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 Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 10:44 am
The first of the Assassins docked this morning and was spotted heading into the mountains with a small group of six soldiers. Your objective: travel into the mountains and locate the group before they attack Garden!
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 10:40 pm
Caine heads down to the gate and waits for his teammates to arrive. He didn't really know either of them, but that didn't matter. As long as they were both as determined to do well as he was, they'd get along fine.
While he waits, Caine begins to swing his scythe around, practicing his basic technique. He wanted to warm up a bit and be ready for anything.
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Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 12:24 am
Gunblades: check. Regular and explosive ammunition: check. WA2000 and three magazines: check. Map of the mountains: double check.
Alexei spun the identical short gunblades like an old west cowboy as he neared the gate, before holstering them as he saw Caine ready and waiting. He checked the sturdy leather bracer on his left wrist that incorporated an analog watch.
"Good. We leave in ... six minute. I expect Miles here in one."
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Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 1:26 am
Caine watches Alexei approach the gate, recognizing him from class. He hoped that he would be a good leader.
"Hey," is all he says when the other student arrives.
When Alexei speaks, he replies, "Good, I'm anxious to go."
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Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 12:26 am
Alexei dropped his hand and set his eyes northward, towards the mountains, where they'd be headed more or less as soon as Miles arrived.
"Just follow my lead, stay focused, get the job done. They are counting on all of us."
He folded his arms and looked Caine up and down to get an estimate of him.
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Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 10:30 am
"Oh trust me... you don't have to worry about my focus. There is only one thing in the whole world more important to me than becoming a SeeD, and no, it's not women... though they come a close third. Anyway, I'm determined to pass the exam today, so you can count on me," Caine says, checking over his scythe to make sure it was in top condition.
He looks back toward the school hoping to see Miles and get started. It was obvious he was getting impatient with waiting and wanted to get going now, but he wasn't lying about being determined. If he failed this mission, he would be so ashamed.
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Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 1:39 pm
She rushed to join her squad at the gate, furious with herself that she was late. Late, of all things, to her SeeD exam! This would get her in trouble for sure. Miles was just glad that she came ready to the briefing room, or else she would really look like a fool.
Since she didn't know anyone other than Alexandrov at the meeting, she had zoned out. Especially after the fight broke out, she really wasn't paying any attention to what was going on around her. Whenever there was a fight between allies, she completely shut down and withdrew. And that's why she only noticed once everyone was gone that they had been assigned to their squads.
It was lucky that Alexandrov was their group leader, or else she would be twice as scared. Also lucky was that she missed the comment about women. It wasn't like her to be callous when she first met someone, but that would not have gone over well with her.
"I'm so sorry," she hurriedly explained as soon as she arrived. "I promise I won't be like this for the rest of the exam..." She trusted her friend not to be cross, but the other boy looked like the angry sort. It was made even worse that he was the one who was in the fight at the briefing. She kept her eyes down and sighed heavily. "I'm ready to go now."
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Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 1:47 pm
Caine smiles warmly and gives Miles a little wave as she approaches.
"No worries, you're right on time. I'm Caine, by the way. I don't think we've officially met yet."
He notices her downcast eyes and heavy sigh and asks, "You nervous?"
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Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 1:57 pm
She didn't see his wave, otherwise she would have given one back. Despite that, she looked up meekly when he spoke and she offered her hand to him. "I'm Miles. Nice to meet you, Caine. I don't believe we've met either."
She shrugged and put on a small smile. "Just a little scared. I'm determined to do well, though. The best of us are the ones who face their fears, not the ones who aren't afraid." With her own consolation, her smile became less fearful and more genuine.
With that, she faced Alexandrov, the young man who was the leader for her first mission at Balamb. "I'm glad you're leading us, Alexandrov. The Headmistress was right, we can have strong faith in you and your skills."
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Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 2:04 pm
Alexei's mind returned to the present as Miles arrived, looking up from the map of the mountains in his hands. He checked his watch - he'd hoped to have her there sooner, but she technically wasn't late.
"Thanks, Miles. I was just looking at the map of mountain area. There is only one pass through that would be accessible without special equipment. Since they are not on weekend climbing expedition, and are not expecting us to know they are coming, we can assume they will be taking direct route. We will set up ambush along mountain pass and trap them. Let's move out, before they make it out of the hills. If we let them get to open terrain, they could disappear on us."
Alexei folded the map and tucked it into the breast of his uniform as he started to move, signalling with two fingers for them to head out. He hustled at a moderate pace for him, not wanting to leave the others in his dust. He knew that if he ran flat out, they'd never catch up - speed was Alexei's forte.
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Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 2:13 pm
Caine takes Miles' hand when she offers it, and grins.
"Nice to meet you," he says.
"And I'm sure we'll all do well. This is what were here to do, right?" he adds enthusiastically.
When Alexei speaks and signals them, Caine immediately follows. He was excited to get out there and prove himself, and he had a feeling his team would be a strong one.
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Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 2:17 pm
"Right," she said and smiled at Caine. But it faded slightly as Miles felt a pang of guilt when their leader looked from the map to her to his watch, but she pushed it aside. She was there now and lamenting over her lateness would only throw off her focus on the task at hand. She nodded in place of "you're welcome" and was quite pleased with his plan. Not that it made a difference; he was the leader and what he said was an order, but it didn't hurt that she liked how thorough he was.
At his signal, she followed his pace and prepared herself mentally for the fight ahead. Assassins and six soldiers...the last time she faced a group that big was when she met Phoenix, her Guardian Force. But she was alone then. This time she had Caine and Alexandrov on her side and nothing could stand in their way.
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Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 2:45 pm
Alexei pulled the sniper rifle off his back to run, since it would be better in his hands than bumping against his back. The mountains weren't far, but they'd have to hustle to make it before the assassin and his men. As they entered the foothills, Alexei made note of the terrain and how he could use it. It was rough and craggy, that would be good for breaking up their silhouettes.
He led them deeper into the mountain pass, and started looking up at the rocks above them. Finally, he saw what he was looking for.
"Okay. Alpha Squad, start climbing. We don't want to be in sight when they try coming through here."
Alexei shouldered his rifle and tightened the strap around his torso before starting his ascent up the shallow canyon wall. It was maybe fifteen feet high, with loose boulders at the top. He was up within seconds.
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Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 2:53 pm
Caine follows their leader to the mountains, keeping up a pretty decent pace. Without a word, he spins his scythe in his hand and in one fluid movement attaches it to the holster on his back. He watches Alexei scale the rocky wall easily, and frowns. He wasn't really a climber.
He rubs his hands together, determined to get up there too, and begins to climb as fast as he could. It takes him a few minutes, but he makes it to the top and breathes a sigh of relief, then reaches his hand over the side, offering it to Miles if she needed it.
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Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 4:36 pm
She wondered whether or not she should take out her anelace when Alexandrov took his gun off his back, but she decided to wait. It was easy enough to take out, anyway. Miles focused instead on keeping up with him at their brisk run. With the inclination mixed in, she was having a slightly more difficult time, but she had trained enough that she could accommodate. An unusually serious expression took over her face as they advanced up the mountainside.
"Yessir," she answered Alexandrov's command and did as he asked. Her hands were getting dirty, but that didn't make any difference to her. Hopefully it didn't affect Caine either, because she accepted his outstretched hand.
She was trying to piece together what she should do during the ambush. Magic at a distance would be good, but if the others were going to charge, there would be too much risk involved. Instead, she would use her weapon unless the situation made it ill-fit.
The boulders could be used to their advantage in the event that they weren't going down again once the assassins came. But as far as she knew, Alexandrov had already thought of that. "And now we wait, sir?" She wanted to certain at least of that. Mistakes would not be allowed here.
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