(A/N: To those who reviewed: You don't know how happy you've made me! I
practically started crying! I didn't think anyone would review this! I
would be happy to read anyone's stories, so just tell me if you want me to
read them. Quycksylver: I can't write poetry worth a crap, that was just
the most creative spurt I've had in a long time along with the help of a
handy rhyming dictionary. ^.^ Here's the names of the people appearing in
the next chap.
Zell: Reece [this /is/ a guy's name]= Enthusiastic- Welsh
Library Girl: Claire= Illustrious- Latin
Headmaster Cid: General Richard Merark= Stern, but just- Teutonic
Selphie: Solana= Sunshine- Spanish [She's always being compared to sunshine so I thought this was proper]
Biggs, Wedge, and Xu: Keeping the names they have [I'm not /that/ creative]
Any suggestions, don't hesitate to tell me! And the disclaimer I wrote at the beginning is applying to all the chapters from now on. Also, if you know what the little asterisks and other stuff mean in the middle of words, well then good for you.)
Chapter Three: The Mission
"Why do you work with the doctor? Why aren't you a fighter like me? Then we could work together," Reece said slyly to Claire, while she was sorting files for Dr. Kadowaki.
"You know I hate fighting! I get enough action in here when wounded people come in and-" she paused when an announcement was heard over the loudspeakers.
"Will Reece Thidcn (A/N: I had no idea what to put, just pretend it's Welsh like his name!) please report to the front gate please. Repeat Reece Thidcn." Reece sighed, another feeble attempt at winning Claire, gone.
"I'll be back, I guess they must need me for something," he said and ran off. Reece, in his earlier years had been a flawless gymnast. He could do back flips out the wazoo and it helped when he was working out. He liked boxing too, but hadn't been able to do much of it since he joined the army. Whenever he got the chance he would practice what he remembered of the trade and shadow boxed. The rest of the world would slip away and he would be with himself and the imaginary opponent before him.
But then usually someone would yell at him to stop and sit down and it would all go away. He dealt with it.
He had some extra energy to burn off. He shadow boxed his way to the front gate and right before he got there, he did a couple back flips to burn it all off. He was always good at making grand entrances.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
León had changed into his uniform like Gwen had told him to and was waiting with her for the rest of their party when a very hyperactive man back flipped up to them and sauntered over like he did this every day.
"Hi there, name's Reece, nice to meet ya!" the guy said enthusiastically shaking León's hand. León didn't say anything. *This guy is waaay too hyper* he thought to himself. Reece though, just kept on talking and León ignored him in his ever-present, great-to-be-around attitude as usual.
"This is gonna be a mission right? Well, I bet it'll be fun. Haven't had one myself in a long time, how about you? Hmm, not a big talker, huh? Well, we'll just have to work around that won't we? Do you know if the cafeteria is serving hotdogs anymore? Cause whenever I go over there, none are left. I think it's a conspiracy." He paused when he saw another tall figure coming over to their group.
"Oh, hell. Not /him/! I hate this guy. He's always making fun of everyone and he thinks he's better than all of us! Well, I'll show him, just give me some metal boxing gloves and-"
"Reece, you shouldn't talk about your team captain like that," Gwen said sweetly. *I couldn't resist telling them. Oh, this is gonna be fun!* she thought, trying to hide her smile.
"WHAT?!" Reece screamed. León screamed the same thing but internally. He wasn't much of one to display outward emotions. His eyes just widened a bit and his jaw flapped open.
"Yep, that's right boys. I'm gonna be your captain for the next hour or two! Oh, the things I could make you do under my control! Hahaha! It's almost too good to be true!" Geoff grinned evilly, coming up to the group.
"Oh, the things I'd do-" Reece growled.
"What'sa matter Chicken-Wuss, scared of me?" Geoff said while getting a wave of deja vu.
"OK, both of you stop," a male voice said from behind them.
"General," they all stood at attention and saluted.
"At ease men. . .and woman," General Richard Merark smiled at the people before him. "Your mission today will be to relieve a city, specifically Tollde City from the Dalgabian army. Xu will brief you on the ride there. More troops are being sent in other ships. Dismissed," and he walked away.
"That is your mission, you guys. I'll be helping and watching you to see if some of you can move up a rank or two. Come on, we have to hurry there," Gwen said while walking to the car awaiting them under the yellow colored sign that said: Parking Lot. They all got in with only a little griping on Reece's part at being seated next to Geoff and then they were off to Abmbal City. When they reached the city, the group walked to the dock on the far side of the city and boarded a ship they were borrowing from the Navy and started to move northwest to the town of Tollde.
"I'm kinda nervous about this. It's a real big mission, ya know," Reece made an attempt to start a conversation.
"Just don't piss your pants, Chicken-Wuss," Geoff said. Reece was about to get up and punch Geoff, but Gwen restrained him.
León's mind wandered. He thought back to his time in the Infirmary. Had he really seen a girl there?
"Are you spacing out?" Geoff asked him.
"No, I was thinking about when I was in the Infirmary. I think I saw a girl there."
"Oh, man. I get stuck with a Chicken-Wuss and guy who just hit puberty in my squad! Ain't that right Puberty Boy?"
"Alright, everyone stop. I'm getting tired of all of you fighting all the time," Gwen yelled at them, exasperation evident in her voice.
Soon, Reece got up and began to shadow box while everyone inwardly groaned. *Does he ever stop?* León said to himself.
"Chicken-Wuss, sit down!" Geoff said sounding very peeved. He pulled the other man down to his seat while Reece looked like he was about to hit him. Gwen chose this time to speak.
"Well, this is a big mission, you guys, so good luck."
"I hate it when people wish me good luck Gwen," Geoff said to the woman in front of him. "Save it for people who need it."
"OK then, good luck Geoff," Gwen smiled back. Geoff gave her an icy glare, but before he could retort back, Xu came into their compartment.
"Hello everyone. Alright, for the past 72 hrs., Tollde City has been attacked by the Dalgabian army. After 49 hrs. from outbreak of the war, the city of Tollde has been evacuated. At present, the people are hurrying to take refuge at the outlying of mountainous areas. The troops will disembark from Kubutan Beach. Eliminate any enemy soldiers. You are asked to penetrate through the city and eliminate any enemy troops you find. AIM: To wipe out any remaining enemy soldiers. You must keep them from activating the communications system. Do well." And with that, she left them again. (A/N: I took that right from the online walkthrough so just to tell you, I didn't write it ^.^)
"Alright everyone, we're almost there. Are you all loaded?" Gwen asked the group before her. They were all ready. She had taught them well. "We're nearing the beach so be ready to shoot at whatever isn't on your side, got it? Remember Geoff and León, anyone who /isn't/ on your side," she teased them. Geoff's face got a bit red and León stayed the same. *Does he ever smile?* Gwen wondered.
The beach loomed in the distance as the boats got closer and closer. León put a clear map over a map of the beach and marked out his destination. The communications tower was at the top of a large hill with a big huge satellite dish spurting from a pole. Very hard /not/ to miss. Suddenly, they felt the bump of the ship against the sand.
Everything disappeared as León's soldier instinct kicked in. Kill, complete mission, destroy enemy. That was the only thing running through his mind as he jumped out of the ship and onto the beach. He shot down a few troops running towards him, the blood pumping through his ears, his adrenaline soaring, his breath shortening. Man, he loved to do this. Not so much the killing, but to feel that rush. It was exhilarating. "C'mon, this way!" he heard Geoff yelling his direction. León followed his captain and shot the soldier who had come up behind Geoff in the leg. He may hate the guy, but he couldn't let him die, or it would be his fault for not protecting him. His gun needed to be reloaded.
"$#!%," León muttered while reloading his gun and running at the same time. It was a very difficult task, running and reloading at the same time. You had to make sure you didn't lose any bullets while also making sure you didn't trip on anything and fall flat on your face. He followed Geoff with Reece in tow behind him.
They shot down a couple of Dalgabian soldiers from behind an overturned jeep. Before they left they found a first aid kit, a few magazines (A/N: If you're anything like me, when I heard this I thought they meant like a reading magazine, and you might think this too, but they actually mean a row of bullets), and a loaded gun on the KO'd soldiers. They left them and proceeded to the town square where they were supposed to wait for further orders.
"OK, we're supposed to stop here," Geoff said. He waited a few more seconds and muttered, "This mission is pretty boring if you ask me." *Well, no one asked /you/* León said in his mind. If he had said it out loud, Geoff would've been beating his a$$ in a snap.
They waited a bit more. Then Reece started his shadow boxing again. León let him. It wouldn't matter if he told him to stop or not. If he /did/ tell him to stop, Reece would try and begin a conversation with him. Either that or start fighting with Geoff. León just sat down and checked and rechecked his guns to see if they were loaded and ready to grab.
"Da**it this is so boring! They could've at least told it was this boring so we could remember to bring something to entertain ourselves! This is ridiculous!" Geoff burst out after about ten minutes. They saw a dog walk into the middle of the square. It saw them and bounded over. It sniffed them all over and took a particular liking to Geoff. It's way of greeting him was to stick his nose into, um, Geoff's rear. (A/N: I'm writing the dog like my friend's dog. He actually /does/ stick his nose in your butt when you come in her house ^.^ He's sweet though)
"Stupid butt-sniffin' dog! Get away from me you freakin' mongrel!" Geoff yelled at the dog. The dog, unfortunately, started to bark. He thought Geoff wanted to play.
"Shut up! Idiotic dog! Get!" Geoff yelled at it. Suddenly, six soldiers ran across the square. Geoff, disregarding his commands to stay put, ran after them. *If I get demoted, it's all his fault* León thought, shaking his head.
"Should we go after him?" Reece asked coming out of his own little boxing universe.
"I guess that would be best. We can't let him get killed or we'll have to haul his sad carcass back to camp. He went this way, towards the Communications Tower," León started after his reckless captain.
The pair crossed the bridge ahead of them and started to climb the crumbling stone stairs when Reece stopped and walked over to a slightly trembling bundle in a niche.
"Hey, are you all right?" he asked the bundle which turned out to be a man.
"I-I'm w-w-wounded. Help me!" the plea came from trembling lips. The old man turned to them more and they saw that he had a large gash in his leg. León drew in a sharp breath between his clenched teeth at the sight of the wound. He pulled out a first aid kit he had claimed from one of the fallen soldiers. León tried to remember what he needed to know from his first aid classes. The bad this was that the wound was bleeding quite a bit, and if León didn't hurry, the man would soon die of blood loss.
"Uh, Reece, hold him down for me, OK," León whispered to the man beside him. "OK, sir, this is gonna hurt just a bit." León tore some material from the man's shirt and tied it around his leg to stop the blood flow.
"Here, drink this. It'll numb the pain," León told the man, giving him a drought of nasty smelling liquid. "Uh, Command," León spoke into his walkie-talkie, "we have an injured civilian here if someone could come and take him to Kadowaki soon, thanks." He turned off the phone-like device and turned to the man. "Sir, we're gonna have someone try and pick you up so you can get the proper medical care, so just sit tight for awhile." At that, he left the man and followed the path to the Communications Tower.
There, León saw Geoff hiding behind a rim of rocks, watching three Dalgabian soldiers standing around and talking. Reece and León joined him silently with only a glance from Geoff to signify that he was aware of their presence. The soldiers mumbled on and on for a few minutes and then went inside the Communications Tower. Geoff, in his ever-present gracefulness, stood, jumped over the rim of rocks onto the ground about three yards down, all the while though, not knowing there was that drop. He stood from his reclining position on his butt, dusted himself off, and ran after the soldiers.
León sighed and watched their captain go after people they didn't need to go after. *Why does he do this?* he thought to himself. Suddenly, León and his companion heard a noise above and behind them. They turned, preparing for a fight, but were greeted by a girl in their uniform. She wasn't looking where she was going and slipped on some pebbles in front of her and fell down the slope in front of them. She looked up, dusted herself off, and winked.
"Hi there! I'm Solana Mittilt! I'm from Squad A, but I got lost. Hey! I remember you!" she said enthusiastically at León. "You're the guy who showed me around! Thanks! I can find practically everything now." She looked around and obviously made an internal decision. Suddenly, she jumped off the cliff on the other side and landed on the gravel.
She started to jump up and down and was smiling like she'd discovered the cure for the common cold. "C'mon you guys! Let's go kick some Dalgabian butt!" León walked down the other side of the cliff following her into the Tower. This would be a lot more entertaining then waiting.
They had entered the Tower and they saw Geoff chasing a group of soldiers. He was going a different direction than them, so they just watched. It was very much like watching a wide-screen video. Almost cartoon-like. When Geoff passed, they continued on their way to the top of the tower. They reached the top and hid behind a pile of scrap metal.
There were two soldiers there, and by their uniforms and badges, León could tell that one of them was a Major and one of them was only a Private. The Private went off to do something and the Major was left alone.
León jumped out at him and shot his leg and before the other man could shoot at León in turn, Reece shot him in his other leg and knocked the Major out with one of the scrap pieces of metal. Reece and Solana went over to him and gave him some backup. All at once, the ground shook violently as the satellite was activated.
"León, we've got company," Reece warned the man behind him. The Private had come back to report to his superior that the Communications Tower had been activated successfully. Seeing the three enemies before him, he tried to get his gun out. But before he could do anything Solana knocked him out with the piece of scrap metal.
"That was easier than I expected it to be!" Solana said brightly. León and Reece looked at her as if to say 'Yeah, all you had to do was bonk him on the head!'
"What?" Solana asked them, truly confused to why they were looking at her like that.
"We'd better head back," Reece said. "We've got about half and hour to get to the beach before the ships leave." They headed out of the Tower and spotted Geoff heading back towards the beach. They went down the stairs and saw that the man had been picked up. They were heading across the bridge when they heard a rumbling coming towards them.
It was a tank.
"Aw, sh-" Reece began and started running as the large vehicle rolled in their direction. Solana had run as soon as the tank had come in sight. León ran after them.
The tank followed them through the whole city, crushing anything in its path. It ran over a parked car as León turned a corner. He was in the town square again. And worse yet the dog was still there. *Oh, why me?* León thought as he chased the dog out of the way of the tank. He couldn't bear to see squashed dog in his mind for the rest of his life.
He kept running towards the beach, the tank close behind him. León saw Solana and Reece reach the ship. Reece turned and spotted León.
"C'mon!" he yelled and jumped on the ship himself. León didn't think he'd make it before the tank crushed him.
Suddenly, he heard a machine gun spitting out bullets in his direction. They missed him though. He turned momentarily to see the tank being riddled with bullets. They were coming from the ship. He caught a fleeting glimpse of Gwen in the control room operating the machine gun. She was saving him.
The only problem was, the ship was leaving the beach. And León wasn't on it.
He reached the shoreline and jumped. He barely caught the end of the docking edge. He took a ragged breath and opened the door to the interior. When he got inside, he sat down on the floor and caught his breath.
"León, are you all right?!" he heard Gwen yelling as she entered the place where he was.
"Yeah," he gasped, "I'm OK."
The ships made their way back to Abmbal and to the dock. When they got there, Gwen, León, and Reece (because Solana had rejoined her squad) found that Geoff had taken their transport by himself, leaving them sort of stranded.
"OK, I'm gonna go get a rental, you two wait here," Gwen told the two tired Cadets in front of her. León and Reece rested on a bench near the dock while Gwen went to the nearest car rental. About thirty minutes later, Gwen rode up to them in a small car. The two men got in and they started the journey back to their base.
The three reached their base in no time and walked to the front gate.
"Good job you two, I bet you'll get good marks for this and probably a promotion," Gwen said and walked into the General's office to give her report.
*I'd better get good marks for this! I saved Geoff's butt, my own, and managed to get out without becoming road kill* León thought, going to his barracks to take a shower and change into a less smelly uniform. Running across a town can make you sweat.
(A/N: Long chapter, huh? I'm surprised I remembered as much as I did about it! Some things /are/ different, but I had to make them kinda realistic. Next chap. I promise some Seiftisy-ness and Squinoa-ness for all the fans out there! If you want to know where I get all the battle stuff, it's from watching Black Hawk Down! I've only seen it once, but those images just stick with me! Anyway, you know the drill, R&R please. I'll be your friend forever if you do!)
Zell: Reece [this /is/ a guy's name]= Enthusiastic- Welsh
Library Girl: Claire= Illustrious- Latin
Headmaster Cid: General Richard Merark= Stern, but just- Teutonic
Selphie: Solana= Sunshine- Spanish [She's always being compared to sunshine so I thought this was proper]
Biggs, Wedge, and Xu: Keeping the names they have [I'm not /that/ creative]
Any suggestions, don't hesitate to tell me! And the disclaimer I wrote at the beginning is applying to all the chapters from now on. Also, if you know what the little asterisks and other stuff mean in the middle of words, well then good for you.)
Chapter Three: The Mission
"Why do you work with the doctor? Why aren't you a fighter like me? Then we could work together," Reece said slyly to Claire, while she was sorting files for Dr. Kadowaki.
"You know I hate fighting! I get enough action in here when wounded people come in and-" she paused when an announcement was heard over the loudspeakers.
"Will Reece Thidcn (A/N: I had no idea what to put, just pretend it's Welsh like his name!) please report to the front gate please. Repeat Reece Thidcn." Reece sighed, another feeble attempt at winning Claire, gone.
"I'll be back, I guess they must need me for something," he said and ran off. Reece, in his earlier years had been a flawless gymnast. He could do back flips out the wazoo and it helped when he was working out. He liked boxing too, but hadn't been able to do much of it since he joined the army. Whenever he got the chance he would practice what he remembered of the trade and shadow boxed. The rest of the world would slip away and he would be with himself and the imaginary opponent before him.
But then usually someone would yell at him to stop and sit down and it would all go away. He dealt with it.
He had some extra energy to burn off. He shadow boxed his way to the front gate and right before he got there, he did a couple back flips to burn it all off. He was always good at making grand entrances.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
León had changed into his uniform like Gwen had told him to and was waiting with her for the rest of their party when a very hyperactive man back flipped up to them and sauntered over like he did this every day.
"Hi there, name's Reece, nice to meet ya!" the guy said enthusiastically shaking León's hand. León didn't say anything. *This guy is waaay too hyper* he thought to himself. Reece though, just kept on talking and León ignored him in his ever-present, great-to-be-around attitude as usual.
"This is gonna be a mission right? Well, I bet it'll be fun. Haven't had one myself in a long time, how about you? Hmm, not a big talker, huh? Well, we'll just have to work around that won't we? Do you know if the cafeteria is serving hotdogs anymore? Cause whenever I go over there, none are left. I think it's a conspiracy." He paused when he saw another tall figure coming over to their group.
"Oh, hell. Not /him/! I hate this guy. He's always making fun of everyone and he thinks he's better than all of us! Well, I'll show him, just give me some metal boxing gloves and-"
"Reece, you shouldn't talk about your team captain like that," Gwen said sweetly. *I couldn't resist telling them. Oh, this is gonna be fun!* she thought, trying to hide her smile.
"WHAT?!" Reece screamed. León screamed the same thing but internally. He wasn't much of one to display outward emotions. His eyes just widened a bit and his jaw flapped open.
"Yep, that's right boys. I'm gonna be your captain for the next hour or two! Oh, the things I could make you do under my control! Hahaha! It's almost too good to be true!" Geoff grinned evilly, coming up to the group.
"Oh, the things I'd do-" Reece growled.
"What'sa matter Chicken-Wuss, scared of me?" Geoff said while getting a wave of deja vu.
"OK, both of you stop," a male voice said from behind them.
"General," they all stood at attention and saluted.
"At ease men. . .and woman," General Richard Merark smiled at the people before him. "Your mission today will be to relieve a city, specifically Tollde City from the Dalgabian army. Xu will brief you on the ride there. More troops are being sent in other ships. Dismissed," and he walked away.
"That is your mission, you guys. I'll be helping and watching you to see if some of you can move up a rank or two. Come on, we have to hurry there," Gwen said while walking to the car awaiting them under the yellow colored sign that said: Parking Lot. They all got in with only a little griping on Reece's part at being seated next to Geoff and then they were off to Abmbal City. When they reached the city, the group walked to the dock on the far side of the city and boarded a ship they were borrowing from the Navy and started to move northwest to the town of Tollde.
"I'm kinda nervous about this. It's a real big mission, ya know," Reece made an attempt to start a conversation.
"Just don't piss your pants, Chicken-Wuss," Geoff said. Reece was about to get up and punch Geoff, but Gwen restrained him.
León's mind wandered. He thought back to his time in the Infirmary. Had he really seen a girl there?
"Are you spacing out?" Geoff asked him.
"No, I was thinking about when I was in the Infirmary. I think I saw a girl there."
"Oh, man. I get stuck with a Chicken-Wuss and guy who just hit puberty in my squad! Ain't that right Puberty Boy?"
"Alright, everyone stop. I'm getting tired of all of you fighting all the time," Gwen yelled at them, exasperation evident in her voice.
Soon, Reece got up and began to shadow box while everyone inwardly groaned. *Does he ever stop?* León said to himself.
"Chicken-Wuss, sit down!" Geoff said sounding very peeved. He pulled the other man down to his seat while Reece looked like he was about to hit him. Gwen chose this time to speak.
"Well, this is a big mission, you guys, so good luck."
"I hate it when people wish me good luck Gwen," Geoff said to the woman in front of him. "Save it for people who need it."
"OK then, good luck Geoff," Gwen smiled back. Geoff gave her an icy glare, but before he could retort back, Xu came into their compartment.
"Hello everyone. Alright, for the past 72 hrs., Tollde City has been attacked by the Dalgabian army. After 49 hrs. from outbreak of the war, the city of Tollde has been evacuated. At present, the people are hurrying to take refuge at the outlying of mountainous areas. The troops will disembark from Kubutan Beach. Eliminate any enemy soldiers. You are asked to penetrate through the city and eliminate any enemy troops you find. AIM: To wipe out any remaining enemy soldiers. You must keep them from activating the communications system. Do well." And with that, she left them again. (A/N: I took that right from the online walkthrough so just to tell you, I didn't write it ^.^)
"Alright everyone, we're almost there. Are you all loaded?" Gwen asked the group before her. They were all ready. She had taught them well. "We're nearing the beach so be ready to shoot at whatever isn't on your side, got it? Remember Geoff and León, anyone who /isn't/ on your side," she teased them. Geoff's face got a bit red and León stayed the same. *Does he ever smile?* Gwen wondered.
The beach loomed in the distance as the boats got closer and closer. León put a clear map over a map of the beach and marked out his destination. The communications tower was at the top of a large hill with a big huge satellite dish spurting from a pole. Very hard /not/ to miss. Suddenly, they felt the bump of the ship against the sand.
Everything disappeared as León's soldier instinct kicked in. Kill, complete mission, destroy enemy. That was the only thing running through his mind as he jumped out of the ship and onto the beach. He shot down a few troops running towards him, the blood pumping through his ears, his adrenaline soaring, his breath shortening. Man, he loved to do this. Not so much the killing, but to feel that rush. It was exhilarating. "C'mon, this way!" he heard Geoff yelling his direction. León followed his captain and shot the soldier who had come up behind Geoff in the leg. He may hate the guy, but he couldn't let him die, or it would be his fault for not protecting him. His gun needed to be reloaded.
"$#!%," León muttered while reloading his gun and running at the same time. It was a very difficult task, running and reloading at the same time. You had to make sure you didn't lose any bullets while also making sure you didn't trip on anything and fall flat on your face. He followed Geoff with Reece in tow behind him.
They shot down a couple of Dalgabian soldiers from behind an overturned jeep. Before they left they found a first aid kit, a few magazines (A/N: If you're anything like me, when I heard this I thought they meant like a reading magazine, and you might think this too, but they actually mean a row of bullets), and a loaded gun on the KO'd soldiers. They left them and proceeded to the town square where they were supposed to wait for further orders.
"OK, we're supposed to stop here," Geoff said. He waited a few more seconds and muttered, "This mission is pretty boring if you ask me." *Well, no one asked /you/* León said in his mind. If he had said it out loud, Geoff would've been beating his a$$ in a snap.
They waited a bit more. Then Reece started his shadow boxing again. León let him. It wouldn't matter if he told him to stop or not. If he /did/ tell him to stop, Reece would try and begin a conversation with him. Either that or start fighting with Geoff. León just sat down and checked and rechecked his guns to see if they were loaded and ready to grab.
"Da**it this is so boring! They could've at least told it was this boring so we could remember to bring something to entertain ourselves! This is ridiculous!" Geoff burst out after about ten minutes. They saw a dog walk into the middle of the square. It saw them and bounded over. It sniffed them all over and took a particular liking to Geoff. It's way of greeting him was to stick his nose into, um, Geoff's rear. (A/N: I'm writing the dog like my friend's dog. He actually /does/ stick his nose in your butt when you come in her house ^.^ He's sweet though)
"Stupid butt-sniffin' dog! Get away from me you freakin' mongrel!" Geoff yelled at the dog. The dog, unfortunately, started to bark. He thought Geoff wanted to play.
"Shut up! Idiotic dog! Get!" Geoff yelled at it. Suddenly, six soldiers ran across the square. Geoff, disregarding his commands to stay put, ran after them. *If I get demoted, it's all his fault* León thought, shaking his head.
"Should we go after him?" Reece asked coming out of his own little boxing universe.
"I guess that would be best. We can't let him get killed or we'll have to haul his sad carcass back to camp. He went this way, towards the Communications Tower," León started after his reckless captain.
The pair crossed the bridge ahead of them and started to climb the crumbling stone stairs when Reece stopped and walked over to a slightly trembling bundle in a niche.
"Hey, are you all right?" he asked the bundle which turned out to be a man.
"I-I'm w-w-wounded. Help me!" the plea came from trembling lips. The old man turned to them more and they saw that he had a large gash in his leg. León drew in a sharp breath between his clenched teeth at the sight of the wound. He pulled out a first aid kit he had claimed from one of the fallen soldiers. León tried to remember what he needed to know from his first aid classes. The bad this was that the wound was bleeding quite a bit, and if León didn't hurry, the man would soon die of blood loss.
"Uh, Reece, hold him down for me, OK," León whispered to the man beside him. "OK, sir, this is gonna hurt just a bit." León tore some material from the man's shirt and tied it around his leg to stop the blood flow.
"Here, drink this. It'll numb the pain," León told the man, giving him a drought of nasty smelling liquid. "Uh, Command," León spoke into his walkie-talkie, "we have an injured civilian here if someone could come and take him to Kadowaki soon, thanks." He turned off the phone-like device and turned to the man. "Sir, we're gonna have someone try and pick you up so you can get the proper medical care, so just sit tight for awhile." At that, he left the man and followed the path to the Communications Tower.
There, León saw Geoff hiding behind a rim of rocks, watching three Dalgabian soldiers standing around and talking. Reece and León joined him silently with only a glance from Geoff to signify that he was aware of their presence. The soldiers mumbled on and on for a few minutes and then went inside the Communications Tower. Geoff, in his ever-present gracefulness, stood, jumped over the rim of rocks onto the ground about three yards down, all the while though, not knowing there was that drop. He stood from his reclining position on his butt, dusted himself off, and ran after the soldiers.
León sighed and watched their captain go after people they didn't need to go after. *Why does he do this?* he thought to himself. Suddenly, León and his companion heard a noise above and behind them. They turned, preparing for a fight, but were greeted by a girl in their uniform. She wasn't looking where she was going and slipped on some pebbles in front of her and fell down the slope in front of them. She looked up, dusted herself off, and winked.
"Hi there! I'm Solana Mittilt! I'm from Squad A, but I got lost. Hey! I remember you!" she said enthusiastically at León. "You're the guy who showed me around! Thanks! I can find practically everything now." She looked around and obviously made an internal decision. Suddenly, she jumped off the cliff on the other side and landed on the gravel.
She started to jump up and down and was smiling like she'd discovered the cure for the common cold. "C'mon you guys! Let's go kick some Dalgabian butt!" León walked down the other side of the cliff following her into the Tower. This would be a lot more entertaining then waiting.
They had entered the Tower and they saw Geoff chasing a group of soldiers. He was going a different direction than them, so they just watched. It was very much like watching a wide-screen video. Almost cartoon-like. When Geoff passed, they continued on their way to the top of the tower. They reached the top and hid behind a pile of scrap metal.
There were two soldiers there, and by their uniforms and badges, León could tell that one of them was a Major and one of them was only a Private. The Private went off to do something and the Major was left alone.
León jumped out at him and shot his leg and before the other man could shoot at León in turn, Reece shot him in his other leg and knocked the Major out with one of the scrap pieces of metal. Reece and Solana went over to him and gave him some backup. All at once, the ground shook violently as the satellite was activated.
"León, we've got company," Reece warned the man behind him. The Private had come back to report to his superior that the Communications Tower had been activated successfully. Seeing the three enemies before him, he tried to get his gun out. But before he could do anything Solana knocked him out with the piece of scrap metal.
"That was easier than I expected it to be!" Solana said brightly. León and Reece looked at her as if to say 'Yeah, all you had to do was bonk him on the head!'
"What?" Solana asked them, truly confused to why they were looking at her like that.
"We'd better head back," Reece said. "We've got about half and hour to get to the beach before the ships leave." They headed out of the Tower and spotted Geoff heading back towards the beach. They went down the stairs and saw that the man had been picked up. They were heading across the bridge when they heard a rumbling coming towards them.
It was a tank.
"Aw, sh-" Reece began and started running as the large vehicle rolled in their direction. Solana had run as soon as the tank had come in sight. León ran after them.
The tank followed them through the whole city, crushing anything in its path. It ran over a parked car as León turned a corner. He was in the town square again. And worse yet the dog was still there. *Oh, why me?* León thought as he chased the dog out of the way of the tank. He couldn't bear to see squashed dog in his mind for the rest of his life.
He kept running towards the beach, the tank close behind him. León saw Solana and Reece reach the ship. Reece turned and spotted León.
"C'mon!" he yelled and jumped on the ship himself. León didn't think he'd make it before the tank crushed him.
Suddenly, he heard a machine gun spitting out bullets in his direction. They missed him though. He turned momentarily to see the tank being riddled with bullets. They were coming from the ship. He caught a fleeting glimpse of Gwen in the control room operating the machine gun. She was saving him.
The only problem was, the ship was leaving the beach. And León wasn't on it.
He reached the shoreline and jumped. He barely caught the end of the docking edge. He took a ragged breath and opened the door to the interior. When he got inside, he sat down on the floor and caught his breath.
"León, are you all right?!" he heard Gwen yelling as she entered the place where he was.
"Yeah," he gasped, "I'm OK."
The ships made their way back to Abmbal and to the dock. When they got there, Gwen, León, and Reece (because Solana had rejoined her squad) found that Geoff had taken their transport by himself, leaving them sort of stranded.
"OK, I'm gonna go get a rental, you two wait here," Gwen told the two tired Cadets in front of her. León and Reece rested on a bench near the dock while Gwen went to the nearest car rental. About thirty minutes later, Gwen rode up to them in a small car. The two men got in and they started the journey back to their base.
The three reached their base in no time and walked to the front gate.
"Good job you two, I bet you'll get good marks for this and probably a promotion," Gwen said and walked into the General's office to give her report.
*I'd better get good marks for this! I saved Geoff's butt, my own, and managed to get out without becoming road kill* León thought, going to his barracks to take a shower and change into a less smelly uniform. Running across a town can make you sweat.
(A/N: Long chapter, huh? I'm surprised I remembered as much as I did about it! Some things /are/ different, but I had to make them kinda realistic. Next chap. I promise some Seiftisy-ness and Squinoa-ness for all the fans out there! If you want to know where I get all the battle stuff, it's from watching Black Hawk Down! I've only seen it once, but those images just stick with me! Anyway, you know the drill, R&R please. I'll be your friend forever if you do!)
