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Bored. It was never a fun time when Relena was on stand-by, there was just absolutely nothing to do around this place. The office was always dreary. Nothing but scientists running around for their experiments and lower class SOLDIER operatives hanging around in their very ugly uniforms. Who designed those things anyway? Relena cringed as she thought back to when she had been ranked third and second class and was forced to wear those horrid things. She had hated it. So relieved she was when she was had reached first class, and the special treatment they received including wearing whatever they want, she almost did a dance. Her new 'uniform' was something that was much more pleasing to the eye and was much more proper for someone of her standing. She had respected her position as a member of SOLDIER though, and their symbol was emblazoned on her arms.
That was what Relena wore now, as she sat in the Materia room, watching the researchers go about their business. Well, not really watching them. She couldn't care less what they were up too. She sat in a chair at an abandoned desk, her head resting in her hand. The scientists ignored her as they went about their jobs, and she ignored them as she went about her nothing. Her free hand was rolling a materia back and forth along the table. There was nothing for her to do. She could go down to the city, sure, but she wasn't very fond of the place. Midgar was... dirty. Polluted. It smelled out there and everything was dark. The people were grouchy and disgusting. And this was only on the plate. Things were even worse in the slums. It made Relena miss Alexandria terribly. The city was so bright and cheerful. And, despite it's vastly inferior technology, was much cleaner. There was music on the streets, children running around playing, shops selling fresh fruits. The overall atmosphere was immaculate and millions of times better then Midgar.
Fed up with the boredom, Relena grabbed a materia fusion tool, placed the materia she was playing with and another from the table inside, and activated it. The device lit up and the two orbs 'melted' for lack of a better term, and converged on the center where a new materia was formed. Relena hadn't bothered to check what the different materia had been and didn't really care in the slightest. She had just wanted something to do. She removed the new materia and looked at it with a smirk.
"Hey! What are you doing, we need those for our research!" came an angry voice from behind Relena. The blonde turned her sapphire eyes around to the source of the voice and lifted an eyebrow. The angry man started a bit when he saw her face, obviously just cluing in to who he was yelling at. Relena stood up and tossed the new materia at him.
"Whatever." she muttered as she walked out of the room. Once the door slid shut behind her, she glanced around the hallways. She could go to the training room, but that was where she usually ended up. Those programs were good for keeping her skills sharp, but they were same old, same old. Relena wanted something new to do. She let out a sigh, and walked over to the window. The view was nice, but it was still dark and gloomy. Yet another sigh escaped Relena's pretty pink lips, though this one was more agitated. She really needed something to do.
There was to be a mission, and apparantly he was going to be taking part in it as well. Sephiroth had been slightly insulted by the fact Shinra were sending him along with another member of Soldier. He just hoped they didn't get in his way. Or slow him down. That was sometimes the annoyance of working in a team. Usually he liked to head up the field, charge ahead. Not because of some wreckless abandon, but because he knew if he stuck in a team there would be more mistakes made. More issues. More problems to deal with. When he fought. He fought to win. To get the mission over and done with as quickly as possible.
That fact had been particularly true as of late. His performance had gotten sloppy. Although he'd never admit it.
The way he had fought in the war, in comparision to the way he usually did was unforgivable. To think Shinra had lost two battles both with him leading. It had damaged his reputation as the strongest warrior on Gaia. Yet, he was still a legend amongst Soldier. Perhaps this mission would give him a chance to redeem himself slightly in his own eyes. He didn't much care for what others thought of him. But what he thought of himself...now that was a different story.
In a way his ego was like a jumping platform for his ability. One had been damaged and so the other had suffered.
It seemed that he would need to sharpen the sword, and hone his skills if he was going to be pleased with himself once more. He arrived in the elevator and had been stalking the soldier corridors looking for the person he was supposed to go on this mission with. He'd read up on her file. She wasn't born in Midgar, which made her a bit of an irregularity when it came to Soldier members.
None the less, if she did her job well thats all that mattered. And her track record seemed to be clean. So he didn't think he would have too many issues.
There seemed to be a bit of a disaster coming from the materia room. His head whipped around and out waltzed a woman, he identified her from the photo in her file. " Relena right?....Top brass have a mission for us...we've to report to the briefing room....". With that he walked off towards the room.He wasn't much for chit chat.
Relena heard her name being spoken and twisted around to find the source of the deep voice that had spoken it. Her eyes widened slightly as she found the man who was talking to her. Sephiroth. Hero of Shinra and the most powerful SOLDIER alive. Relena was a very confident person, to the point one may call her arrogant. However, she wasn't stupid and knew who her betters were. The man standing in front of her was unarguably one of them. Despite them both being first rank SOLDIER's, Relena had yet to meet the man. She had a lot of respect for him though, and his accomplishments. But what was that he had said?
"...Both of us?" she asked him, though he was already walking away toward the briefing room. She hurried to catch up with his long strides, while considering what he had said. They wanted to send both of them on a mission. Relena had yet to receive a mission that required two first rank SOLDIER's to be involved. She supposed the recent war might have presented an opportunity for such a thing, but she thought that was passing. And they hadn't been keen about getting her involved before, they had sent her off mako reactor guarding during the battles. Something she had been quite upset about, considering Midgar had lost and all. She guessed that the higher ups had just wanted to make sure they weren't sneak attacked during the battle. It was still annoying though, she could have been useful out there. Now, however, she seemed to be getting something big. Not only did they seem to want to send two SOLDIERS, but one of them was Sephiroth. When did he ever need help?
Now the thought crossed her mid that her job on this mission might be something silly, like monitoring or something, while Sephiroth did all the big stuff. She hoped not, she wanted to finally get some entertainment. A good mission. Her skills were being wasted like this, though wasting seemed something Shinra was good at. Back home, Relena was prized and she would be a high ranking soldier in the Alexandrian army and well respected. Her mother had worked hard to give her this future, and it had all been traded in now so she could kill large monsters around mako reactors. Not quite the glory her mother had intended for her.
Relena followed Sephiroth into the briefing room and took a chair. She lifted her dress-skirt slightly so it wouldn't pull as she sat and then crossed her right leg over her left once she was down. Her hands then rested in her lap and she sat up straight with perfect posture. Her face held a look of mild curiosity over the situation, belaying her urge to find out what kind of a mission she was going on. She was actually dieing to know what they had planned for her and Sephiroth.
" Ah welcome Sephiroth, Relena....glad you could make it". Obviously the mans words were merely formalities for the first class soldiers, they didn't really have much choice in responding to missions given. Well. Perhaps Sephiroth did. He was a special case in the Soldier department. " Well...now thats out of the way I think I'll get down to your mission details....". A large moniter lit up on the wall. A satallite picture showed up, zooming into what was the Galbadian continent. " As you both know the Galbadians and Shinra recently signed a cease fire treaty....of course the cease fire did not say that Shinra would not aid the enemies of Galbadia....". Zoom in moved to a port town on the east side.
" This town is known as Dollet, its one of the only towns left in the Centran region".
The picture zoomed further in, moving to a satalitte facility in the mountains. " This radio tower is the area of your mission....Seed forces will be moving out to take this tower and free the town of Dollet from Galbadian control...Shinra has offered it support...and of course...you two are this support...". Data began to show up on the screen. " We expect tight security and heavy resistance in the beach area....which is why while Seed are taking the Beach, you two will be air dropped in at the base of the mountains...".
" Dollet....the seaside town on the eastern coast of the Galbadian continent....rough landscape beyond makes it hard for infantry to move forward...extremely hard to defend...I can understand why Seed are choosing to retake it...".
He stood in the corner of the room, watching the screen shift and the man talk. Particularly about the peace agreement that had been reached by Shinra and Galbadia. This loop hole was the perfect chance to strike back at the Galbadians. Get a foothold on their own continent. And lead a counter invasion. Of course, this was all speculation on Sephiroth's part. But he had been working with this company long enough to know ust what the suits upstairs were thinking of doing. It was precisely the reason why two soldier first class would be sent on what seemed like an arbituary mission.
" Hmm...I see....this town is to be the main foothold in our counter attack against Galbadia if I'm correct.....".
It would depend on many things. One being Seeds willingness to hand the hold over to Shinra. Which in itself would be unlikely. Although the two hadn't worked closely together in the past, they had no trust. Balamb was part of the anti mako establishment. And although they had a common enemy in Galbadia at the moment. It was a fragile alliance at best. Which meant it was likely that there was going to be a mission after the mission. A duel reason for sending him with company...once the Galbadians were wiped out. It was likely that Shinra was going to order them to turn on their allies in Seed. And claim the area for Shinra.
It wasn't completely out of the question. Seed were trained mercenaries. But in comparison to Soldier. Particularly Soldier first class. They were nothing but children trying to play games with war.
" You want us to kill them when we've cleared the town of Galbadians?".
Relena sat quietly through the meeting, listening carefully to the briefing. She also listened to Sephiroth's opinion on it and nodded. Though, while he was right, Relena couldn't shake the feeling this was also Shinra's attempt to spit in Galbadia's face as well. Though it wasn't against the treaty to help their enemies, Galbadia wasn't going to be too thrilled about them making an open aggressive move against them. And sending Sephiroth added to that. He was practically Shinra's mascot after all. Shinra certainly didn't know the meaning subtle, did they?
That wasn't Relena's problem though. She was just another weapon to be pointed and fired. The politics behind it all weren't her business. She was to focus on completing the mission. Then Sephiroth asked if they were to turn on the SeeD members they would be helping. That seemed a bit unnecessary to Relena.
"Aren't SeeD mercenaries that are very strict to adhering to their contract?" she looked at the mission briefer, "Do we know what SeeD's contract is exactly? Are they actually trying to take Dollet, or just push back Galbadians forces? If it's simply the latter, then they'll back off once the mission is done and not even care what we do, so long as Dollet doesn't pay them to care afterward. It probably wouldn't be smart to piss them off if they're not even going to be a problem later." she said, giving her opinion on the matter.
If they attacked SeeD when they were just going to leave, it'll put Shinra on their enemy list. It would cut ties with the organization and they wouldn't work with them any more, and be all to happy to attack. Relena wasn't sure what they would do for retaliation. Perhaps just the cutting of ties, but they may actually try to fight them. Starting with Dollet. They didn't really need enemies coming from both sides while they were there if they actually did hope to have a strategic base of operations there.
The soldier leader looked over at Sephiroth with eyes he probably should have hidden. The soldier had been on too many missions that involved Shinras dirty deeds and he saw through most of the plans. " It is likely that once there Seed will want to hand over independence of Dollet to the major of the town, if they see that Shinra plans to make a foothold here they may decide that they've merely replaced the military control of the city from one hand to the other....". He shook his head.
" Of course, should this occur we fully expect you to exterminate the Seed members. We've got several moles among their ranks who will be known to you, if you leave these moles alive, they will feed the Balamb authorities the story that most Seed were killed when you took the beach. Unextexted resistance.".
His eyes moved over to the lady.
" This means that we will retain a shakey alliance with Balamb...whilst holding Dollet...but remember...kill only if absolutely neccisary....there is transportation on the helipad....".
They hid it under nice words, but in the end the silver haired devil had guessed the command correctly. Upstairs didn't want any trouble in adjusting their power base as far as an impending invasion of Galbadian continent went. But they were trying to smooth it over, and by the looks of things they already had a political cover story ready. Spies within Seed, they must be either from families under the direct influence of Midgar, or they were being bribed quite a bit. Either way it would provide a good cover story for Shirna, as long as things didn't turn sour that is.
But then again. It was war. Or at least it would be. And things always turned sour. He didn't like the feeling of placing his faith in the moles. After all if they were betraying Seed what was to stop them from betraying Soldier. Betraying him?
Sighing he stood up and looked over at the woman that was to be his partner on this mission. Hopefully she wouldn't get in his way. Then again, she was Soldier first class. Even if she didn't share the same skills as him she wouldn't have gotten this far based on pure luck. The woman had to have some skill. After all there wern't many in their ranks.
Even fewer were women.
He had read in her file that she was from Alexandria. And he heard that place was great for breeding female soldiers. Valkyries. One of which being General Beatrix. Sephiroth was tempted at times to go to Alexandria and find out just how skilled this woman was. But then again, his duties always got in the way. He was always on one mission or another. And despite his freedom within Shinra he always felt that he was still on a leash.
Relena sat listening to the explanation on what they were to do about SeeD. It was a flimsy plan in her opinion, relying on these 'moles' to keep the peace and hoping Balamb buys the story. It seemed to be the best plan they could do though, so Relena kept quiet about the details. She wasn't the one who made the plans around here, she just made sure she completed her part of it. When the mission briefer mentioned their transportation, Relena knew the meeting was over and stood up, straightening her dress as she did.
She turned around to find Sephiroth watching her. The piercing gaze of his glowing eyes penetrated her mind and startled her for a moment. Her outward reaction wasn't much though, she swayed slightly backward and her eyes widened a fraction, before she gathered herself. That had caught her off guard, she hadn't expected him to be watching her like that. It was going to be interesting working with him, especially when she finally got to see him in action. She was looking forward to that. Relena wasn't about to be outdone though. She gave him a friendly smirk as she walked by him out of the room.
"I do hope you can keep up." she joked as she passed him, the smirk on her lips giving her away. They both knew that he could, but that didn't mean she couldn't have fun. She flicked her golden blonde hair behind her and left the room.
She was finally about to get some involvement in this Galbadia business. It was about time really, Relena was sick of guarding reactors that might get attacked. Hardly worth her time, she was much more useful on the front line. Now was her chance to prove it too, to both Shinra and Galbadia. Also possibly Balamb's SeeDs. The later two, unfortunately for them, would be seeing it from the wrong perspective.
Even though he knew the chances were he could easily surpass her as far as skills went. He was still on the fear of getting rusty. The Galbadian Shinra war had proved that without constant refining his skills would begin to dull. He had taken a massive blow to his personal, and soldier pride. He had to make sure that this mission was a success. There would be nothing that got in his way this time. It was nothing personal against the soldiers or students from the garden. But it was a vendetta that he had to prove to himself that he was as good as everyone else thought he was.
He reached the elevator and looked at the female soldier. Letting out the slightest of smirks at her remark. " Well who knows.....". He raised his head as he pushed the button for the helipad on the roof. " Apparantly I've got a lot of competition coming from Alexandria".
No doubt she would catch onto the fact he was refering to General Beatrix. One of few people who had been rumoured to be able to give him a good run for his money as far as swordplay went. He hoped that the next war Shinra sent him off to fight in would be against Alexandria. He so hoped to put that rumour to its test. But first of course he had to get revenge on those who had humbled him and his pride before. The Galbadians. And this mission would provide an excellent chance for just a thing to happen.
As the elevator opened his hair was blown back by the wind generated from the helicopters rotating blades. He climbed inside.
Relena grinned as the elevator began it's ascent. She enjoyed that he played along with her little joke. It would certainly make working with him a lot better knowing that he wasn't uptight. Maybe this mission will actually be fun. He was probably anxious to get some revenge on the Galbadians though. Sephiroth had actually been a part of the battles against them and he was probably looking to get a victory to rub in their faces. Relena, on the other hand, just wanted some action. She was restless with because of all of the side jobs she had been forced into doing, and wanted a real fight for a change. Not just monster slaughtering. Considering she wasn't exactly a big supporter of Shinra opinion-wise, she didn't really care if it was against Galbadians or not, but they would have to do.
The elevator opened on the roof, and the helicopter sent her golden locks flailing behind her. The skirt of her dress rippled in the gust and blew around her. She looked forward at their rife and internally sighed. She was so sick of Shinra's tech. She missed the elegance of Alexandrian and Lindblum airships. Probably not quite as efficient as this helicopter, but they were a lot easier on the eyes. Midgar lacked this beauty all over, and it all made Relena very homesick. She didn't understand why Shinra couldn't put at least a little focus into the appearance of their work. Oh well, not much she could do about it. Maybe Dollet would look better.
She followed Sephiroth on to the helicopter and climbed in after him. She sat down with her excellent posture and her hands folded in her lap again, looking more so like a lady in a carriage taking a little trip to town, then a SOLDIER in a helicopter flying to a battle. Her face was calm and almost indifferent to the upcoming fight. She had been trained to ignore fear, so pre-fight jitters didn't even phase her. Besides, it should be the Galbadian soldiers in Dollet who should be afraid. The fact Sephiroth alone was coming for them should be enough to make them shake in their boots, let alone the fact he wasn't coming to the fight alone. Relena wasn't as known as Sephiroth, so she doubted she would strike much fear in them. Maybe some at the sight of her glowing eyes, but otherwise, she'd have the added fun of being a surprise to the enemy. Always fun.
All in all, it should be an interesting day, to say the least.
