"And that's 8-2 to me! I'll take that Diablos card, if you don't mind." Zell Dincht's loud voice rang through the cafeteria of Balamb Garden. He'd just won a game of Triple Triad against a student, who sauntered off muttering something along the lines of "my best card". Selphie Tilmitt sat nearby. "You're shameless Zell, picking on a kid."

Zell sat back and shrugged. "Hey! He had a card I wanted. Gotta keep your eyes on the prize." He held up the card and turned it this way and that, fancying that he could see the picture moving slightly. "Now my GF deck is almost complete." He laughed.

Selphie rolled her eyes and turned back to Irvine Kinneas, who was sat in his usual posture nearby, his cowboy hat pulled down low over his eyes, striving to maintain the image of laid-back confidence he tried so hard to achieve.

Irvine's status was in question at the moment. Technically he was still enrolled in Galbadia Garden as a sniper, but hadn't returned there since the end of the Sorceress crisis of two months ago. Currently, he was living in a hotel in Balamb, coming to the Garden to see his comrades virtually every day. There were rumours afloat of him seeking a transfer or even applying to become an instructor in advanced firearm use.

Balamb garden had resettled in its original position and reconstruction and even extension work was well underway, during this time of peace. Squall, now slightly more relaxed with Rinoa at his side was doing a fine job as Garden commander, in charge of all military aspects of the Garden. Cid and Edea Kramer, in the meanwhile, took care of administrative work and ran things while Squall was away with SeeD.

Quistis had successfully fallen back into her former position as instructor of political structure and magic 101. Still, as a SeeD, she was on call at a moment's notice to go on missions and so, she was only really teaching the senior students, who could be relied upon to study the material if the lesson had to be finished prematurely

Irvine yawned lazily and stretched out, allowing his arm to fall around Selphie's shoulders, who giggled and rolled her eyes at Zell.

The telltale "bing-bong" of the Garden's public address system sounded throughout the cafeteria, followed by Garden secretary Xu's voice. "Would the following SeeD agents report to the control room, immediately. Dincht, Zell. Tilmitt, Selphie. Trepe, Quistis. Also, would the following people please report to the main office as well. Heartilly, Rinoa. Kinneas, Irvine. That is all."

Zell swung around and got up off the chair, obviously tensed for action, and ran from the cafeteria. Selphie and Irvine followed on, walking normally, Irvine showing just a hint of reluctance.

Eventually the three SeeD agents as well as Rinoa and Irvine were assembled in the cool, spacious control room on the third floor of the Garden. Cid and Edea stood off to one side, with Xu and Squall Leonheart, who was looking uncomfortable being in a position of authority as usual.

Squall's cool monotone voice was raised to the point that everyone could hear without his shouting.

"Thank you all for coming so promptly." Squall looked at each of his friends in turn, letting his eyes linger on Rinoa for a moment. "For the first time in two months, SeeD has been offered an assignment. I now hand over to Xu, who will brief us on our mission."

On cue Xu stepped forward, a clipboard holding the mission specifications in her arms. "It seems that the village of Winhill in Galbadia is suffering a sharp increase in the number of monsters that inhabit the area. Usually the only problems they have are the annoyances of Bite Bugs and Caterchipillars but recently reports of ruby dragons, behemoths, elnoyles and many more have been sighted and have nearly decimated the populace. It is believed that the Galbadian government has severed all ties with the town and is refusing to help with evacuation.

Your mission is to aid the populace in their evacuation and to investigate the source of the recent influx of monsters."

There was a moment's silence and then as one, the team looked to Squall, who nodded. "We accept."

Xu smiled. "Right. Commander Squall, I leave it to you to arrange logistics and inventory."

Squall nodded. "Ok. We leave at 2300 hours tonight. If we approach under cover of darkness, then the Ragnarok shouldn't be noticed. Meet at the docking bay. It's 1300 hours now, so I recommend getting your gear together, ensuring that you have enough items to keep you going if things get rough and getting your heads down. This could be the last opportunity for a decent night's sleep for a while. And don't forget to junction your GFs. Any questions?" No hands were raised. "Good. Fall out."