"So you want me to do what?"
"It's very simple." Diablos flatly answered, although, at this point, Siren could see him restraining a great deal of irritation and anger at her not getting the gist the first time. "Send an additional song to the troops. This time, order them to capture the priority personnel targets instead of killing them like everyone else."
Siren crossed her arms at that. For the moment, she and Diablos were in the main throne room. It was getting rather empty in here at this point. All of the troops were mobilizing and moving out into battle. The other espers had not yet mobilized, but they were getting in position to do so. She herself would have to go in soon. She would be one of their greatest assets in the battle to come. After all, she wouldn't have to rely on radio. Her voice alone would win even more to their cause once they arrived in Junon, and would ursurp all of the opponents against them.
However, the esper, despite having tens of thousands under her control, was not well at ease. She had just recently discovered that Diablos had the power to "make units" of his own, and that these ones were subservient only to the will of the esper of death. He was summoning more monsters to his command all the time. Now, she truly began to wonder if she was becoming less necessary…
"I thought these targets represented the greatest threat to your success." Siren protested.
"They also knew the Cetra more than anyone else. They're worth their weight in data. They'll know what other Cetra souls I need. I won't have to waste time tearing the database apart."
So much power…and you want yet more. If the human race is beneath you now, then what else remains to be a threat to you?
"…As you wish." Siren responded with the smallest hint of hesitation.
Diablos seemed to pick up on that, unfortunately. One of his dead eyes raised an eyebrow as he stared critically at Siren. The esper saw this, and the power of the stare began to penetrate her…started to fill her with its cold feeling…
"Lord Diablos…"
Then, it broke. The eyes of the monster shifted upward, toward the back of the chamber. Now released, Siren didn't dare to keep staring at him. She actually had to exhale, catch her breath after the way he had stared at her. Quickly, she turned her head and looked the same way he did.
In the doorway of the chamber, dropping into a kneel, was one of the "special" cases. Not only was this one given the body of an imp rather than a troll, but Siren had specially brainwashed him in order to have partial conscious thought. The reason was to be able to inspect monitors and security. This was one of the main watchmen who had to be able to see data and interpret it from the old control rooms. Evidently, this one had.
"Speak." Diablos ordered him.
"The laboratory has been incinerated per your request. However, based on our security records, those who were in there escaped. We have identified one as designate Shelke the Transparent. Another is Azure Strife. The final is the esper Carbuncle. Likely due to that reason, they were able to teleport out of the base to the perimeter before we could dispose of them."
Diablos paused for a moment on hearing this. His fist clenched, and his teeth grit, cracking some more of the tooth bones within. However, when this happened, he closed his eyes, and began to breath deeply and slowly. Siren kept her eyes on the reporter, not looking back to Diablos to get his verdict. It was too bad...otherwise she might have noticed that he was now having to consciously keep himself calm in order to make rational decisions, and even that was breaking. After about half a minute, the monster calmed down considerably, and smiled.
"Well then…if those were the intruders, then it is very good that we didn't dispose of them just yet. I need them alive to inquire about the final Cetra."
"Shall I go after them?" Siren found herself asking.
"Unnecessary." Diablos answered, even as his mouth began to twist into a rather wicked and insidious smile. "I'll dispatch my elite to take care of them…"
"Hey you! Get rid of that pea shooter and take up a real gun! …I guess that'll do! And you over there! This isn't time for a lunch break! Move the k-rail into position! Ugh…if you guys were in my old regiment, I'd kick all your asses!"
Man…I miss being in command.
Yuffie was rather enjoying what brief leadership she had going for herself right now. Being a former officer in the PPA and therefore possessing lots of field command hours along with battle experience, it wasn't long before she was impressed into helping prepare Junon for the inevitable. That suited her just fine. After all, she was supposed to head up Wutai once her old man finally kicked the bucket, and she had longed for the chance to show just what she could do all by herself ever since the war had ended.
Unfortunately, Yuffie had little to work with. S.W.A.T. team members were something, but the normal policemen were not nearly as good. Quite a few of the more seasoned officers had been listening to their scanners a few nights ago, and so they ended up getting brainwashed. That left off duty ones, rookies, and part-time, near-retirees. A lot of them had never fired a gun at anything besides a paper cutout. Even then, most were trained with the basic handgun. Vincent had made clear once he arrived that this wouldn't be good enough anymore. The enemy was going to be armored, and even if they weren't there were still the espers to deal with.
Every shotgun available in the force was being utilized now, but Vincent had doubted their effectiveness. Therefore, without any authorization or orders, he had taken the liberty of breaking into both a gun store and pawn shop, found whatever weapons looked good, and brought them out. They were lying in a pile along with boxes of ammunition right in the center of the street where Yuffie was currently located. Mostly they were high-powered rifles. Two guns had been illegal and kept behind the counters for more shady customers, but they had armor piercing capability. Even so, he had voiced his regret that they had no heavy weapons from the army days. The most powerful weapons were all in his hands, the Cerberus, Hydra, and Griffon.
Most of the police officers were gathered in Yuffie's area right now, milling about the center of the street, grabbing weapons and ammo. Once they were armed, they began to move out to take positions. Barricades, luckily, were made easily enough. Being near a beach, sand was in plenty supply. And they were taking Vincent's advice and making sandbags, thanks to his intel that whatever these monsters were they were using fire rockets of some sort. Aside from them, there were huge construction vehicles down all of the side rows, lowering slabs and rails of concrete into position to create walls blocking the roads off.
Last but not least, Reno, of all people, was seated a bit behind her, bearing about seven crates worth of high proof alcohol and a number of bar towels. For once, him hitting up the bar seemed to have yielded something useful. He was going about turning the liquor and towels into crude firebomb explosives. He didn't mind sneaking a nip every now and then either.
"Best job ever, so far." He commented as he went about his work.
Shera, the kids, and Mack had already left. It was safer for the children to go with him as he went out to contact more airships and to get them ready for battle. Elena herself was off getting the rest of the Turks over to their location. Hopefully, she'd find them quickly enough, according to Reno. Their last message to her had been fragmented but had essentially told her to get moving.
As the last group went off to do their jobs, Yuffie put her hands on her hips and exhaled. No one else seemed to be lagging behind for the moment. She looked up to the sky afterward. No sign of any enemy or airships from up there either. However, the sun was in the process of getting lower in the sky. The day was going from yellow to orange. Looking down from that, she turned her head behind her, back toward Reno.
After a moment, she frowned and gestured to what he was doing.
"Are you sure that's the best we can do?"
"I don't trust these donut shop cockroaches with any of my high explosives." Reno answered as he took a swig from another bottle before setting it down to put a rag in it.
Yuffie crossed her arms and huffed. "Sure it doesn't have anything to do with you getting more to drink?"
Reno gave a shrug and a grin. "Fringe benefits of a hard day at work."
Yuffie frowned and may have pouted or huffed in a moment…but she didn't get a chance. A car horn blaring out, and rapidly growing closer, shook her from her thoughts and almost made her jump as she turned and looked behind Reno. The Turk, on the other hand, quite calmly went about his work without fear. That was a far cry from the other people around. The officers were scattering from an approaching car. Some were even aiming their guns at it. Most were yelling curses as it nearly ran a few of them over. However, no one was hurt when it finally got up to Reno and Yuffie. It pulled into a halt as it came next to them.
The ninja looked inside, and found Krystea in the driver's seat. Rude and Elena were in the back, fiddling with some sort of technology.
"We're here." She announced. Her face was earnest and at the ready, but other than that showed neither excitement nor fear.
Yuffie gave something of a frown to her. However, it wasn't from her driving. "You're supposed to be lying low!"
Krystea's face turned into a frown. "…Like hell I'm going to sit out after this bastard captured my sister. I'll nail him myself if I can.
"Krystea's a big girl. She can handle herself." Reno snorted from his own position.
Yuffie did give a bit of a frown, but nothing else. She didn't know the gravity of the situation nearly as well as the others. Neither was she the most concerned or responsible out of the group. Therefore, she let this slide. Instead, she looked to Elena and Rude in the back and gestured. "What're those things?"
"Heat sensors." Elena explained, looking up from her work. "It'll be dark soon, and we won't be able to see them from a distance. These things are kind of small and generalized, but they'll give a good estimate of how many there are and how close or far they are. We're going to set them up for three miles before the barrier. Then we'll head back."
The ninja groaned a bit more at this, but in the end waved her hand. "Fine…just don't take too long. I want to get the main front barricade set up soon."
The water gave out a rather loud crash as the head of the great sea serpent Leviathan burst forth from it. A length of its neck came out behind it as the whiskered face shot into the sky. However, that was about as far as it got before it turned its head down toward the shore, halting its ascent out of the water momentarily. After that, it cracked open its beak wide, and proceeded to snap its head down and appear to gag as it pressed its full mouth all the way to the earth.
A movement went up its neck toward the mouth, and then the creature snapped its head up again, keeping its mouth shut as it did so. In its wake, a somewhat haggard, still nicely-dressed young man was revealed. Rex blinked a bit this time, but overall he had the feeling he was getting used to this. In his shoestring arms were two things he somewhat struggled to keep upheld: the Lunarite goblet and some raw Adamant ore.
Leviathan had made a brief stop back in Junon as the sun had begun to set, after Rex had collected the goblet. On arrival they could see that the situation was getting bad. All of the large ships had sunk already. However, it was at least a bit to their advantage. All security personnel were up on the main road, preparing for a fight. And the cover of darkness was theirs too. At this point, neither of them wanted Leviathan seen. He might be mistaken for one of the "bad" espers, and even if not he would cause all sorts of panic. At any rate, Rex was able to commit a small degree of theft from one of the warehouses… It took him some searching to find where the last shipment had gone, but when he got there he was able to get in somewhat easily. Since Adamant ore was notoriously hard to work, its value to thieves was limited. And this was in such small amounts that it was only to be used for analysis work. Besides, there was no one there to guard it. Rex only took a piece of what they needed when he finally got to the crate. That was good, for that was about all he could lift… After that, he ran back to the shore and hopped (extremely reluctantly) back into Leviathan's mouth.
Now he found himself here, gripping their prizes. Rex looked up and around a bit, and soon began to recognize the formation of the rocks, the mountain chains, and the city far in the distance. It was very familiar at this point. He turned his head back to the sea serpent.
"Wutai?"
"The flames of Da-Chao are what I need in order to be able to forge the lamp." Leviathan answered. "But here, we have a problem. I expected to be able to transform back into human form at this point. By now, I begin to fear that I will never be able to do so. I am not technically an esper now. I am whatever that essence brought me back to life as. In time, I might be able to learn to better harness my own psychic abilities to be able to manipulate matter and construct things as our people once did, but now I have no time. That means I need you for one other thing, Rex."
The youth raised an eyebrow here. He had a feeling he wouldn't like this.
"I need you to forge it for me."
Rex immediately felt his stomach tie into knots. His knees shook in nervousness. "Um…wait a minute, Mr. Leviathan, sir… The gambling was one thing…but this is something else. I shake like a leaf when it comes to doing important fine detail work like this…"
"I noticed." Leviathan somewhat flatly answered. "That's why I wish to use you as my avatar."
Rex blinked a few times. "…Pardon?"
"Well…not exactly." Leviathan answered. "Actually, I wish to seize control of your entire body and manipulate it if it was my own. It's a very difficult technique. Not even our Lord Bahamut could ever master it. I believe I am the only one with the mental capability to do so, and it will be a stretch from this range. The point is I need human hands in order to be able to work this, and as I only have scales and body length, this is the only option I'm left with."
Rex still looked uncomfortable. He thought he was finished being Leviathan's assistant after helping him with the materials. Early on, he didn't mind being of some use…but now that he was ending up risking his neck and getting manipulated, it was rather unsettling. He groaned a bit and shifted uncomfortably on the ground.
"I won't do it if you don't want me to." Leviathan answered. "This was forbidden during my administration as well as Lord Bahamut's. But I can tell from the situation in Junon that we're running out of time. As we stand here I'm sensing an increase in dark power from the region you call Midgar. Creating the lamp will take some time, so every moment we have could count."
In the end, the young man sighed. "…Alright, alright…" He somewhat groaned. "If we have to get this lamp finished, then I'll help. Just because I don't like it doesn't mean I can back down now when we've got so many other things to worry about…"
Leviathan's beak almost seemed to break into a smile.
"Thank you."
Exhaling again, Rex looked up to Leviathan as he felt his body tighten up again. "So what do I do?"
The sea serpent was already closing his eyes. "Just don't fight it when I start coming in. And don't tense up so much."
This only made the youth sweat further. "Great…now I can relax…"
"Azure to Denzel and Marlene…guys pick up!"
Nothing but static greeted the other end of Azure's radio. He began to wonder if it was possible to even get ahold of them. They were below ground quite a bit… And of course, he feared, this was assuming neither of them had been captured or worse. But he had to keep trying. This was the only thing he could do for them now.
Both Shelke and Azure had their flashlights out and on. The youth was grateful that they were walking around the perimeter of the city for the most part, rather than moving in toward its center. They were running through ruined and rubble lined streets and bits of wreckage, using their beams of light to guide them inward.
This wasn't a very nice place to be, not now or at any other time. Although they had cleared the perimeter of DeepGround, according to Shelke, no one visited Midgar at night. The place was swarming with hounds on the outskirts. Inside, it was filled with even more abominations, ones that weren't afraid of fire or loud noises or anything else that you traditionally used to stave off wild beasts. Thankfully, they hadn't run into any yet, although by now a whole pack could have ambushed them. Shelke and Azure had a feeling that Diablos might be to thank for that. By now, the whole compliment of monsters could be beneath him, marching out to who knew where. If that was the case, then unfortunately he was forced to wish that it was so. He needed them to stay gone for a bit longer. By now, he had a feeling he knew where they were going…
"Denzel! Answer if you can!"
"It's probably a waste of time. Worse than trying to contact them in the lab." Shelke responded. "They're under even more ground by now. Probably areas blocked for scanning. We couldn't have others picking up on our radio activity, after all."
Azure ignored that comment, but put his radio away. It wasn't due to Shelke. It was because of the fact that he didn't like making too much noise, whether they were clear or not. The sky was so dark that the only light in the area was their own flashlights, and with nothing but empty areas with lots of wreckage to hide behind, that wasn't too comforting.
"We're almost there." Carbuncle spoke up. "I can feel it. You've still got the essence, right?"
Shelke had it secure, and didn't bothering answering the question. That made sense to Azure. Did he think they would have come all this way only to forget the most important thing they had come for? He didn't answer either, but continued to move along through the alleys.
It wasn't long before Azure noticed the paths changing. For one thing, they weren't just muddy or barren ground anymore. They began to take the likeness of roads. And as they continued on, the paths looked as if there had been some traffic there. Not recently, of course. But there were imprints in long standing mud and on the remnants of streets that bore tire marks and footprints. That only served to further confirm in Azure's mind where they were headed. He had been here before himself, but he had heard the stories from Denzel and Marlene to truly realize how special it was. The one place in Midgar that no one was afraid to go…and that some people still visited. Even as he approached it, Azure began to feel some sensation of slight warmth and relief come through him…
Soon after, Carbuncle came to a halt. When that happened, a bit more illumination came on. This time, it was in the form of his ruby glowing again. It didn't give off red light, but rather seemed to project its own flashlight beam of some sort straight ahead, focusing it like a laser targeting a specific location. "Right there!" He said, pointing a paw.
Azure and Shelke soon stopped and turned their own flashlights upward. Just as Azure had thought, his beam soon illuminated a few cracked pillars and some lush green growth spilling down a set of ruined steps.
The Baptismal Garden.
"Hmm…I might have known." Shelke mentioned as her beam locked onto the area.
"Well, don't just stand there." Carbuncle answered, turning his beam away from the place and immediately putting it at his sides, beginning to scan around the piles of junk. "Help me find something."
Azure and Shelke both looked down to the esper, who was already moving onto the junk and starting to sift through the top of it. "Find what?" Azure asked.
"Something that we can put the Holy essence into." Carbuncle answered. "Some sort of appropriate vessel…"
Azure paused momentarily. He wasn't aware that the other espers had come to life via finding various other creatures or people to inhabit. However, from what he had gained from the shared stories, he realized that they likely did need something living in order for the essence to go into. With that in mind, he began to turn to the junk himself. Turning his flashlight down on it, he somewhat hesitantly began to join in with the searching.
"…I'll do it."
Moments later, he stopped. He and Carbuncle alike turned back to Shelke. She stood there plainly, not looking the least bit hesitant or reluctant.
"…I'll allow him to be reborn through me." Shelke answered. "Give me the essence."
Azure tensed up at that. He was about to open his mouth to protest, but Carbuncle beat him to it…with a snicker.
"Sorry, toots. But you aren't the right type. You don't just pick something at random. You need something more appropriate. Now come on and help me look." With that, he turned back and continued to search the junk.
Shelke actually seemed hesitant at that, almost put off by that sort of answer. Azure got the feeling she hadn't expected to be so quickly denied. Of course…he was still uncomfortable. Why had she so easily wanted to give up her body? Was it because she thought she had nothing else after this? Or was she trying to atone for something with her life? Either way, it made him rather uneasy. He only reluctantly turned and began to look through the pile as well, though he now had something new on his mind. Shelke herself stayed off for quite a bit, just standing there, before she slowly came forward and started to help.
Azure wasn't sure what Carbuncle wanted. They were making too much noise for a rat. And he was pretty sure anything that cockroaches wanted was gone, rotten, and/or devoured. He didn't think they'd find a bird here either. All that was left besides that were ugly mutants, and Azure was somewhat doubtful that a Holy essence would come from one of those. Appearances could be deceiving though… At any rate, he didn't see anything living as he dug through. Not even a weed or a piece of mold. Shelke herself began to move larger metal pieces aside as they dug, but none of them turned up anything. Carbuncle himself eventually gave up on the pile and turned to the next. Azure and Shelke moved on, but again they found nothing. Just bits of metal and trash. Nothing living at all. Azure began to wonder if he'd settle for an ant if they could dig one up…
"Aha!" The green esper suddenly yelled. "Right here! Perfect! I can sense the essence reacting to it!"
Azure turned to him at this, and was just in time to see all but the end of his bushy tail vanish into a nook within the pile of junk. He scrambled around a bit inside, but then appeared to seize something. "I got it!" His muffled cry came from around his body. He scrambled a bit with his rear legs, but didn't get anywhere. He struggled a bit more, but still nothing. After that, he splayed them out.
"Uh…any help down here?"
Azure grimaced somewhat at this, but he and Shelke immediately went on him. They both bent down and seized a leg of the green creature, and then pulled back. With minimal effort, the small esper came out from the opening he had gone in, clutching the object of interest in his tiny paws. Azure and Shelke were so surprised at the lack of effort needed that they stumbled back a bit, and Carbuncle went into the air a little before they released him, letting him fall back to plop on the ground.
They both looked down as Carbuncle steadied himself, in particular to see what he had found.
Azure himself was puzzled.
It was a 12" tall toy robot. One of the little electronic ones that could barely walk forward, rotate its torso, and make laser gun sounds. It had little light up eyes, but those were cracked. A limb was also missing, and if it had any batteries those had long since fallen out. It looked a little weather beaten and rusty at the few metal parts it had.
But Carbuncle didn't seem to mind. He readily set it upright, and then waved a paw at Shelke. "Well, hop to it, girlie. Get the essence out and dump it on top."
Shelke hesitated, but then went about reaching to unlatch the cylinder from her belt. Azure himself continued to look with some puzzlement. "This isn't alive."
"It doesn't need to be." Carbuncle answered. "Alexander didn't have a living body either. Neither did Diablos, for that matter. I don't get exactly how these things work, but I know that whatever it's going to inhabit is going to be some sort of machine just like the original Alexander was."
"That was something I never anticipated in my own research." Shelke answered as she pulled out the cylinder. She began to unscrew the top. "Will it essentially be a large robot once its complete?"
"Honey, I've got no idea what a rawboot is," Carbuncle answered. "But he's going to be a living construct when he's done. What do you think that Phantom Train became? Now make with the pouring. I'd do it myself if I had opposable thumbs."
Shelke seemed to actually narrow his gaze at Carbuncle's vocal treatment, which actually made Azure a bit surprised, but then she did as she was told. She proceeded to pour the contents of the cylinder on top of the robot. She did so slowly and moved her hand, making sure to get the liquid all over it as evenly as she could. However, Azure immediately noticed an initial reaction. The robot barely stayed wet. Almost as soon as the liquid alit on it, it seemed to evaporate…or be drawn inside the construction… Shelke was soon done. On pouring the last drop, she simply tossed the cylinder and its lid out into the night, to join the rest of the junk. She, Azure, and Carbuncle now watched and waited.
For a few brief seconds, there was nothing. Nothing save the liquid almost seeming to vanish as soon as it had come. But then…the toy robot abruptly started to quiver. It started off as a small tremble almost impossible to see, but quickly built up into a firmer, more forceful shaking. As it did, Azure noticed that the black paint that covered most of it began to chip and flake off. Beneath it was not dull plastic…but some sort of highly polished, highly gleaming metallic luster. That luster wasn't just for show either. Azure noticed the darkness around it seem to part and move back as the luster gave forth some sort of mild light.
Around the broken area where one of its limbs had been…the plastic seemed to smooth and almost extend. To Azure's surprise, it seemed to actually "heal" a little. The missing battery cavity on the back seemed to almost grow the beginnings of a new cover. The remaining limb, if possible, seemed to actually lengthen a little, and the robot appeared to hunch a little as well. Last but not least, the eye lenses repaired themselves. It almost seemed as if plastic, or glass, fluid came out from within the toy, pressed itself against the lenses, and then flattened out to become new plastic, until the eyes were totally repaired. The moment they were…a white light came out from behind them. It wasn't electrical. It was of an entirely different quality…pale yet radiant…beautiful even. It could not have been what the toymaker had intended. As Azure looked at it…he almost felt as if his heart was released from a bit more of its cares and troubles. Old wounds and past fears seemed to fade a bit as he looked at that light. He even felt a bit peaceful…
The trembling stopped. The robot was left standing there. Giving out a little mechanical whir, its head slowly rotated on top of its shoulder. It looked them all over once, but then rotated as much as it could behind it. Azure saw this, and realized that it was looking back…toward the church. Sure enough, a moment later and it began to move its plastic limbs, trying as best as it could to turn its body the way it was looking, and to start moving forward toward it.
"Whoa man…" Carbuncle exhaled. Azure and Shelke looked to him. The green esper's small black eyes seemed to have grown. It was gaping at the toy robot, almost in awe of it and trembling before it. "It's him alright…it's really him. Leviathan told me he fought against Diablos even in death. I think he already knows what he's doing. But man…to actually see him alive…to be in his presence…wow."
Shelke may have been able to look indifferent, but Azure stared at Carbuncle with a crooked eyebrow. The toy was smaller than him, and he acted like he was in the presence of a god. At any rate, the robot seemed to know what it was doing. It continued to turn and tried to make itself go closer to the Baptismal Garden. In the end, Azure spoke up. "I…um…think we should help him out…so he gets regenerated quicker."
The esper continued to stare at the robot for a while longer, still appearing to be captivated. But then he looked up to Azure. "Huh? Oh…oh yeah, right. That's probably good." He said, seeming to come out of a daze. After that, however, he grew uneasy. "But…uh…I ain't touching him. I don't want to mess him up and have him annihilate me or anything…"
Azure stared blankly back at him. He had a feeling Denzel would have something to say about this event if he was here… At any rate, Shelke didn't wait. She immediately stepped forward, scooped him up in one arm, and then began to walk toward the Baptismal Garden. The robot immediately went still in her arm, and slowly turned its head toward her, but other than that did nothing. Carbuncle, however, appeared to turn a shade white and started to run after her.
"N-N-Now…y-y-you be careful with him…you hear? He might take out his anger on me…"
Azure let out a sigh at this exchange. He soon got up regardless, and began to walk after the two of them. As he did, he figured now was as good a time as any, and took up his radio again. Not expecting much success at all, he pressed the button and called into it somewhat tiredly as he continued to follow the others.
"Denzel… Marlene… Please pick up."
Therefore…he was most surprised a second later.
"…zure…Azure? Do…read me?"
Azure froze where he stood. Immediately, he spun back around and pushed the radio closer to his head. The esper was almost entirely forgotten. Relief surged into him as he finally heard word that his brother was still alive. The voice was broken up and garbled, but he recognized it anywhere. "Denzel? Denzel! Is that you? Are you alright?"
"Az…I can bar…you. It's Denzel. I'm…with Marlene. We're…"
Azure didn't see it, but Shelke had almost immediately frozen as well and snapped back to him. That made Carbuncle stop as well, his head shooting up that Shelke had frozen with the robot along the way to their goal.
"Hey! Don't stop here!"
"You have Marlene too?!" Azure almost shouted back. That filled him with more relief. That meant they were both alive and not captured. "Where are you guys? Are you outside? Did you escape? Are you hurt?"
"We're still…eepGround. We're trying…a way out. Where are… Did you get the ess…?"
"We got the essence. We're alright. Denzel, tell me where you are!"
"I don't know. Some…over here says…Sector S1-A…"
"Sector S1-A?"
"…Turn off the radio right now."
This comment diverted Azure's attention away from the radio momentarily on hearing this. It wasn't a suggestion or a warning. It had been a command…a stern one. He found himself looking back at Shelke, who now stared firmly at him with her eyes burning.
"What?"
"Turn it off." She ordered again. "Don't ask why. Just do it."
Had this been Denzel, he would have demanded an explanation. However, Shelke was dead serious and cold. Swallowing a bit, Azure did throw one more comment into the radio. "Denzel, Marlene…stay right there. I'll be down there to get you out soon. Just hang tight. Don't move. Azure out." After that, he turned off the radio, and then turned his body fully to Shelke as he put it back in his pocket.
The young woman, however, continued to glare at him. A moment later, she turned away and continued to walk toward the Baptismal Garden. Carbuncle gave a sigh, then turned and followed after her. She called behind her as she walked. "…You should have turned it off the moment I told you. You may have doomed them as well as us now."
Azure reacted to that, his face turning to confusion. "What do you mean?"
"The only way they could have gotten a transmission out is if they somehow got onto one of our antenna boosters for our own personal radio communications to personnel outside the base from within it." Shelke answered. "Those are more general channels. It's more than likely that someone was listening to us. And if they truly are in that sector, which is on one of the lowest levels, and they stay put like you said, then anyone there knows where to find them. They may have also pinpointed where your transmission was coming from, and if so then they know where we are too."
Azure didn't like the sound of that. He swallowed a bit as his fists clenched. Now, more than ever, he wanted to radio them back and tell them that bit of information that Shelke had just said. Or if not that, he wanted to turn and bolt back right away and right now. Now that he knew where they were, and now that the base was emptying, he had a chance to actually help them. However, Carbuncle soon spoke up again to cut off his thinking.
"Just relax. Let's get Alexander in here. Once he's fully recharged, he'll turn that base into the world's largest bowl. We just got to make sure no one gets here before he's ready to kick some ass."
Azure exhaled in response to that. He twisted his jaw and thought. He looked behind himself again, back toward DeepGround, and then forward, toward the Baptismal Garden. They were almost to the front doors by now. He clenched his fists and unclenched them again. Finally, he looked back to Shelke, just as she was crossing the threshold.
"How long would it take them to respond to us if they knew where we were?"
"Using helicopters or drop craft, which is likely," Shelke answered. "About twenty minutes."
"I'll wait fifteen." Azure answered as he continued following. "Then I'm heading back to DeepGround, with or without any help."
The beams of light stuck out like a sore thumb from a distance, especially when one was at high ground. However, that made little difference to the eyes of who was watching. They were lupine and lined with mirror cells, easily able to pierce into the darkness. They gave forth an ethereal glare as they stared into the night, looking and seeing their prey descending into the Baptismal Garden. The mind behind those eyes knew it had them trapped. There was no escape from that interior. Alright, its sharp teeth parted as drool began to pour forth at the thought of gorging itself on warm flesh and blood.
The eyes flicked to the side, revealing another set of glowing orbs, much like its own, along with a much brighter glowing, much higher set of eyes that seemed to tower over the other two.
"They are cornered." A wolvish sound growled. "Let's bring their heads as a gift to master…and feed on the remainder."
"So how did you do it?"
Vincent inspected the barrel of his Hydra, and checked the clip to make sure everything was moving smoothly. Then he aimed it at the ground again, drawing the crosshairs near the front of the road. The darkness made no difference to him. He could see through it easily enough. "You should be down there staying at the ready." He answered.
Yuffie huffed from where she stood, perched on one of the top rungs of the ladder, and glared at him. Seeing as Vincent was the best gun out of any of them, he had taken a position from where he could snipe any potential enemies. There was an electrical tower not far from the main entrance into town, and he had set up his position there, modifying his gun appropriately. Most of the other officer were camped out below behind assorted barricades. They had a good 200 people now holding the entrance to town. It wasn't the best in the world, but it was the only defense they could manage. Hopefully the equipment they had set up would make the difference.
By now, the monitoring devices were all hooked up. The information was coming back to the Turks, who in turn were relaying their findings to the rest of the officers. Nothing had happened yet, but everyone realized something was likely coming soon. It was night now, and it was clouding over. However, the clouds weren't blowing in from the ocean as they usually did. They almost seemed to be coming from over the mountains…from Midgar. It seemed as if the cover of darkness was spreading out to aid their enemy. It didn't help that only minimal street lamps were on. After all, if too many were active, then all that would happen would be that the enemy would see them when they arrived, but not the other way around. That said, the buildings nearest the entrance to town had two searchlights mounted on them, with two man crews at either, ready to flick them on as soon as their foes arrived.
What Vincent was truly uneasy about at the moment was that it was well past the deadline for the airships to be back. They were going on eight hours since Mack had left. There might have been a problem or a delay, but in either event they couldn't call to find out. Radios were down and they were cut off from the world.
"Come on! Tell me!" Yuffie protested. "Was it really that bad over there? If it wasn't, then are we all getting worried for nothing?"
"It's bad." Vincent flatly answered to that as he reinserted his ammunition clip.
"Then how'd you get out?" Yuffie asked again.
"Most of the time I was hiding or spying." The man responded. "That's all there was to it. As soon as they all went underground, I was able to hike to Junon."
"Oh, come on! That can't be all of it!"
"It's all you're going to hear. Get back into position." Vincent flatly answered.
The ninja grumbled, but then grudgingly began to descend the ladder again. "None of you guys ever let me have any fun…" She muttered as she went down.
Vincent ignored that and set his rifle up at the ready, adjusting it against his shoulder and putting his head toward the eyepiece. This wasn't a time for entertainment. They had to worry about what was coming. He may have been able to get through, but a lot of it was due to luck and his opponents not having a lot of independent thought or reasoning. Now they had sheer numbers and power, and it wouldn't take much intelligence or thinking on their part to lay this city flat. Independent thought might be their only advantage against them.
The man kept his eye in his sight, and used the scope as a binocular lens to look further past the first roadblock. There hadn't been any signal yet, and he trusted the Turks' technology. However, he simply trusted his own eyes more. He didn't expect anything right away, of course. He didn't expect anything for several hours potentially. But that was alright. He had long since trained himself to be patient and hold his ground however long he needed to. If it took all night, he was more than ready and waiting.
Vincent looked to the time. Only a few hours past sundown. You wouldn't know it from the sky. The wind seemed to be blowing somewhat now. It almost felt like a storm was coming, only without the thunder. And somehow, you knew the air was all wrong for a storm too. Everything about this weather seemed wrong. It was like a thunderhead was moving in without the thunder and lightning. The more time went by, the more the feeling increased. Vincent was impervious to most things that would unsettle normal people, but even this didn't seem right and didn't hold well with him. And he knew that if even he was feeling uncomfortable, that something had to be wrong.
He looked through the sight as far as he could down the road. It wasn't far. There was a turn around a cliff edge not too far along, and after that even he couldn't see any farther. However…that feeling continued to grow. It wasn't just something stagnant or static now. Something was brewing on the wind…something more than just weather, even if this thing somehow magically created it. It was something…fouler. The breeze coming in almost seemed to turn his stomach a little. Something on the air…was foul…sour. It wasn't like smelling garbage or a hot spring or any other sulfur product…but it was rotten none the less. Something about the air had turned very bad. And unlike the rest of the weather, this almost seemed to be blowing in from the road…welling up once it struck his "tower". And he knew that if he felt this bad about it here…the people below had to feel it much worse.
What more…that foullness soon seemed to build. And with it, Vincent's instincts began to prickle. He was the sort of man who could feel a sniper drawing a bead on him from two miles away. He knew when danger was about to break. And right now…he felt as if it was almost on them…like some sort of assassin sneaking up behind him. And the more time went by, the more he felt they were already being struck…as if the assassin was taking advantage of their ease so much that it was forcing the knife into their backs as they sat there…
Something…is not right.
Vincent found himself picking up his radio a moment later and holding it to his mouth.
"Reno…see anything?"
"Actually we all see something, Vincent. We just didn't tell you." A sarcastic answer came back. "I know what I'm doing, alright? I don't need you making sure I don't fall asleep at the switch or anything. I'll tell you once I see anything."
"…Are you sure you see nothing?"
"You know what? I don't need to take this crap." The channel clicked off with a blip of static.
However, Vincent wasn't so convinced. Obviously, the sensors weren't picking up anything. Yet as time went on, Vincent felt more and more that he wasn't just imagining things…that something was coming. Something could nearly be there. He kept looking out his scope, but he didn't see anything yet. That wasn't much relief. By the time he could get a shot, they'd practically be there. Then again…he began to wonder if he should be targeting the ground at all. If their sensors weren't picking up anything, then maybe they weren't on the road. Maybe they were sending in helicopters. Or those gargoyle things he had encountered. But he would have heard either one coming… The sensors keyed in on heat signatures. Perhaps he was sending the Sahagin in. But no…he had a feeling it was something more dangerous than them…
He was still trying to think of what horror might be unleashed on them next…when it happened.
He saw dark forms turn the edge of the corner and begin to make their way down the road, toward Junon.
The dark man didn't wait a moment. He immediately readjusted his radio channel, this time tuning it into Rude, and then brought it up again. In the time it took him to do so, a line of forms had already gone across the road and were making their way forward. There were more behind them. They weren't going fast. In fact, they didn't even seem to be marching. They almost appeared to be taking their time at a very slow gait. One other thing was soon clear, however.
That foul odor…it grew even stronger when he saw them.
"Rude, pick up."
"…Here."
"Do your sensors pick up anything?"
"Negative."
"Then the enemy either found a way to subvert them, or they're disabled. I'm staring at some twenty at the end of my gun sight right now and more are coming."
The other end of the radio went silent momentarily. No doubt, Rude was relaying that to the others. Vincent immediately aimed his barrel at the nearest approaching form. More were still coming…indeed looking like they were making up a solid army. But something else about this wasn't right. They were moving too slowly… They weren't charging or opening fire or anything. Surely they had to see Junon by now. Why weren't they reacting in some way?
This isn't right…
"Are you sure, big brother?" Krystea's voice came back on. "I don't see anything yet. I think…I think I might see something moving in the shadows, but I can't tell…"
Vincent didn't answer. He decided to let his next action speak instead. The figures may have been moving slowly, but they'd soon be visible to whoever was guarding the front rail. By that point, if they decided to open fire en masse, it might be too late. They had to start shooting them now. With that in mind, he aimed his Hydra at the skull of his first target and pulled the trigger.
There was no silencer on his weapon. The rifle gave a rather loud noise as the bullet impacted the dark figure. It staggered once. That surprised Vincent. He thought it was a clean hit. However, it went down none the less afterward. The noise had been enough, luckily. He began to hear people calling out below and starting to get up and alert. One man cried out what was going on. Another called for the searchlights, which was exactly what Vincent wanted. However, as he cocked his weapon and took aim at a new target…he noticed the black forms hadn't even reacted. That made no sense. Being brainwashed into not reacting with fear when a comrade got his brains blown out was one thing. To not respond to the fact that one of them had just gotten sniped was another. They should have run…taken cover…opened fire…something. The man aimed at another figure and dropped him with his next shot. Still nothing…
Large clicking sounds went out. Moments later, and the two searchlights ignited. They swept down in front of the main barricade instantly to see if there was any commotion there or enemy sneaking up on them. Soon after, they lit on the same dark figures Vincent had seen.
Three of the less seasoned policemen screamed. All of the others staggered back in horror.
Vincent himself was forced to pause and stare at the sight of his opponents.
It was a legion of the undead. They were shuffling forward as one large mass. Some bore the markings of those who were killed in Edge and Kalm over the past few days. Others wore DeepGround uniforms. Still others wore suits or dresses…as if they had clawed their way out of their graves. Some bore terrible wounds. Others were rotting to the point of much of their skeleton being exposed. Some were literally dripping bits of flesh to the ground as they walked. The only thing that united them all were their eyes…or lack thereof. It looked as if rats or other vicious, small creatures had gnawed out their sockets. The only thing left was an unholy black fire…a false soul that had claimed the abandoned flesh…each one originating from the master of death himself…Diablos.
No weapons. No armor. No insignias. Some still had dirt and worms on them. They merely staggered forward as one massive wave. Each one was dead. That was why they hadn't set off the sensors. Thousands of them could have come. Tens of thousands. And they wouldn't have set off any sensors because their bodies were cold, rotting flesh. And now, as a flood of rot and decay, they shuffled slowly toward the main barrier. Their bony fingers reached out to it. Their jaws opened and closed as if they hungered for it…or what was beyond it…
The defenders were petrified. They had been gearing up to fight monsters. Now they had to face zombies. The terror was too much. One of the frontline defenders dropped his shotgun, turned, and ran away. Two more soon joined them. The sounds of other guns dropping soon joined. They were breaking, and they were setting off a chain reaction. As some gave in to fear, they eroded the confidence of whoever was left. They'd all break away soon.
As a result, Vincent leaned back forward, put his head back into his gun, and proceeded to fire a round into the next person in line. Immediately, the top of the head erupted. Bits of gray skull matter, cold brain tissue, and black, immobile blood splattered everywhere. However, the thing let out one dead breath, grasped forward once more, and then stood still as the flames in its eyes were abruptly quenched. They turned into plumes of black smoke, and then faded into the air. The corpse, lifeless again, collapsed to the ground and moved no more. Immediately, he continued to pump out shots. He dropped a fourth…a fifth…a sixth…
"Don't just stand there! Let 'em have it!" Yuffie's voice cried. A moment later, and her shuriken flung out. Two of the front zombies were sliced in half. Their black flames also died, and their carrion bodies fell to the ground. The shuriken came back and was immediately flung again, joining in with Vincent's shooting…although neither he nor anyone else noticed Yuffie give out a cry of disgust when she touched rotten matter residue on her shuriken when it came back.
Luckily, it seemed to work. Soon, the remaining officers aimed their weapons at the front lines and unloaded. The air was shattered with sounds of cracks of gunfire, and a rain of bullets came forward and cut into the enemy.
Soon, black blood was erupting everywhere along the encroaching zombies. Body parts erupted or fell off left and right. The undead gurgled and gagged as they were turned into flesh matter by the weapons before collapsing to the ground. Their brethren, either too unintelligent or too slow to know any better, collapsed over their bodies when they tripped on them soon after. Guns cocked and refired again and again, and bullets continued to fall on them like raindrops, only causing splashes of blood rather than water.
However…it wasn't enough.
The shots weren't focused like Vincent and Yuffie's. They went everywhere. And though the shotgun shells ripped quite a few of them to pieces, it only happened after several rounds. Ones that were merely being hit in the torso kept coming until enough gunfire ripped that portion of their body away. Only direct head shots were putting them down. But even when they were destroying them, more were coming. Vincent watched and saw more and more come around from the side, with no end in sight. They were forming a living…dead…wall as they made their way onward. And until one of them fell down, he or she served as a shield against the firepower for all the ones behind it. Implementing the firebombs hardly helped. Each one engulfed a group of them in flames. Yet that meant little. They felt no pain, and so they continued to walk forward until they were either further consumed or blown down. If anything, it made them more deadly.
In short, despite the firepower hitting them, they couldn't stop them from progressing forward. They slowed them down but never arrested their progress. They always managed to keep coming. And as Vincent kept shooting, he saw that there was no end in sight. There had to be thousands of them… Sure enough, that region of the world was renown for having numerous deaths take place on it. And there was no telling how many died in Edge and Kalm. The officers fired at closer and closer to point-blank range, but still they weren't stopped. The things made it all the way to the front line, and finally pressed against the k-rail barrier. For a few brief moments, they were stopped there. They piled up against it and continued to get shot, but could move no closer.
At least, for a few moments. That was when their sheer wave of bodies piled up against each other and all began to shove as one. They didn't appear to have that much in the way of strength, but as one… A grinding sound, slight yet pertinent, began to issue forth under the gunfire. Those at the front line didn't hear it at first, but a few moments later and they started to see it. The barricade had been dry stacked, not mortared or anything. As a result…the concrete barriers slowly began to shift and move forward as the wall of death on the other side continued to push. The police were only able to fire a few more rounds into them before the wall began to form a breach…
As that formed, it happened again. More officers dropped their weapons and fled. Vincent himself continued to pump shots into the front line, but it wasn't good enough. They were pushing so tight that they weren't even falling down now. The barrier was continuing to move… Some of the rotten limbs began to reach through the breach, feeling for whatever they could grasp. And unfortunately…they soon had something. One man, a brave one, grabbed one of the Molotov cocktails and ran toward the breach, ready to throw it in and incinerate them. He reached it and stopped, and began to light the rag. That was his fatal mistake. One of the rotten hands shot out and grabbed his head. Despite how weak they looked…the grip had to be iron. To Vincent's surprise…the fingers dug into the scalp and skull, beginning to draw blood. The officer froze in shock, dropping his weapon and screaming in agony. He reached to his head where the hand was, but it was already too late. The monster yanked its limb back, dragging the man up into the waiting arms of the others. They reached out and seized more parts of him, mostly the arms and shoulders, digging their fingers in to draw more blood. Vincent turned his gun to whatever of their heads and limbs he could see and tried firing…but it was no good. The officer kept screaming and tried to fight them off… Vincent saw other hands reach out and seize his legs. Soon they were all pulling him, dragging him into the mass. Before he vanished into the wall of dead flesh beyond, Vincent saw one of the things bring its head forward and sink its rotten teeth into the calf of his leg. Blood splurted out from the breach and stained the ground, and that was the last anyone saw of him.
Unfortunately, most of them had seen enough. Half of the remaining officers at the barrier turned and ran. The others backed up away from the wall as much as they could and keep shooting. But that wasn't much at this point, now that the zombies were right behind the concrete wall. Yet they didn't stop there. They were still pushing. In addition to widening the first breach, they started to break open even more portions. More of their limbs came through as the first breach became wide enough for one of them to walk through. Once it did, they started to push through and come to the other side. They continued to move as slowly as before, but they kept spreading out and coming as well. Vincent turned his shots to these ones. He blew off the first one's head. Then the second. And then the third. After that, he was forced to reload while others kept shooting. But it was no good. More were pouring in behind, continuing to break the barricade. They were coming through in other places as well.
One by one, the defending officers turned and backed down. It wasn't due to fear this time, however. They were running out of bullets. They had to go and load up on more. But while they were backing down, the invaders were still coming. Nothing was even slowing them down as they came through the barricade.
Vincent grit his teeth as he finished reloading and kept firing. He hadn't expected this. They could have only made a minor stand against Diablos as it was. But he never thought the creature would somehow be able to animate corpses and make them fight for him. They'd use all their ammunition on this first wave before any of the enemy troops even arrived. And still, there was no end to them coming in. And their defenders were starting to panic before the real action even began. If they didn't stop these things here and now they'd have half of the city destroyed before Diablos even arrived…and there wouldn't be any resistance left either. They had to think of something soon…
"Look out! It's one of them!"
The dark man snapped his head at that. He looked out from the gun sight and down to the road below. There, where the remaining officers were forming a mass and attempting to keep fighting, a single person pointed out and up to the sky. He had to be the one who cried out. Vincent immediately turned to see what it was exactly…but before he even looked up fully he already saw an icy blue light gathering in his peripheral vision.
He himself paused for a moment to see it as his own red eyes expanded somewhat.
A scantly clad, icy-blue woman, emitting the same lit aura, was flying out of the sky down toward the front lines. Her face was firm and her eyes locked onto the wall of the undead pushing its way forward. Her hands were open and her palms turned out, as if she was bringing some sort of energy to bear even as she descended. As she came, Vincent caught a draft downwind of her. It was chilling, like a blast of a freezer in the middle of a hot summer day. Even he stiffened somewhat against it. However, it soon cut off as the woman came to a halt. Apparently having quite a bit of control over flight, she was able to make her body stop in midair, hovering some twenty feet before the line of the undead, flying between the defenders and the enemy. She almost looked like she was making a stand against them.
Vincent, or anyone else, had been neglected to be briefed that they had espers "on their side" by Yuffie, but just seeing this automatically made his mind conclude a fact.
It doesn't look like it wants to help those things out…
That seemed to be an accurate assessment a moment later. The woman aimed both of her hands down, and, as if responding to her gestures, the air around the zombie hoard soon began to turn misty, thick, and white…as if it was supercooling. This happened for a fraction of a second, before a sharp, crystalline ring suddenly tore through the air. When it did, the mist around the undead suddenly solidified. The entire front line of them, and stretching far behind them along the entire row, was immediately and completely engulfed in huge, jagged crystals of ice. To the man's surprise, it had spontaneously formed so quickly even he couldn't see it coming. And instantly, the front line of the enemy had been rendered inert once again, regardless of what force was trying to make them move. They were turned into statues as they were embedded in the huge ice crystals, and a larger, thicker barrier now held off the rest of them, forcing them back all the way to the cliff road once more.
Yet even as the ice was finishing forming, Vincent saw two more bright objects sail past the ice woman and move toward the cliffs. He looked up, and was just in time to see what looked like a large fiery demon, enveloped in heat, leaping with superhuman agility from the roof of a building all the way to the top of the cliffs overlooking the undead below as well as a giant bird crackling with what looked like electricity hovering in such a way as to position itself right in front of the same cliff face. They stayed there for only a moment before both launched a combined move. The fiery demon sank its talons into the cliff and ripped off a huge boulder. Immediately, that turned into a fireball, seeming to become a piece of magma in its hands. As soon as it did, the thing raised it high over its head and slammed it down against the rest of the rock face. At the same time, the electrical one fired off a bolt of white-hot energy down upon the same area. The fire and thunder together soon ignited into a massive explosion, sending forth light and heat towering into the sky as the ground all the way into the city shook violently.
However, a greater effect soon took place. The cliff rumbled the most of all, and moments after the explosion went off rocks began to tumble down. There were only a few at first, but soon the area grew more violent as larger boulders started to topple off and fall toward the street below. In no time at all, a rockslide was going off as more and more pieces of the cliff fell, loosened from the destruction of the covering layers. And as the pieces rained down, they soon began to crash onto the road below, and on top of the flood of the dead. Some of them merely crushed a group of them flat before toppling into the ocean. But as more and more kept coming, turning into a rockslide, soon a hail of stones was sweeping them away or burying them.
It took only Vincent moments to realize what was happening. Whatever these ones were, they were on their side, it appeared. Or at least they had no love of these undead things. They were building a new roadblock while sweeping away a ton of them in the process, stopping this assault cold right in the middle of the attack. Nevertheless, he would have aimed at them next and prepared to fire the moment they looked at the ground wrong. As far as he knew, there was no such thing as a "good" esper. And they had also proven in just a few seconds that they were more than capable of wiping out the defenders within moments.
However, he never got the chance.
The people on the ground beat him to it.
The fact that the invasion had just been halted made no nevermind to the frightened police below. All they saw was an unearthly creature hover in front of them. All they knew was that there were supposed to be big, magical monsters from Midgar coming to destroy them. That was all they needed to know. Even as the ice one stopped their foes in their tracks, the defenders forgot all about them and aimed up at her instead. Moments later, and ten different gun barrels cracked as they fired shots at her.
The woman had hardly finished forming the ice when she suddenly arched back and spasmed. She turned her head to the sky and gave out a loud cry. Vincent couldn't see exactly where, but he did see what looked like icy blue blood suddenly erupt from her skin. She was hit…but from what exactly and how bad he wasn't sure. They were firing shotguns at her. It could have been an entire shell or one pellet.
After that, things went a bit hectic. The woman, now looking in pain, began to ascend higher into the sky. But her voice had already aroused the attention of the other two, who were looking back to her. It took them only moments to see that she was struggling, and being attacked by the humans below. Yet even as that was going on, a much higher-pitched voice suddenly started screaming. Vincent looked, and saw Yuffie running out and practically jumping on the defenders who were firing on the woman. That clarified things for Vincent. He lowered his own gun, wishing she had told him about this earlier, but realized the damage had already been done…
A change in demeanor immediately took place over the fiery one. Abruptly, his light seemed to glow more intensely, and the air around him appeared to ripple with increasing heat. Vincent saw his teeth bare, and realized he was rather angry at what the defenders had just done. In a moment, he might have taken off and attacked them. The lightning bird flew in front of him, trying to dissuade him, but he simply snarled and put a claw out to shove it away.
Yet before it could charge in and probably make the situation worse, the woman, out of all people, reached down one hand for her side, and put the other up in front of her, creating a stopping gesture aimed at the fire esper. As mad as the other one looked, it didn't seem like it would make much difference. However, the thing did halt momentarily. And once it did, the ice woman put her hand down and quickly orientated her body away from the defenders below, toward the cliffs and mountains. Even though she left a trail of blue light behind in her wake that slowly faded after her, it wasn't long at all before she had vanished. The bird, seeing her fly off, immediately took off after her, moving even faster and leaving an even more potent trail behind.
The fire one stayed momentarily. It glared at the people for a moment or two, still looking like it might attack. But then, with a snarl loud enough to be heard from there over the settling debris, it turned and leapt into the air again, sailing onto the top of the nearest building, and then took off again, vanishing in the direction of the others. Soon the trails died out, and no sign of them remained.
This all happened so fast that the rockslide was still settling down once the final one had left. However, once that too quieted down and the gunfire had ceased, Vincent too stood up and examined the aftermath as Yuffie's voice became more audible. Far below them, the roadblock had just been dramatically improved. As much as Vincent could see, the zombies were gone. The ones that were embedded in ice weren't going anywhere, and it would take them forever to thaw out from that much. As for the ones under the rockslide, they were obliterated or hopelessly pinned. And the cliff had stacked up stone and debris some twelve feet into the air. Nothing was coming through that anymore, especially since the undead, based on their motor skills, seemed to need a nice flat surface to walk on. They'd never be able to climb over it.
However, Yuffie's piercing voice was what soon redirected his full attention. The officers, still stunned and afraid from fending off the undead, were now confused that they were getting a tongue lashing from the ninja.
"What is with you idiots?!" She bellowed in their faces. "Didn't you see they were trying to help? Why did you have to start shooting at them!"
"Hey! Don't snap at them!"
Vincent had been opening his mouth to say something similar in a more quiet vein, when he was again beaten to action. He turned his head further down the street, and saw that at least some of the Turks had to have been coming to help out. A few moments ago had been a good time for it, after all. Elena was moving forward toward the front lines at the moment, but had her own eyes narrowed on Yuffie as she came out. Rude was following close behind, although when Elena came to a stop he stood behind her and kept silent.
"You said we were supposed to fight those things when they showed up!" She retorted. "How were they supposed to know that some of them were on our side?"
Yuffie did pause at that. A moment passed, and then, to Vincent's groaning and rolling his eyes, she seemed to turn a shade pale and uncomfortable. "Uh…I guess I did forget to mention that part…" She said as she scratched the back of her head.
"Which ones are fighting with us?" Vincent called down, causing the officers, Elena, and Yuffie to turn their heads upward toward him. "We should know from now on what they look like so that we don't have a repeat of what just happened."
The ninja, however, only continued to pause and look uncomfortable.
"…Don't you know?" Vincent asked.
"I never actually saw them…" Yuffie answered apologetically.
Elena let out a sigh of disgust. "We're supposed to shoot them before they have a chance to attack us so they don't do to us what they just did to those things…and we don't even know which ones to shoot?"
"Mack was the one who was supposed to handle that part!" Yuffie protested. "I just joined up with this whole bit recently!" On seeing the critical look that Elena gave her in response, she gave a shrug. "Alright, let's just call up Mack on the radio and…" She abruptly trailed off on saying this, realizing that this wasn't a possibility. "…Oh."
"Don't the Turks have any special small scale communication equipment?" Vincent called up from where he was standing.
Rude was the one who looked back to him with a frown. "…Busted since this cloud started coming in. I'm getting nothing but static."
Vincent paused a moment and considered this. The espers might have helped against the ground troops, but when the enemy espers arrived and fought back, he had a feeling it wouldn't stop them. They had lost at least a third of their defenders to fear from this first wave. He didn't know what they would do when they followed up. He wasn't sure where to go from here. They had put their best foot forward, but it wasn't nearly good enough against even this small group. They were going to need a miracle to be able to stave off the main invasion when it arrived. And currently, they only had one potential ace up their sleeve. With that in mind, he called down with his own suggestion.
"…I move we break apart this early stronghold and move the defenders into more strategic, hidden spots." He began. "Our best chance for victory now is to hold them off when they come until the air support arrives. In the meantime…let's get word out to everyone that those three are on our side…"
To be continued...