The ground moved in an almost dizzying pattern of greens and dark browns. This bleak landscape was only interrupted by sparse forests and, sometimes, by the roads and rail tracks that cut uneven lines in the road, thus linking the major cities on the Galbadian continent together. This seemed to tie them to another as if trying to show that there was some form of unity between Galbadia and its dukedoms, Dollet and Timber. This unity was a lie, she mused. Their was no peace, and despite a new government in power and the efforts of many to swerve their state out of the large country's control, little seemed to have changed in the past 20 years. Dollet and Timber were still rebelling, and still overrun with Galbadian troops. The Galbadian President, Jeremy Deling, had, if possible, tightened his grip further on the tiny nations that were already overwhelmed before.
The roads meant nothing; only serving as a memory to days where there was peace on this continent, where all dukedoms and states were recognized and respected; before the power hungry Deling family had probably bought their victory in the presidency. And once in control, they began to plant the seeds of war in the populations mind. 'Oh great…another SeeD joke…'
She had heard rumors that Vinzer Deling had been assassinated by the Sorceress Edea during the second wave of the Sorceress Wars. And, as killing the only leader of a nation will do, it threw everything and everyone into a panic. Thus the Sorceress and her manipulated 'Knight' had managed to wrest control and began to corrupt the Galbadian army for their own purposes. She had led the troops so far astray that they had managed to secure Galbadia Garden as their base of operations. Luckily, the Balamb SeeDs withstood their assault and won over them. Then, the Sorceress and her Knight had vanished, and without their leadership, the country elected the only one they saw as having a chance to reunite them; the son of Deling. Of course, it did help that he resembled his father and the populous needed something at that time to reassure them that everything would be alright.
It had turned out to be a horrible mistake.
Where the father would have backed down eventually from his wish to unite the entire country as one; the son wanted more control than that. And, despite repeated calls to stand down, he sent more of the army into the small city states. Nothing had changed for the war torn continent. The feuds and the amenity would hold deep for many generations to come.
Their ship was only traveling around 20 feet from the ground and as Kaidia gazed out, watching the countless miles slip by in a sickening blur; she blinked harshly and turned her attention to the small room that she and her squad, as well as the Instructor, were seated in. Kayden sat to her left, and was studying his gunblade intently, as if trying to focus his attention off what was about to occur. She wished him all the luck in that. His mid length blonde hair hung down, and covered his face, so she could not get a sense of what his eyes were saying.
Ryu Dincht sat calmly, or so it seemed. The only action he was partaking in was twisting his hands in a knot over each other. He was not as bowed as Kayden and she could feel the nervous energy around him.
Their leader sat next to Ryu. His expression was both calm and afraid at the same time. She did not know him well enough to judge what he was thinking but, as she knew from her own experience, everyone was just barely able to contain their worry.
Kaidia directed her gaze back to the ground below her feet. She sat, with one leg crossed over the other at the ankle, and leaned back so she was resting on the wall. A moment later she crossed her arms in a defensive manner.
There was a chance that she or a member of her squad could be seriously hurt or killed during this venture. It was incredibly rare that a cadet would be injured enough to die, but it had happened only once in Galbadian history. Several years before she entered the final year of her own stay as a cadet, the news had passed through the Garden like an explosion; that one cadet facing the SeeD exam had been killed due to combat. The enemy had surrounded the cadets and, before help could arrive, had nearly slaughtered the entire lot. The other two survived, barely, but the third had passed and was beyond any means to save him.
Sadly, the two had failed as well, for if they had kept a level head during the combat, there might have been a chance that their companion would have lived. But the panic had gotten to them, and now she realized what they could have been thinking and feeling as the time approached; the fear of failure and what was to come and the panic of their first actual battle.
Kaidia was no fool; she assumed that during this exam she would be forced to enter her first combat and would be judged on if she could kill another human being. If she showed any sign that she could not complete that harsh sentence, then she was not ready to be a SeeD and potentially never would become one. It was a fact of life; some die and some live. A SeeD would merely have to be able to decide, if necessary, who lived and who died without any second thoughts. If they were hired to assassinate someone, they could not fail. If they were hired to stop a would-be killer, then they were not allowed to show their adversary mercy.
It was a well known fact, but not a good one. She had killed beasts and monsters before, and did not feel much emotion for them. 'But killing a human? Who wouldn't hesitate at that? They're just like us, but on a different side. And to them, we're the enemy. They want our blood and we have to be strong enough to keep them from that and kill them. They could be my age. They could be younger. Hyne…what have I gotten myself into?'
Her thoughts, it felt, were traveling faster than the ground they were covering. When she tried to lock down on one single idea, a dozen popped up in-between. All of her concentration was centered on the idea of keeping calm, so she mentally recited the SeeD manual on the section of armed combat. This was not comforting either…as if any mental mention of the upcoming events turned into a whirling wind of confusion. Kaidia knew that something was going to happen, and the notion of it made her stomach turn worse than having Ochu blood gush out at her and cover her completely.
She didn't know what to feel so she concentrated on feeling nothing for now. When it was over, she would then analyze what had taken place, but in the meantime she would have to be ready. She had to keep calm and level over the entire exam, not just for herself anymore though. She realized that she had to keep herself under control or it may cause Ryu, who would look to them for guidance, to panic. If he saw their fear, then the entire situation would degrade further. Also, Kayden needed her too; needed her to back him up and protect their leader. He could not issue enough cover on his own and would have to trust her enough to keep his back too. He would lose faith in her if she gave into panic. And Suzu didn't need the further stress of a hysterical cadet on his hands.
Kaidia would keep her end of the exam, and expect Suzu to lead them well. They had all been trained to accept orders of their superiors and accepting orders was what she was conditioned for as a SeeD cadet.
Then her attention shot from the ground to her Instructor, as he stood and moved towards a section map.
"Let's begin…" Bane started.
With one hand he reached out and pointed to a section of the map. It grew more focused as his hand approached, focusing on one section. Kaidia assumed that as the map grew towards one area, and more details of the lands could be seen, that this was the area they were heading towards. The map then turned into more of a motion video, ahead of the lead ship. The camera seemed to zoom in on the mountains. Then the zoom cleared and there were faint entrances curved out of the peaks that they were fast approaching.
"28 hours ago, the Dollet Dukedom made a request for SeeD personnel to assist in avoiding an unknown army from invading through the mountain caves and separating them from assistance from the outlying areas."
Instructor Bane's hand drifted up and, with the flicker of another key, the map changed to overhead vision. There were three colours, all etched in different locations, over the distance of the mountain range. With a wave, two of the three colours vanished for the time being. What was left was several different sized dark green dots decorating the landscape in varying areas.
"This is the approximate locations of the unknown army at present moment, due to the best guess of SeeD strategists. As you can see, there are several smaller units that have broken off from the larger ones. There are no detectable radio communications between sections of the army and we have assumed that these smaller groups are being used to pass messages back and forth. As you see they are, by majority, evenly distributed between each larger sections of the army." Bane spoke as he gestured to some of the dark green blots.
"These units must be cut off, as it is assumed these soldiers are runners and are being used to pass notes between the larger groups." Their instructor continued after a few minutes. "It is likely that these smaller groups are being used to plan a greater assault with the larger ones. "
With that, the small dots were highlighted against the larger ones.
"The military's possible intention is to cut off the dukedom from outside assistance and thus cause the surrender of that section of the continent. Why is that a danger to the rest of Galbadia?"
'Because according to combat rules listed under section 1b 1:8 of rules of engagement, that it is detrimental to allow an unknown force to gain a land hold on ground in a strategic location; as it could be used to launch an invasion of the surrounding area.' She mentally answered. 'Especially if you do not know the size of the army you are facing. Dollet would be a logical place to start an invasion. It is the major shipping center for goods over seas. Does that mean that the enemy's main method of transportation is over seas? No I can't assume that until there is more proof…'
There was silence for a moment until it became apparent to Kaidia that no one was going to answer.
The instructors gaze locked on hers suddenly, and she held steady under his intent study. "Cadet Dos - Santos? Care to give it a try?"
"Yes Sir. It would be detrimental to allow an army of unknown size, and also an unknown base location, to gain a strategic hold on the main continent, Sir. With this land hold the rest of the continent would be vulnerable to further attack, Sir.
He nodded slightly there. "Correct. In the future, do not be afraid to speak up if you are aware of information, as a failure to speak may cause harm to yourself or your team."
"Yes, Sir."
Instructor Bane's hand gestured back to the map once again. "As you can also see, the areas where we expect a large number of forces are evenly divided with areas where there is less. Squad A's primary objective is to neutralize this team here and to ensure that no messages reach or leave from this area."
This was stated as Bane seemingly erased the rest of the 'dots' to only show one of the smaller sections.
"Your job is the protection of the larger group of SeeDs that are now infiltrating the cave and are, with assistance from Dollet soldiers, surrounding the larger groups. Your mission is to cut off the flow of information between this group and the ones here. In a sense, cut off their connection to each other. This must be done in secret. We cannot allow the enemies to get a sense of our numbers or our locations. Avoid confrontation when possible.
"The purple points represent yourselves in this venture. This one in particular…" Bane continued as, all but one of the purple points showed through on the map. "Represents your squad…"
Kohana could see that her squad's final location would be just to the left of one of the small green dots, representing the runners of the unknown army. She assumed that they would be expected to watch that group carefully.
"The larger lighter coloured green is the enemy and their expected locations due to the most recent transmissions from our personnel, and the red is the joined forces of Dollet dukedom troops and our SeeDs moving to surround them. This is for information only, so you can get a picture of what is occurring around you."
The map grew in size until only an image of one opening could be seen in the mountain wall. "This is where you will be expected to enter from. The Squad leader will be given two locator devices, so that he can guide your team to where the enemy army is holding. The other Squads participating in this exam each have their own section to watch over. Failure of one group could cause the whole attack to fail. Once the entire army is cut off from one another, the real attack begins and you are to withdraw." Bane continued.
"The order to withdraw takes precedence over any other order, and if you do not reach the rendezvous point in time, you will be left behind. You have proven yourselves worthy to take place in this SeeD exam and we place our trust in you."
"Sir, yes Sir." Kayden, Ryu, Suzu and herself all chorused together before snapping into an equally quick SeeD salute.
He nodded once and returned to his spot at the head of the room.
'Well….at least we know what we're getting in to…' Kaidia mused to herself slowly. 'So we just have to keep an eye on the messengers and ensure that no message is delivered or leaves that section. And once the final attack occurs, we withdraw. They've placed too much responsibility on us. This goes against the SeeD Manual. Knowing somehow doesn't help…'
She was still nervous about what was to occur. The cadet squads had a large responsibility placed on them and she was now hoping that her Instructor's words were true; that whoever passed the first and second exam deserved to be in the third and there would not be a weak link. 'I'll have to watch Ryu though….' She decided. 'If anyone is going to panic it'll be him…'
There was no going back, she thought to herself, as the just visible mountains began to loom larger and larger in her window, until they seemed to blot out the sun and hide every comforting thing from view. 'This is where it begins; where my future will be determined whether I'm ready to enter SeeD, or…or repeat the year.'
"Get ready to be deployed." Suzu commanded suddenly. "ETA is three minutes and counting. Head for the entrance immediately, checking for land traps as you go."
"Yes, sir." Kaidia, Kayden and Ryu said as one.
"You ready?" Kayden whispered to her as they gathered themselves to be deployed only steps from the opening of the caves they were stationed in. She ran a hand down the hilt of the weapon she held on her back, checking to see if it was in the correct position to be removed quickly, lest an attack comes. It was a sleek weapon, its lines dancing dangerously in the light of the room they were standing in, and it required a great deal of skill to wield, both in the control of the blade as well as in the trigger that made it such a powerful, but equally dangerous weapon. Hers was the lightest Hyperion model in its first form. It was a good weapon for a cadet about to become a SeeD, basic and easy to use.
Satisfied with her gunblade, she quickly turned her attention to her collection of backup knives that donned almost every possible hidden location that the uniform offered. All were within reach and easy to grab if she needed a quick defence against a surprise attack or a throwing weapon to head off an escaping enemy.
Then, last but not least, the ammunition needed for her gunblade. It was held in a container on her right side hip and easy to reload when necessary. She had trained with reloading her sword for so long, that she could probably do it in her sleep. As in battle, one didn't have much time to be fumbling with bullets and their places and the reloading process had to be quick and without thought behind it. She and Kay had been grilled for years on that alone and were now very proficient at it.
She nodded at Kayden to answer his quiet question, and then turned her attention back to her squad leader.
"Here's the order we are to descend." Suzu continued.
'At least he sounds confident in his role…should be reassuring to Ryu.'
She noted that Kayden had been glancing at the soft spoken blonde for several minutes now…as if her thought had occurred to him as well. It was comforting that someone she knew at least realized the potential situation they had.
"I'm first, next is Ryu…then Kayden and Kaidia take last and flank our backs."
She nodded obediently and slipped into her position next to Kay, behind the other two boys, silently waiting for the hanger door to open and for their charge to the caves.
'That is not the order I would have given…' Kaidia thought to herself. 'It would be better if myself, Kayden or both were behind Suzu. But if both of us were there, then Ryu would be alone…hum…then maybe Kayden ahead of myself…me diagonally behind him, in a triangular formation and Ryu directly across from me. All are protected, and the cover is not too far back. I hope Suzu has realized why Kay and I are with him. We're meant to cover him…but I can't argue, he's my squad leader.'
She suddenly stopped thinking; sensing a gentle intrusion on her mind.
'Bast?'
'You are ready, love.'
And his presence was gone once more.
"Ready your weapons!" Suzu added on. "ETA is 30 seconds!"
She slid her hand to her back and effortlessly drew forth her gunblade. Next to her, and with a heavier model of the Hyperion style gunblade, Kayden held his in a ready stance, preparing, as she was, to charge down the opening ramp and descend into their first real battle. Ahead of her, Ryu tightened his grip on his shotgun, held defensively down towards the ground. Suzu also tightened his grip on his silver shuriken, shifting it to a ready stance.
It seemed that, only a heart beat later, the ship crashed down roughly onto the turf of the battle, and before the bridge completely opened Kaidia found herself charging through the dawning opening of the ship and following the course Suzu led through the shadowed ground and without incident entering the cave.
He paused there for a second to get his barring course correct in whatever device he was holding. She mused to herself that the squad leader should have already known the direction he wished to head in prior to entering the cave, but if she spoke to correct him then it would be noted by those that watched their every movement and word that came from all. 'Big Brother, anyone?' she thought in what was almost amusement.
It wasn't long before Suzu had seemingly picked a route through the confusing maze like tunnels, for he turned back to face the rest.
"Sheathe your weapons." He stated calmly
'He better not've done that to be dramatic!' Kaidia thought as she obeyed his direction. 'We need all the energy we can get as is and running in with weapons drawn and blazing in the sun is definitely not secretive! Why am I stuck with an idiot as a leader?'
Her opinion of Suzu Higa as a cadet was slowly decreasing steadily whenever he opened his mouth to give an order. 'How did he get passed the SeeD exams? Well, he is one of the commander's all time favourites. Kay and myself are favourites too, but we don't fawn over him the way Higa does…that better not be why he's leader! He's already put all of the SeeD's and cadets in danger by his flashy entrance!'
By the flicker that darted across Kay's eyes, he too agreed with her on the issue of the reasonable lack of intelligence of their squad leader. She wondered if he was cursing his bad luck as she had been too, since she made the disturbing realization.
Suzu handed Kayden the second locator device he had been given back on the ship before turning to look within the cave's confines. "We move, following this canyon baring 45 degrees west of our location. Stay in the formation I have previously ordered.' He added.
'He's still not considering the fact that Kay and I are meant to be his backup and Ryu our long range! And that the short range cover should be nearer to the one they are supposed to cover, it's in the SeeD manual... does he expect to take on everything by himself? Suicidal! We should be marking our path too, incase we get lost. He better know how to read a map…'
"Only silent weapons only, no guns, unless necessary. Let's not alert them to our presence."
Finally it seemed to have seeped into their leader's mind that to complete the objective, there could not be any sounds as they approached. 'Only…silent weapons….only? What? Well at least he thought of that…I'm surprised…Maybe he's just adjusting to leadership. I should be less critical until….until something happens.'
"I will not pull a Seifer….I will not pull a Seifer…" Kayden muttered quietly to himself.
Kaidia wondered what he was going on about….
"Move out!" Suzu ordered once more before trekking into the deepening dark of the underground.