The Makings Of A SeeD
By Bhamv
Chapter 3 – The Council
Author's note: Doh, two chapters and no reviews…
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"Headmaster Cid." Xu said in greeting, lowering her hand from her face.
"Please, please, sit Xu." Cid replied, waving both hands at Xu to indicate she was to reseat herself. "I see our secret undercover agent is here too. You have a report to make, Seifer?"
The shadowed man stepped forward slightly into the light, revealing the blonde hair and angular features of Seifer Almasy, looking slightly odd dressed in a SeeD uniform instead of his usual white trenchcoat. Squall glanced at Quistis, who gave him a puzzled look in return. She had no idea Seifer had become a SeeD either, much less been sent on a covert mission. Cid gestured at the large round meeting table, jovially inviting everyone to seat themselves around it. He then walked to the front of the room and pressed a button on a control panel before him, lighting up a display screen behind his back.
"Ladies, gentlemen, I'll get straight to the point. As you all know, after the death of former president Vinzer Deling, General Caraway here assumed control over the nation of Galbadia. Under his administration, Galbadia has disarmed significantly and become a much more pacifist state, returning independence to areas such as Timber and Dollet." General Caraway nodded at this point of Cid's speech, as a glowing green map appeared on the screen, displaying a before-and-after representation of Galbadia's borders. "Galbadia has also formed a military alliance with Garden, and has assisted greatly in the rebuilding efforts of Trabia Garden. However, twelve weeks ago Trabia garden came under attack from a hostile force, one that possessed advanced technology. The soldiers and drones that were sent had the emblem of the nation of Esthar on them."
The screen behind Cid flickered, showing a photograph of a smoldering pile of metal, a former robot defeated and destroyed by gunfire. On one side, partially covered by soot but still recognizable, was the symbol of Esthar. "The combined forces of Trabia SeeDs and Galbadian soldiers were able to repel the invaders, although not without significant casualties." Cid's voice faltered as he grimly recalled the scene of devastation, before regaining his composure. "Upon hearing the news, General Caraway and I immediately contacted President Loire of Esthar, who although not in an official alliance with us has always been amiable to Garden." Cid glanced at Squall, then at Laguna.
Laguna cleared his throat and stood up. "I'd better take it from here, Cid. Well, when I heard from Cid I was completely baffled. I knew for certain I hadn't ordered anyone to attack Trabia, so I did a bit of snooping around, see if anyone had stepped out of line. Turns out it was one of my aides, Esjay Katt, who had given the order to attack." Laguna glanced at Kiros and Ward, seated beside him. "Well, the three of us decided to go ask this guy just what thought he was up to, didn't we boys? And he gave up this really long explanation about how Trabia Garden was a really inaudible threat…"
Ward sighed loudly and buried his face in his hands. Kiros muttered at Laguna out of the corner of his mouth, "Inauspicious, Laguna, not inaudible."
Laguna coughed softly and continued, "Right, inauspicious threat, that's what he said. Or something like that. Anyway, I didn't really believe him, but this guy's a smart one, you know? So I figured there must have been something that made him say Garden's dangerous, so I thought I'd call up Cid and see if we could get together, have a bit of a chat, see if we could figure things out. Well, Esjay kept delaying me, giving me reasons why I couldn't leave, until I finally said 'No, I'm going and that's final!' So here I am."
Laguna sat back down into his soft chair with a loud poof. Cid then swept his gaze around the room. "When I heard again and again that President Loire would be postponing the meeting, I sent Seifer here to investigate." Seifer smirked as everyone in the room turned towards him. "Unbeknownst to most of you, Seifer was granted SeeD status a while ago. I didn't announce it or have an inauguration ceremony for him, because I had immediate use for him in this assignment. He only returned last night, and even I have yet to hear his report."
Seifer stood up languorously, pausing a moment to gather his thoughts before speaking. "My mission was to enter Esthar, find out what was delaying the President, and see what else I could discover. Fujin, Raijin, and I snuck from FH into Esthar undetected, and disguised ourselves as normal citizens. When I heard that the President was finally leaving Esthar, I figured it was a good time to come home." At this, he grinned and wiped his brow dramatically.
"And your findings, Seifer?" Cid prompted.
"Well, like the President said, it was mainly this guy Katt who was causing all the trouble. The word on the street was that he came to Esthar about three years ago, and rose to the rank of Presidential Aide in a matter of months." Seifer glanced at Laguna, who nodded in confirmation. "When I was leaving Esthar, I heard he was launching something called the 'Regent Protocol', and had everything in pretty good shape. Sounds like he knows what he's doing. He's really young, too, just a bit older than people like me. Mid twenties or so. I hear he's pretty good in a fight too, and likes to hunt Mesmerizes on the Esthar plains in his spare time."
From years of knowing Seifer, Squall knew the blond SeeD had a big announcement to make, and was just holding out to keep others in suspense. Evidently Xu was aware of this irritating habit too, as she snapped with impatience, "Get to the point, Seifer!"
"Oh, there's just one more thing. Esjay Katt is a fake name. The guy's real name is Vincent Nimcoti. I heard it from a reliable source… what? What did I say?" Seifer looked around in confusion, as Cid, Quistis, and Xu had all stiffened and glanced at each other in alarm.
"The lost cadet… looks like we know where he is now." Quistis whispered.
Cid cleared his throat and nodded at Seifer. "Thank you for your report, Seifer." Seifer sat back down, still looking puzzled at why the name of Vincent Nimcoti would cause such concern with his elders. "I suppose I should explain just who Vincent Nimcoti is, shouldn't I?" Cid continued. "Vincent was a student here at Balamb Garden a few years ago, but never reached the rank of SeeD. It must be stated that he came extremely close – he had all the qualities to make a good SeeD, but fell just short several times. I believe his final exam was when you passed, Quistis?"
Quistis nodded at Cid's questioning glance and stood. "I remember him in that last battle… he was magnificent… he must have neutralized as many opponents as the rest of his squad combined. But, well, there was this edge about him. I don't know how to describe it, it just felt like he was trying too hard… that he was rushing into every battle without any thought of safety."
Xu smiled grimly, remembering. "That was the reason he wasn't made a SeeD. We want soldiers, not gladiators. A SeeD must be able to think and analyze the situation, and take the best action accordingly, instead of rushing into a battle blindly."
"Well, anyway, after he left Garden he was meant to return to his home in Fisherman's Horizon, except he didn't. The train ticket he bought definitely took him to FH, that much is certain, but his family never saw him. They contacted us, asking us to help find him, but well... we didn't have much luck. Finding one man in a huge world like this…" Cid spread his arms wide in a gesture of futility. "In any case, it looks like we know where he is now. He's gone to Esthar and now he's in a very strong position of power."
Laguna grimaced. Beside him, Kiros and Ward glanced at each other nervously, before Laguna cleared his throat and stood up. "Funny you should mention that, Cid, cause I think he might be in complete control of Esthar by now." Everyone in the dim meeting room gave Laguna an identical stunned look, who grimaced again. "Seifer over there mentioned the Regent Protocol… RP is a system for when the President of Esthar is missing or dead or something, one of the presidential aides takes over for a while until a new president can be elected. Now, when I left I did some sort of official ceremony thing that was supposed to pass power temporarily to Esjay… sorry, Nimcoti… but it sounds like he's activated the RP and thus taken over power indefinitely."
With remarkable dramatic timing, a member of the Garden faculty burst into the meeting room, not bothering to knock. His face was flushed under his huge hat, and his flustered appearance was a significant change from the usual composed appearance of Garden staff. "Headmaster!" The man gasped out. "Headmaster, Trabia garden has been completely destroyed!"
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The action will start to get interesting next chapter… speed up the chapter production process by reviewing please!! -Bhamv