Mako Tidings - A Final Fantasy VII Halloween fic.
WARNINGS: Language, for one thing, and gore. A lot of it. Don't read this if you're squeamish about dead bodies/body parts/organs/blood. If you do, know that I'll laugh if you flame me.
Pairings: None that I'm making apparent, though if you have faves, feel free to pair them up.
DISCLAIMER: I am not the owner of the Final Fantasy franchises. That's Squeenix. I do, however, own the cause of the infection in this particular story, because I designed the nanobots to mimic the parasite. At least for the story's purposes.
Vincent eyeballed the landscape around them, feeling distinctly twitchy, his bad left hand occasionally drifting down to the smaller firearm on his hip. While the hand itself was significantly weakened in comparison to the other side, it was still capable of wielding the pistol alone. However, a much smaller hand touched his shoulder, and he glanced over, sparing a quiet smile for the young girl who'd snuck into his truck without her father's knowledge.
"Barret will kill me if he finds out you were in here, Marlene."
"Pfft. I'll take the blame. Thanks for not yelling at me, Vincent."
"Would it have done me any good?" She laughed a little, turning to settle back against the rough canvas seats.
"Nope."
"I'd thought not. Have you been practicing your gunmanship like I told you to?"
"Yessir. Papa got a little angry that you taught me on the rifle first, but now I'm really glad..."
"So am I, child. So am I. Was Reeve ready when he sent the trucks on?"
"Nearly. He only sent them because the spotters were getting visuals and already taking headshots." Vincent sighed, feeling distinctly old, and let his crimson eyes follow the lines of the lower Nibel hills, narrowing when he caught movement. It was slow, however, and he hoped that it might just be an ambling herd of deer. The airship, once a small speck, was growing much larger now; the hanger lay in the lee of a gentle valley, the better to protect its delicate birds from the occasional harsh winds that blew off of the mountains. Marlene leaned a little forward, her eyes growing huge. He chuckled softly and gave her a pat on the head; no matter how many times she'd seen the airships in the four years she'd spent around Cid and the rest of her adopted family, the sheer size and power of the ancient machines still sent her into an awed silence. He supposed she'd grow out of it in time, but for now, it was a breath of new life. Vincent rather enjoyed that these days, now that Chaos was at peace and Lucrecia far from his thoughts.
"Vincent?"
"Yes, Marlene?"
"When's your birthday?"
"...October 13th." Her eyes widened, and she clapped excitedly, only to stop as he leveled a scary glare her way. "And if you tell Yuffie, I will never let you shoot another of my guns again." She squeaked and squeezed up against the opposite door as he turned his eyes back to the roadway, heaving a soft sigh that they were nearly to the gates; it wasn't a long drive by any means, but the silence outside was just...wrong. He heard no birdsong, none of the soft howls that usually echoed across the plains this time of the evening from the direwolves, not even the wind was blowing strong enough to buffer the sides of the vehicles. It was eerie, and he'd had enough of that crap to last him another few lifetimes. Marlene seemed to pick up on his watchfulness, and she shivered, ducking close to the edge of the window frame to peer out at the plains around them. It was like taking a monkey to New Town...The loud honking from up front, along with Tifa's reemergance from the dust cloud behind them, woke him from his thoughts, and both man and girl relaxed as they drove into Cid's airship compound, the enormous doors sliding shut behind them.
Technicians, pilots, navigators, and crewmen buzzed all over the place, with their Captains standing atop the supply crates to yell orders. Cid's personal crew, along with his teammates, were the last to arrive with the remaining supplies, and Vincent, instead of worrying about the child keeping up, simply picked up Marlene and settled her on his hip, heading directly towards the airship and a very disheveled Reeve. The WRO President had a habit of running his hands through his hair and beard when he was agitated, and now he looked mildly insane, his normally trim beard puffed out and ragged, while his wavy hair stood entirely on end. Vincent passed him with a nod and a sympathetic look, then took Marlene up to the cabin deck. After she was settled safely in her father's room, he made his calm, quiet way out onto the open air deck, fingering the rifle now strapped to his back. While he missed his cloak, very much not liking the way his trim body was displayed to the world, he couldn't deny that it was one less burden to carry.
"Vin!" Ah, Cid. At least he'd always know who was yelling at him.
"What?" He called back down, leaning over the railing to meet the Captain's gaze.
"Can ya do me a favor and tell me what you see through the sniper scope about 42 degrees left of due north?" He quirked an eyebrow, but hopped up on to the top deck's wing, pulling the scope out of one of his shirt pockets and matching up the coordinates. Red eyes narrowed, then widened, and he leapt of the ship all together, landing neatly feetfirst on the concrete.
"I thought we had more time to prepare." He replied, glaring at the blonde as he stood up, wincing just a little from the jump. He may have been undead himself, but that didn't mean that he wasn't going to get hurt at least a little from a stunt like that.
"So did I, so don't getcher boxers in a bunch. What'd ya see? You've got the eyes for this sort of thing, we don't."
"..."
"That bad, eh? Alright." He nodded to a scrappy-looking young man with a buzz cut and a squashed nose, who immediately dropped his pack and stood at attention. "Hastings, send word to the other captains via radio that we take off in 30. Anyone left behind, stays behind." The kid looked shocked, then nodded grimly and took off like an arrow, running headlong towards the transmitter up by the gates. As the crowds took on a desperate air, crewmen and techs now stripping down the necessities and loading up, Vincent caught his friends' eyes. Cloud looked worried, and a touched worn out, Tifa outright scared. Shera was sorting out tools and handing the cases to Barret, who'd paused at Cid's announcement, his dark eyes going to the darkening sky. As the large floodlights came on around the perimeter of the compound, an eldritch wailing could be heard, far off still, but growing closer. The pilot motioned for them to go inside, and Vincent picked up a box of tools, sparing only a somber glance to the cacophony around them. It was to be a long night...
Ahhh...third chapter. I apologize for not much action just yet, but I figured it would be best to hold off just one more chapter...and don't worry, they will get longer from here on out. Now that the preliminary, obligatory escape plan is underway...time to add a few complications. Muahahaha...
