Shinra Complex Tuesday July 23rd, 2002 6:15 A.M. EST
Reno and Elena played poker in the break room; Keena came into the room looking like she had just gotten out of bed. It had been a hard week; Rufus had two marches and a speech that they had to act as guards at. Keena took the coffee pot off of the Mr. Coffee machine. She poured a cup of dark black coffee. She started to put in the cream, but just took some sugar instead. Today was a special day; it was Keena's birthday. She did not seem to be awake quit yet but she would remember what day it was soon. Justin walked in from down the hall with PJ behind him. He came around the small breakfast table where Elena and Reno sat. He looked at Keena as he walked, "Happy Birthday, Kate." He told her. She looked at him as if he was crazy, then she looked at her watch, then quickly set the coffee down and dashed out of the room. "Okay, that made all the sense in the world...happy birthday is a reason to run." PJ said. Justin looked back at PJ as he got a cup of tea, "Just let her be, she's probably tired. She did have a hard week." Justin said as he took a sip of the tea to see how sweet it was. Keena returned to the room and she looked a little more refreshed, her green eyes shone, "Thank you, Justin, you were the first one to remember my Birthday." She took the cup of coffee and began to drink more. She walked towards the door and was about to leave she turned around and said, "I'm going to see Desiree." She said. "Can't do that Captain Kate, she and Jon are on their honey moon for a month." Reno told Keena. Keena came back and plopped down in a chair at the mini-bar. Reno stood up; "Well on the other hand PJ, Justin and John planed a surprise for you." "In that case I better go get dressed," Elena said standing up from the table and pushing her chair in. Reno reached over and grabbed all of her chips and the ones in the pile at the center of the table.
Shinra Complex Tuesday July 23rd, 2002 7:03 A.M. EST
The Turks were outside and loading into the black Suburban that they used for transportation. Most people who saw the huge 2002 model would ask how could they chase down all of their perpetrators in a slow SUV. But this was no ordinary Suburban; it had a racecar motor that was not street legal. It could go well over one hundred fifteen miles per hour. It had bulletproof windows and two guns in the door panels. Justin sat in the front driver's seat; Keena was in the passenger seat. John, Elena and PJ were in the second seat, Reno sat with his legs fully extended across the back seat. His coat was off and slung across the back seat. The truck was started and Justin pulled it out of the parking lot and onto the crowded streets of Houston. "Are you ready to open presents." Reno asked from the back seat. "Okay," she answered. Justin handed her a small CD shaped gift. Keena unwrapped it, "Oh thank you! It's the new N*sync CD!" She held it and showed everyone in the back the cover. Next Reno passed a white box with a blue bow on top. Keena took it in her hands. "Oh I wonder what this is," Keena took off the bow and sat it on the edge of her chair, she opened the box. "This must be from Reno's gift right...a brand new gun." She held it up looked at it. "Thank You." She sat there looking at the gun for a while, "Where are we going?" "Well Rufus sent us on a mission in the Atolls." PJ said from the back. "Those little islands that the nuclear bombs get tested on?" Keena said then she thought for a second, "Aren't nuclear bomb test against the law above ground?" She said. "Yeah, that's why we're going there, India and Pakistan will never learn to stop testing their bombs. The way this is going to work is we'll see the test as special guest." Justin paused, "Then we have to go make sure that none of the people there are this so called Red Spy for Russia to see this new weapon." "So we have to fly from here to California and then from California we have to fly to Hawaii. From Hawaii we have to take a boat to the Atolls." Elena told her. "So it appears that once again Rufus screwed me over and gave everyone the briefing but me." Keena said. "Yeah Kate, but it'll be much more fun after the test then we can come back to Hawaii and spend time there." Justin said.
Airport Honolulu, Hawaii Wednesday, July 24th, 2002 12:10 A.M. EST
"Let's get some food, like a pizza," PJ shouted. "I guess you're right, the boat can't leave without the Turks. We're the reason it's going, we have to check out this Red Spy stuff," Reno said. They stepped from the terminal into the little railed off walkway. The walkway lead to a blue-carpeted area. The weirdest thing about the airport was that the entire place was not closed in on the bottom floor. Birds of all colors flew in and out eating the food left behind by people. The people around that were locals did not seem to notice. Next to the edge of the red railing was a sign that had a no smoking and a no snake symbols on it. Keena and Elena came out of the terminal fast, running to catch the rest. "Will you slow down, I need to go fix my hair in the rest room." She said. The rest of the group stopped and she walked off to the restroom. PJ looked off to the side of the walkway he looked at the signs that lined the airport halls. Right between the Starbucks and New World Books was Papa John's Pizza. PJ licked his lips and walked over to the red, white, and green neon lights. He reached into the pocket of his pants and removed a ten-dollar bill. Slowly he moved over to his destination. He reached the small glass case with the pre-cooked pizzas in it, all cracked and dried. Upon seeing them he shoved his money back down into his pocket, not wanting to embarrass the woman that sold the pizzas. Still moving as he pushed the money down, he bumped the glass case. He was still looking down when he heard a voice say, "May I take your order sir," PJ looked up. "Huh...oh crap. Ah, I wanted to ask you a question, because you see I would have my money out in my hand if I wanted some of your beautiful pizzas." He pulled out a one-dollar bill and pointed to a dried slice of pizza behind the glass near the far end. "Like so, but see I wanted to ask, where is the ladies room?" PJ said only realizing what he had said after word. "Excuse me sir, I hope," said the woman behind the counter. He quickly corrected himself, "I have a friend, and you see she is in the restroom, I'd like to surprise her." "Sir that's public display of affection," she said. "Uh, I mean I want to bring her a...pizza!" He slammed the money on the counter. And snatched up a slice of dried up pepperoni pizza. All of that work to get out buying the pizza and here had walked right into it. What a jip. Keena came back towards the group from the restroom. She came right up in front of PJ, "Want some pizza, Keena?" he asked her almost shoving the slice of aged pizza in her face. "Came from Papa John's" he said trying to convince her to take it. He didn't want it. "No thank you, I've had enough already." She said. PJ held it up higher, "Com'on, put some meat on them bones, girl, even though it's card board." "What was that last part?" she asked. "I said even though your abs are hard as boards...uh...yeah." PJ made up the best thing he could think of. "That's sweet, thank you PJ." She said and walked off to join the rest. PJ spotted a fat man leaning against a column in the middle of the hallway. He snuck up behind the column, there sat a piece of pizza in a small tray like some low budget gas station would have, with a slice of pizza in it. PJ could tell this man need food like anyone needs a hole in his or her head, but he just put the pizza off his tray into the other man's. He stole off back to the rest of the group. Justin stood in the middle of a circle made by the other Turks talking on the phone, "Okay sir...stay one night in town...don't hang out in the city too much...we have a room at Resident's Inn...thank you sir...I remember...don't call you sir...Rufus, thank you." He finished and put the phone away. "Rufus said we need to stay the night here and in the morning report to the base. He also does not want us to be out in the city to do anything. He said eat in the room." "Happy Birthday to me." Keena said. Justin looked at he, there's a car in the parking lot waiting for us, and we only had carry-on luggage. Let's hit it." He said. Resident's Inn Wednesday July 24th, 2002 12:31 A.M. EST
The room was almost like a house. Pots, pans even a dishwasher and full sized refrigerator. A small sink with a bottle of Softsoap next to it was the only thing with spots on it in the room. The rest of the room was clean, spick and span. A green carpet covered all the floor except a three foot area out in front of the refrigerator and sink. A small red couch sat over in the far corner by a large window, a recliner sat at a right angle from it. The TV was aimed at a place between the couch and recliner. Stuck in the small hole between the couch and the wall was a lamp. It had a gold pole and white shade with green trim to match the carpet. The next room, where there was two twin beds, had the same carpet. Between the two small beds there was a wooden table with a Bible and a phone book on it. A little telephone sat next to the two books. A wall separated the bathroom from the beds. The bathroom had two sinks with little facial soaps and hand soaps next to them. There was only one room for all of them, Keena and Elena would sleep in the twin beds. The guys would just bunk in the living area. "I could live here," said John. He walked over to the couch after setting his luggage down. "Well I think I'll turn in early," Keena said. "If any of you need to use the bathroom then you better do it now." "Nothing we haven't seen," Justin said. Reno looked at Keena and then at Justin. "Remember, she has a gun." "I know," Justin said. "You must have a death wish." He dropped back in the recliner and the leg rest popped up underneath him. Keena just walked into the bathroom and closed the door. Elena walked over to the window, she could see gathering clouds at the edge of the sky. She turned the TV on to the Weather Channel, Dr. Neil Frank was on doing his weekly hurricane and typhoon report. He had moved from the Houston station KHOU CBS. There was and image of the Atolls and Hawaii, a large storm was swirling towards the island at an incredible speed. "Isn't that the way we're going?" Elena asked. "Yeah, right into the heart of that storm," John said. "Oh my God, you people are the stupidest things in the world." Reno started, John went to say something, "Thanks brain trust!" Reno said holding his hand up in John's face. "If you were going to detonate a weapon that caused a large wide spread amount of damage what other phenomenon, only natural, could take the blame for the damage...a hurricane." Reno finished. "Typhoon, actually, it's across the line see there." Justin said. Keena came back out of the bathroom and walked to the bed started to get in. She stopped and came out into the main room and hugged everyone. "Which bed do you want Elena?" She asked. "Doesn't matter to me." She replied. "Okay, good night." Keena said going back to the room. Everyone else said it back. Elena went into the bathroom to change. Reno just stayed in the recliner and slept. John took the edge of the couch that was farthest from the TV and went to sleep. The Turks Chapter 2
Resident's Inn Wednesday July 24th , 2002 7:12 A.M. EST
The next morning there was a huge rush to get out the door, Elena and Keena were the first one's dressed. The others were done soon after. They exited the room and headed out to the parking lot. The sky was full of clouds by now and the signs of a typhoon could be seen. Outside as they headed to the car people could be seen boarding their windows up. It really didn't help to think that they were sailing straight into it. The military boat would be so big that there was barley a wave that could over take the craft. They would travel in the USS Enterprise. The seating in the car was the same. Keena and Justin in the front, PJ, John, and Elena in the middle seat, and Reno in the back stretched out across the bench. Keena looked at the angry sky, "I'm not sure that this would be the best place to detonate a bomb, someone could get hurt." She said. Justin patted her back, "It's fine Keena, that boat was made for getting in rough spots, and besides since this new weapon will be more compact than those old bombs like Sawtooth and the Trinity explosion. Those were huge, this blast will have reduced size and maxim power." He turned the car right sharply. The streets of Hawaii were dim and dark with the approaching storm. The warm summer air blew between the palms and through the empty streets. As they passed a small store on the right, they could see the empty selves that had been striped dry by raging islanders trying to get every morsel of survival equipment. The winds were still as if the eye of the storm had already reached the island. The clouds had an eerie green color in them. The car moved down the streets and suddenly rain began to fall from the sky, soft at first and then turning into a hard pounding rain. A sharp turn of the car showed the Turks the first person they had seen in a while. A guard in the booth at Pearl Harbor eyed them as they pulled into the Air Force base. He looked at the black Suburban and it's contents. Keena unbuckled her seat belt and leaned across Justin's lap, she looked out the window and into the face of the guard, he was a sturdy young man. He had green eyes and dusty brown hair. He stood about six feet and was very skinny. In his left hand was a rifle, a twenty two, most likely for show more than war, because of its lack of fire power. "Hi, my name is Keena Marie Caldwell, I'm the Captain of the Turks, tactical squad. We are here to catch the boat to the Atolls, the USS Enterprise, I think that was the ship's name." Keena said trying her best to look serious. "The USS Enterprise is not going to the Atolls, it's course is set for Japan. There is no one going to the Atolls." The guard did not flinch a muscle as he told her about what the ship was doing. Reno leaned to the front between the cloth seats, he looked straight into the face of the guard and said, "We were suppose to go to the Atolls, we've got our clearance and everything." Murmurs of approval rose out of the car as they all agreed on Reno's theory. The guard looked relieved, "So it is you, I have to act like that so that people don't get in here who shouldn't be. I thought you might be from Red Spy. I'm glad your not. Bring the truck in right this way, we've got to get you parked and on the boat. President Rufus Shinra and his wife will be on the Atoll, he brought your clothes and left them here so that we could give them to you now if you' like." He said moving along at a slow pace and directing the Suburban down the small streets. They were directed down narrow roads with all kinds of lines painted on them for many different things. There was a large metal shed next to the crystal clear blue water. The door at the front of the shed was open on both sides, a large gray hull could be seen through the door. "That's the Enterprise," said PJ. "It's huge." "It'll be a while before it leaves. Why don't you go aboard and meet the captain and crew, we're going to drive this truck into the cargo bay, you'll need it." Said the guard. "I'll be going too. My name is Lt. James Irons." Keena got out of the car and the rest of them followed. She stopped as the wind picked up and looked out towards the boat. She seemed dazed. Justin walked over to her. She looked at him, "Do I look like I'm ready to meet a ship's captain and a general?" She asked with her hands behind her back as she skipped from foot to foot in place. Justin kissed her on the forehead and said, "Look fine no matter whatever you wear. Now let's go see what this is all about." They walked off towards the boat, catching up with the rest of the Turks.
The USS Enterprise Wednesday July 24th, 2002 7:56 A.M. EST
The ship was no luxurious cruiser. It had no carpet at all. Most of the floors were a steal vent like-material. All of the people on the ship slept in small cots and metal beds. The walls were a cool gray and anything painted on them such as numbers was in a bright lemon yellow. Every few feet some color was added by a no smoking signs. The hall were thin and colorless, except for the gray and the occasional sign, just like the ones in the base at Junon that had housed the Turks for the six months until the base in Houston was finished. The ship seemed to have never been in a real battle. It was so clean. People talk about there being all kinds of algae on the walls and floors. The dim lights that hung down from the hundreds of pipes that ran through the ceiling were all that lit the rooms. As the Turks moved towards the captain's stateroom they could see the sailors walking up and down the halls in their nautical suits. The came to a door that was wide open, the guard from outside, James, did not seem to stop, he had checked his weapon at the door and now lead them to the stateroom. It wasn't long before they reached the end of the hall that had not so long ago seemed endless. Reno ran up next to Keena, he looked at her and smiled, "Keena, uhhmm...when we get in there can I talk with the Captain first," he asked trying to look as if he really wanted it. "No, why would I. You're just going to screw it up." Keena said. "Well I just don't think this guy would like to talk to a..." Reno said. "...girl, right?" She finished his sentence looking a little upset. "Well Yeah, you know how these old guys that have been in the service a long time are. He might try to trap you in a corner and make you talk yourself into a trap. I know these guys. A man should do this." Reno said trying get his point across. "Oh I get it!" she said with a mock understanding tone. "This is some kind of 'I have a penis, so I can handle people who are high up on the corporate ladder' thing." She said to Reno. PJ had overheard the discussion and decide to but in, he used a stupid joke without thinking, "Ha, ha!" he said, "You have a PENIS!" And then he thought about it and just decided that it was better not to look up. For he already knew as they reached the stateroom door that everyone was looking at him. The steal door swung open with an awkward slowness. It was as if time was slowing down for the moment of truth. This room had more décor than most. An American flag stood in the corner. Keena was the first through, then Justin followed. Elena stepped in and tripped on her shoe laces, almost falling on the floor. The Captain of the ship was a large old man, he stood about six seven, he made Keena, and the rest of the Turks for that matter, feel small. He had a perfect symmetrical hair cut, like it had been measured off with a ruler. His hair was as white as the ocean out here was blue. He had a white mustache on his upper lip. He wore a white uniform with blue trim. He stood at attention behind a small table that had just enough room to seat them all. He walked over, Keena held out her hand for him to shake it, instead he gave her a big hug and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, its just that I had no idea you'd look like my youngest daughter. She's fifteen." He said smiling. "Thank you, sir." Keena answered. He shook the hands of all the Turks in the order they had come in. He then looked doubtfully at his feet, "No, no. You don't have to call me sir. As far as I'm concerned you deserve more credit than I do, you did stop that Ganondorf character a year ago, and you learned to fly the Highwind, you're a Captain yourself." He said looking back up at the end. "But not in the military." She said. The rest of the Turks shifted towards the table. "Ha! You think this is fun, being out here with all of these amateur semen is fun. They don't know their ass from a hole in the ground half the time. I want to be where the real action's at, with the real men. The only reason I have this job is, I had a choice of this or a desk job." The Captain said sadly. He then walked over to the big chair at the end of the table, James, the guard, walked out shutting the door behind him. The Captain gestured to Turks to come sit down. He then spoke quieter than before, yet just as determined. "I think now that I should choose that desk job, with that bomb test and all." He said. "You mean you don't want to see this thing." Elena asked from the end of the table. He looked up at her with sadness in his eyes. "Have you heard of the Bright Anvil test, the high yield weapon that leaves no Nuclear Fallout." He asked everyone nodded no. "The last time it was tested out here no one survived it but six of the hundred who should have. You know two of the six, Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully?" He asked. "Oh yeah those two, very quiet ones." PJ said. The Captain stood up and looked more scared than ever. "Well they'll be at the test, this will be the second time Bright Anvil goes off." PJ and Justin stayed up and watched Blue Streak on HBO.
The Turks Chapter 3
Cargo Bay- USS Enterprise Wednesday July 24th, 2002 1:17 PM EST
The USS Enterprise had left the dock six hours ago and the Turks had gotten the chance to change. They all looked like normal people. The Captain had asked them to meet him in the state room after they had changed. The return to the stateroom had been hard after being moved across to the other side of the ship to get their room. Because of the lack of rooms, the Turks had to share the same room, and this time there was no divisions or walls in the room. They would have to sleep fully dressed. PJ came back with a with a T-shirt that had a picture of Godzilla on it. He had on some blue jeans and was now wearing his contacts. Keena was wearing a long blue skirt and a sky blues sweater. She was still wearing her glasses and now had on that lipstick that wouldn't come off on anything. Justin came out with his green shirt and khaki pants. He wore his dark brown boots. John came out in a pair of Jnco pants, he wore a yellow and black Thor shirt. Reno and Elena stayed in their Turk Uniforms. The six came up to the open stateroom door, the long rectangle table was still there, the Captain sat at the far end of the table Keena sat at the other as she came in. Justin and PJ sat to her sides, Reno was next to Justin, and John was next to PJ. Elena sat next to Reno, which unbalanced the order. The Captain looked down the table, "I see that you are all...refreshed. Now let's get down to business. I think it's time I tell you everything about the Bright Anvil." "Isn't that classified information," Elena asked. The Captain shifted himself uneasily. He then began to speak, less frighten than last night, but just as serious. "As you might know, my name is Captain Grimes. I had a late friend, Captain Ives. He commanded the USS Dallas." Captain Grimes paused. "I've heard of it, the ship sunk because of the rough seas." John said trying to get in on the discussion. Keena began to tap her fingers softly. Justin put his arm around her and she sat there for a second then said, "What did you mean by late, did he die. And if so what does a sunken ship have to Bright Anvil." The Captain shifted uneasily, he sat up right and looked into the eyes of all the Turks in turn. "He was there at the time of the explosion, in the Dallas. He witnessed the explosion of the Bright Anvil." Reno looked at the Captain with a weary eye. "I think it's weird that boat sunk messing with this thing before, and now here we are heading out to do the same crap!" Reno said as he stood up from the table. "You must understand that this has been done, it was analyzed and what went wrong was with the amount of radioactive material in the core and the amount of detonation. The core was unstable, it was not like it was an unknown cause of problems. The core has now been stabilized and is safe enough to set up inside of a small town reactor." The Captain said trying to calm the group. Keena looked at the old man, a man who had said that she reminded him or his daughter, a man who did not like his job. She knew what was best, that she the leader had to take control of Reno no matter how much he was right. She thought what if he is right, the core was tested and all before, what if Captain Ives had told a worried semen the same thing they had been told, 'The core is tested to be stable.' She had no way of knowing it was true. But it was not her job to change the mission status. Then she had it. "Captain Grimes, I think it would be best if we stay down wind from the blast. Could we just stay in an area the winds of the storm is not blowing to. We could be back two or three miles, I was thinking it would keep us well out of the blast radius and well in seeing range." She stated her opinion and then looked both ways as if a car might hit her. Justin looked at her, "That will work." He said. She just smiled. The Captain smiled and said, "Well it's not my call, I was suppose to ask you where to park this ship. And now that you've told me, you may return to your quarters. It will be four more hours before we reach the Atoll, once there we have an hour to get set, hope you brought your rain slickers."
The USS Enterprise Wednesday July 24th, 2002 5:32 PM EST
The ship pulled position and they were suddenly next to a smaller Naval ship, not much smaller. The helicopter on the deck of the Dallas was the mode of transportation between the two. Keena, Justin and PJ had gone over to the other smaller craft. They were going to meet the scientists that built and designed the weapon of mass destruction. The helicopter landed on the large yellow H in the middle of the top deck. The blades slowly stopped spinning and then halted abruptly. Justin hopped out of the 'copter and then took Keena's hand to help her. PJ cart wheeled out of the door and flipped on to the ground, he was a black belt in martial arts. The Turks still wore their 'street clothes' as they walked across the deck a young woman with a long chin and short blonde hair much like Elena's came out of the stair well towards the edge of the helipad. She smiled crookedly. Three people came out behind her, one an old man with long black hair and round glasses. And the last two were old friends of the Turks. Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully emerged from the hole. Fox looked at the Turks with a friendly smile, the two scientist hung back in the wings. "Hello, Justin, Keena, PJ," Mulder shook their hands in turn. Scully just waved, she had always been shyer than her partner. Mulder turned to the two new faces behind him, "Oh I'm sorry, this is Muriel Bremen and Howard Hojo." Another person came from below decks at that time, she did not seem too happy to be on the ship. "And this Infala." At the sound of that name Keena remembered Aeris' training and the thing about her mother being Infala, Hero of the Certa; The One Who stopped Jenova, Crisis from the Sky. Keena fell to the ground holding her head in her hands. Justin and PJ dropped to her side to help her. And Infala came running to her side. Despite the fact of her being balled up on the ground, she could see the face of Infala. She looked just like Aeris, beautiful and most likely smart in many ways. The voices of the planet ran through Keena's mind, the way Aeris said they would one day. They said more crazy things than Justin's brother did after his famous Rum and Vodka Pepsi:
Words of the Planet
Crisis from the sky
Chosen one
Promised Land of the Certa.
Infala was the last image that ran through Keena's head before she passed out from all the stress.
The USS Dallas II Wednesday July 24th, 2002 5:59 PM EST
The boat that they had gone aboard was more like a cruise ship than a Military Vessel. They had all kinds of décor in the halls, little bulletin boards with awards and pictures of recognized sailors on it, birthdays and anniversaries. One such billboard was posted outside of Keena's room. But the people inside were more worried about Keena than anything else at the time. Justin had explained to Infala that Aeris was still alive and that Aeris had helped to teach Keena. Justin held Keena's hand, but the whole time she lay there unconscious. Infala put her hand on Justin's shoulder. "The doctor says she'll be back in time for the blast, although I'm not sure I want to see some destructive weapon go off." Infala said. "At least you have a choice." Justin said. He let go of Keena's hand for the first time. Suddenly Keena's eyes shot open and then she sprung up in the bed. "I've got to talk to Infala," she yelled hysterically. PJ and Justin grabbed her arms and pushed her back on the bed. "Ow!" she screamed. Infala walked over to the bed side as Keen was let got. She stopped and he kind and caring gaze was fixed upon Keena. She smiled wryly and then sat down in one of the chairs next to the bed. She looked at Keena for a second. "So you are one of the many children of the Certa. What was you mother's name? It wouldn't matter, she would have changed her name at least once in a millennia." Infala said. She then looked into the young green eyes, they reminded her of own daughters' eyes. "Now Keena, do you have a picture of your mother?" Infala finally asked. "Yes ma'am, Keena managed weakly. She looked at Justin, "Justin, could you be sweet and get my album out of my back pack, did it come with me?" She said. Justin stooped down and retrieved the book bag. He hefted it up onto the other chair and pulled out a book. He opened the book and inside he saw, pictures of him and Keena at her birthday party. At the one before this last one Link and his friends were there. A picture of Link smacking the Barney Piñata with the Biggron sword. He flipped the page. Desiree and John were at there wedding and once more, John held a pack of Rollos in his hand while sharing the first dance with his new wife. In another page flip Justin came to a picture of Keena's mother and one of all the Turks that had been taken on the Highwind before Rude's death. He handed the book to Infala pointing at the picture of Keena's mother. Infala gasped in surprise or possibly fear. As she stopped she stared at the picture of Keena's mother. She held the album in her young looking hand's (she was over one thousand years old and didn't look a day over twenty) "Keena, you're my niece, Inflata, or whatever she has changed her name to is my twin sister." The Turks Chapter 4
The USS Dallas II Wednesday July 24th, 2002 6:10 PM EST
The name of the ship they had docked with was the Dallas II. It had been christen for this journey and was well equipped to take it this time. Keena had been surprised and by what Infala had just concluded. She sat wide eyed in the bed looking at Infala in disbelief. She then looked down at the sheet that stopped going up at her lap. She kept her head in the same place and then said, "Wow. That's something I would have never guessed, Aeris and I cousins. I guess we were really close back on the Highwind." "She didn't know, not even my husband knew about my sister. Now though after all of these years of searching, I can have a chance to finally settle down." Infala said. PJ stood up out of his chair, "Well now we need to get you outside Keena," He said going into the hall. Justin watched him as he left, "We'll just put you in a wheel chair, the ship's doctor said don't you walk too much until around 7:00 PM." PJ returned with a wheel chair, it had a blue seating area and the frame was shiny metal. Justin and Infala helped Keena out of the bed and got a 'thank you' from her before she reached the chair. She sat gently down in it. "Ready to go?" Infala asked. Keena nodded. Justin took the handles of the chair and pushed it along towards the door and then out down the hall.
The Deck of the USS Dallas II Wednesday July 24th, 2002 6:28 PM EST
The deck was wet and dark black because of the intense rainfall. Keena, Justin and PJ were on the deck looking out across at the Atoll. The water was so rough and the winds were high and wild, whirling with anger. Drops of clear rain fell in waves on the deck and it seemed to be making the ocean swell up and down. Dr. Hojo came out onto the deck with a pair of binoculars in his hands. As the rain came in at a sharp angle his eyes shut quickly. Keena looked over at him and then turned back to the Atoll. Justin looked down at Keena, "Are you cold?" He asked. "No," I'm just not feeling well, that's all." She just kept her eyes on the small lump of rock, the thing that she had heard a scientist refer to as a piece of history in the destroying. Just then Infala came running from the below decks, "They just started the countdown," she yelled. Over the swirl of the wind the words '3...2...1' came out. Then there was a white flash that lit up the sky clear as day. A ball of super hot, nearly molten, fragments of rock and water from the ocean. The white dome caved in on the sides and squeezed into the familiar shape of a mushroom cloud. The cloud floated up into the evening sky. And then it dissipated slowly into the Typhoon. Then something amazing happened. The typhoon seemed to absorb the blast and then there was the sudden movement of clouds as if they were disorganized. A seaman came up to the top of the deck from the covered stairwell. "The bomb has made the storm unstable, the typhoon has began to collapse on itself!" He said. "If that's the case we might just stay here and watch the light show, I think it'd be cool to watch this storm collapse." Justin said. The USS Enterprise Thursday July 25th, 2002 8:15 AM EST
PJ was the last Turk up and he had slept on the same couch with Justin and Keena. The had fallen asleep talking. Word had reached the boat that Aeris, Cloud, Cid and Barret were on the Hawaii Island. And since the Dallas had already moved on, minus Mulder and Scully it was important to get back quickly. PJ hurried up to the deck to find that they had already set sail. The sky was void of clouds and it seemed like the typhoon had never been there. Keena was standing again and she was alone on the other end of the deck in a flowered dress. Justin was with Reno and they were talking about the last days events. PJ moved over to Justin and Reno, he took a chair and pulled it over to them, and put it in so that it made a triangle out of the three of them. "What's up guys." PJ asked. "And what's wrong with Keena?" He looked towards where she was standing on the deck. "We're not sure but I think it's about this whole Certa thing, but Reno has some different news. About him and Elena." Justin stopped talking and looked towards Reno. "Well PJ, I've been a Turk for about fifteen years, but I'm thirty-two now and well." Reno paused and looked at the clear blue sky, he seemed to almost cry. "Sometimes I feel like this job is way out of my league. I look at you guys, all of younger than twenty-three. And such good friends." He stopped again and looked over at Keena, "You've got a great leader there, she'll take this team real far." He looked back to PJ and Justin. "I've made an important decision, I'm going to quit the Turks and take a Shinra desk job and work at the academy." He finished. "Well what about Elena, you mentioned her." Justin said. "Well, while you were gone to the Dallas, I asked her to marry me...she said yes. So when I quit she will to." He waited a while. "I'm going to quit when we get back to the complex in Houston." "But Justin, Keena and I were going to stay in Hawaii for a while." PJ said. "So then we'll head back without you." Reno said, "I'm sticking with my decision, so I am going." Reno got up and walked off the deck down to the room. Justin stood up and walked to the end of the deck where Keena was. He put his arm around Keena's waist and pulled her close, "Hey," he started softly, "Reno just quit, he's going to leave the Turks." Keena spun around looked at him. "For real, Justin!" she said scared. "Is he leaving the Turks all together." Justin looked at her. "Yes, he is going to work at the academy." Justin said. "He's also going to marry, Elena, so she's leaving too, and they'll be gone right when we get back to Hawaii." Keena began to cry, she ran off down to the lower decks and shut the stair well door. Just then PJ came walking over slowly. "So she I take she wasn't to pleased." "I think she has been under a little too much stress, I'll tell you this when we get to Hawaii, we're going to find Desiree and Jon."
Honolulu, Hawaii Thursday July 23rd, 2002 11:04 AM EST
They were once again in the Suburban and on the road, they had found out that Jon and Desiree were at the Marriott West. It was only one and a half miles away. Reno and Elena had gone straight to the Airport and left the island. PJ drove the large SUV through the streets crowded with tourists. They reached the hotel in record time. As they pulled around the corner and they saw the tall tower of a hotel, Jon and Desiree were outside with their bags. They were talking and did not see the car. PJ pulled the car around to the front door and stopped right in front of the two. "Hey, you goin' our way guys?" He asked as he stopped scaring Desiree. "How are we going to get off the island on such short notice?" Jon asked. Keena leaned forward, she seemed to be in better spirits. "Well it might help that we have the Highwind back, Rufus had it bought to Pearl Harbor. Now let's go we're keeping Mulder and Scully waiting. They're on the Highwind, and we still have to find Cloud and the others. We do have Aeris' mother and my Aunt."
The Turks Chapter 5
Pearl Harbor Thursday July 25th, 2002 11:43 AM EST
The gate to Pearl Harbor was guarded by a new guard, from his name tag they could see he was Simon Gates. He seemed to be the kind of soldier that was so serious that he would not breath unless given permission. He had the perfect symmetrical hair cut. PJ was still at the wheel with John, as they drove by PJ stopped next to Simon, "What's up homie, how's it hang'n." Simon didn't even seem to notice, or didn't want to. Keena who was in the back flashed the ID up to the window. Simon nodded. Keena leaned forward, "Go on now." She said. The Suburban drove through the empty base's streets. The ground within the fenced off perimeter was so much cleaner than the land outside. From out of no where Aeris, Cloud, Barret and Cid were in the street. They parked the huge truck to the side of the road way. All of the Turks got out into the street, just as the other group reached them. Handshakes and hugs were passed between the two groups. And then Infala who had been in the truck climbed down from the large vehicle. "Who's that in the car," asked Cloud pointing at the long red dress and pair of boots that hung idly from the door. Keena walked over to Aeris with a huge smile on her face, "Aeris, I've got really good news for you, the woman in the car is your mother! Infala, we just found her while out on a mission!" Keena said about to burst with excitement. Infala dropped her feet back to the ground and walked out from behind the door. Upon seeing Aeris, Infala froze in her tracks. She stared in amazement at her daughter. She just stared as if it was all she could do to take in the fact that this girl looked so much like her. "You look just like your mother," Infala said smiling with her eyes full of tears. "Thank you...mom." Aeris said she had the same look in her eyes. John looked at the two almost doing a double take. "You two look almost the same, it's scary." He said still looking back and forth between the two. "Yeah if you were naked, we couldn't tell the difference. And man, isn't that a nice thought." PJ said the last part too loud as he voiced his opinion. Justin looked at the happy reunion, "Well Keena why don't you tell them the OTHER part of this story." Justin said putting his arm around her. Keena suddenly remembered, "Oh, yeah! Aeris I also found out that you and I are...get this...cousins!" Keena began to skip around chanting 'cousins' over and over. It seemed that everyone was in a cheery mood despite the fact that Reno and Elena had just left the team. The group was ready to leave now and they had the best way they could travel, The Highwind.
The Highwind Airship Thursday July 25th, 2002 12:08 PM EST
The ship was much the same as it was a year ago and now it was less crowded. Keena hardly had to work at flying the ship because of the fact that she was able to tell the ship's computer Alice to do the work. And the biggest modification on the ship was and extra rocket for space travel. The ship had the power to fly up and check on the International Space Station (I.S.S.). Of course they only did it once. Keena was in her chair and was almost ready to launch the ship. Justin and Desiree sat on either side of her. And to Justin's side were PJ and John. Jon was next to Desiree. All of the others were off in the ship somewhere else. Keena looked up towards the ceiling where there had been many wires before, that had now been sealed in by the construction team that had remodeled the ship. They had put up a white painted ceiling made of mud. Keena looked to the microphone, "Alice take us out of here at full speed." She said. "Yes ma'am, Keena, ma'am." The ship's voice said. The Highwind barreled through the skies with speed and agility. The sleek metallic body of the ship could be seen glaring against the sun as it shot across the sky. The Highwind had many large metal panels that reflected the sun's light. The ship had two pointed noses on either side of the large tinted circular window of the ship where it was controlled from. As you moved farther to the back of the ship it widened out into more of a digitized triangular shape. In the middle of that triangle was the famed Mako Cannon that had destroyed the Emerald Weapon. On the back end of the ship were six jet engines and at there middle was a seventh and larger jet. Keena had obtained the ship from Cid Highwind, the pilot from Rocket Town, he was the Captain and owner of the ship, and after he saw how good a pilot she was he gave her control of the Highwind, and besides he had the older model. Tiffane was on the ship, she was an old friend of the remaining Turks and now a real shoe in to take the place of Elena or Reno. But right now she was helping Keena fly the ship, not like it really mattered, most of the work was done by Alice. Tiffane came over to the chair where Keena sat, she knelt down, "So what do you think the chances of me getting the job of Turk are now?" She asked. Keena looked down and smiled, she seemed to had faced this problem before, "Look, it's the same as always...great," she gave her friend a hug. "We need more help like you on this job, and since almost every Top Shinra Executive has combat training and experience, there won't be very much training for you to get in." Keena paused. "When we get to the complex I'll talk to Rufus." Keena said. Tiffane seemed to look more worried than before after that statement, "Whose place would I be taking...if...when I become a Turk?" She asked worried. "You won't replace anyone, once a Turk, ALWAYS a Turk." Keena said smiling again. Cloud came bolting back into the room, "Aeris wants you to drop us off in California so we can visit Tifa, and she's getting married." He said. Justin sat forward, "To whom?" He asked. "Well you may have heard of him, he was once a Turk, his name's Vincent Valentine." Cloud said. "We've heard of him, and I'll be sure to drop you off in Malibu." Keena said. "Alice reroute to Malibu, California." She commanded the ship. "Yes ma'am, Keena." Alice gave back her reply. Tiffane returned to her station and started to work with the computer again to make sure Alice wasn't having any diagnostic problems or anything of the sort. Everything was in working order. It would be 10:00 PM when they reached their first stop, and then from there it was just a little ways to Houston, Texas and the Shinra Complex. It would be nice to get back to their own things and rooms. That tropical adventure had been too much for them to handle any more major missions for a while, but it didn't matter what they wanted, when the time came, they would have to go, and it would always be too soon.
Malibu, California Thursday July 24th, 2002 10:11 PM EST
Cloud, Aeris, Barret, Cid, and Infala climbed down the long ladder to the ground that they had climbed just before fighting Sephiroth the first time. It brought back more memories than they wanted to feel. The fear of the crater. The enemies that had to be faced. The power of the great Sephiroth and his minions.
As they touched ground they sent the ladder back up to the top and from the deck, despite the darkness they could see their old friends waving and shouting down to them. And then as if it had never happened, the Highwind"s boosters powered up and it shot off into the eastern sky.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
12:11 AM EST The Highwind's landing gears were down as it came near the Shinra Complex of Houston. The ship slowly came down in altitude towards the complex. Keena was controlling it manually now to make it easier for the landing so that'd it would be soft. The way the ship landed was almost like that of a helicopter, it sat straight down on the ground out of the sky, thus it didn't need runways, just a small clearing large enough to hold the vessel. When the Highwind got it's clearing on the north side of the complex it landed with fierce speed, jolting its passengers about. The long metal ramp extended from the side door in the hall next to the cockpit. All of the people aboard headed to the door and down the ramp. It was dark out, and the moon was at the western edge of the sky. Summer nights in Texas were muggy and sometimes too hot, but they could not compare to the days. One hundred and two degrees in the shade was not very pleasant. The group stole across the grounds towards the Turk building that stood only a few yards away. A night guard sat sleep at his post, and if Rufus caught him, he would surly get fired and not be able to return to work, Rufus always made sure of that. They reached the door of the building, PJ fumbled with the keys and he pulled them out and pushed them into the door's hole. He turned the key and pulled back on the door it swung open noisily and slammed against the cement wall of the Turk building. All of the girls walked in first followed by the boys, John Elledge was the last one in he shut the door behind him. It was so late that they didn't want to stay up and do anything. It had been a while since any of them had sleep, so it would be a restful night. Keena and Tiffane were going to stay in the same room, Elena and Keena had been in that room before, but all of Elena and Reno's stuff was gone from the Turk building. Justin, PJ and John would share another room, and the last room was for Jon and Desiree. All of the Turks were in bed within fifteen minutes, most of them didn't even say goodnight. It had been a long and travel filled three days for the Turks and now they were about to get three new members for the two they had just lost.
The Shinra Complex-Rufus' Office Friday July 26th, 2002 10:00 AM EST
Keena sat in the big leather chair in front of Rufus Shinra's desk. She was very nervous and afraid that she would not be able to get Tiffane what she promised her. She sat there as Rufus stood at the window behind the desk. The building with his office was the tallest building in the complex, thirty two stories high. She watched as he stood there peaking out the blinds, his eyes squinting as the sun hit them. He held the blinds down with one hand. He pushed back his red-orange hair with the other hand. His office was dim and had royal blue carpet and imperial red wallpaper. The desk was a mahogany that seemed to be polished like metal. The window at the back end of the room left about three feet of wall below it, and four inches on the top and sides. In the corner was a plant with Rufus' dog, Dark Nation next to it. His desk was littered with papers, reports and scientific documents. A picture of Rufus, Scarlett and Dark Nation was on the desk next to the little pencil can. A blue candle was on the other corner. Next to the desk was Rufus' double barrel shotgun. And on the far left wall, Rufus' right, was a picture that Keena remembered. It was the Highwind's crew from the time when they were all fighting Ganon and Sephiroth. They all looked so happy there, before Rude died. Keena had always wondered why she felt more comfortable in this room than any other on the complex, maybe it was the huge gun next to the desk. He turned around slowly and sat in his chair, he then rested his face on his hands, "So, Keena, what do you want to ask me?" He asked. "Uh, Rufus, I think it will be necessary to make up for our loss in Turks. And I would like to ask if Tiffane, my co-pilot can...well join?" She asked. Rufus started to laugh, he laughed so hard he began to hit his hand on the desk and his head rolled back. Then he straighten up real fast pulling his head back up to look at her, "Of course you can, it's you decision. You are the leader of the Turks." He said. She stood up, "Oh thank you Rufus, this means so much to me." She ran out the door and across to the Turk building. As she entered the door she screamed out, "Tiff! Tiff! Rufus just told me that he would let you have the job, so now you're a Turk!" Keena told her. The Tiffane and Keena were so happy they started to dance around. Justin and PJ were congratulating Tiffane. John, Desiree and Jon were still sleep. They were eating breakfast that had been ordered from the local Burger King. Justin had a croissant with bacon, egg, and cheese. He had finished half the sandwich. Keena wasn't hungry, she was more interested in the good news about Tiffane. PJ had eaten his sandwich real fast and didn't waist time doing it. Keena and Tiffane sat there talking about old times and things about their friendship. Justin finished his sandwich and tossed the wrapper in the trash from across the room. He stood up, hugged Keena and Tiffane. He walked out the door and waved his goodbyes to the group of three sitting at the table. He walked out to his own car, the 2002 model of Z3 Convertible, It was a sky blue color and had the top down since there wasn't much of a chance of rain. He sat in the car and put in the small key, slowly he turned it and the car started with a beautiful soft engine hum. He put his foot on the break and moved the car into gear. He shifted into first gear and backed out of the spot. He made a U-turn making sure not to hit Keena's blue Corvette. He just barely missed her car. He shifted into second and drove towards the front gate. He drove down the street with the top still down. He had to get to Fannin Street and the flower shop. He drove speedily and got on the Pierce Elevated. He took the curves fast, since the freeway was now empty. He took the Fannin exit and already he could see all the flower shops down below. He turned into the one with the thorn less roses hanging down from the ceiling of the outdoor porch. He stopped the car in the parking lot next to a small flower container. He opened the door and stepped out of the car and walked over to a little Hispanic man with a tuxedo on near the cash register. Justin walked over to him. "Hello, sir." Justin said. "Oh," he said in deep voice. "You're Justin Caynon, the Turk." He said. "It's an honor to meet you, where's PJ, Keena, John, Reno and Elena?" He said. "Well, Reno and Elena quit." Justin paused after that statement, he still couldn't believe that a man like Reno wouldn't die as a Turk...when he was ninety three! "Well," Justin started and looked at his name tag, "Samuel, I need some roses about two bouquets, six roses in each, no card." He said. The man reached behind the counter and picked up the bouquets, he had made them already. Justin took the flowers and held them gently in his hands. He paid Samuel with two twenty dollar bills and said goodbye, getting a bye in return. He walked back to the Z3 and opened the door with his free hand. He sat back down inside and drove off out of the parking lot, he had to get to the complex before lunchtime.
The Shinra Complex Friday July 26th, 2002 10:37 AM EST
Justin came back in the door with the roses, "Congratulations you two for all the hard work." He said to Keena and Tiffane. He handed them each a bouquet. Keena looked real upset like she was about to cry, "Justin,' she started, "We've got a huge problem, I've just been informed that Chris Ivey and his pals have taken a jet hostage, and they want us to come up and fight them or they'll blow it to pieces." She said. Justin quickly put the flowers in some water and ran to his room to get his gun, "Keena do you want me to drive?" he asked. She looked up from the sink where she was putting the pieces of her gun back together. "Let's let Tiffane drive," she said. "Where's Desiree?" Tiffane asked. "She's in the ship with the others, com'on let's hurry!" Keena said running to the door and opening it. Justin caught the door and let the two girls out of the door and then followed them out. They hurried across the parade grounds and towards the Highwind. As they reached the ship they could see the ramp coming down. As it reached the ground the three walked up the graded metal surface. A metallic clang was the only sound they could hear as they reached the top of the ramp they opened the door. PJ was at the Coca Cola machine that had always given Cid trouble, except that he wasn't cursing like Cid had. Keena ran past him as she shouted out to the ship, "Alice, prepare for takeoff start the countdown at ten and don't worry about me not being in the cockpit, you just go solo." She said quickly. The mechanical hum of the Highwind's engine was the loudest sound after Alice got the ship going. All of the crew could feel the lift of the ship as it took off. Justin had stopped to help PJ with the machine, Keena turned back to look at them, she yelled above the hum "Kick the bottom right corner of the machine, and don't put in any more money." She kept walking towards the cockpit and soon turned down the hall until PJ and Justin could not see her. PJ did as she said and kicked the bottom right corner of the machine and a Coke fell into the black tray at the bottom. The Highwind jolted forward and suddenly shot off towards the en route plane. Reports had come in that the plane was above Dallas, it would be an hour to get there if they really pushed the envelope, Keena was good at making the ship get to it's destination fast.
The Highwind Airship Friday July 26th, 2002 11:23 AM EST
The ship was once again on its way, the intercept course was the best way to catch the captured plane, then Keena had spotted the plane on radar, it had turned back towards New York, it was clear that they wanted to fight in the place where the first fight had taken place. The radio in the Highwind came on with a voice Keena did not want to hear came over the radio, it belonged to Chris Ivey. "Well, well, the world famous Turks have come to save the day, but we wanted you to be here to see the real show, you see we did not want a fight, you're stronger in number than us, so instead we'll just blow the plane up!" He said. Desiree nearly passed out from fear, "All those people!" She screamed. She ran to the radio and picked it up. Keena and Tiffane were right at her side in seconds. "What do you want Chris?" Keena asked. "Money!" Suggested Tiffane. "A private plane, and safe escape route!" She gave out after Tiffane's statement. The voice came back over the radio and was sharp and unforgiving, "None of those is what I want...Keena took what I want...and since she can't give it back, I'll just kill all these people and then maybe I... feel like killing some more." Desiree slammed the radio down and ran over to the controls, maybe if she could get close to the plane maybe they could save the people. The plane was a large 757 jet, yet it was still smaller than the titanic Highwind. It was an American Airlines plane, the reports said it had come out of Houston, although it could not have come from Hobby it had to come from Bush Intercontinental. The Highwind had almost reached the plane when Justin ran to the control panel and looked at a flashing red light, he turned to Desiree, "Turn the ship back we can't save those people, it's too late!" She just looked at him, "Do it!" He told her. She stayed on a steady course and Justin ran over and pulled the joystick to a sharp right, but it was too late. A missile shot from somewhere on the jet liner it barely missed the Highwind and detonated in mid-air. Then the plane just blew up from the middle out. The Highwind's crew stared horrified at the morbid scene as the plane was blown up with no chance of survivors. Jon came over and held Desiree, but before anything could be done to comfort Keena, she ran off down the hall to the room she slept and shut the metal door, with a clang it locked. Justin took off after her, when he reached the door he could hear her crying, but couldn't get her to respond to him. PJ and John went out to the deck and sat on in the chairs that had been put out there only a month before by construction crews. The sun was still bright and the weather was rather fair for the end of July. But none of that mattered because of all the deaths they had just caused. PJ looked at John, "How do you think Justin knew that there was a bomb on the jet?" he said. "I don't think he did," John said, "I think he saw the target light and saw that we were being locked onto by a missile launcher, he must have seen the light." Just then from under the deck came the words, "Oh shit!" in a small voice. "Who repainted this damn ship, now it's all slippery and...damn I almost fell again." Came the voice. PJ hung over the edge and looked down but saw nothing, he yelled out to see if there was an answer, "Who is it? Who are you down there?" He yelled. "Ah, what's it to you!" came back the small voice. "Kirby is that you!?" PJ asked. "Prentiss Walker Junior, you can't be serious." A small pink puff ball came flapping his stubs around the curve on the bottom of the deck. He landed right next to PJ and started to tell him what had happened. "I was on that plane, when I tried to get out the door and warn you I was too late, the plane exploded before I could reach you, I knew yo would not pick me up on radar, I was down too low and too small. But the explosion knocked me into the bottom of the deck and I tried to climb up." He said. John walked over, "Well now Keena feels solely responsible for all this, she thinks just because she gave the order it's her fault." John said. "Let me talk to her, she always told me I was real cute!" He said as he started to flap his arms and flew around to her open window. When he flew in she was in the bed crying on the pillow, Tiffane and Justin were on either side of the bed rubbing her back and comforting her. Keena's white cat, Mitts, stood on her back with her tail straight up in the air. He landed right down in front of the window and then walked over to the bed, "Hey Justin!" came Kirby's voice. Everyone in the room turned around. Keena lifted her tear stained head and looked at the small pink puff that stood on the floor, she abruptly sat up. "Kirby!" she said trying to figure out where her small friend had come from, then she spotted the open window. He hopped up into her arms and she hugged him. "I told you when we finished off Sephiroth I'd see you again Keena, you're one of my best friends, you're the only one who would listen to me when I was here last time." Said Kirby. "Why don't we go to see your mom, Keena. I'm sure you would feel better then." Justin said.
Charlene's (Keena's mom) House Friday July 26th, 2002 3:06 PM EST
Keena's mom had planted some flowers in front of the short red brick house. Keena walked up to the oak door, she had hidden her gun under her skirt. Her mom was always worried about her carrying it. Keena rang the bell. Her mom yelled from somewhere in the back of the house, "Just a minute." "Mom, it's me, Keena!" She called out to her mom. The door swung open and Keena's mom stood there holding the knob. "Hello, honey, wow this is the second time this week I've seen you!" She said to Keena. "Where are the rest of the Turks?" She asked. "Up on the Highwind, they are trying to get it settled in. But I have a question to ask you mom...or should I say Inflata!" "What did you say, sweetie." Keena's mom. "Mom, your name is not Charlene, that explains my powers. You're Infala's sister, mom, making me and Aeris cousins." Keena said. "Honey, I should have told you, but it would have made it much harder for you to make friends." Keena's mom said. "Mom, I found your sister, she is coming to see you tomorrow along with your niece, Aeris." Keena said. Her mom threw her arms around Keena and held her tight, "Do you really mean it!?" She said. "Yes mom," the rest of the Turks came up behind Keena with Kirby close behind. Keena's mom hugged them all and said hello to everyone, "Mom we need a place to crash for the night". She invited them inside, but stopped Keena and Justin at the door. "Do you have any guns on you right now...Justin open the coat!" He did so and did not have any. Keena's mom assumed that Keena did not have any guns since she could see that there were no guns in plain sight. "Where's your pistol?" Justin whispered to Keena. "I put it under my skirt, it worked didn't it, Justin." She said as they walked in the door.
Charlene's House Saturday July 27th, 2002 12:06 AM EST
A dark figure crept down the halls of the house, it moved from room to room and past an orange night light, the figure then headed to the kitchen which was up ahead. It quickly stepped into the kitchen and flipped on the light. It was John, and he needed food fast. But as he entered the kitchen he heard a loud door slam. John turned to see who it was entering in the door behind him. As he turned he saw Tiffane who was carrying a bag of clothes through the door and into the kitchen. "Hey Tiffane." John said as he saw her entering, she jumped with fear. "Don't do that, John." Said Tiffane with her hand over her heart as she breath heavily. She sat down the bag of clothes and sat at the table, John went over to the ice box and pulled out batch of cookies, there was a note on top:
Since you're all Keena's friends help yourselves.
Love Charlene
"Ahwww, that's sweet, and so are these," John said taking a bite out of the cookies. "Mm, this is heaven." John said Tiffane walked over and snatched the platter from him, " Save some for the others, glutton!" She said. Just then the light in the living room came on, Keena, Justin, and Desiree were coming across the carpet. "Umm! Cookies!" Keena reached in and took out one. PJ came running from the back of the hall and went to get his treat, "Did someone say cookies?!" PJ asked as he entered the kitchen. Keena held the plate out for him. He picked up one of the cookies. All of the Turks stood or sat in the kitchen and ate their cookies. John looked back at the people with their mouths full, "We need milk." He said with cookie fragments shooting from his mouth. All of the Turks sat down as John passed out glasses and poured milk in them. He got a chorus of thank yous as he poured the milk. Justin looked across at Tiffane, "So are you excited about meeting Keena's Aunt Infala, she is real nice." Justin said to her. "I'm ecstatic!" She said.
Charlene's House Saturday July 27th, 2002 7:09 AM EST
All the Turks had been listening to the stories of Infala, Aeris, and Keena's mom. The stuff about the Certa was pretty interesting. Cloud, Cid, and Barret were on the Highwind asleep. Keena cut her mother off, "Mom, I know you have a lot of stories to tell about many neat and fun things, but I think that it would be nice to know about the Planet of Life and Lifestream?" "I'll try honey, but it was so long ago when I heard it last," Keena's mom started out. "Well, let's see. When a person dies, their spirit goes to heaven, but heaven is not in the sky, it's below the surface. When they go down there, depending on how good they have been they may be destroyed in the spirit world or stay there and do the work of keeping the Planet alive. You see without the spirits, or Lifestream, the Planet would seize to exist." She paused for a second, "JENOVA was and evil being that came from the sky and wanted to drain the Lifestream. Infala over here, used a super strong Stop Time spell to freeze JENOVA for one thousand years. She had to do it because the Lifestream is needed to heal the Planet. On the part of this Earth where the Great Northern Crater is located is the greatest wound on the Planet's surface...the Lifestream is still needed to heal this spot. But when Sephiroth attacked he used the Ultimate Destructive Magic known as Meteor." She paused. Tiffane piped up, "What is this...Meteor." She asked. "It was a huge spatial Asteroid that has the power to drain a planet's life energy. It help caused the Planet's great wound." Infala said. "So we need to help the Planet heal its wound...but how?" Keena said. Infala looked up at her, "That is the reason we talk to the Planet."
The Turks Chapter 6
Charlene's House Saturday July 27th, 2002 7:14 AM EST
A wave of confused faces swept across the group of Turks as the words left her mouth. Speak to the Planet? What was the meaning of all this? And was there any way that people not of the Certa mindset could understand it? Keena shifted her weight towards the couch arm as Justin looked at her to see if she had the slightest idea to the answer. She gave him a look of reassurance that she did not and he turned back to the two twins for the answer. PJ and John did not understand a lot about the Certa. How had they not read the minds of JENOVA? And since Keena had the power to read minds had she done it to them yet? There was stuff in there they could not afford to let out, many deep secrets that would be let loose without them even knowing it. Tiffane and Desiree seemed excited that they had a friend with powers only dreamed about by others, powers men would kill for. They sat smiling waiting for the next set of information came out, whether it was a power or something she could avoid or an advantage she had over others. Jon had not had time to make an opinion on the subject, he fell asleep right after the story had started. As long as Desiree was happy he felt fine. He was stretched out between Desiree, who was on the edge, and Tiffane who was next to Justin. Keena was the first one to address the new term, "Mother, how do we speak with the Planet?" She asked shrugging her shoulders as she did in the 'I don't know' motion. Charlene looked at her and smiled, she thought about how long ago it was when she asked that same question. "Keena, have you ever heard the words in your sleep, voices you could not understand the language of but how suddenly the meaning came to you, as if it was in your gene code, like you were bread to receive the messages?" She asked. Keena nodded with an all too knowing look on her face. "Those, Keena are the voices of the Planet. Words which will become more important in a short while than any words you have ever truly heard or spoke, for now that is. But not to long from now, four more words will become very important." Keena seemed more confused than ever, "What are those words, the four you mean?" She sat there, all of the other Turks were silent, no one made a move to answer. Just then a tingling feeling under Tiffane's jacket called her to attention, she jumped up, "I feel the Planet's voice, that means humans can hear it!" She said, everyone looked at her, she reached in her jacket, "Oh wait! It's the cell phone." She picked it up and there was an immediate look of seriousness on her face. Her eyes widened in fear or surprise as she continued to say "Yes Rufus." She hung the phone up and slipped it into her coat pocket. Justin looked at her, "What is it?" He asked, he could see the worry on her face. Justin had always been good at that, seeing how people were feeling just by their expressions. "A mad man got a hold of the Mako Canon in Houston, we are needed to stop him, They think he's from Red Spy." She said All of the Turks grabbed up their coats. Keena tighten her tie, John and PJ tried to get as much of the cookies from the kitchen before launch time. Keena walked over and hugged her mother. "I'll see you sometime next week Mom." She received a kiss on the cheek. Justin, Tiffane, John, Desiree and PJ all went to get their hugs in turn. Jon was wakened, and right away they rushed out the door of the house hollering back the goodbyes and thank yous that were deserved by the kind hostess. The sun was just above the trees as they ran over to the ladder hanging from the Highwind. The Turk men stood to the side of the ladder letting Tiffane, Keena, and Desiree go first. Up, up, up the ladder they all climbed, and onto the wooden planks of the deck. They all dusted off and headed inside of the huge Airship.
The Big Brother Mako Canon Station Houston Saturday July 27th, 2002 7:54 AM EST
The Mako Canon was the most destructive weapon able to be housed in a city. The station that it was at was against the Transco Tower, it faced to the south but the ammo it fired could be controlled by a remote. The way the canon station looked reminded them of the USS Enterprise because of the way the floors were made out of a steel vent like material. The walls were bare except a few scattered no smoking signs. There was dim lights dangling from the ceiling and the walls were covered by computers and systems for the big canon. Where the walls weren't covered by computers they had metal paneling, some with lose and faulty screws. The canon itself was as long as a football field and as wide as a school bus. It had a range of about from Houston to Cuba. The Turks had come to this place often and this time it was for a much more serious reason. Normally they come to this station to see Sarah Rouser~Morris, she is the secretary for Rufus. As the Turks climbed the endless stairs of the station. As John Elledge came up the last flight of stairs he ran into a woman with glossy brown hair and a lightly freckled face. She was a little shorter than Keena but a little taller than Aeris. She had on a khaki skirt that stopped seven inches above the tops of her shoes. Her shirt was an under shirt as if she had been working long hours. In her arms were some files that she had been carrying and dropped on when she was bumped. She sat on the floor with papers strewn about her and file folders everywhere. John had just been knocked back and had to catch himself. He stood went to help her up, she just hopped to her feet. Instantly Desiree, Tiffane and Keena knew who it was. "Sarah Rouser!" Said Desiree surprised to see her old friend. "Hello, I was expecting to see you here, but now I have to get out of here. Can we talk after the problem is stopped?" Sarah said. "Yeah but where do we go to get this fixed at, and what's the fastest path." Said Kirby waving his puffy arms. Sarah kicked a wall panel at the top of the steps, the square of metal fell from the wall with a metallic clang and hit upon the floor. "This is the way that you'll need to head to get out to the manual controls. The guy out there has shut down the controls here, so now we have no control over the canon, please hurry." Sarah grabbed up the last of the papers and pushed them back into the file. She ran down the stairs and into the door on the left. PJ looked at the hole that was about three feet wide and four feet tall and then at the girls, "Ladies first." He said gesturing to the hole. * * * * * * * * * * * * The end to the dank tunnel could be seen up ahead. It was identified by the golden sunlight pouring through. The Turks reached it. They seemed to had all bumped their heads in the tunnel, because of his shortness Kirby had no problems getting through. The air was thick with a smoggy smoke-like steam. There was more of the same vent like floor on the end of the roof near the canon. Pipes and wires hung down and ran into the canon back end. Lights and alarms were covering the wall that ended were the steel vent flooring began. Justin helped Keena and John climb from the duct. Keena dusted herself off and kneeled down, she reached into the slit of her skirt and pulled out the nine millimeter Beretta. She stepped into the light as she pushed in a full clip and cocked back the hammer. Justin and John drew weapons, both larger guns. Justin had the double barrel shotgun, John had the sawed off shotgun. Tiffane and Desiree stepped in behind everyone else as they stood on top of the wider back of the canon. A sinister laugh, like the mocking crow of a raven, came from somewhere past a cloud of steam, and a dark figure stood in the smoke. The man stepped forward and they could see who it was, a man they knew from earlier. It was Howard Hojo! The man spoke to them in an accent like a German professor, "Well, this is a pleasant surprise, the Shinra never know when to leave one alone, and now I shall have to destroy a Cuban city. Not like I didn't plan it before." He said. Desiree looked at him why would you do that?" She asked. "Because, I designed the ultimate weapon, a bomb with no nuclear fall out, and it'll probably never be used in my life time, unless I start a war. So when they retaliate we have a reason to use the Bright Anvil." He held up a remote, "When I push this, it will be the beginning of the end of the Electronic Age and the rebirth of Nuclear Age." Justin aimed the gun along with John, "Drop the remote!" He said. "Sure." said Hojo. He dropped the remote and stepped on it, then just as all of the Turks fired he ran, barely escaping the bullets as the canon began to move. Hojo jumped off the edge of the canon and pulled a long cord hanging from his lab coat. A parachute opened and he steered himself to get under the side of the canon before his chute was shot. "We've got to stop the canon!" Said Tiffane. But it was too late, a swirl of blue energy swarmed around the business end of the canon. A powerful beam shot out of the canon and headed south-east towards Cabaña, Cuba. The group of friends stood watching the continuous beam headed towards the only it could. The path to war. The Turks Chapter 7
The Big Brother Mako Canon Station Houston, TX. Saturday July 27th, 2002 8:11 AM EST
The loud noise and the force knocked Keena off her feet, Justin went to help her. "Are you okay?" Justin asked. The rest of the Turks gathered around to check on their fallen friend. "I'm fine, really Justin. But what about those people in Cuba?" She said. "I really don't care right now, I'm more worried about you, honey." He told her helping her up and to her feet. She kissed him on the cheek in return and walked over to find her lost weapon. She retrieved it off the vent like ground and moved to the opening through whence they came. John looked over the edge of the building to see if Hojo had escaped to the ground, he could not see since they were so high off the ground. He turned back to the rest, "Well, Hojo got away, that's for good." He said looking wearily at the shotgun in his hand. Keena walked over to the edge, but to the opposite side of the canon. She looked over the edge at the streets below. She turned back with a sad look on her face, Desiree and Tiffane ran over to give her a hug the rest followed, they were all in bad spirits. "Don't cry Keena," Desiree began. "But we failed, it was our job to stop them and now we failed!" She began to cry even more. "You, didn't fail, and we haven't failed yet. Let's try to stop this war before it gets started." Justin said. Keena walked back to the vent her feet clanging on the metal. All of the Turks followed as they climbed down into the hole and headed towards the station. They would have to get to the complex before it was too late, there was no way to stop the shot from reaching the Cuban capital. As they exited the hall through the other side, they noticed that the people in the hall were waiting for them. They avoided the people and headed down the flights of stairs towards the Highwind. The cement steps were slippery and almost seemed wet as they got close to the bottom, soon they were at the ground floor and heading to the hovering Highwind. They started the long and drawn out climb up the steps wooden planked ladder. As they reached the top they got off and walked into the inner chamber of the Airship. They all took their places on the Highwind and automatically Alice started the ship. The fumes of smoke from the ship's rockets poured into the ship from the outside. The ladder lifted into the air and was reeled back to the deck.
The Shinra Complex Saturday July 27th, 2002 9:47 AM EST
The meeting room of the complex was still dark as the first time this week Keena had come in. But now Justin, Keena, PJ and Desiree came in without the rest. They sat along the wall in this order: PJ, Justin, Keena and Desiree. The chairs along the wall were made of leather and were as smooth as a baby's bottom. The group was waiting to talk to Rufus, not in the waiting room, but in his office. Justin leaned over to Keena and whispered in her ear, "I love you." He said. Just as he finished speaking to her the door swung open. A tall man stepped in with flaming orange hair and a shotgun in his right hand. His eyes were as orange as his hair. He wore a white duster and had on a white suit. His face was cold and hard with no lines of age or any kind of scars. The story on Rufus was a very long and odd one. He had never once since the age of three showed a bit of fear or cried. His eyes were almost always a blank slate showing no emotion. He showed mostly anger, unless it came to one subject, the only thing that made him happy: Scarlett. A year ago when she was captured he became a broken man and went into a state of extreme rage. Now it seemed all to odd that he was in the same state. Scarlett was safe. He was only truly happy when he was with Scarlett and when she was in danger, it had become all too apparent that he would become a raging beast bent on retrieving her. Rufus slammed the door and looked at the Turks to the right. He seemed madder than they had seen him in a year. He threw his gun at the wall and it bounced off causing a small dent to appear. The gun fell to the floor and a shell spilt out, broken. The furious man walked over to his desk in the middle of the room, a Turk wouldn't dare say a thing at this time, it was a time when the President of Shinra might have to be fought off at any time. Rufus picked up his computer monitor, the cords ripped straight out the back without harming the CPU tower. Sparks came out of the cords and danced across the carpeted floor. He carried the monitor over to the huge window behind his desk that he had stood at when Keena came in before. He hefted the monitor higher and with a sigh of anger he force the monitor through the window. The sound of breaking glass was the resulting sound. The monitor went through carrying half of the window's glass with it. He turned to the Turks, "So what do you want," he said calmly. He looked back to the window. "You did want to see me right." "Yes." Said Jon. "We wanted to ask about Cuba, did the Mako canon hit?" PJ asked. Rufus looked at them, "Well, it destroyed the capital and now someone has taken all the workers in the New York who worked at the Mako Canon there. We need you to get to New York and stop the Red Spy operatives." Rufus said. "We will sir." Keena said. "And one more thing, don't call me sir," he said looking slightly upset. As the Turks walked out they could hear Rufus hit the button on the telephone and called Sarah, who was still at the Mako Station, but she had her radio. "Sarah, send someone down to fix this fucking window, those damn birds broke it again, flew straight in here, but I shot em'." He said. As the group shut the door behind him. The muffled sound of the phone being slammed down was the last thing they heard before exiting.
New York City Mako Station Saturday July 27th, 2002 12:16 PM EST The Mako Station of the Big Apple was much nicer than the one in Houston. The floors were carpeted and the walls had pictures of presidents and celebrities that had visited the huge weapon. The Turks had only gained access to the top floors. They had to break in because of the hostage situation. They came into the hall weapons drawn, with silencers on and at ready. Justin and Jon lead the way. A man in black stepped into the hall with a M-16 machine gun gripped in his hands. The man had his face covered with a ski mask and had not fully prepared for the Turks. He started to load his weapon, but a shot from Tiffane at the back and Kirby who was near the middle. One shot landed right in his chest and knocked the man off his feet. Another guard came running, he wore the same attire. The second guard had already loaded his gun and right as he aimed it, a throwing knife hit him in the neck killing him instantly. As the rest of the Turks looked back to see who had thrown the knife they saw John holding three more just like it. John walked forward and pulled the knife from his neck, "Damn, that was good. I hit his neck and the blood gushed and it was like SPLASH!!" John said laughing. Keena looked up sicken by the sight, "I have no idea why ladies like us hang around guys like you, you make me sick." Kirby stepped to the turn in the hall, "There's a camera down here, we'll need to take it out to move on." He said. Keena, who was an expert with her gun, stepped forward with the silencer on and shot. The small explosion and the sound of glass clattering down on the floor assured them that she had hit her mark. She turned back to the guys behind her, "Welcome to my world!" She said.
The Turks Chapter 8
New York City Mako Station Saturday July 27th, 2002 12:23 PM EST
The team moved stealthily into the heart of the Mako Station, past the well furnished break rooms that seemed to belong more in a house, rather than a military installment. They ran past a room where food sat on the table and they all glanced momentarily at the food all laid out and luscious meats and diary, fruits and grains. They had not had food since being at Keena's mother's. They kept moving, it was not an unusual thing to go without food for a day or more in the Turks, they had all learned to cope with this fact of their lives. They moved slowly down the halls and did not see a soul, perhaps the Red Spy terrorist group did not have many people in it, but if that was so who was the leader of the infamous group? And what was their reason for wanting a war with nuclear weapons? It really made no sense, the way things were going in this war. A small spider web proved to be the first obstacle in the way of the Turks. Justin swept it down with a swat of his shotgun and they trudged on into the heart of the station. One more huge difference in the Mako station they were in before and this one: the size. The Mako Station of Houston Texas was dwarf in size compared to the station of New York. Even the canon was twice as long, and had a range of about from the current spot all the way around the world to hit itself again in the back! It was aimed at the nearby ocean and located on Long Island. Desiree and Jon were bringing up the back of the line and she really had no need to use her gun, they were so far back. In front of her was Tiffane with her revolver at ready, but with the chamber hanging to the side so that there was absolutely no way it could fire or hurt anyone at all. In the front of her was Kirby, he just held his machine gun and walked along being very cautious not to step on any thing that might make noise. Next in line were John and PJ, they talked and played as if they were just out to have fun. Keena and Justin who were up front took the job serious and were not about stop focusing on the task at hand. Keena used her hand to smooth her shiny brown hair down, a small wind had began to blow through the halls. She looked at Justin, "I don't like the feel of that." Keena said looking about wearily. Justin put his arm around her, and they looked straight at her as they all kept walking. "I trust your Certa powers and all, but that's just paranoia, every thing will be fine, honey." She looked at him and started to crack a smile. Suddenly at the end of the hall there was the sound of laughing and then the sound of a door opening and a few second later it slammed. All of the Turks froze and stared down the hall to see what the next task they would face would be. As they continued into danger a putrid smell came flowing down the hall and wafted past them all. All of the group grabbed their noses and held them tight despite the fact that they should be trying to figure out what caused the smell. The smell was like every dead skunk on the Texas highway had been piled in a big pit of liquid methane and baked in the hottest summer sun. As they moved even closer, despite smell, they a huge purple tentacle reaching past the corner, Keena fell to her knees holding her head between her hands, she was having yet another vision. Justin stopped at once to help her up. After about fifteens seconds of the vision she stood and looked at the purple tentacle that flailed around like a dead and spasm having snake. She did not turn around as she said, "That is Jenova, the one my mother spoke of." She pointed at the tentacle. Justin loaded the gun and stepped up past her, "Does it know we're here?" He asked. Keena nodded, "I'm sure of it!" She said still staring at the huge monster. The some movement came when the huge beast, the Crisis from the Sky, slithered around the corner. The thing had about three tentacles on it's base, she had no legs just a flat bottom kind of like a skirt from the waist down. Another tentacles right below her left arm. The left arm had a huge hand coming off of it, about three feet wide and four long. The right arm had no hand at all, just a gelatinous stub. Both arms were covered in about fourteen boils. The head had a face that was more beautiful than the rest of the body. The head had smooth skin and beautiful green eyes, just like Keena's and Aeris'. Jenova had soft cheeks and turquoise hair. She had on lipstick that was rose red and stood about ten feet tall. Justin looked at PJ, "Let's get in there first, I don't want the girls getting hurt." He said. "Oh it's 'cause I'm short, isn't it." PJ waving his finger angrily. "PJ, I am not making fun of your size, just do it, ya' opium whore!" He said moving up in front of Keena. He turned to her, "Keena stay at the back with Tiffane and Desiree, let us handle this, babe." He aimed the gun at her head and took the shot. The bullets sailed through the air from the double barreled gun, cutting through the wind and all the air. It met its mark taking off the head of the fiend. A complete take off leaving the neck clean. For a second the head sat on the floor and the body just stood perfectly still. Then the neck started to stretch and grow out. Keena yelled to Justin while grabbing his hand from behind, "Let's go, the head's growing back, but we can get out of here now!" All of the Turks ran past the evil being and through the door that the foe had come. As they entered the control room of the station they could smell the death in the air. They walked into the room and there was blood on the monitor screen of one of the computers. A man on the floor lay dead next to the rotating office chair. This control room looked much like the Highwind's cockpit, it had the same metal vent floor. All kinds of lights and computer equipment were on the walls of the room. Key boards and mice decorated the desks in front of the monitors, some of the equipment covered in blood. Desiree pulled out the pocket inferred scanner and aimed it around the room, "Only the eight of us. These people are all dead." She said. Keena pulled out a two way radio, "Alice, bring the ship around to the west side top window where the control room is." Just after she was done the Highwind came flying up to the window with the deck at just the right level for them to climb on.
The Highwind Airship Saturday July 27th, 2002 1:06 PM EST
The airship cruised above the ground headed for Houston once more. Keena and Justin sat out on the deck talking, PJ and John played a game of poker at one of the tables on the deck. Desiree and Tiffane watched the ship, and Jon and Kirby slept in the break room. Keena looked at Justin and then back at John and PJ. "Do you think it will ever be over?" She asked out of the blue, the conversation previous to those words had been over their plans for the future. Justin looked back at her in wonder, "Will what ever be over?" He asked putting his arm around her. She stepped up the rail. "All of this war, the killing...I mean is that all that the Turks are good for?" She asked looking down at the small countryside and little rural roads below. Justin held her closer, "If it wasn't for the Turks, we'd all be off somewhere else. None of us would be this close." He said. She pushed some hair out of her face, "I guess your right," she said with a sigh. Justin leaned over and smelt her hair, "You know, your hair still smells like peaches, Keena." He said smiling. She smiled too, "That's what I love about you, Justin, you still remember stuff from eight grade." She laughed after saying that. "Oh," Justin started with a sly smile, "Do you remember this." He put one arm around her ankle and one around the widest part of her back and lifted her into the air. He carried Keena off the deck and into the Highwind. John looked at PJ, "A midget told me my hair smelled like piss once." He said. "Did you kick his ass," PJ asked hitting his fist into his palm. "No I told get his head off my lap." John said this and started to laugh, PJ just took his chair to the other side on the deck and sat down. Tiffane and Desiree were not having a bad time either. They sat in the cockpit looking at Keena's photo album. Many pictures of them were all over the pages. Even some from as long as ten years ago. One picture of them was quit interesting, a picture of the Highwind's crowded deck as they fought the evil Emerald Weapon. Then there was the picture of Link, Juliet and Julia who were all in front of North Castle after Ganon's defeat. They were all happy, Link was holding his sword and shield. His light brown hair smoothed back under his green cap. Juliet was wearing a light blue ball dress. Her flowing cherry red hair hung down her back neatly combed. And Julia had her cherry red hair cut to just above the shoulders. She too held a sword and wore a blue dress. Then there was a picture of Justin, Keena, Desiree and Jon standing at the front of the Shinra Complex with Rufus and Scarlett Shinra. The four friends were dressed in black Turks uniforms while Rufus wore a white suit and Scarlett had on her red cocktail dress. On the next page was picture of all the Turks without their uniforms. They were without Rude in this one too. But Reno and Elena were there standing close together, looking so happy with each other. As Tiffane and Desiree saw the picture they were happy about Reno's choice to leave, he had been around a long time and really loved Elena. Justin and Keena were near them and next to Keena were Desiree and Jon. On the other side of Reno and Elena were John and PJ. Rufus was in front of them all with his hands around Scarlett's waist. Then there was Reeve, Palmer and someone they had never noticed, Howard Hojo! He had worked for the Shinra. If that was the case, then it meant more than a little bit. "Do you see this?" Tiffane said pointing to Hojo on the page. The small man in the white lab coat with the long black hair and thick, round glasses. "Hey...that's Hojo, why is he in our picture?" She asked looking closer at the picture. "I don't know, but maybe we should tell Keena, she might know what to say about this." Tiffane said as she stood up and took the album ad walked over down the hall, just then Keena and Justin came in the door from the deck. Justin put Keena down and kissed her, they kissed for a few moments. "The fun and games are over you two, I have just solved the puzzle." Tiffane said. Keena stood there laughing for a second, "What is it, what puzzle?" Keena looked clueless as she asked. Desiree answered the question, "We found out who Hojo is." She said. Tiffane open the album and flipped through the pages, Justin and Keena moved closer trying to get a look at the picture. Tiffane's finger went straight to Hojo's neck, "That's Hojo, alright, but he must have worked for the Shinra, to think, we could have been on the same side." Justin said. "I bet money that our asshole boss Rufus knew about this all along!" Keena said kicking the metal panel wall of the Highwind. Justin put his hands on her shoulders, "Calm down, beautiful." He told her. "I know, I know. But when we get home I am going to talk to Rufus Shinra about this, who's going with me?" Keena said and then asked her question. No one said a word. "Well I did just find this whole thing out." Tiffane said. "And I was there to say, 'That is him'." Desiree said. Justin looked at her, "I'll go with you, Keena." He said "Thank you, I have someone I can count on!" Keena said walking off to her room.
The Shinra Complex Saturday July 27th, 2002 3:01 PM EST
The halls of the complex were empty as Keena, with drink in hand, and Justin moved down them to the office of Reeve Tomplate. He was one of the top Shinra executives who had been around since the day of Rufus' father. The couple could not talk to Rufus since he was so busy so they went to someone who was not afraid to give answers. They reached the brown wooden door at the end of the green carpeted hallway. Justin knocked and he got a nice come in from Reeve. He then held the door for Keena and then followed her in. Reeve's office was brighter than the one in which Rufus resided. He had a picture of his family hanging on the wall, his beautiful brunet wife and his two daughters. His desk was dark brown and was also very neat. He had another picture of himself and his Cait Sith robot. The Robot had helped Cloud defeat Sephiroth, and had before that betrayed them. Other things on his desk included a hand gun, Beretta just like Keena's. He also had a Jack in the Box cup and a half eaten hamburger on the corner of the desk. There was a computer monitor(the tower was under the desk) with Solitaire on the back edge of the desk, on top of it was the keyboard, the new curved kind with the separating split in the middle to make it easier for the typist to do their work. A stack of paper sat next to the monitor, they were bound together by an economy sized rubber band. A small black remote with a camera, microphone and headset attached to it set on the desk too, they were probable for the Cait Sith robot. In one corner to the far right of Justin and Keena was a mini-ice box next to a house plant. On top of the ice box was a coffee maker and some cups. Reeve himself was a man of about thirty five he was already turning gray. His short goatee had streaks of gray hair jutting through out it. He had long hair, longer than Keena's, that reached past his shoulders. His eyes were slat gray and on top of his head were his sun glasses, some Ray Bans. He wore a dark blue Polo shirt, the kind that had three buttons at the top and no more on it. His feet were propped up on the dark brown desk and he wore a pair of brown loafers. His pants were Dockers and were a light tan color. He wore a huge smile on his face. "Well," he started out in his sincere tone of voice, "If it isn't my favorite two Turks, the most beautiful and handsome, at that." He looked at them still wearing the smile. "Thank you sir." Said Keena, "But I'll bet you tell all the girls that!" She said, her face once again turning cherry red. "Too true, but there are no ladies that I mean it truthfully to but you and my wife...anyway, sit down." He said still in the tone with the smile. Justin pulled out Keena's chair and she sat down, "Thank you Justin." She sat smiling up at him. Then he took a seat next to her. Reeve smiled as Keena pointed to the cup in her hand. Reeve rolled his chair back and opened the bottom left drawer, he reached in and pulled out a coaster and handy it to Keena. She put it under the drink and he pushed the desk drawer closed. He then rolled back up to the desk with his slender body asking this question, "So why did you request to see me...ASAP?" Justin answered, "Well sir, as you might know this Red Spy group is stirring up the waters and there is a lot of mystery behind it." Justin paused and took a sip of Keena's drink, "Well we came to ask about who we think is the ring leader, one Howard Hojo." "He was at one time not too long ago a Shinra operative, a scientist if you will. He is also Sephiroth's father and the one who discovered Jenova, not by choice though." Reeve said. "Because we saw him at the Mako Station here and Jenova in the one in New York, now that we can put two and two together...I think Rufus knew all along!" Keena said with her green eyes blazing as she hit the desk and stood up. Justin grabbed her hands after they were back at her sides. He pulled her back into the chair. "Keena if you don't cut that out your going to get all stressed out over this. You know how you'll get after all that, you'll make yourself sick, honey." He said still holding her hand. Keena just crossed her legs and sat there angry, "I am not about to let more people die because of the mistakes of Rufus Shinra! He is going to talk with me now!" Keena was very angry as she stood up and bolted out of the room. Justin and Reeve were right behind her as she ran down the hall to the board room. She got to the solid oak door and twisted the gold door knob. It was locked, she could tell because of the clicking sound the door made. But all that wouldn't stop her. She drew her Beretta, with the silencer still attached and aimed it right down the back of the knob. The sound of the silenced gun, twip, was sharp and quick after she pulled the trigger and blew the lock off. She entered a room with a long window at the back, but the light from it was shrouded in purple curtains. There was a table that could seat about twenty but it only held Palmer, Scarlett, Reno, Elena and Rufus at the end. There was two house plants, tall ferns at either side of the room. All eyes were on Keena, as Justin and Reeve reached the door to se they were too late. She walked down the left side of the table to the end and went straight up to Rufus. She pushed the chair he sat in so hard that he rolled to the wall and stopped with his back against it. She got right in his face and held the Beretta right up to his left temple. She was extremely angry, "Tell me right now why I shouldn't splatter your brain on that wall over there?" She kept the gun steady and did not flinch. Rufus could feel the cold steel as she cocked the gun, he did not make any emotion on his face, or even look at her. "Because..." he said then grabbed the arm that was holding the gun and twisted it away from him. He then tickled her side right next to her thin stomach and she screamed. With one fleeting motion he jumped from the chair and swept his foot under her knocking her flat on her back the gun fell from her hand as he stood up. Rufus reached in his long whit coat and retrieved his sawed off shotgun, he quickly aimed it at her head, and then began to finish his sentence."...you are weaker than me, and you would have never had the balls to pull that trigger." He held his gun without even flinching or without a hint of sadness or anger on his face. Then a sudden thonk knocked the gun from his hand, it clattered to the floor with a knife stuck in the barrel, at the door was John Elledge. Justin and Reeve ran over, Rufus was still in shock about losing his gun, but his face did not show it. Justin kissed Keena as she lay there dazed, then to his surprise Rufus bent down and helped her up. He hugged her. "Don't try that shit again, you hear me." He said to her, his eyes seemed to smile, not his mouth, just his eyes. Justin held her tight as he prepared to ask Rufus the question they had come to seek. "Did you know that Howard Hojo was the leader of Red Spy?" He asked rubbing Keena's back in a up down motion. "Yes I did," Rufus said. "I know that you are going to ask why didn't I tell you, well because I did not want it in the official report that I knew, I could lose my job." He said. Justin looked at Keena, she was almost in tears, the pain she had just gone through had been extremely great and Justin kept holding her, "Are you okay Keena?" He asked, she nodded. "I tell you what, you go get a rest, then get cleaned up take her to dinner on the house, when you get back, I promise all of Hojo's case files will be on her desk." Rufus said as he reached in his pocket and pulled out ten one hundred dollar bills, "Take her some place nice," he said handing them to him.
The Warwick Hotel Restaurant 32nd floor Saturday July 27th, 2002 6:30 PM EST
The place setting was beautiful, they were almost alone as they walked in, except a few other couples and the piano player, who seemed to be just rattling away romantic tunes. The table they were taken to was a booth, Keena sat down but Justin stood looking at the bench seats on either side. Keena looked at him in wonderment, "What is it she said smiling?" "Well I've got a dilemma, if I sit next to you I can touch you if I sit across from you I can look at you, well I guess I'll sit next to you." He said. She blushed. Keena was wearing a blue dress with a blue clip in her hair. She had once again brought her gun along just in case. Justin wore his white button up shirt and dark blue coat of his Turks uniform, he had the matching pants. The waiter brought the menus out and then put two glasses of water on the marble table. Keena took a sip from the glass, then the waiter asked them, "What would you like to drink," in a strange Italian accent. "Diet Coke." Said Keena. "How about a bottle of wine, the best will do, and a Coke for me, not diet though." Justin said. The waiter walked off to fulfill his duties. Justin just sat there staring at Keena, "You look great tonight," he said. "That's no lie about you either," she said. After a few minutes the waiter returned with the Wine, wine glasses, Coke, and Diet Coke. They both told him thank you and he returned to the kitchen from whence he came. Then Justin poured some wine in Keena's glass and she said, "When," to make him stop. He then got up and walked over to the piano player and whispered in his ear, the player was a short man with thick curly black hair and a full thick mustache. After about a minute of conversing(and twenty bucks!) Justin returned to the table. Right after he did the man began to play N*Sync's 'Bye, Bye, Bye' Keena kissed him on the cheek, "Oh this is my favorite, thank you, Justin." Keena said. Right after that he play the Kid Rock song 'Cowboy' also one of Keena's favorites. Then the waiter came back, "May I take your order," he said. * * * * * * * * * * * * On the drive home Keena fell asleep, but they were not going straight home, they were going to meet Desiree and Jon. Justin held Keena's hand as he drove speedily down the 610 loop towards the meeting place. The top was down on the Z3 Convertible and the wind pounded them in the faces. The radio was on sort of loud and when Justin heard a scream he did not think any thing of it. Then there was a loud crash in the back seat made him turn his head to look at the melee in the back seat, but he had to quickly turn back. Then he heard a familiar voice in the back seat coming from under the chairs. "Hey chief, how's it hang'n!" Said the voice. "Kirby, how many times have I told you not to fly and drop into my seats!" Justin said. Keena woke up, she looked about groggily, "Huh, who's yelling?" She said still sleep. Then she saw Justin and Kirby to her back and left. "It's okay you can go back to sleep, it's just Kirby." Justin said looking at the little pink man. Keena leaned over and went back to sleeping. Justin just took the car off the exit ramp, "I guess I should pick my brother up, I am close to office." Justin said. "Which brother, the cool one or the dull one." Kirby asked. "I don't have a dull brother, but we're getting John, the older one." He said looking momentarily at Kirby. Justin steered the car into the parking lot of the hospital that did the cancer patients. He stopped the car and picked up the cell phone, "Hello John, call Jeff and tell him not to pick you up, I'm right out side." A few minutes later John came out of the building, he was a tall man, about six four, he must have weight a good two hundred pounds. He had a flat top hair cut and wore his white lab coat with the M.D. Anderson Cancer center symbol on the pocket. He had on gray slacks and a green button up shirt. In his hand was a black duffle bag, John walked over and put it in the back, he opened the car door and got in behind Justin. He looked over the seat at Keena, "Oh so you were out with her and came to get me," he said closing the door, "Oh...Fuck it." He said. Keena must have been partly awake, because she sat forward and turned around to face him, "I've just broken Justin out of it, do I need to tell you too, stop cursing." She said leaning back onto her seat. "Who asked you!" John said. "Let's just go," Justin said. The Turks Chapter 9
The Secret Base of Red Spy Saturday July 27th, 2002 9:00 PM EST
The dark cave of that most evil master would have chosen was not fit for the great Hojo. He had picked the perfect base to show his twisted ways and evilness, the underground part of Houston that had been closed off a year ago was a place where few people could access every nook and cranny. He sat in the underground base that served him well since it looked like a castle on the inside. Hojo had just called in his loyal minions, Maximum Force! They were a rough looking bunch, P-mode was the leader, the bald and devious looking cyborg had an evil eye and the other was covered by a targeting mechanism, it looked like an oversized crown. There were three points sticking out of the top, on both sides of the middle one his bald head could be seen. Only one of the arms he possessed was actually his, the other was metal, titanium alloy, it was a shiny black color with a gun at the end. Next to him was a small soda can, aptly titled Bad Mr. Pepper. He had thick bushy eye brows and tiny little eyes, arms and fingers. His feet were too big for his tiny aluminum body. Then there was Lucky 7, he had a split Mohawk with a white streak on the left side about three inches from the edge. Around his small eyes and nose was a black circle of paint. The rest of his face was white except for his red lips. His face was longer than most and he had puffy cheeks, and wore a wide smile and a jester suit. Next there was Grease, the horribly stretched out skull face with a huge eye on the left and no eye on the right. He had spiky blond hair with one black spike sticking straight out the top and hanging to one side. His skeletal body had no clothes and one drill arm and one normal. Then there was Sanutaky, the Japanese warrior with one eye patch and long black straight hair, part of it up in a pony tail that fell down to join with the rest of the hair. He wore Samurai Armor, that was red and black. After him was Tickle Me Ugmo, he looked like a neglected Elmo doll, his red fur was caked in grime and mud, it was more of a maroon than red. He wore a torn yellow and green shirt, it was hard to tell what color it really was because of the dirt. His shirt was too small, and only reached to the top of his stomach, below that was a pair of stained yellow underwear and two scrawny maroon legs. The last person in the team was the biggest ugliest one of them all, Woodstock. He looked like a hockey player from hell, with his mask and flaming red hair. His pads were not so padded on the outside, they were covered in spikes for the unlucky one who ran into them. He had blood red eyes and sharp yellow teeth. He wore a green jersey with a yellow X on it. Hojo smiled as he looked at his super soldiers, they were all lined up and ready to be dispatched. "Now here's what I want you to do,' he started. "Go up to the surface and find Justin, Keena, Desiree and Jon. They are all out right now, kill them or just badly injure them, I would prefer to kill them myself," he said.
Herman Park Saturday July 27th, 2002 9:10 PM EST
After dropping off John and picking up Jon and Desiree, Justin and Keena decided to go for a walk in the park. Herman Park had been named for the hospital that is within site from it. The park itself was not too big. It had one duck pond with a replica of the Washington Monument out front of it. In the little circular parking area there was a circle of green grass with a statue of a man riding a horse. Justin parked under the statue and got out of the car. Kirby was sleep, so they thought it best to leave him. Justin let Keena out and then Jon did the same for Desiree. They walked around and to the opposite side of the statue. Desiree looked at Jon, "It's been a while since we've done anything alone. All week almost we've been at the mercy of Red Spy." She said. "I know what you mean, Desiree." Jon said looking back at her. Justin took Keena's hand and they walked over closer to Desiree and Jon. He looked at Keena, "That dress really brings out your figure, Keena." He said. "Well I wish you'd lose the duster for once!" Keena said taking hold of the coat. Jon let go of Desiree's hand, he walked over behind a tree, sticking his head around the thick brown trunk. "What's wrong, honey?" Asked Desiree, she seemed concerned. Jon shushed her. Desiree folded her arms indignantly and stood there tapping her foot. Jon kept his eyes on an area of dark shadowy grass near a large hill where the theatre was. He then signaled with his finger for them to come over there. "What is it?" Justin asked. Jon pointed out across the grass, "A group of people just ran across from over there they were headed this way." He said. Keena was already pulling out her gun, "How many were there?" She asked. "Six or seven." Jon answered her with out looking back he was trying to spot the foes. Desiree held her pistol up, "That would mean that we are outnumbered...and if they were sent to get us, outgunned." She said looking out in the direction that Jon was. "Our best chance is to get back to the car." Justin suggested. As they began to move a voice came from off to their right, it was small and not very tough sounding. They almost thought it was some small kid. "Hey!" Said the voice, "Where do ya' think your going." They all turned to see a Cyborg type man, half machine half human. He had one gun arm, his left arm, the opposite of Barret. Then a skeletal man stepped up next to him, he spoke in an Australian accent had a one eyed and a stretched out skull for a head. "Wot be the plan, P-mode, old chap." Said the skeletal warrior. "Let's just let Woodstock handle them, Grease, then we'll come back and finish the job later." Said P-mode the Cyborg. "What are you guys?" Keena asked already holding her gun up. "We're Maximum Force!" The two said running off. Then an earsplitting grungy, grossest, gurgling, and gross noise came from near the spot where the two had just exited. Suddenly a huge monstrous minion of Hojo appeared in front of them, his long yellow teeth dripping saliva. "Woodstock, I presume." Desiree said stepping back and aiming her weapon. Keena took the first shot, it was a hit on his chest. The monster groaned, but did not fall. "Did you see that!" Keena said. "Yeah he took it like a man." Jon answered. Then the foe held out his left arm which was just a set of pinchers. He shot them at the group. All four of them took a dive, but Desiree's dress was caught and ripped. "That's it, asshole," she said angry, "this dress cost too much for you to just rip!" She yelled at Woodstock angry. She fired the second shot at his face, it to had no effect. Jon gabbed her hand and pulled her up from the ground as Woodstock reeled the hook back in. "This would be the perfect time to make that run for the car." He said over the melee. Justin stood up and then picked Keena setting her back on her feet. "Are you guys okay?" He asked them all. They all nodded and looked at one another, "Why don't you two make a run for the car, it's only about thirty yards, it will be hard for you in those heels. We'll hold off Wane Gruesome until you make it." Said Jon. Justin pulled the shot gun from his coat, Jon got his pistol. Desiree and Keena started to run to the car. As Justin fired the gun it hit the monster in the chest taking to the ground in the clean blow. But Woodstock soon regained his footing and was holding out both his hands in front of him aimed at him. Justin was still loading the gun, and Jon fired six times, "One more bullet in this clip, Justin." "I hear ya'." Justin said. A blue ball of energy flew from Woodstock's hands and hit them both flooring them at once. Justin lost the gun in the hit. Then Woodstock charged two more he aimed them at the two girls. The balls left his hands with an amazing speed and headed towards them. Keena and Desiree could not see or here them. Desiree was hit in the back by a blast way more powerful than the one Justin and Jon hand gotten. The ball did increase in energy as they traveled. Keena was hit in the side, on her ribs. Both of them were knocked clean off their feet and to the ground.
The Shinra Complex Saturday July 27th, 2002 9:30 PM EST
It had taken Justin and Jon ten good minutes to get Keena and Desiree to the unharmed Z3 Convertible. The two girls were still unconscious and it appeared they were also badly bruised. Keena had two or three broken ribs and Desiree was lucky not to have a broken back. They had been carried into their beds and tucked in. Then Justin and Jon went to go get the doctor, even though Desiree was his assistant. Dr. Gast was Aeris' father, he had little knowledge about Infala and did not have access to the reports that said she was alive. He just went on about his work. He was an older man with a thick brown(most likely dyed) beard. He had curly brown hair and some thin flimsy bifocals. He wore a white lab coat and a blue dress shirt with a maroon tie. His brown slacks almost covered his black shoes with the clips on them. He was a scientist by nature, always getting new experiments and trying to find out the answer to the most propionate questions. But after he got involved with one of his experiments sexually(Infala), and had a child(Aeris) he changed for the most part. Even pretending to be dead until the Shinra had stopped chasing the Ancients. But now he was back and practicing medicine. Justin and Jon entered the room, "Doctor Gast, come quick!" Justin said. "What, ever is the problem, my good man." He said looking at them as he packed his things up for the night. "It's Desiree and Keena, they were hurt, bad." Said Jon. Gast ran out the door with his bag in hand and followed them down the hall and to the right. They were in the parking lot real fast and then in front of the propped door to the Turks dormitory. They entered the room where the girls had been put, Kirby, Tiffane, John, and PJ were out of bed and trying to see what the fuss was. Gast checked them out and it took about ten minutes. He put all of his things away. "Those files you wanted are on the desk in there, and judging by your description of the guy that did this, you should look in there. There is something about this Maximum Force. As for the ladies they'll be fine tomorrow, Keena has no disabilities with a few broken ribs. And Desiree is just bruised, don't let her lift heavy objects." He said. Just then the two woke up. "You hear that Desiree, keep your hand out of my pants!" Jon said, Justin high-fived him. Justin leaned down and kissed Keena, "I'm glad your both okay." "Me too," said Jon. John ran over to Keena and hugged her, she screamed, "Ouch, my ribs." "Oh shit, sorry." He apologized. Then he had a suggestion, "Let's get the TV, rent some movies and have a slumber party in here tonight!" John said. There was a chorus of agreement and they all got busy with the perpetrations, except the two wounded.