Chapter 89

Field Exam

It is not that time of year, Aki thought.

The field exams were usually held after the spring thaw, and it was closer to summer now. In fact, they had already held a few exams before the battles in Galbadia, just not in the conventional way. Loire and the Figaro twins had been assessed by Squall and Xu personally, as Squall had wanted that prodigious trio to be badged as Neo-SeeDs before Galbadia. As Battleship Island had sailed in tandem with White SeeD for the northern Galbadian coast, Squall had done a pseudo-examination, trusting several cadets to work with Neo-SeeD in their home's defence against the Esthari marines, and more assessments had been done at Galbadia City. Those dozen who had both survived and impressed had made Neo-SeeD, while those who survived but failed were now lined up with the rest of the senior cadets for another try.

One reason for this was to replenish numbers. Squall had spent the past two years carefully building Neo-SeeD back to the strength it had been before Timber's annexation, and despite everyone's heroic efforts, they had still felt the losses sustained at Galbadia. Another reason was because this was to be the most critical battle of the war so far. Never before had their enemy been so vulnerable and exposed, except when Zell Dincht had given all to reach Ultimecia on the Alcauld Plains. And with the whole strength of three great armies coming together at Yaulney, Battleship Island would also be committing its entire strength.

The only compromise was to lower the bar for entry by a single year, meaning a hundred and fifty fourteen-year-olds were now eligible to enlist. And why not? Word had spread that Thalassa Dincht had become a White SeeD at fourteen. It was only slightly less humane than a fifteen-year-old being sent to war, and most of them had been nurtured in battlecraft for nearly ten years. Nearly a thousand lionhearted adolescents were arrayed before their Commander, in a neat rectangular formation, arranged by their student numbers.

All in neatly pressed midnight-blue uniform, at odds with their leader's leather-jacketed attire and the swishing blue cloak of Rinoa. At second glance, Aki saw Rinoa had traded her regular jumpsuit for some skin-hugging and almost Esthari-like armour. Completing the transitory image was the intimidating gunblade at Rinoa's back. First Sorceress War veterans would be forgiven for thinking the diabolic weapon was Cid's Twinlance. But no, it was Squall's alternative gunblade, Punishment. Aki looked at Rinoa curiously for a moment, trying to recall when he had ever seen her wield a blade other than those fashioned from air, or the frankly cumbersome Angelwing on her left arm. Then again, she and Squall had spent many years in isolation at the Obel. Was it such a stretch that Squall himself had taught her? Aki averted Rinoa's eyes to the cadets when she returned his stare.

But the cadets were not presently looking at their Commander, nor Rinoa. They were staring wide eyed and in awe at the pairing that had just appeared from around a cabin. Selphie, in her small magnolia dress, anacondaur-skin boots and gunslinger's hat; the gleaming nunchaku at the small of her back that matched her eyes. And Nida, in the Aki clan armour.

His infamy now a fading and unpleasant dream, Aki's son walked proudly, one hand resting on Masamune. He was freshly shaven, and although not visible under the horned helm, his hair had been neatly trimmed too. The armour was noisy even though his son bore it like a second skin, scraping with each movement and wholly unsuitable for covert ops. But Nida would not be approaching quietly. He would be riding at Selphie's side, seeking out that terrible, time-displaced beast that had eviscerated Quistis, and he seemed confident about it. He looked five years younger than he had on the morning of this absolution, the bags under his eyes less noticeable and the eyes themselves no longer filled with sorrow.

Though Nida was not the only person present wearing samurai armour. Instructor Aki was, too. While Rhodry would be heading the Neo-SeeDs on a bold sortie towards East Academy, in the absence of Xu or Quistis, Squall had need of a seasoned and competent battle commander to lead these many cadets. And so, the Blade of the Falling Leaves would be taking to the field for the first time since the Fall of Balamb. It would also be down to Aki to assess everyone, so he had a hefty responsibility for his return to the field.

While Nida wore the Aki clan armour, Aki had been awarded a different set by his closest friend. That of the Kadowaki clan, as their two clans had long been allied throughout all of Sasune's history. The eldest member of that clan, Yuna, was now smiling merrily at Selphie and Nida. She too was dressed for combat, in her old field medic uniform. Her grey hair and lined brow was veiled by a headband, and a katana was at her waist.

Dr Kadowaki's husband, Jin, had been a casualty of the First Sorceress War and she had never remarried. 'It would greatly honour us if you would wear his armour, Aki-san,' she had said. Jin's armour was crafted as well as his own had been, though its colours were in the shades of maple leaf; the helm was rounded rather than with horns, and the shoulder shields were more prominent, longer than Aki's upper arms. There was a dent in the breastplate, speaking of the sniper round that had killed Jin. A waste of a fine samurai and a true friend both, really; if it had happened but two years later into the war, para-magic would have shielded him. And nowadays, modern armour was resistant to all but pulse rounds.

Selphie could not resist the impulse to take a video, stopping to angle her phone so that the shot caught Nida and most of the onlooking cadets.

'Look, Ulti! The Autumn Knight has returned, and he's gonna cut your Obsidian Harbinger into a thousand pieces with Masamune!' she announced, then panned her phone camera before continuing. 'We're all coming for you! Like lokusts, swarming across the plains! Your precious time is ticking, bitch!' None would tell Selphie to pipe down. Not even Squall and Rinoa. When she reached them, Selphie returned Kadowaki's smile, then looked her old medic's uniform up and down. 'Hynedamn! You're gonna be fighting too, Yuna?' she asked.

Kadowaki chuckled, shaking her head. 'I'll only be going as far as the rear,' she clarified. 'Even if I was still capable of swinging a katana, I'm needed to care for the wounded.' Then she sighed. 'To tell the truth, I wished to lay down my blade after Jin's death. Yet it seems fate has always been determined to keep me at war. Or at least very close to it.' She looked up at the night sky. 'Thanks, Cid,' she added quietly.

They all turned as Squall cleared his throat, asking only once for everyone's attention. Unlike Cid, he would not be pausing to ensure everyone was ready, or even if they were all present. Any cadet late to the briefing would receive an instant failure. Same for any not in uniform, which was informally called 'the Seifer rule'.

'So here we have you,' Squall began. 'The lions of Battleship Island gathered before us!'

Squall head moved from left to right. This, Aki knew, would be the limit of his endearment. It would be straight down to business. Squall's first such speech had pre-empted the victory in Balamb Garden's only open battle against Galbadian forces twenty years before, and he had never looked back. After all, why convey something with three sentences if you could do so in one? There was no sugar coating. No calming reassurance that Neo-SeeD would be on hand to succeed if they fail – especially not now, when it was known every last member of Neo-SeeD would be led by Rhodry. The badged Neo-SeeDs were amassed with their moombas further along the deck, more than fifty in all.

The SeeD Commander gestured to a techie beyond them all, and a projector beam hit the bulwark to the right of he and Rinoa. One reason why the briefing had been chosen for the late hour. The image showed a top-down satellite view of the East Academy region. The university city, which had seen human populations since the stone age, was by the meandering Obel River. A gargantuan mass hovering to the town's east was Eden. The shot showed the surrounding plains, which was illuminated with fire, shrouded with smoke and pockmarked more than the Moon's surface. The river took up about a quarter of the image; where it meandered to the north and then to the west, the edge of the Roshfall could be seen.

'All cadets will be placed into predetermined platoons one through twelve, and overall command will go to Instructor Aki, who at long last has returned to the frontline! Instructor Aki himself has participated in more battles than myself, and there is no finer officer. Learn from him. Trust in his judgment. As I will be striking at Ultimecia directly, it will be he who determines whether you make SeeD!'

Squall nodded at him now. Aki took a slow breath and approached. Then Squall and Rinoa both bowed respectfully. 'It's an honour to have you back, Aki-sama,' Squall said quietly, before they both stepped away to join Selphie and Nida.

Even if it was not the exam briefing, Aki naturally commanded enough respect on the Island to sustain silence among the cadets. Not one piped up and as he began to run down a summary of the current battle theatre, adding curving white arrows to the top-down map indicative of troop movements, ongoing offenses and existing salients.

Most relevantly, he highlighted a number of bridges that crossed the Obel River. Two to the east had been retaken by Saronan counter offenses, and more were expected to be back in their hands within the next few hours now that Jericho Vossler had returned to them with Siren. But the bridges to the west of East Academy would be Battleship Island's responsibility. They were to take and hold three, with four platoons dispatched to each one. This would serve the dual purpose of giving them a foothold for Rhodry to lead Neo-SeeD to East Academy and confront the Ist Legion, and also funnel an inevitable Esthari retreat into the Roshfall, where they would be met by many ambushes from the monster coalition force that Raine's squad had travelled with.

'Neo-SeeD are relying on us to hold these positions at all cost!' Aki asserted, looking among the hungry and captivated faces of those eager adolescents. 'Failure is not an option!' he emphasised. There was a few seconds of silence, only broken by the sound of the river against the hull. 'Your platoon will be determined by your student numbers, by multiples of twelve. One and thirteen for Platoon One, two and fourteen for Platoon Two, so on and so forth. Their leaders are pre-selected and will be announced once you are reassembled.'

He then read a list of twelve names who had been preselected to serve as the twelve platoon leaders. answerable only to him. Then he paused.

A few words and a sudden movement from Selphie caught his attention. Nida was recording with her phone, making his armour look like an absurd anachronism as he held it, and Selphie was now walking to Aki's side. The cadets beheld her as she looked them over, eagerly awaiting her words. Despite her short tenure on Battleship Island, the 'Social Media Sorceress' had become something of a celebrity. They were in awe of her.

'You are Battleship Island's young lions; the heroes and heroines of tomorrow!' Selphie told them. 'While our true home may be gone, we will never let Ultimecia end the pride of Garden! The pride of being a SeeD!'