Taiga was too busy stacking rocks on top of each other to notice when Nida wandered off of his own accord, and no one else seemed to be paying that much attention to Nida, anyway. So it came as a bit of a surprise when Nida snuck back into the group, trying to attract their attention without attracting attention from anyone else. "I don't want to scare anyone," he said, "but there are three Esthar soldiers scouring the hills and coming more-or-less in our direction. I wouldn't think they'd be looking for us, but all the same, we might want to move before they see us."
Taiga looked up sharply, scanning the direction Nida indicated. Catching sight of the soldiers, he nodded warily. "Let's move back," he said.
Quietly--as quietly as was possible, under the circumstances--they picked up and snuck off. The only cover in the region came from the low hills and broken bluffs--there was virtually no vegetation in the area, and moving stealthily meant using the lay of the land like experts. Somehow, though, they managed--within a few minutes, they had relocated to just past the crest of a low rise, where they could watch without easily being watched in return.
That was when Fujin noticed a fourth soldier, scouring the land off to their right.
"...concerning," was what she whispered, gesturing to him.
"No one we couldn't take," Seifer said, not appearing to share Fujin's concern at all.
"If it's all the same," Taiga retorted, "I'd rather not take anyone. And don't underestimate the Esthar Army."
Seifer snarled, but said nothing.
Something caught Nida's eye, and he glanced past the three soldiers to their left. "Taiga... can you see anything over that way?"
Taiga turned, squinting. "...one more. That brings us up to five. ...why, though?"
Nida was still scanning the area. "This isn't adding up," he said.
There was a pause.
"...what're ya thinkin'?" Raijin asked.
"I'm thinking that I want to know if we can trust Lu as far as we could throw her," Nida said, glancing quietly toward Taiga.
Taiga stared, face reflecting how little he liked the implications of that sentence."I--we--she--"
"Wouldn't even have to mean it to turn you in. Did you ever say there was a reward on you?" Nida pressed.
Fujin snapped around, glaring daggers at him. "IRRELEVANT!" she hissed.
"No," Nida said, "it's really not."
"I--" Taiga shook his head. "I don't think I ever said it, but I--I'm sure there is--"
"Then it wouldn't even need to be Lu who turned you in. She could call in for help, and if the person she asked was enough of an opportunist--"
Fujin had undone the cord that kept her shuriken secure, and looked ready to take the head off the first person who looked at her funny.
Taiga was looking decidedly ill.
"Look," Nida hissed, taking the daunting risk of trying to stare Fujin down, "I agree that the possibility really sucks--but that doesn't mean it probably isn't right!"
"But that's not the worst part," Taiga whispered. All eyes turned to him.
"...what?" Seifer asked.
"The worst part is that a standard dispatch consists of six soldiers. So... where's the sixth one?"
There was a moment of silence.
With the absolute certainty of one too used to the fact that the universe will always screw one over in the manner most amusing to it, Nida looked behind them.
The sixth soldier was there, coming in at a wide angle. It was pretty obvious that he had seen them already. On noticing that he had been spotted, he abandoned all attempts at stealth and loped toward them, brandishing his shotel menacingly. "You are to stand down," he called, "under orders of the ESOC. I will escort you to Esthar Proper, where you will be turned over into the custody of Jenn Hadai. If you fail to comply, I will have no choice but the use of force."
Taiga clamped is hands over his ears, closing his eyes an instant after the soldier raised his shotel to menace him with.
As it turned out, it was an instant too late.
Taiga C1128513, the ICI crackled to life inside him. Analysis: Threatened. Analysis: Threatened. Directive: Attack.
In a place as flat and open as Lesser Kay, on a day as still and dry as it was, a sound like a gunshot could carry for miles.
It didn't need to carry for miles to alert Squall that there was something very, very bad happening, and as soon as he saw the five Esthar soldiers converging on the sound, he took off running to arrive there, too.
The problem came in that the soldiers were both considerably closer and considerably faster than he was.
Lu was following him, though what she intended to do was uncertain. Squall wasn't certain of what he was planning to do, either--only that he should probably be closer than he was in order to do it.
By the time they had come close enough to see the scene, the situation seemed to have deteriorated in ways neither of them could quite make out.
Taiga was on the ground, writhing under the influence of what Squall could only guess was a paramagic spell. Fujin was standing over him, keeping a tight hold on her shuriken--as six soldiers, one whose suit was apparently damaged, kept their shotels trained on anyone that moved.
Squall dropped into a crouch, one hand on the hilt of his gunblade. He briefly considered casting something--long-range, targetable magic, perhaps a Meltdown or something similar--
"That bastard," Lu whispered. "That--that bastard! She--HEY!"
Lu strode toward the soldiers, waving her arms and effectively blowing their cover. Aggravated, Squall stood up and followed her.
One of the soldiers--the damaged one--extricated himself from the mess and approached her. His hand never left the trigger of the shotel. "Is there a problem, ma'am?"
"Hyne in hell, there is." Lu was clearly unhappy. "I'm field officer Hali Lu, and if you're under orders from Hadai then I can't begin to tell you how you've screwed this one up. If you're not, then I can only say that you'd better get away from those people unless you want the ESOC coming down on your heads!"
The soldier didn't yield ground. "Ma'am, we're not under orders from anyone in the ESOC. Hadai has very little influence here. We are to escort you and your company back to Esthar Proper. I suggest you not try to resist us."
Lu motioned angrily toward Taiga. "Did he? Is that why you--what did you do to him?"
"We didn't do anything!" The man was lying, Lu was sure, but he didn't seem too interested in caring that she noticed. "These are unusual circumstances, we're assured, and that's the only reason he'd going with you to Esthar and not to the nearest military facility. But if you resist--in any way--I can't guarantee that. Get with your friends."
Lu's jaw worked for a moment, and then she glanced down at the man's weapon. It certainly looked as if he would use it, given the slightest provocation. Quietly, she stepped into the rough circle.
The man turned his attention to Squall. "Hand off the weapon," he instructed. Slowly, Squall removed his hand from the gunblade's hilt. A small, meddlesome portion of his brain whispered that he could still cast magic, and that something like Tornado would be especially rewarding right now... but he ignored it. The soldier motioned him to join the group, and Squall did so.
Lu was kneeling by Taiga's side, looking over him carefully. He looked pretty bad, squall decided--his eyes were open wide, and he seemed to be gasping. One hand had clenched in the dust, leaving small trails to where his fingers now rested.
"What did you do to him?" she demanded.
"On your feet," the soldier snapped. "Get him up, too. We're going to the docks."
Lu stood up, facing the man and using her considerable height to tower over him. "I said, what did you do to him?"
Only antipathy was written in the soldiers face. "Move it!"
Fujin was keeping a stony silence throughout the affair. For the first time, Squall noticed the red patch that was spreading down the left sleeve of her blue uniform. He glanced toward Nida, inclining his head subtly toward the group of soldiers. Nida caught his meaning, and shook his head. Best not to engage.
"Hadai is the person you contacted?" he asked Lu, voice low. Lu seemed startled, but nodded--never taking her eyes off the soldier she was confronting.
"Jenn Hadai, the bastard."
"Then it might be better to comply."
Lu balked, turning around. "They--"
"Are doing what you asked them." Squall steeled his tone. "Or would you rather try to fight back?"
Lu tried, for several seconds, to come up with a useful retort. Failing that, she looked resolutely at the ground and took a deep breath.
"...you're guaranteeing our safety?"
"As far as we can, yes." The soldier was still pointing the shotel straight at her, lending a certain amount of unconscious irony to his words.
Lu motioned toward Taiga. "You're guaranteeing his safety," she stressed. "You won't just turn him over to the nearest tribunal. You won't attack him. Nothing like that."
"That's the idea."
Lu glanced back. Squall nodded, trying to impress upon her without saying anything how stupid an idea resisting now would be.
Lu closed her eyes. "I guess," she said, "we have no choice, then. Do we?"