Working on his own projects, Xerox was having trouble getting enough space. He heaved a heavy sigh. Rue looked up, wondering what he was sighing about. "Oh, it's just that I need more space." he replied, slowly getting up, while letting his stuff return to the ESS. Guess I can ask Duncan if I can go outside for a bit Xerox thought, walking over to the comms room. Seeing others doing the work they were assigned, he realized he wasn't technically assigned anything. More time to work on my own things I guess he concluded. As he reached the door to the comms room, he heard Freya talking. "Syrus Cromwell, Seed Rank six, castrated by court martial. Rolls right off the tongue, onto the chopping block." Xerox was immediately dumbfounded. Walking in, Xerox could not help but speak. "Syrus, what the fuck did you do for someone to want to castrate you?" Asking the question, all he could do was look perplexed. Rue had tugged at Xerox, explaining the situation the moomba had heard before they had arrived and what Rue had saw at the ball. "Oh.... Wait. So our contact hooked up with Syrus at the ball dance you say?" Xerox asked Rue, looking at Syrus. "Well, that's something interesting to hear. You warming up to someone so quickly." He continued. "Well, hope it doesn't affect the mission.

So much drama had unfolded in such a short span of time that it left Jake dumbfounded. The first impression that he'd generated for the Balamb SeeD's had been quickly demolished. His eyes darted from person to person as the events occurred before him. First there was the one called 'Syrus' answering the comm link in what could only be described, by Jake, as a rather unprofessional manner. Followed by Duncan's swift scolding, which to Jake was at least a little justified? Fun poking was then carried out by two other Balamb members. Jake shook his head "What is this, babysitting duty?" He had barely projected his voice enough to be heard. It was a comment based on what he had observed in the short time span he had been in the Timber Warehouse. Jake didn't take long to reflect on what he said before he recalled the post script of his instructors. "No offence of course." Jake directed towards Duncan. "I'm just not used to missions with so much... commotion?.. Commotion." That had been true for the most part, even where he had worked as part of a team. 'Stealth missions, Recon missions, are they not essentially the same?' Jake questioned in his mind before following up. "Might I make a request? Following briefing from our contact I'd appreciate the opportunity to scout the patrol routes." Jake could easily identify patrol rotations amongst the guards and soldiers stationed in Timber with only short term observation. He had hoped that Duncan had been made aware of his pro's and con's in the dossier that would have been supplied by Galbadia. However having witnessed what had unfolded so far he would not be surprised if Duncan had decided against reading it.

As the intercom crackled to life, Mei's cheery expression faded into a stupified one as a choking sound drowned over the static. As she opened her mouth to voice her concern, a very familiar voice rang out, one that she had only just heard the night before. One that she had never imagined hearing again so soon. "Mei!? What the hell are you doing here!? The last time I saw or heard your voice you ran away from me saying you had to go!" Struck speechless, Mei's mouth opened uselessly, like a fish gulping for air, as Syrus quickly urged her to enter the building. "So it seems you two have met, hmm?" The unamused voice of her brother murmured beside her as he fixed her with an icy glare. "Fraternizing with the mercenaries? God, Mei, what were you thinking?" "It wasn't-I mean, it's not like that!" Mei whispered back, her face a torn expression of shock and guilt. "I swear, he just helped me out in Balamb. I never imagined-" Another male voice suddenly spoke from the intercom, assuming a more professional and composed tone as he replied to Mei's code word with the correct phrase that both she and Corvo had agreed upon. Once he issued the password for entering the building, Tyler wasted no time in punching it into the intercom, and shortly afterwards, an audible click sounded, confirming their right of entry. Once the intercom's connection cut off, Tyler let out a tired sigh, glancing over at his sister with a disapproving look. "Knew I should have chased after you in Balamb. You're just too damn friendly with everyone." "Yeah, well...oops." Mei's face pulled into a sheepish grin as she shrugged off Tyler's words and tugged the door open. "Look, I promise I'm gonna be professional about this, ok? You know my loyalty is to the Faction, nothing else." "It damn well be," Tyler growled under his breath, something territorial gleaming in his eyes as he followed after the girl into the warehouse, where they would meet up with the assembled SeeDs. Finally, they approached the comms room, where the group of mercenaries were gathered. Mei's eyes glanced over all of them, from the strange, boxer-like girl with a bandage on her nose, to a bespectacled guy in a lab coat and-wait, was that a Moomba?! Mei's hands clapped over her mouth to conceal the squeal that threatened to escape at the sight of the furry little thing, but a steely look from Tyler was enough to force her to keep her composure. Calmly, she looked over at the rest of the group; a scruffy, unkempt male with a serious expression, a familiar grey haired man with glasses (Mr. Duncan! Mei recalled inwardly with a surprised smile,) and last of all..a young male with flaming red hair and a long black coat. Syrus Cromwell, Mei's tour guide and dance partner from the night before. Mei cleared her throat, wringing her hands together in front of her as she felt all eyes drawn to her. "So, umm...guess that the mystery's solved now, right Syrus?" She murmured sheepishly, earning an exasperated sigh from her brother as she squared her shoulders and assumed a more professional stance. "Mei Song, member of the Galbadian Military Resistance Faction," she introduced herself with an uncharacteristically serious edge to her voice as she gestured to her companion. "And this is my partner, Tyler. We're here for the debriefing, as per the contract issued to us by your Garden. Who is the leading SeeD in this operation?"

Out of all the confusion that had just gone down Syrus had sat back in a chair and had not answered Duncan, Xerox, or Freya. Xerox he could have smacked, Freya he should have kicked her ass, and Duncan was the only one out of the three that he had any respect for at the moment. Finally after a pause and Mei and her partner coming into the room he cleared his throat. Getting up out of the chair he had causally slumped over into he gave a loose but professional salute. "Sorry about that Mei." He said in a calm voice. After all why had he freaked out so much? He chalked it up to she didn't seem like a military girl at all nor did he think that he would see her again. "I think Duncan is still the one in charge for the most part and there is also..." Syrus blanked on her name. The woman that had been sent with them and who was Kein's wife. "...Kein's wife, I can't for the life of me remember her name." Syrus stood there and then turned to Duncan. "Is there anything you would like me to do sir?" He asked kinda hastily.

The amusement garnered from the reveal of Syrus' dalliance was not shared by Duncan. More so than anyone else present, he understood the dangers of getting too close to the client; too many good SeeDs had lost their jobs or worse, their lives because of a stupid one-off fling. Syrus' status as a unique asset made the potential breach even more dangerous. Still... the kid was a teenager. Hormones made people do stupid things. 'That's enough of that.', he said sharply to Freya and Xerox. 'I'm sure Syrus understands how badly this could have gone and how keeping his cock in his pants can now be considered a standing order?' Come to think of it, this wasn't too different from when Duncan had had to cover up for Syrus faux pas with Corvo; the lad was swiftly becoming a recurring headache... As they waited for the contact to enter the bunker, another of the newly transferred SeeDs spoke up, eliciting a wan smile from Duncan. 'None taken. You're not wrong though.' Jake Firesong was an unusual addition to the roster and not one he would have chosen; he had in fact been placed on the mission at Corvo's express order, no doubt to ensure a healthy dose of good old fashioned Galbadian discipline. In light of events so far, it was hard for Duncan to fault the reasoning. 'Good idea. Intel swept the area and got us a map of routine movements, but they've fucked up too often lately. Better to be safe than sorry.' As he was working his way through the most efficient way to canvas the city, a sharp voice spoke up behind him. 'Sir, the outer door has resealed; our contact will be here any second. I respectfully suggest that you stop brooding and brace up.' As annoying as it was to have his toes stepped on by his own adjutant, Duncan understood that Yoko was just doing her job. He muttered a slightly mean reply under his breath while turning back to the entrance, standing at attention. When the so-called contact waltzed into the room, Yoko couldn't stop a groan of despair... What kind of military organisation hired a child as a liaison? And in that get-up? It would have been less suspicious to walk around in full combat gear rather than... well, that. The adjutant braced herself for what promised to be a long evening. The only silver lining was Cromwell referring to her as Kein's wife; now there was a nice idea. A little chapel in Centra, a reception at Garden followed by a long honeymoon... It took considerable force of will to banish the dumb grin from her face and focus on the conversation before her. '... yes. That would be me. I believe you have seen my file, Ms Song? Unfortunately I can't say the same; we weren't given any information on you bar your name and appearance.' Duncan smiled apologetically. 'Most of the team is here, minus two. If you wouldn't mind introducing yourselves? Once everyone is settled we can move onto your debrief.'

Most of the team is here, minus two. Gracelyn stood at the door and gave a sarcastic gasp. "Oh no. We have two missing team members? That's terrible. If you want I can go out and look for them. In fact, I already found one. He's right behind me, snacking on who knows what. Oh! Would you look at that! I found the second one. In fact..." Gracelyn looked down at herself. "She's right here! Surprising isn't it? I'm a good detective." Gracelyn held up a large bag. It was filled with different foods and ingredients for cooking lots of foods. Among them were peppers and greens, Gracelyn's favorites. "Here's all the ingredients for us to cook with. Hope it's good enough." looking behind herself, Gracelyn motioned for Jericho. "Come on, bring all your snacks and such. We haven't all day." Setting the bag down, Gracelyn took a seat for the debrief.

At Syrus's response to her question, Mei's eyes swept over from Duncan to a young woman that she had neglected to notice upon entering the room. There was a clear look of distaste on her face as she felt the woman's eyes glance over Mei's appearance, before speaking to her in a cool and professionally crisp tone. Kein's wife (or so Syrus had described her) confirmed that she too was leading the operation, whilst assuming that Mei had read over her dossier. Of course, Mei had done no such thing, having concentrated on only the interesting and vital parts of the operation, and despite attempting to disguise this fact with a carefree smile, Mei was clearly failing. "Oh! Trust me, you wouldn't have been the slightest bit interested in my file anyway. It would have bored someone like you to tears," Mei reassured her with a light, and obviously forced laugh. "But umm, I definitely remember reading about you somewhere! Miss...uhh..." "Yoko Ono." The relief washed over Mei's face as her subdued brother finally spoke up, saving the embarrassment of being caught in a lie as he took over. "SeeD and field adjutant to Duncan Lerwick." He gestured over to the male standing beside Yoko before continuing. "As Mei has already stated, we're both part of the Resistance Faction. I cover field work whilst Mei handles negotiation and correspondence. Mei visited your Garden yesterday to speak to Head Instructor Corvo, and he has agreed to join us in our cause." He cleared his throat. "Our cause...to take down Deling." Tyler sharply inclined his head in Mei's direction as a sign that he was done speaking before perching himself against the wall, icy blue eyes watching the group silently. Mei, taking over from her brother, continued. "We've been saving up for enough money to recruit SeeD for the longest time. On our own...we are powerless under the heel of President Deling, but with the strength of SeeD backing us up..." Mei's hopeful words trailed off slightly, before she quickly gave herself a visible shake. "But anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. As you are all aware, Timber-" A gasp cut Mei short, her eyes blinking in surprise at the two figures standing by the doorway. They were both brandishing what looked like food supplies, and the bald-headed woman that interrupted her gave some kind of sarcastic sneer before sitting herself down on one of the available seats expectantly. Tyler looked as if he was biting back the urge to reply, and it took Mei to give him a quick warning look to silence him before picking up where she left off. "Uhh, right! Guess we're all here now, right Mr Du-Lerwick?" She corrected herself with a sheepish grin before straightening out her shoulders. "Right. Where was I? Ahh, yes. As you're all aware Timber has been under martial law by the Galbadians since the Sorceress War 18 years ago..." * "...and that's where you guys come in." Mei's briefing of the situation in Timber finally reached its end, a satisfied expression on the girl's face as she held their attention. As per her superior's instructions, she had kept the information disclosed on the Faction to a need-to-know basis, and instead focused on the control the Galbadians had over the city, and where they were stationed. There was one particular station however, that Mei would be drawing attention to. "There is an important figure in the Galbadian Army. Someone close to Deling," Mei explained with a hint of a smile, the adrenaline rush of the mission flowing through her veins. "He's currently stationed here in Timber, at their main headquarters just south of the TV station. Tomorrow evening, SeeD will infiltrate the building and contain him for questioning." Hands on her hips, Mei looked over at the group of mercenaries with an endearingly confident grin. "And that's where we start planning your line of attack! Any questions before we move on?"