The Council has become divided on the issue, and the day-to-day operations of the Council have become almost impossible due to constant arguing and heated debate over the decisions of the citizens.
Just a week ago, one of the lead anti-Perfect councilmen, Yuin Stronow, was attacked and held hostage along with his family. The leader of the terrorists, who called himself Venomous, made a furious diatribe about cultural tradition and respect for the dead. Eventually, after news "eyes" (hovering cameras controlled remotely) had recorded them, Venomous took the councilmen and his family down to the remote sewer access, threatening to have them killed if they were followed. The Laipite SeeDs waited a half-an-hour before entering the sewers. Approximately ten feet from the sewer entrance they found the councilman and his family dead, floating face down in the sewer water, except his youngest daughter, Gea Stronow. The terrorists were never found.
All Gardens have been put on high alert, including Apex City. Each Garden has a date when SeeD tests begin. Fortunately, this is the month for the Apex Garden. The Headmaster has apparently gotten a few requests from other Laipite councilmen for bodyguards, since the Laipite SeeDs did such a bad job handling the first Venomous attack. When Councilman Haito requested the assistance of Apex SeeD, a squad was formed, including Autumn C. Ashes, William Gray, and Chronos Dantes, lead by Captain Alastor Salvatore. Captain Salvatore found himself recruiting a promising new trainee named Dairius Frost for the mission, but it all came to naught: the day of the mission, Salvatore was reassigned to a different squad. Instead, Autumn became the new Captain, leading William, Chronos, and Dairius to Laip.
Upon arrival in Laip, in the city of Cobta, they were attacked by a wild, berzerker GF. Chronos was lost in the ensuing chaos, and a distraught Autumn decided to reform the squad at the Councilman's residence. Haito's welcome was friendly, and when news of Chronos' disappearance reached Apex, they sent a former Laipite, Jake Wilkinson, to assist the team. When Jake arrived the next day, the team split: Dairius and William went to the Assembly where Haito would be speaking, and would guard him, while Autumn and Jake would visit Laip Garden to talk to the Headmaster and ask for help in retrieving Chronos.
The impossible happened, and Venomous, lead by Trainee Chronos, struck at the assembly using a pair of high-powered, prototype assault vehicles, and kidnapped Haito, leaving William and Dairius to deal with the forces left behind, assisted by a strange Junodan woman named Nymh Ari.
At Laip Garden, Autumn and Jake were having a conference with a high-ranking Marshall when Venomous attacked. Leading the assault was none other than Chronos himself, apparently a traitor to the Gardens, the first in centuries. Immediately thought dead after Jake dropped him out of the building, Chronos rose up and became a terrible monster capable of almost infinite power and powered by an evil force never seen before. Jake and his Guardian sacrificed themselves to destroy the monster, a Chaospawn, which had apparently taken over Chronos. The battle, however, left both Chronos and Autumn in comas, Jake dead. The two remaining SeeD, William and Darius, arrived too late, and could only wait to see if their comrades would recuperate. Chronos, however, has disappeared, and investigations point to Willaim and Dairius.
