Chapter 8: Hat Trick
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   Joga walked slowly down the hall looking at the
featureless stone floor, quite disturbed and confused about
Cybril's sudden betrayal to the Empire. He couldn't
understand why he had just attacked Akfek for no apparent
reason. From what he had heard, Akfek had just called Cybril
in to thank him on the success of their mission when he went
ballistic. Joga was sure that there was more to the story
than that, but with no friendships established in his so far
short stay in Doma he would have a very hard time finding
out anything from anyone. Besides, his talents lay in
hunting not spying.
   'And what would I do if I did find out something contrary
to the story?' Joga thought as he neared the mess hall.
'Declare Akfek's recounting of the event a lie and be
branded the next traitor? I think not.' Joga decided that it
just wasn't worth checking out and just accepted the fact
that Cybril was gone, reportedly killed while trying to
escape. Joga couldn't shake the feeling that it just didn't
make sense and thought back to the old Empire when even
stranger things had happened with Kefka. That, in turn,
reminded Joga that Akfek was Kefka's brother-clone-whatever
and that perhaps the mental instability that plagued the
Emperor's dead sibling might be a family trait. That mental
instability had destroyed both the world and (more
importantly to Joga) the old Empire. A reoccurrence of such
events could not be allowed to happen and perhaps Akfek,
although powerful and charismatic, was not the best choice
of Emperor. Joga, however, was not haughty enough to think
that he would make a good Emperor, he didn't like
responsibility.
   As Joga raised his head and opened the door to the mess
hall, he thought of how, if push ever came to shove and a
civil war broke the Empire apart and people started taking
sides, he would side with the those he belived would provide
the Empire with the strongest leadership and best chance for
survival. Joga was loyal to the Empire, not necessarily the
Emperor.
   Stepping through the door to the mess hall, Joga could
hear a multitude of voices. His stride slowed as a good many
of those voices suddenly fell silent and a horde of eyes
focused on him.
   "Dat's 'im," Joga heard someone whisper, "da traitor's
partner." Apparently word had gotten around about Joga and
Cybril's mission together. Most likely he was being viewed
with suspicion and a little distaste and Joga bet this
wouldn't do anything for his efforts to try and make a few
friends in Doma. He shrugged to himself and resumed his
normal pace as the eyes when back to watching their meals
and the voices went back to talking about battles of the
past and the possible ones of the future.
   Joga grabbed a plate from the stand and walked to the
grizzled old cook who spooned some stew on it and gave him
some bread. Although it was only stew, it looked to be
better than the old Empire's stew, and for that, at least,
he was thankful. Dinner in hand, he made for the middle of
one of the larger tables. As he sat down, the few soldiers
sitting near him quietly grabbed their food and moved to the
opposite ends of the table so as to eat without the
offensive sight of the traitor's "accomplice". Although it
ticked Joga off, he realized he would probably have done the
same thing in their position. As he started on his stew, he
noticed, out of the corner of his eye, a Trooper moving
towards him.
   "So you're Joga Dom, the guy who worked with the former
commander?" the Trooper asked rhetorically as it sat down
across from Joga.
   "What of it?" Joga said, looking up. He tried to make eye
contact with the Trooper, but it was dressed in full armor.
He hated not making eye contact with people when talking.
   "Why don't you take you helmet off," Joga continued sourly.
"I'm not going to attack you just because I knew a traitor."
   "No problem," the Trooper chuckled from behind its visor.
"I just got off duty a few minutes ago so I hadn't had a
chance." Joga nearly choked on his mouthful of stew when the
Trooper took off its helmet and revealed itself to be a woman.
He hadn't thought the helmet might make the wearer's voice
sound different, unaccustomed as he was to armor.
   "Um, I-I'm sorry for my tone," he stammered as he looked
into her dark green eyes, "I didn't know-"
   "That I was a woman?" she laughed. "I never expected you
to treat me special just because of that handicap." She
smiled at him and he smiled back as he was caught in her
gaze.
   "It was the armor," he confessed while analyzing her
face, "it muffled your voice." She was quite striking. Long
blonde hair that fell around her armored shoulders, high
cheek bones, long lashes coupled with those incredible eyes,
thin lips, and a stunning smile. She had a strange cast
about her features, giving her an odd feline look that only
increased her beauty. She looked about mid to early twenties
and had an air about her that promoted a confident and self
assured attitude. Suddenly he realized that her smile had
grown wider and was holding back laughter, for he had been
starring at her without saying anything for several seconds.
   "Er-how did you know me?" he said, snapping out of his
trance and looking down to his half finished plate of stew.
   "Word gets around," she said, smiling at his
embarrassment, "a few of us who had quarters near the
ex-Commander heard your name mentioned. And you're not
really very hard to pick out of this crowd." Joga knew she
was right for he was one of the few people in Doma's army
that didn't wear armor and instead favored his
flame-resistant black leather trenchcoat, although he had
taken the time to sew the emblem of the Empire's Special
Forces on front of it.
   "Well you have me at a disadvantage," Joga said with a
smirk, "I'm afraid I don't know you're name."
   "I'm Leto Jord," she said, extending a gauntleted hand,
"Trooper 057-H Omega Class." Joga shook her hand.
   "Omega Class huh?" he said, "You due for a promotion
soon?"
   "That's right!" Leto said, "Once I complete the Special
Mission part of my promotion requirements I'll be a
Commando!"
   "Hey, alright then, I wish you luck," he said with smirk
and a thumbs-up. "Why did you come looking for me?" he then
asked, abruptly changing the subject.
   "Well," she said, "I just wanted to welcome you here and
tell you not to worry about the stigma of working with the
traitor. People will forget soon enough and we're all to
busy to hold grudges. You're new to the Empire but you'll
learn soon enough," she added with a wink.
   "Actually," Joga said with a laugh, "I've been around a
lot longer than you. I'm new here, but I come from the old
Empire."
   "Really?" she asked, eyes wide, "Under Gestahl and
Kefka's rule?"
   "The same," he smirked, "I'm actually an ex-Magitek
Knight."
   "No kidding?" she said, her mouth dropping in awe, "You
used to wield magic? I've never seen any before."
   "Yeah, well I can't any more so I guess we're equals."
The two shared a laugh and then Joga continued, "You said
that you knew Cybril. Do you have any idea why he attacked
the Emperor?"
   "Actually," Leto said, lowering her voice somewhat, "I'm
not surprised at all that he attacked him, really. Scott
Cybril was weird and he had a real problem with his temper.
He was always having these outbursts. Last year, soon after
he was promoted to Trooper he punched a superior officer and
was demoted back to Commander (OOC: I have no idea how the
actual ranking system goes but I see people as going up in
rank as a function of the FF3 game, least powerful to most
powerful. Guard to Soldier to Commander to Trooper to
Commando and so on). After that he got mad even easier but
bottled up his rage and had his tantrums in private. We'd
hear him sometimes, yelling and cursing in his room while he
tore it apart. Maybe he was looking for another promotion
after your mission and Akfek didn't give him one and that
drove him over the edge. I don't know."
   Joga tapped his temple as he absorbed the information
given to him. Maybe he was going to find out what happened
after all. Suddenly he was tapped on the shoulder by a Cadet
from behind.
   "Mr. Dom, sir, you're wanted in the battle office as soon
as possible," the Cadet said and then left.
   "I'm sorry our conversation was cut short," Joga said to
Leto as he got up, "I'm needed elsewhere. Perhaps I'll see
you later."
   "Sure," Leto said, standing up, "I'm over in room 057 on
the left wing. Come over and I'll introduce you to some
people." As she turned and walked toward the door Joga
remarked that not only was she beautiful, she was tall! He
hadn't been able to tell while they were sitting but she
stood about three inches over his 6'. Although he knew the
boots she wore augmented her height somewhat, he wagered
that she stood somewhere between 6'1" and 6'2" without them.
And with the ease she carried her armor as she walked out,
she was probably quite strong as well. She was certantly
different, he couldn't remember when he'd met a girl so
striking.
   Gnawing on his bread as he left, he walked briskly
towards the battle office where Akfek was probably waiting
to give him another assignment. 'Probably for the best that
I leave for a while,' Joga thought as he walked up the
stairs to the office, although he regreted that he wouldn't
get to know Leto better, 'it'll give the soldiers time to
forget of my short lived friendship with Cybril.'
   Moving by the pair of Guards at the door to the office,
Joga stepped inside. Instead of Akfek, somebody else, by the
looks of his uniform a General, waited behind the desk.
   "Where's the Emperor?" Joga inquired.
   "After the recent attack on his person," he replied
gruffly, "the Emperor has decided to distance himself from
the common soldiers for a short time. From now on, you'll be
taking his orders through me."
   "Fair enough," shrugged Joga, "what does he wish of me?"
   "What I'm about to tell you is confidential," the General
said, leaning across the table, "known only to a few people
other than myself. You must swear secrecy to what I am about
to tell you."
   "I swear on father's grave and my undieing loyalty to the
Empire that I will not divulge what you are about to tell me
to any other person," Joga pledged sencerly.
   "Very well," the General said, leaning back in his chair,
"Commander Scott Cybril did not die yesterday while trying
to escape." Joga went slack jawed at that revelation that
Cybril was not dead.
   'I knew something wasn't right!' Joga thought, 'I'm going
to learn the truth now!'
   "In truth," the General continued, "the traitor narrowly
escaped after killing a Cadet. A few men gave chase but he
escaped by way of the sewage ducts that connect to the
latrines. The men chasing him have sworn to silence as you
have."
   "Are you sure he survived?" Joga asked, raising his
eyebrows, "Somebody could die pretty easily down there."
   "Although the chances of such an event are quite high,"
the General agreed, "Cybril should have been promoted to a
Commando long ago. Lack of discipline kept him at the rank
of Commander. Thus, with the training that a Commando goes
though, it would not be unthinkable for him to survive the
tunnels and escape."
   "Have you had people searching where the tunnels exit
into the ocean?" Joga hoped not. He wanted to be the first
to find Cybril and found out what had happened.
   "No," the General shook his head, "there's just too many
exit points, coupled with storm drains and the like, and
we've been trying to cover up his escape as much as
possible. It doesn't help the morale of the troops to know
that traitors are allowed to escape."
   "Understandable," Joga nodded while inwardly he was glad
that no one had found him yet.
   "Because of the quick completion of your last mission
with Gecco," the General said, "and the fact that you were
the last one to be around him for any length of time, the
Emperor wants you to find the ex-Commander and dispatch him
before the soldiers find out that he escaped. Also, Cybril
was known by his peers to be quite vengeful and thus he is
considered a significant threat to the Empire because of his
inside knowledge of Doma and certain war strategies that he
could pass on to the Returners plus the fact that he may
sabotage this castles defensives or try to assassinate high
ranking individuals. As you can see, quick completion of
this mission is critical."
   "Do you have any idea where he might go after he makes
his way off Doma?" Joga asked. "It would be easier to lay in
wait for his somewhere rather than search the ocean drains
by myself."
   "We believe," the General said, looking at a few sheets
in front of him with some information about Cybril on it,
"that he'll head for Nikeah. It's the closest settlement and
it's also his home town, although he has no more family
there. Although it is occupied by the Empire, Cybril would
probably not be recognized as the traitor right away and
would be able to work mischief until discovered."
   "Then I will head for Nikeah immediately," Joga replied.
   "Excellent, Mr. Dom," the General said, standing up.
"Make haste. Take whatever supplies you need."
   "There is one thing sir..." Joga said, "I'm used to
working with a partner. Before the Empire, it was my
brother, then Cybril, and now I would like permission to
take another."
   "Does Akfek know of this?" the General asked.
   "He hooked me up with Cybril himself," Joga nodded,
"Akfek knows it's good to have someone watching your back in
a fight."
   "Very well then," the General said, folding his arms,
"you may take another with you, subject to my approval and
assuming they take a vow of silence like you. Did you have
someone in mind?"
   "Trooper 057-H, Leto Jord," Joga said as the General
moved to a filing cabinet to look the name up.
   "Hmmm... Yes, Jord, Leto: Omega Class Trooper," the
General said, pulling out her file, "to advance to Commando
she needs the Special Mission credit. I guess if she
completes this mission with you she earns her promotion."
   "Do you approve?" Joga asked hopefully.
   "Fine, Mr. Dom," the General sighed, "but you must swear
her to silence. And she's your responsibility," he said
pointing a warning finger in Joga's direction. "You will be
held accountable for her actions, including if she breaks
her silence. I wouldn't want to be in you shoes if that
happened."
   "Thank you sir," Joga bowed as he exited, "I won't fail."
Joga gave himself a mental pat on the back as he walked
down the hall. Not only was he going find out what happened
to Cybril, Leto would probably get her promotion, and he
would get a chance to know her better! What a hat-trick!