Siege of Dollet

The Siege of Dollet was a military engagement between the army of Galbadia and the army of the Duchy of Dollet, later 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.

Prelude
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.

Battlefield
The Siege of Dollet was fought primarily within and around the town of Dollet, which is situated within the Hasberry Valley in the Galbadian Continent right on the edge of the ocean. The battle continued into the Hasberry Mountains until the Galbadian Army's retreat.

City Defense
The Dollet Army put up a spirited defense against the Galbadian assault, but were simply outmatched and outnumbered by the larger and more powerful Galbadian army. 49 hours into the battle the Dollet defense was 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 realized the gravity of the situation, and knowing their forces would be unable to stop the Galbadian Army's advance, the Dollet Parliament voted to hire the mercenary soldiers of SeeD to assist.

72 hours into the battle SeeD forces mobilized 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 were to eliminate all opposition in the city itself and secure their allocated areas, while the SeeD members themselves prevented the remaining Galbadian Army units from counter attacking.

Trial by Fire
As a part of their final graduate exams, SeeD Candidates were organized into squads of three. Squall Leonhart, Seifer Almasy, and Zell Dincht formed "Squad B" with Seifer named as Squad Leader (much to the chagrin of his squadmates). "Squad B" was 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 own 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 leader of "Squad B". 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 was eventually defeated by the SeeD Candidates.

Evacuation
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 that the time taken to fight Biggs, Wedge, and Elvoret had 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 made it back on time. As they made their way back, the Galbadian X-ATM092 Assault Mech attacks the party. As their orders were to fall back the priority was not to fight but to escape; as such they fought the Mech only when they had to and, while fleeing back to the landing site, Squall also made sure that the other Squads were similarly evacuated and out of the mech’s way. The sole remaining SeeD Candidate on the battlefield, Squall rushed down the beach with the mech on his heels. However the mech was destroyed when it came within range of a SeeD gunboat's machine gun turret, manned by SeeD Instructor Quistis Trepe, as the boat began withdrawing from the beach with Squall onboard.

Aftermath
The whole engagement, brief though it was, served as the final test for SeeD candidates Squall Leonhart, Selphie Tilmitt, Zell Dincht, and Nida to become SeeDs. Seifer Almasy failed 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 would withdraw from Dollet after the SeeD assault, having reached an agreement with the Dollet Parliament that the Dollet Radio Tower would stay activated. This would ensure that Galbadian President Deling’s live television broadcast, the first generated since the end of the Sorceress War, would reach as far as possible.

Musical Themes
Played during the arrival and landing of the SeeD Assault Boats upon the Dollet beach, "The Landing" is the composition that accompanies this battle. This 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 that 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.