Disclaimer: I don't own any FFVII characters, places, etc.
Chapter 29: Preparations
"I'm here to get you outfitted. Second Class SOLDIER Simmons," a small man with a buzz cut saluted crisply at the door.
"Make it go away," Reno muttered from beneath his pillow. Rude rubbed the lingering sleep from his eyes and wondered what time it was. It was still dark and his internal clock put it somewhere around four.
"Captain's orders," Simmons shook his head. Small and wiry he was maybe five and a half feet tall. He carried a standard SOLDIER sword and an assault rifle strapped across his back, his uniform worn but well kept. "He did offer to send Mjolner to you instead."
"I'm up, I'm up," Reno sat up. Rude stepped back into the room and went to collect his washed clothing from where it hung over the top bunk next to Reno's. Even clean Reno's clothing was still slightly unkempt. Simmons stood in the doorway impersonally with his glowing blue eyes fixed on a patch on the floor.
In a few minutes they were as ready as they would get, Reno checking to be sure the syringe was still in his pocket. Rude handed him a succor as he began fishing for his cigarettes. The first few days after he ran out always left him a bit disoriented.
"Wasn't Miguel saying something about patches? Maybe I should look into those. I bet I could carry a lot of those," Reno grumbled around the blueberry succor already staining his teeth. He secured his wakizashi and the night stick.
"They made you queasy," Rude shook his head remembering the last time when Reno had the very same idea. "You threw up during interrogation."
"Oh yeah. We were being interrogated," Reno's grin slashed across his face. "That was the moment you needed to break your bonds. Lyn thought that was so funny." He ruffled his hair before binding it at the nape of his neck. It almost brushed his shoulder blades.
"This way," Simmons seemed to decide they'd had enough time. Reno sauntered directly behind him as Rude brought up the rear. Simmons walked with exact strides, each one crisp and measured. Everything about him from his regulation buzz cut – something most SOLDIERS ignored – to his well kept boots screamed his dedication to the books.
They emerged into the predawn streets, the skies silent. Simmons brought them through the narrow alleys clustered with groups of uniformed men or the occaisional prostitute scuttling away. They arrived at what might have been a barn once. Instead there were jeeps, bikes, and tables of assorted guns and mechanical parts cluttering the interior. In one corner a stove of some sort blazed with a wide opening. Hammer falls rang across the room. Rude spotted Mullaney working over the long Masamune, sparks glittering in her pale gray eyes. She didn't look up until the cherry color of the metal cooled and she drove Sephiroth's sword back into the enormous oven with its hot coals.
Crossing her arms she turned to look at the Turks. Her face was unwelcoming at best. When she'd taken them in again she looked to Simmons.
"You going over there too?" she asked.
"Yes ma'am," he nodded.
"Those are the packs for you and the other SOLDIERs making the crossing," she pointed a crooked finger at neatly wrapped parcels set on one table. "See everyone gets their gear and tests it. I'm a genius so it'll be fine but you're not all bright enough to figure out how it works on the first go."
"Ma'am," Simmons saluted without any offense. "I'll be back to collect you once Miss Mjolner's done with you."
"Ominous," Reno threw a look back at Rude.
"What are you? You've got Turk blues but you look like Hojo's put hands on you," Mullaney demanded as she circled the pair of them.
"Just a Turk toots," Reno shrugged. Mullaney looked annoyed.
"You're one of Lyn's, that's what you are. You though, you seem less hateful." She circled Rude now. He waited patiently for her to finish. She went back to the fire and extracted the Masamune with a fluid tug. Bringing it back to her anvil she set to work with the hammer. Rude's assumption was confirmed as he watched the irritation in her face smooth into affection. She lived for Sephiroth. If her previous noisy concern wasn't enough of an indication the attention she paid to her work in his favor was all the evidence he needed.
Lifting the cherry bright metal she sighted down its sharp edge before sliding it into a barrel of water. Hissing steam rose as she ladeled more along the extra length. On its tip it was taller than she was.
"Who's heading the Sun Sect team?" Mullaney demanded.
"I am," Rude stepped forward. Her lip curled.
"Of course Lyn's boy clone would go with Seph," she grumbled extracting the blade. Balancing it on her two fingers again she seemed satisfied and moved for some oil and a rag. "Your gear for the wall is over next to the furnace. Bring it here and I'll tell you how to work it."
Rude left Reno standing in front of Mullaney. He collected a small wrapped bundle and brought it to her as she secured the Masamune with a clamp and began running a file along the greased edge. Opening it he saw an iron bangle with three slots containing three green Materia orbs. It unhinged and closed with a neat click around his right wrist. There was also what looked like an ear piece.
"Do you see the dial along the back?" Mullaney prompted. Rude turned it around and found it. "You're all synced on frequency 108.6. I'll be listening in but you should keep radio silence until about the time you guys synchronize. Using Materia usually causes quite a bit of interference. It hurts your ears more than anything. Woots have a damn hard time catching up with our technology. All the same I like to keep it cutting edge. The mike is along there too, pressed against your jaw. Don't fuss with it, it'll work pressed against the skin and it minimizes the excess background noise. Power button is on the top."
Rude hooked the piece to his ear as he opened and closed his jaw, trying to acclimate to the feel of equipment. Usually he and Reno ran on their own silent signals within sight of each other. This would be the most high tech they'd ever been apart from Reno's innate ability to hack the rudimentary computor systes of Wutai make or systems they'd attempted to high jack. He tapped the power button and immediately heard the chatter of SOLDIERs babbling "Test, test, test!" into theirs.
"Man, Mullaney's outdone herself this round. Look how sleek these things are," someone was saying.
"She ain't on the line yet idiot. Don't waste your praise," another chastised.
"I think its true."
Rude switched it back off but left it in place.
"The Materia you've got are protect, shield, and Ice. Sun Sect monks specialize in Fire so they're not much good at Ice. You're weak in the reverse just carrying Ice. You know how to use those, right Turk?" Mullaney demanded without looking up. Rude thought of the Materia Grim had given him.
"Sure," he nodded. He'd come a long way from just smashing the orbs against his opponents in laughable if effective combat.
"The other things are grenades and flash bombs. Use them sparingly. Woots don't have quite as much to throw back at you but their aim is spot on with those arrows. If you don't keep up your shields they'll nail you before you know it."
"What about me?" Reno inquired when Mullaney fell silent. Her eyes flashed to him like she was irked he hadn't dropped into a void. It was almost funny how spectacularly Reno's usual lady killing charm repulsed her. She finished a few more strokes of the file before setting it aside and polishing up the blade. Taking Reno's hand she pressed it to the edge and was satisfied when it drew blood. "Brute," Reno grumbled, sticking the offended digit into his mouth.
"Baby," she shot back. Sheathing the Masamune she placed it reverently on her anvil before pulling out another parcel. "Communicator, Materia, one flash bomb."
"One? He got like six!" Reno argued like a child.
"You're job is to sneak, not to fight." She looked him up and down. "I doubt you'd be much good anyhow you scrawny thing. Lyn's tougher than you, clone boy." Poking him roughly in the chest she shook her head in disapproval.
"Woman," Reno brandished his cut finger threateningly. "I'm not scrawny. I'm lithe, svelt even."
"Whatever chicken legs," Mullaney snorted. "I'd prefer you with the Captain's back," she thumped Rude's chest with surprising strength.
"Please, don't worry, I'll do my best fair maiden of the fetid swamps," Reno grumbled fussing with his ear piece.
"Don't you listen you clod?" she snatched it away from him.
"Hey! That's mine now! No take backs!"
"I'm glad everyone's getting along," Sephiroth observed cooly from behind Rude. His long strides stopped beside the Milano as Mullaney pulled the ear piece away from Reno and held it over his head. She had enough height on alley cat Reno that he was reduce to jumping ineffectually after it like a frustrated boy again.
"Are you sure you have to take him? He'll trip an alarm," Mullaney accused loudly, shouldering Reno out of the way. His hips caught on the anvil as his arms pinwheeled. Rude stopped him from flipping over the metal with one hand. Mullaney adjusted the headset before slapping it onto the side of his head.
"Now don't touch it!" she barked. With a quick jerk she pulled the Masamune out from behind Reno and turned to Sephiroth. "Papers," she held out one hand. The Captain simply pressed a note into her palm. She unfolded it, skimmed the report, and with a staisfied nod she presented his sword. Sephiroth unsheathed it, turning it this way and that in the light. Rude watched every muscle in Mullaney's body go wire tight.
"Well done," Sephiroth nodded. A sudden smile bloomed across her features and she was pretty. Not beautiful with her long nose and square jaw but pretty as she radiated affection for him.
"Time, Lightning, Reflect," she said as she snapped a light weight shoulder guard into place with three Materia glittering in it. Reno was still grumbling as he fussed over his own bangle, clamping it around his wrist and checking it himself. Each bauble glimmered as he tapped into their magic.
"My favorites," Sephiroth nodded.
"I know," she nodded putting her hands on her hips. "You're sure about Lyn's boy clone? The tan one looks much more useful."
"Even you admit Lyn's competence," Sephiroth reminded her. Mullaney grimmaced.
"Once. I hadn't slept in ninety six hours. That hardly counts as a true admission."
"When was the last time you slept?"
"Don't patronize me," she snorted crossing her arms. Sephiroth tucked a stray hair behind her ear and a blush shot through her face. It was a calculated gesture on his part, no trace of genuine affection in his expression. "Dismissed. Take your boy clone and the tan guy and leave me alone you ogre."
Sephiroth smiled before turning away. Reno socked Mullaney in the arm with enough force she had to side step to catch her balance.
"I'll miss ya doll face," he gave her a blue toothed smile dripping with sarcasm. Mullaney pulled her fist back to return the favor when Reno darted out of the way. "You have rancid taste in chicks," he complained loudly as he caught up with Sephiroth. Mullaney hit Rude instead.
"Pass that on to your little friend," she snapped as Rude wheezed. She'd hit him cleanly in the chest and knocked the wind straight out of him. He doubled over just long enough to force air back into his lungs.
"Okay," he gasped. Mullaney was pacing animatedly back and forth, compulsively pushing hair back from her rosy cheeked face. His movement to straighten up seemed to catch her vollatile eye. She snatched something from a nearby work station and lobbed it at him. Rude felt it smack into his palm solidly.
"Full-Cure potion," she grumbled. "Its Hell out there."
"Thanks," he gave her a nod.
Reno and Sephiroth were slightly ahead of him as he came into the narrow streets. He caught up with long strides to their silent progress, neither interested in talking to the other. Making their way to the same meeting room where they'd sketched out their mad plans to storm the city Rude was surprised by the number of people now crammed inside.
"For those of you not on infiltration the plan is simple. Once the walls blow open you attack," Sephiroth began without needing to ask for silence. His mere presence commanded it. "Most of you will be positioned here at the original breach they were able to patch up. Turmin, you and yours will position at the opposite end here with a smaller force. Most of the fire power should be drawn to the breach near the Sun Sect so your entry will be harder for them to react against efficiently. Your aim then is to raze the city. Burn everything. I want the capitol destroyed."
"Sir."
"As to the crossing team, Darryl Rude of the Turks will be leading you. Your job is to get him one of the Sun Sect Monks' prayer beads. He'll blow out the wall and then show you how to use them," Sephiroth continued. Simmons raised his hand.
"Sir, isn't it just Materia?" he asked when Sephiroth acknowledged him.
"I've seen far more experience SOLDIERs incinerate themselves trying to tap into that many mastered Fire Materia at once. There is a definite technique," Sephiroth shook his head. "After the initial breach you're to eliminate as many monks as you possibly can all along the walls. Two of you, Simmons and Frederick, you'll go with Rude to blow out the secondary entry point. As for myself I'll try to draw off the Emperor and Empress as long as I can as we make a raid in the Pagoda itself. They'll be less inclined to unleash their monsters in the heart of the capitol. Burn everything. I want the city uninhabitable. Dismissed."
"Sir!" the chorus went up with salutes.
"Rude! I'll introduce you to the team," Simmons morphed out of the press of bodies attempting to escape the small room, all buzzing with excitement.
"In a moment Simmons," Sephiroth waved him off. Simmons saluted again and departed, presumably to stand just outside the door. "We're taking two separate entry points so if one team is discovered the other still has a shot," Sephiroth explained to the pair of Turks. "Rude you'll take your team in from the north. We've been burrowing into the temples carved inside Da Chao. Its a few more weeks before a discreet completion, but if you take out the guards garrisoned where the wall and the cliff meet you should be able to blow through the rest with relatively little issue. Simmons will know where you're going up to that point but once you're in you'll have to navigate the city blind."
Rude just nodded, memorizing the hand made map.
"You and I will litterally be scaling the back side of Da Chao and coming down and through directly to the Pagoda," Sephiroth looked to Reno now.
"Quickest path?" Reno asked.
"Here," Sephiroth pointed. "If we encounter Xíhē's daughter I will execute her. Is that something you can handle?"
"My job is the Bride, that's all," Reno shrugged. Sephiroth studied him a long minute and Reno held his gaze. When the Captain seemed satisfied he leaned back from the map.
"It will take about two days to get everyone in place for entry. At midnight the night after tomorrow it begins. You cannot be late," Sephiroth instructed Rude. "Have you led men before?"
"No," Rude shook his head.
"Speak with authority. You might be just a Turk to them now but once combat starts they need clear directions. They'll respond to your confidence. Simmons is your second and don't be afraid to use him. These men are all experienced, they just need to know what you want from them."
Rude nodded as tension eased slightly in his chest. He hadn't even realized he was tense. Reno was staring coolly at the map as he crunched through his succor. Sephiroth's previous statement about the girl didn't seem to be bothering him. Instead he looked analytical and focused. There was that switch that had changed over inside him again, the one Lyn had so painstakingly built into him over the last two years.
Reno caught him staring and gave him a patent smile. It curled up his lips and narrowed his eyes, showed off his slight canines and seemed to make him slouch.
"See you on the other side," he said still smiling.
"The city will be on fire. We'll have separated by then no doubt. The fastest way out will be via the river running through the city center. You'll dead end at the wall though and have to fight your way out. Otherwise you can try back tracking over Da Chao or navigating the temples there to our tunnel." Sephiroth traced each escape route with a gloved finger. "I've seen you two escape from worse," Sephiroth answered Rude's tightened jaw muscles without looking up.
Reno leaned over the table chewing on the succor stick. His tongue flickered over his blue teeth as he scoured the map.
"You've got two minutes for any final preparations and then we move," Sephiroth said as he looked between them.
"I hate water," Reno sighed when the Captain had gone.
"I'll meet you here," Rude indicated a bridge in the middle of the city. It was roughly equidistant from Rude's secondary wall target and the Pagoda. Reno let his eyes dart back and forth along the routes several times.
"As long as the fires aren't crazy. Think of Beatrice," Reno advised.
"They won't be," Rude promised. Reno shook his head.
"They might. These are Bugs. They're not that bright," he stuck his hands in his pockets. "There's always the back way."
"I'll be at the bridge," Rude insisted. "You will come." Reno stared at him seriously for several long seconds.
"Can I have some succors?" he held out a hand. Rude gave him one.
"The rest when we meet," he gave Reno a significant look.
"Who's the wife in this outfit?" Reno whined as he snatched the pineapple treat and popped it into his mouth. They fell silent staring at the map. Rude breathed deeply as he tried to silence the nagging fear fixated on an array of 'what if's. "Don't let my succors melt," Reno suddenly socked him in the arm.
"That's your concern?" Rude demanded.
"A man needs his vices." Reno grinned again. "Meetcha at the bridge, hubby."
"Its a date."
