Chapter 3 - Arguing or Planning

[junkuroki]

GC~

“But ants don’t need oxygen to survive. Covering up their tunnel entrance isn’t going to stop them, they’ll just dig a new one.” Gone blurted out before he realised Reese wasn’t referring to the bugs. He could feel his ears begin to burn, he scratched the back of his neck and grinned goofily. “What I meant was… uh… I meant that… Uh… How come you know so much about DotNA? You… uh… know more than standard intelligence would tell ya.” He finished just asking the first thing he could think of.

“I’m going to go start the Lady up. I’ll start flying towards the Great Salt Lake while you hash out the details.” He said scrambling towards the cockpit. He tripped on his bootlace. “Yeesh, today is not a good day. First my baby is abused, then my cards are swatted about, then I bonk my head, and now I trip! So Stardi- Stardust, how about a kiss for luck?”

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Auria~

"Well lets scamper off to the controls before I have time to answer!" Reese muttered angrily, glaring at Gone's back.

"I'd still like to hear your answer." Zacke stated, crossing his arms. Reese's eyes narrowed slightly. "Look, I've actually only been a SeeD at Garden for maybe a week. I used to live in Esthar. I was invovled in this gang...Mavericks, an anti-DotNA faction. Too small to really make much of a difference in a city as big as Esthar, we took down two or three Squads but pretty soon there were only two of us living." Reese lied.

/You're feeding them the Maverick story?!/ Perish squaeked, with a snicker.

"So, me and my colleage decided to just end the Mavericks, instead of trying to recruit more members." Reese continued, ignoring the kitten in his head. "There's not much you can do with two people."

"But anyway, we were initially anti-DotNA, we fought them, naturally we each knew quite a bit more about some areas of the organization than most tend to. We weren't a rag-tag group of passionate terrorists. We knew our sh!t. We had a few hackers, subterfuge specialists. Mavericks were silent killers." he gave a self-satisfied smirk. "Which would explain why I'm on this particular mission with you happy people, wouldn't it?"

Zacke nodded slowly. "Yeah, well, Tomoe came from Esthar," he turned to her. "Have you ever heard of these Maverick people, Tomoe?"

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Ash~

Blaze listened to Reese's fake story with burning hatred. Her hands were in her pockets and she had practically crushed the eyeliner pencil that Laice had given her into sawdust. People seemed to be believing his story.

Damnit... DAMNIT

"Yeah, well, Tomoe came from Esthar," Zacke said after Reese had finished his story, "Have you ever heard of these Maverick people, Tomoe?"

Blaze released her deathgrip on the pencil and breathed a silent sigh of relief.

Smart move, Zacke.

"Yes, Tomoe... tell us all you know about these Mavericks." She added.

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Ani~

The sullen expression on Stardust's face eased as she listened to what Reese had to say. He was telling them about a secret elevator near Salt Lake. She liked his idea. However, there was only problem, how true was that? She had it with hearsay.

Soon thereafter, Gone barged in saying something about an anthill and questioning Reese's knowledge of DoTNA. She turned to the redhead pilot. His sudden scamper towards the cockpit made him trip over his lace . “Yeesh, today is not a good day. First my baby is abused, then my cards are swatted about, then I bonk my head, and now I trip!"

I can't believe this is our pilot... Stardust gave him a weird look. Diwata chuckled. Her eyebrows met when Gone added, "So Stardi- Stardust, how about a kiss for luck?”

"Shut up. Go kiss yourself," she said, giving him a sour face. "Stupid pilot," she mumbled to herself.

"I'd still like to hear your answer." Zacke stated, crossing his arms, pertaining to Reese. The gothic SeeD reasoned that he was from an anti-DoTNA group that was once called Maverick. "...We knew our sh!t." Reese continued We had a few hackers, subterfuge specialists. Mavericks were silent killers." Reese gave a self-satisfied smirk. "Which would explain why I'm on this particular mission with you happy people, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah, well, Tomoe came from Esthar," Zacke said, and turned to her. "Have you ever heard of these Maverick people, Tomoe?"

"Yes, Tomoe... tell us all you know about these Mavericks." Blaze added.

Mavericks, huh? Stardust's gaze hovered from Reese to Tomoe who was lingering in the corner. She waited for her to reply.

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Auria~

Reese gave a very loud, exhasperated sigh and gestured wildly with his hand to Tomoe. "She wouldn't have heard of us! Are you all deaf?! I said we were silent killers. We were in the middle of Esthar for Hyne's sake! If DotNA didn't even know the name of our group, what makes you think a little city girl will know we even existed?!"

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QuistisTrepe002~

Dan had remained silent throuhgout the entire "let's interrogate Reese" ordeal. With a frown, and a light sigh, he spoke up.

"Listen, all of your ideas are good, you know...But don't force the information out of either Reese or Tomoe," he said quietly, as he placed his hands in his pockets. "The idea with the recruits sounds good, but it's got flaws. For one thing, how suspicious would it be if we all decided as a group, to join Adel's supporters--DotNA.

"It would be much easier, I believe, to traverse into the Salt Lakes on the Lady Luck, yet, again, it's flawed. Adel will probably have lookouts and sentries guarding each entrance to the city, including the back entries of the city.

"As for Erple way, Zacke, is also good, but again, the likelihood of us being able to sneak into the city is very slim."

Dan paused. He knew he was rambling, yet he knew that each plan had slight merrit, yet at the same time, their plans were incredibly flawed.

"I suggest we take a little bit of everyone's plan, and work it to our advantage. This way, everyone is satisfied."

Dan sat down, nursing a headache. All the back and forth nonsense relating to how the hell they were going to get into Esthar was starting to get to him. That, and the fact that he hadn't had much sleep the night before.

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Bunny~

"She wouldn't have heard of us! Are you all deaf?! I said we were silent killers. We were in the middle of Esthar for Hyne's sake! If DotNA didn't even know the name of our group, what makes you think a little city girl will know we even existed?!" Reese sounded different, angry, almost panicky, to Tomoe. She raised her eyes to meet Blaze's.

"Mavericks? I can honestly say I haven't heard of your little anti-faction group." Tomoe shrugged. "I mean, you're right, Amaerick, if my entire family of Defenders knew nothing about your gang, I wouldn't either, being nothing but a little city girl."

Wolfe smirked. "There's no such group, actually."

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Ani~

/He has a point there/ was Diwata's comment about Reese's outburst.

"I suggest we take a little bit of everyone's plan, and work it to our advantage. This way, everyone is satisfied." Stardust heard a part of Dan's babblings.

"Shut up," she said to Dan. Here he was lecturing them about his nonsense when he, himself, didn't have any ideas to share at all. Unfolding her arms, Stardust turned to the others.

"Enough of this Maverick thing," she said, looking at Tome and Wolfe. "I don't know much about it but seeing that you people left Esthar for Balamb Garden clearly says that you don't know much about Esthar anymore. You don't look trusting yourselves." Stardust narrowed her eyes. Reese being in Esthar should probably be enough reason for her to believe that there would be a hidden elevator on the other side of the lake. She couldn't see any reason why he would lie about it, not to mention his knowledge about DotNA. The others in the team were even more suspicious than him.

"I think it's even better if we go inside the city unnoticed without touching any Estharian soldier at all. They shouldn't be underestimated. " She paused. "What I'm saying is...I don't mind finding this hidden elevator." Stardust cast Reese a quick glance before adding, "So, suppose we get inside. We know where the factory is located already so we won't have to worry about finding it. It would be best if we stay low and gather all valid information we can gather regarding the factory before we infiltrate inside. We can plan again after that."

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GC~

“I haven’t scampered off to the controls. I tried too.” He said indignantly.

Gone listened to all the fuss his comment had made. Yeesh, I only said it so people wouldn’t think about my anthills.

“Aw, love, and I was so hoping.” He said dramatically, placing a hand over his heart. “I’m heartbroken.”

He listened, for a change, as people shot idea’s back and forth. He yawned, this wasn’t his thing. He was no good at planning. He was too impulsive for that.

“Look, unless anyone objects. I’m going to start flying the Lady Luck to the Great Salt Lake now. I don’t really care whether or not we kill people or knock them out or send them to the North Pole to work as elves helping Santa with Christmas.” Gone grumbled.

He went into the cockpit, doing a pre-flight, and waiting to take-off.

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Auria~

"There's no such group, actually." Wolfe said with a smirk. Reese's lip curled into a snarl and he took two strides toward Wolfe, grabbing his collar roughly. His breath was ragged and wild, calming just as he heard Stardust's voice from a ways behind him.

"Enough of this Maverick thing," she said, looking at Tomoe and Wolfe. "I don't know much about it but seeing that you people left Esthar for Balamb Garden clearly says that you don't know much about Esthar anymore. You don't look trusting yourselves."

Reese's lips curled into a smirk and he let go of Wolfe, then turned to face started, righting his bowler as her eyes connected with his. Bam. Waverly...

Reese brushed worrying thoughts out of his mind as Stardust continued. "So, suppose we get inside. We know where the factory is located already so we won't have to worry about finding it. It would be best if we stay low and gather all valid information we can gather regarding the factory before we infiltrate inside. We can plan again after that."

"Hah!" Reese said triumphantly. He gestured out to Stardust with his hand. "The voice of reason aboard this airship of small-minded people! I hope you all heard what I just did. It's a miracle, there's one person that doesn't think I'm a big bad undercover DotNA spy sent to infiltrate your team and sabotage your mission!" he let out a bitter laugh.

"Thank you, Stardust." he tipped his bowler.

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DarkBlueHated~

Terry stood back in all the ramblings the group did. He didn't feel the need to put any information out unless directly spoken to and even then he was sure what he would tell them.

Mavericks? Never heard of them...

But that was besides the point. Already they were waisting precious time just trying to make up decisions and quite frankly his near endless patients was running thin.

"Maybe you arre a sspie. Bbut who knowss? I ssuggest we jusst follow Sstardust's plan for now ssince none of uss seems to be able to make a decision." Terry said emotionlessly. His face calm and complacent.

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Spiffy Goddess of Death~

"And you know your way around the labs? You know for a fact that they've changed more than enough for me not to be able to know my way around? I wonder how you know these things, Reese," Xarin sneered, his eyes narrowed. Something didn't sit well with him, and that something had to do with Reese. What right did that human have in telling him what the labs inside of Esthar were like? He'd lived in the damnable places for many years of his life. . . he knew them like the back of his hand. A few minor changes in layout wouldn't hinder him that much, he'd still be able to navigate the cells and labs.

"Nevermind, human. If you do know about the labs, we're in trouble. . . but maybe I'm wrong. Maybe you had the same thing happen to you that I did."

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Seiferfetish~

Gaiea rolled her eyes. They just get more and more childish. "This elevator plan is all well and good but we have to FIND it first, and that will take precious time that we don't have. Plus, it's a rumor. We don't know it exists for sure, and if it doesn't, we'll be wasting even more time looking for it. Not to mention, there's about twenty of us. You think one elevator is going to hold us all? Talk about a perfect trap. One group goes up, gets ambushed, elevator goes down, second group goes up, gets ambushed again. Meaning we all die and Adel wins." She crossed her arms. "I don't think so."

And I don't trust Reese as far as I could throw him. Or Stardust. In fact, I trust probably two people on this mission, besides myself. There's no way on this green earth I'm going with one of his suggestions.

"You two do what you want," Gaiea pointed at Reese and Stardust. "Go hunting for a hidden elevator that may or may not exist. And anyone else who wants to can go with them. But I'm not doing it. At this point, grabbing Estharian soldiers and taking their uniforms seems like the best bet, with the least amount of work. We'll be guaranteed a way in and it's not like it's hard taking them out. Each of us can do it in one hit."

Kyou nodded, and clasped Rika's hand. "I agree with Gaiea. This elevator thing is too risky. We're SeeD and trained to take risks, but only when nothing else is available to us. Why take the risks when there's no need?"

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Bunny~

"I don't know much about it but seeing that you people left Esthar for Balamb Garden clearly says that you don't know much about Esthar anymore. You don't look trusting yourselves."

Wolfe ignored Reese, absently brushing away at his collar, and shot Stardust a glance. If only you knew, ya pink-haired cutie, he thought to himself. Nobody trusts nobody around here....

"Hah!" Reese suddenly said. He gestured towards Stardust, "The voice of reason aboard this airship of small-minded people! I hope you all heard what I just did. It's a miracle, there's one person that doesn't think I'm a big bad undercover DotNA spy sent to infiltrate your team and sabotage your mission!"

"Wouldn't put it past you, you groping b*stard...." Wolfe muttered, inaudible to almost anyone else. Tomoe, who stood quite near him, let out a quick giggle.

A woman, Gaiea Walker, spoke to Stardust and Reese. "You two do what you want. Go hunting for a hidden elevator that may or may not exist. And anyone else who wants to can go with them. But I'm not doing it. At this point, grabbing Estharian soldiers and taking their uniforms seems like the best bet, with the least amount of work. We'll be guaranteed a way in and it's not like it's hard taking them out. Each of us can do it in one hit."

"I agree with Gaiea. This elevator thing is too risky. We're SeeD and trained to take risks, but only when nothing else is available to us. Why take the risks when there's no need?" added a man with catlike eyes.

Wolfe blinked. Wow!! There are competent people on board?!

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Ani~

Stardust’s perfectly sculpted eyebrows shot up at the moment Reese held out a hand to her and said, "The voice of reason aboard this airship of small-minded people!” Her gaze trekked towards the faces of everyone inside the airship then back to Reese as he spoke. “I hope you all heard what I just did. It's a miracle, there's one person that doesn't think I'm a big bad undercover DotNA spy sent to infiltrate your team and sabotage your mission!"

With a tip on his bowler hat, Reese said, “Thank you, Stardust.”

Stardust stared at him. It just hit her. She had never sided with anyone before. Funny, she didn’t find it pathetic at all. It was just that, besides that gothic aura around him, he seemed to stand out among the others. He was different. He couldn’t be that spy.

Pressing her lips over her gums, she nodded at him.

“All right,” Stardust raised her voice. “We don’t have enough time to waste--" Just when she thought that everything was over and done with, Gaiea's voice cut through pointing some bad points about taking the elevator and that she refused to be a part of it. Kyou barged in as well. "I agree with Gaiea. This elevator thing is too risky. We're SeeD and trained to take risks, but only when nothing else is available to us. Why take the risks when there's no need?"

"What are you talking about?" spat Stardust. This was the reason why she never liked these teammates of her. "So you think that a big group in Estharian uniforms coming inside Esthar are not suspicious? These Estharians aren't dumb. We're not doing the 'one at a time' approach like we did back in Deling. We killed time on that one and saving time is what we are after here!"