Chapter 61

Not Belonging

Raine entered the chamber warily, more of it coming into view as she did. It was open, with what she guessed were private chambers curtained off. There were portable kitchen appliances hooked up to a generator, which also fed standing halogen lights in the corner, and a naked bulb dangling over the desk. Argus had his own projector, too, which faced the smoothened wall to Raine's right. His desk was plastic, but with a laminated wood finish.

To Raine's left was a comely blonde attendant, her hair clasped back under a service cap and not far off Raine's own height. She was not slenderly built, but the cut of her khaki uniform made it so, baggy around the cuffs but tight around her curves. Likely the way Argus liked it. Her eyes were wide and captivating, the colour of a rowan at the height of spring. Her blonde hair was unbleached, the colour of sun-dried hay. She smiled unhesitatingly at Raine, who politely returned it.

Argus himself brushed past Raine and took the seat behind the desk, which only looked marginally more comfortable with cushions stapled to the steel. Removing the scabbard from his back, he rested it against the desk, the golden point at its end touching the levelled floor. He sat with his legs far apart, like some men did, leaning back into his chair in a gesture of control and confidence.

'Anything to drink, Mr. President?' the attendant asked slowly and obligingly.

Priz-dent. Her drawl was heavy, Raine noted. Rural. Whenever she had stayed on Quistis and Nida's ranch in her youth, the locals had all spoken like that. There was no telling as to how many had answered Argus' call-to-arms, to bask in glory before returning to a lifetime in the family trade.

'I'm good, Helen,' Argus said. 'How's about you, Lioness?'

Raine was starting to think his constant use of her moniker was facetious, but she did not react, her olive face impassive.

'Coffee? Coke?' Argus winked. 'Bourbon?'

'Just coffee, sir,' Raine replied. 'Black. No sugar.'

She sat on one of the other steel chairs, and they were as cold and rigid as they looked. She adjusted her position awkwardly as Helen placed a steaming filter coffee in front of her. It smelt strong; it was no cheap blend. Raine's felt Helen's gaze linger and returned it.

'If you'll just give us the office, Helen,' Argus said curtly. 'Our Lioness is here for a briefing.'

'Of course, Mr. President!' she said keenly.

Helen gave a close-mouthed smile along with her impeccable salute and turned, Argus gaze lingering on her as she walked away, about halfway up. The two guards had been holding the door open and closed it as soon as she passed through.

'Fell off the turnip truck, that one,' Argus remarked. 'But her soul's as pure as all-git-out. She's got a lifetime of service ahead of her, if she wants it!'

Raine remained silent, observing the desk as she sipped at the coffee. As a sign of Helen's competence, it was the ideal temperature for drinking. There was another map of the western continent unfolded before her, this one marked with several Tawlbwrdd pieces. Likely, the anacondaurs represented the Saronan forces, with a single blue dragon representing the Dragoons. The blue was placed in front of a Timberian town called Oak. Alexander was floating in the Central Ocean, at the edge of the map. Rather than symbolise a single individual in Mitsuhide Akechi, Alexander was probably a theoretical unit of Paladins, which would not exist by the time of the next battle.

'So, Lioness, how familiar are you with the new border agreements?' Argus asked expectantly.

'I know the fundamentals, sir,' she said. Then, to remind Argus of those closest to her, she said, 'Aunt Rinoa and Uncle Squall were there when you made the demands.'

'These are the new continental maps,' he said after a moment, gesturing to the large one over the wall, as well. 'Representing New Sarona as she stands today. Though I wanna draw your attention to the Timber-Sarona border.'

Rather than place one of his stubby fingers on the map, he took a stylus from a pot on the desk. Basics of orienteering; this was so there would be no ambiguity as to where he was pointing.

'Here's the new border,' he said, running the stylus from the eastern coast, across the northern reaches of Roshfall Forest, through to where Yaulney Forest had stood. Then he traced the mesa in a curve, all the way around the southern edge of the Monterosa, stopping at Locomota. With the trilateral agreement, Argus had doubled the size of his country without deploying a single soldier, and he had the strength to defend it.

'The Monterosa is gonna take a lifetime to develop, but I've already issued several five-year-plans, fed by profits from our heavy industry and the Sarona park, given right back to the country! The old duchy was known for its fat cats, and wealth disproportion is one of the things I swore I'd nip in the bud. By the end of the century, the Monterosa's gonna be a thriving region, built on it its natural resources, attracting hard-working hands from the Kakashbald to the Tollet Peninsular!' It was a direct recital of one of the speeches she had seen on western news. 'The Timberian soil we've gained is already good land,' he continued, unscripted words now. 'Some of the finest on the continent. The problem is, Esthar still has it. This is where you come in, Lioness.'

He took a chrome tin from breast pocket, with an uncoiling anacondaur engraved onto it. He took out a fat cigar, cutting it. The only time Raine had tried one of those had been during a night of underage drinking, and it had sent the room spinning when she had stupidly inhaled. Argus put in his goateed mouth. When he lit it, the grey smoke trailed everywhere due to lack of ventilation. Raine did not appreciate the smell.

'When we got part of the Roshfall,' Argus began, 'we also inherited a number of its wild moogles. Now, the Timberian freedom fighters have been known to junction with moogles before. Kind of like one does with a GF, I guess. It made 'em thorns in the side of both the Galbadians and the Esthari. Just one of those foresters could take down a GIM, a Magitek or Lunarian singlehandedly.'

Suddenly, Raine believed she knew where Argus was going with this.

'You're junctioned with the daddy moogle, ain't you?' he asked expectantly.

'The Quicksilver Moogle, yes,' she asserted.

'So the rest of the moogles will answer to your call?' he asked. 'Even the ones over the new border?'

'I,' she hesitated, 'don't know, sir.'

Mog's high voice filled her mind. They will, kupo!

Sweet Shiva! she thought.

Although Mog was a demi-GF, that was a power she had never even thought about using, would never even dream of using for personal gain. Though Argus was plainly expecting her to, to give him a big advantage and one-up the rest of the Allies when they marched. The first strike would likely come from the Saronans, too. Worse, he was hinting of violating the newfound border with Francesca DiMarco, by forcing moogles on Timber's side of the forest answer their overlord's call. DiMarco would take her old seat at Timber City and find one of her nations greatest assets was in Argus' grasp.

No, Raine reassured herself. It will be okay. Aunt Rinoa has been friends with President DiMarco since before I was born. There's no way she would let Argus threaten Timber!

Likely, Argus saw the moogles as subhuman, rather than sentient. Crossbreeds of pigs and cats; even if they were capable of speech and flight, he would not differentiate between them and the wild cockratices they shared the forests with. He would see them as tools to provide the Dragoons, and later the Paladins, with super soldiers. Conversely, the moogles would see Argus as a tribal chief, even if Sarona was a very large and modernised tribe. Moogles had lived on the Forested Plains long before humans reached the western continent, and if someone with Argus' aggressive rhetoric thought the moogles would respect lines on a piece of paper, then they were sadly mistaken.

While Raine had been thinking, her eyes shifted from the desk, Argus had placed five moogle pieces on the south side of Oak. With one movement, his hand swept them towards the blue dragon, on top of Oak's printed name. His loud, overbearing voice brought Raine back to her charge.

'I've already got it squared with your uncle and the Galbadians. Sarona is launching the next offensive against the Empire!' His beady eyes did not leave her. 'Oak is mine, and it's gonna be the first settlement to fall. I want you to go behind enemy lines, gather as many moogles as you can, then rendezvous with the Dragoons and lead them to victory!'

Raine said nothing.

'That okay, Lioness?' he pressed.

Her voice was flat. 'Who will I be going with, sir?'

'Well, I was gonna let you one-gun it!'

She stared at him. 'Alone, sir?'

'Hey, you're an elite, you've got a GFs power, and you've been to the Roshfall before, ain't you? You musta done, to be junctioned with the daddy moogle! I need the prince and the princess here.' She scowled openly at his derogatory reference to Zhang. 'There ain't much time before we march, and I need 'em to learn how to fight with the Dragoons real quick. Lioness, you're not gonna need anyone else to run circles around the Roshfall. The moogles'll come to you, right?'

Raine guessed so. Though the last time she had been behind enemy lines in Timber, Rinoa and Xu had been with her. She would be horribly exposed, though, and all of Ultimecia's magicite holders were likely gathered in Sequoia right now. Mog himself would be in great danger if she were discovered.

Moreover, for herself to be… well, used. To be deployed behind enemy lines alone, to be utilised as such a powerful conduit furthered Raine's doubts that she was cut-out to be in a mercenary organisation. Her father had never been a SeeD, though had been willing to lend Quetzalcoatl to the Allies. Raijin had fought for a just cause, as a freerider.

It was past time for Raine to do the same. She decided that this would be her last mission for Neo-SeeD. Never again would she find herself as a puppet of power-hungry individuals, to be expected to use her GF strength to suit their posturing. For the remainder of the war, Raine would seek board with White SeeD. Thalassa called the shots there now, and would never allow Raine to be deployed in a way she did not agree with. White SeeD were never desperate for funds, as living off the land was a way of life for them. Besides, the rest of Raine's family was there, along with Aunt Fujin. She had seen Raiden rarely since leaving Winhill, and Edea had been in kindergarten when her elder siblings had left home; Edea would be delighted to have Sis around permanently, too.

'Hey,' Argus said suddenly. 'I can't spare you any elites, Lioness. But if you don't wanna go solo, I got an endless list of young, single grunts that would be thrilled to keep you company!'

Raine shook her head.

'No, thank you. Is that all, sir?' she asked resignedly, eager to get out of there. She simply found his presence unpleasant and obtrusive, and the passive smoke from his cigar was getting to her brain.

'Pretty much,' Argus said. He made a floating ring with an exhalation, his chair creaking as he leaned even further back. 'You'll leave at first light. Baldur will see you to the edge of the forest.' Raine stood and turned to leave. 'It's good to have you back, Lioness!' Argus called after her, not passing up the rear-view of her shorts as she walked briskly out. 'Feeling is swell and solid through the whole mesa, the eve before battle!'

Raine and the others spent the day going through battle drills with the Dragoons. With the new regiment being twenty-eight in total, with two accompanying Jericho to Centra, they were split into seven squads of four, with the aim of taking it up to ten before the invasion. Although Baldur dreamed of becoming a Paladin one day, he was seconded to the Dragoons; with the addition of Raine's team, that would give them an eighth squad. However, Raine voiced misgivings to Aranea that hastily assembling a crack unit for the sake of pleasing Argus was unwise, that she should seek to solidify the lancers she already had.

'SeeD exams are held once a year,' Raine told her. 'And the most that were ever badged the same year was six. Cid, Xu, and Uncle Squall never once dropped standards. Not even after Garden's fall.'

'Too right,' Zhang voiced. 'Muqīn was among the first class of SeeDs. Considering some who were killed in action, it took until the year Commander Leonhart got badged for SeeD to become the size of a platoon. Our mèimei is with White SeeD, and it's the same with them; took them thirteen years to get the fighting force they've got now.'

'Not that SeeD has ever been deployed as a platoon,' Liu pointed out. 'Except for when Balamb and Timber fell to the Empire. But they were the largest battles for decades.'

'We always work best in smaller teams,' Zhang continued, 'balanced out by magical specialties. Those of us with GFs are often hired to singly head a large number of troops in big skirmishes, too.'

That was another potential problem, Raine had realised. About the magic. Many of the lancers had been selected because they were proficient with the fire and wind elements. She had seen very little of any other spells, and few healers. Argus' eventual intention was for the white magic of the Paladins to account for this, but the Paladins had not been formed yet. And while some of the Dragoons were cut from the same cloth as herself, such as Aranea, several of them were lacking in confidence and temperament, and would have had trouble contending with a senior SeeD cadet. Simply put, the Dragoons were not ready to rival SeeD or Garland, and were buckling under pressure.

'I'll take it all under advisement,' Aranea said. 'Hopefully, so will the President. But there's not much time left,' she mentioned, then muttered, 'and both mine and General Vossler's hands are tied!'

Retiring to the mess hall for dinner, the Neo-SeeDs were joined by Aranea and Baldur. Raine had been surprised to learn that the two of them were engaged. As it happened, Baldur was one of those overly touchy and affable guys, and Raine had mistook friendliness for flirtation. As soon as Liu found out, he was instantly less standoffish. Baldur had heard about Liu's expertise with Triple Triad, not to mention his foray into Daryl's private room at the Shining Bomber during the Revolution, and the two had been locked in a fierce series of card battles for the past half-hour.

Aranea was quite humble, though not outspoken. Fame did not seem to alter the captain among her own soldiers other than to embolden their respect of her. She was technically below her fiancé, and did not presume to act any higher than her official position within the military. After the success of A Dragoon's Fate, Aranea would now find it difficult to enjoy the same normalcy in public, but was enjoying life as a soldier again. A soldier soon to be wed.

For the first time, they saw the hulking Sanakht with the rest of his regiment, relieved from guard duty. He was only slightly smaller than his raucous brothers. He spoke minimally, and kept his face neutral, fixing those empty eyes on his food. Sanakht's brothers were friendly enough, though Raine could only handle personalities like theirs in small doses. Sanakht paid them little mind as one nudged him, while the other made gestures towards some of the prettier servicewomen in the regular army. The three had only traces of Kakashbaldi accents, and wore the thinly braided hair of their ancestors' tribe, which went down to the elbows of one of them. The fashion reminded Raine of Ptolemy, of White SeeD, who she was saddened to learn had died liberating Centra.

'I know how it feels to have one brother like that,' Liu remarked. 'If I had two, I'd be volunteering for solitary guard duty all the time.'

'What's that supposed to mean!' Zhang demanded.

While Aranea argued with Zhang on a particular point of Saronan history, about how much the people of Old Sarona benefited from being absolved into the Holy Dollet Empire, Raine's eyes wandered and located Helen among the regular army. Her eyes had settled on that naturally blonde hair for barely a second before Helen's head whipped round, looking directly at Raine. Startled, Raine's pretended to be sweeping the whole hall, looking to the far end before looking back the other way.

There's something off about her aura, kupo! Mog said suddenly. I wanted to tell you before, but didn't want to distract you in front of Argus.

Raine resisted the temptation to look at Helen again, who had finally gone back to her geezard steak.

Off, how? she asked. You mean she's not as uncultured as she comes off?

It's like… a reflection of normal, kupo. Though there are occasional flickers of… something else. I'm not sure, kupo!

Raine was confused. GFs could see through duplicity clear as day; black and white, there was no grey areas. If Helen were an Esthari spy, Mog should have known it in an instant.

A monster, then? Raine thought. Masquerading as a human, like the elnoyles and gerogeros can?

No, Mog said certainly. We can always see through that, kupo.

'Aranea, how long has Helen been attending Argus?' Raine asked suddenly.

When Aranea looked, Helen did not return it, which Raine found equally unsettling. It was as though that eye contact had been meant for her.

'Is that the girl's name?' she said, then looked thoughtful. 'A week, maybe?' She shrugged. 'The President's divorced. He seems to have a fresh barn girl pouring his coffee every few days. They're not exactly in short supply, with the call-up.'

'He's not the most cautious head of state, then,' Zhang commented, with his mouth full. 'In Galbadia, secretaries would be vetted about ten times before they got into the room next to the President!'

'Why do you ask, Raine?' Aranea wondered.

'Mog thought something was odd about her aura, is all,' she responded. 'Just not an obvious threat. Does Sacred see anything?' she asked Zhang.

'Sacred?' he scoffed. 'You kidding? Minotaur is the perceptive one!'

Raine was still so unsettled she could not bring herself to look at Helen again, keeping her blonde head in her peripheral vision. As Aranea and Zhang resumed the historical debate, Raine's mind returned to her upcoming mission. Her final mission. Before long, before she had realised it, Helen had gone from the hall.

Raine would start at Squall and Rinoa's old abode, not far from where she and Mog had met. The cottage was being cared for by moogles, some of which Raine remembered by name, and who had known her face since childhood. About a dozen of them lived there, and it was as good a place to start as any. From there, she would make her way back north. She would not be at threat from ochus or wendigos as long as the moogles were with her, and Mog assured her there were no less than a hundred adult moogles between the Obel and Oak.

Only when Baldur had squandered all his best cards did the five of them join the rest of the Saronans for the showing of a patriotic movie, which included two complimentary and refreshing beers from the nearest brewery.

Lights out was at 2200, which suited the SeeDs just fine, as they had been up at 0500 sharp after the Festival. The twins would be bunking with the rest of the Dragoons. Aranea and Baldur had their own room, but Baldur kindly offered his place to Raine, separating the bed so that Raine could get some decent shuteye before tomorrow's journey, away from the unpleasant snoring and odours that bunking with two dozen male soldiers would bring. Clearly, Argus did not think Raine would be returning, and had not provisioned for her single night properly.

When Aranea put an antique oil lamp out, Raine looked up into the pitch blackness.

'You don't snore, do you?' Aranea asked her.

'Liu tells me I do,' she replied coyly. 'But I think he's winding me up!'

'I'll let you know if you do!' Aranea said. 'Good night, Raine.'

'Sweet dreams,' Raine returned, echoing her mother.

Then, silence. For about five minutes, until Aranea's own snoring started bouncing off the cavern walls. Raine kept her arms above the sheets, the only light her eyes could adjust to now coming from her smartwatch.

Her mission pervaded her thoughts again, and she felt depressed. Bunks or not, she was going to be alone for an indeterminable amount of time, and just wanted to cuddle Liu all night. The Dragoons were looking to her, and Aranea herself had shown her reverence. Though who was she to set an example to them, to help meld them into a force to be proud of, when she was losing her heart for being a SeeD?