PART ONE
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"May you live in interesting times."
– Ancient Chinese curse




I

Another Field Exam

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Centra Crater,
Centra





Sometimes it was hard to believe she had ever wanted to be an instructor in the first place.

Quistis Trepe impatiently pushed away an errant strand of hair out of her eyes. The sea breeze from the shores seemed to be rising, and the Yorn Mountains gave an illusion of shade, yet it was still surprisingly hot even in the shadows of the make-shift tent that doubled as the command centre. She shielded her eyes and squinted against the sun, trying to see further into the uneven terrain of the Centra Crater.

A few feet to her left she could hear Nida giving out instructions in his best no-nonsense voice, but she could see the cadets in the group were trying their best to grasp what he was saying in the blistering heat. It didn't help that Nida was not exactly the most assertive officer they had. She resisted the urge to push away her hair again, and tried to pay more attention to him. The heat made her feel sluggish, but she was a SeeD, and SeeDs were supposed to be alert at all times. But it would've been so nice to just stay in her air-conditioned office in Balamb Garden trying to finish up marking her papers instead of accompanying students for an exam and –

"Quistis?"

She came back to reality with a snap. So much about being alert at all times. Nida was looking at her, a questioning look in his eyes. He turned back to face the squad when he was satisfied he had her attention and said, "As I was saying, Instructor Trepe is the instructor in charge of this squad, and the squad leader is Irvine Kinneas." Nida shuffled the papers in his hand, glancing briefly at the contents. "So no problem there," he muttered under his breath – sounding almost put out, of all things – but Quistis heard him anyway. Nida was always acting as if no one was listening to him. She wondered what gave him that idea.

Irvine grinned and shifted his rifle to his left hand, and Quistis couldn't help but think he looked very different in a cadet's uniform without his trademark hat. Irvine, being Irvine, had managed not to pass the written exam the first time he took it, much to Squall's chagrin, and Selphie had chased Irvine all around the Garden, scolding him at the top of her voice. Irvine had laughed it off, saying that he would pass it the next time, and he just managed to scrape through the top ten percent the second time around.

Passing the exam wasn't at all necessary for Irvine, at least in Quistis's opinion, considering all that he had gone through. All they had gone through. But rules were rules and procedures were procedures, as Squall had reiterated in his usual monotone, even as he had given an apology of sorts to Irvine. Irvine had took it in stride – it wasn't as if he had much to lose ... as far as Quistis could tell, Irvine's allowance was on par with the salary most of them received. Courtesy of being in the team that defeated Ultimecia, of course. That was one rule, apparently, Squall had been able to work around.

"This is the current situation and the mission," Nida was saying. "SeeD was contacted at 1500 hours yesterday by the client, Alpha Pharmaceuticals, a company based in Esthar. They had reported that a group of their researchers went missing since 1500 hours the day before, and there had been no radio contact since then. Our mission is to find and rescue the missing researchers."

"Provided that they are still alive," muttered one of the candidates, a flaxen-haired young man named Jared Reese. Quistis saw of him enough in classes (and she had also went through his files) to know he was rather reckless and had a quicksilver temper at best. Thankfully, though, he had no record of causing serious trouble before, and she was grateful for that small favour.

"You don't have to worry about that, Reese," Nida said, not sharply, but there was definitely an edge to the usually quiet voice. "You are to complete your squad's objective to the letter, understood?" Jared almost scowled, but he controlled himself and nodded instead, and Irvine shot a wary look his way. Apparently Irvine sensed trouble as well. Nida was still holding his gaze steady on Jared.

"Which is?" Irvine prompted, taking the attention off his squad-mate. Jared was trying very hard not to glare at Nida and he wasn't entirely successful.

Quistis almost groaned. Why did she always end up with the troubled ones in her charge? Well ... at least Jared wasn't ... malicious, nor did he pick on his teammates, like Seifer had done. She gave the cadet a warning look and he subsided. The other member of the squad, Rissa Hathaway, was biting her lower lip uncertainly, casting nervous glances towards Irvine and Jared.

Nida continued, apparently oblivious to the tension. "The objective of this squad is to secure the part of the Ruins located here," he pointed to an area on a map spread on the ground, "and to rid the place of monsters." He moved to another map, detailing the inside of the ruins. "The researchers are believed to be trapped somewhere within this perimeter." He tapped on another area enclosed within a red line. "The completion of your objective is essential in the success of the mission as a whole.

"If you fail to achieve the objective, the SeeD members with you will get the job done. They will also be observing every move that you make, so don't do anything stupid. Marks will be deducted for every breach of conduct." Nida paused for a second, glancing again at his notes. "Oh, by the way, you should know this – SeeD Xu-Tian Chen is the joint field commander in charge of this mission along with SeeD Zell Dincht." Irvine raised an eyebrow and gave a low whistle, and made a move as if to push his hat back before realising he didn't have it on. Jared seemed unimpressed. Rissa looked around anxiously, as if expecting either Zell or Xu to pop out of nowhere at any minute.

Quistis had to suppress a smile. Zell had been thrilled that Squall had seen him capable enough to be put in charge (even if it was as joint commander), but a lot less thrilled when he realised that it was also a field exam – thus requiring quite a number of SeeDs and even more students, as well as some talent for organising and sorting out paperwork, something Zell absolutely detested. He had also looked quite horrified when Squall had solemnly informed him that it was the same field exam Irvine was going to take.

Squall could have a wicked sense of humour, sometimes.

"Another last thing. I know you've been told this countless times, but the order to withdraw takes the highest priority. Remember that." He looked at the candidates and smiled suddenly, and Quistis was struck on how rarely she had ever seen Nida smile. Then again, she thought with a twinge of guilt, that could probably be because she never paid much attention to him. "That's all. If you have any questions, talk to Instructor Trepe. Good luck."

Out of nowhere, Quistis suddenly thought of Seifer. What was it he had said? "I hate it when people wish me luck. Save those words for a bad student who needs them, eh?"

Nida saluted her, and Quistis saluted back, almost clumsily, distracted by her thoughts. She watched as he headed towards another squad, which was still being briefed by Xu. Well, it's up to the candidates, now. Quistis was sure that Irvine would pass, good luck wishes or no – she suspected that Squall, despite his aloof exterior, was willing to pull some strings to make sure of that. Quistis hoped that that was not going to be necessary – she knew Irvine could certainly do very well on his own if he had the mind to.

She gave herself a mental shake. She was drifting off again. "Any questions?" she asked crisply, and all three of the candidates shook their heads. "Okay then. You shall move in when we get the signal from Mission Control. Be prepared and make sure you equip your GF."

Irvine gave her a wink. "Yes, ma'am," he said, before rechecking his rifle. "It's gonna be like a field trip, ain't it, Quisty?"

"Kinneas, behave yourself," she said absently, squinting again against the sunlight, into the open wasteland. This surely was something simple, something easy. After all, they had defeated Ultimecia, and nothing can be worse than that, right?







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Author's Note

Eh, if I had told you that the prologue was a fluke and the following chapters wouldn't be written in the same style, would you still be here? (Though if you're reading this, I guess you are here.)

Anyway. This will be LONG. Anyone who's willing to stay 'til the very end will be highly praised for their patience. It's something I've been doodling about in my notebook for far too long (a year, maybe?) that just wouldn't get written past the first part. So I was hoping that posting it here will give it the shove it needs to keep on rolling. The chapters will be short - sorry, but my last multi-chaptered (and still yet to be continued) attempt had about 3000+ words per chapter and it gave me hell when it came to editing, and I'm not too fond of going through that again. So we will be brief, this time.

And I accept constructive criticism and chocolate chip cookies gladly. =)