Chapter VII
As chance would have it, on the same night of Tifa's party, the Shinra Electric Power Company launched a military action against the nation of Wutai. But "military action" was simply euphemism for a declaration of war. The term "military action" was used for political purposes, because Shinra, a corporation, couldn't declare war on a sovereign nation. Well, not that it couldn't, it's just that there'd never been a precedent for such a thing. If Shinra had officially declared war on Wutai, it would have brought up all sorts of thorny issues regarding state rights and corporate rights, and called into question whether Shinra was a corporate entity or a nation unto itself. All euphemism aside, however, Shinra had declared war on Wutai, but like any executive decision, this was a hostile takeover meant to increase the company's bottom line profits and appease its stockholders.
Shinra controlled eighty-eight percent of the world's Mako supply. The other twelve percent was controlled by Wutai, a small island nation with a homogeneous population. Wutai had a nationalized Mako industry, and the government refused to sell its controlling share to Shinra. Before becoming the global power that it was, Shinra was a private equity firm that made large-scale investments in media, energy, and consumer-related businesses. It rose to prominence in large part to its acquisition of non-state-owned Mako companies. It eventually generated enough capital to acquire state-owned Mako companies. In no time at all, Shinra owned every major Mako company on the planet. The only holdout was Wutai. For this small island nation, maintaining the integrity of their Mako industry was a matter of national survival. Mako was their only natural resource and number one export. Wutai was an ultra modern and technologically advanced country, but without Mako energy propping up its economy, it would quickly revert to a third world country. The Wutai were a proud people, with a culture steeped in honor, piety and tradition. Whereas the rest of the world openly embraced globalization, Wutai remained stubbornly resistant, thus isolating itself.
It was this isolation that ultimately left them vulnerable. When large reserves of Mako energy were discovered off the coast of Wutai, Shinra saw an opportunity to manufacture an international incident. The Mako reserves were well within the borders of Wutai's costal territory, but Shrina disputed this claim, stating the Mako reserves were in international waters, and entitled to whoever was willing and able to mine them. Shinra sent deepwater drilling vessels into Wutai's costal territory, and started an illegal mining operation. Wutai retaliated by sending in battleships to scare off the drilling vessels. This was exactly the response Shinra was hoping for. With the deployment of Wutai battleships, Shinra deployed its own battleships. In what proved to be an escalation towards war, Wutai sent in even more battleships, and Shinra responded in kind, until a whole armada of opposing forces was facing each other. Tensions were high, like a powder keg ready to explode. It was only a matter of time before someone lit the fuse.
Then the incident occurred. Shinra blamed Wutai for firing the first shot, claiming a Wutai battleship sunk a civilian fishing trawler that accidently wandered into the disputed waters. Wutai denounced the accusation, and said that this so-called fishing trawler was, in actuality, one of Shinra's drilling vessels, which had intruded on their territory. A Wutai battleship attempted to drive away the belligerent drilling vessel, and in process, both ships collided. The drilling vessel made a distress call, whereupon Shinra's battleships opened fire on Wutai's armada. Wutai returned fire. A Shinra battleship took a direct hit, and sunk into the ocean, taking forty-five crewmates along with it. Shinra now had an excuse to launch its military action.
Again, for political purposes, this "military action" was initiated under the guise of a humanitarian mission. Shinra claimed Wutai posed a significant threat to international shipping lanes, and that their sinking of the trawler was just the opening volley of hostilities that would risk the lives of civilians and destabilize the global economy. Shinra lobbied for a military intervention, claiming that such an intervention would go a long way to preserve life, liberty, and the free market. After a week of politicking, where cash and favors were exchanged in cigarette smoke-filled rooms, Shinra got international approval for its war against Wutai.
They said the war would last only a couple of months (six months at the most), but eight years later, and with over a million lives lost, the war was still raging on.
Out of all the stories that came out of the war, the tale of Sephiroth became legendary. Sephiroth was a member of SOLDIER, an elite black ops unit founded by Shinra. Only the fiercest and strongest warriors could join their ranks, and there was none fiercer or stronger than Sephiroth. Shinra neither confirmed nor denied Sephiroth's existence. Tales of his exploits were relayed to the world by soldiers and civilians who caught a fleeting glimpse of him on the battlefield. There was some armature video footage of Sephiroth, but it was usually blurry and shot from a long distance. Sephiroth was said to be adept at using magic, and the rare videos of him proved that this was most certainly the case. Sephiroth eviscerated entire Wutai platoons with just a flick of his wrist. One rare video showed him raise a hand to the sky, and seconds later, down came a tornado of fire that incinerated an entire column of military vehicles. His power was unreal. People debated whether or not Sephiroth could actually fly. Some soldiers on the frontline said they witnessed Sephiroth gliding high above their position, proof that he could fly. Other soldiers said Sephiroth didn't so much fly, but leapt enormous distances. The latter had it correct. Sepiroth couldn't fly. He was simply a high jumper. When Sephiroth jumped, often reaching heights as high as fifty feet, he always came crashing down to earth wielding an indestructible sword, which was named Masamune. The blade of Masamune was thin, approximately six-feet in length, and rumored to be enchanted. It could cut through the thick hide of a tank just as easily as flesh and bone.
Sephiroth was a living legend, and as the media spun it, he struck fear into the hearts of the authoritarian Wutai dogs, and in turn, was admired by all the peace-loving people of the free world. The media's editorial policy notwithstanding (they were owned by Shinra, after all), it was indeed true Sephiroth was feared and admired in equal parts. Children admired him the most. There wasn't a kid alive who didn't want to be a superhero like Sephiroth, but it was Could Strife of Nibelheim who possessed the drive and passion to go beyond mere want. He made it his life's ambition to join SOLDIER and become as powerful as the Great Sephiroth. Cloud was fourteen years old when he decided to leave the village and pursue his dream. He couldn't wait to tell Tifa.
The night was chilly, and Tifa lay bundled in a plush quilt, sound asleep. A persistent tapping on the window awoke her. Groggy and irritated, Tifa stumbled out of bed and parted the curtains. It was Cloud and he was dangling from the drainpipe. She opened the shutter.
"Cloud? What're you doing?" she said, mildly infuriated. "Do you even know how late it is?"
"Meet me on the water tower," he said with a frankness that startled her.
"Why? What's wrong?" Tifa squeaked.
"No, nothing's wrong," he said, "I just need to tell you something important."
"Is it so important you can't wait until tomorrow?"
"I think it is. Will you meet me?"
"Of course I will."
"Thanks, Tifa. So, um, put on some clothes or whatever and meet me on the water tower, okay?"
And with that, Cloud descended the drainpipe, leaving Tifa feeling groggy, irritated, and now, befuddled.
Tifa took quite a bit of time to get ready. She was under the impression Cloud had some sort of romantic aim, that maybe tonight was the night he was going to declare his everlasting love for her. She prettied herself up, putting on a cute dress, brushing her long black hair, and spraying on a dash of flora-scented perfume. Tifa wasn't much for make-up, but she did apply lipstick and blush to add a bit of color to her otherwise pale white features.
"Sorry I'm late," she said upon arriving at the agreed upon rendezvous point. She sat beside Cloud at the edge of the water tower. A gust of wind blew through her hair, waving it like a silk curtain. Tifa thought she looked pretty that night, and she hoped Cloud thought so, too. It was tough to gauge his reaction, however. He just sat there, gazing at his navel.
"You said you wanted to say something," Tifa said, initiating a conversation.
Cloud failed to reply. After a long beat, he finally said, "Come this spring, I'm leaving this town for Midgar."
"All the boys are leaving town," Tifa said sadly.
"But I'm different from all of them," Cloud replied. "I'm not just going to find a job. I want to join SOLDIER. I'm going to be the best there is, like Sephiroth."
"Sephiroth, the Great Sephiroth," Tifa said with a douse of sarcasm.
Cloud didn't respond to her sarcasm.
"Isn't it hard to join SOLDIER?" she asked.
Cloud nodded his head. "I probably won't be able to come back to this town for a while."
Tifa sighed sorrowfully. "If you join, will you have to fight in the war?"
"Probably."
Tifa wiped away the tear running down her cheek, smudging her blush. She took a deep breath, and said, "Will you be in the newspaper if you do well?"
"I'll try," Cloud replied weakly.
Silence permeated the conversation. Tifa glimpsed at Cloud several times, moving her lips with every glimpse. She was determined to speak, to pour out her heart , to tell Cloud how much she cared about him, to beg him not to go, but shaky nerves held her back. After a dozen attempts, she eventually came out and said something, though it wasn't exactly what she wanted to say. "Why don't we make a promise?" Cloud looked at her inquisitively. "If you get really famous, and I'm ever in a bind, you come save me, all right?"
"What?" Cloud said, bemused.
"I always wanted a famous hero to come to my rescue. I want to experience that just once. So, when I'm I trouble, Cloud, I want you to rescue me."
Cloud thought over the implications of making such a promise.
"Come on, promise me!" she insisted.
"Okay, I promise," Cloud said with all sincerity. "If you're ever in trouble, I'll rescue you."
A star shot across the night sky, and for that brief instance, all was right in the world.
