[network] Event: Long & Lost [NIGHT 217]

[snowblindmods]

it's been so long between the words we spoke
will you be there up on the shore, I hope

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Comments

[swatsflies]

Yeah, they did. It was our final exam to make SeeD.

[ You mean there's something wrong with that? ]

[jumpthegun]

[Bloody hell.]

How old are you, Zell?

[swatsflies]

Seventeen. Why?

[jumpthegun]

Because that's very young. Did they just dump all of your fellow classmates into this? What sort of leadership and support was provided for you to coordinate your offensive with existing members of SeeD?

[swatsflies]

Huh?
That's not young.
It's the average age. You have until you're twenty to make SeeD or you're out.
Not all of my classmates could make the cut. A lot of them were struggling with the written exam.
So there was only twelve of us.
We had active SeeD members on hand, but they were only support to ensure the mission is completed.
Our mission was to drive them out and hold our designated position.
They assigned someone in our group to be leader, which sucked big time. They assigned the biggest asshole ever to call the shots.

[ He can grump a long time about Seifer Almasy. ]

[jumpthegun]

Twelve teenagers with no prior active combat experience were expected to clear a city with minimal guidance, an inexperienced commander, and almost no support. That's indescribably irresponsible on more levels than I can count. No advanced military in my world would ever sanction that sort of mission.

At the very least, they put the crows with an experienced commander. Doing otherwise is asking for something to go wrong. How many of your classmates were injured or killed? Even if the answer is 'none,' do you know what the statistics are for the general SeeD exam? Is it expected that students might die as part of the practical exam?

[He's starting to get angry on Zell's behalf.]

[swatsflies]

It's the first time we had real combat against people.
Before it was just the monsters in the training center or the ones outside Balamb.

[ That counts as combat training, right? ]

None were killed. There were a few injuries reported.
Only four of us total made SeeD.
I don't
I don't remember it completely. That was the memory that Winter took.

It's seen as something amazing where I'm from.
You're the second person who reacted like it should be different.

[ He doesn't understand what the deal is. ]

[jumpthegun]

I'm going to guess monsters in your world are equivalent to animals? Very large and dangerous animals. They can do some strategy, but that's not enough when taking on a human opponent with real tactical skills.

I'm sorry that part of your memory was taken, but this really should be different. Where I'm from, training and enlisting children, indoctrinating them to fight, is a war crime. It's considered one of the lowest things a militia or government military can do.

[swatsflies]

Whoa! That's pretty different where I'm from.
Most of us are orphans. We can enroll as young as five.
We can't make SeeD until we're at least fifteen.
Once we do, we are dispatched around the world to take out monsters, provide battle support, or do undercover work.

[ Could you imagine Zell trying to do undercover? ]

There's not a whole lot I can do, but I can fight.
I can protect what matters and I'll keep doing it until the end.

[jumpthegun]

[Saying they're using orphaned children for soldiers really isn't helping your case, Zell.]

They're sending out kids as young as 15? Bloody hell. I'm glad you feel like you got something out of it, Zell, but all of that is so incredibly wrong to me.

Vulnerable kids with no one else to look out for them brought into a training school that just teaches them to fight for money? There's nothing that seems off about that to you?

[swatsflies]

[ It's giving kids a purpose. That's totally better right? ]

How's that wrong? We chose to sign up.
We weren't vulnerable and we all worked hard to pass the interview to become a cadet.

[ Does that answer the question? ]

[jumpthegun]

What other options did you have in your world? Did the people who offered to sign you up promise you a lot of money and security in return for going with them?

[swatsflies]

No it's
It's a little different for me.
It probably would be like that if my Ma didn't adopt me.
And I want to prove she didn't make a mistake.
I want to make her proud.

[jumpthegun]

[Okay. That's only slightly better.]

What age did they come and recruit you away from your mother?

[swatsflies]

I joined when I was thirteen.

[ He's one of the later ones in the bunch. ]

[jumpthegun]

[He still doesn't like this.]

What did your mum think of it all?

[swatsflies]

She supports my choices.
If she didn't, I would hear about it.

[ In other words, he didn't really ask. ]

[jumpthegun]

[He's reading between the lines there.]

Why are they so desperate that they're recruiting children to their program?

[swatsflies]

It was matron's idea.
She was the one running the orphanage.
She wanted to prepare us to fight her if the worst happened

[jumpthegun]

[Wait, what?]

Why would you be fighting the matron at the orphanage?

[swatsflies]

She's a sorceress.
She absorbed the powers of another Sorceress and thought she would lose control.

[jumpthegun]

Did she?

[swatsflies]

Another sorceress took over her mind.
She didn't really have a choice.
She was our second mission as SeeD.
We were ordered to assassinate her.

We failed.

[ It's still crazy to really look back at it all. ]