"Urgent message! Watch out people!" Selphie yelled as she ran past a sea of students to get to the elevator. "Hey! Watch out!"
Selphie finally reached the elevator and punched the "3" button. She panted as the elevator went up. In just a few seconds she arrived and sprinted down the hall to Squall's office. She expected to the door to be open and burst in without knocking. Squall nearly jumped out of his chair when Selphie flew in the door.
"Whoa, Selphie. Slow down," Squall said.
"I can't. I have an urgent message for you," she said a little worried.
"Breathe and then tell me," Squall said.
"I'm good. I'm used to lack of oxygen," she said still panting. "Okay, here it goes. A Deling spy just came running in Garden kinda like I just did into your office. He said that he had a very important request for SeeD. He said that the Deling/Galbadia dual government is planning to take over cities around the world to create some kind of empire ruled by Deling, Galbadia, and some other leader. The spy didn't stay for the whole meeting. He's received information that Seifer and his army of goons are going to take over some cities, but not just any cities. They want big important places instead of those little towns and villages," Selphie reported.
"Empire? That's right. Seifer led a mission to annex a village near Timber," Squall said.
"Yeah, but no villages anymore. They don't know where's he's headed, but there are cities all over the place. The spy heard Esthar might be a target and Balamb City. They said they tried to locate Seifer and his men because they've already taken off, but they had no luck," Selphie continued.
"What's our job?" Squall asked.
"Our job is to help locate Seifer and help stop him from taking over anymore cities to add to their 'empire'," Selphie said.
"They have no idea of his whereabouts," Squall said.
"Nada, zip, zilch. I guess think big cities," Selphie said.
"That's great help," Squall said sarcastically.
"I think Trabia Garden may be willing to help out, so you might want to give them a call. Galbadia Garden is out of the question because they support Seifer, but I don't think they'll be sending anybody to add to his troops. I guess they're with him in spirit or something," Selphie said.
"I'll definitely give them a call," Squall said. "Thanks Selphie. I guess that's all."
"So you're accepting this mission?" Selphie asked.
"Yeah," Squall said.
"Okay, I'll go confirm it with everyone I need to. If you need anything, just holler or use that intercom thingy," Selphie said.
"I will. See you later," Squall said.
"Later!" Selphie said cheerfully and skipped out the door.
Squall immediately made up search teams to be dispatched all over the world to see if they could find any sign of Seifer and his men. He assigned ten teams and called Selphie to round them up and send them on their way. After that was done with he gave Trabia Garden a call and spoke with their commander. The commander said the headmaster would get back to him about other details after he told Squall that they would support him completely with the mission.
The phone rang on his desk.
"Hello?" Squall said.
"Is this Commander Leonheart?" the man asked on the phone.
"Yes," Squall answered.
"Headmaster, Trabia Garden," he said.
"Hello, sir," Squall greeted.
"Thank you for notifying us, Commander. We've dispatched fifteen teams so far to search for Mr.Almasy and his army. We'll give you word as soon as there's an update," the headmaster said.
"Thanks a lot for your help. Balamb has sent ten teams. I guess that's a total of twenty-five teams all around the world. I think we should be able to find him and his army," Squall said.
"Very good. I'm sure your teams will update mine. I'll talk to you later," the headmaster said.
"You too," Squall answered and put down the receiver. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. Squall was beginning to worry what Seifer was up to and where he was headed. He sat for about an hour thinking and waiting for any news. He was in the midst of his thoughts when there was a soft knock on the door of his office.
"Squall, you in there?" a voice called.
"Yeah," Squall said and walked over to unlock and open the door.
"Hi," Selphie said. Her voice did not have the normal cheerfulness and bounce to it.
"What's wrong?" Squall asked her noticing the change of mood.
"Err. I got some news. I guess it's good and bad," Selphie said with her head hanging.
"Well, looking at you, I'm guessing it's more bad than good," Squall said.
"So which do you want to hear first?" Selphie asked.
"The good. I need to hear something good for once," Squall answered.
"The good news is that we found Seifer and his pack of goons," Selphie said.
"Where the hell is he?" Squall asked.
"Um, that's the bad news. He's heading for Esthar was what the report said. According to some local people and a Trabia undercover SeeD, he's heading there to look for someone in the Presidential Palace. It sounds like Seifer's going to attack the palace," Selphie explained.
"Dammit. We have to go after him. Has the president been notified?" Squall asked.
"Yeah. I let him know over the phone. He's prepared Esthar soldiers for the attack," Selphie said. "Sir Laguna's a bit nervous, but he won't leave the battle."
"I can't believe this is happening. Two weeks and he's managed to place hell on earth," Squall shook his head in frustration.
"Remember, it's not the first time he's commanded the Galbadian army. He was the one leading the troops during that fight when Galbadia Garden attacked Balamb Garden, and he did a pretty good job. Seifer's got connections or something to get him that far. I know it sucks and it's bizarre, but we can put him and his entire army down," Selphie said.
"Whatever Come on. We have work to do," Squall said.
Squall and Selphie headed down to the first floor where Selphie said everyone was waiting for them in the quad. Sure enough, all of Squall's friends and colleagues were waiting patiently for their commander's arrival.
"It's about time," Zell said annoyed. Well, almost everyone waited patiently.
"Selphie told me the news. We need to form a big party to go to Esthar. We can split up into smaller ones there if we need to," Squall began.
"Sorry to interrupt," Xu said. "But there's some things I need to report additional to what Selphie's reported."
"Go ahead," Squall said.
"The search teams dispatched by Trabia and Balamb Gardens are heading to Esthar to help in the defense. We have no idea how many men are going to be on the opposing force. We're hoping Seifer doesn't expect a welcoming party. The President and his step daughter are safe. They are being held in the president's office with much difficulty because the president refuses to be excluded from the fight. Anyway, we're hoping Seifer and his men don't get as far as the president's office. The lifts throughout the palace and city have been disconnected permanently so travel throughout the palace is made harder for the enemy if they get into the palace. A servant who works at the palace will help us get through the palace if we need to hunt Seifer down or attack some of his men. The servant swears he knows every corner of the palace. We still don't know who or what Seifer is looking for in the palace, but I guess we'll find out when we get there. We're hoping it's not the President or his step daughter. But if that is the situation, security will be tripled and more SeeDs will be put on defense."
"Is that all?" Squall asked wanting to get every piece of information he could.
"I think so," Xu said.
"There are several entrances throughout the palace. Do you think we'll be able to cover them all?" Irvine asked.
"Well, we have a total of twenty-five teams from Trabia and Balamb and that's one hundred and twenty-five SeeDs, five per team. I'm assuming that no one was lost during the search. I think that should be enough to cover the entrances. We also have a big group that we're trying to determine here," Xu explained.
"Let's decide who's going from here first," Rinoa suggested.
Squall nodded. "I think all of us are going, correct?" Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Well, that's six of us. Xu will lead the defense team in Esthar and Nida will lead the medics and our prime magic users. Trabia SeeDs will lead the other entrance defenses. Our team is concerned mainly with the front entrance which is the largest and easiest entrance to get through," Squall ordered.
"All supplies and ammunition have been sent to the site, sir," a new SeeD said from the back.
"Good," Squall said. "How are the positions at Esthar now?"
"The Esthar soldiers have taken their defense positions. They don't plan an offensive attack at anytime. They're leaving that up to us, but it's also important to keep defense in mind. The SeeDs are just arriving. Seifer and his army haven't arrived yet. We're expecting them in about three hours or so," Xu informed the group.
"We gotta get a move on," Zell said.
"Sir, I need to brief you on the communication system," a girl said from Squall's right side. "Cadet 1794, Elsa Hosburg, sir," she said and saluted.
"Go ahead with your briefing," Squall said.
"Sir, because of the many teams that are coming together on this mission, communication is of utmost importance. Trabia, Balamb, and Esthar have agreed to use a system of communication between them. You as commander of Balamb Garden, sir, will lead all Balamb teams. If parties need to be made, team leaders need to ask you for permission to proceed with any action. Trabia's commander will be Eric Germaine. He will be in a red uniform, sir. Esthar's commander will be Vince Warren. He will be in Esthar's light blue uniform. All orders and procedures will be run by the three of you. Each soldier will be equipped and using these," she said holding up a small walkie-talkie and an ear piece. "This way, all members will be able to communicate with each other and with the commanders. If communication is not possible to your designated commander, then ask permission from another commander. Never just go by your team leaders orders if you know they haven't been approved."
"The units will be distributed on site if not before," Xu added.
"When do we get ours?" Selphie asked.
"We can get ours right now," Xu said. With that said, Elsa went out of the quad to get the box of walkie-talkies.
"Everything's going to have to run by me," Squall said.
"You got it. We're hoping it won't be as hard as it sounds. If it doesn't work, then we'll have to trust the team leaders and their decisions," Xu said.
"Sir, all Balamb search teams have reached Esthar. They are unboarding their ships and taking positions as we speak," a young cadet reported from the back.
"We have to go. My team board the Ragnorak. Xu, you make the other teams from the SeeDs who are in the quad. We have to hurry. Guys, don't forget to pick up your communication systems at the front gate!" Squall ordered and ran out of the quad following his friends.