It's time to get ready for our first official mission as SeeD! (SPOILER)
But first, if you head back to your desk, you can see that Selphie has already gotten started with the Garden Festival Committee!
She even hosts a public diary there that you can check whenever you come back to Balamb
She also shares her worries about her first mission
She also worries if her teammates are going to be nice
So we head to the front gate to receiver our mission. Selphie is already there and Zell shows up on a hoverboard
...Which is quickly confiscated for violating Garden rules
Also, I like how three of the recent graduates are going on this mission, but that one rando dude is just nowhere to be found. Poor guy. It's not easy being a random NPC in video games
So Cid gives us our mission. We will be heading to a place called Timber
When we ask if it's only the three of us...
It seems they wouldn't normally even take this job
Anyways, our mission is set, but first, we talk to Cid again to get a special item
The magic lamp he gives you contains the GF Diablos. By defeating him you gain him as a summon. It's been my experience that he starts off near useless but his growth is great. He also gets harder to fight the longer you put it off I think, so might as well get it over with. Just head to the world map, save, and use the item
This is a tough fight. He likes to Demi your party to get them weak
And then he pulls crap like this
Thankfully, Selphie's limit break is pretty good and I landed on Full-Heal quickly
(Don't worry, I revived Zell)
After you defeat him, he joins you
So we head to Balamb to catch a train and see how the folks are doing in town
Yes, we stop by to say hi to Ma Dincht. Afterwards, we head to the train station
You will need 3000G to board the train but since you're SeeD now, you receive a regular salary, so it shouldn't be a problem. You can also improve your SeeD rank by taking tests under the Tutorial section of the menu
We get on the train which Zell and Selphie are mega hype about
Selphie even makes up a cute train song since she loves trains
Inside the cabin, Zell gives us a history lesson on Timber
Gee, a lot of stuff sure did happen 17-18 years ago
After the history lesson, Selphie comes stumbling in
But what seems like harmless drowsiness soon starts to affect all three of our heroes, accompanied by a horrible high pitched sound
After the group passes out, we find ourselves playing as three Galbadian Soldiers named Laguna, Kiros, and Ward
The greyed out text is our main group wondering what's going on
As it turns out, Laguna got his group lost. Again.
No worries, a little while later they find their vehicle and head back to their home of Delling City
After they disembark, Laguna suggests they hit the bar for some drinks. He isn't fooling his friends though, who know he's not going to the bar to drink
This is probably the best representation of real world friendship in any Final Fantasy game
Also, Laguna's parking caused a jam
So despite what he said, they do indeed head for the bar. We also get some helpful commentary from Selphie
Kiros and Ward tell Laguna to go wave at his crush, which he goes to do when suddenly
And so Laguna limps around the piano like a moron before finally waving at the pretty lady and going back to his seat
Where he receives support from his friends
Julia, the pretty piano lady, arrives to talk to Laguna, so his friends scurry away to give them some privacy. She asks him if his leg is doing okay
And then she makes the first move
Remember how I said his friends gave him some privacy? Yeah, well, the camera pans out to show the entire bar crowded around their booth listening in. So Laguna agrees to meet Julia in her room
When he arrives, Julia tells him to take a seat. So he awkwardly tries out a few. Julia doesn't seem bothered
After making her move, she offers Laguna some wine, and Laguna starts blabbing on like a moron for who knows how long
Apparently at some point he passes out drunk
We will assume Julia was a perfect lady and did not touch his peepee while he was passed out. After he wakes up, he finally starts letting Julia talk
Here is some nice atmospheric music for you!
She shares with him that she isn't a great lyricist, but thanks to him, she thinks she can finally write a song thanks to him. Aww
Just as they start to get close though, Kiros shows up to keep the game T-rated
After that, we end up back with Squall, Selphie, and Zell, who are understandably confused about what happened. Some take it a bit better than others
They then realize that they all had the same dream
Realizing this is super odd, Selphie suggests they focus on the mission for now
They agree and shortly thereafter, we arrive in Timber. We are quickly greeted by the person we're supposed to meet and, after giving the password, he asks us to follow him
You can stop by the souvenir shop though
We follow the man, named Watts, to a rickety little train, where we meet a resistance group, lead by a man named Zone. Before the meeting starts though, we get asked by Zone to wake up their 'Princess' which upsets Squall because they weren't hired to run errands. Zone also rejects Zell's handshake. Poor guy
That's it for now, next time we will go meet this Princess and find out what we have to do to help the resistance!