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Post by SEPHIROTH on Nov 5, 2012 14:32:18 GMT -5
It was a rare occasion, for Sephiroth to feel anything even remotely akin to embarrassment with his position as someone's commanding officer; he did not relish it, not one bit. From behind the private, Squall's gesture mirroring his own somehow made it worse. Intentionally or not though, the little spectacle did manage to slightly ease the budding tension between their groups. For that, he withdrew judgement on labeling the private's action an unexpected stroke of brilliance, or simply idiocy not yet gone wrong. Without a doubt, the General would have many more chances to amend his decision in the future, assuming he did not suffer an early demise thanks to his subordinate.
Giving a nigh-imperceptible nod in agreement with Squall's suggestion, he paused and glanced back with a frown towards the infantryman. The latter struggled to insert a fresh magazine into his battle rifle, attempting to replace the old one with ammunition carrying non-lethal, electroshock properties. No comment was made, and Sephiroth gave a small shake of his head, turning away as he resumed walking. They needed to depart from these mines as early as possible, surveying the outside world for any notable landmarks before plotting their next course of action; locating and verifying the status of SOLDIER Zack Fair rose on his list of immediate priorities. Seconds later, however, a loud clatter was heard from the aforementioned weapon, as it dropped onto the ground and fired off a single round that nearly incapacitated the young commander from Balamb.
"...Private," he calmly addressed the soldier with looking back, "unless given explicit orders, you are henceforth prohibited from further usage of your firearm." With that said, he continued on, heedless on whatever expression the other two might be wearing. Things could have gone worse, he supposed; they might have accidentally killed the teen. That would surely go down well, if they came across anyone else belonging to the Garden.
Minutes later, the trio finally managed to exit from the mines' depths, emerging onto a small barren cliff as they were met with a blast of frigid air and strong winds. From the looks of things, nightfall was fast approaching; they had limited time to seek shelter before the full evening darkness was upon them. Sephiroth did not seem particularly bothered that nothing about their new environment struck a chord of recognition within, even as miles upon miles away, the distant flicker of what could only be countless city lights demanded their attention.
"Your findings, private. Only relevant information will be necessary."
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Post by SQUALL LEONHART on Nov 7, 2012 21:59:05 GMT -5
Squall was glad that the silver haired man began walking with him, but not before giving the moron behind them a evil look. To be honest, he just wanted to be done and over with the guy and leave him in the mine to rot-however that would be horrible of him. He wasn't that cold of a person... That is until he felt a bullet shoot past his head and into a light.
"...Are you serious?"
[/i][/b] He thought to himself as he felt the bonds that kept his rage intact slowly break apart. "This guy... he's worse than Zell!"[/b][/i] It was hard to believe but true, he'll remember to never let anyone let Zell touch a rifle of any kind in the future. To be honest he was about to slash the kids head off, but Sephiroth beat him to the punch and verbally abused him. "... Good enough."[/b] The SeeD muttered to himself as he continued onward.
Minutes later, the three finally managed to leave the mines only to be met with a cold chill. The sudden change in weather barely effected the young man, he's been through harsher environments then this. His eyes peered at the 'General' with new interest. "So..."[/b] He began to speak, crossing his arms as well. "As much as I hate being a burden to others... I have a favor to ask of you."[/b] Squall looked straight into the man's odd eyes. "However, I will wait until your... soldier here finishes his report."[/b] As a stranger to the man's military, Squall knew that he couldn't listen in on the conversation the moron would give Sephiroth so he walked about eight feet way, out of earshot with the strong gusts of wind around. [/justify][/size][/blockquote][/blockquote][/blockquote] |
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Post by CLOUD STRIFE on Nov 7, 2012 23:11:59 GMT -5
A sigh of relief left the MP's lips as neither Sephiroth nor Squall seemed to be too upset over his...accident. In accordance with Sephiroth's wishes, he flipped the safety on the rifle and slug it over his shoulder, making doubly sure that it wouldn't be fired again before following them down the tunnel. It didn't take long for them to find the exit, which was a relief...but Cloud wore a confused expression as Squall walked well out of earshot after Sephiroth had asked for the sitrep. He thought that it was something that the other man would have wanted to hear...but there was no reason to try and force the Commander's inclusion.
With that out of mind, Cloud looked back to the city off in the distance and gestured towards it, "That city is Alexandria. The populous seems unaware of Shin-Ra's existence, and..." Cloud muttered something about being banned for life before moving on to the next piece of information, "Although it's not entirely relevant, it seems as though their autocratic ruler, a Queen, has gone missing. If we happened to come across her and return her to Alexandria, we might be able to get her to help us find Zack. I wasn't able to find any information on his possible location, although I did find yours..." He hesitated for a few moments before raising his hand with the palm turned towards himself, calling forth a bit of magic- just enough to cause his hand to glow a dark blue, "But more importantly, Materia isn't needed to cast magic here. As a first-class SOLDIER, I don't think there's anything on this planet that will be able to challenge you, especially with unrestricted magic. That's part of the reason why I also tried to explain the situation to Commander Squall as well. If he were an ally, he could help us find Zack. If he were an enemy and sent troops after Zack, then the news of a single man defeating an entire army would help lead us to him." Cloud placed his hand on the back of his helmet and sighed, "Although if he's in the same situation as us, he may not have an army..."
Mentioning an army reminded Cloud of another piece of information that he'd meant to share with his commanding officer, "I haven't been able to contact Shin-Ra HQ, either. There's some kind of interference, I think...but close range comms still work." He dug around in one of his satchels before producing a slightly scuffed earpiece, "I managed to salvage some gear from the other MPs. It's a transmitter that we could use to keep in touch- I have one more for Zack when we find him." |
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Post by SEPHIROTH on Nov 8, 2012 22:38:35 GMT -5
For the average civilian, venturing into unfamiliar territory at this hour with minimal supplies was no different than signing their own death warrant. However, the three individuals now overlooking the vast expanse separating them from nearby civilization were hardly 'average'. Though he had misgivings about the leftover private, with good reason, they'd managed to survive this long on their own; it was more than he could say for the soldier's two former companions. And though he displayed little interest earlier in hearing the personnel's report, Sephiroth knew better than to ignore anything that might prove beneficial under current circumstances. Regardless of its source, information was an absolutely vital at this stage.
The SOLDIER 1st Class barely reacted upon Squall's appeal for a favor, meeting the teen's gaze with a silence which promised nothing. There were still far too many unknown factors in this equation for him to immediately agree, if at all; he would need to first hear out the commander's proposition, but later. For now, as the teen distanced himself away from these two strangers, the general gave his single subordinate the go-ahead with a simple glance in his direction.
As the private began his situation report, Sephiroth began to slowly pace back and forth with his hands clasped behind; a habit he'd unconsciously picked up from the SOLDIER Union Executive, Lazard Deusericus. This mentioning of "Alexandria" triggered no sense of recognition, aside from a slight similarity between its name and that of a Summon. By now, his suspicions of this planet no longer being the Gaia they knew were more or less confirmed. As for their missing Queen, and the private's suggestion regarding them and locating SOLDIER Zack, the idea had merit.
No comment was made regarding the existence of magic in this new world despite lack of materia, as Sephiroth silently took the proffered earpiece, giving it a minor once-over before depositing it within the confines of his coat. He already knew the crystallized orbs of mako were obsolete since his awakening; none of the ones embedded in his armor or the Masamune responded to his command. Nonetheless, his response was even-mannered, lacking the hint of rebuke present in his previous forms of address.
"Well done, private."
Despite the young soldier's initial...incompetence, his resourcefulness did not go unrecognized. With luck, ignoring Sephiroth's lack of faith in the concept, he would continue to showcase his more favorable abilities in the future. Waving his hand aside and allowing the MP to remain at ease for now, he turned and strode over next to where the Commander of Balamb Garden waited, in silence granting him the opportunity to voice his request.
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Post by SQUALL LEONHART on Nov 10, 2012 1:59:20 GMT -5
Squall could hear the blabbering idiot from where he stood, which really took his curtsey of privacy away, however he didn't mind it. From what he heard, this world was not of the same that he came from originally, nor was it of those two apparently... Materia, he had no clue what that was nor did he care- magic here must be the same as Junction... It couldn't be any simpler.
It didn't take long for the guy to finish and Sephiroth to eventually walk over to him, although Squall had just expected the man to wave him over instead. At least he knew some curtsey himself. With a few seconds of silence, the SeeD accepted that he would have to be the one who spoke first.
"Thanks for taking the time."
[/b] It was true, the general could have just ignored his request to even speak. Okay.. As I was saying before, I have a request-one that might benefit both-...the three of us."[/b] He remembered the moron in the background before sighing. "As we have no idea where we are in this new world, I suggest that we travel together, or more so if you would permit me to travel along side you for the time being." He stared at the silver haired man for a response. (sorry this is so short, I'mma busy and I hate to keep you guys waiting. :c ) [/justify][/size][/blockquote][/blockquote][/blockquote] |
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Post by CLOUD STRIFE on Nov 10, 2012 4:03:32 GMT -5
As Squall had heard Cloud's report, he had in turn heard Squall's suggestion. Cloud's abilities might be called into question, but he was observant enough to realize that his presence wasn't particularly desired by either man, although Sephiroth seemed to have mellowed out a little. He frowned openly, knowing that the scarf he wore around his neck would prevent either of the two from seeing it. The best course of action would likely be to head into Alexandria and gather information on it's Queen, then setting out to locate her. But even if Sephiroth hadn't planned on doing that, there was a host of other reasons why he'd want to travel to Alexandria regardless. Still, as Cloud had mentioned, he couldn't return to Alexandria even if he'd wanted to. The situation might change if he were to find and rescue the Queen- but that time was not now.
When considering that he wasn't wanted and couldn't travel with the pair of soldiers to their next destination anyway, Cloud simply turned away from the men and pressed two fingers to the side of the helmet, deciding that the most prudent thing to do in this situation was to try and contact any Shin-Ra personnel in the area. The MP flipped to the next radio channel, taking special care to skip over the channel that Sephiroth's transmitter had been set to, "This is...Johnny of the Shinra Peacekeeping Corps. If there are any Shinra personnel in the area, respond." After a short period of silence, Cloud reached up towards the control to change the channel to try again- when static suddenly filled his headpiece.
He cursed under his breath, getting ready to shut it off completely when he heard something through the static. He flipped the communicator back on and responded, "Say again?" The voice cut through the static clearly this time. What Cloud heard caused a shiver to run down his spine, "What...is this? Who are you?" No answer was given. The static faded away just as quickly as it had appeared. Cloud let his hand drop to his side and waited for it to stop shaking before he unslung his rifle and flipped the safety off. The MP wasn't expecting an attack, he just wanted to keep the weapon close. He had to get out of here...now.
(Unless he's needed for something, Cloud will likely be dropping out of this thread in the next post. The message he got will be relevant in another thread, but not this one so much, so don't worry too much about it~) |
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Post by SEPHIROTH on Nov 11, 2012 22:34:31 GMT -5
It would seem his intuition was correct, as Sephiroth looked away in silent contemplation of Squall's proposal. From the commander's perspective, it likely made sense to join forces for the time being; strength in numbers, including the ability to pool together any significant knowledge of their respective worlds. However, while it may have sounded like a good deal for the other party, the SOLDIER general was naturally skeptical about having an additional tag-along. Sephiroth worked best alone, and on the few occasions he was paired alongside another individual, such as Zack Fair for the aborted Nibelheim assignment, it was with someone whose capabilities he'd seen firsthand. Squall might possess some measure of skill with the gunblade, but he had severe doubts about the younger male being equivalent to even a 3rd Class SOLDIER.
Though, with that MP in tow, I suppose my expectations are low enough.
"...Very well," he finally replied, eyes focused on their distant objective. "but only so far as Alexandria. Upon arrival, I expect our paths will diverge." Once there, it would be Squall's responsibility to locate any of his allies that might have also been transported to this foreign land. Providing the teen managed to keep up and look out for his own well-being, the silver-haired general could tolerate the...company until then. Judging from the distance between their current location and the specks of light off in the distance, Alexandria was less than a half-day's trek away, so long as they set out immediately. Should everything go accordingly, they could reach the city just after daybreak the following morning.
Turning his attention back to Private "Johnny", if that was indeed his name with the slight hesitation, the attempt to establish radio contact initially seemed unsuccessful. However, as time elapsed, and the MP continued speaking into his communicator, it appeared that wasn't the case. Frowning for the umpteenth time since the past hour, especially as the soldier suddenly brought their firearm to bear despite his previous order and seeing no hostiles in vicinity, Sephiroth felt it prudent to inquire the reason behind the MP's actions.
"What is it, private."
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