FFVIII-The Second War-

[Acheron]

He followed her, and stood at attention near the bench. After all, a soldier trying to win a promotion would want to look sharp, right? He spoke softly, and quietly to avoid being overheard. "You didn't get anything out of that? That one who knew you, Keio... he knew something. The look on his face when you asked that question, and he mentioned Timber Maniacs. Somebody saw them there. They must've.", he said. His training let him gain just as much information from what was not said as what was.

Quinn kept her focus on the ground. Even after she wiped away her tears, she was unsure of if those were the last tears or just the start. She didn’t want to be rude towards Dante, but continued to look ahead at the ground when she spoke to him.

“Well, I didn’t get anything obvious. Keio knows something, as does the Captain. They both know you’re not who you say you are, but why they didn’t call it right there could be for many reasons. As for Timber Maniacs, who knows what that could be about? One of the intelligence officers told me that they monitored some Esthar activity there a little while ago, that’s probably what Keio is referring to. If I was just about the bodies you’ve stacked up, I think they would have taken you out right there.”

She was very impressed that Dante kept his composure during her conversation with the soldiers. Quinn didn’t want to admit it, but she knew if she had made a mistake in her approach to the soldiers, diplomacy would have been the first thing out the window. Whether she spilled blood or not was an entirely different concern. That was one of the few knocks against Quinn: she focused too much on the consequences for both her and her opponent. It didn’t slow her reaction time or decision making at all, but for her, it almost felt like time came to a standstill in certain situations. Every good soldier knows their opponent has something to fight for as well, but Quinn was one of the few that wanted everyone to go home at the end of the day.

It was a weakness that had brought about severe consequences in the past. Even after losing someone close to her heart, she still didn’t change her ways. A review was done on her performance after Mission 255-O, the fourth mission in her SeeD career and one where nothing went according to plan. All the people who came to her defense stated different reasons why she wasn’t in the wrong: mercy isn’t a problem, Alexander got into her mind, and it went on and on….yet Quinn didn’t say a word. Three hours long and she just stayed in her seat, without a sound, almost as if she wasn’t even there. She spent those three hours wondering why nobody gave her their condolences for the loss of her fiancé.

After a few minutes of silence, Quinn gathered herself together and sat up straight. The tears had been gone for a little bit and she wasn’t worried about them coming back. She stretched her arms from the bench and then stood up, looking to Dante.

“We’ve got a little bit before daybreak. In that uniform, you could easily get into the hotel if you wanted to rest. Other than that, I don’t know what we could do now. I think its best not to get ourselves into too much trouble before we find out what Keio has to say.”

Dante hadn’t asked her how she knew the troops. Nor did he ask what they meant about her “wounds” healing. Quinn decided she would tell him later on. Maybe it would be good, the honesty might make things easier between them. Or maybe he would think her weak, look at her as a liability from there on. Honesty had its’ prices.

[Heartless Angel]

“Well, I didn’t get anything obvious. Keio knows something, as does the Captain. They both know you’re not who you say you are, but why they didn’t call it right there could be for many reasons. As for Timber Maniacs, who knows what that could be about? One of the intelligence officers told me that they monitored some Esthar activity there a little while ago, that’s probably what Keio is referring to. If I was just about the bodies you’ve stacked up, I think they would have taken you out right there.”

He raised his eyebrow when he noticed that she wasn't making eye contact. Was she worried he'd see her crying just because he'd seen her let a single tear slip? He cleared his throat as fe returned his focus to her words. "Ah, well... I knew at least one person there was aware... call it my sixth sense for danger. They probably noticed I was reaching for a weapon when the other two were... as for why they didn't call it out, it's probably because they didn't want me to use those weapons. I can't speak for their skills, but the two in front wouldn't have stood a chance had I attacked.", he said, scratching the back of his head, speaking in an unusually upbeat voice. "As for what he knew, the main reason I think it has to do with my companions is the fact that he didn't bring it up until you asked. I could be wrong, but in my line of work, sometimes you've gotta take a gamble and assume things even in the abscence of certainty. I'd check the place out myself, but it's possible that your friends did discover the bodies, and said that just to lure me into an ambush in the Maniacs building. Wouldn't be the first time I walked into a Galbadian ambush. I'd definitely rather it not be the last. I'll just wait until you have your talk with them.", he said, taking a seat next to her.

There was a silence for a few minutes, Dante could only wonder at what she was pondering. But he made an educated guess when he got a brief look at her face, the way she was sitting, looking at the ground... her actions were all too familiar. She must've been thinking about somebody she'd lost. Dante thought better not to ask, as he was still under the assumption that it had been his own actions against her fellow Galbadians that had triggered these thoughts. The silence was deafening, as Dante was flooded by his own memories of his loss, but he forced his way back to reality when he saw Quinn get up and look at him.

“We’ve got a little bit before daybreak. In that uniform, you could easily get into the hotel if you wanted to rest. Other than that, I don’t know what we could do now. I think its best not to get ourselves into too much trouble before we find out what Keio has to say.”

He sighed. "No... it'd be inappropriate for me to go relax while the fate of my commrades remains unknown...", he said, still driven by his code of honor as a leader, even though he was only a subordinate on this mission. He stood up and shouldered his rifle. "Where to ma'am?", he asked in the stolen soldier's voice, loud and clear, adressing Quinn as a superior.

[Acheron]

A few years ago….

She could hardly believe her eyes.

Quinn stood in front of a mirror, one taller than her, dressed up and ready to go to the Graduation Ball for her SeeD class. She wore a nice fitting black dress, ending just a bit above her knee, some simple pearl earrings given to her by her late mother and some heels she felt comfortable enough to possibly dance in. Quinn normally wasn’t one for dressing up; it wasn’t that she didn’t like getting all fancy; she just didn’t think she looked good enough to do so. She wouldn’t be the judge of that tonight though and even though she was harder on herself than anyone else could have been, Quinn couldn’t argue she looked good tonight. After years of training and recent months of difficult tasks, all the work had paid off. Her only concern now was looking silly on the dance floor.

The Garden Festival committee had pulled double duty and did their best to make this Graduation Ball just as spectacular as the upcoming Festival promised to be. Quinn hadn’t seen the Quad looking this lovely in all her time at the Garden. Nor had she seen all of her friends so relaxed, at ease and talking about the simple things they seemed to take for granted. Being placed in situations so dangerous at a young age had made some of them grow faster than others; while the others left behind seemed to show they’d be children for quite some time. Quinn joined her friend Gareth by the punch bowl, both having a drink in hand as they watched the others head out to the dance floor.

“So I wonder…When is your Prince Charming going to be making his appearance?” Gareth took a sip of his crimson colored punch.

“Don’t even start.” But Quinn had already begun blushing. “I’m pretty sure he was just being nice. It was pretty clear how nervous I was. I mean, just because I can ace a test in a classroom setting doesn’t mean I’m fit to be a leader, you know?”

“I’m not going to agree with you Quinn. You’re waaayy too hard on yourself, you know that? You’ve definitely got the potential to be a leader someday. Hell, everyone who has already been in a squad under you has had nothing bad to say. As for what Carsten said about you, once again, you’re being too harsh…you’re beautiful.”

Quinn was starting to turn the color of the punch. She watched as her friends continued to dance, then turned her attention back to Gareth.

“Thank you…You know how I am about my looks, so…thanks.” She took a sip of the sweet drink as well. “So about Carsten, uh…who exactly is he?”
Gareth nearly choked on his punch. “You’re kidding, right?”

“No, I’m serious. I’ve only ever spoken to him once, which was on our test mission. I mean, I brought his name up to the girls and they got pretty excited, but I don’t know anything about him.”
“Well…You could always ask.”

The voice was unfamiliar to her and came from behind. Quinn first studied the look on Gareth’s face: it was hard for her to read, almost as if he knew something he wanted to say, but didn’t. She had heard rumors from her friends that he liked her, but he never acted on it. Was he now seeing his chance gone? She ruled that out immediately. She was too approachable for him to be that shy, right? Finally, after what have must felt like an eternity, she turned around to face Carsten and the two men standing behind him. All three were dressed in their Class A SeeD uniform; all three had various decorations and awards on their uniforms, showing not only time in service but distinguished actions as well. Quinn didn’t want to admit it, but she was already impressed.

“Yeah, I could, uh ask, I mean, why not.” She quickly took a sip from her glass, cracking under the tension.

“I’m sorry, I’m sure we’re imposing here.” One of the men behind Carsten stepped forward, extending a hand to shake Quinn’s free one. “I’m Tyrod Winstead, behind Carsten here is our good friend Bourdon Lanckton. We’ve been friends for a long time now. Nice to meet you Quinn, we’ll leave you two be.”
Carsten spoke up, “But you don’t have to..”

“Ah, I think I see Maggie wants to dance out there. I’ll catch up with you later Quinn.” Gareth quickly put his drink down on the punch table and fled out to the dance floor. The blushing Quinn and now blushing Carsten had been left all alone.

“So..” Carsten extended his hand, an offer to go dance. “What do you want to know?”

Present Time

They had left the bench and started to walk back into the main town of Timber. Quinn was sure none of the G-Army was going to give them trouble on the streets. Even if she was wrong, she had confidence that Dante would be a more than adequate partner in a fight. She was looking forward to knowing more about him, knowing more than just his proficiency in taking a life. But for the time being, that knowledge already put her mind at ease.
“What in the world could he have to talk about? Anything involving Esthar usually gets me interested but it seems like Esthar is just popping up too much in everything. There must be a reason behind it.” She was speaking as much to herself as she was Dante.

Quinn knew things rarely went according to plan. So once they hit the street with the hotel, she figured there would be some sort of trouble. There wasn’t, but Quinn stopped dead in her tracks. She was focused on a man who left the hotel. Most of his face was obscured by the soldiers surrounding him, soldiers in a uniform she had never seen before. That really wasn’t what bothered her. What bothered her, was that from the brief glimpse she got of the man’s face, he looked a lot like her late fiancé.

[Heartless Angel]

The two left the bench and took to the streets of Timber once more. It was quiet for a while, Quinn seemed to be lost in thought, he thought better not to bother her, and kept quiet himself.

“What in the world could he have to talk about? Anything involving Esthar usually gets me interested but it seems like Esthar is just popping up too much in everything. There must be a reason behind it.” She was speaking as much to herself as she was Dante.

"Esthar, huh?", he asked, not sure what had gotten Quinn on that subject. "Never been to Esthar, heard a few things, nothing I'd consider unusual though.", he said, following close behind her, keeping a cautious eye on any soliders they passed, ready to strike at a moment's notice, but none of them did anything Dante could interpret as hostile... This only made him think harder about what exactly had made him react so violently to the soldiers before, maybe they really were just trying to detain him, and he'd overreacted given his personal feelings about them. These thoughts weren't going to be of any help now, so he quickly pushed them aside. Quinn had stopped suddenly, and Dante, still thinking had walked into her from behind, though she seemed to preoccupied to care, or even notice. He watched as the group of men left the hotel. Quinn was focusing intently on one of them. The man in the middle, she was trying to get a good look at him it seemed... but why? He thought better not to ask yet, and kept quiet.

[Acheron]

The group of unknown soldiers continued on, getting closer to leaving through Timber’s main gate. Quinn felt like she was frozen in time. Carsten was dead, that’s what she knew. No, that’s what she had been told. She didn’t see him die. She watched the building collapse, the fires rage and nobody escape the carnage, but she never saw him die. Quinn was never one to play the fool though, not willingly at least and she never allowed herself to have “what if?” thoughts regarding Carsten. Even if he somehow survived, he didn’t come back to her. So in the end, dead or walking dead, it was really all the same.

"I was told that I have family in Esthar, or at least people that could be considered family. I've always wanted to go but seeing how the country is so isolated and Balamb Garden is usually opposing it in one way or another, I've never been." Quinn said then focused again on the group leaving.

But curiosity was starting to eat at her. Or maybe it was a mixture consisting of the unknown and the last futile hours. She told herself that now was not the time to make a plan; it was a time to act. Quinn started walking once again, a quicker pace than before. Two Galbadian soldiers outside of the hotel started to notice and began talking to each other. She wasn’t worried; if they went for their weapons, she knew both she and Dante wouldn’t have a trouble taking them down. They didn’t though and by the time both were in front of the hotel, the group of unknown soldiers had already made it out the gate and seemed to have vanished into thin air.

She ignored the two soldiers standing post outside the hotel and walked inside. A few other soldiers inside looked at the two of them then looked away once more. Either they didn’t care who they were or didn’t want any trouble, both ways suited Quinn just fine. Fatigue had begun to set in for her. She had been running non-stop now for over two days and the recent events, more importantly the thoughts, of today had simply started to run her down. Quinn looked to Dante and spoke low enough so nobody else would be able to hear.

“I understand you don’t want to rest until you find your comrades. Admirable and smart, like I said, I understand. But I’m exhausted and frankly, I’m doing too much thinking. Unless I lie down for a little bit, I’ll be of no use to you. I’m going to rest for about an hour or so, we can meet out front of this hotel, okay? It’s not like we have anything to do for the moment.” Quinn already knew there was a room she could use, and rest was the most important thing right now.

As much as she wanted to, she refrained from informing Dante that his comrades might already be lost. He wasn’t stupid; the thought had probably already crossed his mind multiple times. But regardless of where they were, Quinn was here and she needed some sleep. An hour would go by quickly. Her hopes were that in her time of rest, either Dante or herself would come up with a plan of where to go next...unless Keio had some information soon that would lead them in the right direction.

[Heartless Angel]

After a failed attempt at chasing the men, the two returned to the hotel and went inside. Quinn then pulled him aside, presumably to speak to him in private.

“I understand you don’t want to rest until you find your comrades. Admirable and smart, like I said, I understand. But I’m exhausted and frankly, I’m doing too much thinking. Unless I lie down for a little bit, I’ll be of no use to you. I’m going to rest for about an hour or so, we can meet out front of this hotel, okay? It’s not like we have anything to do for the moment.”, she said.

She then left him to go to her room to rest. Dante sighed and began wandering around the htoel's lobby. "Admirable? Smart? Did it really sound that way? I thought I was just being stubborn again... In my condition, I should be taking any opportunity I can get to rest, but I meant what I said, it wouldn't be right with my commrade's locations unknown...", he thought to himself. He sighed again as he walked out of the hotel, contemplating how to spend the hour. Soon after, he heard a voice.

"Hey, Steele! Been lookin everywhere for ya.", another soldier said, approaching him. "We were gonna meet up at the tavern for drinks half an hour ago, you forget?", the soldier asked.

"Shit... a friend of his.", Dante thought. "Oh, I uh, sorry, I was given new orders, and...", he began attempting to make an excuse.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. Still kissin' the higher ups' asses for that promotion, right Billy?", the soldier asked.

Dante didn't answer, he looked down at his feet, trying to think of what he'd say next. One bad answer, and his cover would be blown, and there were alot of soldiers in the area...

"Well, no problem, but when you make sergeant, the drinks are on you! Hahaha!", the soldier said, laughing heartily as he walked back in the direction of the tavern.

Dante let out a sigh of relief, and thought it better to just wait inside...

[Acheron]

Present Time

Quinn used what was left of her strength to close the door behind her and then fall down on the nice looking bed in front of her. Timber was known for its nice hotel; she planned on spending a night here during her honeymoon. A trip that never happened. Like many other things, just another path that went a way she never expected. She never planned on getting married one day anyways, yet that didn’t change the heartbreak she felt. It had been sometime since she had done so much thinking on events from the past. Quinn was never one to dwell on the past and as she placed her head down on the pillow, she hoped her subconscious would spare her an hour or two of peace.

Some Years Ago

Carsten and Quinn had made their way out to the dance floor. Much to Quinn’s horror, the music was only an upbeat song for a little while, and then quickly transitioned into slower music. She hadn’t done a slow dance since a wedding during childhood, now she was in the middle of all her peers. Yet as Carsten inched closer to her, her nerves started to relent and she began to feel more at ease. She slowly reached her arms around his neck and he placed his hands on her hips; neither one complained.

“So, I guess now would be an appropriate time to introduce myself eh?” Carsten said and smiled. “Carsten McCord is my full name. I was born in Timber, but my parents moved us here to Balamb when I was six. I’ve got a younger brother, no children or wives hidden away and aside from my gunblade, I personally don’t own too much. That’s a brief life story of me.”

Quinn smiled. “Just the name would have sufficed. It’s nice to meet you Carsten. I’m Quinn, Quinn Lockridge-Price, but you seem to know quite a bit about me already, don’t you?”

“I won’t lie to you. I’ve noticed you around for awhile but frankly, I just…well I really didn’t have the nerve to go and speak to you.”

“Oh shut up, you can’t be serious.” She was blushing once again. “How in the world could you not be able to speak to me?”

“Well, I mean I’ve seen you around and you’re always very serious in the training area. And if you’re not there, you’re in the library and Gareth told me a story about how a guy tried speaking to you in there once and you threw his coffee at him.” He started to laugh a bit; she looked horribly embarrassed but smiled too. “We even had a class together. Advanced Magic II, but I just wasn’t able to muster up the courage to speak to you.”

She was stunned and didn’t really know what to say. “I’m sorry I came off as that hard to approach. I’m really not, once you get to know me…though now I see the hard part might be getting to know me.”

The music had stopped and both of them pulled away from each other. It looked as if the band was going to take a short break; neither one voice it but it was clear they were both disappointed the song had come to an end. Quinn looked back over to the punch table, her friends were mixed with Carsten’s and the big group had gotten to talking amongst each other. All of them looked excited, already assuming they were watching a relationship in the making. All of them, aside from Gareth, that is. Carsten and Quinn walked back over to them together.

“Don’t worry,” said Quinn, “I think you’re going to get to know me quite well.”

One Year Ago

She was sure that she was dead. Every single inch of her body hurt. Her nerves were on fire, every single muscle felt as if she had just ran a marathon and was about to start another one. Even opening her eyes was a task in itself. Quinn slowly rolled onto her side, got to a knee and then began to stand up. Her uniform was tattered, holes everywhere and she was losing too much blood. She started to waver a bit on her feet, but found her staff on the ground, picking it up and using it to brace herself for a few moments. Quinn’s eyes focused to the man standing on the cobblestones in front of her. He held a mini-axe in one hand and a long, hunting knife in the other. His skin was tanned; he had wrinkles from age and plenty of scars to go along with them. She had no idea who he was, but she knew he was the man who had done this to her.

Present Time

The hour went by much faster than she had thought. She felt like her watch betrayed her; had it really only been an hour? Her mind didn’t give her any reprieve once she fell asleep but even so, she felt more refreshed than she had before. Quinn rolled over and placed both feet on the wood floor, enjoying the cool sensation without her socks on. Where to go and what to do next? The answers did not seem to lie within Timber. If they did, seemed like they were going to be pretty hard to find. Quinn decided that both she and Dante would bump up that meeting with the Captain and Keio. One of them had answers or at the very least, some information on what they could do next. Quinn got dressed and went downstairs.

She went downstairs and found Dante sitting on a couch near one of the windows. He wasn’t making a sound, and the other soldiers in the room didn’t seem to mind him one way or another. Quinn didn’t stop walking, only motioned for Dante to follow her outside. She continued down the street once he joined up with her, both of them making their way back to the bar.

“Thanks for waiting. Whatever Keio knows, we’re going to find that out now. I think waiting anymore isn’t the best option.” Quinn hoped she wasn’t coming off as too brash, but she knew something wrong was going on and putting a stop to it sooner than later was her first priority.

[Heartless Angel]

Finally, this long hour had come to an end, and Quinn came out of the elevator, into the lobby, motioning for him to follow. He was getting tired of this sitting, this waiting. Dante followed her out of the hotel, as she explained her next move.

“Thanks for waiting. Whatever Keio knows, we’re going to find that out now. I think waiting anymore isn’t the best option.”

"Couldn't agree more. I've never in my entire career accomplished anything by waiting. Acting gets things done one way or the other.", he said. "Always been more of an action man.", he said, beginning to open himself up. He wasn't sure why, but Quinn reminded him of someone he trusted, though he couldn't quite remember who... "Man, you should've seen some of the messes I've gotten myself into on missions, but I always manage to clean em' up and get the job done. That's why people go so far out of their way to hire me, even clients from foreign powers. I always get the job done, situation be damned, I'll figure it out. Your average assassin retreats when a plan falls apart. Not me. Dante Valentine always gets his mark.", he boasted, making sure there were no soldiers close enough to hear him. "Actually, I almost prefer it when I gotta improvise, usually alot more fun that way.", he continued. He continued talking almost the entire way.

[Acheron]

Quinn led Dante through the main part of town, listening as he spoke. She didn’t mind his conversation; it took her mind off of things somewhat and was better than letting her mind do all the speaking. They were about to get some answers as to what was going on. At least, what Keio knew might not have anything to do with their mission or why the other group was dispatched at all, but even if this led Dante and Quinn on a whole new quest entirely, it was something for them to do.

"Couldn't agree more. I've never in my entire career accomplished anything by waiting. Acting gets things done one way or the other.” he said.

She was usually more for planning things out, waiting until the right moment, but today that really didn’t apply. Quinn had been taught that it was far more important to be flexible than fully prepared for only one outcome. Someone like Dante, who seemed ready for anything at a moments notice or was able to adapt to most given situations, was a perfect partner for her on a mission. He was right though: acting would get things done. Whether it was the right way or not, that was something they would probably have to fight out later. The two of them were getting near the steps that would lead them down to the bar.

"Man, you should've seen some of the messes I've gotten myself into on missions, but I always manage to clean em' up and get the job done. That's why people go so far out of their way to hire me, even clients from foreign powers. I always get the job done, situation be damned, I'll figure it out. Your average assassin retreats when a plan falls apart. Not me. Dante Valentine always gets his mark.", he boasted, making sure there were no soldiers close enough to hear him. "Actually, I almost prefer it when I gotta improvise, usually alot more fun that way.", he continued. He continued talking almost the entire way.

It was clear that Dante had far more mission experience than Quinn did. At least, he had far more experience in the actual field. His actions also produced success, where Quinn had only been on four major missions before and one of them turned out to be nothing less than a catastrophic failure. It didn’t take long before Balamb Garden started teaching Mission 255-O to their students, as a perfect example of what NOT to do on a mission. Her reputation hadn’t taken a major hit from being apart of the mission; her role was actually minor. Yet that didn’t change the fact she had the scars and nightmares to prove she had been there. Quinn would have loved to tell Dante the same about her own career but the truth was she was far better away from the battlefield. Most of her work involved investigations, or early scouting assignments. Thanks to Mission 255-O, it looked like it would stay that way too.

“I would like to tell you I always get my mark too, but, it really hasn’t been the case.” Quinn didn’t sound too upset as she spoke. “I guess some of us are just not really suited for this line of work. And it’s not exactly something you can fake, right?”

The soldiers who were out front of the bar earlier were nowhere in sight now. Both Captain Pahlsen and Keio were also gone from standing guard. It was only a few minutes before daybreak, it was possible that both of them got off shift and were now waiting inside for her. Something didn’t feel exactly right though. She looked tentatively around, not seeing any signs of a recent conflict but given what the last few hours had been like, it paid to be more cautious than not. Maybe it was out of frustration, but Quinn continued forward and walked right into the bar.

Her worries and caution was misplaced: both Pahlsen and Keio were sitting at a back table, each picking at a plate of breakfast in front of them and putting some sugar in their coffees. Earlier the Captain had said he needed to speak to Quinn alone but she had enough trust in Dante that he could hear anything they had to say. Even if what they had to say revealed information about her past. She walked over to their table; both men began to stand but she waved them down with a hand. Quinn took a seat across from them, smiling in the fact they both had changed into civilian attire, maybe to lighten up the mood. A waitress came by and she ordered a cup of coffee for herself and for Dante.

“Captain, Keio, hope I didn’t keep you waiting. You both remember…”

“Corporal Steele, right?” said Captain Pahlsen. He then extended his hand to shake Dante’s, “Or should I say, Dante Valentine?”

Quinn didn’t know what to do next. She knew the Captain and Keio very well, the last thing she wanted to do was fight them. “Captain…”

The Captain retracted his hand and smiled, “No shake? Fair enough.” He turned his attention to Quinn, “You’re on assignment and from my guess, you two didn’t come here together. Just as you have ways of gathering intelligence, so do we. Don’t worry about it Quinn, we don’t feel lied to. Like I said, they were new guys under us and didn’t exactly have a lot of…well…character?”

“The G-Army isn’t really what it used to be,” said Keio. “Yeah they were our countrymen but not the greatest apples in the bunch.”

“Exactly.” The Captain took a sip of his coffee. “Just as long as it doesn’t become public knowledge that I’m aiding a SeeD here with information,” he looked over to Dante and then back to Quinn, “then everything is fine.”

Quinn finally exhaled and was thankful when hers and Dantes coffee arrived. Apparently the bond she forged with the two Galbaldian soldiers went a lot deeper than she originally had thought. But if they hadn’t used the biometrics on them to figure out Dante’s identity and had Intel on them…

“We don’t have too much time then, I’m assuming?” said Quinn.

“Enough to tell you what we need to, then how you guys escape is up to you. The force will be on high alert since they found the bodies a short while ago.” said Pahlsen.

Quinn nodded. “So, what do you have?”

“Not too long ago, Esthar soldiers went through the Timber Maniacs building. It happened on an off-shift for the soldiers: pretty much nobody was guarding anything. We didn’t think much of it, I mean, why would we? It’s an empty building for a defunct magazine. But according to our scouts, Esthar also sent soldiers to an old research facility in the mountains, northeast of Dollet. Way out there actually; they’re searching for something” said Keio.

“But what?” asked Quinn.

“From the looks of it, I’d guess documents of some sort? That could be the only reason I would figure for checking out the Maniacs building. As for the research facility…”

“What also concerns me,” the Captain interrupted Keio, “Is the appearance of a group of soldiers, wearing a uniform I’ve never seen before and walking around like the own everything. Hell, we saw them not too long ago again. I don’t know, but I don’t get a good vibe from them.”

“We saw them too” said Quinn, “One of them looked a lot like…a lot like Carsten.”

It was the first time she had actually said his name since the funeral. Even in her dealings with Tyrod and Bourdon, she could never muster the strength to speak Carsten’s name. It brought about such a mixture of emotions that she could never put them into words without a massive struggle. She saw that both Pahlsen and Keio brought all of their attention on her; she took a quick sip of her coffee.

“But it couldn’t be, right? I mean, if he survived, why wouldn’t he come back?” said Quinn.

“It’s just gotta be a coincidence, nothing more. I would just keep my eye open for those soldiers, whoever they are. Basically, if I were you guys, I would go and search out this research facility. You’re not gonna be able to move around freely here in Timber for a bit, so why not?” said Keio.

“We could…but,” Quinn turned her attention to the door of the bar. Outside there sounded like a commotion, or more accurately, a gathering taking place.

The Captain stood up, and then Keio did too. “Sounds like we’ve run out of time. You’ve got a comm-link on you Quinn?”

“Yes, I do.”

“We’ll try to call you up eventually. Take care.” The Captain came around the table and gave her a tight hug. He whispered something in her ear and then let her go. Keio did the same, minus the whispering. Quinn left them and as both she and Dante hit the back door into the alley, she heard both Captain and Keio shouting for the other soldiers to pursue them.

[Heartless Angel]

After he'd rambled for a while Quinn finally responded. “I would like to tell you I always get my mark too, but, it really hasn’t been the case.” Quinn didn’t sound too upset as she spoke. “I guess some of us are just not really suited for this line of work. And it’s not exactly something you can fake, right?”, she said.

Dante stopped walking for a moment. "Well, I may always finish assassination contracts, but I'm far from a perfect SeeD. I've had my fair share of screw ups on normal squad missions. Some alot worse than others...", he said, not elaborating on the one in particular he was thinking of. He sighed and began walking again as he continued, "But... Nothin' I can do about any of that now. I'm still standing, so I just gotta keep looking forward...", he said, a noticable trace of sadness in his voice.

There was silence for the remaineder of the short trip to the bar. Quinn went in after a brief survey of the area. Dante felt as though there was something wrong here... but there was no evidence to back that up, so he followed Quinn, keeping his eyes open, waiting for something to go wrong. Upon entering, he saw Quinn taking a seat at a table with the two soldiers from earlier, though they were in civillian attire now... with an increasing sense of danger, he joined them. Quinn began to introduce him again, but was interupted.

“Corporal Steele, right?” said Captain Pahlsen. He then extended his hand to shake Dante’s, “Or should I say, Dante Valentine?”

The moment he heard his name, Dante's survival instincts began trying to take over, it took every ounce of restraint he had just to resist the urge to ready his weapons. Though the man only had his hand extended for a few seconds, those moments felt like an eternity to Dante, who was slowly reverting to his usual battle ready self. Eventually the tension subsided, and he was able to relax and listen to what the men had to say. "I knew at least one of you'd figured me out... sixth sense...", he mumbled quietly.

The Captain retracted his hand and smiled, “No shake? Fair enough.” He turned his attention to Quinn, “You’re on assignment and from my guess, you two didn’t come here together. Just as you have ways of gathering intelligence, so do we. Don’t worry about it Quinn, we don’t feel lied to. Like I said, they were new guys under us and didn’t exactly have a lot of…well…character?”

“The G-Army isn’t really what it used to be,” said Keio. “Yeah they were our countrymen but not the greatest apples in the bunch.”

“Exactly.” The Captain took a sip of his coffee. “Just as long as it doesn’t become public knowledge that I’m aiding a SeeD here with information,” he looked over to Dante and then back to Quinn, “then everything is fine.”

For the time being, it seemed their bond of friendship with Quinn was more powerful than their bond of loyalty to the G-army, which for their purposes was a very good thing. The waitress had set a cup of hot coffee down in front of him, which Dante began drinking immediately. If they knew who he was, they wouldn't have long before the rest of army came looking for them. Quinn said it just as he was thinking it, and the captain confirmed this.

“We don’t have too much time then, I’m assuming?” said Quinn.

“Enough to tell you what we need to, then how you guys escape is up to you. The force will be on high alert since they found the bodies a short while ago.” said Pahlsen.

Dante sighed as he finished his coffee. "Knew I should've hidden them somewhere else... Not that it would've made much difference. Judging by his expression last time we met, he knew who I was well before that discovery... I had a feeling that someone had been watching me since I hit town... I'm assuming one of his men slipped a tracker on me at some point while I was fighting.", he thought, while quietly finishing the drink off then setting the empty cup down. He sighed. "Which means I've been wearing this damn thing all day for no reason at all.", he mumbled, as he removed the hot, uncomfortable helmet, and began speaking in his own voice again.

The two soldiers began giving Quinn all the information theyd been waiting to share, as Dante absorbed every word of it. Eventually the conversation switched more to one of a personal nature concerning someone named Carsten. Dante had no need for information of this nature, so he took the opportunity to slip into the restroom to get back into his own clothes, afterall if anything important was said, Quinn would fill him in later. He finished quickly, coming back just in time to see the men standing up.

“Sounds like we’ve run out of time. You’ve got a comm-link on you Quinn?”, one asked.

“Yes, I do.”, Quinn responded.

“We’ll try to call you up eventually. Take care.” The Captain came around the table and gave her a tight hug. He whispered something in her ear and then let her go. Keio did the same, minus the whispering.

Quinn left them and as both she and Dante hit the back door into the alley, she heard both Captain and Keio shouting for the other soldiers to pursue them.

"Well, this hasn't gone entirely according to plan... good thing you have a couple of friends in high places, eh Quinn? Did I miss anything while I was changing by the way?", he asked, as the two made their way away from the bar, and the soliders who would soon follow.

[Acheron]

"Well, this hasn't gone entirely according to plan... good thing you have a couple of friends in high places, eh Quinn? Did I miss anything while I was changing by the way?", he asked, as the two made their way away from the bar, and the soliders who would soon follow.

She started running down the alley behind the bar, Dante right by her side. It was a few moments before G-Army troops busted through the door to the alley; Quinn was only able to count four of them. They started to pursue the two fleeing SeeD members.

“Don’t let their uniforms fool you. Pahlsen and Keio aren’t normal soldiers and you’re right, it’s a good thing we were able to run into them here.”

Quinn didn’t want to think too much about it, but it was awfully convenient that she had ran into two G-Army soldiers that she had a great relationship with. Any other soldiers could have just looked her up in the database but two that she knew personally? And then the appearance of those unknown soldiers, with one of them looking like Carsten? Maybe she was reading way too much into what had been going on recently. Or maybe, she was at the start of something a lot larger than she had expected. The two of them had reached the stairs that would lead them to the old TV studio. Instead of heading up, Quinn stopped at the base of the stairs.

“I don’t feel like having to run all day long. This will only take a moment.” She waited until the four soldiers were only a few feet away. Quinn held her right arm out, palm facing the soldiers and softly said, “Stop,” casting the spell on all four of them at once. All of the soldiers froze in place, buying enough time for Quinn and Dante to make their way wherever they needed to.

She motioned for Dante to follow her, and they started right back down the way they came. Quinn was willing to bet those four were the only soldiers coming after them; there was a good chance her friends were sending them all over Timber. Both she and Dante walked back into the bar, taking two tickets from Keio who stood there with a smirk and then they walked right out of the front door. After taking the steps up and making a quick left, they were at the train station, where the train seemed to have been waiting for them. It wasn’t until they were settled in their train cabin that Quinn began to talk.

“To answer your question of if you missed anything…” She thought about it for a moment, and then decided honesty would be the only way. “One of the unknown soldiers we saw in Timber, he looked a lot like my late fiancé. Apparently, both the Captain and Keio had seen these soldiers around before too. They also found out this group had been exploring a research facility in the mountains up north.”

Quinn got up to pace around the room for a few moments. She looked out the windows to watch the scenery passing by. The land had always been so beautiful, yet the people on each continent were all so accustomed to ever lasting conflict. A fantastic contradiction. After her few moments of quiet, she sat down once again.

“I’d be lying if I said I knew exactly what was going on. We’ve got Esthar looking for something; we’ve got a group of unknown soldiers looking for something. I think the best course of action, is to figure out what exactly that something is.”

[Heartless Angel]

Not long after they'd left, a small group of low ranking soldiers gave pursuit. A rather small group considering the two commanding officers in this area both knew for a fact that he was going this way... they must've been trying to buy Quinn and himself time.

Quinn eventually stopped, and indicated that she planned to deal with their followers here. In anticipation of a fight, he readied his weapons and got into stance, though he determined it wasn't nescessary, as Quinn had frozen them all with a spell. "Well... guess that's one way to stop pursuers... I oughta learn that one myself...", he said, as he sheathed the blades.

After the short encounter, Quinn led Dante back to the tavern they'd just fled, where she obtained two train tickets from the soldier who'd previously sent soldiers after them... he really was trying to help them escape... surely there was a great deal of risk to his career, reputation, and possibly even his life. Quinn certainly had some good friends if they were willing to go this far for her. The two quickly made their way to the train station. Dante didn't like the idea of leaving his team behind, but he wasn't the leader here, he had no obligation to stay and wait for them... As he boarded, he turned and looked out the open door. "Well, Storm's a big girl, she'll be alright... And I'm sure she can handle the kid too.", he said, though he didn't sound entirely convinced of his own claim. The train departed shortly after.

He took a seat in the cabin, and Quinn began to speak.

“To answer your question of if you missed anything…” She thought about it for a moment, and then decided honesty would be the only way. “One of the unknown soldiers we saw in Timber, he looked a lot like my late fiancé. Apparently, both the Captain and Keio had seen these soldiers around before too. They also found out this group had been exploring a research facility in the mountains up north.”

Quinn got up to pace around the room for a few moments. She looked out the windows to watch the scenery passing by.

His focus shifted as soon as he heard the words, 'late fiancé'. Memories of her. Thoughts of the life he could now never have... now that he'd let her down, allowed her to die under his command... He reached into his coat, and pulled out a small ring box, he looked at it for a few seconds, without opening it.

After her few moments of quiet, Quinn sat down once again.

“I’d be lying if I said I knew exactly what was going on. We’ve got Esthar looking for something; we’ve got a group of unknown soldiers looking for something. I think the best course of action, is to figure out what exactly that something is.” , she said.

Returning to reality, he quickly returned he ring to its place, and sighed heavily. "I see. So that's why you were focusing on that man so intently. I was wondering if you knew him somehow.", he said, reffering to Quinn's focus on him when the group walked past them near the hotel. "It would also seem that we have at very least a small faction in Galbadia assisting them, if not part of the government itself. Having met your friends, and having questioned several of the soldiers I killed, I'm beginning to think Galbadia's right hand doesn't know what it's left is doing anymore.", he said. He looked out the window for a few moments, thinking about the events of the past week, desperately trying to find some connection between these seemingly unrelated events, but to no avail. He sighed, and turned his focus back to Quinn. "Well then, how do you suggest we go about this?", he asked.