Chapter One :: Call to Arms

[ST]

<sup>Okay, this isn't going to be so much of an actual post as it is going to be me Author-Noting about. Hah.

Basically, this is what has gone down:

This thread starts only four days after the bombing. While many Garden officials have been committed to damage and chaos control, Squall Leonhart and Seifer Almasy have been focusing on an aggressive counterstrike.

Your characters have each been tracked down by SeeDs and issued a letter of personal request from Leonhart himself to attend this meeting in Balamb. It takes place in the conference room of an upscale Balambian hotel. The name of the hotel is the Nobleman, and within the letter your character was given is the address, the meeting time (which is 7:00pm), specifications that it will be in the hotel conference room, and a postscript note entailing that they should bring their weapon along. So they should not have had very much trouble finding the place, and they should know that their vacation is officially over and they are probably going to be getting into something serious pretty soon.

You can start with your character just showing up or your character already being present. Squall and Seifer are not in the conference room yet.

Also, just for your guys' information, the city of Balamb now serves as a place of refuge for the survivors of the bombing. So most Cadets, SeeDs, and Garden officials who didn't die can be found here.</sup>


Happy posting! ^_____^

[ani]

Stardust


Stardust looked down at the glass window from the empty conference room. Balamb city seemed like a place for war refugees now. Most of the cadets, their familiar faces, could be seen hanging out on the streets, or at the base of the hotel. There was a gloomy atmosphere permeating the whole area--including this very room that she was waiting in.

The only question that had been running over and over in her head was:

Who caused this?

"They told me to come here, but is this really the right place?" she grumbled, looking down at the letter in hand. She kicked her duffel bag to the side and sat on the chair, resting her elbow on the huge circular table. Just then, the door swung open and Hadrian came in with his earphones on.

He barely noticed her in the room--either that or he pretended he didn't see her--and just situated himself on the seat nearest to the door, throwing his bag at the empty seat beside him like it was noone's business. Stardust watched him as he slouch, fiddle with his Mp3 player, mesh the buttons in his cellphones over and over again, then a little more fiddling with the Mp3 before he finally looked up reluctantly to say hi.

Her face turned sour.

/Atleast you're in the right place./

[waterlily43]

Jun read and re-read the letter in her hands, the piece of paper fluttering slightly in the wind.

It had only been four days since...it happened. And Jun had been hoping for a chance to ease the damage...anything to help at all. She wanted to keep busy. Then she wouldn't have to think of what had been her home for the past eleven years becoming some ship-wreck at the bottom of the ocean. It was almost surreal to think that just weeks ago she had been on the stage proclaiming world peace and now this...

Whoever did it...must be having some twisted ideas in their brains. Their scars from Adel's battle had only just began to fade and now this? Sick, that's what they were. And Jun wanted nothing more than to set their minds right, even if it meant eradicating them.

She entered the hotel and took the elevator up to the conference room. Upon entering the door she took in the two people who had already arrived, her face still hardened with the fury clinging to her.

"You guys are early." She said with a stiff smile, choosing the seat next to Stardust. "I guess we're more eager to kill those bastards than the others."

[Zacke]

Zacke walked down the corridor of the hotel that would take him to the conference room. His weapon hung around his neck as per usual, and he walked with an easy swagger that suggested he was at relative ease with the whole situation.

He was more than at ease, really. He was eager. He couldn't wait to find out what this whole meeting was about and who else Leonhart had called. A big part of him hoped it would have something to do with the bombing, that he could help the situation somehow. It had only been a few days ago, but ever since then Zacke had been living in a perpetual state of strange guilt. As if by merely living his life he was shirking responsibility or being selfish. Whether he deserved a vacation or not, in the middle of a tragedy like this, he knew he didn't want one. He wanted to be here. He wanted to be involved.

He pushed open the door and stepped into the room, his eyes drifting among the familiar faces. Seeing Stardust didn't thrill him, and he barely even looked at Hadrian; but when he spotted Jun, he felt his mood lift a little. She didn't look very happy, though. Why should she be? he reminded himself. "Hey," he greeted them all casually, walking further into the room. He chose the seat directly across the table from Jun's and sat down mutely.

[raydensharpola]

Rayden strode into the hotel room one hand in his pocket the other fingering his spider pendant. It might've looked like he was trying to draw attention to it but it was just an absent-minded way of occupying his hand while his mind was on somewhere else. The image of the missiles flying over Stella and his head was still fresh in his mind. Too fresh. He needed distraction. Scanned the room for Stella, who would've provided much more than distraction but no such luck.

He gave a limp wave with the spider-fingering hand at all the people present and grabbed the seat next to Hadrian's bag.

"Rather ingenious way of saving a seat for someone else." He said lamely while nodding at the bag, finding the silence a little too uncomfortable. "If only a little obvious."

[Hadrian D'arcell]

LMAO! Hadrian and Rayden are BFF XD
-------------------------------------------------------------------


The boring conference room seemed like a crowded, cheery place when you have a singer screaming at you in your earphones. Hadrian fixed his attention on his cellphone and pressed some keys. He felt unenthused. The main frame that he installed in his quarters was blown away together with Balamb Garden. His former teammate from Trabia was telling him that they were just as shocked as he was when they heard of the bombing. Apparently, she promised to send him his backup files from his old dorm at Trabia.

I have to remodel sh*t again. he thought annoyed and continued texting. He looked up when he felt someone come up behind him. He watched as Rayden's mouth open and close without hearing any word of what he was saying. The blonde settled on the seat beside his bag and said something again. Something he had no idea what. The scratchy song kept on playing.

Pulling off one of the earphones from his ear, he told Rayden, "Hey, long time no see." Even if it was just less than a week. "It wasn't Trabia. Any news from Galbadia?" His girlfriend, Stella, was from Galbadia Garden afterall.

[vanesse]

Vanesse went ahead of her teammates and ran towards the conference room. They were running late. She knew she might have felt a little bitter towards Balamb Garden but now that it was blown to smithereens, it was over. In fact, she felt more sympathetic now that Garden took the trouble of tracking them down and asking them for help.

/Hmph. Now, they come crawling to us./ Paridge indignantly mumbled.

"Sorry we're late!!" Vanesse threw open the conference door expecting to see Commander Leonhart or Seifer Almasy, but...

"Eh?"

There were only four people inside. What a let-down. She blinked. "Or not..." She stood at the doorway as if expecting any one of her teammates to catch up to her and kick her in.

The awkward silence continued. "Uh...hehe, what time is it?" She lurked her gaze for any clock in the room.

[jaimelewis]

Jaime burst into the room a few steps behind Vanesse, her hair in a bit of a mess from trying to run against the wind and Time at the same time.

"You guys I'm sorry about Balamb Garden." She blurted out at all the people present, and it didn't occur to her that it might not be such a good time to mention even the name since the bombing was still fresh on everybody's mind. "All of us Opps will do our best to help! I mean it! And here!"

She dumped a piece of cloth fastened with a ribbon on the middle of the conference table, untying the knot of the ribbon to reveal a small mount of chocolate chip cookies. Yep Jaime was a firm believer of comfort food therapy.

"Cookies fresh from the oven! No I'm not crazy, you'll all feel better after eating it! Trust me!"

[Stella]

Even though it sounded like something out of a cheap romance novel Stella thought their vacation had been magical. That was until those dreaded silver missiles flew over head. For a guilty moment she had hoped they were heading for Galbadia or any place besides Balamb Garden. But no they had been headed for the place she now called home. They had each received a letter cutting their vacation short. It had been an easy decision to split up for the time before the meeting, they both had plenty of things to do.

First she had gone to a weapons dealer in Deling City and had gotten tons of ammo refined for whatever was ahead. Stella had a feeling she would need it. Her guns had been dismantled and polished to a mirror shine. She had even taken the time to upgrade them with a ring hammer for faster firing action. There was no way she was taking any chances.

Her new battle gear fit her to a tee and she cut a rather impressive figure as she strode into the Nobleman heading for the near by conference room. She pushed the door open and stepped into the room taking a look around. Of course the rest of the team would be gathering there, it looked as if they were going to be called upon by the garden once again.

Stella gave Rayden a little smile and then walked down to the end of the table and leaned casually agaisnt the wall. Her gaze landed on the small stack of cookies on the table and she raised an eyebrow.

[Diego Stanton]

"Hurry UP!!" Blaze gave Deo a hard shove towards the conference room. "I swear, if we're the last ones there..." she warned.

"I'm going as fast as I can" Deo grumbled, as he slowly shuffled towards the meeting.

"You're like an old man!! Pick up your feet when you walk! That's why your shoes are so worn down, and furthermore!--"

Deo blocked out the sound of Blaze's voice and mutely trodded on. It was like now that it was confirmed they were related, Blaze had to 'toughen him up' so she wouldn't be embarassed by him. Whatever, at least she sucked at playing triple triad.

Deo twisted open the knob of the conference room door and peeked inside. As he expected, it was the usual team all standing at least 5 feet apart from each other. Blaze, directly behind him, flung open the door and strode inside, making a loud entrance as usual.

Deo sighed and followed her inside. Finding a comfortable spot on the floor he promptly sat down and began to snooze.

[Myacu]

Leaning against one of the several marble pillars of Nobleman l46obby, Jax sighed and looked down at his watch. His old one, having been cracked, was now replaced with new glimmering one. Pure Estherian silver, was what his sister had said when she bought it for him last month. Hard to believe that only one month ago, they were all on holiday, the defeat of Adel still fresh in their minds as they reveled in the sweet taste of victory. So much has happened since that last night of celebration. The sight of the B. Garden exploding..and then submerging into the sea. Indeed, so much has happened. And yet he was surprised that they hadn't been called to this meeting until now. After waiting around in the dark for four days, the letter sent to their homes, as he assumed the rest of the Trinity Team was coming, was probably the first scrap of information anyone received since the bombing.

"6:56" read his watch.

Frowning, Jax reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the letter sent to the from Commander Leonhart. Yes, he was right. The meeting time was at 7:00 pm.

Look who's making us late now...

Suddenly, he felt a rough tap on his shoulders.

"Come on, let's get moving!"

Smoothing her hair down, Gemma shoved a pair of keys in her brother's pocket before ushering him into the lobby elevator.

"So did you park the car all right? You didn't run anyone over did you?"

-Ping!-

They headed towards the large double-doors where golden sign read, "CONFERENCE ROOM"

"Not today."

As soon as they reached the room, Jax took a one last look at his sister and grimaced. "You sure you want everyone to see you in that brown frock?"

"Shutup." Gemma sighed, and swung the door open.

It wasn't quite what she had expected. She had envisioned herself sitting at a great table with all the military officials and global representatives present, and Commander Leonhart at the head, debriefing his counterattack strategy against the bombers.

She did not expect to only see her fellow Trinity members, scattered across the room, sitting in awkward silence.

It was then she noticed the dark blob next to her foot. Everything was falling back into place.

[Lawric]

Lawric followed his companions down the hallway, trailing along casually a few feet behind Blaze and Deo. Of course Van and Jaime had eagerly bolted ahead of the rest, and were now already entering the room. Jaime with her plate of cookies. Of course.

He didn't intentionally eavesdrop on Deo and Blaze, but the whole conversation was taking place right in front of him, so naturally he heard. He smirked as watched Blaze shove Deo along with great effort, barking at him impatiently the whole time. The fire-breathing elevator dragon -- Deo's sister. It was pretty funny. She had been staying with them during the vacation, and although living with her had been trying at times, it was priceless watching her give Deo hell. She was way worse than Signe could ever even have dreamed to be.

Entering the room brought his attention away from them and back to the matter at hand. He glanced around for a minute, taking note of everyone present and recognizing most of them. For about the twentieth time he wondered why he had been given a letter at all. Was it because they knew he'd want to come, too? Because he did. But why... why would they just assume his capabilities?

In the middle of his thoughts, he spotted Jun sitting at the table near Zacke and the pink-haired girl. The sight of her brought on mixed feelings. He was happy to see her, but at the same time, this wasn't the type of situation he wanted to see her in. She looked upset. He closed the door softly behind him and circled around the quiet room, choosing the free seat at her side and sitting down. He wanted to ask her how she was, or express his condolences regarding what happened to her Garden, or something -- but it didn't seem like now was the time.

So instead, he placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder and smoothly slid it back and forth across her back once, before moving it away.

[junkuroki]

"Jaime with her plate of cookies. Of course"

Hahaha for some reason that cracks me up XD
========

Jun blinked mutely at the little pile of cookies at the middle of the conference table. Deciding that a comment was inappropriate she turned to look at Van instead.

"We appreciate you guys agreeing to help us." She said, her face softening with a smile that was genuine this time. Then silence cloaked over the room again, broken by the entrance of Stella, who was just as quiet. Everyone seemed engrossed in their own thoughts. Jun couldn't wait for the meeting to start. They had been through Adel's battle and all but throw them into a room together and they couldn't do much else than sit around and stare into space. Or fight, but thankfully no fights broke out this time.

Then Deo and Blaze entered the room one close behind the other, flinging the door open. Blaze was being her usual loud self, and Jun swore she could see clouds of sigh coming out from Deo's mouth.


Deo...? And Blaze? She eyed them quizzically. She had no idea they were this close? Friends? Or something more than that? She looked at Hadrian then and at Zacke, raising a quizzical eyebrow at the blonde. More people came in but consumed by her pathalogic nosiness Jun could do nothing more than nod distractedly at them without realising who they were.

It was only when a hand landed on her shoulder that she looked up and registered that one of them was Lawric.

"Hey." She smiled shyly, and waited for him to sit down, then leaned over to whisper into his ear. "Could I ask you something? What's up with Blaze and Deo?"

[Lawric]

"What's up with Blaze and Deo?"

Lawric met eyes with Jun, frowning a little in confusion. He wasn't exactly sure what she was asking. Were they acting strangely? He looked over at Deo, who was sitting down in the corner... asleep. Oh no, The sight distracted him immediately, and he glanced at Jaime and Van to see if either of the girls had even noticed yet. Nope; they hadn't. It would be his problem to deal with. Of course. It wouldn't be good for Deo to be asleep for this meeting. Lawric sighed, fished a tiny tin pack of mints out of his pocket, and threw it at him -- hard. It hit him square in the forehead and the mints spilled in his lap.

"Wake up," he hissed at his friend vehemently, before turning back to Jun and quietly attempting an answer to her question. "Well they just found out they're brother and sister. And I guess they're still trying to figure out how to live with that... ?" he smirked.

[ST]

The door opened once more. Three figures moved into the room, all mute, all moving with a confident purpose. Headmaster Leonhart lead, Commander Almasy followed a step behind, and Reese Amaerick made up the tail, shutting the door behind him. Squall and Seifer moved quickly to the opposite end of the room. Any ongoing conversation silenced in their wake. Reese followed along, his face stony and eyes locked on the space in front of him. He moved to the very back wall and leaned against it, crossing his arms.

Squall and Seifer came to the head of the table opposite Hadrian and remained standing. Leonhart carried with him a briefcase, which he brought up and placed rather loudly down on the table. He cleared his throat and lifted his gaze, glancing around and taking note of their presence for the first time.

"Due to our recent tragedy, you've probably mostly figured out what this meeting must be about. Allow me to confirm; yes, this is a request of service. I will ask that you sacrifice your vacation to take on another high-risk mission. I will ask that you work together, and that you trust people you have no reason to trust. But before I do any of that, I would like to express that you may walk out of this room at any time."

He paused for a moment, waiting for any type of reaction to those words. He didn't expect any of them to actually get up and leave, but he felt the need to leave a window of opportunity for complaint. After a second or two of silence, he continued.

"So with that said, I'll just get right to it... " He unlatched the briefcase and opened it widely, letting the top bang back down against the table. "Commander Almasy and I have been working on a counterstrike since the night of the bombing. With what we have planned here, if we execute this successfully we will not only deal a staggering blow to DotNA, but we will come out of the incident with priceless information to later use against them. We will explain our plan first and address your questions and concerns later, so please hold all of the remarks I know you will be wanting to make.

"There are three branches to this mission, each with a difference set of objectives. You will be split up, but each branch is part of the one central mission. If one group fails, all of you will fail, and you will see why.

"All of you will be going into Timber. The wall is still functional, so it would not be a smart option as far as entrances go. Possible, but unnecessarily risky. What we're going to have you do instead is fly down into the city." Squall glanced at Jax. "Unfortunately, Ridean's Eponine was destroyed under mission-related circumstances, so we are going to replace it for him. The replacement will be a very similar Estharian model -- only this one has a little more power to its engines. You will use this ship for the mission. DotNA has allies in Esthar, and would not suspect an Estharian model ship as readily as they would something more obviously Garden-affiliated. You will, of course, have to make a quick landing. I don't care where you actually land, whether it's a legitimate airpad or someone's big backyard. Just get out of the sky and unnoticeable as quickly as you can.

"From there you will split into your assigned groups. Note that I said 'assigned.' These groups have been put together for specific reasons, and argument regarding our placement will not be tolerated." He paused for a moment, letting that sink in before continuing. "Two groups will be entering the DotNA compound, the other will handle business at the Timber Broadcast Tower. I will explain more on our two compound groups first, and Seifer will follow-up with more information on the third unit.

"Let me start by telling you a little bit about the DotNA compound. There is a rather large building in Timber which poses as the whole of the place, but really it is more for show than function. The true heart of DotNA actually lies beneath the city. This is where real business is conducted, where all of the areas we will need to reach to find what we seek are hidden. I must confess right off the bat that the two groups going down into the compound must, to a rather great extent, rely on Reese Amaerick. We have no way of acquiring maps, so he will stand in for one. A measure of trust will have to be extended here where I realize none is deserved. If you think you can't handle those conditions, please withdraw now.

"This segment of the mission involves Lewis, Artos, Yanagi, D'Arcell, Sanaku, Mercutio, Gemma Ridean, and Sharpola. You eight please pay close attention. You will completely bypass the surface building, and Amaerick will guide you to a more inconspicuous entrance. There is an elevator wired to run down into the compound. It is located within a multi-story hotel within the city. Amaerick claims it is a very secret place of entry, and that only the rank fours and fives even know the activation code for the elevator. It should not only take you down into the compound, but into an area that is not high-traffic as far as DotNA officials go.

"From where you enter, you will slip down the hall and into a standard security room. Here D'Arcell will set up briefly and hack into the compound system, disabling any alarms he can and locking off any and all rooms and corridors where you will not need to travel. This will help buy you time when they inevitably discover you are in there and start searching you out.

"Once this is accomplished, Amaerick will guide you all from this room to the compound mainframe room. There will probably be a struggle reaching the area given its high-security. It is crucial that D'Arcell live, so protect him at all costs. Upon reaching the mainframe, you will split. Amaerick will take Artos, Lewis, and Yanagi with him to the laboratories -- and I will explain why in just a moment. Sanaku, Mercutio, Sharpola, and Gemma Ridean will remain in the mainframe room with D'Arcell.

Squall turned to Hadrian. "D'Arcell, getting you into this particular room will allow you access to DotNA files which would be impossible to acquire anywhere else. This is the core of DotNA's security. The system set up in this room is what runs everything else. It will probably be a tough thing to hack, but if you can do it, you will unlock an invaluable amount of information for us. Your job is to do just that. Lock yourselves in the room and use the scarce time you will have to get as much out of them as you can. I want member profiles, I want location details, I want mission plans -- anything and everything you can dig up and steal, I want you to."

He address the rest of them again. "I will express this once more: It is crucial that D'Arcell live. So much so that you other four will act as his personal bodyguard unit. As soon as you get into the room and hack the system, D'Arcell, I want all entrances to it locked. If you've locked yourselves in, you should have time enough to do what you need to do. Should anything unexpected happen -- and I can only assume something will, it will be up to the other four of you to keep him and his computer intact long enough to get out of the mainframe system and escape the compound.

"As for the other compound group," he glanced between the corresponding members. "As I said, you will be accompanying Amaerick to the DotNA laboratory. We know through cases like Laice and Amaerick that DotNA has perfected a few methods of biological warfare, and they are probably experimenting with a dozen more. The lab is where we can find samples and information regarding as much as we can. Everything they are working on, we need to know about it. Samples are best. Bring back everything you think might have any amount of value.

"Yanagi and Lewis, you have both proven adept in use of restorative magic. You two were especially chosen for this unit in the event that we have hostage SeeD or citizens being toyed with by DotNA's lab techs. I rely on you young ladies to set free and aid any in need that you may come across inside the labs. Hopefully, if things don't get too dicey, Amaerick will also be able to take your group through the containment quarters where prisoners would be kept. This is unlikely since time will be short and right now hostages are not our priority, but if we can manage it, it's something I would like to happen.

"I'm thinking your time will be up before you are really ready for it to be. It won't be long before they catch on to the fact that their compound mainframe has been hacked and their whole security system is being screwed with. Lewis and Mercutio will be outfitted with communication headsets, so there will be some line of communication between your two groups. Hopefully this will help you in synchronizing your escape."

He cleared his throat. "So there are the basic objectives of the groups heading into the compound. No, you will not exactly be busting in there and unloading on everyone in range. While it may seem like you are accomplishing little in the way of physically harming them, the information that will be acquired from this outweighs the small number of lives you would manage to take otherwise. Haste and subterfuge will be the things to keep in mind for this side of the mission, not melee brawl. Nevertheless, I'm positive you will not have to go looking for action to find it. Sooner or later they will catch onto your presence, and the action will have no trouble finding you.

"I believe my explanation is, for the most part, done." Squall looked over at Seifer. "Commander Almasy will explain the other side of things, and then we will take questions and elaborate on the parts that may seem vague."