shirt. His eyes travelled from her milky thighs upwards. He detected a shift in pose as she supported most of her weight on her right leg and she crossed her arms under her chest. The man was enjoying the view, surprised the female SeeD had a body fit for one of those magazines he was always reading.
His eyes kept moving up, eventually reaching her face. He took an involuntary step back as her chilling glare put him in his place. He cleared his throat to excuse himself –or just to change the topic going on in his mind- and returned his gaze onto the brunette's eyes.
Seeing the change on focus, she proceeded with the presentations, though she wasn't very impressed with her first impression of the man.
"I'm the squad leader, Schala." She said with a cold tone. Then, moving her arm to the side, she continued. "This are Zanya and Sorphan."
"I'm the leader of the Forest Owls, you can call me 'Zone'." The man nodded and then pointed to the young woman that had established the first contact. "This is my intelligence gatherer, responsible for obtaining information, much of which will be essential for the mission we hired you for… codename 'Watts'."
"Greetings, ma'am, sir, ma'am!" 'Watts' said, bowing repeatedly.
"Yes, it's very nice to meet ya!" 'Zone' added, stretching his hand to the team's leader.
Schala just gave him a light nod as he kept staring and expecting her to shake his hand. Finally comprehending it was not gonna happen, he shifted his attention to the others, taking each hand in turn as compliment.
As he was greeting the others, Schala grew impatient. She didn't fancy the man and as soon as the mission was over with, the better.
"So, let's get on with it." Her voice caught the other cabin's occupants' attention, all turning to face her. "What do you want us to do?" She asked, going straight to the point.
She wasn't one for small talk.
Zone gulped, giving another step back, almost bumping into Watts. "Yeah… alright." He said and his eyes went around the room, like he was looking for something. "But, to begin explaining the job we need the Boss…"
"I thought you were the leader?" Sorphan cut in, after all, he said it himself he was the leader of the Owls.
"Yeah, but to protect our identities, we address each other with codenames. Boss is just a codename for one of our most recent members." He stopped, thinking back on something. "Since he came on board, we became much more active, really. Once he gets here, we'll start."
"Ah… sir!?" Watts started shyly and slightly uncomfortable. "The Boss spent all night and morning going over the details of the plan, he just went to rest a couple of hours ago."
"He's in his room? With…" He trailed on, gaining several nods off the girl. "Ahh, man…" He wailed, hanging his head.
The SeeDs were a bit confused. Why didn't one of them just go and get this 'Boss' character? What was the problem?
Zone seemed close to despair, his eyes suddenly catching the SeeDs' frames. Breathing in, he turned to face them.
"Hey, Schala… sorry, but could you go get the Boss?" He asked hesitantly. Seeing her slightly confused gaze, he continued. "He's in the last room, up those stairs. It's really hard to miss."
She stayed silent for a few seconds, eying the man. Is he serious?
"Is that what you hired us for?" She calmly said in such a cold tone he had to resist a shiver as he stepped back again.
"A-Are you angry!?" He wailed as he seemed to shrink in place, gripping his stomach and, having leaned against the wall of the compartment, he slid down onto a sitting position.
She sighed heavily. Of course, endure several years of hard and demanding training, so that you can run errands… Oh, please…
"This is the last time we're doing this kinda thing." She replied in her coldest tone, making the man flinch and grab his gut more strongly.
She walked by her companions, gaining approving and doubtful comments.
"That's right, you tell them. We didn't come all this way for this!"
"These guys don't seem to have it together…"
She mostly ignored them, keeping her pace. The woman, Watts, stood a bit to the side so that she could climb the stairs. Just as she was passing past her, she whispered so that only she could hear it.
"Don't let him intimidate you, ma'am."
The cryptic warning made her stop and turn, but the girl had already stepped out of the stairs and next to the other man. Frowning slightly, she continued walking down the hall.
Reaching the last door, she stopped momentarily before knocking and turning the handle.
The room wasn't anything special. A bit bigger than the other rooms she glanced at, but not by much. It was also very poorly decorated, almost reminding her of her own dorm back at Garden. It had a bed, although wider than hers, a small dresser and a door to the side, probably leading to a small washroom. The walls and bedspread were of a dark blue and had a small dark brown carpet on the floor. The walls were bare except a long and curved red and black object she had never seen before, hanging on the wall over the bed.
She approached the bed normally, ready to awake the sleeping figure that she detected when she entered, but due to the bed's framework, couldn't see in detail from the door. Once close enough, she saw a man sleeping over his stomach. He must have been tired since he didn't even bothered to change out of his dark brown trousers and shiny black shoes, apparently only removing his upper garment, leaving his chest and back bare, and just falling on the bed over the sheets. His head was stuck between two pillows and she could only see that he had short black hair.
She suddenly heard a low growl coming from the bed and noticed there was someone, or something lying in the bed with the man. Looking more closely she noticed a dark brown dog lying on the bed with his head raised and his fangs showing. He seemed to be quite the protective animal, growling in warning if someone got too close to his master as he slept.
The dog barked once, but the girl didn't flinch or moved, at all, remaining on the same spot and locking her eyes with his dark brown ones.
He kept growling till a hand suddenly reached out and patted him gently on the head.
"Sshhh, Angelo. It's still early…" A male voice sounded from the –apparently no longer sleeping- man as he scratched the dog behind his ears. Since the animal didn't seem to calm down, the raven haired sat up on the bed, still keeping his back to the girl, and started stroking 'Angelo' more thoroughly. "What is it, boy?" The animal gave a pleased whine, but kept attentive to the girl's movements.
Following his pet's gaze, he found the subject of his behaviour. He should have guessed he was acting like that because someone had come into the room. He was a bit overprotective, sometimes reminding him of his mother, not for the best reasons.
He expected Zone or Watts to have come to wake him up, of course he should know better since they avoided it the best they could after their last encounter with a grouchy Angelo. He looked at the young woman standing in the middle of his bedroom with a curious stare. He could have sworn he'd seen her before. She then shifted her eyes from the dog and onto his, both of their eyes widened in mutual recognition.
The woman…
The stranger…
… from the ball…!!
Their eyes locked on each other as memories of their previous brief encounter flashed in their minds. He hoped SeeD would come to his aid, but he didn't think it could be her. She on the other hand, never thought she'd see him again…
"… A SeeD…?" He whispered, more to himself than her, as he shifted his position. He remained sitting at the side of the bed, his feet resting on the carpet. "You're really here…" He whispered a little bit louder.
Schala tilted her head slightly, not exactly understanding what he said. The corners of his mouth rose slightly as the idea, the reality that a SeeD was standing in his room finally sunk in. His smile widened so that Schala had to resist stepping back and the next seconds were a blur.
"YEEESSSS!! SeeD is here!" He almost screamed as he jumped off the bed and ran at her. His movement was so sudden she never had a chance to react as he grabbed her by the waist and hoisted her in the air, spinning her around and laughing heartily.
In order to keep some degree of balance, Schala's hands went to his shoulders for support, as he kept twirling around. After recovering from her surprise, she spoke, as calmly and clearly as she could, given the circumstances.
"Put. Me. Down." She was having some difficulty resisting her instincts and screaming at him. After a small pause, she continued a bit more forcefully. "Now!"
The young man stopped his spin, looking up at her and reddening ever so slightly as he realized what he was doing.
He set her down gently, stepping back as he quickly removed his hands from her waist and crossed them behind his back.
"Sorry… it's just that, I'm very happy you're finally here!" his eyes flickered as he registered what he just said. "SeeD, I mean…"
She raised her eyes after composing herself and noticed the man was still smiling, his eyes trailed on hers with a pleased glow.
"I've been sending requests to Garden forever, but I never got a response… I'm so glad I talked with Cid directly!"
"Oh…" Schala started, realising something. "So you were looking for the headmaster at the party." She said more than asked.
The raven-haired nodded, a new smile showing in his features as he remembered his meeting with the older man. "Cid is a very nice man." He chuckled as he went on. "I really didn't think SeeD would come out to help a measly group like ours." His eyes rose again locking onto hers. "But after explaining our situation to him, Cid gave the go ahead right away!"
A new determined look appeared in his eyes as he continued. "Now that you're here, we'll be able to carry out all kinds of plans… by the way…" He added as an afterthought "… how many are you?"
"There's me and two others." She said simply.
The smile never left his features as he nodded. "That'll be more than enough…" He frowned slightly, like he was forgetting something. "Oh yeah, my name's Rian." He added.
"Schala." She informed, giving a small nod in acknowledgment.
Pretty name… He wondered as he looked at her more closely, trying not to be too obvious as he examined her new attire.
Schala gave a step back, drawing back his attention. "I'm going back to the others."
"Yes, we should go back." He said as he motioned to leave the room. Seeing she hadn't moved, Rian turned to look at her with inquiring eyes. "What?"
She just looked at him, her eyes descending from his face to his lean and un-muscled chest, only then noticing he wore a loose chain around his neck with a ring in it, and returning to his face again.
Following her gaze, his dark chocolate eyes went down and only then did he realise he had nothing on above the waist.
"Oh…" He let out, at the same time stiffing a chuckle. "I guess I should put something on… Will you wait for a bit while I get ready?" He added as he looked back at her face.
Schala just crossed her arms, tilting her head and, taking that as a "yes, but hurry up with it", he stepped towards the door on the side of the compartment. "Will only take a minute." He added as he disappeared behind the door.
Schala sighed. That was turning out to be the strangest day…
A low growl from behind her motioned her to turn. The brown, average sized dog, Angelo, was still staring at her from his –now sitting- position over the bed. He rose and jumped down, never breaking eye contact as he carefully approached her.
Schala turned completely and knelt down so that their eyes were at the same level. They stared at each other for a moment before she, slowly, reached out her hand to him but keeping it at a certain distance.
Angelo stepped back, his sharp fangs showing as she offered her hand, palm up. He calmed down a bit, retreating his fangs as her action peeked his interest. She didn't seem like she wanted to pat him, usual first reaction of just about everyone he met. He stepped closer, sniffing the air and her hand, taking in her scent.
Schala resisted a smile, suddenly realizing that she liked Angelo. In a way, he was very similar to her own self, not allowing people to get too close…
She was barely able to suppress a giggle as she was dragged outta her thoughts when the dog started licking her fingers, wagging his tail happily as he approached and sat in front of her. She almost smiled as she leaned closer to pat the animal, scratching him behind the ears…
OOOOOOOOOO
Rian splashed some water on his face in the small washroom on the side of his room, but his thoughts weren't there. They were in the other room with the girl from the ball. Schala… he corrected himself.
For the past few days, and even though he had been working non-stop on the plan to kidnap President Deling, his mind still entertained him - on occasion - with her face and soft voice. He frowned slightly as he brushed his teeth absentmindedly. Her voice had sounded a bit different that day. It carried a hard edge that wasn't there on the night they danced.
Maybe it's because she's on a mission and has to keep it professional. He thought.
There's something about Schala that intrigued and trilled him at the same time. He couldn't read her expressions, never knowing what she was thinking, apart from the initial moment when she looked as surprised as he was. Her face showed no more after that… unreadable…
Without focusing on what he was doing, Rian reached out for a long dark red vest, previously on a nearby hanger, and put it on, his mind still somewhere else as he buttoned it up, leaving the last ones unbuttoned. Her new clothes look better on her, though… he wondered as he reached out and took hold of a couple of long black bracers he then placed on his arms.
Finally finished getting ready, his focus went to the present as he examined himself in the mirror. He nodded to his reflection, apparently satisfied, and motioned to return to the room. Without knowing exactly why, he opened the door slowly and quietly, smiling at the scene he found on the other side.
For a second, he saw the young woman from the ball again, soft and gentle as she patted Angelo, an almost smile adorning her face. What also surprised him was the brown dog himself. Angelo wasn't particularly the hostile type, but he also wasn't very trusting of strangers. He'd allow others to pat him but he'd always remain attentive and alert. Right at that instant, he couldn't care less, surrendering to her gentle ministrations. There must be something very special with that girl for him to take such a liking to her.
As much as he felt like staying like that, observing the peaceful exchange, they had a job to do.
"His name is Angelo." Rian said as he stepped back into the room, attracting the attention of both his pet and the brunette. "He's my partner."
Both of them stopped and turned to the young man. Angelo looked at Schala one more time before getting up to go to his master who immediately crouched and patted him, much to the animal's delight.
"He usually doesn't like strangers, but it seems he took a liking to you…" He added as he watched her from the corners of his eyes.
Schala stood, her expression once again unreadable and Rian –once again- regretted that his duty, his obligations, made him break the sweet moment where she seemed so relaxed… sighing, he returned his attention to his partner.
"I have some important work to do now. Stay here and be a good boy, Angelo."
The dog whined, looking back at the SeeD as if asking to go too. Receiving a sympathetic look, he felt resigned to the situation, turning around with his head down and hopping back onto the bed where he laid resting his head over his paws.
Smiling at his pet's actions, Rian turned back to brunette. "Shall we go, then?"
She only nodded, sparing one last glance at the dog before exiting the room, Rian following close behind.
They walked -side by side- the first steps down the hall in silence, soon interrupted by Rian.
"SeeD members dance quite well, don't they?" He casually asked, something he had been wondering for a while now.
Schala didn't stop nor did she slow her pace, only answering him once they were very near the others.
"I guess…"
He let go a chuckle just as they descended a few steps, arriving to where the other SeeDs and members of the resistance stood. Schala took the lead, indicating her companions as she introduced them.
"This is Zanya…" The young man took her hand, shaking it with a smile.
"And Sorphan." Rian shook the taller man's hand as well, before introducing himself.
"I'm Rian. It's pleasure to meet you and have you with us… So, now that we're all properly introduced, let's get down to business." He added as he stepped towards a side door in the compartment. "This way, please." And he entered the room, followed by his fellow resistance members.
The SeeDs stepped into the room right after their clients. The room was wider than the one before, several notices on a bulletin board in the opposite wall, the windows were shut and there was a large train model table in the middle of the room.
"Just stand anywhere you want." Zone said as he stood at the head of the table, Rian by his side and Watts slightly back.
"This is a full-scale operation." He continued as the SeeDs took their places around the table. "Our resistance, The Forest Owls, will be forever known in the pages of Timber's independence!"
He raised his arm in the air with starry eyes and then he lowered them to the SeeDs, a wide smile on his face. "Exciting, huh?"
So far, the SeeDs didn't seem very impressed, keeping their faces reasonably indifferent. Clearing his throat, Zone calmed down his eagerness, continuing in a more professional way.
"It all started when we got a hold of top-secret info from Galbadia." He started again.
"I got the info, sir!" Watts said from behind him.
"There's a VIP from Galbadia coming to Timber."
"Super V-I-P!!" Watts provided again, gaining stifled chuckles from Zanya, Sorphan and a smile from Rian.
"The guy's name is Vinzer Deling! Our arch-enemy, and the President of Galbadia." He emphasised, noticing the SeeDs showed no sign of recognition to the name.
"Vinzer Deling is a scoundrel!!" Watts added, flushed as the knowledge of his vile action came rushing into her mind. "He's a dictator, not a president. Not even popular in Galbadia, sir!"
Rian turned, giving the brunette a reassuring smile before turning to the SeeDs, all signs of previous amusement gone as he spoke. "President Deling is taking a private train convoy from the Galbadian capital to Timber later this afternoon."
"Our plan is to..." Zone started but was interrupted when a smiling Sorphan raised his hand in the air.
"Blow it to smithereens with a rocket launcher!?" He asked excitedly.That would be cool! He added as an afterthought.
"Ahh... not quite..." Zone exclaimed, giving a step back at the cheerfulness of the tall, if yet innocent looking, young man upon saying such a thing.
"So what will it be? Just tell us what to do and we'll get it done!" Zanya cut in as well and Schala, though not giving any indication, thinking the same.
"Shall we begin?" Rian started, signalling the table in front of them. "First, I'll go over the model."
All eyes focused on the contents of the table. There were several mini-train tracks, a few train sets and the surrounding green hills. Pointing to each item in turn, Rian proceeded in explaining the plan.
"The yellow train on the top right is our base. We're riding in it right now. Right next to it is the dummy car. We made it to look just like the president's car."
"Their train has three cars. First, there's the locomotive followed by the 1st escort. The red car is the president's car. Deling should be inside. The last car is the 2nd escort. Once we get on this one, we begin the
operation."
Rian paused for a bit, raising his eyes from the set onto the others, making sure he still had everyone's attention.
"Our ultimate goal is to seize the president in his car using our base. That means, we'll have to switch our dummy car with their president's car." He clarified as he pointed to both cars in turn.
He then indicated the tracks as he continued. "We'll use the 2 switch points leading up to Timber to carry out this operation."
He took a deep breath as he raised his head again to the listeners. "Ok, the plan will develop in seven steps." He raised a hand, sticking out a finger to indicate step number one.
"First, we'll get on the roof of the 2nd escort by jumping from our dummy car." He said, moving the models to indicate the exact procedure.
"The 2nd escort car is the only one that is equipped with sensors, sir." Watts cut in, temporarily drawing Rian's attention.
"A high tech officer is onboard, yes. But thanks to this little thing, we won't have too much trouble with it." Rian added as he removed a small black box from his pocket. He turned to Watts as she started talking again.
"There are two guards patrolling the 2nd escort, one with a sound sensor and one with a temperature sensor. The device" She pointed to the box Rian was still holding "was very hard to come by… it basically disrupts the readings from the sound sensor giving false readings throughout the car." She explained gaining some surprised risen eyebrows from the SeeDs.
Seemed like they had thought this through.
"The only down side is that the device must be attached to the train's roof in order to affect the entire car and provide cover for you. So at least one of you will have to run over the roof without the protection given by the device, so that you can place it at the end of the carriage."
"For that one, our base will speed up a bit to give us the indication of the guard carrying the sound sensor, flashing a blue light if he comes near and a red light when it's clear."
"The base can't stay in that position for too long without attracting the attention of the convoy, so this must be done as quickly as possible." Rian added.
"Indeed, sir!" Watts said as she spared a glance at the 'Boss'. "As for the temperature sensor, if you keep moving there won't be any problem with those."
"Right, then we can move across the roof to the president's car without worrying too much." Rian informed.
"Deling hates the company of his guards and being surrounded by sensors, and keeps them away from his car." Zone provided, before Rian continued his explanation.
"We'll have to complete the uncoupling before the 1st switch point. If we don't..."
"BOOM!!... Game over, right?" Sorphan cut in, gaining the surprised stares of the resistance members.
"... Yeah." Rian let out, glancing at the young man. Strange guy… "So we'll have to move fast." he added seriously.
"For the uncoupling process…"
"Question...!" Sorphan interrupted, raising his hand like he was in a classroom. After a nod from Rian, he continued. "How can you uncouple the cars from a moving train?"
"We don't, not directly at least." Rians explained.
"Instead, we'll have to tamper with the control system that manages the coupling, which is located bellow the carriage…" Zone cut in, picking up on of the cars and showing them exactly where the system was located. "If we temporarily disable the circuit for the connection, the car will uncouple automatically. To disable it, we have to lower someone down and enter several codes."
"...And we have the codes. Rian has them, ma'am!" Watts nodded from behind them.
"I'll be in charge of relaying the codes to Schala." He said looking at the brunette girl, gaining a nod from her.
Such a sensitive step of the mission should be performed by the most able one, the leader, I assume.
Smiling at her response, he continued showing the grapple they'd be using. "Schala, you'll slide down on the side of the train using a cable and enter the codes into the system. Now I need you to listen carefully." He said as he pulled out another box with four digits on it.
"Each code is made up of numbers between 1-4 and has 4 digits: 2341 is an example." He pointed to the consol as he continued. "The code consol will be something like this, though the keypad may not have the numbers in the same order, or at all. Just keep in mind that whatever sequence of numbers I give you, number 1 is the top button and the others, 2, 3 and 4 got around clockwise, like this."
He pressed the topmost button "This is 1…" he then indicated the middle right button "… 2…" then the lower button "… 3…" and finally the middle left button "… and 4. You'll have to be quick and precise. You'll have about 5 seconds to enter each code. Otherwise, the code will change and the past entries become invalid."
"Here try it, dial the code 4213, for example." Rain said as he passed Schala the small consol.
She pressed the buttons in order: middle left button, middle right button, upper button and lower button.
"Perfect!" He exclaimed with a smile. "So like we said, we have to enter all the codes to disable the connections."
"After we uncouple the cars, we'll wait for the others to operate the rail switch. Then, we'll have the dummy car and our base move in." And the model ran over the tracks, showing them the exact procedure. "At this point, our train and their train will be linked and be moving together."
"Next we'll have to uncouple our train plus the president's car from the convoy with the fake one. This is the last uncoupling. The process will probably be similar to the first one."
"If all goes well, we should be able to escape with the president's car." He said as the model's run continued, showing their escape. "After that, we'll return to our base and prepare to confront Deling."
He paused for a moment, before raising his hand. "So the plan is…" He started while signalling with his fingers. "First, sneak on board the 2nd escort."
"Second, proceed cautiously across the roof of the 2nd escort.
"Third, proceed across the roof of the president's car."
"Then uncouple the 1st escort car."
"Have the dummy car and our base move in after uncoupling."
"Then uncouple the 2nd escort car."
"And escape with the president's car and our base."
After enumerating all the procedures, he started again. "We have exactly 5 minutes to complete the 7 procedures. If we fail, our train will collide with theirs at the switch point and it'll be all over. Don't forget that." He added seriously.
"5 minutes...? You sure that's enough?" Zanya asked, frowning slightly.
Zone stepped up. "According to the simulation that we ran, it should only take 3 minutes to complete the operation." He informed, a small smirk on his features as he added. "Piece of cake for SeeDs, right?"
"Of course! Too easy!" Sorphan whooped, cheerfully.
Schala remained silent, watching the model and visualizing all the steps of the plan. It didn't seem too complicated, though she wouldn't exactly use Sorphan's words. It was doable.
"Umm...that's all, I think… are there any questions?" He turned to the SeeDs, suppressing a smile at the leader's serious face, the blond girl's relaxed pose and the brunet boy's thoughtful expression.
"Wouldn't it just be easier to just derail the president's car? Y'know, hit him with a big log or something…" Sorphan suddenly said, watching the model. "Then we watch it crash and burn!"
The room fell dead silent, all eyes fell on the smiling tall young man as he played around with the model, apparently unaware he had said it outloud.
"What's the point of killin' him before abducting him?" Zanya added, as if she was actually taking what the brunet had said seriously.
"Huh!?" Sorphan started.
"Okay. That's all then." Rian quickly said, disrupting the path the conversation was taking and refocusing everyone's attention. "Let's decide on the party!"
The SeeDs nodded, after all the three of them would be on the team… that's what they were hired for, but the other two members stepped back almost instantly.
"Gathering information is my speciality, sir!" Watts said immediately, heading for the door. "We're moving again… I'll go take a look, sirs, ma'ams!" She said and bolted outta the room.
Zone griped his stomach, falling back on the wall and then sliding down on the floor. "OuuuucHHHHH...My stomach!"
Rian sighed. The Owls were a small group and, before he came onboard, they were completely inactive and even now they'd prefer to keep out of the most dangerous actions. That was the main reason behind the hire of SeeDs to aid in their activities. His eyes travelled around the room and fell on the SeeDs.
Sorphan and Zanya seemed to be checking the fliers hanged on the board on the other end of the room, as Schala kept examining the model. He chuckled, she seemed very dedicated to her work, probably going around the plan once more in her head.
He stepped closer to her and just as he was about to say something, the door behind them opened suddenly.
Watts was under the doorframe, her expression as serious as the significance of her next words. "Sirs, ma'ams! We're here!"
Rian turned, completely forgetting his recent intentions as he stepped towards the door.
"It's time. Let's get this show on the road!"
"The railroad!" Sorphan added.
OOOOOOOOOO
AN.: Hiya there!! Another (late) update!! (sorry) I hope you like it!!
Yes! Finally the identity of Rinoa-boy is revealed!! Thank my Beta for the name XD. As for his clothes, let me clarify… As you know, I completely disregarded Quistis's choice of colors by using Allen from Escaflowne's model for Quentin and, well… I didn't want my male versions to be abusive in the use of the blue color so, I kinda switched the colors between Rian and Quentin's original trends (with the support of my Beta, of course XD, LOVE YA, girl!!), and there we have…
If there are any complaints… TOUGH! It's my story I do what I Hyne – damn please… ;P
Many hugs and kisses to all of you reading this! May your sanity never be put in question XD!
Read ya later
Revir