A/N: Just want to thank all you guys for your continued reviews, patience, encouragement and support, especially Jason Tandro, ElleXVI and ZakuReno. I really, really, really appreciate your readership and I cannot express my gratitdue to everyone enough. :)
Well, yes, on another note - I am BACK! :D So yep, this is the next installation and I hope that you guys like it!
Chapter Ten: Once a ShinRa always a ShinRa
The redhead shrugged eloquently, "Don' know, mate. Me, I'm jus' the pilot. Anyway, what's the rush, eh? Yer gonna find out real soon, don' worry."
Sab's eyes narrowed, "It's Rufus, isn't it?"
Her question met stubborn silence, but she didn't need an answer. Wherever the Turks were, there the ShinRa heir would be too. Eight years had passed since Geostigma, but she was prepared to bet her last bullet that Rufus hadn't changed a single bit. It would take a lot more than the Planet's wrath to reform a man like that, she thought sourly.
She'd spent more than half her life fighting ShinRa, first the father, and then the son. In that period of time, she'd learnt more than she'd ever wanted to know about the baser side of Man's nature. ShinRa had not only polluted the planet, they'd torn it apart, killing it with every drop of mako ripped from Gaia's veins.
They hadn't limited themselves to profits, either. Oh no, the ShinRa dream was too grand, too big for that. They wanted supremacy; they worshipped power and would do anything for it. And that included killing innocents indiscriminately, amongst other things. Torture, for instance. She had lost count of how many people she'd seen go out to face the SOLDIERS or Turks and never return again, or if they did, they came back as beasts courtesy of Hojo's labs, killing in mindless intent.
The thought of being indebted to Rufus ShinRa, of all people, made her skin crawl. In the depths of her mind, Oblivion shifted restlessly, sensing her anger. Later, she told it, feeling its primal hunger gnawing at her thoughts.
The 'copter dipped. They were going in for the final descent. Blue skies sank to be replaced by rust-orange outcrops, which vanished altogether in the clouds of dust tossed up by the 'copter's blades. Weiss tensed almost imperceptibly, eyes flickering to the hatch.
Sab shot him a questioning glance, but he merely frowned and shook his head. Not now. She shrugged and let the matter drop.
They were hustled out of the heli and down a warren of labyrinthine corridors. Sab lost count after the first few turnings, and stumbled after Reno as best as she could in the musty near-darkness. She could hear Weiss cursing under his breath behind her, and several times they banged into each other because either one of them had misjudged the distance.
"Watch yer head!" Reno's warning came a moment too late.
Sab snarled as a starburst of pain exploded in her head. She'd whacked it against the low doorframe.
Reno peered apologetically down at her, "Sorry. I keep forgettin' 'bout that. Yer all right?"
"Yeah, walking into doors is my hobby. No, Reno, I'm not alright. Where the hell is your boss? Hiding somewhere like the yellow-bellied skunk he is?" she retorted, stemming the slow trickle of blood coursing down her face.
"As a matter of fact, Ms. Artimieva, I'm here."
His voice was as she remembered it, cultured upper Midgar accent accentuating the r's, mixed in with the familiar intolerable smugness that made her fists itch, and his dressing was still the same, white on black, shadow and light contrasted, but – Rufus ShinRa, once the world's most powerful man, was paralysed.
Rumour had it that ShinRa was a victim of Geostigma, but Sab had chosen to think of it as a ploy to get the WRO to let down their guard. Never underestimate a ShinRa, the saying had gone, or come tomorrow your bones will be six feet under. Yet… she deflated in mid-snarl, feeling the bile draining out of her comeback. Chanced a glance at Weiss, saw there too the same confusion flitting across his face.
ShinRa carried on smoothly, showing no sign that he'd noticed their unease, "I trust your journey here has been relatively uneventful. Now that you're here, we can finally start."
"What the heck are you talking about, ShinRa?" Weiss growled, "Give me a damn good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now for all you've done to my brother and I, you stinking bas– "
He halted mid-sentence, feeling a gun muzzle press warningly against his spine. Rude was making his presence felt.
"If you hadn't realized, Immaculate, you and Artimieva both owe me your lives. Hardly a small debt, I believe. If Reno and Rude hadn't turned up when they did, you would have been fodder for Chaos and co. And if you disobey me, I shall have do my duty as a law-abiding citizen and turn you in. Ryden, I understand, is not too pleased about your… escapades."
Sab snorted. Once a ShinRa, always a ShinRa. Paralysed or not, Rufus had still retained his ability to bite back – and savagely. She'd just been used by Ryden, now they were going to be Rufus's puppets. Kjata really had a sick sense of humour. Still, better alive than dead.
"Very well." She shrugged, ignoring Weiss's glare, "It's not like we've got much choice anyway."
Rufus smiled, thin-edged and triumphant, "I'm glad we can see eye to eye. Now, please listen, because I'm only going to say this once."
When he finished, the room was utterly quiet.
You want to destroy Ryden… before he in turn brings you down. Your power plays never cease, do they, Rufus?
But never mind. Revenge was enough. In the past, she would have refused. Once upon a time, the outcome would have mattered to her – for instance, what Rufus planned to do with the WRO after Ryden was out of the picture. Now… she didn't care, and neither did Oblivion, "It appears we have the same objective in mind."
Rufus met her gaze coolly, "Indeed."
Weiss wheeled on her forcefully, eyes glittering in wrath, "Are you insane!? ShinRa cannot be trusted!"
"Quit questioning the obvious, Immaculate," Sab sighed. They'd gone over this so many times before that she had lost count, "We're fugitives on the run. The WRO and AVALANCHE are out in full force looking for us. We don't have the resources to locate Ryden and drop him, but ShinRa can help us there. We can't do this without them."
Oblivion was edgy and so was she. It was annoying, this waiting. All she wanted to do now make Ryden pay, big-time. All Weiss was doing, however, was getting into her face with his endless accusations and questions and she was wearying of it, "Look, if you're so against this, you can leave. No one said we were partners."
The hurt that flashed across his face was oddly satisfying.
"You're obsessed." He spat angrily, and then stormed out, leaving her alone at last.
All the better, Oblivion hissed, in the wake of silence that followed.
Infil, search and destroy, exfil. Sab ran over the mission in her head again. It helped breaking the whole thing down into stages – it simplified matters, and made remembering what she had to do easier if she flapped and messed up halfway.
She'd briefed them all the night before. Reno and Rude would create a distraction, which she and Weiss would use to sneak into the WRO's Nibelheim branch. The next leg of the mission would be utterly up to them – find Ryden and terminate him. Last would be getting out of the area before reinforcements arrived. She was horribly aware that it sounded a lot easier than it actually was. For one, the WRO was watched round the clock by hundreds of electronic eyes that recorded every movement. Another was that ever since becoming Commissioner, Ryden was constantly surrounded by his bodyguards - trigger-happy ex-SOLDIERS. It wasn't even confirmed he had holed up in Nibelheim; Tseng had said he was only about seventy-five percent sure the intel was reliable. Finally, she had wound up with Mr. Uncooperative-Sulks-A-Lot (aka Weiss the Immaculate) for a partner. Great, she thought sourly. It all added up to bullet-riddled corpses and painful deaths. Not good at all.
Sab checked her guns again. She'd decided to keep Nero's IMIs, turning down Rufus's offer to get her more advanced weapons. You've got it coming to you, Ryden.
Besides her, Weiss muttered something unintelligible about half-arsed preparations and arrogant, obsessed WRO soldiers, but she ignored him. Her eyes were trained on the distant pin-prick of black below that was the Turks' vehicle. She tensed. Any minute now….
A distant boom, and the checkpoint erupted in flames. Now.