Chapter 9
It was late at night and he was still working hard. Sephiroth, working only by a lamp in his office, closed the last report file. He put his elbows on the desk and rubbed his eyes. He looked over at the clock which read 1:27.
"Damn, I need to sleep more." He laid his head on his hand and sighed. He twirled his pen between his fingers, staring out into the distance. He woke from his dream state when his phone rang. Cursing he picked up his office phone with a scowl on his face.
"General's office."
"Sephiroth! You need to come quick! An outbreak has occurred in the slums! Please hurry to the briefing room!"
With a click the phone call was over. Sephiroth stood and headed to the said place.
"Is it so hard to clear them out? We need to settle the disputes quicker! Gangs are trying to take over the sectors, which I am sure they will try to pursue Shin-Ra as well."
"But sir, we are trying! If we overdo it, we might just destroy the slums all together!"
The apparent leader was about to open his mouth when the general walked in.
"General, we need your help."
"I know you do, you called at an ungodly hour. Let's get this done Lazard."
A man with blond hair and a blue suit jacket with white pants leaned back in his chair. Sephiroth took a seat around the triangular table. He looked up at the oversized map of the slums on the screen. Red arrows appeared on hotspots.
"Here are our guys, they have been wreaking havoc for the past couple of months and they have now made themselves known by felonies. We must put an end to this terrorist group. I will send troops out to maintain the violence flows through here," blue marks appeared to join the red ones.
"And where do I come in?"
"Well, General, you will be escorting a sniper to the top of this building," Lazard zoomed in on the city at the precise spot.
Sephiroth studied intently, memorizing every inch on the map, "Who is the sharp shooter?"
"That would be me sir." Missurani stepped forward and saluted his commanding officer. Sephiroth stood to return the gesture and sat back down.
"Missurani here is top student when it comes to shooting. I assure you he won't let us down."
"I'm sure," Sephiroth mumbled to himself. He sighed and took out his phone, dialing a number.
"General, what are you doing?" Lazard questioned
Sephiroth covered the mouthpiece with his hand, "If I am up at this hour on a mission, than my second will be up at this hour on a mission." Sephiroth heard several rings. Why doesn't he have a voice mail? He listened while the receiver picked up.
"Hello…" a sleepy, confused voice was heard
"Zackary, this is your General, get your big head down here, we're going on a mission."
He heard a long pause, "….now?"
"Yes now," Sephiroth answered sharply.
"….are you kidding?"
Sephiroth tried to contain his anger, "NO! Either you get down to the briefing room or I'm coming up to drag you down here."
"Yes Sir."
The room stared at Sephiroth, who had a pleased look on his face. "Where's the drop off point?"
"Well, you see General, that is another reason why you are here…we're going to play it by ear." Sephiroth rolled his eyes.
"Very well, when will we head out?"
Lazard leaned forward in his chair with a smirk gracing his face, "1...2...3...GO!!"
--
Aeris wrestled with the rough sheets of her bed, trying to lull her mind to sleep. She was still an emotional wreck. She sighed heavily deciding that the battle for sleep was useless. She got out of bed and made her way into the small kitchen like area that conjoined to the small living room. She found the tea in the cabinet and brewed it with the standard issued Shin-Ra coffee maker.
"What has the world come to? All I see are things with Shin-Ra's logo on it. Heck even the toilet paper has the logo." She shook her head and walked to the bathroom which was pretty much a closet with a toilet, a shower she can barely fit in, and a sink. Running her hands under the water the sink provided her; she looked in the mirror and touched her face. Her mind went back to the courtyard. She smiled slightly when she went back to the memory of Zack asking her to the ball. She let out a giggle. Zack was cutest when he was caught off guard. She returned to the kitchen to get her green tea, and then made her way to the small living room. She saw something sticking out from underneath the couch, a magazine by the looks of it.
Wondering why she didn't see it before, she set her mug on the coffee table and picked up the magazine.
"Huh, SOLDIER Monthly, and what's that? Is that the Shin-Ra logo in the background? That's shocking." She rolled her eyes at her own dry humor and flipped open the magazine. Several articles were on materia, weapons, armor, and everything else Soldiers like. She came to an article that read "The Daily Lives of Soldiers." Many pictures, candid of course, were taken of Soldiers in random settings. The one picture that caught her eye was the one of Sephiroth. He was looking into the camera smiling; behind him was a tall man with sharp Wutaian features, looking to be quite a powerful man. She found herself staring at the General's picture until she found a caption reading, "1st class Soldiers Sephiroth and Angeal relaxing on the training grounds."
"1st class? My goodness what month was this?" She looked on the front to find it was an April Edition.
"APRIL? That was two months ago?!" She tore out the page and shut the magazine. Picking up the empty tea glass, she went to bed. Before she did though, she tucked away the picture under her mattress for future references. She finally was able to sleep, with of course Sephiroth's face in her mind.
--
"Sir, squad lambda is ready and in position, squad delta is securing Sector 3's entrance. Unit 2 is on their mark. On your call sir."
Standing on the helipad, the tall, dark haired man nodded in approval to the corresponding cadet. Unsheathing the buster sword, he bowed his head, his forehead barely touching it. He straightened up to his full height; his face beaming with confidence, there was truly an air of superiority about him, and he knew it.
A static charge was heard on the radio, "Sir, squad Delta is ready, and all systems are a go! Standing by for orders Sir."
A subtle smirk graced his face, "SOLDIERS," he said over the radio, "Get ready to move out." He turned off his radio and turned to his current squad, Gamma.
"Squad Gamma, let's go." The squad saluted and boarded the awaiting helicopter.
"General, Unit 2 is prepared. It's up to you and Unit 4. Angeal over and out." Looking over his shoulder one last time, he too stepped on the chopper.
On the other side of Midgar held Unit 1, which Zack controlled.
"Shit, I can't believe I am standing here, tired as hell, and cold." The disgruntled Lieutenant tilted his head back and shouted, "WHAT DID I EVER DO TO YOU GENERAL!!" Zack heard a cough and slowly turned around to meet the fierce eyes of the General.
"Zackary, I don't believe you are setting a good example for your squad." Sephiroth simply stated
"What about you, where is Unit 2? Alpha and Beta are supposed to be in the underground tunnel in Sector 3."
Sephiroth distastefully sighed, "They are, Zack. I decided to go ahead and throw them to the sharks. Besides, they are almost 3rd class SOLDIERS, I think they can handle the pressure."
"But they are only cadets!!"
"Ah, but in six months, they will be SOLDIERS. They need the thrill of survival anyhow."
Zack shivered at the uncaring tone of the General's voice. Sometimes he just forgot who he was REALLY dealing with.
"Jeeze, I would hate to see what you do to your children." Zack sighed and walked ahead
Sephiroth pinched the bridge of his nose, "How many times must I tell you, I'm not having kids!"
Zack waved his hand over his head laughing shortly, "That's what they all say…sir" Zack continued to laugh while he heard Sephiroth groan in disgust. This mission was going to be one hell of a ride.
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Yay, I finally updated!! I stuck a very short ending on it,sorry I got disconnected with the story and I will have to think about it. So…if you don't read my profile, I did obtain a Xbox 360 and I have xbox live…if you would like my gamertag…go to my profile. Thank you so much for being patient, I'm sure some people forgot this story existed :D. Anyway, I would appreciate it if you guy's would review!! PLEASE REVIEW!!
Much Love
jazzybutclassy28