Categories > Games > Final Fantasy X-2 > As Flies to Wanton Boys
Chapter Seven
0 reviewsThis follows Nooj into the Crusaders. It will be multi-chapter. The first chapter is, of necessity, expository. It sets the scene for what is to come.
0Unrated
Chapter Seven
Nooj woke as suddenly as he had fallen asleep. To his astonishment, he found he was shivering and the details of the dream remained uncomfortably clear in his memory. With that lingering miasma still clinging to him, he felt compelled to check his body in spite of recognizing the foolishness of the act. He was almost afraid to reach for his left arm and leg and felt ridiculous when he touched them, finding that they were whole and functional.
He sat quietly, letting his heart return to its normal rhythm, unable to shake the irrational feeling that the dream meant something. Otherwise, why was it occurring so often? True, most times he did not remember it with clarity, being only aware of a sense of loss, of futility, of struggling against Impossible odds. Well, he was no interpreter of omens but the vision had added its weight to his almost formed decision.
If he was meant to fight then he could not simultaneously try to die. The dream seemed to say to his questioning mind that to continue on his quest for Death would be to lop off parts of his capacity to wage battle well. He could not be a Warrior without his limbs and so, he thought he was being shown, he must stop deliberately and purposefully making himself unfit for the only profession which suited him. He looked at the idea, turning it around in his mind and could find no flaw. He was a Warrior, trained and superior to most others of his craft. So he would fight. He would not hold back form engaging whatever enemy he encountered but he would not woo death, would not abandon his life too readily. He felt he had found the compromise, the choice which would not do violence to his convictions thus far in life but which would permit him to survive for a while yet. He need not flee from Death but also need not pursue it so avidly. It was not the choice of a coward but that of a practical man. He would be less than honorable to waste the time and effort which had gone into his schooling thus far.
The sense of well-being which suffused him convinced him he had chosen correctly and, extricating himself from his sanctuary with an air of inner peace, he began his trek back to the camp and his acolytes.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
That night at the campfire, Nooj announced to the squadron that their leisure time was over. They would relocate the next day to a position on the other side of the Travel Agency and from there clear the upper portion of the Highroad as they had done the lower.
While some were privately disappointed at not returning to base camp, most were delighted to be doing something, anything other than sitting and waiting. None had the temerity to question their leader or to remark on his more relaxed mien.
Nooj slept well that night with no dreams.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Aquelev was intrigued by the change he noted in Nooj after their conversation in the copse and several days later reported his observations in a message to his elder:
"Our Captain is more business-like in his attitude these days. No longer does he act like a Berserker when we engage our prey but is more like the seasoned Warrior he is. If I did not know he has not visited the Travel Agency lately, I might think he was availing himself of the amenities I am sure you have arranged to be there for him. His recent behavior is making me re-think our first assessment. He may not be a Deathseeker at all but just one of those overly enthusiastic young men who naturally gravitate to the military. If so, he is the sort I need to win over to the use of machina. If someone like him can be persuaded, it would go a long way toward swaying the junior officer corps since Nooj is much looked up to for his courage and determination. What is permissible to a career officer is not necessarily an endorsement by a Deathseeker, you know.
"I have been thinking, Gratti, would it be better to mention some of our other machina besides the weapons? I know the robot fighters will not go over with the Crusaders the way they might with some of the regular army but I was wondering if it might help to drop a few hints about a few of our more unusual gadgets, like the automated splints for broken legs, you know, things like that? Let me know what you think. Have any later models of those new prostheses been sent? They seem like a useful development. Are the latest ones fully implantable?"
With a feeling of having set another opportunity into motion, Aquelev sealed his letter and tucked it into his shirt until he should have the chance to leave it at the new message drop he had arranged with his mentor.
In the meantime, Nooj was not finding it as easy as it had seemed to change his entire philosophy and reposition himself in relation to the world. While it was true he was beginning to anticipate the possibilities of a more lengthy time of existence, there were difficulties in making so abrupt a redirection in one's habits. He had managed to restrain himself from taking extreme risks at the beginning of encounters but, if the struggle lasted longer than a few minutes or became unduly heated, his behavior tended to revert and, without conscious thought, he would hurl himself into the midst of the most fierce fighting and attack without caution or care. As a result, he had been forced to have recourse to the Al Bhed for the repair of several wounds of varying severity. His collection of scars had become impressive.
And he missed having a confidant. It would have been very helpful to talk about his experiences and decisions with someone who understood his past and could appreciate his present. Not since the death of Kaith had he known someone to whom he could unburden himself. There were now entire days in which he spoke no more than was necessary to deliver the required instructions to his crew. Silence was becoming a way of life and an unaccustomed weight. He missed his sense of destiny in ways he had not considered. If he did not intend to die, what was he aiming for? Glory? Riches? Nothing seemed of equivalent value though he kept assuring himself that he would eventually find a reason to live other than repaying the state for his education. After the first flush of certainty, he had felt empty and vacant inside like a hollowed out automaton reacting to programmed responses rather than acting out of conviction. The prospect of life was not making him happy. He found he was thinking of death more often than he had in some time which surprised and confused him. It had been his hope that all that had been settled when he made his choice. However, Death was haunting him now far more than when he had been determined to find that Quietus.
With a short huff of exasperation, he set off to find Aquelev. His own company had become obnoxious to him and he badly needed the counter-irritant of another mind.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"How are things going for you? Are you finding everything you need to help your studies?" Nooj asked the Al Bhed when he finally located him near the path up to the Highroad.
Aquelev seemed agreeable to a talk. In fact he had been trying to arrange a conversation with the Captain since they had moved camp to the upper area. He was curious to know what had changed the man. "Your men are too healthy. All I ever get a chance to treat are flesh wounds and infected bug bites." He laughed lightly. "Are things well with you?"
"I am well and have reason to be grateful for your skills."
"Yes, I do seem to patch you up more often than most of the others. You get banged up pretty regularly."
"Point men usually get a few more injuries. I don't take unnecessary chances." His voice was oddly tentative, ending on a raised note like a question.
"You do end up in the middle of things most of the time though." Aquelev wondered where this oddly disjointed conversation was leading.
Nooj remained silent for a moment, then looking past the other's shoulder asked, "Tell me, if you will, what do your people think of death?" He had meant to lead into the subject gradually but it had burst out as though of its own volition. "I mean since you're training to spend your life putting Warriors back together, I thought you might have some ideas on the subject."
Aha, so there it was! The Al Bhed carefully considered what to say. It would not do to frighten off this wary creature now that he had it to hand. "We don't have a racial position on the matter. Since we are not Yevonites we don't hold much faith in the FarPlane and don't expect to see our lost ones there. We are pretty much left on our own as to what we believe about that sort of thing. If you want to know what I, as a person, think I'll be glad to discuss it." He paused having delicately laid the bait down.
"Yes, I'm curious. It's not something we dwell on in our training. Bad for morale and all that." He was not used to smiling but made an awkward attempt to do so.
Aquelev made himself more comfortable, leaning back against a tree bole and settling down for a long talk. "OK, I think when I die, I'm gone and will find whatever immortality I have in the memories of those I've had an effect on during my life. I'm not too concerned about death because I believe this is my only chance to feel and experience both the good and bad things available to me as a man. I try not to get killed right away because there's a whole lot of living yet out there. I haven't done half the things I want to do and I'm curious about much of the world. Al Bhed have to be clever to get by and stay alive what with so many enemies around. Nooj, it's a game to me. Sin, fiends, Yevonites, wild animals - they're all out to get me and my job is to not let them. I have fun using my wits to avoid being broken or done in. I'm having a hell of a good time playing this game and don't intend to give up for a long, long time."
Nooj looked at him with consternation. "A game? What part does honour hold in your beliefs? Can you just keep on this way if you were insulted or if it just didn't seem worth it? Do you think it's ever proper to just quit? Is your life your own and could you throw it away if you chose to?"
"Oh, I suppose I could if it were not worth the playing anymore. But, I can't even imagine something like that."
"What if you were crippled, unable to do what you can do now?" The nightmare rose, unbidden, into his mind's eye.
"So long as I had my wits about me I think I could deal with any other maiming." Aquelev was serious now, forced to consider his words and test them against his honest convictions. "Remember, I'm not an athlete or a fighter; I'm just a Healer, a mechanic. I don't need much besides my brain and one hand. And I could do without the hand in a pinch." He laughed at his own joke.
The Captain did not laugh. "Yes, I can see that. It has to depend on what each person needs to do his job. If your mind were taken, then you would want to die?"
"I can't answer that. How do I know what I'd want if my mind were gone? I might not even know I'd lost anything. No, I honestly can't conjure up a condition under which I would kill myself." He shook his head and eyed the other from under his lowered lids.
"Do you think letting yourself die is the same as actively putting a dagger in your heart? Mind you, I'm just curious."
"Again you pose a tricky question. One deed is passive, the other active. Are they the same? I'm not sure. I think it would be easier to just not fight too hard than to actually stick a blade in my chest. But I don't think that's your question. I think you're asking which is the choice of a real man. You've expressed a concern for honor - is this part of that thought?"
"In a way." Nooj scrawled meaningless squiggles in the dirt between his feet.
"I guess if I try really hard, I can imagine a man in major disgrace killing himself with whatever weapon he had. Privately, I think one of our machina pistols would be more efficient than a dagger, but that's just me. But I can't see it for any other reason. There are better ways to handle boredom and disgust. As for walking into danger - that would be better for a fighter. To sacrifice for the common good is more honorable in my view than to waste my life without a purpose. But, once again, that's just me. I can't expect anybody else to think the same way I do. Why all this talk about death?" Aquelev knew he was taking a risk approaching the subject head on in this way but he felt it might be worth it.
The other was silent for so long the Al Bhed thought he was ignoring the question.
Finally, Nooj began to speak, "Back in the Calm Lands during training, I read a book which told of how certain nobly born officers believed it was dishonorable, cowardly to dodge the blows of weaker opponents. They felt they should stand there and shrug off the efforts of their inferiors, not bothering to parry them. It was all right to kill the inferior but not to avoid their attacks."1
Aquelev could not suppress a grin. "That's nuts. What did you think about this idea? Sounds like a good way to get killed."
"Oh, in practice it worked out so the weak ones were casually slaughtered in the first waves and the noblemen kept their honor and their lives. It's the thought of going unarmed against a foe that interested me when I read this. At the time I was trying to reconcile honorable behavior with duty as a Warrior. What is a life worth when held up against honor?" Nooj was talking less to the Healer than to himself.
"You Warriors are sworn to fight for your superiors and the cause they espouse, aren't you? I think you are weighing personal honor against that institutional obligation."
"I'm surprised you understand. Not many do. Yes, that's right. It's been a concern of mine for a long time. I swore an oath when I put on this uniform and I am bound by my word but sometimes ... sometimes there are other considerations which want to take precedence." He was having a hard time saying what he needed to say. Trusting another person with his private thoughts was an unfamiliar task for him and he was struggling with the words. "I have duties to myself as well as to the Crusaders and I'm not sure which has the first claim on my services."
The Al Bhed took his time in answering, knowing he was approaching the core of the conversation. He genuinely liked and respected the troubled young man across from him and did not like to see him in such distress. It occurred to him that Nooj was groping for an excuse to live, to stop being a Deathseeker if he had ever been one. If he would accept a reason, one should surely be offered. Aquelev had found the waste of such human capital repulsive and disgusting when he first considered it and was even more repelled now that he knew the man better.
"I'm not of your race and haven't had your training, but common sense would seem to dictate that in order to fulfill your duty to your oath and to your people you must first stay alive. A dead man is no use in fighting an enemy of any sort." He paused, looking at the other man carefully. "Of course, that's just my opinion. Each man has to find his own way in this maze we call life."
Nooj twisted the blade of grass he had been examining. "Aquelev, I had a message from Major Ciele this morning. We are ordered to return to base camp as soon as possible. I shall inform the squadron when we meet at the campfire tonight and we will leave at dawn tomorrow."
Aquelev caught his breath. Why should they be ordered back when they were performing a necessary service? It was not like the Crusaders to step on the autonomy of its officers without cause. He was aware Nooj was continuing.
"No reason was given but I have a feeling something is about to happen." He shredded the grass blade and let it fall. "Sin has been quiet too long for my comfort and I wonder if the Major is anticipating an attack."
"Surely Sin strikes without warning?"
"There are some who are said to be able to sense an impending approach. I don't know whether it's valid or not but any warning would be welcome and heeded." He stood, looming over the Al Bhed. "You should send a message to your old mentor at the Travel Agency. He will want to know."
The other looked up at him with his mouth agape. "How did you know about that?" Then comprehension slowly dawned, "You devil, you've been onto that all the time."
Nooj grinned widely, "I am the leader of this team. Do you think anything of importance gets by me?"
---------------------------------------------
1 - When cannon first came to be commonly used in warfare, there were certain gently born officers who declined to avoid the slow clumsy cannonballs fired at them. They would stand in place watching the missiles approach, waiting to be either missed or struck and perhaps killed. It was a matter of honor.
Nooj woke as suddenly as he had fallen asleep. To his astonishment, he found he was shivering and the details of the dream remained uncomfortably clear in his memory. With that lingering miasma still clinging to him, he felt compelled to check his body in spite of recognizing the foolishness of the act. He was almost afraid to reach for his left arm and leg and felt ridiculous when he touched them, finding that they were whole and functional.
He sat quietly, letting his heart return to its normal rhythm, unable to shake the irrational feeling that the dream meant something. Otherwise, why was it occurring so often? True, most times he did not remember it with clarity, being only aware of a sense of loss, of futility, of struggling against Impossible odds. Well, he was no interpreter of omens but the vision had added its weight to his almost formed decision.
If he was meant to fight then he could not simultaneously try to die. The dream seemed to say to his questioning mind that to continue on his quest for Death would be to lop off parts of his capacity to wage battle well. He could not be a Warrior without his limbs and so, he thought he was being shown, he must stop deliberately and purposefully making himself unfit for the only profession which suited him. He looked at the idea, turning it around in his mind and could find no flaw. He was a Warrior, trained and superior to most others of his craft. So he would fight. He would not hold back form engaging whatever enemy he encountered but he would not woo death, would not abandon his life too readily. He felt he had found the compromise, the choice which would not do violence to his convictions thus far in life but which would permit him to survive for a while yet. He need not flee from Death but also need not pursue it so avidly. It was not the choice of a coward but that of a practical man. He would be less than honorable to waste the time and effort which had gone into his schooling thus far.
The sense of well-being which suffused him convinced him he had chosen correctly and, extricating himself from his sanctuary with an air of inner peace, he began his trek back to the camp and his acolytes.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
That night at the campfire, Nooj announced to the squadron that their leisure time was over. They would relocate the next day to a position on the other side of the Travel Agency and from there clear the upper portion of the Highroad as they had done the lower.
While some were privately disappointed at not returning to base camp, most were delighted to be doing something, anything other than sitting and waiting. None had the temerity to question their leader or to remark on his more relaxed mien.
Nooj slept well that night with no dreams.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Aquelev was intrigued by the change he noted in Nooj after their conversation in the copse and several days later reported his observations in a message to his elder:
"Our Captain is more business-like in his attitude these days. No longer does he act like a Berserker when we engage our prey but is more like the seasoned Warrior he is. If I did not know he has not visited the Travel Agency lately, I might think he was availing himself of the amenities I am sure you have arranged to be there for him. His recent behavior is making me re-think our first assessment. He may not be a Deathseeker at all but just one of those overly enthusiastic young men who naturally gravitate to the military. If so, he is the sort I need to win over to the use of machina. If someone like him can be persuaded, it would go a long way toward swaying the junior officer corps since Nooj is much looked up to for his courage and determination. What is permissible to a career officer is not necessarily an endorsement by a Deathseeker, you know.
"I have been thinking, Gratti, would it be better to mention some of our other machina besides the weapons? I know the robot fighters will not go over with the Crusaders the way they might with some of the regular army but I was wondering if it might help to drop a few hints about a few of our more unusual gadgets, like the automated splints for broken legs, you know, things like that? Let me know what you think. Have any later models of those new prostheses been sent? They seem like a useful development. Are the latest ones fully implantable?"
With a feeling of having set another opportunity into motion, Aquelev sealed his letter and tucked it into his shirt until he should have the chance to leave it at the new message drop he had arranged with his mentor.
In the meantime, Nooj was not finding it as easy as it had seemed to change his entire philosophy and reposition himself in relation to the world. While it was true he was beginning to anticipate the possibilities of a more lengthy time of existence, there were difficulties in making so abrupt a redirection in one's habits. He had managed to restrain himself from taking extreme risks at the beginning of encounters but, if the struggle lasted longer than a few minutes or became unduly heated, his behavior tended to revert and, without conscious thought, he would hurl himself into the midst of the most fierce fighting and attack without caution or care. As a result, he had been forced to have recourse to the Al Bhed for the repair of several wounds of varying severity. His collection of scars had become impressive.
And he missed having a confidant. It would have been very helpful to talk about his experiences and decisions with someone who understood his past and could appreciate his present. Not since the death of Kaith had he known someone to whom he could unburden himself. There were now entire days in which he spoke no more than was necessary to deliver the required instructions to his crew. Silence was becoming a way of life and an unaccustomed weight. He missed his sense of destiny in ways he had not considered. If he did not intend to die, what was he aiming for? Glory? Riches? Nothing seemed of equivalent value though he kept assuring himself that he would eventually find a reason to live other than repaying the state for his education. After the first flush of certainty, he had felt empty and vacant inside like a hollowed out automaton reacting to programmed responses rather than acting out of conviction. The prospect of life was not making him happy. He found he was thinking of death more often than he had in some time which surprised and confused him. It had been his hope that all that had been settled when he made his choice. However, Death was haunting him now far more than when he had been determined to find that Quietus.
With a short huff of exasperation, he set off to find Aquelev. His own company had become obnoxious to him and he badly needed the counter-irritant of another mind.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"How are things going for you? Are you finding everything you need to help your studies?" Nooj asked the Al Bhed when he finally located him near the path up to the Highroad.
Aquelev seemed agreeable to a talk. In fact he had been trying to arrange a conversation with the Captain since they had moved camp to the upper area. He was curious to know what had changed the man. "Your men are too healthy. All I ever get a chance to treat are flesh wounds and infected bug bites." He laughed lightly. "Are things well with you?"
"I am well and have reason to be grateful for your skills."
"Yes, I do seem to patch you up more often than most of the others. You get banged up pretty regularly."
"Point men usually get a few more injuries. I don't take unnecessary chances." His voice was oddly tentative, ending on a raised note like a question.
"You do end up in the middle of things most of the time though." Aquelev wondered where this oddly disjointed conversation was leading.
Nooj remained silent for a moment, then looking past the other's shoulder asked, "Tell me, if you will, what do your people think of death?" He had meant to lead into the subject gradually but it had burst out as though of its own volition. "I mean since you're training to spend your life putting Warriors back together, I thought you might have some ideas on the subject."
Aha, so there it was! The Al Bhed carefully considered what to say. It would not do to frighten off this wary creature now that he had it to hand. "We don't have a racial position on the matter. Since we are not Yevonites we don't hold much faith in the FarPlane and don't expect to see our lost ones there. We are pretty much left on our own as to what we believe about that sort of thing. If you want to know what I, as a person, think I'll be glad to discuss it." He paused having delicately laid the bait down.
"Yes, I'm curious. It's not something we dwell on in our training. Bad for morale and all that." He was not used to smiling but made an awkward attempt to do so.
Aquelev made himself more comfortable, leaning back against a tree bole and settling down for a long talk. "OK, I think when I die, I'm gone and will find whatever immortality I have in the memories of those I've had an effect on during my life. I'm not too concerned about death because I believe this is my only chance to feel and experience both the good and bad things available to me as a man. I try not to get killed right away because there's a whole lot of living yet out there. I haven't done half the things I want to do and I'm curious about much of the world. Al Bhed have to be clever to get by and stay alive what with so many enemies around. Nooj, it's a game to me. Sin, fiends, Yevonites, wild animals - they're all out to get me and my job is to not let them. I have fun using my wits to avoid being broken or done in. I'm having a hell of a good time playing this game and don't intend to give up for a long, long time."
Nooj looked at him with consternation. "A game? What part does honour hold in your beliefs? Can you just keep on this way if you were insulted or if it just didn't seem worth it? Do you think it's ever proper to just quit? Is your life your own and could you throw it away if you chose to?"
"Oh, I suppose I could if it were not worth the playing anymore. But, I can't even imagine something like that."
"What if you were crippled, unable to do what you can do now?" The nightmare rose, unbidden, into his mind's eye.
"So long as I had my wits about me I think I could deal with any other maiming." Aquelev was serious now, forced to consider his words and test them against his honest convictions. "Remember, I'm not an athlete or a fighter; I'm just a Healer, a mechanic. I don't need much besides my brain and one hand. And I could do without the hand in a pinch." He laughed at his own joke.
The Captain did not laugh. "Yes, I can see that. It has to depend on what each person needs to do his job. If your mind were taken, then you would want to die?"
"I can't answer that. How do I know what I'd want if my mind were gone? I might not even know I'd lost anything. No, I honestly can't conjure up a condition under which I would kill myself." He shook his head and eyed the other from under his lowered lids.
"Do you think letting yourself die is the same as actively putting a dagger in your heart? Mind you, I'm just curious."
"Again you pose a tricky question. One deed is passive, the other active. Are they the same? I'm not sure. I think it would be easier to just not fight too hard than to actually stick a blade in my chest. But I don't think that's your question. I think you're asking which is the choice of a real man. You've expressed a concern for honor - is this part of that thought?"
"In a way." Nooj scrawled meaningless squiggles in the dirt between his feet.
"I guess if I try really hard, I can imagine a man in major disgrace killing himself with whatever weapon he had. Privately, I think one of our machina pistols would be more efficient than a dagger, but that's just me. But I can't see it for any other reason. There are better ways to handle boredom and disgust. As for walking into danger - that would be better for a fighter. To sacrifice for the common good is more honorable in my view than to waste my life without a purpose. But, once again, that's just me. I can't expect anybody else to think the same way I do. Why all this talk about death?" Aquelev knew he was taking a risk approaching the subject head on in this way but he felt it might be worth it.
The other was silent for so long the Al Bhed thought he was ignoring the question.
Finally, Nooj began to speak, "Back in the Calm Lands during training, I read a book which told of how certain nobly born officers believed it was dishonorable, cowardly to dodge the blows of weaker opponents. They felt they should stand there and shrug off the efforts of their inferiors, not bothering to parry them. It was all right to kill the inferior but not to avoid their attacks."1
Aquelev could not suppress a grin. "That's nuts. What did you think about this idea? Sounds like a good way to get killed."
"Oh, in practice it worked out so the weak ones were casually slaughtered in the first waves and the noblemen kept their honor and their lives. It's the thought of going unarmed against a foe that interested me when I read this. At the time I was trying to reconcile honorable behavior with duty as a Warrior. What is a life worth when held up against honor?" Nooj was talking less to the Healer than to himself.
"You Warriors are sworn to fight for your superiors and the cause they espouse, aren't you? I think you are weighing personal honor against that institutional obligation."
"I'm surprised you understand. Not many do. Yes, that's right. It's been a concern of mine for a long time. I swore an oath when I put on this uniform and I am bound by my word but sometimes ... sometimes there are other considerations which want to take precedence." He was having a hard time saying what he needed to say. Trusting another person with his private thoughts was an unfamiliar task for him and he was struggling with the words. "I have duties to myself as well as to the Crusaders and I'm not sure which has the first claim on my services."
The Al Bhed took his time in answering, knowing he was approaching the core of the conversation. He genuinely liked and respected the troubled young man across from him and did not like to see him in such distress. It occurred to him that Nooj was groping for an excuse to live, to stop being a Deathseeker if he had ever been one. If he would accept a reason, one should surely be offered. Aquelev had found the waste of such human capital repulsive and disgusting when he first considered it and was even more repelled now that he knew the man better.
"I'm not of your race and haven't had your training, but common sense would seem to dictate that in order to fulfill your duty to your oath and to your people you must first stay alive. A dead man is no use in fighting an enemy of any sort." He paused, looking at the other man carefully. "Of course, that's just my opinion. Each man has to find his own way in this maze we call life."
Nooj twisted the blade of grass he had been examining. "Aquelev, I had a message from Major Ciele this morning. We are ordered to return to base camp as soon as possible. I shall inform the squadron when we meet at the campfire tonight and we will leave at dawn tomorrow."
Aquelev caught his breath. Why should they be ordered back when they were performing a necessary service? It was not like the Crusaders to step on the autonomy of its officers without cause. He was aware Nooj was continuing.
"No reason was given but I have a feeling something is about to happen." He shredded the grass blade and let it fall. "Sin has been quiet too long for my comfort and I wonder if the Major is anticipating an attack."
"Surely Sin strikes without warning?"
"There are some who are said to be able to sense an impending approach. I don't know whether it's valid or not but any warning would be welcome and heeded." He stood, looming over the Al Bhed. "You should send a message to your old mentor at the Travel Agency. He will want to know."
The other looked up at him with his mouth agape. "How did you know about that?" Then comprehension slowly dawned, "You devil, you've been onto that all the time."
Nooj grinned widely, "I am the leader of this team. Do you think anything of importance gets by me?"
---------------------------------------------
1 - When cannon first came to be commonly used in warfare, there were certain gently born officers who declined to avoid the slow clumsy cannonballs fired at them. They would stand in place watching the missiles approach, waiting to be either missed or struck and perhaps killed. It was a matter of honor.
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