"That was awesome!" Selphie's voice reverberated against the metal walls as she bounded down the ramp and into the Ragnarok's hanger. She took up a fighting stance and punched at the air, imitating Zell. "Bam! Pow! Splat! I've never seen anyone beat up a tank before!"
Zell ran a hand through his hair, doing a poor job of feigning modesty. "It was no big deal. Any other world-class martial-arts genius would have done the same." But Selphie's attention had already shifted.
"And Irvine! Kapow! Kapow! Those soldiers didn't even know what hit them. And then Quistis with that tornado! Fwooosh!"
"I'll second that, Selphie," Seifer added. "Without that tornado, Squall and I would be buried under a mountain of cement."
"We definitely owe you for that, Quistis," Squall said, walking backwards so he could face her for a moment. "It was quick thinking."
"Gee, Squall," Selphie giggled, "maybe you should take Quistis back to your room and debrief her personally."
This time, Squall stopped as he turned around. He cocked his head at Selphie. "That's not necessary, Selphie. We'll debrief as normal."
Squall turned around and resumed walking, missing, as he did so, the fact that Quistis glared at Selphie and pantomimed slitting her throat.
The door opened before them as the group entered the body of Garden itself. Cid stood and the end of the hallway, Xu and Mallis flanking him.
"Returned triumphant from their first mission as an official team!" the General exclaimed. "Bravo, all!" Mallis unclasped his hands from behind his back to applaud them.
"Stow your gear and report to the briefing room," Cid said, turning before the SeeDs had a chance to salute him.
"Well," Mallis said, watching Cid walk away. Then, turning back to the First Team, "Well done, gang." This said, he moved to follow Cid, his long strides enabling him to catch up to the Headmaster easily.
* *
"And where are the Delings now?" Cid inquired.
"We dropped them at Fisherman's Horizon," Squall replied.
Cid's eyebrow went up at this. "FH? Why there?"
"Apparently, Vinzer Deling II knows Mayor Dobe, who was willing to shelter them." Cid nodded in response, before taking off his glass and cleaning them.
"I was watching the mission as it played out," Mallis said, "and I must commend you all on your quick thinking. I don't think any other group of SeeDs could have pulled this mission off."
"Hopefully," Cid reentered the conversation, setting his glasses back into place on his nose, "another team would have arrived on time."
"What?" Squall's question leapt out of its own accord. Quistis saw the look of stark disbelief on Squall's face, but Seifer's reaction alarmed her far more. She could tell by the set of his jaw and the tension in his shoulders that Seifer – never a model of restraint -- had his temper in check, but not by a large margin.
"We got the Delings back! That's good enough, right?" Cid flashed a glare at Selphie, who'd raised her voice beyond what he considered an appropriate level.
"We were airborne almost immediately after you handed me the assignment. Xu set to work on planning the mission at once and we did the briefing in the air," Squall stepped in, deflecting Cid's wrath.
"Well," Cid's voice cut like a knife, "next time, I suggest you get airborne sooner. The Delings should have been out of that building before the convoy even arrived. The fact that you salvaged this mission at all bespeaks the total... ineptitude of the Galbadian army rather than any ability on your part. You got lucky."
"Cid," Mallis cut in, voice low, "I think you're being a little harsh on them."
"You would do well to remember your place, General," Cid stood up, placed his hands on the table and turned his cold gaze on the new Garden Master. "Whether they belong to your so-called 'First Team' or not, this is still my Garden, and these are still my SeeDs. I suggest you concern yourself with the financial state of this Garden and refrain from meddling in affairs in which you are wholly ignorant."
With this, Cid stalked out of the room, leaving the General behind, as stunned as everyone else at the Headmaster's outburst. As he left, Selphie took the chance to stick her tongue out at him. Quistis stole a glance over at Mallis as a storm raged across the right side of his face. The left side of his face, the eyeless side, sat perfectly still, while the right side of his face scowled at Cid's insult. Buried in the icy contempt of his eye, Quistis saw the ruthlessness that made Mallis an effective mercenary leader. Then, as if it had never existed, the anger vanished, and the Garden Master turned back to the table, once more in control.
"Well," he said. "That was certainly... scathing. I suppose I'd better go make nice with the boss." He stood, straightening his uniform. At the door, he added, "Cid's comments notwithstanding, you did an excellent job today." Mallis left, and the SeeDs listened to his footsteps recede in silence.
"Cid's an asshole." Nida supplied. Irvine walked over to the door and closed it, leaning his long frame against it.
"I've been yelled at before, but never like that."
"I don't think I've ever seen Cid that upset," Quistis answered.
"Yeah," Zell added. "I'll wager only two people in this room have ever seen him that pissed off."
All eyes went to Seifer and Squall. Seifer sat with his eyes closed, focusing on calming breaths, but his flaring nostrils gave away his true feelings. Squall sat resting his chin on his folded hands. He'd hidden his reaction away, but everyone could see the wheels in his head turning. A knock on the door prevented further conversation.
"In," Squall said. Irvine stepped away from the door and opened it, allowing a lower ranking SeeD entry. Squall stood and walked with him over to a corner of the room, where they whispered for several seconds. They finished their conversation, and the SeeD left at once closing the door behind him. By that point, Squall had already crossed to the projector controls, causing a holograph to hang in the space over the table.
It showed Deling City, the combat zone from the day's mission. Rubble lay everywhere, and the hollow skeletons of buildings loomed over the scene. In the center of the wreckage stood a lectern bearing the crest of Galbadia's armed forces. Kel Llyriance, recently appointed Director of National Defense, and effective leader of the new Galbadian Republic, stood behind the lectern. Behind him sat the generals of the Galbadian Army, among them Rinoa's father, who wore a dour expression on his face.
"Today is a day of tragedy for our nation. I stand here, amid the ruins of a terrorist attack on Galbadia City," He used the new name for the city – the name chosen in the aftermath of the coup that dethroned Vinzer Deling II. "They hide behind a façade of respectability. But today, SeeD has shown its true colors. They are little better than thugs for hire, willing to destroy a city simply because someone jingled a few coins in their direction.
"For too long, we have stood idly by while SeeD ravages, pillages, and destroys everything in its wake, guided only by their slavish devotion to the bottom line. That ends today. The bloated and corrupt leaders of the Deling regime were willing to endure the loss of life because they occasionally found SeeD useful in achieving their own iniquitous purposes. The vile bastards found use for SeeD again today. The degenerates dropped a few coins on the ground, and Cid Kramer dispatched his lackeys to investigate. Because of this, the vermin slipped through our fingers before we could bring them to justice.
"SeeD is a cancer, a malignant parasite growing fat on blood and death. They crawl on the ground, scavengers in search of gold, heedless of the cost of their actions and unconcerned with the devastation that has become synonymous with the word 'SeeD.'"
"Wow," Irvine said, shaking his head at the rhetoric.
"Yeah," Zell chimed in. "I'm guessing he's not a fan."
"And it all ends today," Llyriance continued, his thin voice amplified by the array of microphones in front of him. "I have created a special military task force whose purpose is the complete eradication of SeeD. They will not rest until every person in that contemptible organization has been brought to justice. They will either surrender to us, or they will die. There is no alternative.
"Now, I'd like to present to you the leader of this task force. He has been a loyal soldier in Galbadia's army for most of his life, and it is to his care that I entrust this crucial mission. Citizens, I give you General Nicholas Caraway."
Caraway approached the lectern amid thunderous applause. The briefing room fell silent as Squall shut off the projector. His emotional barriers had fallen, and his face registered his total bewilderment at this development.
"Squall?" Quistis spoke first, trying to bring him back. "Squall, are you okay?" She put a hand on his shoulder as punctuation to her question. By rights, he should have flinched at the unexpected contact, but the implications of Caraway's new appointment stunned him enough that he failed to react.
After a few moments, he managed to start processing the situation. His eyes focused on a point somewhere over Quistis's shoulder and a single word escaped his lips.
"Shit."