Once More, With Feeling... – Chapter 55: No One Ever Looks Up
Summary: the Cadets play 'Capture the Flag', the results are surprising.
Author: Illusor Meaneld
Rated T: for Descriptive violence and injuries, No Adult Situations, No Cussing.
Disclaimer: I did not create, and do not own the characters from Final Fantasy 7. They are owned by Square-Enix, and I am simply borrowing them for my own (and hopefully your) enjoyment.
The day of the Inter-Squad Skirmishes had dawned muggy, but the sun burned through the clouds on their long trip to their chosen terrain zone. The way Sergeant McMahon had explained it, they screened squads of cadet hopefuls four times a year, and they cycled through classes at the same speed or were dropped out to reapply. Squad Sekhmet would be engaging against the Cadets who remained in the previous quarter's squad, "Vritra". The most surprising aspect of these games, in Cyril's opinion, was that Vritra only had four Cadets remaining of its original twelve. Apparently the Mako sensitivity tests they would be starting in the next few weeks weeded out a lot of people from SOLDIER Prep. To make up for the disparity, they'd also be up against three SOLDIER Third Class. They were currently traveling in a small caravan of military trucks, their destination was meant to be a surprise, but Cyril had noted the full Squad of a dozen SOLDIER Second Class who were accompanying them. That likely meant either someplace with low visibility, or high natural hazards. Or both…
Cyril's brown eyes swept over his current associates, they were down to ten, after Fallon had dropped out last month. Some kind of family emergency. That left Logan, Lucas and Cloud as the only people worth really keeping an eye on. His gaze settled more firmly on the shortest blond, Cloud was the strangest kid he'd ever met. He was crazy smart, but a bit air-headed… put him in front of a monster though, and he was a beast! Right now though, their Captain looked half asleep. Even still, Cyril was rather relieved to have him, instead of someone like Logan as their leader. Logan never paid attention to anyone but himself, even his thuggish cohorts didn't fair so well under his supposed leadership. They thought their little bully band within the squad was subtle, but Cyril noticed the way their superiors kept them under careful eye, his own gaze shifted to the SOLDIER Second-Class who was riding in the back with them. Nothing much to see, blue uniform with chrome helmet and armor. But the tanned muscular arms and strong chin hinted at someone not to mess with.
When the trucks rolled to a stop, they heard the bellowing shout of Sergeant McMahon ordering them out and to attention. The two squads filed hastily and obediently out to stand in front of their transports. Cyril stared ahead, they were parked in front of a huge, wet, rotting forest, and he vaguely heard one of the other kids whisper 'swamp'. He wrinkled his nose, whatever it was, it stank.
"Squad Sekhmet!" the Sergeant was bellowing, "This is your flag." He held up a large square of blue fabric with a vague yellow lion-head pressed on it. If your enemies take it from you, you lose." He then held up a red square with a simplistic snake on it. "Squad Vritra! This is your flag. If your enemies take it from you, you lose." The massive man paced in front of the groups. "Each Squad will be assigned a 'base'. To lose your flag it must be taken to the enemy team's base. We will have a SOLDIER Second Class posted to observe your home territory, so if you even think about cheating, you're out of the program." He paused to stare at Logan Kade "If you leave the swamp. You're out of the program." He snarled, "And if you get eaten by the Midgar Zolom, who does occasionally venture this far north, obviously, you're out of the program." He resumed pacing. "Our generous SOLDIER Second Class' have agreed to guard the perimeter today to prevent accidental monster consumption. So if they tell you to do something, you do it." He gestured to two of the SOLDIER Seconds, who stepped up obligingly, though Cyril could see amused grins on their faces. "SOLDIER Essai, will be guarding Squad Sekhmet's home base. SOLDIER Sebastian will be guarding Squad Vritra's home base. You will each be issued non-lethal paint marker rifles, and marker sword. Anyone who is marked must return to base to be assessed by their SOLDIER watcher before returning to combat." His stern gaze swept over the lot of them, "Follow your watchers, and MOVE OUT!"
Cyril turned towards the indicated SOLDIER Second Class, who was now holding their flag. "Come on Wannabes" Essai gestured, still grinning. "Let's get ya setup. No rest for the wicked." They stepped in line behind him and marched into the swamp. Cyril cringed as his boot squelched into a patch of mud, the whole area was humid and unpredictably unstable, with small buzzing insects. Once they were fully in the trees a shadowy gloom enveloped them. Thoroughly disgusted, Cyril tried to focus only on following the tall SOLDIER in the lead. They wandered through the forested wetlands for what seemed like hours, but really was probably closer to ten minutes. Their destination was a small metal box, it had open, door less entryways on three sides, and an open skylight, inside was bare walls and floor except for a single pole in the center. Essai walked up to this and affixed their flag to the top. He turned to address the boys. "The enemy base is that direction." He pointed out the center door of their boxy structure, "There is a small stream running approximately across the middle of this zone, across it is 'enemy territory'. If you run into the other Second Class perimeter guards you've gone too far." Then he walked to the back wall and propped himself against it with a grin. "The floor is all yours ladies." Cyril was still surveying their 'base' when the Squad Captain started speaking.
"Alright Squad, gather round." Cloud said brusquely, "Logan, I want you to lead Fisk and Wyatt up the left side toward their base." The burly boy looked startled at the assignment, then grinned, waved and started off out the door. His two favorite lackeys following. "Cyril," Cloud turned his clear blue eyes on the taller boy, "You are our best fighter, I'm going to assign you to guard the base, you're in charge of defense, but I want you to guard from an ambush position. Teagan, the same goes for you, follow Cyril's lead." He turned a little further to gaze at Ethan, who frowned back. "Ethan, I want you to be the visible guard, I want you to warn off anyone who comes by, so make your presence known, keep your weapons ready. Just don't get shot doing it, stay in cover." He flicked his gaze to Lucas, "Lucas you'll be the wild card, since you're fast, and agile … I want you to use that to your advantage, try to snatch and dash with the flag, if it looks like you're going to get caught, lure them out if you can. Be distracting, run like you mean it." He turned to the last two boys, "Gavin, and Kyle, you two are with me, we'll take the right side."
Cyril nodded in agreement, when Cloud glanced his way, then watched the small boy run out of their base, with his two chosen Cadets on his heels. He glanced at Ethan, then at Teagan. "C'mon" He said gruffly to the other boy, as he was heading out, he shot one last look at their SOLDIER watcher, the man was still smiling, but it looked a little more wolfish than before. Cyril smirked in return and set about arranging his ambush zone with gusto. The ground was wet and muddy, with deeper puddles of water one could sink into without warning. So Cyril gestured to the trees,
"Hey Teag, how well can you climb?"
The other boy glanced up with dawning comprehension. "Well enough." He said with a grin, and the two of them split up to find a likely vantage point. Scaling the trees had been trickier than the cadet had originally anticipated. Everything was so wet and slippery with mold and moss but eventually he sat himself quietly in the V of two branches watching the muggy almost fog covered ground below, his rifle poised and waiting. It was an uncomfortable wait with the tree bark digging into his back and legs, but after a few long minutes he heard the distinctive squelching sounds of incoming targets.
Sure enough, all four Cadets from the opposing team came tromping through the trees in a direct line to the base. They were accompanied by two of their SOLDIER Thirds … which meant there was only one guard at the enemy base! Cyril realized smugly. He watched behind them though, just in case they tried a surprise maneuver, and because he was alert he saw the bright blond head of Cloud stealthily directing his two followers to ambush the approaching guards. The smaller boys gaze darted around and spotted Cyril significantly faster than he'd have expected. His captain grinned in approval of his chosen position. Suddenly Ethan ducked out of the base with a shout and fired his rifle in a short staccato burst before ducking back in just ahead of the return fire. Like a switch had been thrown, the two SOLDIER Third Class acting as part of the enemy team raced forward with swords drawn.
One of them shouted, "An Enemy! I will strike him down with my sword!" With exaggerated drama.
The quartet of cadets seemed equally startled by these actions and hesitated in confusion. Just long enough for Clouds three to ambush them from behind. It was suddenly a whirlwind of motion below. Cyril's gaze darted to the two third class, who were currently the biggest threat. Ethan jumped into the doorway again, bravely facing down the charging SOLDIERs and unloaded rapid fire with a yell. To all the cadet's shock, the Thirds made no move to dodge and were instantly peppered with blue paint.
"Oh no! I have been shot!" the same dramatic SOLDIER from before exclaimed in almost mechanical horror, "I must now return to base." He swiveled and began tromping with exaggerated stiffness back the way he'd come, his partner turned with him, more casually.
"Stop hamming it up, you nut." The other SOLDIER grumbled audibly.
One of the enemy cadets, screamed in frustration, kicked young Gavin aside forcibly and bolted towards Sekhmet base pelting the still stunned Ethan in the doorway with rifle fire as he ran. Just as he was passing under Cyril's tree, the blond dropped on him, the patter of disturbed tree-bark must have caught the older boy's attention as he whirled to bring up his sword to block Cyril's own, dropping the rifle in the scuffle. The kid was good, fast and agile. But almost immediately Cyril knew he was better. He pushed back, swinging his blade in a whirlwind of feints, before finally drawing a smooth line of blue paint across the other boy's midsection. His opponent, a boy with grey eyes and dirty blond hair, snarled and brought his blade around to strike back. Almost before he could blink, there was a SOLDIER Second class holding the boy.
"Do that again, and you're out of the program, Cadet." Essai growled coldly, "You're marked, get back to your base."
"Luxiere!" One of the boy's teammates shouted, aghast.
Cyril looked up to see that all the other enemy cadets were streaked and peppered with blue. Gavin and Teagan were splattered with the red paint of their enemies, Cloud was interestingly unmarked, and was helping Gavin up from the ground. The presence of Essai easily dampened any interest in continuing the skirmish, and those covered in paint started making their way to their respective bases. Before they could get far, the Squad Vritra Cadets groaned loudly as the splashing of someone running echoed through the trees, and Logan became suddenly visible holding aloft a red and yellow flag triumphantly. Squad Sekhmet, almost as one, cheered loudly. Essai watched tolerantly until the teenager had entered the little cubicle shelter of the base. Then grinned massively.
"Point to Squad Sekhmet!" He bellowed. And with a shimmer of green, loosed a lightning spell skyward with a deafening crack. "All right Cadets, get back to base for round two." He continued sternly to the excited children.
They had to wait for Logan's two lackeys, Wyatt and Fisk, to return from the enemy base. Both were liberally coated in red. As the story came out, apparently Logan had grabbed the flag and left the other two boys to hold off the SOLDIER Third left behind. Somehow Cyril was not surprised by the sacrifice play. Lucas returned from wherever he'd been running around without more prompting than the lightning spell. Cyril turned to Essai while the other Cadets were gathering.
"Why did the SOLDIERs on team Vritra act like that?" He was alarmed by the bizarre behavior.
Essai sighed, "They are only allowed to follow the orders given by Vritra's Captain. They are supposed to follow those orders as specifically, or as 'literally' as possible. This is leadership training." He explained with resignation. "I promise they'll be thinking about their orders more carefully next round." His grin, barely visible under the massive helmet was vicious. Cyril nodded, his thoughts whirling.
When all the Cadets had returned to their bases, the SOLDIER Seconds pulled out a Renew Materia and Orange light washed over the room, quickly removing the brightly colored paint, and much to Cyril's relief, the mud and muck as well. Suddenly Sergeant McMahon stepped into their little shelter.
"Good job boys!" He praised gruffly, fetching the stolen Vritri flag from Essai. "Round two starts at the next cast of thunder. I suggest you have your strategy ready by then."
As soon as he disappeared, Cloud gestured the group to huddle up. "Great job Logan, Wyatt, Fisk, Nice capture! Great job also to our defenders, keeping off the bulk of the enemy. Now we gotta change things up, because they'll be ready for this strategy." He nodded to Logan's trio, "I want you guys to take center this time. They tried a straight shot last time, and if you do see them, try to do some damage." His gaze shifted to Lucas, "Right side for you this time, my group will take the left." He turned to Gavin, "I'm going to leave you with Cyril this time, or more specifically, I want you to help Ethan guard the base, we need to beef up defense if they're using strong offence tactics." Lastly he turned his attention to Cyril, "Amazing ambush, but they'll be watching the trees this time, so pick new locations, and be careful." Cyril found himself nodding agreeably, a rush of pride filling him with new energy. It was a heady sensation.
Wyatt shuffled his feet while they waited for the signal to start, then turned towards their captain, "Hey Cloud, I dunno if they changed their instructions, but if it helps, the SOLDIER Third they left behind had to stay within about ten yards of the base." Cloud gazed back, and nodded thoughtfully. "If that stays true, it makes a snatch and dash a little more likely to succeed. Hey Lucas, if you see an opening to take the flag without getting hit, I want you to grab it and run like the wind alright?" The slender Cadet nodded back with a mischievous grin. Cyril noticed that Logan looked disgruntled at the offer of information from one of his own lackeys, and the platinum-blond boy could only shake his head. That idiot's search for glory was going to take them all down if they weren't careful. He darted his own brown eyes to his Captain, and saw blue ones looking back, and the tiny boy nodded, silently acknowledging that he'd noticed as well. For the first time Cyril was especially glad the other boy was their leader, he shuddered to think of how these games would have gone with Logan in charge.
When the concussive crack of the spell signal echoed over the swamp, the four sub-teams of boys dashed immediately into action. Cyril watched the three offense groups disappear swiftly into the fog drenched foliage, he glanced at his previous hiding tree, then down around the ground. He pointed to a large fallen log, "Hey Teag, can you tuck behind there?" The other boy cocked his head as he considered the hiding place.
"Yeah I think so." He quickly jogged over to try, and after a few moments had disappeared into the half hollow along the back. Cyril nodded when he saw an eye peak at him through a half-rotted knot of wood. Teagan's visibility would be limited, so Cyril would have to offer the signal. He jogged over to a thick mossy bush, it was half submerged in a scum covered puddle, but having seen the efficiency of the (cleaning spell) he figured it would come out pretty well later. Regardless, he cringed as he dipped into the mucky water, tucking himself thoroughly behind the bush. As he glanced down at himself, he winced at the clashing blue of his outfit. He absolutely refused to lose though … especially in front of someone like Logan. His lip curled a little at the thought, and he dipped his hands into the mud to smear the disguising color over his shirt and face. Then hunkered down to wait.
It seemed to take a lot longer for anything to happen this time. Cyril sat in the humid plant, with dense almost lukewarm mud pressing in on his legs. And the occasional bug buzzing past his head. Sweat made his shirt cling and his skin itch, but still he waited. Not daring to move lest the leaves he was hiding in rustled, and gave him away. The first hint of something happening came when Kyle sprinted back to base, cursing loudly, and streaked with red paint. Cloud's two man team had met the enemy. Cyril winced slightly, but their defense was stronger than last round. He listened to Kyle as he tried to hurry Essai into clearing his 'marks' so he could rejoin the fight, but the second class only chuckled, and briefly explained that he had to wait a specified time to allow that. This was met with disgruntled grumbling, but no Cadet was suicidal enough to challenge a SOLDIER. It was surely several minutes later before Cyril heard the enemy approaching. Four figures burst into view, the two SOLDIER Thirds slightly ahead of the panting pair of Vritra Cadets. One of the boys had a broad swatch of blue up one arm, not a 'lethal' body shot, but he was holding it appropriately 'useless'. Cloud was no-where to be seen, but judging by the numbers, he'd either held someone up, knocked them out, or there were more base guards on the enemy turf than they'd anticipated. Four approaching opponents, four Sekhmet cadets left to guard, even odds, except for the SOLDIER's enhancements.
When the red team reached almost level with Cyril's hiding place, Ethan ducked into view and unloaded a burst, just like last round, and ducked away quickly. Unlike the previous turn, the two SOLDIERs did not immediately charge forward, instead both of them leveled their rifles and fired back. The same melodramatic voice from last time yelled as they did,
"I have been fired at! I will now return fire!" He proclaimed, to the muffled groan of his partner.
"Oh Gaia." One of the Vritra cadets muttered in frustration. Then the whole group picked up the pace, Cyril braced, and just as they were coming even with his bush, he lunged from his puddle, rolling on the ground to stay low and swatted one of the enemy cadets across the back of the knees with his paint-sword. The boy cried out, and the others whirled in surprise, Cyril had already changed the trajectory of his weapon and brought it down solidly over the collapsing boy's midsection in a 'lethal' blow. He was rolling away as the remaining three brought their weapons around to aim at him, and that gave his partner in hiding enough time to jump out and start firing at their backs. He managed to nick a few with paint, but nothing that would take them out of the running. He'd apparently aimed too hastily, when the two SOLDIERs whirled and returned fire. They did not miss, and Teagan yelped as he was liberally spattered, and probably bruised by the onslaught of red pigment projectiles. Cyril was already approaching again with his sword, and the remaining cadet matched him with a curse. To both of their surprise, the two SOLDIER Thirds merely watched them fight. After a few seconds of fending off the more talented cadet. The remaining boy of squad Vritra cursed loudly, and took the opportunity to bolt for the base, the two SOLDIERs on his heals. When Ethan ducked into view to shoot some more, the two Thirds pelted him with return fire, Cyril sprinted in their wake, it was two to three now, but he'd put together a few pieces during the scuffle. The trio made it into the base first, the rapid burst of gunfire echoed, along with a cry of pain from point-blank paint bludgeoning. Cyril saw the last cadet come racing out, covered in blue and cursing up a storm, one of the two Thirds followed more sedately. Apparently Gavin had done pretty well for himself. Cyril came up just as the final SOLDIER grabbed the flag from the post.
"I have acquired the flag!" He proclaimed redundantly, "I must return it to the base!" Cyril skidded to a halt with a grin, raised his sword and tapped the other man smartly on the helmet. "Oh no! I have been struck! I must return to base!" He stated in an almost gleeful deadpan. Before dropping the flag to the ground and tromping back the way he'd come.
Cyril allowed himself a moment to catch his breath, before returning the flag to its post and looking around. Essai was leaning casually against the back wall, his lips twitching with barely restrained humor. At his feet were the equally gleeful Sekhmet cadets who'd been marked 'out' with red paint. He realized they were silenced after a moment when no sound of chuckling or breathing came to his ears. He was still tucked out of sight of the doorways when he heard the squelching patter of sprinting feet. He raised his sword in one hand, hoping to get the drop if it was another of the Vritra Cadets, and almost brained, Lucas as he pelted into the base splattering mud everywhere to the silent dismay of the tagged out boys on the back wall. He waved a red flag in one hand with a loud whoop, tossing it at the SOLDIER Second class before dancing in excitement. He'd started to actually kick mud off his boots in the other boy's directions when Essai removed the silence spell and cast the bolt spell loudly through the skylight.
"Point to Squad Sekhmet!" He proclaimed, while Lucas continued his impromptu jig. "All Cadets return to base!" He said this a little louder, and Cyril glanced out the doorway to see a tired-looking Cloud trod in, a bright red streak over his sword arm, and his weapon carried with almost equal confidence in his off-hand. Wait… was Cloud… ambidextrous? Cyril blinked, that was something to keep an eye on. The jubilation was contagious, and Cyril found himself grinning hugely almost bouncing in place as the other boys celebrated. He'd almost forgotten they were still waiting for more Cadets until Logan and his two goons came in roaring with anger.
"YOU STOLE MY POINT!" He snarled at Lucas, who finally stopped dancing, and sneered at the larger youth.
"You snooze, you lose!" Lucas taunted back,
Logan loomed over the wiry boy. "I grab the flag, I get the points snot-nose!"
"You ain't the boss of me!" Lucas crowed back cockily. Logan's fists came up, and were suddenly batted out of the way by a blue paint sword. Cloud's diminutive figure stood next to the pair, and he was staring down the bully sternly.
"Back down, Logan." He said with steely calm, his sword was still held in his left hand. "We complete our objectives as a team. We can't count on only one person, you're not Sephiroth." The burly youth clenched his fists, almost shaking with outrage. Cyril thought he could almost hear teeth grinding, his own brown eyes darted over to Essai, who was still standing quietly against the back wall, watching the interchange, but the Second Class wasn't smiling anymore. When the cadet glanced back at the tableau, Logan had backed off, his own gaze darting to their SOLDIER observer. Cloud's eyes darted to look out the main entrance, and when Cyril turned to look, he saw Sergeant McMahon walking up slowly, his gaze on the group in the doorway.
"Congratulations Squad Sekhmet. Second point." He barked suddenly, causing the inattentive cadets to jump. He picked up the Vritra flag from Essai, "Keep up the good work, Captain Strife. First team to three points wins! Don't get cocky!" He said pointedly. The excitement had subdued quickly in the wake of that altercation, and Essai cast his Renew spell over the group without further comment as they watched the Sergeant stride away towards the enemy base. Cyril sighed in relief as the sticky itchy mud vanished efficiently from his person. He used to think renew and other non-combat Materia were useless. Now he was thoroughly convinced they were highly underrated.
Their small blond Captain straightened with a rolling of his shoulders, and turned to regard the rest of the squad. "Alright, we've done exceptionally well these last two rounds, but I'll bet that'll change pretty quickly. Team Vritra is no doubt shoring up their weaknesses, even as we speak, so we need to switch things up as well. Logan, you and Fisk have been runners for two rounds now. I'm going to have you take a break at base. You're both pretty capable fighters, so stay inside and wait for a good opening to attack. Catch your breath a bit before our opponents get over here. Gavin, help guard the base." Logan's face turned red in anger, but he stepped back to lean grumpily against one of the door frames, sending heated glares at their captain. "Wyatt, I know you've been running just as much, but I'm going to have you go out with Teagan this round as an offense team, take the right side. Ethan, you're with me. We'll take center. Lucas, are you good for one more offense round?" The slender boy nodded with a grin. "You'll be the right side this time. Kyle, stick with Cyril and follow his lead." Most of the boys nodded amiably, though Cyril was not particularly happy to be left with Logan.
They were ready when the bolt spell signaling the start of Round Three echoed through the trees. And Cloud with his three offensive groups raced out of the base. Cyril darted out also, he'd been eyeballing a large rocky outcrop a little further out from the base as a different ambush zone. "Help me cut down this bush." He said hastily to Kyle. They both hacked the muddy ground with their dull blades, but managed to pull the foliage up. Kicking dirt and muck over the hole he dashed to the rock and shoved the new cover against the rock, giving him a more hidden view of approaching cadets. Hopefully they hadn't had enough chance to memorize the landscape to notice the difference. Everything looked moldy anyway to Cyril's eyes. It seemed to take a long time for any enemy units to approach, longer for sure than the last two times, unfortunately when they finally did, Cyril didn't see them coming. One minute it was quiet except for soft breathing and the persistent insects. The next gun fire was streaming from the trees on the far side of the base. Cyril almost fell out of his cover in his haste to see what was going on. The enemy team must have snuck around the long way, they were deep into cover and firing on the open door of the base. He just caught a glimpse of uniform through the trees and pointed it out in a whisper to Kyle.
"Let's see if we can hit them!" Kyle said back eagerly,
"We might blow our cover, they're pretty far off." He said back with a frown. A sharp cry of pain and frustration echoed from their base, followed by cursing. Someone had been hit. "All right, in sync then."
The pair of them popped out over the rock aiming the barrels of their paint rifles carefully towards the source of enemy fire and just as the other team started shooting another round they fired in return. There was a shout of surprise, a hit perhaps? But Cyril couldn't wonder for long as the paint pellets started peppering his zone as well. He ducked away quickly, but Kyle's reflexes weren't as good, and the other boy cursed as he took a hit to the collarbone. He rubbed at the paint ruefully, "D'ya think that counts? Will they notice?" Cyril appraised it and shook his head with a frown. "That'll count as a body shot, and trust me, SOLDIER Essai will notice." The other boy cursed some more, then took off towards their home base. The sooner he got there, the sooner he could start the time for being 'out'. Cyril kept his own head down, if he was lucky, the enemy team would think Kyle had been alone in his ambush spot. He listened carefully, but no more fire came his way, and he cautiously peaked around the side, through his replanted bush. He was just in time to see a Cadet rush through one of the doors of Sekhmet's base, followed by a shout and scuffle inside. After a moment the boy came out liberally splattered in blue and racing for home. Logan and his lackey Fisk came hollering after him.
"Let's get their flag while their all tagged out!" Logan declared with a fierce grin, Cyril groaned. When the larger pair started jogging outward, he leapt from his hiding place in front of them.
"We're the defenders! There could be more of them out there!" He snarled.
"Won't matter if we get their flag first." Logan sneered back, and Fisk raised his own paint sword threateningly.
"The Captain ordered you to guard the base." Cyril growled back, "How stupid are you if you can't even follow simple instructions?"
"I ain't gonna listen to a tattle-tale crybaby who should be back home with mama." Was the reply snort. "He can lick my boots when I get into SOLDIER, now stay outta my way." He reached out to shove and Cyril dodged easily. Gaia forsaken sheep! He mentally snarled as the two of them tromped off. Cyril was still fuming when a rustle caught his attention. He whirled bringing his rifle to bear only to take a long swipe of paint across his ribs as the SOLDIER Third class he'd never heard marked him. He opened his mouth reflexively to shout a warning only for a Silence spell to settle cloyingly over him. He looked back to see SOLDIER Essai gesturing him to return to base. Sullenly he did so, sitting against the back wall with their watcher when the man indicated. He watched in helpless fury, as Logan and Fisk disappeared ignorantly in the distance, while the second hidden ambush pair from team Vritra raided their base almost unhindered, he seethed as the enemy cadets sprinted off with the blue Sekhmet flag in hand. Logan would pay for this! He promised, so intent was he on planning revenge that he jerked in surprise when a large hand landed on his shoulder. Essai had tilted his helmet back just enough to let glowing brown eyes gaze down at him. They were almost golden when backlit by mako, and it was a bit eerie.
"If it's any consolation." Essai murmured, almost friendly, "His disobedience and insubordination is going on his record." Those gold-brown eyes hardened to flint for a moment. "I wouldn't count on his making it very far toward SOLDIER after this." Surprisingly, that was consolation, and Cyril found himself relaxing almost despite himself. Logan would get what he brought on himself, the blond smiled nastily. He'd happily watch the idiot's dreams burn. He waited in forced silence, long enough for the first boy who'd been tagged, Gavin, to be 'released' by SOLDIER Essai, a Renew cleaning the paint from his clothes. They waited in some despair, unless Sekhmet scored first, or someone from their own team intercepted their flag before it could get to Vritra's base, they were done. Sure enough a loud but distant crack of Lightning echoed over the swamp.
"Point to Squad Vritra!" Essai called, "All Cadets return to base!" Cyril almost jumped a foot when a loud whoop echoed out of the trees, and a remaining enemy ambusher dashed away towards the distant base. Apparently they'd really taken more precautions this round. It was a long wait for the rest of their team to reconvene. The only upside to this was it gave Cyril the chance to fill Cloud in fully on what had gone down that allowed their base to be so quickly raided. The other blond listened carefully, his eyes like ice.
"Thanks for letting me know." He praised quietly, after the conversation finished, the small boy stood in contemplation for several moments before his gaze flicked back up to Cyril. "How much can you lift?" Thrown by the non-sequitur, Cyril blinked back several times before answering,
"One-Fifty?" When his Captain's eyebrow raised at the question, "Give or take on a bench." He clarified. The other boy nodded with a small smile.
"Alright Cadets, I have a plan." Cloud announced while they waited. "Lucas, You've been doing a good job on offense, but I know you're tired, so this round I want you to stay in the base. Here's where it gets complex." He gestured for the boys to gather around. "You see that tree that sits behind the base? The one they used as support for this shack? I need Gavin up that tree as fast as possible when the signal goes off." He turned to address the mentioned youth, "Gavin, I know you're pretty good at the hand signals we've learned in class. You're going to put that to the test. I want you as high as you can safely get and still see, you need to be able to see through the skylight too. Lucas, you're going to be watching for Gavin's signals, he'll tell you where the enemy is and how close. You stay outta sight as much as possible. I want you to be careful, don't get hit if you can help it, but try to take them down." He turned to the rest of the boys, "Teagan, I want you to pair up with Wyatt, you'll be ambush team 'Galka' you'll be on the right side." He waited for the two boys to acknowledge, "Kyle and Ethan, you'll be team 'Rolanberry' you're on the left side." His gaze flicked back to Lucas. "I want you to direct the ambush teams. You're going to yell 'insults' at the enemy, use the codenames I just assigned, any insult using 'mother' means attack. One that uses 'father' means stay put. I'll let you pick a few more as needed. If you give a bird whistle, that means Gavin's told you the coast is clear, whenever that happens, any ambush zone that has been compromised needs to be changed. Find new hiding places. Keep them guessing. By now, they know to expect an ambush, but they can't know from where."
Lucas chortled, "So if I said 'your mother was a Galka, and your father smelt of Rolanberry'?" Cloud looked at the ambush teams meaningfully.
"We'd attack the insurgents." Teagan said with a grin.
"And we'd stay hidden." Ethan added with a wicked smirk.
"Good! I expect this round will take a while, we've both tested each other a lot. I'm counting on you guys to keep our flag right where it belongs!"
"Yes Sir!" the other boys cheered with fierce eagerness. Cloud gestured them to plan amongst themselves, and turned, finally to Cyril who was frowning,
"What am I doing?" He growled, he hadn't missed that his Captain hadn't given him a specific group or assignment so far this round.
Clear blue eyes flashed with mischief, "You're coming with me." Cyril blinked once, then grinned back. Finally his own chance at offense! He started to ask about Cloud's plan, but they were interrupted when Sergeant McMahon arrived with Logan and Fisk sulking behind him.
"Did you lose some men Captain?" He snapped at Cloud,
"No Sir." The small blond responded calmly, "I was confident they would find their way back." The older man snorted, before gesturing the two boys inside.
"Your first loss today Squad Sekhmet. War is not all fun and games, if this had been real, you've have dead men! Remember that!" He growled, tossing their blue and gold flag to SOLDIER Essai, who snatched it neatly from the air before replacing it on the post. "The enemy only needs two more points to win! Don't let yourselves rest on your laurels Cadets! The tides of war can change at ANY MOMENT!" He roared the last piece of advice. "When you hear the signal, Round Four will start! I hope you're ready this time." He shook his head at them before tromping off again. Logan's face was almost purple in his anger as he gazed down at Cloud. The diminutive Captain of their squad held up a hand before the burly boy could speak.
"We don't have time to talk about last round, the next one will be starting soon." Logan huffed, his gaze flickering to the SOLDIER Second at the back of the room in obvious frustration. "Logan." Cloud said in a low tone, drawing the boy's attention back. "You want to capture the flag? I'm going to give you the chance. You are going to take Fisk, and you can try as hard as you want to get that victory."
"What about Wyatt?" The larger boy sneered,
Cloud simply raised an eyebrow, "I didn't think you really needed help to win." He pointed out, then shook his head. "You want to try, you do it with yourself and Fisk only. I don't want to see you back here covered in paint unless Fisk has the flag." He switched his gaze to Fisk. "Same goes for you." Logan grumbled, but finally nodded in resentful agreement.
"I'm gonna win this, you just watch." He snarled.
"I look forward to it." Cloud returned calmly. SOLDIER Essai stepped forward to cast Renew again, and Cyril glanced around as they waited. Everyone Cloud had assigned to defense looked excited. Chattering softly amongst themselves as they made and discarded plans. Logan was sullenly standing against the doorframe waiting for the signal, and Fisk beside him was looking tired. With a blink Cyril realized the both of them had now gone out every round. He glanced at Cloud, but the blond seemed perfectly alert and ready, as if he'd shed his earlier fatigue. He must have been pacing himself pretty carefully. Cyril decided. Before he could think on it too much more, the lightning crack sounded, and Logan burst out of the base at a run, Fisk following as quickly as he could. Cloud caught his eye and darted out the side door, even as they jogged quickly away he could hear the defenders hastily helping Gavin climb the big tree, and Cyril silently urged them on. They moved with haste through the foliage, although to Cyril's surprise they moved perpendicular to the bases. In short order though they burst through the plant cover to see a ridge of rock, and one of the helmeted Second Class SOLDIERs who was guarding the perimeter.
"Perfect." Cloud said quietly, "Here's the plan," He began even as he ducked lower to stay hidden in the cover of nearby bushes. "We're going to sneak along the outside perimeter, very carefully." He began doing just that as he spoke. "Take as long as we need to, while staying unnoticed." They moved quietly along, and Cyril tried to ignore the watching SOLDIER as they did. "I left most of our cadets at base, unless Vritra is behaving spectacularly recklessly, our defenders will always outnumber them, which should keep things moving at a slow drag for their offensive position. So follow me, and be patient." They moved along at a near crawl, sneaking silently along the edge of their 'combat zone'. Sometimes they would freeze, tucked into various bits of cover as they listened to enemy cadets passing by elsewhere. Cloud always waited until he was sure they were gone. It was agony, but at the same time, horribly thrilling! They could be discovered at any moment! Cloud had the patience of a saint! And that made it easier for Cyril to stay calm enough not to reveal their position, despite the temptation to ambush the unsuspecting Vritra cadets who sometimes passed right by them when they were crouched under a bush. When they were sure there was no nearby enemies, Cloud continued whispering the plans, and they hashed out several contingencies as they moved.
It seemed to take ages, and they must have passed every perimeter guard on this side, slowly, Cyril could have sworn the SOLDIER Seconds were smirking at them as they snuck by. They went all the way to the back, and slid until they could just see the enemy base through the trees. It was only then that Cyril realized they were behind it. Cloud sat for a while observing, "looks like they're sticking to the same defense pattern as last time," he whispered, "Do you see that tree their base is braced against?" Cyril nodded. "That's the one." They shared a grin, and noting the tree they were crouched next to in detail, Cyril began removing his boots. He tucked them carefully out of sight with Cloud's, and set his sword next to the rifle his captain had already hidden in the underbrush. His socks also came off, and he used the stretchy fabric to tie down the ends of his pants so it wouldn't flap or drag. It was disgusting to be standing barefoot in the mud, but he managed to tolerate it, unwilling to balk at something the smaller blond was managing so stoically. As per their plan, he picked up several likely rocks and pocketed them carefully. They moved forward at a snails pace, almost lying flat in the mud as they slid along in the ferns and weeds that covered the ground. Peeking through the greenery they kept careful tabs on the bases occupants. Occasionally there was a burst of fire as Logan's team must have been around, but no indication of any hits. When they finally reached the base of the tree they sat in silence for several long moments, listening to the movement of their enemies. Cloud even leaned an ear against the back wall of the base, his fingertips pressed up to feel the vibrations within. Finally the smaller boy turned back and nodded. Now came the hard part. They slithered up the tree, slowly helping each other from branch to branch, not daring to breathe except through their noses, pausing frequently to catch their breaths and listen. No one left the base, but gun fire continued to pour out sporadically from the right and middle doors. Logan must be in the trees somewhere over there.
Finally they were laying across a branch above the base, carefully scouting through the skylight. Squad Vritra had left all three SOLDIER Thirds in the base this round, one guarding each doorway. Their gazes were constantly sweeping outward, and they fired at the slightest movement of leaves in the distance. Cyril glanced at Cloud, who was smiling. For a long while Cyril couldn't figure out why, the SOLDIERs were right there! And everyone knew they had keen hearing, but then he noticed what his captain had, they always looked out, … and they were shooting at what they could 'see'. A loophole in their orders? Either way, if they never looked behind them, this might just work! The next part of the plan would make or break… if this didn't work, they'd have to go back to the drawing board … metaphorically speaking. Wrapping his legs firmly around his branch, he waited, Cloud, who was ahead of him slid slowly and carefully over the side, Cyril wrapped his hands firmly around the smaller boys forearms, and helped him ease down slowly to the roof of Squad Vritra's Base. His toes touched down with barely a whisper, and he settled quietly. Next it was Cyril's turn, he eased down from the branch as slowly as his arms could handle, and Cloud was there bracing his legs as they lowered to the roof.
When they were both in place, they sat quietly listening again, crouching as low as possible in their 'exposed' position. But nothing had changed, no one came tearing out of the base to shoot at them, pulling the rocks he'd gathered out of his pocket, Cyril eyed some likely bushes along the left side, and with careful aim, tossed his stones into the foliage until it shifted and rustled. The SOLDIER Third on that side, previously unengaged, snapped his head up eagerly.
"I have spotted movement!" A familiar voice declared loudly, "I will now fire upon the enemy!" and true to his overstated word, he began shooting eagerly into the moving brush.
Step One was completed, so they moved up for the next part. Cloud sat with his back to the skylight, and Cyril draped himself solidly over the smaller boy's legs. Then his captain slowly tilted backwards, both of them had their eyes on the backs of the SOLDIER Thirds, as Cloud performed the slowest reverse-sit-up Cyril had ever seen. Allowing his legs to slide further until he was held up only by his knees, and the taller blond leaning his weight across his shins. The smaller boy was just long enough, to reach and snatch the red flag from above. Though to Cyril's surprise he twisted his head backward and waved slowly. For a split second the older boy had to bite back a laugh, he'd almost forgotten about the SOLDIER Second Class, who must have been watching this whole thing. Cloud reversed equally slowly, folding upward until he could grab the edge of the skylight, and Cyril could help him back up.
Once they were safely on the roof again, Cyril couldn't help but peek back in at the back wall of the enemy base. SOLDER Sebastian was standing there, his lips twitching like he'd been electrocuted, and two of Vritra's squad who'd been tagged 'out' were staring at him in silenced horror. He grinned and saluted, before backing out to start the agonizing process of retracing their steps back to base. Once they'd retrieved their gear and put their shoes and socks back on, which was absolutely foul with the mud covering their feet, the pair of them picked up the pace. Sprinting low to the ground around the perimeter edge, ears tuned for enemy cadets, but otherwise moving as swiftly under the cover of plants as they could manage. The return trip was exhilarating, and when they finally came in sight of Sekhmet's home ground Cyril was flushed with adrenaline. A loud staccato burst of rifle fire, stopped them in their tracks as they saw the standoff firefight of assaulting cadets. Even as they watched, the two boys who'd been tagged 'out' came racing up chattering hurriedly to the boy in front of them,
"Someone has our flag!" One of the Vritra cadets hissed, to what must be their team captain,
"Where's the SOLDIER Thirds?"
"They're still at base!" The first youth explained, out of breath, "You ordered them not to leave!" their leader cursed loudly.
"I'll get them, you stay here, and get that flag if you can." The boy snarled, before racing away. Cloud's blue eyes swept the tableau in a moment, before he turned to Cyril,
"Let's ambush this group together," He whispered, pointing to the cadets who were between them and the base, "Then I'll cover you, you can run faster than I, get the flag back to base." He passed the red flag over quickly, and Cyril tied it to his belt. They dashed forward, low to the ground, Cyril with his sword up, and Cloud his rifle. With unspoken agreement, the blond fired just as the boy started turning at the rustle of their approach, hitting his gun arm, Cyril recognized him as Luxiere, now that he wasn't looking upside-down, and grinned maliciously before swiping his feet out with his blade, after which the 'poor' Cadet took point-blank paint bullets straight to the chest. That'll bruise, Cyril thought with satisfaction, even as he bowled over the second cadet, sword first. The pair of blonds never stopped moving, leaping over the 'fallen' cadets and bursting into a flat out run. Cloud peppered his rifle-fire into the trees where the final insurgent Vritra cadet was hiding, ignoring his attempts to fire back as the two of them raced full-tilt. Cloud took a red paint pellet to the arm, thankfully his left, which he 'dropped' to his side obediently, but before any more shots came in Cyril had made it inside, slapping the red flag against their center pole with a triumphant shout before tossing it to SOLDIER Essai. All over their home ground shouts of jubilation echoed as Squad Sekhmet cadets burst from cover, ignoring the red paint rounds the frustrated Vritra cadet was still firing as they raced to the base to celebrate their victory.
((Author's Note:
As someone who played Capture the Flag as a youth, I was not the 'fast' sort of ambusher, so my siblings and I were always the long patient game types. So I know from PERSONAL EXPERIENCE that this last tactic of Cloud's does work! Surprisingly well in fact! I've helped win more than one round by sneaking along the outskirts to get the flag from behind. That said, this strategy is only effective if you have some fast goober to run up the middle and keep the enemy team distracted. ;p
Trying to write this segment to sound realistic and plausible took a lot of hashing! Hopefully it all makes sense, and doesn't have giant plot-holes….
On a different note, I actually finished this chapter on Leap Day 2020. But as I mentioned in earlier chapters, I'm trying to stagger the posting schedule so there isn't a horrendously long wait again. Thanks for your patience!
-Jianre M. A.K.A … Illusor Meaneld.))