If it was any other ordinary day, Reno would have considered finding an excuse to sit this one out. Yet alas he had to remind himself that this wasn't Midgar. That had been a lifetime ago. Right now however... it was time to get really serious.
With his partner-in-crime Rude by his side, they and alongside a few others went to work on the destroyed medical bay, or whatever was left of it.
Once the pair had been members of the Turks. Now they were the heads of a salvage unit under the orders of AVALANCHE. Payback, Reno thought, for what happened all those years ago with Sector Seven. It could've been worse he supposed.
Rude on the other hand... well, who knows what the brute was thinking. Considering he rarely talks much (and still do) and his neutral expressions, it was like cracking a hardened egg shell with a spoon. Any job he was tasked with, he did it without any objections or questioning, so AVALANCHE rarely had much headaches with him when compared to Reno.
That also included cleaning this entire mess, within the full view of the public that were behind them. Ignoring the hushed chit-chatting going on, Reno simply concentrated on shifting removal debris out of the way.
"Remind me again why we always get stuck with the icky jobs...?" he grumbled to himself under his breath.
It had meant to be rhetorical, but Rude overheard him and still replied anyhow.
"Bad blood."
Reno sighed out softly.
"I mean, it's been a "couple" years since we got this shtick. I mean, everyone always says that age mellows with the years, right?" he muttered under his breath.
Picking up one metal scrap, Reno scrutinised it for a brief moment, taking note of a barely visible word that read "SHINRA".
"It's not like we're still working for those blue-blooded nutjobs. We're all in this together now, aren't we?"
He tossed the scrap over his shoulder, ignoring the yelp of a scrapper who got hit by it.
Looking at his partner, Reno said plainly, "It ain't our fault for everything Sephiroth did. Technically speakin'..."
Rude readjusted his sunglasses, "But we were responsible for a lot of other things. We were hot on AVALANCHE's radar for a reason, remember?"
Reno waved a hand lazily, "Yeah yeah... all the talk about mistreating that Cetra kid and flattening the slums at No. 7. Guess karma really can be a bitch when you least expect it."
Suddenly, there a slight movement of rubble close by, and every person on the scene suddenly stopped in their tracks.
Looking around, Reno mumbled to his partner, "Please tell me I wasn't...?"
Rude grunted affirmatively, "I heard it too."
Turning to the other scrappers, he signalled them over.
"Move it! Find where that sound came from!" he ordered them sharply.
They carried out their order without question.
The pair quickly followed suit behind the lot, and the gathering crowd began muttering at louder tones, now noticing the sudden rapid movements. Reno was the most frantic of the lot, urging his fellow colleagues to start shouting out for any potential survivors.
"Is anyone out there!"
"Are you alright?!"
"Hello?!"
"We're here to help!"
"Stay calm and don't panic!"
And then came another sound of shifting debris; it sounded close to where Rude was currently at.
Staring at the ground below him, he called out loudly, "Is anyone down there? Can you here me?"
He tilted his head to one side, and he concentrated on listening out for any signs of life. Seconds later and he heard no response of any kind.
From close by, Reno called to him, "Well? Anything?"
With a grunt, the bald, burly man got up to his feet.
He looked to the others, "Nothing. Maybe it was just a-"
"BOOM!"
He never finished his sentence, for the next thing he knew, Rude founded himself hurtling through the air. His ears rang like a bell from the sudden loud explosion and his body stinging in pain from the blast. And unfortunately for Reno, his partner was heading straight towards him.
He sighed out tiredly. "Whatever..."
"OOF!"
As the pair tumbled some distance away, the remaining scrappers continued to look on in surprise at a newly formed crater where Rude had once stood. As the shock wore off with the passing seconds, some of them were brave enough to venture forth towards it.
When they arrived at the edge, they peered over to view the bottom, which was considerably a couple of feet below surface level. Even with all the smoke obscuring their vision, one of them could make out faint shadows, and then some faint sounds.
Eyes widening in realisation, she turned back around and called out, "Sirs! We've got survivors!"
Pausing mid-rub on his butt, Reno shared an alarmed glance with Rude.
"Say what?!" he exclaimed and quickly scrambled to his feet.
Racing over to the crater, he squinted his eyes tightly and scanned the inner areas. Sure enough, he too spotted some movement within the choking haze.
"H-Help..." a voice suddenly croaked out from within.
Whether it was a male or female, Reno could not say for certain. The distance was too far away to hear clearly. But he heard that magic word. It was enough for him to decide his next course of action.
"Bring in the stretchers! And fetch me some rope and harnesses!" Reno barked out his orders to the scrappers, "And make it snappy! Chop chop!"
For the next hour or so, the scrappers under the coordination of Reno and Rude, helped to haul out the survivors from the crater.
Well, the crater felt more like a deep hole after initial attempts to scale down to retrieve the trapped individuals. So to that end, both Reno and Rude chose instead to carry them out via the harnesses and ropes that they had. It was quite low key compared to evacuating a casualty via helicopter, but they would take what they could get.
Finally, the last individual was hauled out safely from the crater, and as she was being lowered, Reno and Rude stared at her blankly for a couple of seconds.
Did they... know this person from somewhere?
She was a young woman, with crimson red hair that reached her shoulder level, and that business suit she was wearing. It definitely bore resemblance to the uniform of...
... the Turks.
Letting out soft gasps, both turned to look at one another with widened eyes.
"C-Cissnei...?" they both spoke out to her in shocked unison.
Despite the injuries on her body and the bruises sustained to her face, the young Turk opened her eyes slightly and frowned at them.
"R-Reno... Rude... It's b-been a while..."
With sadness and pity taking control of his thoughts, Hope continued to look on at the elder Farron from his place at her bedside.
Since the destruction of the medical bay, AVALANCHE had decided to relocate the surviving staff to a secondary facility in the haven. Deep in the heart of its main base of operations.
As far as Hope knew, the only occupants of this establishment were all the groups that were protecting the people. AVALANCHE. SeeD. And now NORA as well. Groups that were seemingly at constant odds with one another. Sometimes out of light-hearted banter, or just an all-out brawl.
Definitely a far cry from his days at the Academy, but at least this place could have been far worse off.
After having Lightning moved in, Aerith graciously decided to give the NORA team some space, considering what had happened with the whole Lightning fiasco.
But the damage clearly had been done. The medical facility was utterly trashed and destroyed beyond repair, and a vast majority of their patients had sustained injuries as well including Squall and Barrett. And Hope knew very well how destruction would provoke an extreme public response, despite Aerith's assurances that Tifa and Rinoa were doing their best to placate the angry mob currently parading around the haven.
Sighing to himself, he raked a hand through his smooth silver hair. Why and how they got into this maelstrom of anarchy and confusion from defeating Bhunivelze, he still couldn't put a finger on.
Just then, Snow stepped into the room, with the rest of the newly "christened" NORA team following in behind him.
Looking over Lightning's unconscious form, Snow asked Hope softly, "So how is she?"
The boy shook his head, "No clue. The only doctor who was watching over her was injured in the blast, and Miss Gainsborough is busy tending to other matters."
He turned to look at the pink-hair. "But from the looks of things, I think she's fine. For now anyways."
Nodding his head morbidly, Snow went over to one of the empty chairs and took a seat. Fang, Noel, Sazh and a slightly injured Vanille sat down as well. None of them said anything for a couple of minutes.
"So... New World huh?" Snow finally spoke out, a humourless smirk on his face, "Feels more like Hell when I think about it."
"Yeah, especially after what happened with poor Lightning 'ere," Sazh agreed.
Fang folded her arms, "If this is what Bhunivelze had intended to create to replace Pulse, then clearly he forgot about Sephiroth."
"But it just doesn't make sense..." Vanille mumbled quietly as she nursed her bandaged tummy, "All the scriptures and precepts fortold of the New World being a new start..."
"And then along comes another god who's striving to create a Promised Land," Noel stated plainly, "Sound familiar?"
Excluding Lightning, all attention was now focused on him, their faces all paled.
"Y-You mean...?" Vanille stuttered fearfully.
Just then, a set of footsteps stomped their way into the room, and the group all turned to the burly dark-skinned man, his forehead, left arm and chest all wrapped up in bandages.
"Who among ya fools' in charge 'ere?" Barret grunted with an authoritative voice.
The NORA team exchanged looks with each other.
"Normally, Light's the one taking point and lead..." Snow spoke up and rose from his chair.
Facing Barret with folded arms, he nodded, "But since she's out, I'm in charge."
Hope was not sure what prompted him to stand up too. Instinct perhaps?
Either way, he said to Barret, "I gladly volunteer my services too. I was leader of a governing body for a brief period."
Snow raised an eyebrow at him, momentarily surprised by Hope's volunteerism. Barret eyed him skeptically for a brief moment and who could blame him? If Hope had maintained his adult physical form, perhaps he would have a better chance.
Eventually, Barret said, "Good. You two come with me."
He turned and began heading off.
But then Snow called out, "Whoa there! Wait a minute! I thought you said you needed one leader!"
Barret glanced over his shoulders, "Two of our leadin' members are outta the picture thanks to that lil' stunt Pinkey pulled. We need replacements, tops, and you just volunteered. Now let's mosey!"
Ignoring the protective glares Noel and Vanille were giving her, Barret marched off, his boots kicking up much dirt and rock as he went.
Shaking his head exasperated, Hope and Snow looked at one another.
"Look after her. Be right back," Snow instructed the others before he followed Hope out of the room.
The duo continued trailing after Barret as they headed past all the other medical wards. Considering that the HQ was as big as a school, the medical facility was just a mere 2 minute walk from the main lobby.
There, they came across another pair of members. They seemed to be bickering about something.
"... I told you, Yuffie! I had no idea Locke would find your secret stash!" Selphie defended herself with raised hands.
Yuffie was practically blowing smoke from her ears. "Cut the bullshit! I know it was you I saw that two-bit pirate talking with back there! I knew you were gonna rat me out!"
"What? No, you misunderstand! We were just talking about what happened out there with those monster things! And also about why one of his materia disappeared all of a sudden..."
"Aha! So you confessed you traitor!"
"That's not what happened!"
"That IS what happened!"
"AHEM!" Barret coughed forcefully into his fist, prompting both girls to focus on him.
"If you are done pointin' fingers like lil' spoilt brats, then might I "steal" Yuffie for a brief while?" he pointedly asked, earning himself a pout from the Ninja.
Selphie shrugged her shoulders, "Sure, by all means. I still have some duties to tend to anyways."
The military teen turned and headed off, leaving Yuffie to glare daggers at her head.
"Note to self: never ask a SeeD to do a thief's job," she grumbled under her breath.
She whirled on Barret, a cheerful smile suddenly spreaded out from ear to ear. "So what's up?"
"Is everyone else at the briefin' room yet?" Barret asked.
Yuffie cocked her head to the side and tapped a finger on her chin.
"Ummm... let's see... I saw Quistis heading there a couple minutes ago. And before that I saw Vincent getting carted off into a ward. And then Aerith went to greet the batch of survivors Reno and Rude brought back earlier. Aside from that, only Tifa and Rinoa. But they seem to be quite lucked out from that mob outside."
Barret sighed out in irritation.
"Things're just gettin' more complicated all the time..." he muttered under his breath.
Looking back to Yuffie, he instructed, "Go find Aerith and tell her to come to the briefin' room quickly. She did call for the meetin' after all."
Yuffie gave him a mock salute, "You got it, mon capitan!"
And then she spotted Hope and Snow standing awkwardly behind him.
"And who're those two?" she asked curiously.
Noticing a familiar glint in her eyes, Barret slowly and warily replied back. "Replacements for Spikey and Broody Man."
Yuffie gaped her mouth open and before Barret could sto her, she was already onto both men with hungry eyes.
"Well well! Look at you two!" she cooed out ravenously, "A young cutie and a big hunk of chunk! Ooh yeah! Best of luck filling those big shoes, 'cause they're big shoes!"
Snow eyed her awkwardly, "Uh yeah heh heh, thanks for the tip and-"
"Really, REALLY big shoes!"
Hope nodded his head as professionally as he could, "Yes of course, we'll keep that in mi-"
"Big shoes that could house the largest Bahamut in all the cosmos!"
"Alright Yuffie, that's enough now," Barret chided her calmly with a sharp frown, "Don't wanna coddle our newest members on the first day."
Yuffie waved it off, "Yeah yeah, I know! I got that lecture before."
But then she sized up to Snow and actually leaned against his muscular frame. "But YOU can give me a call if you wanna go for seco-"
"Getta move on!"
"OKAY OKAY! SHEESH!" Yuffie relented with raised hands before she turned and marched off, "Just trying to connect with people and suddenly everyone starts getting jumpy..."
As the Ninja disappeared into the medical facility, Barret grumbled in embarassment gestured to Snow and Hope to continue following him.
But just then, Snow heard a small "psst!" coming behind him.
He glanced over his shoulder to Yuffie peeping from the door. She made an O shape with her fingers and pointed an index finger right at it. She made a flirtatious wink at Snow.
The man simply blushed and widened eyes, realising what she was implying.
"BANG!" Went off a shot directed at the door. It missed Yuffie by a hairline and made a hole next to her.
With a yelp of fright, Yuffie quickly disappeared back behind the door like a scaredy cat.
Lowering his smoke-billowing gun arm, Barret muttered curses under his breath before he continued moving on.
As they brought up the rear behind him, Hope asked Snow in a hushed whisper, "What was that all about?"
Snow shook his head slowly, "Trust me kid. The less you know about it, the better."
A part of him of kind of glad that it was just the two of them here.
If there was one thing he had learnt about Hope, it was that he was always respectful of other people's privacy.
If Fang was here... man, he could just imagine her flagging it like blackmail in front of his face. He just hoped that when he reunites with Serah, she never ever finds out about Yuffie.
Eventually, they arrived at what looked like the remains of a wide and long conference table.
The wood was rough and old, and the smooth edges were chipped into. In spite of this, Hope still decided to reach out to touch the wood with a hand out of sheer instinct.
"Wouldn't do that if I was ya," Barret gruffed as he walked around it, "Last time 'round someone gotta handful of wood chips stickin' outta his hand like a pincushion. And it looked none too pretty pullin' 'em all out."
Hope swiftly retracted away his hand with this in mind.
The trio waited silently for a few minutes, until the rest of the members started filing into the briefing room.
"How are you feeling Barret?" Tifa asked her friend with a bit of concern as she and Rinoa arrived.
Barret shrugged his shoulders, "I'm good. Takes more than some fiery explosion ta kill this gunman."
Rinoa raised an eyebrow, "Yuffie told us a different story. Something about a burly man "crying like a tiny tod in pain" as he was being carried back here."
"... I'm mostly good. But that doesn't excuse me from being 'ere too y'know?"
Rinoa fought the urge to roll her eyes. And then she spotted Hope and Snow across the table.
"Oh yeah, our latest new members!" she exclaimed welcomingly and she made her way over to them, "And I've completely forgotten that we've haven't been formally introduced!"
She extended out her hand to the closest of the two. "Rinoa Heartilly. But Rinoa's just fine," she greeted.
Snow took her hand and they shook on it. "Snow Villiers to most. But Snow to my friends and comrades," he introduced himself.
Rinoa then turned her attention to Hope, and he too shook her hand.
"Hope Estheim. Don't mind the appearance by the way, I'm supposed to be over twenty by now."
"Oh really?" Rinoa perked up and she leaned forwards to scrutinise the silver-haired, "You don't look that old. Maybe just close to fifteen if I had to guess. Why do you say that?"
Hope scratched the back of his hand, "L-Long story..."
"Which can be saved for another time Rinoa," Aerith spoke from the entrance, a small frown on her face.
Nodding her head albeit reluctantly, Rinoa slinked off close to where Barret was, allowing Aerith some room to move closer to the table.
"Yo Aerith!" another male voice suddenly called out, "Where do ya want us to park 'im?"
Turning her attention to the entrance, Aerith replied back, "Just around here will do." She gestured to a big open space behind her.
As the others watched, Reno and Rude was carrying a makeshift bed, with a semi-conscious Cloud laid out on top of it.
Following in close behind them was Vincent who was now sporting a bandage to his injured chest, as well as a redhead young woman. Someone who a handful of those in the room did not recognise.
Once they had settled the SOLDIER down nice and properly, both Turks began heading out.
But then Reno stopped in front of the newcomer and asked softly, "Seriously, I swear I didn't know what happened back then."
She narrowed her eyes dangerously at him, "Spare me the excuses, Reno. I thought Turks always look out for one another, but I guess even that rule got thrown out the window back then."
Reno looked hurt and pained by her response, "Cissnei..."
He felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to look at Rude, who was shaking his head slowly with his normal look of neutrality. Defeated, the redhead slowly walked out of the briefing room with his partner.
With that drama over, Tifa broke the tension by eyeing both Cloud and Vincent. She then turned to look at Aerith, a questioning look on her gaze.
Taking note of it, the Cetra simply replied back, "They wanted a say in what's going on in here."
"Instead of recuperating?" Tifa questioned with a disapproved frown.
Barret chuckled lightly, "Probably tryin' to wrap up the embarassment of gettin' their asses whooped by Pinkey."
Vincent simply stared at him blankly, and Cloud gave him a pointed look. Taking a gander around the table, Aerith noticed that someone else was missing.
"Quistis still isn't here yet," she noted then looked to Rinoa, "Any idea where she might be?"
Rinoa shrugged, "Last I heard she was trying to calm Zell down in his ward and scold Irvine for making fun of his defeat at the hands of a woman. But I think she should be here soon."
Nodding with acknowledgement, Aerith turned to the rest of the table. Looks like they had to start the meeting without her.
"Alright then, I thank you all for coming, however sudden as this may be," she addressed formally, "But considering the recent events as of late, this probably will be the Guardian Committee's most important meeting."
"Hold up, I'm sorry," Snow suddenly spoke up, "Guardian Committee?"
Everyone else all simply stared at him.
"What? We didn't exactly get the welcome pamphlet when we stepped foot into this place!"
Hope slowly nodded his head, concurring with his ally's sentiments.
Frowning slightly at this, Aerith glanced at Barret and instructed, "Remind me to give Reno a day's long lecture later."
Clearly the redhead Turk had been slacking off for quite some time now since the previous batch of rescued stragglers.
Barret grinned, "Noted."
Turning to the pair, he gruffly drawled out, "Welcome to the Committee, fools! We keep everybody safe, maintain the peace, yada yada. Just don't expect any complimentary cookies!"
Ignoring whatever reaction the two would have, he turned back to Aerith and prompted, "Continuing on?"
Nodding her head, Aerith spoke out, "Thank you Barret. Now as most of you are aware, there have been a recent number of developments as of late. Sephiroth had nearly broken into the haven, and one of our newcomers, Lightning, destroying our main medical facility whilst under his influence. Thankfully he was stopped on both counts, but in light of his awareness of our location, I'm afraid that there's now an inevitability of an all-out attack."
With her revelation up in the air, murmurs began circulating across the table.
"With that in mind, it is urgent that we move up our planned timetable."
That made some eyes widen in astonishment.
"But we've haven't decided if it's a course worth pursuing yet!" Rinoa protested.
"Not to mention the fact that Sephiroth's Sons and his legion of freakazoids are on the prowl 24/7," Barret added in with a skeptical look.
"Don't forget that Sephiroth's controlling the rest of the Lifestream out there," Tifa pointed out, "He could sense us coming from a mile away."
"The raid we conducted a long time ago being a good example," Vincent stated bluntly.
Confused by what was going on, Hope asked, "I'm sorry, what do you mean when you say timetable? You have a plan?"
"The makings of one," Barret explained to him curtly, "A way for us to escape this hunk of cursed space rock."
Disgesting this info, Hope exchanged a glance with Snow.
In spite of the others' protests, Aerith still maintained her calm composure. Once the voices had quietened down, she spoke again.
"Well, then it's a good thing I had Cissnei brought in here."
She gestured with a hand in the direction of the other newcomer in the room, and she stepped forth to the table on cue.
Hope could not help but stare at her, for a longer period than most others in the room.
Wow... she was pretty...
But then the sound of Aerith's voice snapped him out of it.
"For the past couple of years, Cissnei has been our eyes and ears into Sephiroth's comings and goings."
Barret blinked a few times at her statement. "W-What...?"
Cissnei glanced over to him. "Well, regarding the raid we attempted in Sephiroth's lair... Well, it wasn't so much as a failure as you might believe."
"I'm sorry, not a failure?" Cloud croaked out from the bed, his neck creening a little.
Vincent eyed her carefully, "Explain yourself."
After getting a nod to go ahead by Aerith, Cissnei began explaining, "Aerith already suspected beforehand that the raid was going to be a flop. So she decided to approach me and we discussed about a potential backup solution. In order to soften the blow of defeat so to speak. It was a twofold objective: I allowed myself to get captured by Sephiroth, and from the Lifestream, I spied on his work as well as his plans."
Her lips quirked upwards into a smile. "I can even tell you about the current situation with Kadaj."
"Okay wait, back up just a bit," Snow said to her, "You said that you infiltrated the Sephiroth-controlled Lifestream to spy on him, right? How did you even manage to retain your sense of self in there?"
Cissnei smiled ever more pleasantly at him. "When you've been apart of a skilled group of assassins and spies for so long, you pick up a thing or two."
She slid a hand into the inner pocket of her suit and she pulled something out. The others gazed at the item in her grasp. A crystal of sorts that was tinted in light orange.
"This is a Kwartz Crystal," she explained, "I used bits of the Lifestream here to do a bit of physical conversion with my Sense Materia, and also with a little bit of help from the magic of Aerith's White Materia once I convinced her. With it, I was able to mask my life force as well as retain my consciousness even when my body was destroyed."
"Amazing..." Hope gasped in wonderment, "Biological and mental manipulation! Even with the most advanced tech from PSICOM, they probably couldn't come up with something like that!"
Tifa smirked, "That's the power of Materia for you."
As Cissnei set down the crystal down on the table, Rinoa raised another question to the floor.
"So given the amount of time you've spent behind enemy lines, what've you learnt from Mister God Man?"
That was when Cissnei's smile dropped and her expression became stoic and serious within milliseconds. Hope was slightly perturbed by the quick mood change, wondering what sort of training she had to go through to attain such a skill.
"From what I can gather, Sephiroth's hunting of planets has slowed down sharply over the past couple of years."
"Really? How's that so?" Barret queried.
"Considering the trillion souls he's collected, my guess is there's a certain limit to how many the Lifestream can contain, especially since Sephiroth also uses it move across the Universe."
"Indeed. Even we ourselves can't bring in too many stragglers into this place at once," Cloud concurred grimly, "Aerith would tire out quickly from that influx."
Aerith nodded her head as well to confirm the point.
"Possible, but that doesn't explain why he decided to send out Kadaj to another world after assmilating Snow, Hope and the rest of their people," Tifa pointed out.
Cissnei nodded in agreement, "That's what Aerith told me too. So I came up with another possible conclusion. But I have a feeling you might not like it."
She leaned forwards and frowned, "Sephiroth might be preparing to finally create his Promised Land."
Half the people in the room gasped in shock.
"What?!" Rinoa exclaimed aloud.
"Shit!" Barret cursed angrily.
"We have to act now! Time is of the essence!" Hope stated with narrowed eyes.
"Yes! We have to stop him!" Snow snapped and banged a fist on the table.
"Enough! All of you!" Tifa suddenly shouted at them all, "We must keep cooler heads here, even when faced with this threat!"
Although caught off guard by her outburst, everyone quickly quietened down again.
Looking back to Cissnei, Tifa inquired, "If what you say is true, then I assume you have a plan?"
Cissnei folded her arms, "Mr Highwind has already failed on multiple accounts to build a ship capable of handling inclement space travel. And Aerith has also tried to usurp control of this asteroid, correct?"
Aerith sighed softly, "Yes."
That was something she learnt the hard way.
"Then it stands to reason that we have only one option left." Vincent narrowed his eyes slightly at this, "And that would be?"
Cissnei casted her eyes down at the table hard, "We need to separate this part of the asteroid from the rest of it."
She looked up, quickly noticing the stares everyone was giving her. It didn't take much for her to know that they thought she was crazy.
"Girl, I've no idea how much of Sephiroth's Lifestream you've been smokin', but your idea is completely insane!" Barret snapped at her.
Cissnei narrowed her eyes in unamusement, "If you have a better idea Mr Wallace, do please share it with the table."
The burly man opened his mouth to retort, but then he paused before he shut himself up.
"Then we'll risk everything on this plan," Snow stated evenly, "So how do we do it, Miss Cissnei?"
"In order for this to work, we'll need to apply enough force to actually divide ourselves from the asteroid," Cissnei said, "The only complication however, is that Sephiroth's powers over the Lifestream could easily mend the wound if he wanted to."
Cloud hummed with consideration, "And what's our loophole around this?"
"Well... I'm looking at her," Cissnei replied, her gaze directed at the person in-question, "You are have complete control over the Lifestream in this area, correct?"
Aerith nodded her head, "I guess so."
"Then by all accounts you should be able to wars of Sephiroth's powers and do what he does: pilot us through space."
Aerith blinked at her.
"Uh yeah, sorry to butt in but I don't really see Aerith as a good driver," Rinoa spoke out solemnly.
She looked to Aerith sheepishly, "No offense. You're a really cool girl."
"None taken," Aerith replied back sweetly with a shake of her head.
"Then that leaves the separation part," Tifa stated.
Cissnei nodded, "What we need is a tool. Something strong and powerful enough to even cut through the toughest rock."
She left the statement hanging in the atmosphere for a brief moment. Gradually, some of them started to understand what she was trying to get at.
"No!" Barret grunted sharply at her.
Cissnei stared at him, "Yes."
"No!"
"Yes."
"NO! N O means NO!" Barret snapped in utter bafflement and slapped a hand the table, "You canNOT be seriously thinkin' about stealing that long-haired bastard's sword?!"
Hope choked back a gasp, "W-What...?"
"It's the only way for this plan to work," the former Turk responded calmly, "Like I said earlier, if you have a better idea, please share it with the rest of us."
Barret glared at her hotly for a few more tense seconds, before he finally let out a defeated sigh and sagged his shoulders.
Awkwardly clearing his throat, Cloud then prompted her, "So um, Cissnei... continuing on...?"
"Ever since Aerith first rescued me, I've been doing frequent reconaissance missions beyond the haven. With a little help of her magic, of course," Cissnei said and reached into her pocket.
Fishing out a relatively small folded piece of paper, the former Turk began unfolding it. Hope looked on in awe as she expertly flipped it several times until it became roughly the size of an A0. Was there no end to what this woman could do?
Unaware of the staring, Cissnei laid out the now fully exposed schematics of the asteroid on the table.
"As you can see, the layouts of every single tunnel is very complex," Cissnei explained to the others as they looked over the map, "Since previous rescue attempts, some of them have been hardwired with booby traps. Others are being guarded 24/7 by Sephiroth's Ravages. The Arch of Shattered Mirrors being a prime example."
She pointed directly at the specified area.
Stroking her chin, Tifa inquired, "And what about teleporting through the Lifestream? Would it work?"
Cissnei unfortunately, shook her head at this. "Sephiroth will be closely monitoring the Lifestream for any abnormal movements or signatures."
"Just perfect..." Barret grumbled under his breath, "Another happy hike through a space rock..."
"Masamune is one of Sephiroth's prized possessions, even back on Gaea," Vincent stated monotonously, "It's safe to say that Sephiroth will have it kept close to his person, even in his own lair."
"So how do we even get it without arousing his attention?" Snow questioned aloud.
Cissnei stroked her chin, "From time to time, the only periods Sephiroth leaves his sword unattended is when he takes his baths, or takes a sabbatical. Sleeping in this case."
Barret raised an eyebrow, "So even gods can take a shower and hit the haystack, huh?"
"Besides that, he also frequently meditates in his chambers. At which point he'll cut himself off from all points of contact. Not even an assault on his person would disturb him."
"So those are our only windows of opportunity," Tifa said with a nod, "But that still leaves the Ravages and the Sons. There's no way Sephiroth will leave his chambers undefended."
Cissnei gave an affirmative nod, "Exactly. But from what Aerith has told me, Kadaj had departed a day ago, and has yet to return. Considering he's Sephiroth's second-in-command, without him the whole security detail will be in disarray."
She laid a hand on her crystal, "Fighting them is still out of the question however, since that will draw too much attention. To that end, we will use the Kwartz Crystal to mask our life force, sneak right past them, and steal Masamune from right under Sephiroth's nose."
"Wait hang on, if this crystal of yours could mask us in the Lifestream, why not just use it as we teleport to his lair?" Hope queried confusingly, "I mean, wouldn't that save us on a lot more time?"
Cissnei smiled slightly at him, which made his heart flutter a little.
"I admire where you're getting at, but it's not that simple," she explained, "There's so much more of the Lifestream that we still do not understand. Mixing energies together could have drastic consequences, especially for the user."
"Like how Yuffie mixed those explosive chemicals that one time," Barret chimed in.
"But even if we used it, how can we be certain that Sephiroth won't be able to track it?" Rinoa pointed out, "I mean, it's not like we all can use it at once to sneak our way in."
Cissnei folded her arms, "To answer your first point, it's like I said. The crystal's camouflage properties are strong enough to even mask your scent. But it's only to a certain degree. Your life force can't be swimming around in the Lifestream when it's activated. And to answer your second point, you're right, the crystal's influence can only extend up until a certain number of individuals. Which is why I'm recommending a small task force of volunteers for this mission."
Nodding his head, Snow acknowledged, "Considering you have a firm grasp on how that thing works, you'll be leader of this ragtag group."
"And I ain't goin', on account of my injuries and all," Barret stated, as he nursed his bandaged injuries.
"I wouldn't mind going, but then I remembered I had to help Aerith hold up the magic barriers," Rinoa said with a sigh.
"And I have to look after Lucrecia," Vincent said with folded arms.
"I'm with you!" Hope suddenly volunteered and took a bold step forward, "I'm good with coordination efforts too."
Cissnei nodded her head, "That's one."
"Yeah um... I think I'll stay behind too," Snow said with a hesitant rub of his neck, "I gotta look after Lightning. Y'know, felt like that whole drama back there was on me."
Hope could easily sense that there was more to what he said, but he kept his silence, out of respect for both him, and Serah.
And then suddenly, there came loud grunting as everyone turned in the direction it came from.
"I'm going too..." Cloud volunteered readily as he struggled to haul himself from the bed.
Alarmed by this, Tifa quickly raced over to him.
"No Cloud! You're not going anywhere! Not in this state!" she admonished him sternly as she tried to lay him back down.
As stubborn as he was, Cloud unfortunately chose to struggle against her grip.
"Please Cloud! Don't this!" Tifa pleaded with her childhood friend desperately, "You're in no condition to fight Sephiroth!"
"But I have to..." Cloud growled out in fueled determination, "Everything that's happening... all the worlds destroyed... it's because of me! I got us into this mess, and I'll be damned if I don't get us out of it!"
Frowning disapprovingly at Cloud's attitude, Aerith marched over to him, and wabed her hand in front of his face.
Before Cloud even realised what was happening, he was out like a light.
His struggling ceased quickly and with a shaky breath, Tifa slowly lowered the blonde back onto the bed.
A tense moment of silence followed. Sighing softly, Tifa turned back to the others and said, "I'll stay here too. Just in case he decides to take matters into his own hands again."
Cissnei nodded, "And you should. He has the strongest link to Sephiroth than anyone else. His presence on our team would quickly compromise the mission."
"So aside from just myself..." Hope then spoke up, "Do you think there's anyone else willing to join us?"
Cissnei shook her head and smiled, "Don't worry about the rest. I'll take care of that. In the meantime, just be prepared to await my call for the final briefing. We still need to plan on best route to get to the lair after all."
Aerith nodded, "Agreed. And with that, this meeting is over."
Within seconds, everyone began shuffling out of the room.
Walking over to the former Turk, Aerith then asked, "Could you walk with me for a while, Cissnei? I need to discuss with you on... some things."
An unreadable expression crossed Cissnei's face briefly before she replied stoically, "Of course. What do you need?"
The two women walked out of the room, brushing past Reno and Rude, both of whom had returned to collect the now knocked-out Cloud Strife. Under Tifa's watchful gaze, the two Turks carefully carted her friend out of the room before she followed after them.
Eventually, Snow and Hope remained as the remaining two members in the room, with the latter still reading the info on the schematics that Cissnei left on the table. An awkward silence hung over to two males.
"So um... you seem to have something going..." Snow started slowly.
Hope slowly turned to look at him, "What do you mean by that?"
Snow chuckled lowly, "C'mon, I saw how you were lookin' at that Cissnei gal. I swear your face could be as red as a tomato."
His cheeks blushing softly, Hope bashfully rubbed his neck.
"I-I was huh...? Think she noticed it?" he mumbled quietly.
Snow slapped a hand on his shoulder, "Clear as day it was. But that look on her face, I swear she's as tough as nails. You made an odd choice with her, kid."
Hope sent him an exasperated look, "Snow, for the last time, I'm not a kid! I may look like one, but my mind's still mature!"
Snow backed off and raised his hands, "Okay okay! I know! I get the memo!"
And then he grinned slyly, "But she doesn't know that. Way outta your league now kid!"
Hope glared at him and elbowed his side hard. And when the taller man simply continued to laugh harder at his expense, he simply resorted to going back over the schematics again.
Once more, silence fell between the two, that was until Cissnei suddenly arrived back in the room.
"Oh, you haven't left yet?" she asked curiously, which suddenly caught both males off-guard.
Stumbling around address her properly, Hope stood fast and rigid like a trooper and replied back, "Soon ma'am!"
Snow mimicked his actions, but could not help but cast another glance at his partner. He smirked as a darker shade of red filled his cheeks.
Smirking in amusement at this, Cissnei walked over towards the A0-sized paper on the table.
"I was just here to collect the schematics," she explained, "Apparently the Wutai also wishes to join us and wants to see the map of the asteroid."
The two men simply stood off at the side and watched her fold the schematics into an A4 size.
Tucking it neatly underneath her arm, she then addressed them.
"By the way, I realised that we haven't been formally introduced," she said and extended out her hand, "I'm Cissnei. Former agent of the Turks and the Committee's main expert in espionage."
"Good to meet you too, Cissnei," Snow greeted back with a charming grin, "I'm Snow Villiers. Leader of NORA. A resistance militia."
"More like a dance team..." Hope scoffed under his breath.
And then her attention was on him.
"And you?" she queried sweetly.
Trying to muster up enough professionalism as he could, Hope reached out and shool her hand.
"H-Hope Esthiem, ma'am..." he introduced himself clumsily, "F-Former leader of the A-Academy on P-Pulse..."
Cissnei's interest suddenly piqued, "Academy you say?"
Hope inwardly gulped, "Y-Yes ma'am... Founded by m-my parents... Um... we specialise in research and higher education..."
Cissnei tilted her head slightly, "It's funny. There was also another academy of that specialty back on my world. When I was little, I had always dreamt of going there."
"Oh really?" Snow asked curiously.
Cissnei nodded her head, "Yes. I had always thought about trying to change the world for the better. Trying to make peace between all nations. I guess it was just a child's fantasy for me, especially since SHINRA took me in and raised me to become a covert agent."
She shuddered slightly and a pained look flashed across her face, something that Hope noticed quickly before she masked it again.
"Anyways, you don't have to call me "Ma'am" Mr Estheim. Cissnei will do just fine."
Blushing again slightly, Hope stuttered back, "A-As you wish, C-Cissnei..."
Smiling pleasantly at him, the former Turk said welcomely, "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr Estheim. I truly look forward to working with you on the mission later."
And with that, she turned on her heels and headed out the room again.
Once she was gone, both males continued to stare at the entrance she had left through. And then Snow nudged Hope with his elbow.
"Yup. She's probably gonna eat you alive."
Hope spun on him and shot glare.
"If you ever tell Fang or Vanille about this..." he warned.
Dramatically, Snow waved his hands in front of him.
"Oh no! Don't worry about it! I'll make sure Fang and the others don't get to use it as blackmail!"
And then he grinned, "But you never said anything about Yuffie or Selphie!"
Hope's eyes widened.
Snow made a run for it in the blink of an eye.
Hastily, Hope shot off after him.
"Snow wait! Stop! Don't do this! You don't even know them!" he hollered out as both of them raced out of the briefing room.
Okay, it's time to get the ball rolling again on the main story! Our beloved heroes will now be attempting a last-ditch plan to escape Sephiroth. And once that is done, it'll just be a space trip away before the really juicy stuff occurs in this story!
Also, a new trailer for Final Fantasy VII Remake has dropped, and I absolutely loved it! And the game finally gets a freakin' release date! Yahoo! Honestly, I'm really looking for to it, more so than Kingdom Hearts III's ReMIND DLC!
Once again, I thank those who've been following this story for so long. I understand it's been quite a gruelling wait in-between chapters, and the potential inconsistencies along the way. But please bear with me, cos I'm struggling hard in-between life and my passion for story-writing, but I'm still strongly committed to the latter! I'll sure be damned if I don't live up to my promises!
Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Until the next one!