I said this elsewhere but you know what FFVIII needed? It needed the Missile Base Team to actually die. The fact of the matter is, FFVIII's party is worthless from both a story and gameplay perspective. None of them develop at all apart from Squall, Rinoa and MAYBE Quistis, assuming she's in your party at the right times. Now I could accept the fact 2/6 party members have any meaningful characterization if the other 4 existed to diversify the combat. But since everyone plays exactly the same you're left wondering why the hell Zell or Irvine even exist.
So, answer: don't let them exist. Blow them the smurf up. They would accomplish much more in death than they ever did in life. It would help justify Squall taking his role as leader much more seriously.