Cloud glanced around.
'Hmm. Preparations, preparations… Does everyone still have their ultimate weapons? All intact? Rena and Yuffie, you guys can go over the materia stores, check what's mastered and what isn't, and update us on what we need.
'Barrett, Cid and Red, you three can scout ahead to Mideel – no, Cid, I don't care how long it takes; use the Bronco or the buggy or something. Don't you have another airship holed up in that town of yours? – and check if there's anything amiss there. There wouldn't be much rebuilding to be done there, I'd imagine. They finished putting to plan that whole 'town-on-a-platform-above-Lifestream' idea, didn't they? Right.
'Tifa and I will go to everyone's town and pick up supplies. Tifa can draw up a list of what everyone needs. Weapons, items, materia – whatever else. We're preparing for a battle, remember? We must be ready!
'Turks – I don't care what you four do, as long as you don't get in our way. Scuttle back to Rufus; tell him our plans, whatever. Help if you like. We'll be doing this regardless of what you think. If you do help, however, we could use those helicopters of yours.
'Vincent, Cait: take the Sierra to the Crater and see if there's any unusual activity around there. It's a hotbed for Planet energy and Mako, surely there's something going on over there. Make sure you're well equipped; anything could be down there at the moment.
Cloud turned to Sephiroth.
'Sephiroth… would you rather go to Mideel, or the Crater? Or stay here with Rena? It's up to you.'
While Sephiroth spoke to Cloud, a sweat had broken out on Reno's forehead.
This is getting out of hand, he thought. They needed to capture these people, and now! Personally, Reno thought Rufus was something of an idiot, to think he could just capture so many powerful people and get away with it.
Reno didn't think the four of them were capable of it. Three were as good as SOLDIER (one of which had a sword taller than him), another was built like a wrestler with a fatal arm, two had claws, one other had a tongue as sharp as his spear, two others could incapacitate him with a flurry of limbs and the last was a robot.
How could they possibly beat AVALANCHE?
They couldn't. They were just a couple of suits with expensive guns and big talk. Sure, they could take more damage than the average guy, and were more skilled, but not compared to these guys.
They were the elite. The best of the best. The do-gooders that every criminal feared. The terrorists. The nice terrorists.
Fuck.
But still, with enough trickery, would they be able to capture them? They could… they could lure them to Healin. Drop a giant cage on them, Kisaragi-style? Maybe a mastered Seal/All materia would do the trick.
Reno sat up a little straighter. Hey, that might just do it! His hand injuries resulted in a better feel for materia, and Reno thought he could pull it off. While Cloud was discussing more plans, Reno eased a tender hand into Elena's handbag, where the team kept their materia and other items.
Let's see…
Fire, Restore, Manipulate, All, Lightning, Pre-Emptive… Reno pulled out the mastered All and set it on his lap, before reaching in again. Sense, HP Plus, Ice, Seal, Counter… The Turk pulled out the green orb and set it beside the All.
Stealthily, Reno slipped his current materia out of his gun, and placed the two new materia in their place.
Leaning to his right, he whispered his plan to Rude. The taller man's brows snapped together, just visible over his dark sunglasses. He nodded curtly and passed the message to Elena, who looked pleased and told Tseng. The Turk leader leaned forward to look down the line at Reno expectantly.
The redhead grinned and raised his gun slightly, showing Tseng the pair of materia. The Wutaian nodded slightly and sat back.