Taking Care of Reno: Meteorfall
Chapter 21: Underwater Theft
Viridia watched, not certain if she was more impressed or disgusted, as the redhead shoveled one forkful after another into his mouth, pausing only occasionally to forceably swallow.
“I know I’ve said it before, but… you are a bottomless pit.” She shook her head and and bit into the tuna sandwich on her tray. She herself had avoided the potatoes that Reno seemed to be so enjoying. They were far enough into the week that the texture was becoming more akin to paste than food. He forced another mouthful down.
“What’s wrong with havin’ an appetite?”
“That’s not ‘having an appetite’. That’s a feeding frenzy. You can’t possibly be human.”
Reno shrugged and went back to eating. Dinner the previous evening had been much the same… though he’d spent slightly more time talking than stuffing his face. They’d talked about a lot, actually… but mostly Elena. It had really been the first opportunity she’d had to spend any significant amount of time alone with the Turk recently… unless one counted his brief stint in one of her detention cells a short while ago… but the conversation then had been light and playful, not the more thoughtful topics they’d covered over dinner.
Really, she couldn’t ever recall having had a particularly serious conversation with the young man that lasted more than a couple of minutes. He seemed to avoid it like the plague. In fact the most serious he’d ever been were the times over the years when he’d had to call her and tell her that Tseng was hurt again. Mostly, he just made fun of her for being such a stickler for the rules or bragged that she didn’t know half of what he got up to on his visits to Junon.
Last night over dinner, he’d almost been a different person… and she was beginning to understand just how much recent evens were weighing on him. Even when he’d tried to laugh it off.
Today, though… the more jovial side of him appeared to have returned.
“Okay, I’m just going to ask. What’s got you in such a good mood all of a sudden?”
Reno glanced up, midway into upending a bottle of ketchup over a pile of green beans and grinned.
“Talked to ‘Lena earlier and told her I’d be back on the job soon as she got back,” he replied, shrugging. “It was good to hear her voice.” His grin widened noticeably, and Viridia had the distinct impression that there was a little more too it than just a pleasant conversation with his girlfriend. Knowing him as well as she did… she wasn’t about to ask.
“Soooo… I guess that means she’s not too upset over you trying to hide things from her then.”
“Think she’s temporarily forgotten about that…” he replied shaking his head. “Hopefully, nothin’ll come along and jog her memory, ’cause I probably got off a lot easier on that than I deserve, to be honest. I fuckin’ hate it when she’s mad at me.”
“And if her experience is anything like mine, that’s about ninety percent of the time,” Viridia joked. She didn’t mean it at all. Reno could be irritating as all hell, but it was actually pretty hard to stay mad at someone who went out of his way to make you laugh once he realized how angry you were. And beside which… he really was a nice guy at heart. Even if he did more than occasionally drive her crazy with his idiotic antics.
“Aw, come on, Vir… When’s the last time I did somethin’ to piss you off?”
“Reno… When the four of you first got here, you hadn’t been on base for a full twenty-four hours before I had to arrest you.”
The redhead blinked. “Oh… Right. Kinda forgot about that.”
The security chief laughed quietly and turned back to her lunch. “Your Elena must have the patience of a saint…”
Reno frowned slightly. “I’m not really that big a pain in the ass to you, am I?”
“You are the bane of my existence sometimes. You’re just lucky that the ten percent of the time you’re not driving me up the wall, I actually really like you.”
“Ouch.”
“Oh, relax, I’m kidding. Mostly.”
“Heh… And that’s why me ‘n ‘Lena are a thing,” he snickered, “I drive her nuts, too… but she still likes havin’ me around.”
Viridia smirked. “And she never drives you nuts? No offense, but honestly? I’d have thought you’d have moved on once you got what you wanted.”
The redhead shifted somewhat uncomfortably in his seat. “Yeah. Probably a lot of people who think that about me,” he replied, poking at the remaining food, and Viridia frowned. She hadn’t meant to bring him down like that. “Probably a lot of people who won’t ever buy into the idea that I don’t wanna be that guy anymore.” He suddenly looked up and grinned. “Fuck ’em, though. They can think what they want.”
Viridia shook her head. “You sure you’re alright? You seem a little all over the place today.”
“Yeah… no. Truth is I’m really not. Ward still thinks I oughta be talkin’ to a shrink. I’d rather just talk to ‘Lena or Rude… but then I start thinkin’ it’s not fair to dump all my shit on them. Lira used to coax me into it without me even noticin’… but… she kinda hates me now. And Tseng’s havin’ a hard enough time being stuck in bed twenty-four seven while the fuckin’ planet is on the verge of bein’ destroyed. He doesn’t need me buggin’ him for moral support.” Reno sighed, and took another tentative bite. “How the fuck did things manage to go to shit so fast, anyway? Few weeks ago, I came close to talkin’ myself out of buyin’ ‘Lena a ring ’cause we’ve only been together three months or so… and now I’m wonderin’ if I should ask her right fucking now, before anything else can go wrong.”
The security chief choked on her sandwich, causing her lunch date to look up in alarm. She coughed violently, finally managing to clear her airway.
“I thought that was just a joke!” she said at last. The Turk had made a somewhat off-handed remark to her on the subject not that long ago, but she’d written it off as teasing banter at the time. The redhead chuckled softly.
“Nope. Got the ring, got a place to do it in mind, and finally got the nerve to actually go through with it… I’m askin’ her to marry me once we’re done with all this shit. And, by the way, Rude’s the only other person who knows right now, so don’t go spreadin’ it around.”
“You know…” Viridia said, gesturing at him with her fork, “I always sort of thought that Turks didn’t get married.”
“Tch… Veld was married. ‘Course, I think they hooked up before he was a Turk. So was Tseng’s old partner, Artemis. And I dunno if you remember Sato, but that guy was married and divorced ‘least three times that I know of. Not like I’d be the first.”
Viridia laughed softly. The redhead’s answer had been surprisingly defensive. “I wasn’t trying to talk you out of it or anything,” she snickered. “It was just an observation.”
Reno shrugged. “Yeah… Sorry. It’s just that… most Turks have always tried to avoid gettin’ too involved with anyone. ‘Cause fuck only knows what might happen to us. I mean… look at Veld. Guy goes to work like any other day, expectin’ to be home for dinner, and gets gunned down in the slums. Instead of seein’ him walk through the door, his wife and kid get a visit from Tseng. I wouldn’t wish that shit on anyone.”
“Then why get involved with Elena at all?”
“Says the woman dating my boss.” He smirked and drained the glass of soda in front of him. “You’ve got enough calls from me tellin’ ya he’s been shot or blown up or beat down over the years. Why put yourself through all that?”
“Because…” she said, softly, smiling, “He’s worth it.”
“So’s ‘Lena. Sometimes it’s worth riskin’ that sort of pain to be happy.”
Viridia was about to reply, but she never had the chance. Reno’s PHS rang loudly, and he hurried to answer it, frowning slightly in confusion as he glanced at the screen.
“Need somethin’?” he asked, and listened to the reply in silence. “Yeah, alright… I’ll be there.”
“What’s up?” the security chief asked, as he was tucking the phone back into his pocket.
“Looks like I’m back on the job a little sooner than planned. Soon as the repair crews get shit cleared out of the docks, Rufus wants me to escort the materia from the underwater reactor to Rocket Town.”
They’d lost nearly three hours. Between having to stop and refuel in Costa del Sol, and hitting still more lousy weather crossing the ocean, by the time Rude sighted Fort Condor, the sun was already setting.
This wasn’t good. Avalanche had the Highwind, and their little helicopter was no match for it. The airship could fly through damn near anything and seldom had stop to refuel. It could stay aloft for weeks at a time. If they somehow hadn’t beaten the Turks to the next reactor, Rude would be truly shocked.
And indeed, as they drew closer to their destination, it became quite apparent that something had happened. For one, the rebels… who for months now had occupied the fort… were being escorted peacefully from the structure. For another, the Turk couldn’t see the unfortunately-located condor eggs that had caused the stand-off to begin with. The nest on top of the fort was empty.
“What’s going on down there?” Elena asked, pushing her recently-acquired sunglasses up onto her forehead.
“… Not sure. Looks like the rebels have surrendered.” And if that were the case, it made their job considerably easier… Without an occupying force to guard it, the pair could simply walk right in, collect the huge materia, and walk out again.
Assuming, of course, that the materia was still there. Rude set down as close to the entrance as he dared and the Turks disembarked. They made their way up toward the the entrance, and the small group that was being processed by the Shinra military.
“Ha! Lookie what we got here… If that ain’t a Turk, I’ll eat my hat,” one man, his arms firmly cuffed behind his back, sneered as they approached.
“Looks like he brought along someone to keep him company. Hey, beautiful! How ’bout you come over here and let a real man show you a good time?”
If Elena was at all bothered by the cat calling, she hid it well, and Rude smirked slightly. There had been a time with something like that would have thoroughly flustered the young woman. She’d come quite a long way since her first promotion. They passed their hecklers by without a word and made short work of locating the officer in charge of the operation.
“You’re a little late,” the man said. He was older, with a deep scar marring his left cheek and graying hair. “We’re just mopping things up at this point.”
“What happened?” Rude asked.
“We were prepping for a raid on the fort. We do it every few days, just to keep the rebels on their toes. All of a sudden one of my lookouts spots an airship heading our way. Figured it was just Junon sending more supplies at first… but when it got closer, we recognized it as the Highwind. Got the report yesterday about it being hijacked right out of the shipyard. Since we didn’t know what it was here for, we just dug in and watched. None of our ordnance would’ve made a dent in that thing, and provoking a fight wasn’t going to do anyone any good. They dropped low enough to let some people off, into the fort.”
“And then?”
“I figured we couldn’t take on the Highwind… but if we sent in a small raiding party, while they were there, they wouldn’t expect another attack later. Once those bastards left. So that’s what we did. Damn eggs decided to hatch right in the middle of it, so the rebels threw everything they had at us. Lost a few guns for hire. The people from the airship got whatever it was they wanted… saw ’em hauling it aboard… and took to the skies again.”
Rude glanced sidelong at Elena, and she returned the look. The huge materia. What else would Avalanche be taking from Fort Condor?
“Once they were gone we went in with the entire battalion and finally routed ’em.” He nodded towards the group of men and women lined up in front of the cliff wall. “Most of them came pretty quiet since their precious birds hightailed it, but we’ve got a few loudmouths still bent on stirring up trouble.”
“All clear inside? There’s something we need to retrieve… if it’s still there,” Rude replied. He doubted there would be any trace of it… but it was their job to check. The soldier nodded.
“That’s the last of them over there. The fort’s under Shinra control again.”
Rude nodded his understanding and turned to Elena. “… Come on. Let’s see if there’s anything left for us.”
He led her up the path to Fort Condor’s entrance. It seemed that the army had been busy. Gone was the heavy, fraying rope that had greeted him when he and Tseng had arrived here some weeks ago. In it’s place was a small, one-person elevator of sorts, consisting of a swing and a set of pulleys.
“Ladies first,” he said, gesturing to the contraption. Elena eyed it apprehensively.
“… If I get stuck on this thing, your first instinct had better be to help me… not to start taking pictures.”
Rude smirked. “You get stuck, I’m recording video. Reno would never forgive me if I didn’t.”
“You know,” she replied, pushing her sunglasses back down over her eyes. “I was thinking about giving these back once we made it to Junon. But maybe I’ll just keep them…”
With that, she hopped aboard, gripping the rope tightly, and started to haul herself upwards. Rude hid a smile. Yes… the one-time rookie really had come a long way. He was soon following her path up, into the fort.
“Keep going up,” he instructed as he slid out of the swing. “The reactor takes up half the plateau, but the entrance is up top.”
Elena turned and headed for the staircase cut into the stone wall.
“What do we do if it’s gone?” she asked. “Back to Junon?”
“Not much else we can do,” Rude agreed. “Not like we’re gonna be able to chase down the Highwind and take it back by ourselves.”
“Where do you think they took it?”
“Don’t know. Avalanche has always been based in the slums… but I don’t think they’d take it there. Too close to Shinra’s home base,” he replied. “I suppose they could just keep it aboard the Highwind. The thing is made for hauling cargo, after all. Seems like just as big a risk, though.”
“Rufus isn’t going to happy,” Elena observed.
Rude shrugged. “Reno’s not going to be happy, either… but it is what it is. They got here ahead of us. At least we’ve still got the one from Nibelheim. And they’ll have recovered the one from the Junon reactor by now, too.”
“I have to wonder… does Palmer’s idea really has a shot at destroying that thing?” she asked as they found the door that led out onto the mountaintop. “He’s not exactly the most reliable person I’ve ever met…” They edged their way towards the door to the reactor.
“Guess it’s as good an idea as any right now. Palmer may be completely worthless as an executive, but when it comes to his rockets, he actually knows his stuff. Used to be a pretty accomplished engineer, until he got promoted to the board of directors. Then he got fat and lazy.”
“You knew him before?” Elena asked, surprised, as Rude hauled open the sealed door.
“Knew of him, anyway. Never officially met him. He took over site operations at Rocket Town for awhile after…” He hesitated for a moment, quickly rethinking what he’d been about to say. “… after the accident that destroyed the Shinra No. 24.”
Maybe it was his imagination, but he thought he saw a brief look of sadness on the woman’s face when he glanced back at her… and he wondered if his partner had been doing a little talking about him behind his back. He’d certainly never brought that subject up with Elena before. She didn’t press him on it, however, and instead simply followed him down into the reactor well.
Rude scowled as they opened the compression chamber and discovered it empty. He wasn’t surprised… but he was definitely annoyed. Elena wore much the same expression.
“Well, that figures,” she sighed. Rude nodded.
“Not much point hanging around here any longer. Let’s get back to Junon.” He grinned teasingly. “You’ll be just in time for a candlelit dinner for two.”
Reno stood at the submarine dock, impatiently tapping his EMR against his thigh and watching as the overhead crane slowly swung the pallet containing the huge materia out over the sub’s upper cargo bay. How fucking long was this going to take? He reached for his PHS and double-checked that no messages had been left for him and frowned.
He’d specifically asked Elena to check in with him once she and Rude were heading back to Rocket Town with the Mt. Corel materia… That had been hours ago. They couldn’t still be fucking around with the stupid thing, could they? And if there had been a delay, surely she’d have let him know…
He was just about to pull up her contact and give her a call, when a loud shout from somewhere back near the underwater causeway, pulled his attention away from the phone. The shout was followed by several gunshots and sounds of fighting. The Turk swore and shoved the phone back into his pocket.
“Tch… What are you doin’? Help load!” he growled at several workmen on the dock who’d stopped to peer towards the source of the noise. Regardless of what was going on, the sooner that materia was on board, the better… particularly if his suspicions turned out to be correct. He turned to make his way towards the commotion, only to be stopped in his tracks.
“You know, I don’t work for cheap,” a gravely voice stated, and the redhead found himself face to face with the last people he’d wanted to run into. The Ifrit-be-damned pilot. And he’d brought friends.
“Looks like we barely made it,” Tifa added, and turned as another figure approached from behind. Reno’s eyes narrowed in recognition. Strife.
“Either give it to us, or else. Which is it gonna be?” the soldier asked, menacingly. Reno didn’t have time to wonder where they hell they’d managed to find him again. There were other matters that needed his attention.
“Unfortunately, I don’t have time to deal with you,” he replied, and slammed his palm down onto the security alarm button on the wall. A loud hiss emanated from the wall as metal doors slid open, revealing an oversized robot that shuffled forward on three legs. “My priority is the huge materia,” he added with a smirk, and then turned tail and fled, leaving Avalanche to deal with Scarlet’s security drone.
It was a somewhat cowardly response, he had to admit… but he doubted he stood much of a chance against the entire group on his own, and the dock personnel certainly weren’t going to back him up. By the time he’d sprinted up the narrow ramp that led into the submarine, the cargo doors were closing.
“We’ve got intruders on the dock. Get us out of here! Now!” he shouted. The door sealed behind him, and the submarine’s crew rushed to get them underway. Reno felt the ship begin to move forward, the whoosh of water flowing over the hull loud as it started to submerge. The materia was safe. Even if they got past the drone, there was no way Avalanche could follow them now. Not unless there was someone among them who could pilot a submarine.
The original plan had been to dock in Costa del Sol… but that would almost certainly have to change now. Avalanche knew damn well where the materia was bound for, and the resort town was the obvious place to transfer it to another mode of transportation for the remainder of the journey. It was too much of a risk, particularly with them in possession of the Highwind. They’d have to take it around to the western coast by sub now. Not the most appealing option, given that he was now trapped aboard for the duration… but there wasn’t much choice.
“Notify Junon that there’s been a change of plans,” he said, stepping onto the bridge of the vessel. “We’re going to have to bypass Costa del Sol and deliver the cargo ourselves.”
“Yes, sir… We’ll –”
Without warning, the entire room shook violently, sending Reno staggering into the wall to steady himself.
“The fuck was that?!” he demanded, paling slightly at the thought of being attacked by the second Weapon that lurked in the waters near Junon. Emerald had left the base alone… but it had been attacking a number of ships that dared to stray too close to it’s territory. The submarine’s crew had explicitly been told to avoid the area it liked to hunt in, but that didn’t mean it might not decide to come to them.
“Captain! There’s another sub behind us! Closing fast!”
“You have got to be shittin’ me…” the Turk muttered under his breath. Those bastards had actually commandeered the other sub. Another jolt rocked the ship. “Just fucking great… they’re shootin’ at us.”
“Another round of torpedoes closing, sir!” the young crewman at the radar station shouted, fear apparent in his voice.
“Take us deeper… Dive!” the captain responded, and Reno had to grab ahold of the nearest solid object as the submarine tilted sharply and descended. Two more torpedoes struck them as it did so, and the vessel suddenly listed to one side.
“Sir, we’ve lost the starboard ballast tanks!”
“The engine room reports heavy damage, captain. They’re flooding!”
“Can we surface?” the captain asked.
“No, sir… and we can’t maintain depth, either. We’re going down!”
“All hands, brace for impact!”
Reno’s grip tightened around the pipe he’d been clinging to. This couldn’t possibly end well…
Rude offered his hand to Elena and helped her out of the helicopter.
“You gonna wear those all night?” he asked, nodding to the sunglasses still shielding her eyes, and the younger Turk grinned.
“Why not? You do.”
Rude chuckled.
“I’m used to them. We’ll see how long you last before you get fed up with bumping into things,” he replied… and almost as soon as he said it, Elena stumbled over raised curb. He laughed and caught her before she could faceplant. She pointedly pushed them back up to her forehead.
“Seriously, Rude… How do you stand this all the time? I feel like I’m half blind,” she said, trying hard not to laugh at her own clumsiness. She discovered that the lenses weren’t actually as dark when worn as they appeared to be from the other side… but now that the sun had gone down, it was becoming a significant impairment nonetheless.
“Could always give ’em back…”
“What? No spares?” she teased, and Rude snorted softly.
“Left ’em on board the Highwind. Those are my only pair unless we make a detour back home at some point… or take back our airship.”
She didn’t miss the subtle pout her cohort shot at her and she giggled. “Are you trying to guilt-trip me, Rude?”
“… Maybe. Is it working?”
“Maybe,” she laughed. “Alright… you can have them back.” She paused, and grinned again. “After I show Reno just what lengths you went to trying to beat me at poker…”
As they continued towards the administration offices, she vaguely wondered what Rude was going to tell Rufus. Admittedly they’d failed their mission rather spectacularly. Only one of the three pieces of huge materia they’d been sent after had made it to Rocket Town. The other two were in the hands of Avalanche… and who even knew what they wanted them for.
In the back of her mind, she couldn’t help but worry that Rufus might saddle Reno with the blame for that. After all… if they hadn’t been a man down, the odds might have been better for them. At least at Mt. Corel. But then… it was hard to guess what Rufus might think. She still really didn’t understand the man very well. For all she knew, he might blame her for it. It was her hastily conceived plan that had failed to rescue the huge materia from the train.
“Something on your mind?” Rude suddenly asked as they entered the building, and Elena realized that she’d gone silent for most of their short walk. She shook her head.
“Just thinking… This is the first time I’ve ever really had to report in about a mission directly to Rufus. And we’re telling him we screwed up.”
“Wouldn’t worry too much. I’m the one who was in command,” he snickered, and stepped aboard the elevator. It carried them upwards to the President’s office, and a few seconds later, they moved to step out again… only to be nearly run over by a young crewman carrying an armload of rolled charts. He shot them a dirty look for daring to impede his path, but said nothing and simply rushed off down the hallway towards the office.
Elena glanced over at her compatriot questioningly. Rude met her gaze briefly and then hurried after the man. She was quick to follow. As they neared Rufus’ office, they could hear a small commotion from inside.
“The other two subs aren’t seaworthy yet! I will not send more men down in a vessel that can’t take the pressure.”
“I want that materia recovered. I don’t care if you have to send yourself down. Retrieve it,” Rufus spat back. “You might also give some consideration to the crew of the downed submarine. If any of them are still alive, the longer you spend arguing with me, the less likely they are to remain alive.”
That seemed to silence the other man. As Rude and Elena entered the office, the crewman who’d passed them in the hallway was already spreading one of the charts out over the top of Rufus’ desk.
“Sir… The crews are already working as quickly as they can to repair the damage to the other subs caused by Sapphire Weapon. At least one will be ready before daybreak. I understand that the materia is desperately needed for the attempt to destroy the meteor, but we won’t recover it any faster if we lose the recovery sub as well.”
“Commander Yorik,” Rude said, his voice pitched for Elena’s ears only. “Base commander.”
She nodded. This was the first time she’d ever encountered the man. He was tall and weathered, perhaps a little older than Tseng, with neatly clipped dark hair and a look determination and confidence. His face had some of the hallmarks of Wutaiian blood, particularly around the eyes… but she suspected that it was only a part of his lineage.
Rufus scowled, and turned, fists clenched, towards the newly delivered sea chart.
“Do we at least know where they ended up?” he asked, visibly restraining himself.
“Yes, sir,” Yorik replied, pointing to a small section of the chart not far from the underwater reactor. “Their last reported position, right before we lost radio contact, was here, just east of the trench. Which presents another problem. If they’re grounded somewhere in this area…” He gestured to a wide expanse between the reactor and a heavily lined section that Elena could only assume was the aforementioned trench. “… recovery will be relatively easy. But if they slipped into the trench… we may never find them. If it fell straight down, nothing we have is rated to withstand the depths we would have to surmount to reach it… and if not, there are powerful deepwater currents that are more than strong enough to have carried the sub far from where it was disabled.”
“Then I supposed we will just have to hope they were fortunate. Inform me the moment you’re ready to begin the recovery effort.”
“Understood, sir,” Yorik replied with a brisk nod, before turning on his heel and showing both himself and the crewman out of Rufus’ office.
“Sir?” Rude queried.
“I hope for your sake you have better news than everyone else around here seems inclined to deliver this evening…” Rufus spat, seating himself at his desk. Rude eyed Elena and seemed to convey a silent sigh with his expression.
“… Not exactly. We lost the Mt. Corel materia to Avalanche. They also beat us to Fort Condor.”
Rufus growled low in his throat and seized a heavy paperweight from his desktop, flinging it angrily at the wall. It struck the metal wall with enough force to leave a dent.
“Avalanche again?” he shouted, the fury in his eyes enough to make even Rude take a subtle step back. “Those worthless pieces of slum trash… I never should have shown them mercy.”
“Sir…” Elena ventured, “What happened to the submarine? Did they attack it, too?”
He looked up at her, seemingly only then noticing her for the first time since their arrival, and appeared to force himself to calm down, and restore his usual facade of cool indifference.
“From what information we’ve been able to gather… yes. The descriptions given by the crew in the submarine dock were rather hard to mistake. They hijacked one of our subs and chased down the one carrying the materia.”
“Is there anything we can do?” Rude asked, but Rufus shook his head.
“At the moment, there is little anyone can do. The other submarines were damaged during Weapon’s attack. Repairs are in progress, but, as you heard, the will not be completed for some hours yet.” He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, and Elena couldn’t help but think the young man suddenly looked as though the weight of the world resting squarely on his shoulders. “… There is one thing you might assist me with, however.”
“Sir?” Rude queried.
The President opened his eyes, and glanced over at her, and for the only perhaps the second time since she’d known him, seemed to look at her with something akin to sympathy.
“You can accompany me when I go to visit Tseng,” he said at last, “… to inform him that Reno was aboard the missing submarine.”
Elena felt herself go cold.
“No…” she whispered. “Please, Shiva, no…”
Reno groaned as he slowly began to come to. The first thing he was aware of was an obnoxious flashing red light, visible even through closed eyelids. The second thing he was aware of… was that he was lying in a pool of water. A hand grasped him by the shoulder.
“Son of bitch…” he muttered when he finally forced his eyes open, and found himself face to face with the sub’s captain. “What happened?” He glanced around, taking in the damage. Many of the consoles on the bridge were completely dead, and several were suspiciously damp. Of those that weren’t, two or three were sparking ominously, and the sharp scent of smoke and burnt-out electronics filled the air.
He watched as two sailors carried an unmoving third through the open hatch that led to other parts of the ship. He couldn’t tell if the man was alive or dead.
“We were torpedoed,” the captain replied. “And now we’re stranded on the seabed.”
Reno sat up, and touched his fingertips to the back of his head. It was tender, and he could already feel a very noticeable lump forming, but they came away bloodless.
“How long was I out?” he asked.
“Not long. We were just about to move you to sick bay, now that the more serious injuries have been dealt with.”
He shook his head. “Don’t bother. Not the first time I’ve ever been knocked out, doubt it’ll be the last,” Reno said, getting to his feet. “Any idea how long we’re gonna be stuck down here?”
“… We’re not sure, sir.” He nodded to one of the panels that was sending out sporadic showers of sparks. “As you can see, the radio took some damage, so we’ve been out of communication since we bottomed out.”
“Fuckin’ wonderful,” Reno sighed. “They at least know they need to send someone down to get us?”
“Yes, sir. Our last transmission was acknowledged by the base just before we lost contact.”
Something creaked loudly outside of the hull, and the sub rocked slightly, as though something very large had brushed up against it.
“What the hell was that?”
Before the captain could answer, however, the creaking sound repeated itself, louder this time, and the little ship rolled violently to one side, sending both the Turk and the remaining bridge crew scrambling for handholds before they were tossed into the wall.
“Something’s pushing us!” a younger seaman shouted. At almost the same instant the sub rolled back the other direction and the squeal of metal on metal seemed to reverberated through the ship.
“Captain!” a voice squawked over the ship’s intercom, “The cargo bay! It’s being forced open!”
The captain dove for the speaker, depressing the button to respond. “Get everyone forward! Seal off the cargo bay!”
“Those miserable assholes…” Reno swore under his breath. It was Avalanche. It had to be. It’s not like the goddamned fish had any interest in what was in that bay. They were just going to peel them open like a Leviathan-forsaken sardine can… to hell with anyone who might still be alive inside. And there wasn’t one fucking thing he could do to stop them. “What happens if those doors give out?”
“Bulkheads sealed, captain!” the intercom squawked again.
“As long as it’s just the doors… and as long as the emergency seals hold… we’ll be alright. For awhile.”
The sub rolled violently then, and a sharp rending sound echoed throughout the bridge. Moments later an alarm began to blare, and Reno flinched at the almost painful loudness of it.
“Decompression alarm,” the captain noted, “Someone silence that!”
The young crewman from the radar station hurried to do so, and the noise ceased. The captain turned back to the intercom.
“What’s going on back there?”
“They’ve just breached the cargo bay, captain. Forward bulkheads are holding, but we’ve lost control of the flooding in the engine room. All surviving personnel have been evacuated. We’re probably going to lose main power soon, sir.”
“Understood,” he replied, grimly.
“So… I’m just gonna assume that’s gonna be a problem…” the Turk said, noting the expression on the man’s face.
“We can run essential systems off the emergency battery for about four hours. After that, we sit here in the dark, and slowly suffocate.”
“… Sounds pleasant.”
“And just where d’yeh think yer going?”
All three of them collectively froze at the sound of the vaguely annoyed question, Rude’s hand mere inches from the doorknob.
“We are going to speak with my head Turk, you insufferable harpy,” Rufus shot back, turning to face her with a defiant look.
Ward crossed her arms over her chest and calmly met his gaze. “He’s not yer head Turk right now. He’s on extended medical leave and relieved of all duties until I say otherwise. If yeh have an issue that needs the Turks’ attention, I suggest yeh take it up with yer temporary head Turk, who yeh badgered me inta putting back on active duty early not yet twelve hours ago. Tseng is sleeping… and I won’t have yeh disturbing him at all hours.” She looked pointedly at Rude and Elena. “Any of yeh.”
She slipped around the small group and positioned herself in front of the door. Rufus glared at the woman and took a step forward, shoving the two Turks aside.
“Were my temporary head Turk not presently at the bottom of the ocean and quite possibly dead, I would do just that.”
Elena forced down a sob at those words. No one had voiced that possibility until now, and somehow hearing Rufus actually say it made it feel all too real. She watched as Dr. Ward’s expression shifted from determination to shock. Here gaze wandered over to the youngest of the Turks, looking for confirmation… and she apparently found it in Elena’s eyes, as a look of grim understanding came over her. She stepped aside without another word.
Reno had made himself scarce. He was really only in the way on the cramped little bridge, and once the lights had gone out, the only thing he seemed to be good for was tripping over. The captain hadn’t explicitly asked him to leave, but the fact that he’d offered up his private quarters to the Turk had bolstered the idea that Reno’s decision had been a welcome one.
The dim orange emergency lighting was barely enough to see by, and he wondered if that was by design or just a sign of the failing power supply. He hoped it was simply meant to get the most they could out of the battery… but either way it meant that he was sitting alone, in a dimly lit room, wondering if any of them were going to get out of this alive.
Though, now that he thought about it, the last time he was in a situation like this, he was drenched in sewer water and choking on thick, acrid smoke… so, all in all, it was an improvement of sorts.
Reno sighed and fished his PHS out of his pocket. Unsurprisingly, there was no signal. He hadn’t really expected there to be, so deep below the surface.
He thumbed open his photo gallery and grinned as the first image that greeted him was the most recent one he’d received… Elena looking beautiful and perfect in nothing but her own skin. It was probably the last thing he would ever had expected from her… and he could see the faint hue of a rising blush in her cheeks. It had, quite literally, taken his breath away the first time he’d seen it, in part because it was so out of character for her.
Somewhat reluctantly, he swiped to the next photo. Elena and Rude seated at the bar in the Phoenix Nest. He kept going… Tseng, looking mildly unamused at having his picture taken… probably because the redhead had ambushed him stepping out of the elevator first thing in the morning. A rather strained selfie with Rude holding him in a headlock.
He laughed faintly at that one. It had been taken not long after he’d bought Elena’s ring… before things had started to go so wrong… and the ring, in fact had been the topic of conversation that had led to the photo. They’d just finished a sparring match in one of the rare moments of downtime they’d had after the second bombing. Rude had been trying to convince him to pop the question.
His smile faded as he realized that there was a very real chance that he might not get to at all.
That in mind, he closed the photo gallery and switched over to the camera. The screen added a miniscule amount of light to his face, but he was still little more than a shadowy silhouette. It would just have to do. He pressed record.
“Hey, ‘Lena. If you’re watchin’ this… then I never made it back to Junon and someone was nosy enough to go snoopin’ through my phone. I’m guessin’ it was probably Rude. I owe ya for that, pal.” He smirked slightly, in spite of the circumstances. “Or it means I’m perfectly fine and just forgot to delete this… in which case, Rude, stop snoopin’ through my goddamn phone, you asshole!”
The Turk shifted into a slightly more comfortable position on the captain’s bunk.
“So… Just in case this is the last chance I get to talk to any of you guys, I better make it count. Tseng… You know how I feel about you. You rescued me from a shitty life and gave me a home and a family and I can never repay you for that. Me endin’ up like this wasn’t your fault and I wouldn’t trade bein’ a Turk for anything.”
He paused for a moment, considering whether he should say what he was thinking at the moment, or let it be… before finally realizing that it would hardly matter if this was really it for him. “And would you just fuckin’ ask Vir to move in with you already? You’ve been playin’ this long distance game with her as long as I’ve known you. I bet she’d do it if you actually stepped up ‘n asked.”
“Rude, a guy couldn’t ask for a better friend or a better brother,” he continued, and grinned widely. “And you’re a pretty decent one yourself. Seriously, though, man… I’d be completely lost without you. So thanks for putting up with me ‘n my shit all these years. It’s meant more than I think you realize.”
“And ‘Lena… I saved you for last, ’cause sayin’ goodbye to you is even harder than I thought it’d be.” He took a deep breath, steadying himself. “You’re everything I never knew I wanted, and more than I deserve. I love you more than anything. The last few months have been the happiest time of my life.” He swallowed harshly against the lump that had formed in his throat, and sat up a little more. “Rude’s been holdin’ onto somethin’ for me. Tell him I said to give it to you… and I’m sorry I never got around to askin’ you the question that goes with it. I wanted to do it right.”
The room was starting to get uncomfortably stuffy. How long had the captain said they could run off the sub’s battery? Four hours? It had been dangerously close to that already… He had a feeling that whatever was left of their air supply had stopped circulating. The emergency lights flickered.
“Well… if I don’t see you guys again, take care of each other. And if I do see you again and you’re still watchin’ this shit… I’m gonna kick your ass, ’cause I told ya to quit snoopin’.”
Reno smiled slightly and shut off the camera. Just as he did so, the lights flickered again and then went out entirely. He tucked the phone back into his pocket.
“Hope no one ever has to see that…” he muttered, and sat back to wait for someone to get him the hell out of there.
Elena glanced up as the door opened, hoping that it was someone with news. That hope grew a bit when she recognized Junon’s secrity chief.
“I just found out about Reno. Has there been any word?”
Her shoulders slumped in disappointment, and she shook her head.
“No… The last I heard anything, they’d managed to finish repairs on one of the damaged subs, and it was getting ready to leave the dock. That was almost half an hour ago,” she said quietly. Tseng had fought to stay conscious admirably, but eventually had drifted off again… though only after making her promise to wake him if there were any new developments.
His reaction when Rufus had told him what had happened had been typical of the man. Tseng seldom reacted outwardly to bad news. If he’d been physically capable of it, though, Elena had little doubt that he would have been boarding that submarine himself to go look for his missing Turk. She had volunteered to stay with him while Rude accompanied Rufus back to his office-turned-rescue-command. He’d called her twice to tell her that there was nothing tell her yet… and once more to inform her that the rescue effort was – finally – about to get underway. He’d requested to go with them… and Rufus had agreed… so they probably wouldn’t hear from him for quite some time.
“I’m so sorry, Elena,” Viridia said. “This happened on my watch. I don’t know how Avalanche managed to get back onto the base… but I’m going to find out.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“Bullshit. I’m responsible for the security of everyone on this base. And that includes those of you who don’t think they need me to protect them.”
Tseng stirred slightly, and opened his eyes. “Don’t argue with her Elena… Viridia takes a great deal of pride in her job,” he said in a tired voice, before gazing up at his lover. “You’re certainly not the first to be outmaneuvered by our homegrown terrorists, Viridia. Is there anything new?”
“The rescue sub has left the dock… Rude went with it, so he can’t report back right now, and I haven’t heard anything from Rufus,” Elena replied. She felt oddly numb to it all. Once the initial shock had passed she’d found it increasingly hard to feel much of anything. Right now, she couldn’t say whether she was worried or hopeful or devastated. She wasn’t even entirely sure which she should have been. Ward had been in and out of Tseng’s room over the last few hours, and had offered her a shoulder to cry on. But she didn’t feel like crying. Nor, somewhat surprisingly, did she feel like punching a wall. She seemed to be trapped in a sort of stasis, at the moment… and something told her that she was going to stay that way until she knew one way or the other.
Perhaps, she mused, she was better off like this for the time being. What was the alternative? Pacing the floor, worrying over a situation beyond her control? Sobbing inconsolably until the missing submarine was found? Giving herself over to despair? None of those options seemed especially beneficial. At least like this, she felt as though she were accomplishing something… even if that something was only conserving strength for later.
“Is there anything I can do?” Viridia asked, and Elena shook her head.
“I believe Elena would prefer to simply be left to her own thoughts at the moment, but there is something you can do for me,” Tseng replied.
“Of course… Name it,” Viridia replied.
“Go and check on Justinia, and if she is not aware, pass along that they’ve sent another submarine after them. The good doctor is quite resilient… but Reno has always been a favorite of hers, and I know she must be worried about him.”
Viridia nodded, and leaned down to place a tender kiss on the Turk leader’s forehead. “I’ll be right back,” she said, and took her leave.
They’d been looking for close to an hour now. Ahead of them, displayed on a wide monitor, Rude could only see murky darkness, with the occasional flash of a fish’s scales as it swam into the beam of the powerful spotlight mounted outside of the submarine. Beyond that, though… there was very little to see.
“Captain… there’s a large radar reading dead ahead.”
“Is it the downed sub?”
“No, sir,” the crewman at the radar station replied, “It’s too big to be anything from Junon…”
Rude squinted at the dark monitor, and after a few minutes spotted the outline of something massive. As the vessel crept closer to it, his eyes widened slightly, recognizing the deep, shimmering blue surface as the lights finally fell on it.
“Weapon,” he stated. Or what was left of it, at any rate. He wasn’t sure why it hadn’t occurred to anyone, including himself, that they might come across it. The creature was much too large to have simply washed out to sea or have been devoured so quickly by local undersea scavengers.
“Let’s steer clear of that thing, just in case. It’s outside of our search area anyway,” the captain intoned. “Come about, 30 degrees to port.”
They continued on. For a time, the only sounds were the faint hum of the engines, and the uninterrupted ping of the radar. Rude glanced down at his watch. It was now well past midnight. Surely, though, even crippled, the submarine could support its crew for awhile… unless, of course, the damage was too extensive.
The Turk silently clenched his fists. If he lost Reno… Avalanche was going to pay in kind. He was going to make damn sure of it. For now, though, he forceably shoved that thought aside. He had no reason to believe his partner was dead just yet… and for all the redhead’s insistence that he had the worst luck of anyone on the planet, the reality was far from the truth. While it was true that he often found himself in less than fortunate situations, Reno was one of the luckiest sons of bitches he’d ever met. He always seemed to make it out still breathing.
“Sir! Another radar contact to starboard. It may be the sub,” the crewman informed them, and Rude instinctively took a step closer to the screen. At first, he saw nothing that even vaguely resembled the object of their search… but then came the debris. It was spread out along the seabed, along with a deep gouge in the ocean floor. As the submarine followed it, the spotlights fell on something bright red.
“There she is,” said the captain, and Rude frowned. The ship was nothing short of mangled… and not, he suspected, just from it’s unexpected trip to the bottom. The cargo bay doors on top of the vessel stood wide open. One had nearly been crushed and twisted off altogether. As they passed over it, the external cameras panned downward, giving them a view inside. The bay was empty.
“Sir, it’s too badly damaged to tow. It won’t survive being moved. If there’s anyone left alive in there… they’ll never make it that far…”
The captain nodded, grimly, and pressed a button on the intercom. “Prepare to board the other sub.”
The next several minutes were a flurry of activity, as seamen scurried to make the necessary preparations to dock with the submarine. Rude’s concern only deepened as he watched. From what he’d been told, they had hoped to raise the other ship and extract its crew at the surface. This was plan B… and it was far riskier. The Turk held his breath as they came alongside the crippled submarine.
“Iverness, you make sure you check the seal on that airlock. And then check it again. There’s a lot of warped metal over there. If it fails mid transfer, we’ll lose any chance at getting them out,” the captain cautioned over the intercom.
“Yes, sir!” a voice responded, “We’ll triple check everything before we open her up.”
Rude watched for a few more moments and then wordlessly strode from the bridge, making his way toward the belly of the the sub. He stopped mid-ship, where a small group was gathered near a hatch in the floor. One man was crouched beside it, hand on the wheel as he readied himself to open it.
“We’re green across the board. Moment of truth,” another said. The entire room seemed to be collectively holding their breath, and Rude tensed as the hatch was unsealed and lifted upwards. He waited for something to happen… and began to grow increasingly concerned when nothing did. At last someone spoke.
“Seal’s holding. We’re good to go.” The crewman lowered himself into the hole, standing on a metal surface that Rude belatedly realized was the exterior of the second submarine, and began to open up a second hatch under his feet. “Alright… Teams of two, starting as far aft as you can get and moving forward.”
With that, he disappeared below, and was quickly followed by the rest of the team. Left behind, Rude had nothing to do but wait with the handful of medical personnel present to care for any injuries. Truth be told, he would have liked to have joined them… but he knew enough to recognize when his help was neither needed nor wanted. This was something they’d been trained to do, and he would likely only interfere with their search if he inserted himself into it.
And so he waited. It was several minutes before the first crew member was hoisted through the hole.
“Better get them all on oxygen. Air’s pretty thin down here… Most of their crew is unconscious,” someone called up from below. Two more men were pulled up, one, like the first, out cold… the other awake, but groggy and disoriented.
Rude stood, a silent observer, and watched as one after another were pulled, motionless save for shallow breathing, from the destruction… and grew gradually more nervous when none of them sported the familiar red hair of his friend. There were eleven safely aboard when the the rescue crew began to return.
“… That can’t be everyone,” he insisted to the crewman in charge of the operation. Iverness, shook his head.
“Not everyone made it. The hull was breached. It looks like they had to seal off about half the ship to save themselves. No one trapped aft of the cargo bay survived,” he replied, as he helped to lift one more survivor, this one dressed in a captain’s uniform, aboard.
Rude’s face fell… It was hard to believe that Reno’s luck had finally run out. He turned away, intent on heading back up the the bridge. There was no reason for him to remain down there any longer. Rude’s stomach twisted as reality began to set in. Reno was the person he loved most in the world. He was the truest friend he’d ever known and closer than a brother… and he would have given anything to see him safe. This simply couldn’t be happening. And… how was he going to tell Elena?
Of their own accord, his fingers touched the little box tucked safely in his pocket, feeling its outline through the fabric of his jacket. Should he give the ring to her? Or would that just make thing even harder for her to accept? Reno would probably have wanted her to have it…
“One more coming up!”
Rude stopped in his tracks, almost not daring to let himself hope. He turned slowly, and very nearly laughed as he watched a crewman dragging a very limp, but very much alive, redhead out of the hatch.
“Reno?!”
The redhead grinned and stood on his toes to peer over the heads of the passengers disembarking ahead of him. Rude grabbed him by the back of the collar as he made an attempt to push his way through the group faster.
“Hmph… Take it easy, loverboy. She’s not going anywhere,” he snickered, and Reno spared a moment to look back at him incredulously.
“Tch… Not likely.” With that, he slipped out of his jacket, leaving it in Rude’s grasp, and darted between two crewmen. He ignored Rude’s noticeably half-hearted protests and beelined straight for Elena snatching her up and laying claim to her lips before she even had a chance to greet him further. Rude caught up to him just as the pair broke apart.
“One look at you and he’s taking his clothes off in public,” he chuckled, tossing the garment back to his friend. Elena giggled and trailed her hand along the redhead’s jawline.
“Come on… Dr. Ward wants to see you,” she said.
Reno groaned loudly. “Seriously? I’m fine.”
Which certainly appeared to be true. Once the medics had gotten some oxygen into him, the redhead had perked up almost immediately… and he’d been just as relieved to see Rude as Rude had to see him. But Elena shook her head, and firmly pulled in along by the arm.
“Ward gets you first. Then Rufus,” she said, before smiling coyly, “And then me.”
“Can’t we do that the other way around?”
“Am I going to have to get the hose?” Rude asked, with a quiet laugh. He prodded the redhead between his shoulder blades, helping to nudge him along toward the exit. “Move it… the sooner you get it over with, the sooner you two can go do all the things I really don’t want to hear about or witness.”
“Yeah, yeah…” Reno replied, and headed for the door, his arm snaking its way around Elena’s waist. Suddenly, he paused, and turned her toward him, eying her with an odd expression.
“‘Lena?”
“What?” she asked, uncertain of what had caught his attention. He blinked, looking minutely confused for a second and then smirked.
“Are those Rude’s sunglasses?”
~fin~
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