The Makings Of A SeeD
By Bhamv
Chapter 5 – The Lost Cadet
Author's note: Once again, sorry for the delay in updating… real-life upheavals and all that. Hopefully updates will be a bit more regular from now on.
*****
Artificial lighting panels always brightly illuminated the rooms and halls of the Esthar command center, even during the daytime. Brightly colored patterns covered the walls, providing a smattering of decoration amidst the high-tech sterility. Some of the hallways were built completely out of a transparent material, providing a view of the city outside, the electric lights making the evening as dazzling as high noon. A slender figure strode through one of these see-through hallways, her boots stomping loudly against the hard flooring as she sought to grind her anger and frustrations out with every step. Stripping her battle-scarred helmet off her blonde tresses, the commander of the Trabia strike force headed straight for the president's office, her attractive features tight and moody.
A presidential aide, dressed in a dark green robe, approached as she come up to the large ornate doors and smiled apologetically. "General Olo, the Regent has given strict orders he is not to be disturbed." The chubby associate said in his irritating high-pitched voice. "Perhaps if you come back later this afternoon you will be able to book an appointment…"
Any remaining words the aide had were cut off as the young woman slammed her helmet into his gut, knocking the wind out of him. The taller man's eyes widened in shock as he sank to his knees, and then collapsed onto his side, still holding the very solid helmet in front of him. The girl then burst through the large wooden doors, pushing them open with a loud bang. Inside, a young man sat behind an enormous desk, talking to a communications monitor, which showed the face of one of Esthar's senior military commanders. The man was none other than the lost cadet of Balamb Garden, Vincent Nimcoti, dressed in a black military uniform and sporting a neat crew cut. His dark clothing, coupled with his naturally dark hair, made him stand out from the lighter colorings of the office walls and furniture. It also created a sharp contrast with the vestments of the girl on a warpath. Vincent took one glance at the wrathful young woman and the wheezing, headgear-clutching aide crumpled on the floor behind her, then turned back to his conversation.
"General Yen, I'm going to have to call you back. In the meantime, proceed as ordered." Vincent said before disconnecting the call. He then flagged his hand at the guards now swarming into the room, the soldiers having been alerted by the female General's noisy entrance. "It's okay, it's okay, it's just General Olo. Go back to your posts."
The guards drained from the chamber as quickly as they had appeared, shutting the door behind them and leaving the Regent with the angry General. Vincent stood from his soft comfortable chair and faced the girl. "So, Majykia… things did not go well, I assume?"
Majykia Olo replied with a low, dangerous voice, "Of course things didn't go well! We lost an entire unit of soldiers today to that ambush scheme of yours. The SeeDs destroyed twenty of our battle robots and nearly turned me into Grat food!"
"To be fair, Majykia, it wasn't my idea in the first place, it was General Yen who insisted on attempting an ambush…" Vincent protested.
"I don't care! You agreed to it!" Majykia yelled, her eyes flashing dangerously. Poking her finger into Vincent's chest, she snarled, "Don't ever try another hair-brained scheme like that again, Vincent. If we're going to win this war, absolutely everything has to go exactly to plan. So please, sir, think before you act next time!"
Vincent looked at the fuming girl with a steady, even gaze. "Whatever you wish, my dear."
Majykia's expression suddenly softened and her blue eyes filled with tears. Pressing herself to Vincent's taller body, she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest. "I'm sorry Vincent, I'm sorry I lost my temper like that. It's just that… this war is so important to me, and to Esthar… I wouldn't be able to bear it if we lost…"
Vincent stroked her long blonde hair slowly, gently shushing her stammered apologies. "It's ok, it's all right. I know what all of this means to you, it means the same thing to me too. I won't let us fail." Majykia raised her large watery eyes to his, gazing into his deep brown pupils, but said nothing. "I promised you long ago that your quest is now mine, and I meant it. I wasn't born in Esthar but I belong here now. I belong with you." Vincent's words slowly dropped to a whisper as he bent down to kiss Majykia's quivering lips, and suddenly it seemed like they were the only people existing in the universe.
Breaking the kiss, Vincent stepped back and inspected Majykia, who had bloodstains all over her battered and cracked bodyarmor. "Are you hurt? Do you need to go to the medical center?"
"I'm fine, I managed to avoid the worst of that… fire… thing…" Majykia said, grimacing as she remembered the overwhelming power of Ifrit's flames. Stepping away from Vincent, she resumed her professional and formal manner, addressing him as a General to a Regent. "I'll go back to the barracks now, sir, and continue with the afternoon's training sessions. The soldiers were useless today, and if they're going to stand any chance against SeeDs they'll need more training."
Vincent nodded and dismissed his General with a wave of his hand, returning to his commanding role. He was unable to hide the longing in his eyes as he watched the girl leave the presidential office, however, and when she turned back at the door to glance at him one last time he felt his heart give a massive leap.
*****
"Hey Seifer, you built your gunblade yourself, right?" Zell asked as he leaned against the window of the Ragnarok.
"Yeah, I did. Why?" Seifer replied in a bored tone as he inspected his fingernails. He seemed more interested in his nails than in Zell.
"I was just wonderin' why you named it Hyperion, that's all. Don't hear that name around often." Zell said, pointing at the weapon sheathed on Seifer's belt.
"It was my mother's name." Seifer deadpanned.
Zell's eyebrows shot skywards and his eyes widened. "Really? That's cool." Around him the various SeeDs in the Ragnarok cockpit began snickering. "Hey, wait a minute…"
"Chicken Wuss, even you should be able to guess that my mother wasn't named Hyperion. In fact, no one's mother is named Hyperion. That's just not a name for a mother, okay?" Seifer said in his most obnoxious and scornful tone.
Quistis stifled her chuckles to ask, "So why did you name it Hyperion, Seifer? Zell has a point, it's a rather unusual name."
Seifer leapt to his feet. "I don't know! It was just a name I found in a book in the library, all right? I thought it sounded cool and I used it for my gunblade's name! Jeez, what's up with you guys? Why have you decided to start bugging me about the name of my gunblade??"
All laughter had ceased by now as the SeeDs stared at Seifer in surprise and mild alarm. In their many years of knowing him, they had never seen him blow his cool like this, and Seifer losing his temper over a matter as trivial as the name of his gunblade made the situation seem even more unusual. Seifer and Squall had always been the two Balamb cadets who never lost their calm, one full of sneering confidence, the other cold and aloof. Seifer's ranting was cut short by the hissing of hydraulics as the lift of the cockpit rose, carrying Headmaster Cid with it.
"General Caraway has spoken to his staff, they're sending transports for the survivors now. They should arrive within the hour, and the survivors will be taken to Deling City; they'll be well cared for there." Cid said, without any preamble. "I have a mission for you seven, however. When the transports leave, you will enter Esthar covertly and find out what was the motive behind today's attack on Trabia Garden. If this is the first wave of a larger attack force, and frankly I believe it is, you are to do whatever you can to stop them."
The SeeDs glanced at each other nervously. They knew they had received the best training possible anywhere on the planet, but the idea of taking on the entire Estharian military still made them nervous. Cid ignored the suddenly tense atmosphere and continued, "I've spoken to some of the survivors, and they all agree that today's attack was completely unexpected and unprovoked. Trabia Garden would have been an effective launchpad for any defense or counterattack Garden might plan against Esthar, so they've signalled their intent loud and clear by destroying it. Undoubtedly they want to be able to manoeuvre on this continent without interference."
Squall spoke up, "Sir, we're not equipped for a covert operation, if we're not going to fail our mission we're probably going to have to go back to Balamb and gear up. Healing potions, antidotes, stuff like that."
Cid shook his head, "There's no need to go all the way back to Balamb. Take the Ragnarok up to the Shumi village near here, you can get the provisions you need from them. The Shumi always stay neutral in any conflict, so as long as you ask them to stay silent you won't have to worry about them telling anyone you were there."
"Supposing we do fail to stop Esthar's army, Headmaster, what happens then? What's the contingency plan?" Quistis spoke up.
"General Caraway and I will be organizing our defenses as soon as we get back. If you find that you cannot prevent war from breaking out, then leave Esthar as quickly as you can and return to Garden. Your help will be needed for the battle." Cid answered. "In the meantime, however, Xu will most likely be in charge of the Garden's operation and defenses; I'm going to be in Galbadia most of the time… What's that noise?"
A muffled low whine began sounding from outside the Ragnarok, sending mild vibrations through the cockpit cabin of the craft. Four large blue airships appeared through the windows as they circled around the surrounding mountains, the bulky rectangular vehicles clearly bearing the round insignia of Galbadia. Cid watched them approach for a moment before turning back to Squall. "You have your orders. Squall will be the squad leader, and Seifer will be your guide. I must see to the survivors now, good luck on your mission."
No one moved or spoke for several minutes after Cid left, the SeeDs silently contemplating their assignment. Finally, Irvine turned to Seifer and said, "So how do you suppose we can get into Esthar?"
"That's a good question, actually. When I went in I didn't sneak in, I took a train from FH and disguised myself as some bum looking for work." Seifer answered, his lips curling into a frown as he tried to think of a course of action. "I guess we do the same thing this time - we walk into Esthar pretending to be someone else."
"Can't we just fly the Ragnarok into Esthar? It's an Estharian craft, we might be able to get in that way." Rinoa suggested.
Squall shook his head. "The authorities in Esthar know we have the Ragnarok, they helped us fly it back from space; as soon as they see it over their airspace they'll know we're coming."
"They probably know the Ragnarok's here in Trabia now anyway… what's stopping them from knowing we're coming already?" Zell asked with a worried expression plastered onto his face.
Squall got to his feet, his brow furrowing in deep concentration. Placing one hand on his hip in his habitual posture of deliberation, he was silent for several minutes, lost in thought. Finally, his expression cleared. "We can set the autopilot to take the Ragnarok back to Balamb, or to Galbadia with the transports. If the Ragnarok flies away then it'll look like we went with it. We will then head to the Shumi village and then to Esthar on foot."
Seifer scoffed, "On foot? Do you know how long that'll take? Do you think the Esthar army will wait a few weeks for us to get there?"
Squall stared at his childhood rival for a moment before speaking, "I didn't say whose foot, Seifer."
*****
In the words of so many authors in FF.net, reviews keep a writer going. Please please tell me what you guys think of the story so far, okay? –Bhamv