Chapter 24: Blast Off!
Rufus glared in the general direction of the sliding glass doors on the far side of the room. Some idiotic songbird had taken up residence on his balcony and apparently felt that – he glanced briefly at the clock on his nightstand – seven forty-two in the morning was an appropriate time to screech relentlessly at him. He groaned and threw a pillow at the doors. The bird continued singing, unperturbed.
What in the nine hells had he been thinking last night? He should have just stuck with wine. He never had developed his father’s tolerance to hard liquor… though the damned Turk might have at least warned him how strong those accursed Cosmo Candles were.
The executive sat up in bed and massaged his aching temples. At least it wasn’t as bad as the night his father had been killed… when he’d spent a few hours drinking with the slum rat. He’d woken the next morning after that fiasco half-convinced he was dying himself.
A soft knock on his door reminded him that he wasn’t alone in the house. Speaking of fiascos…
“Come in,” he called out, and immediately wished he hadn’t. It didn’t help his headache. The door opened and Elena peered inside.
“Good morning, sir…” she said softly, and he was grateful that she seemed to be mindful of his present condition. She disappeared from view for a moment, and then shouldered the door open the rest of the way, a tray of food in her arms. “I… er… asked the chef to make you something light. I thought you might be feeling a little… um…”
“Hungover. And you would be correct.”
She set the tray down on the nightstand, and handed him the steaming cup of coffee before anything else.
“… Last night is a bit… foggy… I’m afraid,” Rufus said, taking a small sip, and wincing at the temperature. “I didn’t really… ?”
Elena’s cheeks reddened slightly, and she turned away, ostensibly to retrieve the sugar and cream for his coffee.
“Yes, sir. You… kissed me.”
“… Ah.” He’d been hoping that had been nothing more than an alcohol induced dream, but it seemed he wasn’t quite that fortunate. Well, that was certainly humiliating. “I apologize. That was… decidedly inappropriate.” He paused, staring into the dark liquid. “I didn’t attempt to do anything else… did I?”
“No, sir,” she replied in a surprisingly gentle tone. “You’d have woken up in a lot more pain if you had.”
He snorted a soft laugh, and immediately regretted it, flinching as his head pounded in response.
“Would it be too much to ask you not to mention any of this to the slum rat? I’ve never had cause to question his loyalty before… but this may actually prompt him to decide to kill me.”
Elena giggled quietly. “I’m sure he’d only maim you a little, sir. But don’t worry. As far as I’m concerned, it never happened.”
“That is most generous of you,” Rufus said gratefully, and he was relieved the woman didn’t seem upset by his drunken indiscretion. Relieved… though perhaps ever so slightly disappointed that she had not reciprocated. Though really… what in Ramuh’s name had he thought was going to happen? Elena was devoted to the redhead. Dinner, drinks, and intelligent conversation – what he could recall of it, at any rate – weren’t going to change that. Had he not been so thoroughly inebriated by the end of the night, he never would have embarrassed himself like that, no matter how pleasant her company had been.
And it had been pleasant.
Elena had been surprisingly easy to talk to. In some ways, easier, even, than Tseng. There weren’t many people around whom he felt safe in letting his guard down a bit. In fact… oddly enough, those few seemed to be limited to his Turks, really, by varying degrees. They gave him a sense of security that few others could.
“I will endeavor to make myself at least somewhat presentable, and then we will return to headquarters. There’s still a great deal of work to be done, and hungover or not, it’s not going to wait.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll wait downstairs,” she replied, with a warm smile, and let herself out of the room. Rufus turned to the tray beside him and sighed. It had been thoughtful of her, and was appreciated… but somehow, it also reminded him that she wasn’t his and would never be. The slum rat may have been lazy, perverted, and uncouth… but he was quite possibly one of the luckiest bastards Rufus had ever met.
To say Elena had been shocked would have been an understatement. So shocked, in fact, that’s she’d allowed things to continue for far longer than she really should have before she’d finally pushed Rufus away last night. The Turk made her way down the ornate staircase and settled into a chair in the sitting room.
There had been a sense of desperation in that kiss. That was the other reason she’d hesitated to end it. It was much the same way she’d kissed Reno their first night together, when the last thing in the world she wanted was for him to leave and she couldn’t find the words to say it. Rufus had looked so hurt when she broke the kiss and told him to stop.
She hadn’t left him after that… though she did make it very clear where they stood before she’d pulled a chair over to his bedside and settled herself in it. She’d sat with him, talking, until nearly midnight, when he’d finally drifted off.
Elena was glad he didn’t seem to remember any of that. He’d said a number of things she was pretty sure he wouldn’t have had he been sober. And he’d been embarrassed enough this morning as it was… she didn’t want things to be any more awkward between them.
Though… she did have to admit… it was just a little flattering. She never would have thought that Rufus of all people might be interested in her… even passingly interested. Rufus was rich, and not at all bad looking. He was Midgar’s most eligible bachelor by a long shot, well-spoken, educated…
And she was just… Elena.
But he was also very much a loner. And maybe that was the real reason for it… he truly was alone now. His family was gone. All he had was his company. And his Turks.
Last night wasn’t the first time she’d thought that about him… but it had certainly been the most glaring example of it. Even before they gone back to his family’s mansion, he was almost a different person from the one she’d come to know. He’d easily spent two hours talking to her over dinner. Just talking. No condescending remarks… no mind games. He hadn’t even insulted Reno beyond referring to him as ‘the slum rat’ rather than by name, though he’d had ample opportunity. He’d actually been… pleasant, if still a bit stiff and formal. It had been a welcome change, but an odd one, particularly coming out of nowhere as it had.
And it wasn’t hard to guess what was driving it, when she really thought about it. They were all feeling the strain of recent events… some of them more than others. And just as Reno hadn’t been quite himself lately because of it, it was becoming apparent that neither was Rufus. The alcohol probably hadn’t helped, but she had a feeling it went a little deeper than that. They were potentially facing the end of the world, after all. What better time to let loose and do things you wouldn’t normally do?
She shouldprobably tell the guys about it – minus any mention of the fact that he’d kissed her. Rufus seemed eager enough to forget it, and the Reno… well, it would only upset him needlessly. But that discussion could wait for now. He and Rude would be returning to Midgar soon enough, and they could compare notes on Rufus then. For the time being, however, Elena resolved to keep a slightly closer eye on the President. Aloof though he may have been… everyone needed a shoulder to cry on from time to time.
Even Rufus Shinra.
“Reno… Food.”
A pair of slightly bleary eyes appeared almost immediately, staring at him from over the back of the couch, and Rude snickered. The redhead yawned and dragged himself to his feet, obediently following the scent of coffee and cinnamon into the kitchen.
“Sleep alright?” Rude asked, setting a mug in front of him, along with the sugar bowl.
His partner shrugged and upended the bowl, dumping a significant portion of its contents into the dark liquid. He stirred it briefly and drank deeply, moaning as it revived him a bit.
Rude rolled his eyes. “How much more is it going to take before you’re capable of conversation?”
Reno yawned again and drained the mug before he looked up at him. “Rude… I don’t make fun of you shadow boxin’ to wake yourself up in the morning. Don’t make fun of me needin’ my caffeine fix.”
The other Turk snorted in amusement and refilled the cup.
“And I’m thinkin’ at least four cups,” Reno added. “That shit Ward put me on really screws with my ability to fall asleep sometimes.”
“But you are taking it, right?”
“Tch… yeah, yeah. I learned my lesson on that. Don’t need a reminder.”
“Hmph. Good.” Rude set a plate of cinnamon rolls in front of him, and Reno grinned. Three of them disappeared in quick succession. “You sure it’s the medication and not just sleeping alone?”
Reno smirked and reached for another roll. “Why? You offerin’ to keep me company tonight?” Rude ignored the goading remark and reached for one of the baked goods before his friend could finish off the entire platter. “… But… yeah, you might actually have somethin’ there,” the redhead admitted. “The whole time I was awake, I was thinkin’ about ‘Lena. I love havin’ her next to me, man. I ever tell ya she doesn’t even wake me up? ‘Lena can cuddle me to her heart’s content and I sleep like a fuckin’ rock… and she’s got the softest skin you could ever imagine. I could spend hours just touchin’ her…”
“… You are so disgustingly in love,” Rude replied, shaking his head in mock dismay.
“And you’re a dick,” Reno laughed. “Come on… more coffee. Heidegger’s expectin’ us at eight. I gotta wake the hell up.”
Rude dutifully filled the mug a third time.
“So? When are you gonna ask her?”
“First opportunity I get, soon as we get back to Midgar. I’m not putting shit off any longer than I have to.”
“Could just call her…”
Reno paused long enough in gulping down the sweetened concoction in his cup to glare at his fellow Turk.
“Fuck, Rude… It’s bad enough I’m not gettin’ to do it the way she deserves. The least I can do is ask her in person.”
The bald Turk chuckled quietly as he sipped his own coffee. “I was kidding.”
“Tch… It’s too early, and I haven’t had nearly enough coffee to be able to tell.”
Rude snickered, and took the second to last roll from the plate. That dozen had lasted about as long as he’d expected it to. A moment later, he sobered a bit.
“Reno… You’ll tell me if things start to get bad again. Right?”
“Aw, come on, man…” he said, dismissively. “I told ya… I’m takin’ the medication and I’m not gonna screw around skippin’ doses anymore.”
“Just… promise you’ll tell me. You’re my brother. I worry.”
The redhead leaned back in his chair with an exaggerated groan, lifting his gaze to the ceiling. “Alright… I promise. I’ll let ya know if I start feelin’ like shit’s gettin’ away from me, ‘kay?”
Rude smiled slightly and poured him another refill. “Caffeine’s supposed to be terrible for anxiety, you know…”
Reno snorted in contempt. “You think I suck leadin’ the Turks when I’m havin’ panic attacks, you don’t even wanna see me try ‘n do it without my coffee.”
Rufus made his way down the stairs some twenty minutes later, to find Elena waiting patiently for him in the sitting room. She was typing something into her phone, and smiling widely to herself.
“Checking to see if your precious slum rat is awake yet?” he asked, smirking when she jumped violently. “Do they make an app for that now?”
“Well… actually, sir, I was answering a text from Tseng. The mako poisoning has cleared his system sooner than expected and he’s going to resume mako therapy tomorrow. And Dr. Ward has finally returned his phone to him, which I think he’s very happy about,” she replied with a soft giggle, before she cleared her throat, blushing slightly. “And I… already texted Reno before you came down.”
He ignore the addendum, instead opting to focus on her earlier pronouncement.
“Ah… So the harpy has finally shown Tseng some small mercy, then?” he asked, slightly peeved that the Turk had sent messages to his subordinates, and not to him.
“Yes, sir,” Elena replied, pocketing her PHS and getting to her feet. “Are you ready to go?”
He nodded, and followed her out the door to the waiting car, not bothering to argue when she climbed behind the wheel. He was feeling much better, but his headache still lingered. Being catered to sounded far better than doing things for himself at the moment. In moments, they were on their way back to the city center. Agonizingly slowly.
“… This is perhaps the most advanced road vehicle in Midgar… and you’re driving under the speed limit,” he said incredulously after several minutes of silence. The Turk took her eyes off the road just long enough to glance over at him.
“Sir… This is Tseng’s car. I’m not even supposed to be anywhere near it, let alone driving it… and I intend to return it in the same condition we found it in.”
The President snorted contemptuously and folded his arms over his chest. “Don’t you ever do anything that’s not strictly by the book?”
“Well… If I did, the last person I’d tell about it would be my boss’ boss, sir.”
“Point taken,” he said, somewhat approvingly. He studied the woman for a moment before turning his attention back to the road. It really was unfortunate that she was taken. There had been a period of time he’d allowed his father to introduce him to potential partners in the hopes of speeding him along in producing an heir of his own. They had all been beautiful… most of them had been wealthy as well. And not a single one of them had been interested in him for anything more than the prestige. He’d eventually found them all to be sickeningly sycophantic… and he was grateful beyond words that the handful of times he’d been less than careful had not resulted in the grandchild his father had wanted so badly. He certainly wouldn’t have wanted to be stuck with any of them.
Elena, though… There was potential there. Or there might have been, had Reno not already stolen her. In some ways, she reminded him of another young woman. One he’d been very taken with once… but who didn’t meet his father’s standards.
His phone vibrated faintly in his pocket, and, curious, he checked the device, thumbing open the messaging app, and reading the text from Tseng. It told him much the same thing Elena had before they’d left… and cautioned him that fears in Junon seemed to be growing rapidly following his departure.
He sighed quietly, and sent an acknowledgment. One more thing to worry about. The military wasn’t like his Turks… His Turks would stay by his side until the bitter end. And while some in the Shinra army might be that loyal – or at least have nowhere else to go – he was under no illusion that such was the case for all of them. They would be needed once the cannon cut through that barrier. Sephiroth waited on the other side, and he had to be destroyed. Yet all Rufus could do was hope that a mass desertion wasn’t on its way.
The sooner that barrier came down, the better. He was meeting with Scarlet and Reeve this morning to discuss the progress that had been made. He prayed it was good news.
“Sir?” Elena queried as they exited the freeway into Sector 0, heading for Shinra headquarters’ parking deck. “Is everything alright?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
“You… just look a little worried.”
Rufus shook his head. The damned woman was entirely too perceptive at times. No wonder she’d matched so well with the slum rat.
“Tseng tells me the troops in Junon are growing restless,” he confided, seeing little reason to keep one of his Turks out of the loop. “Elena… I want you with me while I meet with the board. I wasn’t exaggerating when I said I distrust Scarlet. Watch her for me. Perhaps it’s simply paranoia… but I feel as though she’s planning something.”
“Yes, sir.”
She turned into the entrance to the parking deck, and carefully restored Tseng’s car to its former location, before escorting the President inside.
“You’re late!” Heidegger growled as the two Turks walked into the house Shinra had taken over as a sort of base of operations. Reno’d laughed slightly at the poetic justice when he’d first heard they were using this location. It belonged Highwind… that pain in the ass pilot that had thrown his lot in with Avalanche.
The redhead cast a glance at the clock on the mantle of the fireplace. Bullshit, they were late. They were three full minutes early, in fact.
“Sorry, sir. It won’t happen again,” he replied. It wasn’t worth contradicting the son of a bitch. Heidegger would argue his point until he was blue in the face, and then simply declare you wrong.
“See that it doesn’t,” he groused, and motioned them into the living room, where Palmer sat, gleefully sipping from a teacup.
“Would you like some tea?” a soft voice behind him asked, and Reno turned to see a young woman, dressed in the standard uniform of one of Palmer’s engineers. Her auburn hair was piled into a messy bun, and she somewhat nervously pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her nose as she waited for his answer.
“Nah, I’m good,” he replied, and Rude shook his head in the negative as well.
“You two!” Heidegger shouted, apparently having finished whatever matter had granted them a momentary reprieve. “We’re close to launching, but there’s a problem with the auto-pilot. Shera here is going to go and fix it. I want one of you with her, and the other on the launchpad. The Highwind was sighted early this morning. If Avalanche shows up… Keep. Them. Out.”
“Yes, sir,” Reno said, and looked back at Rude as the executive stormed off to deal with other matters. “So… You take the rocket, I’ll take the lady?”
“Hmph… Not sure Elena would approve,” his partner replied with a teasing smirk. Reno casually flipped him off and strolled over to his new charge as Rude chuckled, and headed for the door.
“So… Shera, huh? Alright… Where to?” he asked. The woman adjusted her glasses again, and started for the door.
“This way. We’ll need to get into the rocket’s main engine assembly. The bridge between the auto-pilot and the engines lost cohesion during a test fire. I need to replace the the relay unit and reconfigure the injectors.”
Reno shrugged. She may as well have been speaking Wutaiian for all he’d understood of that. “Lead the way.”
Shera nodded and picked up a tool case and some sort of electronic component, which Reno could only assume was the new relay unit. He followed her toward the huge rocket that loomed over the town. Someone had apparently thought to straighten it before trying to shoot it at Meteor… because it no longer leaned ominously to one side. He spotted Rude already making his way up the ladder to top of the launch platform, and vaguely wondered if he’d ever seen the inside of one of these beasts before. He didn’t talk a whole lot about his mother… but from what he had said about her Reno got the feeling that she would’ve been the type to thoroughly embrace the idea of Take Your Kid to Work Day, and Rude had always been the curious sort. It was what made him so good at intelligence. The guy couldn’t keep his nose out of other people’s business if he tried.
Hell… before they’d even met,Rude had known Reno’s name, his age, where he was from, how he’d met Tseng, and, somehow – and he still wasn’t sure where he’d found out – his preferred brand of cigarettes. He’d gone out of his way to learn everything he could about the new recruit before they were ever formally introduced. Reno had liked him immediately.
Shera led him to a hatch at the base of the rocket and opened it.
“Watch your step inside, please. We’ve had to do some unexpected upgrades, and there are a lot of cables,” she cautioned him before ducking through the opening. His eyes widened slightly as he trailed her. ‘A lot of cables’ was putting it mildly. They snaked off in every direction. He followed her advice and was careful where he put his feet as the pair made their way deeper inside.
Eventually, she stopped and pulled open a metal panel. The redhead leaned back against the wall… At least this was an easy assignment. Watch the girl, make sure no one bothers her.
“So… You from Rocket Town, or they fly ya in to work on this thing?”
“I live here,” Shera replied, not looking up from what she was doing.
“Like it here?”
“Yes.” She didn’t elaborate. Apparently she wasn’t the talkative sort. Reno sighed and folded his arms over his chest, shaking his head. He’d found the female version of Rude.
“We’re just making some final repairs, sir,” Palmer squeaked over the video link. Heidegger elbowed him out of the way.
“We should be able to launch within the hour, Mr. President,” he added, pompously. Rufus had to expend a significant amount of effort not to roll his eyes at the man. One would think he had anything at all to do with the rocket nearing completion. Rufus had his doubts that the man would know a rocket if one landed on him.
But at least he was keeping Palmer on schedule. Left to his own devices, the man would likely have still been working on the damned thing as Meteor was crashing into the planet.
“Has there been any trouble?”
“No, sir… but some of the guards spotted an airship early this morning. We believe it was the Highwind.”
“I assume you’ve informed the Turks?” Rufus pressed.
“Yes, sir. They’re guarding the rocket as we speak.”
“Good. Inform me when you’re ready to launch. And don’t screw this up, Heidegger.”
The man started to say something, but Rufus cut him off, shutting off the monitor and ending the call. He folded his hands calmly, and leaned forward, resting his arms on the conference table. His gaze came to rest on the other two members of the Shinra executive board.
“And the cannon? How close are we to firing it?”
Reeve cleared his throat. “I’d like time to run some additional tests on the power grid. The Sister Ray is going to be drawing a huge amount of energy when we begin to charge it. Far more than the grid was originally designed to handle all at once.”
“The ‘Sister Ray’?” Rufus queried, cocking an eyebrow. That almost certainly had to have come from Scarlet. She had a truly obnoxious habit of naming her weapons. He shook his head. “Nevermind… I really don’t care what you’re calling it. How long will these tests take.”
“Another day, perhaps? Two at the most. I… know you want to fire as soon as possible, sir, but if we overload the grid and something blows, the results could be devastating. Not only in terms of potential damage to the city, but we could lose the ability to fire altogether until repairs are made.”
Rufus frowned. “Two days,” he agreed. “I suggest you make the most of them.” He turned to Scarlet next. “Anything else to report?”
“Nothing we haven’t already covered, sir. The Sister Ray’s installation will be finished in the next few hours, and my weapons arrived in Junon this morning. The troops are awaiting further orders.”
“Good. Then I believe we’re done here.” He stood then, and calmly walked out of the room, acutely aware of the presence that shadowed him. He didn’t speak until they were safely inside one of the executive elevators and traveling upwards.
“And your report?” he finally asked.
“I checked in with building security. Scarlet has been here non-stop since before the cannon arrived. But that’s not the only thing she’s been working on. She’s spent a lot of time, especially late at night, in one of her research labs,” Elena replied, frowning deeply.
“Have you any idea what she may be doing in there?”
“No, sir… I don’t have clearance for her lab and apparently even her own people haven’t been allowed inside. No one seems to know what she’s up to.”
Rufus reached into his breast pocket and removed his security ID card, handing it to her.
“Find out.”
“Yes, sir.”
Normally, Rude didn’t mind guard duty. It was typically uneventful and quiet, and gave him a little alone time to mull over the events of the day. But it was also typically conducted on the ground… not close to three hundred feet in the air on a wire-mesh platform… and he was pretty sure that his dislike of high places was not a fact that had slipped the redhead’s mind earlier. Reno was just getting him back for teasing him this morning. Or for fussing over him… He wasn’t sure which.
He sighed inaudibly. It was only for another hour or two. Still… Reno was definitely not going to be enjoying the delicious fried trout he’d planned on making them for dinner tonight. Oh, no… he was getting salad. A nice, healthy salad, with generous portions of fresh carrots and peas from the local market. And no dessert.
He glanced at the two Shinra grunts who’d accompanied him up here. They were engrossed in their own conversation centering around Shadow & Sword. Rude had been doing his level best to tune them out. He’d missed four weeks worth of shows at this point, and didn’t want the entire story arc spoiled for him. Particularly since the introduction of a new character just before all this trouble had started… Li’indra was mysterious and enigmatic and dangerous. And dammit, he wantedto enjoy watching her story unfold… not hear about it secondhand!
Fortunately for him, the two soldiers’ conversation was interrupted. Unfortunately for him, it was interrupted by a commotion below. He peered over the railing just in time to see a guard from one of the lower platforms go sailing off the edge, landing painfully on the ground below before staggering to his feet, and running off… presumably to get help.
“Goddammit! What the hell they think they’re gonna do to my rocket?!” a voice demanded from farther down. “Greedy rat-bastards… I’m gonna kick their sorry Shinra asses right the hell out of my rocket!”
He knew that voice. And sure enough, it wasn’t long before a very disgruntled looking pilot appeared, climbing the ladder. Cloud Strife and Tifa Lockheart weren’t far behind.
“… You again?” Rude queried, stepping forward. “Sorry. Can’t let you get in Shinra’s way.”
“And we’re not letting Shinra destroy that huge materia!” Strife shot back, sword in hand. One of the soldiers behind the Turk opened fire, but was quickly disabled by a sharp kick to the gut from Tifa as she dashed in behind Rude and took the other man down. She rounded on the Turk next, sweeping his legs out from under him… but he caught her by the ankle on the way down, knocking her off-balance and rolling to his feet again. A solid kick slammed the woman into the side of the rocket, and she crumpled, dazed.
Strife and Highwind attacked next, taking out the other guard and sending him flailing onto the next platform down, where he landed, motionless. Highwind turned on Rude, coming dangerously close to landing a serious blow with the spear in his hand, but the Turk caught it beneath one arm and flung his attacker to the side, before unexpectedly releasing his grip on the weapon and nearly sending him over. Cloud glared, but abandoned his own attack to pull his ally to safety. Three on one was hardly fair… but as the pilot’s spear dropped to the ground, he dared to think that he had the upper hand.
Which was right about the when he heard an angry shout from behind him, and realized belatedly that Tifa wasn’t quite as dazed as he’d assumed. Moments later, everything went black.
Reno had been able to make out only one word of the panicked shouting, and by the time he’d clambered over the rat’s nest of cabling, the man who’d shouted it was already halfway back to Heidegger’s make-shift command center. But the cry of “Avalanche” had told him all he really needed to know. He’d ordered Shera to stay right were she was until he got back – not that she seemed to be in much of a hurry to depart – and slipped outside, rounding the huge spacecraft, and mounting the ladder leading up to the high platform near the cockpit’s entrance.
By the time he reached it, it was all over.
“Rude!” he breathed in concern, seeing his friend lying motionless on the gantry, and he dropped to his knees beside him. “Rude… come on, man. Don’t fuck around. Wake up…”
The other Turk moaned softly, but didn’t otherwise respond, and Reno scowled as he got to his feet.
“Those fuckers are dead meat…” he growled, starting toward the door at the far end of the platform. He hadn’t gone more than a few steps, however, when the rumbling began. It took him a moment to realize… it was the damn rocket.
“Fuck… No! No, no, no… don’t fuckin’ launch this piece of shit now!”
Screw it… Avalanche wanted to launch themselves at Meteor, he’d happily let them. He turned back to his partner, looking for some way to get him down. Fast. His eyes fell on a winch that was mounted to one side of the platform.
“Tch… Be glad you’re out cold, pal. ‘Cause you’re not gonna like this,” he said with a grunt as he dragged Rude’s limp form over to the side and looped the cable under his arms. Secure, he shoved him over, letting the winch control his fall. He landed harder than Reno would have liked at the base of the rocket. The redhead himself ran for the ladder, setting his feet outside the rungs and sliding down from each level in a matter of seconds. When he reached the bottom, Rude was just beginning to come around.
“… Reno?”
“No time. Move your ass!” he replied, helping him out of the tangle of cable, and then slipping beneath one arm to support him as they ran for cover. The blast of the engines as they ignited sent a wave of scorching heat past the two men. Reno pulled his partner behind a chunk of concrete leftover from destruction of the one of the previous launch pads and hoped it would be enough to shield them.
The rumbling turned to a roar as the rocket began to lift off, and Reno had to shut his eyes against the heat and the dust that suddenly filled the air. He could hardly breathe. Rude’s arm wrapped around his waist and and dragged him in closer, blocking him from the worst of it, but it didn’t help much. By the time the roar began to fade, he was drenched in sweat, and his lungs ached as though they were going to burst if he didn’t get fresh air soon. As the dust finally began to settle, Reno coughed violently gulping in lungfuls of breathable air.
“… Are we dead yet?” he finally managed.
“Pretty sure we’re not,” Rude replied, still clutching him.
“Think you can let go of me now…”
“In a minute.”
Reno gave a weak laugh and sagged against his partner. He wasn’t in any particular hurry, either.
“You alright?” the redhead asked, looking up at the other Turk.
“Think so.” Rude released his hold on the younger man, and pulled his sunglasses off, making a futile attempt at cleaning them before surrendering and tucking them into his breast pocket. Reno snorted softly at the band of pale white that stood out starkly from the grime that covered the rest of his face.
“Hmph. You look… different… as a brunette,” Rude stated, and Reno instinctively ran a hand through his hair. A cloud of dust was expelled as he did so.
“Tch… might need a shower after this.”
Rude stood and helped him to his feet as well, smirking. “If you think you’re walking into my house looking like that, you’ve lost your mind.”
“You got better idea?”
“No. But I do have a garden hose.”
Reno scowled at him. “Very funny. Let’s just go find out who launched that goddamn rocket. I’m gonna give whichever of those idiots almost killed us a piece of my mind.”
When they walked through the door, Heidegger had Palmer by the throat.
“You worthless idiot!” he screamed, spittle flying from his mouth with every other word. “Why did you launch it? The auto-pilot wasn’t ready! Now we’re relying on those goddamned terrorists to fly it into the meteor instead of saving their own skin!”
Palmer sputtered and tried to choke out a reply, but the other man’s grip was ironclad and cutting off his airway. For a moment, Palmer clawed desperately at at his attacker’s hands, eyes wide in terror. And then any resistance he might have been putting up ceased and he went limp. Heidegger’s grip, however, did not.
Reno looked at Rude, and both men rushed the pair, dragging him off of the other executive.
“Don’t touch me!” he growled, and swung hard at Rude, catching him square in the gut. “I’LL HAVE YOUR JOBS!”
“You can try,” the redhead shot back, just before he clobbered the man with a left hook. Heidegger went down hard and didn’t get back up. Reno glanced at his partner. “You hurt?”
“I’m fine. How’s Palmer?”
Reno knelt down beside the fat engineer, frowning as he took in his appearance, and searched for a pulse. A moment later, he shook his head.
“Always knew that asshole’d finally snap one of these days. Fuck, man… Palmer mighta been a useless loser… but the guy didn’t deserve this.”
“… Sounded like he was the one who almost roasted us back there.”
“Still…” Reno said, shrugging. Not much that could be done about it now, though. He stood and walked over to where Heidegger was still out cold on the floor. “Guess we better find somewhere to put this bastard.” He glanced around the room, spotting a large closet. “Make sure there’s nothing in there he can use to get loose, will ya?”
Rude hurried to do so, as Reno gave Heidegger a none-too-gentle shove to roll him over, and cuffed his hands behind his back.
“All clear,” Rude said a minute later. The two of them hauled the unconscious man into their makeshift jail cell.
“Grab a few of those guards to keep an eye on him. I’ll get ahold of Rufus and ask him what he’d like us to do with him.”
Rude nodded and headed out the door, only to return seconds later and motion for the redhead to join him. “Might wanna come watch this…”
Curious, he did just that, following Rude out into the road where dozens of townspeople had gathered, all staring up into the sky. It too him a moment to figure out what they were looking at… the rocket was little more than a speck compared to the vastness of Meteor. He swallowed sharply as it drew closer and closer to the massive rock. A lot of their hopes were riding on this actually working…
It wasn’t long before Reno could no longer see the rocket itself… but hardly thirty seconds after he lost sight of it, there was a very visible impact and a flash so bright he had to shield his eyes and look away. It was several seconds more before it finally faded and a low murmur spread through the gathered crowd. Reno looked up again, squinting against the remnants of the explosion… and felt his stomach drop.
“No…” he breathed.
It was still there. Meteor was still there. Several huge fragments had been separated from the main body by the explosion… but they were tiny compared to the rest of it. The townspeople soon realized it, as well, and a number of dismayed cries, and outright sobbing met his ears. And as much as he hated to admit it… Reno was sorely tempted to join them.
Elena waited as a small group of techs drifted down the hallway towards the elevators, discussing what the cafeteria was going to be serving for lunch that day and and which of them had made the biggest contribution to the shipment of weapons that had just gone out, bound for Junon. Once they were out of sight, she emerged from the store room she’d ducked into and continued on her way. Scarlet’s high security lab was just around the corner.
The Turk double-checked that no one was around and slid Rufus’ ID card through the scanner. The panel glowed green and the lock opened, granting her access. She hurried inside, closing the door behind her.
Thankfully, Rufus had been willing to keep Scarlet tied up in another meeting with Tuesti while Elena did a little snooping. If what she’d heard of her recent behavior was accurate, waiting for her to leave the lab of her own accord for any significant amount of time might have taken awhile. And given that she had no idea what she was looking for, she’d take all the extra time she could get.
As it turned out, however… she didn’t need it.
“You again?” she said aloud, surprised by the huge, armored monstrosity in front of her. She shook her head. The Proud Clod. She certainly hadn’t forgotten her last encounter with that damned thing. If Reno hadn’t tackled her, Scarlet’s mechanical armor probably would have crushed her. Elena wasn’t especially happy to see it again.
But why was Scarlet continuing to work on it so obsessively? And in secret?
There had definitely been some changes. The armor seemed thicker in places, there had been new weapons mounted… though the dual controls in the cockpit didn’t appear to have undergone any major revisions.
Elena rifled through the schematics on a nearby workbench… but nothing seemed to give her much of a clue as to why this project was so important to Scarlet. She frowned. Rufus couldn’t keep her busy indefinitely… and Scarlet wasn’t to know anyone had been in here. The Turk pulled her PHS from her pocket, and photographed the schematics, along with the Proud Clod itself, and beat a hasty retreat.
She wasn’t sure what to make of it… but she certainly had something to report.
“… What do you mean, ‘Palmer’s dead’?” Rufus repeated, half-convinced he’d misunderstood the redhead.
“Not sure what was unclear about that, sir… Palmer’s dead. D-E-A-D. Dead.”
“What in Ramuh’s name happened?”
“Avalanche showed up and tried to board the rocket. Took down Rude, and since Heidegger had me stationed at the other end of the damn thing, I couldn’t get there in time to give him a hand. So… Palmer went right ahead and launched the fuckin’ rocket. With them in it.”
“Which still doesn’t explain how he died.”
“It was Heidegger. He lost it,” Reno replied, “Had Palmer by the throat by the time we got there… after almost bein’ burnt to a crisp, I might add. We pulled the son of a bitch off him, but it was too late.”
Rufus blinked in shock. Leonard Heidegger had always been a verbally abusive and occasionally physically violent man… but strangling someone to death in a fit of rage?
“What do you want us to do with him, sir?”
“Bring him back to Midgar with you. I want to speak to him before I have you dispose of him… but I don’t want to risk him getting free with everything else we have to deal with. The security cells will be sufficient to contain him for now.”
The door of his office opened just then, and Rufus glanced up to see Elena slipping inside. He gestured for her to wait and turned his attention back to the phone call.
“Besides Palmer’s untimely death… is there anything aside from the obvious I should be concerned about?” he asked, gazing out the window at the rapidly approaching meteor. Now several meteors, really, and he couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps their efforts had resulted in making the problem much, much worst.
“Well… like I said. Avalanche was on the rocket when it took off. Some of ’em anyway. Strife, Highwind and Lockheart, according to Rude. Don’t know where the rest of ’em fucked off to. So… ya know… if we were countin’ on the ex-Soldier to bail us out if things go wrong, it looks like that ship has sailed…”
“Wonderful,” Rufus sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “How soon can you get back here?”
“Gonna take us awhile. Palmer’s goddamn rocket sent shit flyin’ everywhere. Something slammed into the copter. We’re hitchin’ a ride to Costa del Sol with a local first thing in the mornin’, but we don’t have anything waitin’ for us there. Vir’s tryin’ to find us somethin’ that can pick us up, but most air transports are gearin’ up for the trip to the Northern Crater. Might have to take the damn boat to Junon.”
“Just… get here.”
“Yes, sir.” Reno replied. Rufus ended the call and turned to his other Turk.
“Trouble, sir?” she asked.
“Whatever gave you that idea?” he muttered, as he sat down at his desk and slumped forward, his head in his hands. This was hopeless… everything he did seemed to result in them taking one step forward and two steps back. Now, the missile had failed, their backup plan was most likely space dust, and all they had to rely on was a cannon that might or might not be able to penetrate an impenetrable barrier.
He didn’t want to die. Perhaps that was cowardice talking, but he didn’t want to die. The likelihood of that happening, however, seemed to be increasing by the hour. The irony wasn’t lost on him. Here he was… in control of the most powerful organization on the planet… nearly unlimited money, advanced weapons, and an entire army at his fingertips… and he couldn’t stop his own company’s creation.
Warm fingers unexpectedly caressed the back of his neck before gliding down along his shoulders and kneading gently.
“Don’t give up, sir,” Elena said, her voice soft and reassuring. “Please… We need you.”
“I… don’t know what to do anymore,” he confessed. “If the mako cannon fails, we have no other options.”
“Then we have to do everything we can to make sure is doesn’t fail. We have to try.”
He inhaled deeply, and exhaled a somewhat shaky breath before sitting up. She was right. If he allowed himself to succumb to fear, he might as well walk out onto the balcony right now and step off of it.
“Did you learn anything in Scarlet’s lab?” he asked, as he be began to compose himself. Elena gave his shoulders one final squeeze and slipped out from behind him, resuming her previous post.
“She’s been working on the Proud Clod again.”
“… Proud Clod?” Rufus repeated, one eyebrow rising.
“It’s a sort of robotic heavy armor. Dual pilots, loaded with weapons… it even has a miniature version of the mako cannon mounted to it. We were ordered to test it’s offensive capabilities awhile back. I sort of just assumed it got scrapped when we ended up taking it down. I guess she decided to rework it.”
Rufus frowned. “She’s mentioned nothing of this project to me. Did it appear as though she was preparing it for transport?”
“No, sir,” Elena replied with a shake of her head. “Just the opposite, to be honest. I looks like she’s still fabricating new parts for it. If it’s something she intends to send to face Sephiroth, she’s certainly taking her time with it. Besides which, even if if she finished it, no one will have trained in it yet… and the pilots’ lack of training was the whole reason we were able to defeat it during the test.”
“… Then it seems quite clear that she doesn’t intend to use it against Sephiroth.”
“Then what’s it for?”
“To use against me, I suspect,” he replied. He wasn’t the least bit surprised. Scarlet was many things… but one thing she wasn’t was afraid to do whatever was necessary to serve her own interests. He’d long known he couldn’t trust the woman as far as he could throw her… particularly after his father had tired of her and turned his attention to younger women.
“Sir… If she’s a threat, we should elimi–”
“No. For the time being, at least, we need her expertise. The cannon is our last hope of reaching Sephiroth and putting an end to this, and Scarlet, much as I detest praising that woman for anything, is the best weapons engineer we have. You said it yourself… we must do whatever we can to ensure that the cannon doesn’t fail. Even if that means leaving her free to plan her little coup.”
“If she’s really plotting to seize control of the company… the easiest way to do that would be to take you out, sir.”
“I’m aware of that,” Rufus replied, gravely. “See to it that she doesn’t succeed.”
“You’re going to regret this, you worthless little slum rat! Just you wait and see. When we get back to Midgar and the President finds out about this, I will take great pleasure in finally kicking your useless hide right back down to the Slums,” Heidegger ranted, “And I’ll do it from the edge of the Plate!”
Reno rolled his eyes and ignored him. He’d started in on the two Turks the moment they’d roused him the that morning to drag his sorry ass to the plane. He hadn’t been overly pleased, having spent the night tied up in a closet. Frankly… Reno didn’t give a shit.
In the half hour they’d been in the air, the abuse hadn’t abated… particularly after they’d duct taped the man into his seat for the flight. The Turk lieutenant had borne the brunt of his vitriol, but he’d gotten in more than a few harsh words directed at Rude as well. The more they pretended they didn’t hear him, the angrier the man got. It was almost amusing at this point.
“Go fish…” Rude said in a bored voice.
“Rude… Why the hell are we playin’ this? What’s wrong with poker all of a sudden?” he asked, biting back a yawn. It was too damn early… but this was the only pilot in Rocket Town making a run to Costa del Sol, and he hadn’t been willing to alter his schedule.
“No more poker for awhile. Not after the way Elena cleaned me out.”
The redhead snorted in quiet laughter and reached for a card.
“And I’ll send that little whore of yours with you… Don’t think I don’t know you’ve been screwing that little blonde bitch you recruited…” Heidegger hissed, and Reno froze mid draw, eyes narrowing. He calmly picked up the card and tucked it into the rest of his hand.
“Hold that thought,” he said to Rude, “I gotta take care of somethin’.”
With slow deliberateness, Reno toed his left shoe off and peeled off his sock. He stood, and moved unhurried towards their prisoner, pausing in front of him, grinning dangerously.
“Ya know… I’ve been waiting a long time for this. And listenin’ to you bitch and moan about how I’m gonna pay for treatin’ you like the piece of shit you are’s been fun ‘n all… but no one… ‘specially not you… threatens my ‘Lena.” He grabbed the roll of duct tape and tore off a strip.
“Don’t you da–mmph!”
Heidegger was quickly silenced as Reno jammed the sock into his open mouth and taped it in place.
“Suck on that for awhile, asshole,” the redhead muttered and returned to his game, picking up his cards.
“… Got any fives?” Rude asked.
“Tch… Go fish.”
Elena had never wanted so badly not to be on her own as she did right now. Rufus was playing a very dangerous game with Scarlet. If she really did intend to try to take power for herself… how in Shiva’s name was she supposed to stop her?
Presently, the Turk was seated at Rude’s desk in their office, using his computer to log into the building’s security cameras. She wasn’t sure where he’d acquired the program that let him do it, but she was fairly certain it wasn’t company issue… particularly given that it could also access a number of cameras that didn’t officially exist and weren’t monitored by building security.
Unfortunately, those ghost cameras did not extend to Scarlet’s lab as she’d hoped they might… though she did come across an exceptionally clear view of the inside of both the men’s and women’s gym locker rooms. She wasn’t quite sure how she felt about that.
Elena sighed and leaned back in the chair. She’d been hoping that Rude might have left her a way to keep a closer eye on Scarlet and what she was doing… but apparently even his intelligence network didn’t extend to the high security labs. Or if it did, she didn’t know how to pull up the feeds… and there was only one person who would.
That in mind, she pulled out her phone… and nearly dropped it when it rang hardly a split-second later.
“For Ifrit’s sake,” she breathed, not having needed that little scare, and accepted the call.
“Hey… Everything good on your end?” a very welcome voice queried, and Elena smiled.
“For now, I guess… Where are you guys?”
“Costa del Sol. Just got in…” Reno replied, “Just what’dya mean ‘for now’?”
“Rufus thinks Scarlet’s up to something. And I think he’s right.”
“Tch… When is she not up to somethin’?”
“No… I mean something big. She’s spending all her spare time alone in a classified lab. Rufus got me access earlier. She’s working on the Proud Clod. Reno… I’m really worried. I think she’s going to try and take over the company… and that means she’ll be after Rufus.”
“Alright… Calm down. Scarlet’s not completely stupid. If that’s her plan, she’ll wait for the best opportunity. Probably after the attack on the Northern Crater’s underway. There’ll be so much goin’ on, no one’ll be payin’ attention to what she’s up to. Look, keep an eye on her, but stay the hell outta her way. If she’s really willing to go after Rufus directly, we both know she wouldn’t hesitate hurtin’ you, too. ‘Specially if she thinks you’re onto her. Meantime, stick close to Rufus. You with him now?”
“No,” she said, “I’m in our office right now. Rufus is meeting privately with Reeve Tuesti. I was hoping Rude might have a camera or two in Scarlet’s lab.”
“… Hang on a second.” She could hear muted conversation for a few moments, and then a brief silence. “Sorry, ‘Lena. No such luck. Rude says he’s never been able to sneak one into those labs.”
“Well… I figured it was worth a shot,” she said with a sigh.
“We’ll be back soon as we can. I want you on Rufus like glue while you’re waitin’. Fuck him if he complains.”
Elena laughed in spite of the seriousness of the situation. “Are you sure that’s what you want me to do?”
“That… came out wrong. Way wrong,” the redhead responded, chuckling. “I meant fuck him… in general… not fuck him. Please don’t fuck Rufus.”
She giggled quietly and could very clearly hear Rude laughing in the background as Reno attempted – without much success – to clarify himself.
“Just hurry back, okay?”
“We’re workin’ on it. But it’s startin’ to look like we’re in for a very long boat ride.”
Elena blinked, puzzled. “Why don’t you just take the executive helicopter?” she blurted out, before suddenly realizing that they hadn’t been there when she’d learned that Rufus’ step-mother had high-tailed it to the resort town a few days ago. “Oh… Oh! You don’t know. Of course you don’t know! Juliet Shinra is staying at the family villa!”
For a few seconds there was only stunned silence on the other end of the line.
“… ‘Lena, you’re fucking amazing and I love you and I gotta go commandeer a helicopter,” Reno said, hurriedly. “We’ll see ya this afternoon. And seriously… don’t fuck Rufus.”
The call ended and she couldn’t help but smile. Hearing Reno’s voice always seemed to make her feel better. She shut off the computer and headed for the elevator. Rufus’ meeting would be over soon… and she was under orders to stay close to him… and that was exactly what she was going to do.
~fin~