Taking Care of Reno: Meteorfall
Chapter 18: Plans are Hatched
It was a scramble to reach the Highwind. The violent tremors were constant now, and finding solid footing was difficult, even for Reno. Somehow, though, everyone made it before the cavern began to collapse in on itself. That, however, wasn’t the end of their problems.
“Get us out of here!” Rufus ordered, having to shout over the combined din of the nearby cave-in and the panic amongst the crew. The Highwind’s turbines picked up speed, whining loudly in the chaos just as Reno and Rude had hauled the last of their company aboard. The redhead glanced back towards the crater… only to freeze.
It was looking at him. The creature from the wall. Somehow it seemed even bigger now, dwarfing the airship as it stood up from it’s rocky prison, deep blue flesh glistening in the frosty air. It gave the Highwind what Reno could only describe as a dismissive glare before taking flight itself. He watched it, eyes wide, as it landed far out to sea and vanished beneath the waves.
“What the hell is that thing?” he asked, still watching the distant point, wondering if it would be coming back.
“Don’t think that one’s the one we need to worry about right now…” Rude commented. It was one of the few times Reno could remember hearing real fear in his friend’s voice, and he turned slowly, not entirely certain he wanted to know what else might be threatening them.
His eyes fell on what, for a brief moment, he thought was simply part of the crater wall that had been thrust upward when the creature had made its escape… but then it began to move. Reno slowly lifted his gaze, jaw dropping at what he saw.
This one was even larger than the first, with a great, dragon-like head and armored plates enveloping its body. The thing’s clawed hands reached out towards them as it towered over the airship.
“… We are so fucked,” Reno breathed, though he was fairly certain Rude never heard him. His words were completely drowned out by the creature’s ear-splitting roar. The Highwind turned away, fleeing from the threat, just as a massive column of what looked like mako energy erupted from the crater. The creature, too, fled from it, it’s departure rocking the airship violently.
“Reno!” Elena’s voice cried out, and he turned just in time to see her go down as the deck tilted wildly. He dove for her, hand clamping around her wrist and pulling her to safety. The bartender wasn’t quite so fortunate. Tifa also fell, the angle of the deck sending her sliding toward the edge. She was saved from plummeting by the railing, but she hit hard and lay motionless as the airship gradually began to steady itself. Reno gripped Elena tighter, pulling her protectively into his lap as they waited for things to settle.
“You alright?” Rude’s voice asked, and the redhead glanced up to find him looking down at the pair of them.
“I’m fine,” Elena replied, somewhat shakily, “I thought I was going over for a second there, though…”
There was a loud, rending sound, and all three of them turned back toward the crater just in time to see several more huge objects shoot out from its center as a wall of energy closed around the opening.
“Someone wanna tell me what the fuck is goin’ on?” Reno asked, looking pointedly at his partner. Rude shook his head.
“Nothing good.”
“I don’t like this…” Reno muttered, “I get that you wanna find out what they know, but I don’t like the idea of puttin’ you alone in a room with any of those Avalanche fucks. Let us handle this… It’s what you pay us for.”
Rufus didn’t turn away from the window… He simply continued to gaze out at the deceptively calm ocean. They’d been back in Junon for four days now, and already the creature they’d seen disappear into the water had attacked three times. The base had, thus far, managed to fend it off, but the most recent attack had been a very close thing. The Weapon – as Hojo had deemed the creatures – had very nearly breached the bay. If it had gotten much closer, it would have put the underwater reactor at risk… and without the reactor, the base was all but defenseless.
It was only a matter of time before it came back.
There were five of them out there, as far as they’d been able to determine. The soldiers in the Junon garrison had taken to calling the one that seemed fixated on the base “Sapphire” for it’s deep blue coloring. The naming convention had been extended to the others as well. “Emerald” Weapon, for example, had first been seen swimming deep in the ocean trenches by the reactor personnel… though it seemed content to leave the facility alone for the time being. And there were reports of a blood-red creature inhabiting the desert area near the Gold Saucer. Though no one from Shinra had yet laid eyes on it, Rufus had been quick to nickname it “Ruby”. “Diamond” Weapon had appeared briefly near the southern islands, and just as quickly vanished.
The lone exception to the naming scheme was the fifth… the draconian Weapon that had very nearly sent the Highwind tumbling from the sky. No one had seen it since the day the Weapons had first appeared, but its intimidating visage had led to most of those who had been present on the airship to refer to it as “Ultimate” Weapon. The name had, unfortunately, in Rufus’ opinion, stuck.
“You think I can’t manage him on my own?” the President responded at last. “I can understand you objecting to me speaking to Strife, given your paranoia-induced expectation of violence, but Wallace is hardly comparable. And as Strife seems to have taken his leave from the group, that uncouth slum rat with the machine gun for an arm appears to be their de facto leader. It seems only fitting I speak to him at least once face to face, given that I intend to lay the blame on him and his little girlfriend for that.”
He nodded to the window, and the Turk stole a quick glance up at the sky where an ominous body loomed. It had been growing larger by the day. Sephiroth’s Meteor. Hojo had calculated that it would arrive in perhaps another three to four weeks… though even he admitted that was only an estimate. But when it finally did… there would be little, if anything, anyone could do to stop it. Not that they weren’t planning on trying, of course… but the odds were decidedly against them.
Their best bet was likely to confront the source of the problem… but Sephiroth had walled himself away in the northern crater, an impenetrable shield of mako energy surrounding the entire area. Scarlet was already at work with personnel in Junon, and her own teams back in Midgar, developing on a way to break through… and in fact, most of the base was already murmuring that they’d heard that the mechanical units had been ordered to prepare the base’s cannon for transport under her supervision.
Meanwhile, Heidegger – and Palmer, of all people – had been tasked with a backup plan of sorts. Palmer, in a rare instance of not being entirely useless, had pointed out that the Shinra No. 26 in Rocket Town was still functional. Heidegger, in an equally rare moment of intelligent discourse, had brought up Scarlet’s Huge Materia weapon and wondered aloud whether or not it could be modified into a bomb of sorts that might break up the astral body closing in on them. They would both be leaving for Rocket Town in a few days.
It was a pleasantly refreshing moment of competence for them all… though Rufus had his doubts that it would last.
The general public, meanwhile, was scared and restless… and the giant rock up in the sky that was getting closer by the hour wasn’t exactly comforting. Thus Rufus had opted to follow in his father’s footsteps and pin the blame on Avalanche. Two of them, at any rate. Barret Wallace and Tifa Lockheart were the only original members remaining… and they had the added benefit of having already had their faces plastered across the local TV channels in Midgar, thanks to the former-President’s previous attempt at scapegoating them.
“The son of a bitch has a fuckin’ gun surgically grafted to his fuckin’ arm. We can’t exactly disarm him, sir,” Reno replied dryly, pausing for a moment before continuing, “Tseng would outright forbid it, and you know it. If you’re expectin’ me to ignore everything he’s taught me and just give in on shit like this, you’re gonna be waitin’ a long time.”
Rufus shot him an irritated glare. “Tseng’s prized pupil,” he muttered. “Oh, very well. Have it your way, then. I doubt it would have been an especially intelligent conversation anyway. And we have more important things to argue over than the minutia of etiquette.”
“What do you want us to do with the rest of ’em?” Reno asked, and the President was quite certain he detected a note of relief in the redhead’s voice.
“Find out what you can from them, and turn them lose. Kill them if you think they’ll be a problem. I would prefer to do this without unnecessary bloodshed, but if they insist upon it, I’m more than willing to give it to them.”
Reno nodded in agreement. “Yes, sir.”
“Well? Don’t you have work to do?” Rufus queried, raising an eyebrow.
Clearly dismissed, Reno slipped from the office and down the hall, already making plans in his head. He’d have Rude and Elena handle interviewing the terrorists. He was immensely grateful that Rufus hadn’t put up a fight over their leader. Tseng would have killed him if he’d allowed such a meeting to take place, given recent events… but for once, that thought had been of secondary importance to him. Temporary Turk leader or not, Rufus’ safety was his primary responsibility now. Up until recently, his role had always been firmly centered around his fellow Turks and keeping them in one piece so they could all continue to do their jobs. It was taking some time to adjust to the change… and if he was being honest, he wasn’t entirely sure how well he was doing at it. He had so much information coming at him from all directions since they’d returned to Junon, sometimes he couldn’t remember if he was coming or going.
He’d even forgotten Ward’s mandated medication twice now… though, thankfully, it didn’t seem to have made that much of a difference. It probably wasn’t something he should be making a habit of, though… and Ward would have his head if she found out he’d been skipping doses, intentionally or not.
It was strange, he realized as he stepped aboard the elevator, that even though Tseng had been training him as his successor for years now, the true weight of that role had failed to make much of an impact upon him until it had suddenly become a reality. He had, of course, been in command before… but this time was different. Tseng’s injuries were serious and would require a lengthy recovery. He might never fully recover… which meant that until he was well enough for a full evaluation, his position in the Turks was somewhat questionable. Temporary leadership could easily become permanent if Ward failed to clear him for active duty once he healed. Reno didn’t like thinking about it… but it was a possibility. Even though he hoped it wouldn’t come to that, he had to be prepared for it.
Of course, if they didn’t do something about that Ifrit-forsaken rock, it wouldn’t matter anyway.
The elevator chimed and released him into the administration building’s lobby. First things first… he hadn’t eaten yet and it was nearly ten in the morning. Breakfast was the first order of business, before his mind began to cloud and his attention started to waver from hunger. Then he would get Elena and Rude started on debriefing the members of Avalanche.
Well… most of them. Tifa had taken a much harder hit than anyone had realized. She was still unconscious in the base’s medical facility. Barret spent a good deal of his time sitting with her, and the others came and went frequently as well. Even Rude occasionally poked his head in to check on her… when he was certain he wouldn’t encounter any of her decidedly protective allies in the process. Apparently his partner still had a little bit of a crush on the woman, despite his claims to the contrary.
As Reno made his way across the lobby, he felt the all-too-familiar sensation of being watched. He frowned slightly and subtly turned his gaze in the direction that seemed most likely to be the source. His gaze was met by another, and he stopped in his tracks, arms folded over his chest.
“Tch… Security’s s’posed to be keepin’ you guys outta this building,” he muttered.
“I thought we might talk briefly. Without risking my allies intruding on the conversation.” He stood, brushing aside the long red cloak that enveloped him and calmly approached the redhead.
“Vincent, right?” Reno replied and the man nodded. “So what’s so important?”
“Curiosity, mostly. And something of a more personal nature. I’ve been watching you. You’re new at this, and it shows.”
The redhead scowled indignantly. “I’ve been Turk for over ten years… I’m definitely not ‘new at this’.”
Vincent barked a quiet laugh. “I meant at running things. I wasn’t around for the encounter with Sephiroth at the Temple of the Ancients, but I heard what happened. Did your commander survive?”
Reno eyed him somewhat suspiciously, wondering what the man’s interest was in Tseng. “Why?”
“Because whether this is a permanent promotion for you, or just temporary is relevant to me… I have a favor to ask, and want to know if I’m asking the right person.”
He studied the stranger for a moment, trying to gauge his intentions… and to his surprise, found him to be thoroughly unreadable. But for whatever reason – and even Reno couldn’t say why, precisely – he opted for an honest answer to the question.
“… I don’t know if it’s permanent or not. Tseng is alive. Whether or not he they let him back in the field once he’s healed up is still up for debate. Sephiroth really did a number on him.”
“I see,” Vincent replied, a thoughtful look on his face. “I suppose that’s permanent enough, then. I have a score to settle with one of the company’s employees. Hojo, specifically.”
“Tch… Not that I’ve got a whole lot of affection for that lunatic, but what makes you think I’d be willin’ to help you out?”
Not that there was much he’d be able to do anyway. Hojo had slipped away, unnoticed, in the chaos of their frenzied arrival in Junon four days ago. No one had seen him since. And he’d long since ditched the tracking device he and Elena had planted on him back in Costa del Sol. He was in the wind… and Reno wasn’t particularly upset about it. He could do without having to keep an eye on the creepy scientist… or ordering Rude or Elena to do so, which was almost worse than taking on that duty himself.
“Because I’m asking this as one Turk to another… though my own career ended some time ago, thanks to that madman.”
Reno blinked in surprise. If the guy was trying to bullshit him, it was a strange way to go about it. Vincent couldn’t possibly have been that much older than the redhead was himself. Certainly no older than Tseng. If he’d been a Turk at one time or another, surely they’d have crossed paths. And besides which… there weren’t any ‘former’ Turks out there. Turks typically didn’t get the opportunity to retire.
“You wouldn’t remember me,” he said, apparently reading Reno’s thoughts. “You said yourself… you’ve only been a Turk for ten years. And… I don’t exactly look my age. Something else I have Hojo to thank for.”
Reno snorted softly in disbelief. The whole idea was laughable. Though if he was making it up, he was certainly committed to the lie… The redhead couldn’t detect even the faintest hint of deceit in the man. “Yeah? You were a Turk, huh… Alright. Convince me.”
Tseng frowned as Ward prodded the sole of first his left foot, and then his right, with a needle. The left was perfectly normal… but on the right, while he could feel the pressure of her efforts, the sensation was faint. He had no trouble moving the limb, but… something wasn’t quite right. It had taken him some time to realize just how little feeling he had in it. As soon as he had, he’d told the doctor.
“Is there anything you can do?”
“For Shiva’s sake, Tseng… I told yeh, this is going ta take time. Yer not going ta be back on yer feet in a week. Or two weeks. Or even a month. Not even with mako therapy helping yeh along. Yer lucky ta even be breathing.”
“I’m perfectly aware of that. What I want to know is whether or not there is anything you can do about this particular symptom.”
Ward rolled her eyes and moved to stand at the side of the Turk leader’s bed. “Yeh were impaled, Tseng. And not just impaled… nearly gutted. There’s some nerve damage… and unfortunately, we probably won’t know the full extent of that damage for awhile yet. And no matter how treatable it is, it’s going ta require physical therapy, which yer in no shape ta be starting right now. So there’s no sense in arguing with me over it.”
“Your bedside manner leaves much to be desired, Justinia…” he replied, eyes narrowing. The doctor shook her head.
“Would yeh prefer I simply showered yeh in platitudes and told yeh everything will be fine whether I have any evidence ta back that claim up or not?” she asked, crossing her arms huffily. Tseng looked away, chastised. Direct as she could be, he much preferred to hear her honest assessment.
“No.”
“Good. Now… Don’t yeh go taking that ta mean I’m giving up on yeh. I have no intention of seeing yeh retire before I do. But yer going ta have ta be patient. It’s not going ta be an easy recovery this time, and rushing things will only end up setting yeh back.” Ward took a seat on the edge of the bed, and gently gripped his shoulder, squeezing reassuringly. “Understood?”
“Yes, ma’am…” Tseng replied, the faint hint of a smile on his lips. This was the reason he like Ward. She took her patients’ recoveries personally. Behind that acerbic, no-nonsense veneer, she was one of the most dedicated and caring physicians he’d ever encountered, and he had always counted himself fortunate to be under her care… even when she viciously berated him for not always following medical advice. It was also why, when he’d taken over as leader, he’d requested that she be designated as the Turks primary medical contact, and trusted her enough to give her the final say as to whether or not one of his own – or he himself – was fit for duty. She’d become invaluable to them all over the years.
“Yeh know… between yeh and that redhead of yers, I’ll be surprised if I even make it ta retirement without losing my fool mind. Odin forbid he and Elena start in on a family before then. I don’t think my old heart could take the stress of having ta wrangle miniature Turks-in-training in addition ta the rest of yeh,” she said teasingly.
“Would I be out of line if I requested to accompany you into retirement before that happens? I’m not certain mine could take it, either,” Tseng chuckled.
“So… Lemme see if I got this straight,” Reno said, gesturing towards Vincent with his fork. He’d opted to kill two birds with one stone, and conduct the first of his interviews over his far-too-late breakfast. “You want me to believe that you were a Turk. Over thirty years ago. And that you haven’t aged a fucking day since then, because of somethin’ Hojo did to you.”
“Yes,” his dining companion replied, simply.
“… Riiiiight.” Reno shoved a forkful of scrambled eggs into his mouth, running through the man’s story again as he chewed. He was skeptical… but at the same time, at least some of the details meshed with things he’d heard from Tseng. And from Veld.
He very clearly remembered the former Turk leader cautioning him on more than one occasion to watch himself around Hojo… because the man was so untouchable that he’d once killed a Turk and convinced the board to make the whole thing disappear. He’d always sort of thought it was just Veld’s way of keeping the rookies from getting into too much trouble where the scientist was concerned… or at the very least, a highly exaggerated recounting of a much more mundane series of events.
And yet… This ‘Vincent Valentine’ certainly knew an awful lot about the Turks. Far more than the average denizen of Midgar… More than most Shinra employees, for that matter. One way to be certain, though… he’d have Rude run the name through the company records and pull the asshole’s file. Assuming it even existed. In the mean time, however… he had to admit to a certain amount of curiosity.
“So answer me this. Seein’ as you’re very obviously not… ya know… dead… why’d you never come back?”
Vincent looked away briefly, and for a moment, Reno saw real hurt in his eyes.
“I was ashamed. I allowed myself to be played a fool by that narcissistic egomaniac, and it cost me my mission and very nearly my life,” he replied, “And for awhile, at least, I believe I was, in fact, very near death. When I finally did recover enough to free myself from the prison Hojo had left me in, I wanted nothing more to do with my past. More than anything else, though, it was the guilt of not being able to save… someone I cared about.”
That struck a nerve. He knew well what it was like to live with the fear of being helpless to save Elena… And he tried very hard not to let himself think about what it would be like to actually lose her. This Vincent was perhaps even better than Rude at hiding what was on his mind… but this was something Reno was intimately familiar with. He wasn’t lying. Not about that, at any rate.
“Let’s say I’m actually startin’ to buy into this. What is it you want from me? Hojo’s long gone. Flew the coop soon as we touched down, far as anyone’s been able to tell… Even if I wanted to hand him over to ya, I couldn’t. I don’t have him,” the redhead said.
Vincent leaned forward, fingers steepled. “He’s gone for now… but he’ll surface again. He’s too obsessed with his experiment not to. And when he does, I want him to die. By your hand, or by mine… I don’t really care. Should you or your Turks come across him before I do…”
Reno smirked. “Might have to take a request like that up with the President himself instead of his hired guns.”
“You won’t do it, then?” Vincent asked, pointedly.
“… Didn’t say that. I have a feeling Rufus wouldn’t mind seein’ that particular thorn in our side eliminated after what he pulled back at the crater. Assuming I’m not specifically asked not to kill the bastard… I got no problem makin’ sure doesn’t walk away from it if we happen to cross paths.”
“Reno?” The redhead rubbed his eyes and yawned before glancing toward tempting silhouette framed by the open door. “Come to bed. You’re exhausted.”
“I’m buried in reports, is what I fucking am…” he sighed, but obligingly shoved the folder he was currently flipping through aside. It was endless. Everything from Junon security reports, to up-to-date information from Midgar, to Rude’s daily intelligence briefings. Not to mention the witness statements from every crew member of the Highwind present that the northern crater, the files they’d retrieved from Nibelhiem, and a rather lengthy list of requests from both Scarlet and Heidegger. “How the fuck does Tseng stay on top of all this shit? Every time I look up, there’s a new one…”
Elena smiled and slipped onto his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck, and capturing his lips before any further complaints made it out. “Worry about it in the morning,” she whispered, her breath warm against his cheek. The redhead grinned and let his hand trail along her hip and to her waist before diving expertly beneath the fabric of her shirt to continue its journey upward. She was right… it was late, and he should get to bed… though at the moment, sleep wasn’t quite what he had in mind.
She squirmed slightly as he caressed the ticklish spot below her ribs, and then giggled and quickly swatted at the other hand that had suddenly found the buttons of her shirt and was deftly undoing the topmost ones.
“Not here, you pervert! What if someone comes in?”
“Tch… It’s almost midnight. Who the hell’d be wanderin’ around the admin building this time of night?”
Just as the words left his lips, however, the sound of a throat clearing brought his attention back around to the door. Elena squeaked in surprise, and all but jumped to her feet, smoothing out her uniform and frantically trying to re-close the buttons her lover had undone.
“Hmph… Relax. It’s just me,” Rude snickered.
“You ever heard of knockin’?” he said, sourly.
“Ever heard of closing the door before you start feeling up your girlfriend?” he shot back, smirking. He strode into the room, brandishing a folder, and Reno groaned.
“Not another one…”
“This is the employee file you asked for. There really was a Turk by the name of Vincent Valentine back in the day. Went missing thirty-five years ago on a long-term security detail in Nibelheim. Presumed dead, no details as to what happened. Whole incident report’s missing, in fact. And check out the ID photo.”
The redhead flipped the folder opened and blinked in surprise at the sight of the photograph paperclipped inside the cover. There was no mistaking the fact that the man in the picture looked identical to the main claiming to be the former-Turk.
“Well… If it’s not him, the guy apparently had a twin. Or a kid. Or somethin’.”
Rude nodded. “Hard to believe. Of course, he wouldn’t be the only Shinra employee to come back from the dead lately… What do we do about him?”
“Nothin’, if we don’t have to,” Reno replied, closing the file. “Far as Shinra’s concerned, he’s already dead. I’m content to leave him that way, ‘long as he doesn’t cause problems. Kinda seems like the least we can do for a fellow Turk.”
“Agreed. And his… request?”
“Someone shoulda put a bullet or two in Hojo a long time ago. I say long as it doesn’t conflict with orders, we do both Valentine and ourselves the favor of endin’ him if we get the chance. Either of you two got a problem with that, now’s the time to say so.”
Elena shook her head. “No objections here,” she said, firmly.
“Fine by me, too,” Rude chipped in. He hesitated a moment, and then sighed.
“Somethin’ else is on your mind… What’s up?” Reno asked, recognizing a bombshell when it was imminent.
“The interviews. You know I had Reeve on my half of the list…”
“Yeah…”
“… Found out what happened to Aerith.”
“And judgin’ by your tone, it’s not good news…”
“Doesn’t get much worse,” he confirmed, “She’s dead. Rufus knew. Never said anything to us.”
“That asshole…” the redhead muttered, annoyed, “How?”
“Sephiroth. Got her not long after she split from the group, apparently. You want me to help you break it to Tseng?”
Reno shook his head. “Nah… Shit like that’s my responsibility now. I’ll do it myself.” He closed his eyes for a moment as he felt Elena’s hands on his shoulders, kneading gently. “In the mornin’,” he added, in response to her earlier demand to come to bed. He sighed softly, looking over the pile of papers on the desk. For a temporary office, it certainly had managed to become cluttered in the short time he’d been working there.
“Need a hand getting through those?”
“Oh, dear Ifrit, yes…” he breathed, “I think I’ve done more readin’ this afternoon than I have in the last twenty-six years combined…”
Rude chuckled and gave him a nod.
“I’ll see if I can’t summarize a few of the longer ones for you tomorrow. Go get some sleep.” The bald Turk glanced over his partner’s shoulder at Elena and grinned. “Or… not,” he teased.
For a few blissful minutes, he was still just asleep enough that everything was silence and warmth. And then Tseng woke up, and the familiar unyielding pain of injury set his teeth on edge. It was definitely time for more drugs.
This was becoming an unwelcome routine for him of late. The sweet release of unconsciousness followed by the agony of waking, whereupon he was viscerally reminded that though his wounds were healing they were far from healed.
And then there was the thirst. It never failed – and he strongly suspected it was related to the painkillers Ward dosed him with every night like clockwork. His mouth was inevitably so dry he’d have sworn that his tongue had turned to dust and disintegrated. Tseng bit back a whimper as he sat up just enough to reach for the glass of water on the table beside his bed. Moving his torso in any way seemed to send arrows of pure fire shooting through his chest and abdomen, but he would not be denied. His fingers closed around the glass, and he pulled it toward him.
“You could just ask someone to hand that to you, ya know…”
Tseng ignored the comment until after he’d drunk deeply from the cup for several seconds.
“I’m fairly certain I would dehydrate first, if I didn’t take matters into my own hands,” he replied at last, voice somewhat raspy from the lack of moisture. “You’re certainly up early.”
Reno smirked and slid into the room, shutting the door behind him, and made his way over to the bed. “No I’m not. You’re up late. It’s almost nine. Vir was here awhile ago, but she didn’t wanna wake you. Told me to tell you she’d be back after her morning shift.”
Tseng mentally sighed. He hated it when he missed one of Viridia’s visits.
“And I get you instead, in the meantime? That seems a rather poor substitute…”
“Ouch,” the redhead said, laughing softly. “Careful, Boss… I might start to take your bad mood personally.” His smiled faltered a moment later. “But… uh… this time, you might be right about that. Got some bad news.”
Reno dragged a chair over to his bedside, and spent far more time than necessary arranging it before taking a seat. Whatever his lieutenant had to tell him, it was, indeed, bad, Tseng realized. The younger man was usually unflinchingly blunt when it came to things like that. It was unusual for him to try and stall in such a manner.
“Just tell me.”
He sighed, and glanced up at the injured Turk. “I really don’t want to.”
“Someone’s dead,” Tseng stated, easily recognizing the look in his protege’s eyes. “Who?”
“… Aerith.” The reply was so soft, for a moment Tseng was willing to believe Reno hadn’t spoken at all. The moment passed, far too quickly, however, and he felt his chest constricted painfully. He closed his eyes and let out a shuddering breath.
It wasn’t fair. Aerith was kind and caring and beloved by everyone who knew her. And so very young. All those years he’d spent shielding her. It had been for nothing, in the end. He’d failed to protect her… just as he’d failed to protect his own sister.
“Do… you want to know what happened?” Reno’s voice hesitantly asked.
“No,” he whispered. “A full report later… but not now.”
The redhead nodded his understanding. “For what it’s worth… they said it was quick. She didn’t suffer.”
“I presume you have work to do,” the Turk leader replied, not actually acknowledging the information.
“Yeah… but I can stick around for awh– ”
“Go and see to it. I’ll be alright.”
“Tseng…”
“Go. Please. I would prefer solitude at the moment.”
Reno gave a heavy sigh, and stood. “… ‘Kay. Let me know if want some company later, though, huh? I’ve got plenty of shit to do, but I’ll make the time.”
He stood and started toward the door, retreating into the hallway and letting the door close behind him. He did his best to ignore the sound of a water glass shattering against the wall that followed his exit.
“How’d he take it?” a voice behind him suddenly asked as he exited the medical facility. Reno halted, but didn’t look back at his partner.
“‘Bout as well as you’d expect.”
“You didn’t have to do it on your own, you know. I would’ve come.”
The redhead smiled faintly, and glanced back over his shoulder. Rude was leaning casually against the wall, partially obscured by the shadows of the building.
“Yeah, I know you woulda. But it’s my job to deliver bad news, not yours. ‘Sides… You know what he’s like. Hates anyone knowing how much he’s really hurtin’. Physically or otherwise. Kicked me out pretty quick after I told him,” he replied, before turning away and starting off towards the administration building again. Rude pushed away from the wall and fell into stride beside him. “Told Ward why I was there before I went in. She said she’d keep an eye on him.”
“You think this is gonna be a repeat of Mayu?”
Reno shrugged. He really had no idea what to expect. Aerith had always been something of a stand-in for Tseng’s sister… but more on a metaphorical level than a literal one. He cared about her, certainly, but Reno had always gotten the impression that his desire to protect the young woman was more of an atonement for his failure to protect Mayu than it was Tseng actually regarding her as a replacement for what he’d lost.
But that didn’t mean the Turk leader wasn’t more than slightly attached to her in much the same way he’d been to his sister… and Mayu’s death had come close to shattering the man. The pair lapsed briefly into silence as they made their way across the tarmac.
“Rufus wants Avalanche turned loose and escorted from the base today,” the redhead said, changing the subject. “All except the bartender and the asshole, obviously.”
“Hmph… Whole thing’s a waste of time, if you ask me.”
Reno snorted softly. He wholeheartedly agreed… but Rufus wasn’t to be talked out of his planned execution. He wanted to do it just as soon as Tifa woke up.
“… You know, I never asked,” Rude continued, “Where did you put the guy’s kid, anyway?”
“Fuck…” Reno groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration, “I forgot all about her. She’s in Kalm. Left her with Talia… but that was s’posed to just be a temporary thing. Great. Now on top of ever fuckin’ thing else, I gotta figure out what to do with a soon-to-be orphan. Tch… ’cause I don’t have enough shit to handle right now.”
“Think Talia would take her on permanently?”
The redhead shrugged. “Dunno. Maybe… but she’s got a baby to take care of, too, ya know. Guess I could just kick her back to Elmyra. She was pretty pissed when I took her to begin with. Kinda sucks havin’ to ship the kid back to the slums when she just got out of ’em, though.”
“Reno! Rude!” Elena shouted, waving at them from the doors of the building. The two men looked at one another in curiosity, previous conversation set aside for the moment, and quickened their pace. “I was just about to call you,” she said as they approached. “Rufus wants to see all three of us upstairs. He says he has a job for us.”
Rufus carefully lifted the heavy barrel from the Junon canon model on his desk, looking it over with an appraising eye. Moving the real thing wasn’t going to be nearly so simple… but it was the only thing Shinra had in its arsenal that would even have a chance at breaching Sephiroth’s barrier around the crater. The military’s recent attempts to do so with more conventional means had proven that to him.
He’d dispatched them within hours of his own return, and they’d been at it around the clock ever since… with no progress to be seen. Five days of nothing. In the meantime, Scarlet had her own teams in Midgar, working to outfit the city with a scaffolding to mount the weapon to. Reeve had been brought in – as his robotic spy was no longer needed – to work on rerouting the reactors to power the damned thing.
Under normal circumstances, it would take months to complete a project of this magnitude. But they didn’t have months. They would be lucky if they had weeks. He had given the order just minutes ago to begin the process of dismantling the canon and preparing one of the airships to transport it.
He didn’t like leaving Junon defenseless… especially with a Weapon out there that seemed to be fixated on targeting the base… but it couldn’t be helped. It was the only shot they had at breaking through to Sephiroth, and breaking through to Sephiroth was still their best chance at stopping Meteor’s approach.
He hoped.
Frankly, he had no way of knowing what would happen, even if they did put an end to the rogue-Soldier once and for all… which was why he’d summoned the Turks. He had a job for them. A knock echoed against the door to his office and he looked up from the model.
“Enter.”
Reno stepped inside, his fellow-Turks in tow.
“‘Lena says you’ve got somethin’ for us,” he said, for once getting straight to the point, rather than engaging in his usual idiocy. It was actually somewhat disconcerting for the young executive.
“I do,” Rufus replied, leaning back in his chair. “Palmer is in Rocket Town, modifying the Shinra No. 26 to destroy that damned rock. Heidegger will be joining him after we’ve dealt with the execution. They’re in need of a payload. You will be retrieving it for them.”
“Can do. What are we after?”
“Huge materia. Scarlet has already examined the Gongaga reactor and found nothing viable… but given the heavy damage, that’s not surprising. I want you to check the reactors in Nibelheim, Mt. Corel, and Fort Condor. Materia from the Junon reactor is being extracted as we speak. You will leave immediately.”
Reno frowned. “Nibelheim and Corel we can do… but Fort Condor’s not gonna be so easy. Those ‘rebel’ fuckwits are still holed up in there, last I heard. Sneakin’ into the reactor we could probably manage without too much trouble. Gettin’ back out with a shitload of super-dense materia strapped to our backs is gonna be a problem.”
Rufus had already considered that. Fort Condor had been an issue for almost a year now. Had it not been for the reactor, the protestors demanding that the birds nesting on top be protected would have been routed months ago… but while Shinra could certainly have taken the fort with relative ease, doing so without damaging the extraordinarily expensive equipment – not to mention potentially flooding the area with raw mako – was a little trickier. Until now, the plan had simply been to occasionally harass them, but otherwise just wait them out. Either the men and women inside the fort would eventually run out of food, or the blasted eggs would finally hatch and the occupation would be moot.
Now, though… they needed access to that reactor, endangered species be damned.
“See to Nibelheim and Corel first. If we can scrape together enough from those two, we may not need the Fort Condor reactor at all. Troops from Junon will be at your disposal should we find otherwise.”
“Tch… Didn’t think we’d be makin’ another trip up here so soon,” Reno groused, his voices staticy over the headset. He folded his hands behind his head and leaned back in his seat, making himself as comfortable as he could. The helicopter’s cockpit didn’t exactly lend itself well to relaxation.
“So… everyone in Nibelheim works for Shinra?” Elena asked from one of the passenger seats in back. The redhead turned back to look at her and grinned.
“Just about. Wouldn’t know it to talk to ’em, though. They’re pretty committed to the act. If we weren’t in such a rush, me ‘n Rude would take ya into town so you could see for yourself.”
“… And make her spend the night in the manor?” Rude queried with a smirk. Reno chuckled and turned around to face front again.
“That, too…” he agreed, grinning. Elena unclipped her harness and leaned forward, thrusting herself between the two men.
“What are you two snickering about now?”
“Oh, nothin’…” Reno replied, grin still firmly in place.
“Just a little right of passage we used to put rookies through back in the day…” his accomplice elaborated.
“Ya know… Test their courage a little. See if they can make it through the night in the haunted house without freakin’ themselves out.”
Elena rolled her eyes and returned to her seat. “First of all…” she said, “I’m not a rookie anymore, remember?”
“Yeah, but you’re still the youngest. That makes you fair game…” Reno shot back. She pointedly ignored him.
“And second… there’s no such thing as a haunted house.”
“Hmph… That’s what Reno thought before he had to do it. He only lasted until about two in the morning.”
Reno smirked at his partner and flipped him off. “You’re one to talk. You ran outta there, tail between your legs, before midnight, ya fuckin’ wuss.”
“… Only because you, Cissnei, and Tseng tried to murder me in my sleep. Asshole.”
The redhead laughed and shook his head. “Hey, me ‘n Tseng just played along after the fact. It was all her inside, ya know.”
“Who’s Cissnei?” Elena asked, curious. Both men suddenly sobered. It was Reno who finally answered.
“… She was Turk. Good one. Probably coulda been one of the best if she’d been around longer. Good friend, too. She got recruited not long after I did. We… lost her about eight years ago.”
“… Oh.” She stayed silent after that, not sure what else to say. Reno, however, didn’t seem quite ready to let the subject drop so quickly.
“You’d’ve liked her, ‘Lena. She was awesome… Right from the start, that kid didn’t take shit from anyone. She was this tiny little thing compared to most of the rest of us… real quiet, too, for the most part. Not shy at all, just… not in the habit of sayin’ the first thing that came to her mind. But she could kick some serious ass. And she was the queen of practical jokes. Even better than me. In fact, I usually ended up gettin’ blamed for a lot of the shit she pulled ’cause no one ever suspected perfect, poised little Cissnei of anything…”
“So… I guess you and her were… close, then,” Elena said, somewhat hesitantly. Reno gave a soft laugh and glanced back at her again.
“Yeah…” he replied, “… but not the way you meant that. Never hooked up with Cissnei. She, uh… kinda had a thing for someone else.” His eyes not-so-subtly shifted toward Rude. “Don’t think he ever knew, though.”
Elena heard a sigh so soft over the headset that at first she thought it was just a burst of static… until Rude chimed in on the conversation.
“… He knew.”
The redhead gave him a slightly sad smile before continuing. “‘Bout eight years back there was some pretty bad flooding down in the Sector 4 slums. Bad enough Shinra had to actually do somethin’ about it, ’cause if they didn’t, a whole lotta people were gonna die and that definitely doesn’t make for good publicity. Turks got tapped to direct the evacuation into the other sectors and keep people from panickin’ too bad. Shit went wrong, and Cissnei got trapped with a group of evacuees. No way to get to ’em in time… Woulda been killed ourselves if we’d tried. By the time we found her…” He swallowed sharply and pulled his gaze back around to the front. “Well, it took almost a week for the water to go down enough to get back in and… some of the critters that live down there aren’t too picky about what they eat… so you can imagine. Though I don’t recommend it.”
“Reactor’s up ahead,” Rude said, breaking the awkward silence that followed. Elena leaned forward again and peered through the plexiglass windshield at the sharp spires of Mt. Nibel. She could just make out the outline of the reactor nestled between two of the peaks. It was much different than the reactors back in Midgar… but then, it was also much older technology than the state-of-the-art machinery in the city.
“Set us down as close as you can get. That huge materia shit is heavy and I’m not haulin’ it any farther than I have to.”
Rude snorted contemptuously. “As if you’re going to be hauling anything out of there,” he teased, “I’m the one who always gets stuck with the heavy lifting.”
“Only ’cause you’re so much better at it…” the redhead replied, smiling innocently as the helicopter touched down not far from the reactor’s entryway. Elena hefted a canvas tool bag and the three of them disembarked, Reno leading the way into the reactor. As they stepped inside, Elena couldn’t help but stare in shock. This was nothing like the reactors in Midgar.
For one thing, the back of the room was tiered, with rows of strange, pod-shaped containers. The faint glow from inside told her that they were filled with mako… but beyond that, she had no idea what they might be.
“Probably goes without sayin’… but this shit’s highly classified. Nibelheim isn’t your average mako reactor.”
“What are those?” she asked in response.
“Don’t know exactly… When I asked, I got told it was some kinda incubation chamber. Another one of Hojo’s experiments, of course. Don’t touch ’em. In fact, don’t even look at ’em funny. Fuck only knows what he’s been growin’ in there, and personally, I don’t think I wanna find out.”
Elena and Rude followed him up the stairs and into the main chamber of the reactor. She gazed down into the dark pit of the reactor core, and wondered just how deep Shinra’d had to drill to reach the mako deposits. Reno pointed to a metal door at the far end of the walkway.
“That’s were they used to keep Jenova. Come on… we need to go down a ways. Huge materia forms in the compression chamber. We gotta close the main vent first and then put the reactor in low power mode. Then we can go in and see what we’ve got.”
“I-is that safe? I mean… you do know how to do that, right?”
Rude elbowed her gently as he slipped past her on the walkway. “He doesn’t have a clue what he’s talking about. I’m the one who got briefed on the procedure,” he said, chuckling. He reached out and grabbed the redhead by the ponytail, jolting him to a sudden halt with a yelp. “And you have to open the vent. Not close it. Unless you’re in the mood to come down with mako poisoning.”
“Ya know,” Reno said, scowling slightly, as he rubbed the back of his head, “If you’re gonna make me look like an idiot in front of my girlfriend, you could at least lay off the physical pain when you do it…”
His partner smirked and took the lead, as Reno tried valiantly to ignore Elena’s giggling. They came to a ladder that descended deeper into the well, and Rude hopped on, testing it out. It creaked loudly under his weight.
“Always a promising sound…” Reno muttered. “Uh… ‘Lena, maybe you oughta wait up here…” he added, taking the bag of supplies from her and hanging it across his body for the climb down.
Elena frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. “You’d better not be implying that this is too dangerous for me…”
“No… I’m implyin’ that we should probably have someone up here to haul our asses outta this hole if that ladder breaks. Or at least to be able to go for help. We all get stuck down there, we’re pretty much fucked. No one’s gonna come lookin’ for us any time soon.”
He dug through the bag and pulled out a length of rope, holding it out to her. Elena flushed a faint pink as she took it.
“O-oh… Right.”
Reno grinned and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Come on, ‘Lena… You know I don’t think you need me protectin’ you from every little thing. You’re too tough for that shit.”
“So how come you’re going down instead of her?” Rude teased, and then let himself slide down the sides of the ladder, disappearing from view before the redhead could answer.
“Fuck you, Rude!” he called down after him, and Elena couldn’t help but laugh as he followed suit.
When Reno reached the bottom, he quickly sought out his partner and smacked him, backhanded, in the shoulder.
“What the hell’d you have to go and say that for?” he hissed, keeping his voice down in the huge echo chamber. Rude laughed silently.
“She knew I was kidding.”
“Not the point,” he replied, unamused. Rude ruffled his friend’s hair, and the man’s irritated expression deepened. “Quit fuckin’ around and let’s see if there’s anything useful in there.”
Rude chuckled quietly. “You know… we both always thought Tseng was just born with no sense of humor. Now I’m starting to think his job sucks it out of you.”
“Ha ha,” the redhead replied, rolling his eyes. Rude shrugged and twisted a valve near the control panel for the compression chamber. Far above them, there was a loud hissing sound. It went on for several seconds, and when it finally stopped, he keyed in an access code on the panel. It glowed yellow, and then green. As soon as they had the all-clear, Rude moved to the heavy airlock and tried to turn the wheel that opened it, grunting with the effort. It didn’t budge, and after a few more tries he abandoned the effort and turned back to his fellow Turk.
“I’m just saying… You’ve been a little subdued lately. Hand me the crowbar?”
Reno gave a derisive snort and unshouldered the bag he’d brought down, shifting through its contents until he located the requested item, and handed it over.
“Yeah, well… I’ve got a lot on my mind right now. You have any idea how much shit Tseng has to juggle on a daily basis? And in case you’ve forgotten, we’re kinda tryin’ to save the planet from a psychotic lunatic. Plus… ya know… everything else. You’ll have to excuse me if entertainin’ you isn’t my top priority at the moment.”
Rude lodged the crow between the spokes of the wheel, giving himself a lever, and hauled back on it, hard. It didn’t so much as squeak. He backed off and shook his head.
“When’s the last time anyone was down here?” he asked, somewhat incredulously.
“No idea,” Reno replied. “Here… I’ll give ya hand. Maybe between the two of us we can move it.”
“Doubt it… It’s rusted shut. Wait here… Think there’s something in the helicopter’s tool kit that might help.”
“Careful on that fuckin’ ladder…” he called after him. Rude nodded and headed back toward the entrance, leaving the redhead alone by the compression chamber. The redhead eyed wheel, and glanced back toward the ladder. His partner was already halfway up. “Tch… can’t be that stuck…” he said softly to himself, gripping the crowbar and straining hard against it.
Nothing… It was if he were pushing against the mountain itself. He repositioned the crowbar so that he could brace it against his shoulder, and pushed hard, but it was no use. It wasn’t moving.
“No way am I lettin’ a fuckin’ door beat me.”
Reno moved the crowbar a second time, so that he could apply downward pressure to turn the wheel. He reached for the top of the frame and pulled himself up until he was standing on the makeshift lever, slowly letting it take his full weight. With a frown, he bounced slightly, but found that there was absolutely no give to it.
“Ah, come on… You gotta be kiddin’ me…” he groaned. Determine to make at least some progress before Rude returned, he jumped… and with a loud crack of rust giving way, and a sharp squeal, the wheel finally turned a fraction of an inch.
“Ha!” he cried, triumphantly.
“What’s that?” Elena asked, curious, as Rude returned to the reactor well with whatever it was he’d gone to search for aboard the helicopter.
“Aerosol lubricant… cuts through rust. Figured it might unstick that door for us.”
“Ha!” Reno’s voice echoed up from below, a pleased note in it. Shortly thereafter, however, came a surprised yelp, followed by a metallic squeal, a thud, and a few moments later, a loud clattering and the sound of the redhead swearing. The pair of Turks looked at one another, both wondering the same thing.
“… What do you think he’s done now?” Rude asked.
Elena shook his head. “Unless he’s hurt, I don’t even want to know,” she said with quiet snicker. Rude snorted in laughter and headed down the ladder without another word. By the time he reached him, the redhead was picking himself up off the floor, though he paused when he spotted his partner walking toward him.
“… Door’s open,” Reno stated, rubbing his forehead just above his right eye. When he moved his hand, Rude noticed a long scrape, and the faint bluish hue of a bruise already forming.
“The phrase ‘using your head’ really isn’t meant to be taken literally. You alright?”
“Yeah… Just… Don’t ask.”
Rude shrugged. “Guess we don’t need this now…” He tucked the can of lubricant into the bag at his feet and then made his way to the door, turning the wheel the rest of the way and pushing it inward.
“Jackpot,” Reno stated, peering around his fellow-Turk, and Rude couldn’t exactly disagree. The crystal was massive. Easily three feet long, and nearly as wide around as Reno’s waist. It glowed a soft green and the natural facets of the stone sent pinpricks of light dancing across the interior of the chamber. They stepped closer to it, and it reacted with a rhythmic, almost throbbing, flicking. Rude lifted it, grunting loudly with the effort and almost immediately had to set it back down again.
“This is gonna take both of us,” he breathed in shock. He’d been told that the stuff was incredibly dense… but for Odin’s sake, that crystal weighed more than he did. Reno took up a position opposite him.
“On three…” he agreed.
“Three,” Rude replied, lifting again, and his partner struggled to take on the excess weight. Between the two of them, they managed to shuffle their way out of the chamber and down the walkway, finally depositing their load next to the ladder.
“I don’t get paid enough for shit like this…” Reno griped, pressing his hands into his lower back and stretching with a look of dramatic pain etched on his features. Rude chuckled at the display of feigned discomfort.
“If you’re done, we still need to get this thing up there…”
“Hey! ‘Lena! Toss that rope down here, will ya?”
“Coming down!” came the disembodied reply from above them. A few seconds later the end of the rope dropped, coiling at their feet. They spent the next few minutes securing their prize to it.
Rude moved to start the climb up the ladder, but the redhead stopped him, holding him back and smirking mischievously.
“‘Kay, haul it up!” he shouted to the Turk waiting for them on the upper walkway. Both men snickered as the rope went taut for several seconds and then slacked off again.
“Very funny, Reno!” Elena called back.
“Sir…”
Rufus looked up from his present task… signing several approvals for supplies to be transferred from Junon to Midgar. His eyes fell on the sight of the base’s security chef. She didn’t wait to be invited in.
“The reactor lookout just notified us that Sapphire Weapon has been sighted again.”
The young executive bit down on a particularly unbecoming response to that news and forced himself to reply with restraint.
“Is it preparing to attack?” he asked.
“They’re not certain, sir,” Viridia replied. “Right now, it’s just… circling. It comes in just close enough that they can pick it up on radar, and then swims back out to sea. Every two hours since around midnight last night, like clockwork.”
Rufus’ eyes narrowed angrily. “And I’m just now hearing about this?”
“It’s staying just at the edge of radar range, sir… They weren’t certain what it was at first, so they sent a sub out to watch for it.”
The President scowled and shoved aside his work. “What’s it up to now?” he muttered, more to himself than to his security chief.
“Sir, I know moving the cannon is necessary… but it’s going to leave Junon largely defenseless against that creature. If it attacks once it’s gone… we’ll be wiped out.”
“Then we’ll wait,” he said, firmly.
“Sir?”
“The scaffolding in Midgar won’t be ready for another week. Have the crews stop prepping the cannon. We’ll keep it operational until the last possible second. In the meantime, order all of our personnel prepare to evacuate. We’ll empty the base of all non-essential personnel just before we move the cannon.”
He didn’t like simply abandoning the military installation – not to mention its reactor – to the mercy of that thing, but there was little else to be done. As Lieutenant Commander Nacelle had rightly said, without the cannon, Junon was a sitting duck… but the cannon needed to be relocated.
And if that meant sacrificing the rest of the facility, Shinra Company would just have to eat the loss.
~fin~
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