Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Chapter 86: Better and Better

Reno groaned and flopped down on top of a large, flat boulder. They hadn’t gone far… but between the bruises from being kicked in the chest by a bird twice his size and the additional bruises from the straps of the safety harness digging into him during the crash, he ached all over.

“Keep it movin’, rookie… Yeh can rest once we’ve found some cover,” Sato said, prodding him with his foot. The redhead grunted and forced himself back up.

It didn’t exactly help that it was a beautiful summer day… not a cloud in the sky, with temperatures easily in the upper 80s. He was hot, he was sweaty, he was sore, he was tired… and he hadn’t eaten since early that morning. Sato didn’t look to be faring much better. The senior Turk had developed a slight limp during their trek towards the foothills of the mountain range, the closest available cover on the vast plains of the eastern continent. Reno suspected he’d hurt himself a bit more than he’d let on jumping down from the wreckage earlier.

On the bright side, they hadn’t been rushed by the people who’d attacked them in Kalm, and Reno was cautiously optimistic that they’d either broken off pursuit when they’d realized the vice president was out of their reach, or had found the remains of the helicopter and taken them for dead. He glanced back in the direction they’d come from. Black smoke was still curling into the air from the downed aircraft. If it was still burning and they had gone there to finish them off, they probably couldn’t yet get close enough to see that there were no bodies on board. That would keep them safe for awhile at least. Assuming they were being followed at all.

“Hey, Sato…” Reno queried, as he followed the Mideelian through a narrow crevice between some fallen boulders and down into the deliciously cool shade it offered. The senior Turk glanced back at him over his shoulder.

“Aye?”

“Just in case I didn’t get around to sayin’ it before… Thanks for savin’ my ass back in Kalm. Thought for sure I was gonna get trampled into goo when those fuckin’ feathered bastards surrounded me.”

The Mideelian Turk grinned. “Yeh really wanna thank me, do me a favor. Dunnae tell Tseng the whole decoy thing was my idea. I like havin’ my skin attached ta my body.”

The redhead raised an eyebrow. “Thought you said Remy wanted me ‘n Rufus to switch places.”

“Aye… she did. After I suggested it,” he replied with soft chuckle.

“Heh… Should I leave out the part about you chuckin’ genades at me, too?”

“Ah, those weren’t grenades… I call ’em poppers. My own design. They just make a wee bit o’ noise ‘n shake things up a bit,” Sato replied, still grinning, “But, ah… aye, maybe best yeh dinnae bring that up, either.”

Reno merely snorted a soft laugh as Sato eased himself down onto the ground and leaned back against the rocks.

“How long ya think it’ll take us to walk home, anyway?”

The senior Turk shrugged.

“Never done it on foot before,” he replied. “Chocobo’ll take yeh an hour, hour and a half, ta get over ta Kalm, though, ‘n that’s flat out runnin’. Figure… I dunno, ‘least twice that on foot, probably longer, ‘n we’re a wee bit under halfway, I think. So… couple hours maybe? If we’re quick about it… Not countin’ gettin’ back topside ‘o course.”

The redhead slid to the ground beside him and shook his head.

“What are the chances of gettin’ a taxi out here instead?” he joked, and Sato snorted in laughter.

“Slim ta none, I’d reckon…” he chuckled. “We’ll take a wee rest here, ‘n give the sun a bit o’ time ta go down so we’re not walkin’ in the heat o’ the day. Wouldn’t really mind it myself… yeh northerners’ve got nothin’ on Mideelian summers… but yer likely ta keel over on a hike like that without water.”

“Tch… ya just had to say somethin’ about water, didn’t ya…” Reno groused. He’d been doing a fairly good job of ignoring how thirsty he was getting up until that point… but now he had no choice but to think about it. His tongue suddenly felt like sandpaper.

Sato grinned. “Pop one ‘o the buttons offa that fancy shirt o’ yers ‘n hold it in yer mouth. It’ll help a wee bit. Old Mideelian trick fer when yeh cannae find somethin’ ta drink.”

“Heh… Rufus is gonna kill me for this,” Reno snickered, as he did as he was told. Aside from the initial taste of dust, he soon found that having something in there – even just a button – was enough to force his mouth to water. It didn’t exactly alleviate his thirst, but at least it didn’t feel like he was drying out completely anymore. He leaned back against the stone wall behind him and sighed in relief. After a moment, he glanced over at Sato again. “So… since we’re stuck here doin’ jack shit for awhile… I keep meanin’ to ask ya ‘n never seem to get around to it. What’s Mideel like, anyway? Is it nice there?”

“Aye, rookie, Mideel’s a real thing o’ beauty,” he replied, grinning. “No better place on the planet, yeh ask me. Me ‘n Saya grew up on the south coast, but the northern highlands’re nice, too… ‘n ‘o course yeh’ve got the farms off ta the east. Best apples in creation.” His grin widened noticeably. “Best whiskey in creation, too, fer that matter, no two ways about it.”

“So… if it’s so great, why’d ya ever leave?”

“She’s a beautiful isle, ‘n she’ll always be home… but sometimes a man needs a wee bit ‘o adventure in his life. Well… adventure, ‘n ta get away from his bitch of an ex-wife,” he chuckled, “Just the first’un, mind yeh. I’m still friendly enough with the second missus. Had what I s’ppose yeh could call an ‘amicable separation’ with her. Ugh… the third‘un, though… Even bigger bitch than my first… ‘n what’s worse, she lives in Midgar. Do yerself a favor, kid. Don’t ever get married.”

Reno snorted softly. “Tch… Don’t worry. I’m not plannin’ on it.”

“Smart boy,” the Mideelian laughed. “Smarter’n me, anyway. Took me three times ta figure out marriage is nothin’ more’n a trap. And Odin help yeh if yeh end up trapped with someone yeh cannae stand… Ugh. Never again.”

The pair of Turks lapsed into a companionable silence for a little while. Reno still found the idea of Sato ever being married to anyone more than a little bizarre. The fact that he’d done it three times was even weirder. Sato was the last person the redhead would have ever pictured as a family man.

Of course, given that he was also three times divorced… maybe “family man” wasn’t the most apt description to begin with.

It wasn’t long before Reno’s thoughts drifted away from Sato’s failed marriages and back to Tseng, however. The others had to have realized that something had gone wrong. Hell, they probablyhad that figured out a long time ago, when he and Sato hadn’t shown up promptly behind the other helicopter. His mentor had to be worried about him by now, too, and he wished he hadn’t stupidly left his PHS in the jacket he’d handed over to Rufus. He wanted more than anything to let Tseng know that he was alright. He was certainly no doctor, but it seemed to him that the more stress the Turk lieutenant was under, the longer it was going to take for his mental state to improve. He couldn’t stand the idea that he was making it worse for Tseng, even if the events of this morning had been largely out of his control.

Reno looked down at his watch and realized it was already mid-afternoon. That almost didn’t seem possible. The morning had dragged on so long that everything that had happened since they left Kalm had seemed to fly by in a heartbeat. And yet, had they been back in the office, he’d be headed home in less than two hours.

Well… under normal circumstances, he would have been. Obviously something was happening tonight that he was supposed to be helping with. He wondered… if it really only took them a couple of hours to make it back to Midgar, and then maybe another hour or so to get through one of the lower gates and head for train station in Wall Market, ride it topside, and get back to the office… would they be in time to lend a hand? Or would it all be over by then?

A part of him almost hoped they missed it, whatever it was. He was beat. All he wanted right now was a decent meal and a nice long soak in some hot water to take away the stiffness that was setting in across about half his body. But he knew that if that ended up being the case, he was going to be feeling guilty. Whatever was going on, it was all hands on deck. He was supposed to be there… and he didn’t want to let the others down by not being there.

The redhead yawned and closed his eyes. For now, at least, they were stuck here. Might as well try and conserve some energy… especially if they were going to be walking all the way back to Midgar in a little while.

---

“Where are you going?”

Tseng froze mid-stride mere seconds after exiting his office. He’d only returned to their floor to gather a few things he’d need, and had hoped to leave as stealthily as he’d arrived. The Wutaiian Turk sighed and turned to face his mentor.

“To look for them,” he replied, more than a hint of challenge in his voice, and before Veld could respond, he continued, “I’m suspended, if you’ll recall. I won’t be taking part in tonight’s mission. I see no reason, therefore, why I can’t, on my own, personal time, take a chocobo out into the middle of nowhere… with or without your permission.”

Veld shook his head. “I was going to wish you good luck.”

“… Ah,” he replied, more than slightly embarrassed by his unwarranted outburst.

“When you find them, let me know. I may not be able to respond right away, but a message would be greatly appreciated, all the same.”

“Yes, sir.”

Veld gave him a curt nod, and turned towards the path to the briefing room. Tseng, meanwhile, resumed his walk to the elevators.

“… Sir?” another voice behind him asked, and the Turk lieutenant had to pause a second time. He spun to face the source of the query, and spotted Rude peering out from a nearby supply room, a fresh case of ammunition in his grasp. “Could you let me know when you find them, too?”

---

Rude set the supplies he’d been sent for down near the door and joined the others at the conference table, taking a seat next to Cissnei. Tseng’s assurance that he’d alert him when he found the pair of missing Turks had made him feel a bit better… but he was still worried about his friends.

“Any news?” Cissnei asked. Rodney glanced over at him as well, but said nothing.

“Tseng’s gone to look for them.”

There wasn’t much reason to keep Tseng’s absence a secret. Veld had already informed them all, shortly after Remy and Saya had returned, about the Turk lieutenant’s suspension.

“Well… that’s good, at least,” she stated, “I can’t believe we couldn’t spare anyone as soon as we realized they weren’t back yet…”

Rodney shook his head. “This is more important. We have a chance to boot those Wutaiian bastards out of our city once and for all. Of course that takes precedence.”

Rude scowled at the other rookie. He was technically right… but he didn’t have to be such an asshole about it. Two Turks and a helicopter were missing after an attack on the vice president. Anything could have happened to them. He suddenly realized that Cissnei was glaring at Rodney, as well… who seemed to sense that he’d crossed something of a line and raised his hands in surrender.

“I’m just saying… it’s a choice between two people and an entire city. As much as we might want to drop everything and go find them, we just don’t have that luxury right now.”

“He’s right, yeh know,” Saya chimed him from behind the trio. “Odin knows I want ta see Reno safe ‘n sound as much as anyone… and I’d like ta know that idiot cousin o’ mine’s still in one piece, too… but the job has ta come first. We’ve been runnin’ ourselves ragged preparin’ fer tanight on such short notice… We cannae go traipsin’ off fer the sake o’ two people who’re more’n capable of lookin’ after their own selves fer a wee bit.”

Rodney, at least, had the decency not to look smug about being told he was right.

“… I know,” Rude sighed at last, “I’m just worried.”

“Dinnae be. Sato’s gotten his fool arse inta all sorts o’ trouble over the years. He may be a lunatic, an idiot, ‘n maybe a wee bit o’ a drunkard, but he always seems ta make out alright in the end… ‘n he won’t let anythin’ happen ta Reno, either.”

“Everyone… If I could have your attention?” Veld called out from the front of the room. Saya gave the rookies a final nod and hurried off to take her seat. Rude turned his focus to the head of the table, as did everyone else in the briefing room. Once he was satisfied he had a captive audience, Veld began outlining the mission.

“As I’m sure everyone is aware by now, we’ve learned that the Wutaiians that still remain in the city have a shipment of weapons coming in late tonight. We’re going to make sure they don’t take delivery of said shipment… and, while we’re at it, see if we can’t exterminate our little pest problem in the process,” he explained, “We’ll be working in three teams. Tres will act as field commander for the main team of himself, Saya, and Rodney. They’ll make initial contact with our targets. I’ll be in command of the secondary team, consisting of myself, Shay and Cissnei. Our job will be to flank the Wutaiians and prevent them from escaping back into the slums. Remy will take Kai and Rude and act as our backup in the shadows. The Wutaiians will likely have hidden reinforcements… we’ll be using the same tactic.”

Tres stood up from his seat beside the Turk leader.

“The rest of you are gonna be takin’ your cues from my team. Remy… I’d like your group to stay out of sight as long as possible. If you don’t need to immediately start shit, don’t. We don’t know for sure how many we might be facin’, and the longer we have the element of surprise on our side, the better.”

“Are we taking prisoners?” Kai asked.

“We’ll grab a few for interrogation, in the hopes that one of them will give up their hideout,” Veld replied, “Terminate the rest… especially anyone who tries to run and warn the remainder of their group.”

“Why not let some of them run, sir?” Rodney piped up. “We could tail them right back to wherever they’ve been hiding.”

Tres shook his head. “We could… ‘n if we weren’t likely to have our hands full with the others, we’d probably do just that. But tailin’ someone through the slums would not only take Turks away from the main mission… which is makin’ damn sure they don’t get their hands on those weapons… it’d could also get some of us killed for no goddamn reason. This is the Sector 2 slums we’re talkin’ about. Ain’t a nice place to begin with, and on top of that, I wouldn’t put it past these assholes to lead a Turk straight into an ambush of some kind. We’re better off stickin’ together on this one. Someone runs, you take ’em down.”

“It also bears mentioning,” Veld added, “That the shipment may contain explosives.”

“Oh, great,” Kai grumbled, “It just figures Sato’d be M.I.A. for this one. He’s the only one of us nuts enough to enjoy dealing with that crap.”

“Aye, he’ll be right pissed he missed it, if somethin’ blows up tanight,” Saya chuckled.

“Speaking of our missing teammates…” said Veld, “I know we’re all worried about them, but let’s try and remain focused on the task at hand. It might help to know that, as Tseng is presently barred from field operations, he’s opted to take off work a bit early and spend his evening taking a nice relaxing ride across the plains. I’m sure he’ll locate them in a timely fashion.”

A quiet murmuring broke out among the seated Turks, but Veld quickly quieted them.

“You have your assignments. Let’s finish our prep work, get some food, and start getting into position. It’s going to be a long night.”

---

Tseng’s chocobo shied slightly at the sight of a rather large herd of levikron racing by in the distance. Though similar in appearance to chocobos, the slightly larger levikron were nothing like them in temperament. In fact, they could be downright nasty if you got too close to them, having a tendency to bite and kick and gang up on anything that wandered too close to their territory. Chocobos tended to instinctively avoid them, and Tseng had heard tell that levikron sometimes attacked nesting chocobos in the wild to drive them off and then destroyed their eggs.

He patted his mount’s neck and turned her slightly off to the north, away from the levikrons’ travel path.

They were still some distance from Kalm. He was following in reverse the flight path the helicopter most likely would have taken after leaving the little village, hoping that, if they’d been forced to land for some reason they hadn’t strayed too far. But that was really only because he didn’t have any other starting points. For all he knew, they could have ended up at the chocobo farm to the south, or gone all the way to Fort Condor, or set down up in the mountains. If they were being pursued by their attackers, they’d likely be hiding.

Though that didn’t entirely explain why there’d been no contact. Certainly, the radio could have been damaged – and Tseng had learned shortly after returning Rufus to his office that the vice president was currently in possession of his rookie’s PHS – but Sato had a Leviathan-be-damned phone as well. One that he wasn’t answering. Still… he kept telling himself that there was a perfectly logical explanation for that as well. Perhaps it, too, had been damaged in the attack… or even dropped. Or perhaps the pair had simple sequestered themselves somewhere that had a lack of cellular reception. The nearby mountains, after all, were rather notorious for that, being so heavily inundated with mythril deposits. Just because they hadn’t checked in didn’t mean the worst had happened.

Though the longer he rode, the more frequently he was forced to remind himself of that.

It was already growing dark, the sun beginning to set. It was late summer and the nights were slowly getting longer again. It wouldn’t be much longer before the temperature began dipping uncomfortably at night and cool winds out of the north picked up in the evening.

He wasn’t looking forward to searching in the dark. The plains could be treacherous when one’s visibility was limited. One bad stumble as his chocobo raced towards Kalm, and he’d be flying head over feet onto the unforgiving ground… which wouldn’t do Reno and Sato any good whatsoever. He’d still search through the night if he had to… but he was going to have to take things much slower once the sun went down.

For what had to be the thousandth time in the last almost two years, he wondered if he’d really done Reno any favors by recruiting him. He’d inducted the teenager into a life of danger, and in the beginning it had been largely for selfish reasons. Yes, Reno was happy and healthy. He was well-fed and had a safe place to live. He was loved… not just by Tseng, but by most everyone on the team.

And in return for all that, he was asked to kill… to risk being killed… to give up a sliver of his very humanity for the sake of the company. It was a high price for anyone to pay, let alone a small, affection-starved sixteen year old boy who desperately wanted to leave his old life behind. Reno hadn’t, perhaps, been a complete innocent when Tseng had found him… but there was still some left in him. Sometimes Tseng wondered how he would ever be able to atone for the crime of stripping it away from him one mission at a time.

He supposed he could no more atone for that than he could for murdering his own sister.

Tseng shook himself from his dark thoughts when he spotted movement in the distance. It took him a moment to figure out what he was seeing at first… but went he did, he was certain his heart stopped for a moment. Smoke. Quite a lot of it, if he could see it from here. There weren’t many reasons for a fire large enough to produce that much smoke out here on the plains. In fact the only one that immediately came to mind was a downed helicopter.

---

Reno yawned, blinking uncomfortably as a bright light hit him square in the face. It took him a moment to realized that it was the sun. The damn thing had moved far enough that their once-shady hideaway was now almost in full sunlight. He groaned softly and rubbed his eyes, wondering how long he’d been out as he glanced at his watch. It was just after five. Almost two hours. He glanced to his left, expecting to have to wake up Sato as well, only to find himself alone.

“… The fuck?” he murmured, getting to his feet, and wincing at the now-pronounced soreness of his muscles. “Sato?”

“Oh, good… yer awake,” Sato’s voice called back from somewhere above him. The redhead slipped through a narrow opening between the rocks, and glanced up, finding him perched on top of one of the boulders. “After yeh drifted off, I figured I’d just let yeh have at it. After everything we’ve been through taday, best thing fer it was ta rest ’til it was time ta head out anyway. Been keepin’ an eye on things. It doesnae look like we were followed. Think we’re good ta head fer home.”

He eased himself down to ground level, flinching in pain as his right leg took his weight.

“Uh… you sure you’re good to walk that far?” Reno asked, skeptically.

“Aye… just aggravated an old injury earlier’s all. Bloody knee got fucked up years ago. Starts achin’ again whene’er I’m not payin’ attention ‘n land on it wrong. Won’t be doin’ much runnin’ fer a bit, but I think I can manage a steady shamble.” He snorted a soft laugh. “Yeh dunnae look like yer feelin’ exactly a hundred percent yerself.”

Reno stretched, groaning as his bruised and battered body protested the movement.

“You try gettin’ kicked by a fuckin’ chocobo ‘n see how you feel after you been sittin’ propped up against a rock for two hours…”

Sato chuckled and gave him a nod. “Aye, I’ll grant yeh that’un. Saw some levikrons runnin’ a wee bit ago. Doubt we’ll be crossin’ their path since they were headin’ away from the city, but yeh never know with those bastards. Best keep an eye out and do our best ta avoid ’em. Evil fuckers…”

“What’s a levikron?” Reno asked.

“Bit like a big, ugly chocobo… but yeh wouldnae want ta try ridin’ one. They’re as mean-tempered as they look and none too fond of people. Native ta these parts, but not as common as they used ta be. Folks from Kalm started huntin’ ’em when they wouldnae stop attackin’ the convoys ta the mines,” he replied, and then grinned, “Hear they’re good eatin’, though.”

“Heh… couldn’t be any worse than the cripshays I ate back in the slums,” Reno snickered, “Might have to try one some time.”

---

“Dear Leviathan…” Tseng breathed as the helicopter finally came into view. It had landed – and he used that term very loosely – in a small dip in the plains, which had effectively hidden much of it from his view until he was practically right on top of it. The smoldering remains were still smoking, but that wasn’t what concerned him most.

It was plainly obvious that this hadn’t been a normal landing… or even an emergency landing. The copter had crashed, plain and simple. Two of main rotors had buried themselves deep in the soft soil. The others had flown off, flung to the gods only knew where. The copter itself was a mangled, twisted wreck scattered over a fairly significant area… though that may have been more from the ensuing explosion than the crash itself.

He felt ill as he eased himself down from the back of the chocobo. If they’d still been inside…

The Wutaiian Turk shook his head and cautiously picked his way past warped bits of metal towards the aircraft. He had to see for himself and he couldn’t very well do so from fifty yards away. As he neared what was left of the cockpit, he braced himself for the worst, and unbidden, the memory of Mayu’s bloodied and broken body flashed before his eyes. He’d had to identify her after the attack on the train station. It would have been enough for the coroner just to confirm it from a photo of her face… but he’d forced himself to see her in person, and look upon the devastation his decisions had wrought. They’d cleaned her up before allowing him to see her, but it had still been nigh unbearable. He didn’t want to see Reno like that, too…

But there was no one else here to do it.

Shaking slightly, he rounded the helicopter until he had a clear view of the cockpit’s windshield… or at least where said windshield should have been. Most of it was gone… blown apart from the explosion, with what remained clinging half melted to its frame from the heat of the ensuing fire. He dropped to his knees with a loud sob of relief. It was empty… no sign of a body, or even blood. They’d made it out alive.

---

After he’d finished handing out the requisitioned ammunition to his fellow Turks, Rude made his way back towards his office… where he found Tres waiting for him. The senior Turk had made himself at home at Reno’s desk, and spun around to face him as he entered.

“Ready for this?” he asked, and Rude nodded.

“I’m ready,” he replied.

“Just keep your mind on the job, alright? I know it’s not the easiest thing to do when your best friend comes up missin’, but it’s probably gonna get dicey out there tonight. Don’t go gettin’ yourself killed on me.”

“… I won’t.”

Tres nodded and hoisted himself out of the chair. “You done makin’ the rounds?”

“Yeah. Just finished.”

“‘Kay… Then go get somethin’ to eat,” said Tres, “Your group’s goin’ down early to make sure you got time to find good positions.”

Rude nodded again and turned to go… repressing the urge to snicker quietly to himself as he did so. Tres could be a surly son of a bitch, but when it came to the rookie, his protective streak bordered on almost fatherly… Sometimes. Rude paused in the doorway.

“Hey… Tres?”

“Yeah?”

“What if Tseng doesn’t find them?”

Tres groaned and rolled his eyes, and the momentary father-figure was gone again, disappearing behind a mask of jaded snark and sarcasm. Rude didn’t mind. He’d grown used to it.

“Tch… The redhead’s rubbin’ off on ya. You’re startin’ to think worst case too much.”

“I’m serious,” Rude pressed, “What if he comes back empty-handed?”

“First off… Tseng ain’t gonna come back empty-handed. He’s got nothin’ better to do ‘n nowhere else to be at the moment. He’ll search ’til he either finds ’em or ’til he can’t physically take another step ‘n we gotta send someone out to find his sorry ass. That son of a bitch doesn’t know when to give up sometimes,” the senior Turk replied, grinning slightly, and Rude couldn’t help but chuckle a little.

“And second…” he continued, “Reno ain’t exactly helpless, ‘n neither’s Sato. Don’t go writin’ ’em off ’til there’s a reason to. Sato’s been ‘dead’ more times than I can count, ‘n Reno survived sixteen years in Sector 2, mostly on his own. Fuckin’ cockroaches have a better shot at buyin’ it than those two.”

“… I’m telling them both that you compared them to cockroaches when they get back,” Rude snickered, and Tres shot him a knowing smirk.

“Go right ahead… I’ve damn sure called Sato worse than that, ‘n as many times as Reno’s been labeled a slum rat by our illustrious vice president, ‘cockroach’ is probably almost a compliment.”

---

Reno’d had to alter his normal pace to let Sato keep up. Despite his protests to the contrary, after about a half a mile of walking, it was pretty clear that he was in quite a bit of pain. His limp had become more pronounced, and several times, the redhead had had to outright stop for a short while to let him catch up.

But, he supposed, it could be worse. To the south, in the rapidly declining light of evening, he could see storm clouds rolling in from off to the west. Thankfully, it looked like that mess was going to stay south and miss them. Having to walk all the way back to Midgar was bad enough… having to do it do it in the rain really would have sucked. Even with the lucky break in the weather, though, he was half tempted to say the hell with it and find them a place to chill for the night. It would get Sato off his injured knee, and maybe by morning the team would finally send someone out to pick them up.

He had just turned to Sato to voice that opinion when a loud bird-like screech caught him off guard.

“Oh, shite…” Sato muttered, and drew his gun. Reno followed his gaze, and spotted something… or rather several somethings… headed straight for them at a dead run.

“Don’t tell me… Levikrons?” he queried, reaching for his EMR.

“Aye… angry levikrons. We musta got a wee bit too close ta their stompin’ grounds.”

The herd was huge. There had to be fifty or sixty of the creatures, and Sato was right. They didn’t look happy to see the two Turks. Sato seemed to be settling in for a fight… but there was no way in hell the two of them stood a chance against that. Reno scanned their surroundings, looking for cover. A high point… a low point… anything. Finally he spotted something that looked promising.

“Sato! Over there!” he yelled, as the screeching grew louder. The other Turk turned his attention in the direction the rookie was pointing.

“Worth a shot!” he replied, and took off as fast as he could manage. Reno was right behind him. The redhead paused briefly to take a few shots at the approaching levikron, hoping it would deter them, but quickly gave it up as pointless when all it seemed to do was piss them off even more. “Hurry it up, rookie! Move yer arse!”

At Sato’s behest, Reno turned and fled towards the deep fissure in the ground some distance away. Sato disappeared into its depths as the redhead came barreling towards him. It was a tight fit… but the two men had just enough room to squeeze inside. And given that it really was just enough, there was no way the levikron were going to be able to follow them.

That certainly didn’t stop them from trying, though. In fact, not being able to get at them seemed to further enrage the animals. They gathered above the pair, clawing and scratching at the ground, as if trying to dig them two of them out, and Reno covered his head as a shower of small stones and dirt rained down on him.

“Well… this’s been a nice break from the monotony ‘n all, but I think I’m ready ta get back ta the office now,” Sato muttered.

“Don’t you have anything that’ll scare these assholes off?” Reno asked. “What about one of those popper things you used back in Kalm?”

“Sorry… Used the last of ’em gettin’ yeh outta that mess. All I got left on me’s somethin’ a we bit more destructive than a noise maker. Liable ta bring our little hidey hole down on us, settin’ it off. Best just wait ’em out.”

“Oh, great…” the rookie groaned, and wondered just how long it would take for the levikrons to get bored of their attempts to excavate the pair of Turks. One of the creatures managed to wedge it’s head into the hole, and snapped angrily at the redhead, it’s sharp, hooked beak mere inches away from his head. “Uh… can ya get down there any farther? These things are gettin’ a little too close for comfort…”

He suddenly yelped as the huge bird managed to snatch a few strands of his hair, yanking them painfully out of his scalp. Sato grunted loudly as he attempted to shimmy his way deeper into the fissure.

“Hang on… Think it opens up back here,” he replied. “Just gotta suck it in a wee bit ‘n I think I can – Ahhh!”

At Sato’s unexpected shout, Reno twisted around, turning his attention back on his fellow Turk… only to find that said fellow Turk had vanished.

“Sato?!” he yelled, concerned.

“Not ta worry… I’m alright. Squeeze yerself on in ‘ere, but mind that first step!”

The redhead hurried to duck away from the levikron that was still trying to peck him to death and slithered his way through the narrow opening. As Sato had warned him, the first step once he reached the other side was a doozy, the ground dropping down a good three feet without warning. He carefully eased himself down into the chamber… which he belatedly realized was bathed in a faint, pale green light.

“Well, now…” Sato said softly, looking around. The rookie followed his gaze, jaw dropping slightly as he ignored the angry shrieks from outside.

“Whoa…” Reno breathed. Ahead of them was… something absolutely beautiful. It was like a natural spring had just frozen in place. Faceted, transparent prisms reflected the soft light that emanated from within up onto the walls of the cave. As he drew closer, he realized that what he had at first mistaken for ice was actually crystal. He looked up at Sato. “What is it?”

“Natural mako fountain,” Sato replied, “Those crystals? That’s raw, unprocessed materia right there. Yeh find ’em every once in awhile where there’s a mako source that runs near ta the surface… or when there’s a mako reactor or eight somewhere close by, pullin’ it up from deep down below. Pretty thing, innit? Had a big’un near where me ‘n Saya grew up. Bit ‘o a local tourist attraction.”

Reno reached out for the shimmering crystals… and then remembered the last time he’d fucked around with materia and hesitated. He glanced back at the senior Turk.

“Can I touch it?”

Sato chuckled. “Aye, they dinnae bite. Nothin’ ta worry about.”

Reno’s fingers grazed the surface of the one of the long, gem-like spikes that encircled the core of the fountain. It was warn to the touch.

“So… that’s where materia, ya know… comes from?” he asked, curiously.

“Some of it, aye. As yeh might imagine, natural materia’s pretty rare, though. Most of what yeh see people usin’ actually comes from the reactors, as I understand it. Ends up formin’ inside the reactor cores when the mako gets run through the machinery. Then we go in ‘n harvest it, process it, ‘n either sell it or hand it out ta SOLDIER ‘n the military types that use it.”

Reno was still more than a little curious about the fountain… but before he could ask anything else, a loud rumble came from the opening the two Turks had entered through, and a few seconds later, a cloud of dust burst inward, leaving the pair choking and coughing for several minutes. When it finally settled, the redhead heard Sato swear.

“Those bloody bastards!” he growled as he peered into the fissure. Or, rather, what used to be a fissure. “They bloody well collapsed it!”

The rookie’s eyes widened as realization set in. “W-wait… we’re trapped down here?”

That… didn’t exactly bode well. They had no means of communication. They’d already come quite some distance from where the helicopter had crashed. And on top of that, there was no reason for anyone to even think to look for them underground. Reno swallowed sharply. No one would ever find them.

Sato glanced back at him. “Well… we sure as hell cannae get out the same way we came in…” He squinted into the darkness beyond the mako fountain. “But I wouldnae start ta panic just yet. Looks like this chamber keeps goin’. Think we’re just gonna have ta see where it leads us.”

“… Today just keeps gettin’ better and better,” the redhead deadpanned.

~end chapter 86~