As the assembled SeeDs slowly filtered from the room, Duncan felt a wave of weariness overtake him. He had lost teammates before, but never subordinates. The weight of their lives, both living and dead felt suddenly heavy on his shoulders... An unsteady voice broke the silence of the empty room, punctuated by halting sobs; the contact, Mei was it? Her brother had taken a hit during the fight, a pretty serious wound. Kein had assured him that Tyler would survive along with the other wounded, but without the support of a junctioned GF it would take time, months, perhaps years before he could fight again. He felt for the kid, but had no words of sympathy to offer his horrified sister. They all knew what they had signed up for...

[b]'... Things didn't go well. Wiggs was more dangerous than we anticipated; he caught us off-guard. Your brother did well, but took a heavy hit... I...'[/b] Duncan sighed deeply, unsure of what words of support to offer; they team technically had a councillor, but Yoko had disappeared soon after Kein returned, damn her... Come to think of it, Kein himself had vanished too. It didn't take a genius to put two and two together, but he was still annoyed that her support was missing at such a vital juncture... He turned his gaze back to Mei, trying to lighten up his grim expression. [b]'Well, at least he's...'[/b] He trailed off at Eika entered the room, making a beeline straight for the sobbing girl. [i]Well done girl, nice save![/i] Duncan mentally high-fived Eika, glad to have someone more articulate to help calm the tears. [b]'Uh, b-but just to confirm, Tyler isn't dead. His injuries will heal, don't worry.'[/b] Watching Eika confuse the dead and wounded brought a melancholic smile to his lips and Duncan stifled a morbid laugh. [b]'Well... For the moment, just be grateful that he's safe. I plan to send him and the others off to Balamb Garden for medical care tomorrow. Speaking of which I've gotta head into the office, write that mission report... I'll see you both in the morning.'[/b] He gave them a smile each, awkwardly sympathetic to Mei and just plain awkward to Eika, before heading off into the bowels of the base.

Despite what he said, Duncan passed by the designated CO's office, continuing down the hall to the holding cell where two heavily armed SeeDs stood guard. Giving them a grim nod, Duncan led the way into the cell, breaking open a special case lifted from the Galbadian base. The Major was awake, strung up helplessly against the wall. With his implants fried, his bulk was nothing but dead weight; the only useful part of him left was the information in Wigg's head. Robbed of his weapons and purpose, he looked oddly diminished... and frightened. [b]'Well then Mr Wiggs- can I call you Arnholt? You and I need to have a little chat...'[/b] Duncan drew a pair of pliers from the case as the soundproofed door swung shut behind them.

[hr]

The sun was just starting it's ascent into the sky when Duncan stepped out from the base's camouflaged entrance. Hopefully the rest of the team had gotten a few hours sleep, God knew they deserved it. Sitting down on a pile of discarded tires, he sparked up a morning cigarette. He had gotten some useful information from working overnight, pouring over the various... assets taken from the base, enough to plan the next stage of the operation. First step would be escaping the city, no easy feat since the garrison had put it on lockdown... [i]Well,[/i] he thought practically. [i]First step is getting casualties home.[/i] What worried Duncan was that he feared he might have to cut his active team right down or risk being noticed as they moved toward... He shook his head violently, trying to dispel his thoughts. The plan could come later. For now, the team could have a few hours to relax...