Seifer sat in his room waiting for his weapons to be delivered up to his room. Suddenly a knock came at the door and startled him out of his trance-like state. “Come in,” he called to the door.
The door swung open outward, and Seifer saw two figures standing in the doorway. Seifer easily identified them as Ertai and Zekke, the two blacksmith supervisors. They were each carrying thin oaken cases with buckles bolted on the top. “Sir, we’ve come to deliver your weapons to you,” Ertai announced.
“Excellent,” Seifer exclaimed while moving forward to take the cases. As he grabbed the smaller case, he asked, “Where are the mages?”
“They were a bit exhausted after their enchantments, so they decided to rest up for a bit. They’ll be up here shortly,” Zekke informed him.
Seifer nodded, then set the case on the marble floor. He opened it up, revealing a bright jade dagger. It practically leapt into his hands, and he felt a small shock of electricity as it touched his skin.
Then he grabbed the larger case and set it on the floor. He opened it as well, and it revealed a beautiful cobalt long sword. He swung it around in the air a few times, and it trailed sparks of electricity. “And now for a test,” Seifer called as he brought out a sparring dummy. The dummy was made of padded wood and had a coating of titanium around it.
Seifer got his weapons into a fighting stance, and jabbed forward with his dagger. It moved incredibly fast, and punched right through the titanium. He then did a spin to bring his long sword around, aiming right at the neck of the dummy. The sword split right between it, and cut the titanium coating like tin foil.
“Excellent job men, I think I’ll be very happy with these weapons for a very long time. You’ve earned your pay,” Seifer told the two blacksmiths as they began to leave. “Oh, and Ertai, I’d like to see you tomorrow at lunch. I have an important business to conduct with you.”
“Yes sir!” Ertai responded, flashing a salute. He then turned around and continued out the door. Seifer watched him walk out, but before he could even sit down and rest for a second Andy came through his door.
“What is it Andy?” Seifer said with a heavy sigh.
“Sir, I’ve come here for the meeting that was scheduled for tonight. Also I’ve come to tell you about some new transfers into the squad.”
“Alright fine, I guess I just forgot about the meeting. But hey, who are these new people that want to transfer over? I wasn’t informed of any transfers.”
“Well sir, the first one is named Kazara. She’s a recent transfer in from Blood’s squad. And for some reason this second one didn’t leave her name. She just put herself down as the Lioness, I’m assuming that’s the only name she’s ever gone by. And this third one I have no idea where he came from. His name is Jafin, and he’s a powerful arch-mage. How he came from nowhere I have no idea,” Andy said as he trailed off.
“Alright then, any idea when them or the others will be up?” Seifer asked curiously.
“Well sir, Kazara is at least a day away from us. She just got thrown out of Blood’s regiment. But the others should be here within the next fifteen minutes,” Andy informed him. Just as he said this, a beautiful young woman came through the doorway. She threw her long blond hair behind her head, and her blue eyes sparkled like the mid-day sky. Her pale skin looked extremely smooth, and her thin lips were drawn tight. She carried a long sheathe on her left, well-rounded hip which contained a magically crafted pure yttrium bastard sword.
“Er, hello miss. Would I be wrong to assume that you’re Lioness?” Seifer asked with a slight crack in his voice while extending his hand.
“No, you’d be right on the numbers. I am of course Lioness, and of course you’re Seifer,” she said in a sweet voice and accepting his hand. Her skin was as smooth as the finest crafted silk Seifer had ever felt.
Suddenly he pulled away. “Is something wrong?” Lioness asked.
“N- not at all,” Seifer answered with a slight stutter. “I j-just think that I should see how well you fight.” He went over to the right side of the room and pulled out two sparring dummies and brought them back where he was standing. “There, now see if you can take off five branches from each of these dummies in less than four seconds.”
“That’s it? That’s the great test?” Lioness said with dismay.
“Not a test, just a show of abilities. I want to be able to see what I’m working with.”
“Alright then.” She drew her bastard sword and stepped up to the dummies. She immediately brought the sword down to her left and began to spin. The sword trailed around her body, winding up in the three-o’clock position and moving downward. The sword clipped off three limbs on its way down, but she kept spinning and took off five more on her next spin. She stopped spinning, and just sliced out with her sword, taking out three more limbs. At that time Seifer snapped his fingers.
“Well done!” he called. “Of course, I would have gone about it differently but your tactics worked just as well.”
“Sir, another new person is here to see you,” Andy called as he entered the room again. A bright-eyed mage followed him, with a flowing white beard and pointed black hat with a green brim. His flowing black robes were rivaled only in eloquence by his long green cape. A tungsten staff was carried in his calloused white hand, and a thick arcane book was in his left.
“Hello sir, it’s a pleasure to meet you! I’m Jafin, though my friends just call me Jon for some reason!” he said with extreme energy. He moved his staff to his left arm, and extended his right hand to Seifer.
“Um, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Tell me, do you have any special abilities granted to you by magic?” Seifer asked while accepting his hand.
“Indeed I do! In fact, I enchanted this entire ensemble myself! In fact, this staff is made of the finest metals money can buy, and my spell book is bound together with the still-living scales of some horrific beast from the training room!” Jafin answered energetically.
“Well anyways,” Seifer continued, unaffected by Jafin’s outburst of energy, “if you two could just take a seat and wait for my other squad members to arrive, that’d be great.” The others in the room complied, and sank into the couch cushions.
When everyone was gathered in the room, Seifer stood up. “Welcome to my abode, fellow Soul Reavers Intelligence Division agents. I am, as you know, your commander here. We have a few new members joining us today,” he said gesturing to Lioness and Jafin to stand. “These two interesting characters are Lioness and Jafin, they’ll be accompanying us on our next outing.” Lioness took a curtsy, Jafin bowed, and then they sat down. “We also have someone else new, but unfortunately she couldn’t make it tonight.
“Anyways, as I’m sure you all know by now, we have been looking to expand our territory as of late. Our next target will be the Battle Marines’ fortress, a double-walled city overlooking the Dixix Canal and the Altec Sea. This is obviously a strategic position, as the Soul Reavers have been looking to expand their navy as well.” Seifer put some blown-up pictures of the fortress on the aisle.
“These are the most recent pictures of the fortress we have. As you can see, there is a wall on each side of this moat, and a narrow bridge across the moat. We will be trying to go through the moat to stay unnoticed, and we will proceed from there. As you can see, the main shipping docks are located on the east side. We want to avoid doing any damage to those docks. This central building here,” he pointed to a tall tower rising out in the middle, “is believed to be the main command post within this base. And this squat structure over here,” he said pointing to a building next to the tower, “is believed to be the barracks. We’ll strike in there at night. Any questions?”
David raised his hand. “Sir, how are we going to get past the walls?”
“Good question David. We can use our stone cutting gear, and my new sword can cut through that stone I’m sure. Once we’re past the first wall we’ll move across the moat using ropes and cut away a section of the inner wall. Then we can proceed however we like. Any other questions?” He looked around the room for a few seconds. “No? Well all right then, we’ll move in one week. Everybody make sure you have the right supplies and weapons before then. You’re all on leave until then, just don’t wander far from camp.” The members of the squad dispersed, and soon only Seifer and Pyro were left.
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It's simple. Once the Planet is hurt, it gathers Spirit Energy to heal the injury. The amount of energy gathered depends on the size of the injury...What would happen if there was an injury that threatened the very life of the Planet? Think how much energy would be gathered! Ha, ha, ha. And at the center of that injury, wil be me. All that boundless energy will be mine. By merging with the energy of the Planet, I will be come a new life form, a new existence. Melding with the Planet, I will cease to exist as I am now. Only to be reborn as a 'God' to rule over every living soul.
Super Sephiroth, slayer of the Uber Fluffy, and battle co-ordionator and defender of the HADB clan.
Follower of the mighty Fallen Paladin himself.
Diplomacy is all and well, but HADB is better!
Admirer of the Lioness.