Unique among the Guardian Corps commands, the Wide Area Response Brigade had no fixed base of operations, instead fielding a fleet of airships from a massive mobile headquarters. The Lindblum, whose wingspan could cover the entire town of Bodhum, housed the Cavalry's entire fleet of smaller vessels within its immense hangar bays, ready to deploy them anywhere on Cocoon within a few hours' notice.

Lightning found one of those ships resting in a servicing berth amid the frenetic action of the main starboard hanger. The Narshe was patrol cutter barely larger than a two-bedroom house, dwarfed by some of the cruisers that were docked just overhead. On the other hand, its engines and grav-con unit were nearly as big as the whole rest of the ship, the sign of a vessel that could keep up with a skyfighter if it needed to.

"Welcome aboard, captain." The officer standing by the airship's hatch saluted smartly as Lightning reached the top of the gangway, raising his voice just a little to be heard over the sound of engines and mechanics at work in the hangar. He was tall, and about her age, with close-cut auburn hair and lieutenant's stripes on his uniform. "The ship is preparing to launch as we speak. We received word that you'd want to depart as soon as possible."

Lightning nodded and returned the salute. The whole experience seemed a bit surreal; her new uniform felt stiff, and the turquoise captain's bars on her shoulders were nagging at her peripheral vision. And there was the tightness in her chest that still wouldn't go away.

"How much were you told?" she asked, telling herself that she was asking about the mission. She'd been given command of the Narshe less than three hours ago, but knowing how soldiers talked, she guessed the crew already knew she'd gotten her officer's commission and been promoted three ranks literally overnight—and according to Raines, they absolutely didn't know why. Lightning wondered if the crew would feel more secure if they knew they were taking orders from a l'Cie, or if it would give them still more reason to be wary.

She wasn't even sure how she'd react to learning something like that. She'd barely knew how to process what it meant to be the Sanctum's l'Cie, much less what it would look like to others.

It gradually dawned on her that the officer was talking, and she'd probably missed an entire sentence already. "…enough supplies for a few weeks of detached operation. Besides that, we were just told to wait for your orders."

"Good," Lightning stepped past him and into the ship's main deck, which was was filled with an impressive number of crates that were waiting to be stowed. An interface station that was hovering by the entrance unfolded as she approached, and she held out her hand for its scanner. Instead of logging her in, though, it made a sort of electronic staccato noise, and then folded back up into its standby position.

"Sorry about that," called a voice from behind the crates. A young woman in an enlisted uniform appeared, holding some kind of wrench-like tool. Her dark, curly hair was tied back in thin braids under her NCO's cap, and she was covered in smudges that implied a lot of hands-on work. "The system's updating right now, so it might be a little glitchy for a few minutes."

Lightning could hear the lieutenant groaning behind her. "This is our new commanding officer," he said.

"Right, I figured." The woman extended a hand. "I'm Wedge, ship's engineer. Don't worry, it'll be online by the time we're ready to launch."

Her level of familiarity wouldn't normally have felt surprising. But Lightning had been saluted by a lieutenant two minutes earlier, so this felt like her world was still in a state of flux. "What condition is the ship in?" she asked, shaking Wedge's hand.

"Well, they sped up our schedule thanks to the Pulse l'Cie, so we've only had a couple days to get everything squared away. The last of our munitions just arrived this morning, and the drive core's only had half the standard testing routine." Wedge shrugged. "But most of that is make-work stuff anyway. Shouldn't be a problem."

At the edge of Lightning's vision, the interface station was still bobbing innocently by the entrance. "Glad to hear it," she said, ignoring it. "Carry on."

The lieutenant followed her along the ship's main deck, which split off into an array of color-coded hatches on two different levels. "Our quartermaster should arrive shortly," he said, "but we haven't been assigned a pilot or a combat squad. Apparently there weren't any available on short notice. Our munitions and gear are fully stored, though."

Lightning felt like too much information was coming at her right now. This didn't feel like a normal military operation, but it also didn't seem like what she'd expect from a life as a legendary protector of Cocoon. So far, everything just felt haphazard.

Around then, she realized that she was missing some critical information about the officer standing next to her. She spent a few seconds trying to think of a face-saving way to find out, and then gave up. "…Who are you?" she asked.

He blinked. "Right, of course. I'm Lieutenant Vicks, flight officer." Somehow, he sounded like the embarrassed one.

Lightning nodded. "Vicks." The name sounded familiar for some reason, and she repeated it with a frown.

"We actually went through basic together," he said, with a nod that said he'd picked up on her thought. "I remember you were kind of a sensation. People were sure you'd be the one to snatch the Cavalry post, but then you went and joined a local security regiment. I was kind of relieved."

"Until I showed up and took command of your ship?"

Vicks made an amiable-looking smile. "No hard feelings, ma'am. I wasn't in line for command. And besides, times like this, we need every good soldier, right?"

Good soldier. Lightning wasn't sure the term really applied, but guessed she shouldn't say that. "Right."

Another awkward pause later, Vicks changed the subject. "Uh…there is one thing you'll have to deal with before we get going. Someone broke into the ship late last night, and we think he was trying to commandeer the vessel. He's in custody, but we were told our new captain would decide what to do with him."

"First I'm hearing about it," Lightning said. "Is he here?"

"Yes, ma'am. I can show you to him."

"I guess you'd better."

The Narshe was far too small a ship to have its own brig, so the intruder was being held in one of the unused crew cabins, which did look almost spartan enough to qualify. A big Sanctum emblem was stenciled on one of the side walls, and Lightning found herself trying not to look at it.

The intruder himself was seated on the cot at the far side of the room. He looked to be in his early 40s, with a goatee and a bulb of curly black hair that looked a little like a bird's nest. His clothes looked weathered, and he himself had a beaten-down air about him. He was hunched over, having what looked like a staring contest with a tiny chocobo chick that was perched on his hand.

"Oh, you're back, huh?" he asked, looking up at Vicks. "I was starting to think you forgot about me."

"Who are you?" Lightning asked.

"You the one in charge?" The man stood, resting his hands on his hips. The chocobo chick fluttered up to rest on his shoulder. "Name's Sazh Katzroy. Usually fly with the Merchant Auxiliary, but…" He shrugged. "I guess they didn't renew my codes."

Lightning narrowed her eyes. "A merchant's code wouldn't have got you aboard the Lindblum. And what did you want with this airship?"

"Well, you know how it is. I had some urgent business, but my usual ship, it…wasn't really an option. Looked like this one wasn't being used, so I figured, you know? Might be time for an upgrade. What with all this stuff that's going on." He finished the explanation with a slightly awkward-sounding laugh.

Lightning had the distinct impression that he was making fun of her. Or possibly himself. But definitely someone. "…I don't have to figure this out," she said. "Why aren't we sending him to detention on the Lindblum?"

Vicks shook his head. "Don't know, ma'am. Orders said it was up to you."

That didn't make sense. Nothing about this guy made sense. It all didn't make sense so completely that Lightning suspected it would bother her until she got some kind of answer, but she really didn't have time to figure it out. "I'll have the garrison send someone to get you up before we launch," she said. "You want a new ship, you can tell it to them."

She didn't think she'd meant that as an interrogation tactic, but something about it seemed to work on him. "Okay, okay, hey, wait a minute!" The man jumped forward, holding up his hand. "You got me, okay? But listen. You gotta take me with you."

Lightning narrowed her eyes at him. "Why?"

"You guys are going after the Pulse l'Cie, right?" The man scratched the back of his head. "Well, I guess you can say I've got business with them too."

"Business?" Lightning asked. "You're not making sense. If you want my help, then you'd better explain."

"Yeah, well, it's…it's kind of a long story." He had a look on his face that Lightning recognized easily enough. There was more to the story than he wanted to say. "It's my kid, all right? Dajh. He got mixed up in all this Pulse l'Cie business, and it happened because of me. I've gotta find some way to make that right."

"And you thought breaking into a Sanctum airship was the way to go about it?"

He sighed. "Okay, yeah, maybe it wasn't my best idea. But what else am I gonna do? I can't just sit around and hope it all works out. Not while Dajh is out in the middle of all this. And I'm the only family he's got."

Lightning suddenly felt incredibly awkward. Not only couldn't she come up with anything authoritative to say in response, but everything about the situation just seemed off somehow. Without another word, she turned and stepped out of the room.

"So you'll think about it, right?" the man asked, as Vicks stepped out after her. "I'll just be waiting here! No problem."

As soon as the door closed behind them, Lightning turned to Vicks. "Who was it that told you to leave this to me?"

"The order came direct from General Raines, ma'am."

Everything she heard just added another level of confusion. Why would Raines himself want her to meet this guy? And if he'd wanted her to know about the man's story, why hadn't he just told her in the first place?

l'Cie exist outside the normal chains of procedure, he'd told her. But this wasn't quite what she'd thought he meant.

She really didn't have time to be bothered by this. But she couldn't leave it alone, either.

"Show me the rest of the ship," she said. "And then send a message to the general. I need to talk to him directly."