Secrets Best Kept Safe

"And he's sure?"

"He wouldn't make a mistake with something like this."

Hope and Amodar were conversing in the latter's private office. Hope had requested the meeting to discuss a particularly concerning call he'd received a few minutes prior.

"Alright," Amodar sat back in his large office chair, rubbing his chin in though, "So? What is it you suggest we do?" Hope didn't answer immediately. The call hadn't actually been for him. Snow had tried to contact Lightning but she hadn't been answering her comm. Once Snow decided to try and reach Hope, the First Lieutenant found himself relieved that Snow hadn't been able to reach Lightning. The incident at Baseline that morning had stressed Lightning out worse than he'd anticipated.

"I've already explained it to Snow but I think it's best Sergeant Major Farron doesn't know about this." Amodar's eyebrows shot up in mild surprise.

"Farron? Her stress-levels have been through the roof since this morning," The older man recalled, "If this has anything to do with what happened at Baseline-"

"It's a big 'if', Councilman." Hope interrupted, "I only barely managed to get her to return to training—she'd skipped the morning session, trying to investigate the incident herself."

"Barely managed?" Amodar quoted, "Something tells me I should feel sorry for the recruits." Hope didn't disagree.

"Honestly? As much as I trust Snow, it's still possible he's wrong—this could be nothing. I understand it's a lead but Lightning has already been assigned responsibilities and really shouldn't have to deal with the added stress."

"So what about the crystals?"

"I can go and meet with with Snow. I can investigate the scene quickly and quietly—Light doesn't have to know." Amodar sat silently, continuing to stroke his chin in contemplation.

"And if Villers is right?" Hope didn't answer the question. He'd asked it a dozen times himself but still hadn't formulated an answer. There was silence for another long moment before Amodar sighed and stood from his chair, adjusting his Council robe, "Alright. Head to Oerba Neo, find out what you can about the crystals, report directly back to me." Hope nodded and gave a formal salute, "I hope you understand what you're getting us into, Estheim." Amodar added, as Hope moved to leave the office.

"Don't worry councilman, whatever comes of this, just try to make sure word doesn't get out—especially to the Sergeant Major."

"You misunderstand me First Lieutenant," Amodar stopped him again as he moved to look out the window behind his desk, "Keeping this from Farron is what worries me the most." With a knowing chuckle, Hope save another salute before leaving the room.

Checking the time—4:50pm—he decided he'd make his way to Oerba Neo by nightfall, spend the morning investigating the scene Snow had been talking about, then hopefully return to CRYSIS HQ before lunch the next day. Turning a corner he ran into another officer.

"Sorry, I-" He turned but stopped when he caught a glimpse of pink.

"My fault, I apologize-"

"Light." Hope said as the other officer had already turned to walk away, "Er, Sergeant Major-"

"Hope." Lightning realized who it was she'd bumped into and had decided to stop to talk, "Sorry, I was just... heading to see Amodar."

"Oh? What's up?" Hope asked, noticing a clear expression of concern on her face. He knew she had been stressed when he'd dropped her off at the training field after lunch but this was different. Something had happened during training, "Light?"

"No, I just wanted to talk to him about weapons training." Weapons training? "For the recruits." Hope raised an eyebrow. It was general routine that most recruits at CRYSIS Corps. began basic weapons training halfway through their first year but he knew Lightning's training style. She put a strong—almost unnecessarily strong—emphasis on learning not to rely on weapons. He honestly thought she'd have waited until the next training year until even thinking of putting weapons in their hands.

"Weapons training. Alright, but since when do you need to talk to Amodar about weapons training? Any training officer is cleared to allocate weapons to recruits-"

"I know Hope, I've read the manual." Lightning interrupted, irritation lacing her voice. Hope decided to back off. He opened his mouth to change the subject but Lightning spoke again, first, "I wanted to talk to him about T-FA training."

"T-FA?" Hope was now officially confused, "Lightning, they're first-year recruits—you don't put first year recruits through T-FA training-"

"Again, am aware of that Hope." Lightning once again, interrupted, "If they're as good as Council claims, they should be able to handle it." Hope's jaw tightened slightly. He saw her point and he'd taken a brief look into the recruits in her class—they did have some impressive potential. But weapons training was one thing, T-FA training was something else altogether.

T-FA training involved the use of Tri-Fold Armament devices. The CRYSIS Corps. had begun research and manufacturing of said devices almost 4 years ago; and it was only even more recently that they'd begun developing training for them.

The basic principle behind the T-FA devices were based on the Guardian Corps. gunblades that—even then—were assigned to only the best of the best. This, along with modified Crystal-Force (a replacement for the now-unavailable manadrives used on Cocoon) resulted in a specialized CF gauntlet paired with a weapon bearing two forms: a firearm and a blade.

The only type of T-FA device that had been declared authorized to use in T-FA training was the Switchblade—a pistol that folded out into a short blade. Even so, the advanced training wasn't open to recruits, only to ranked officers. And even then, only a 3rd of the trainees managed to adequately control the device. Hope could probably count the officers who had fully mastered a T-FA device on one hand—Lightning being one of them.

To put recruits, who hadn't even started basic weapons training, through T-FA training was a level of reckless he hadn't seen Lightning display in a long time. Again, Hope came to a conclusion that this had little to do with the incident at Baseline in the morning. His thoughts jumped to her afternoon training session.

"Light, is this about DeFluo?"

"No! Yes! Not...completely." Came a jumbled answer. The tensing of Lightning's shoulders however, told Hope that it was, "They're soft but the council wasn't lying when they said the recruits were skilled. Yes, T-FA training is significantly different from basic weapons training; but it's because it's so different that makes the T-FA devices so difficult to master." Lightning began to explain, "If these recruits start with T-FA training, they won't have the basic weapons training drilled into their minds to distract them." Hope processed the theory carefully and eventually decided it did make sense.

"Alright, but how does DeFluo factor this?" He didn't get an answer for a long moment. Lightning ran a hand through her hair, sighing as if struggling with an explanation. Eventually, she dropped her hand and met his gaze again.

"She wielded it perfectly." Came a statement that confused Hope at first. He then noticed her hand resting on the handle of her gunblade, "I challenged her to one-on-one combat, she not only managed to swipe my weapon but she folded it out to blade-mode flawlessly, like it was second nature to her." Hope studied the Sergeant Major's face. He couldn't quite read the expression on it.

"It couldn't have been a lucky fluke?"

"I know this gunblade like the back of my hand," Lightning stated solemnly, "Blade-mode is mode two. You have to go through gun-mode to get to blade-mode. That's two maneuvers that even some of the best weapons specialists at CRYSIS can't do without cutting themselves or shooting themselves in the foot." Hope found a lump form in his throat that he forced away with a swallow.

"So... you want DeFluo to participate in the T-FA training as well?"

"I want her to test the A-L prototype."

"What?" Hope found himself nearly yell his response. He cleared his throat but failed to completely calm himself, "Lightning, that's insane! The A-L prototype is still being developed! You, yourself said it wasn't ready and refused to participate in any of the initial tests!"

"I already have my gunblade, I don't need a different weapon."

"That's not the point, Lightning!" Hope forced her to meet his eyes, placing a firm hand on her shoulder, "I understand how you feel about the recruits and T-FA training; and I understand how you feel about DeFluo-"

"Do you?" The pinkette shot back, hotly. Hope found himself unable to answer honestly without eating his last statement. He sighed heavily, recognizing the look in her eye and the tone of her voice. Swallowing thickly, he backed off.

"You're more than just a fellow officer to me Lightning, we're friends—family even." Hope paused, careful to choose his words carefully, "Whatever you decided to do, I trust in your judgment. Just... be careful." The pinkette seemed to think on his words for a few long moments.

"I'm a big girl Hope," the Sergeant Major assured him, giving him a small smile and a pat on his arm, "I can take care of myself." Though not full convinced, Hope wasn't lying when he said he trusted in her judgment. He decided to leave it at that.

"Alright." He said with a nod and smile, "I was just with the Councilman actually," The First Lieutenant motioned down the hall he'd come from, "he should still be in his office."

"Oh? Thanks," Lightning began to walk away but stopped, turning to look back at Hope, "What did you need to see Amodar for?"

Another lump formed in Hope's throat. His brain began to freeze up, struggling to provide a plausible... alternative to the truth as a response. This was bad, he thought; all topics of T-FA training, recruits, Lance Corporals and weapon prototypes forced from his mind.

A/N:

Something tells me this chapter ran away from me...
...just a feeling.