Siege of Dollet
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| Siege of Dollet | |
| Final Fantasy VIII | |
 | |
| The Duchy of Dollet | |
| Location: | Dollet, Western Continent |
| Result: | A draw - all parties met their conditions for victory. The Galbadians successfully repaired the Radio Tower; the Dollet Army with the aid of the SeeD candidates expelled the Galbadian forces. |
| Combatants | |
 SeeD Candidates
|  Galbadian Army
|
| Commanders | |
| Xu | Major Biggs |
| Strength | |
Multiple teams of SeeD Mercenaries and SeeD Candidates including:
| Galbadian troops
|
| Casualties | |
| Unknown, minimal for SeeD forces, heavy for Dollet Army | Unknown, heavy |
- The following article is based on a subject that has not been officially named in any official Square Enix material; the current title is merely a placeholder.
The Siege of Dollet was a military engagement between the army of Galbadia and the army of the Duchy of Dollet. The Dollet Army was reinforced by the SeeD Elite Mercenary Force, responding to a request for aid by the Dollet Parliament. Galbadia's forces attacked its neighbor for the purpose of capturing its radio antenna, the only one left in the world capable of broadcasting radio signals since the radio blackout that started 17 years ago.
Contents |
Prelude
Edit
Since the beginning of the Sorceress War, President Deling has been slowly uniting the continent of Galbadia under one flag. This presented a united front during the war against Esthar, however, Deling's methods usually meant that a country, region or town was usually integrated by force; chief example being Timber. It was really only a matter of time before Dollet came under the attention of President Deling's "integration" program.
BattlefieldEdit
The Siege of Dollet is fought primarily within and around the town of Dollet, situated within the Hasberry Valley in the Galbadian Continent right on the edge of the ocean. The battle continues into the Hasberry Mountains until the Galbadian Army's retreat.
BattleEdit
City DefenseEdit
The Dollet Army puts up a spirited defense against the Galbadian assault, but is outmatched and outnumbered by the larger and more powerful Galbadian army. 49 hours into the battle the Dollet defense is forced to abandon their positions in the inner city and withdraw to the mountains overlooking the city to reorganize their forces. 54 hours into the battle Dollet's leaders realize the gravity of the situation, and, knowing their forces would be unable to stop the Galbadian Army's advance, the Dollet Parliament votes to hire the mercenary soldiers of SeeD to assist.
72 hours into the battle SeeD forces mobilize assault gunboats from Balamb Town; transporting SeeD, SeeD Candidates and their SeeD tutors to Lapin Beach as part of their initial beach assault. With most of the Galbadian Army in the surrounding mountains in pursuit of the recuperating Dollet Army, the Candidates' objectives are to eliminate all opposition in the city itself and secure their allocated areas, while the SeeD members themselves prevent the remaining Galbadian Army units from counter attacking.
Trial by FireEdit
Added by KeltainentoukokuuAs a part of their final graduate exams, SeeD Candidates are organized into squads of three. Squall Leonhart, Seifer Almasy, and Zell Dincht form "Squad B" with Seifer named as Squad Leader (much to the chagrin of his squadmates). "Squad B" is tasked with eliminating resistance within the Central Square, and guarding it from any counter-attacks.
They arrive at Dollet via the SeeD assault gunboats during the beach assault and proceed to their designated area amidst the bombing. Once there, however, Seifer loses patience simply guarding the square and decides to follow a group of Galbadian Soldiers heading toward the Dollet Radio Tower. At the base of the tower, Seifer runs off, attempting to outscore his squad by eliminating more soldiers than the others. This happens just as a messenger from "Squad A", Selphie Tilmitt, appears charged with delivering new orders to the "Squad B" leader.
Selphie and the remaining members of "Squad B" climb the radio tower where they arrive just in time to find the Galbadian soldiers Biggs and Wedge successfully activating the antenna. After a brief engagement, an monster that had been roosting in the tower attacks the combatants, forcing the Galbadian soldiers aside; the monster is eventually defeated by the SeeD Candidates.
EvacuationEdit
After the fight, Seifer resurfaces, allowing Selphie to deliver the orders she was to give to him. Ordered to withdraw to the beach by 19:00 hours (7 PM) the team realizes the time taken to fight Biggs, Wedge, and Elvoret has left them with only 30 minutes to get back to the landing craft on the beach. Seifer yet again abandons his squadmates (taking an every-man-for-himself approach), leaving Squall with the responsibility of ensuring that Zell, Selphie, and himself make it back on time. As they make their way back, the Galbadian X-ATM092 Assault Mech attacks the party.
As their orders are to fall back, the priority is not to fight, but to escape; as such they fight the Mech only when they have to and, while fleeing back to the landing site, Squall also makes sure the other Squads are similarly evacuated and out of the mech's way. The sole remaining SeeD Candidate on the battlefield, Squall, rushes down the beach with the mech on his heels. However the mech is destroyed when it comes within range of a SeeD gunboat's machine gun turret, manned by SeeD Instructor Quistis Trepe, as the boat begins withdrawing from the beach with Squall onboard.
AftermathEdit
The whole engagement, brief though it was, serves as the final test for SeeD candidates Squall Leonhart, Selphie Tilmitt, Zell Dincht, and Nida to become SeeDs. Seifer Almasy fails the test yet again; for disobeying orders (by leaving the square to pursue the Galbadians to the radio tower) and gross dereliction of duty (for abandoning his squad twice).
Galbadia withdraws from Dollet after the SeeD assault, having reached an agreement with the Dollet Parliament that the Dollet Radio Tower would stay activated. This ensures Galbadian President Deling's live television broadcast, the first generated since the end of the Sorceress War, would reach as far as possible.
Musical ThemesEdit
Played during the arrival and landing of the SeeD Assault Boats upon the Dollet beach, "The Landing" is the composition to accompany this battle. The track notably replaced another that was originally meant to accompany the Siege of Dollet, titled simply "Raid on Dollet".
The track was on the official demo for Final Fantasy VIII, but had been dummied out at the last minute, and replaced with "The Landing". The track is still present on the game discs, accessible from the Debug Rooms. It is said this was done because Square found a striking similarity between "Raid on Dollet" and the theme song of the then-recent film The Rock, and wanted to avoid legal issues.
TriviaEdit
- It is possible to destroy the X-ATM092 during the chase. If this happens, the player won't witness the FMV of Quistis shooting it with the gun turret. Yet, the townsfolk will still complain about the damage to the town the party supposedly caused.
- In the game's demo, Rinoa replaces Selphie, and the party wear their normal outfits, not the SeeD cadet uniforms they do in the finalized product.
