Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII. I depend on my daughter, Angeal Valentine, and on Bjanik for all my information on the subject.
A/N—It's interesting that taking two weeks to post is resulting in longer than normal chapters, half-again as long as they were before. Hm… Does that say that I should be splitting these up and posting weekly? I'm not sure, but I think these chapters are better than my weekly chapters were.
(7:30-8:00 pm, Wutai—Wutai Base; 5:30-6:00 am, Mideel; 3:30-4:00 am, Midgar; 11:30 pm - midnight, Gongaga)
Bill Wallace Jr. turned to the army sergeant in charge of the base communications center. "Are we ready, Dawkins?"
"No problem at all, sir." The sergeant knew better than to ask too many questions of officers. Just follow his orders: (1) set up a camera in the interrogation room; (2) prep a split screen broadcast to include input from the interrogation room and an off-island signal; (3) override the Wutai television system; (4) broadcast to the entire island and to the com centers at the other bases. Sounded complicated. In actuality, it hadn't been hard at all. It was Dawkins' specialty. True, the take-over of Wutai television hadn't been easy—five years ago when he had actually been the head of the team that had done it—but now all that was needed to preempt local television was the flip of a switch.
"All right. We're a go. Notify the colonel. Move the prisoner. Signal the other bases that we're ready."
"Yes, sir." Dawkins knew he shouldn't ask, but he just couldn't help himself. "Sir, if I may, why are we broadcasting to the entire island?"
Wallace laughed softly. "Because we want the emperor to be sure to get the message…"
ccccccccccccccccccc
(5:30-6:00 am, Mideel—Mideel Base; 7:30-8:00 pm, Wutai; 3:30-4:00 am, Midgar; 11:30 pm-midnight, Gongaga)
"There, it's in position. Now I want you to concentrate with me on the materia. It should help to move the materia in the correct direction—inward, toward the uterus and the baby, across the cervix. On three: one… two… three. Cure2." Tessa Romera lay on her back on her hospital bed with her knees raised. Dr. Caperton could barely see the tiny bit of materia just beyond the spacula he'd placed inside Tessa's vagina, but with the imposition of their wills, the green materia fingers bloomed, spread across the cervix, and sealed it. Leonard Caperton found he was holding his breath. This was the most unorthodox treatment he'd ever tried on a pregnant woman! By all rights he should be prepping Tessa for a C-section, but labor had definitely ended, and he had materia available to him—unusual in a hospital setting! It was true he'd tried some unorthodox treatments with cure materia on battlefields in Wutai, but this was definitely different! Looks pretty good though. Caperton found he could breathe again. "Good. That looks good."
"You think it worked?" Tessa Romera had willed the materia to move inside her, to heal the breached membranes and replenish the amniotic fluid bathing the baby.
"Well, so far so good. I'd like to re-examine you in a few hours; perhaps do another cure at that time. I think this materia treatment worked, but let's just be safe."
Tessa nodded. "Fine." Tessa could feel Dr. Caperton remove the metal spacula from her body, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Better. The darn thing was uncomfortable. "So, Leonard?" Tessa lowered her knees to the bed and sat up. "What's the verdict?"
Dr. Caperton looked up from his bent-over exam position, lowered his mask, and tugged off a thin, rubber glove. "To be honest with you, Tessa, I don't know why you're not still in labor." At Tessa's look of consternation, the doctor relented. "But you're not… The fetal monitors all show normal readings for the fifth month of pregnancy. I've drawn samples for an amnio, and we'll get a reading of both your and the baby's mako levels soon. The head of the hospital has her lab staff in now specifically to run these tests. As I said on the way over here, I'd like to start you on a regimen of antibiotics, just to be safe. Your body's been through a great deal, and I don't want to have you come down with an infection in addition to everything else that's happened."
"Sensible. For the near term, that is…" Tessa nodded then looked thoughtful. "Leonard, I know you cautioned me not to get pregnant again immediately, to let my body heal before we tried again, but will there be problems with me getting pregnant? There'll be scarring around the cervix from the operation. The baby's and my mako levels were so divergent before I went into the tube."
"There could be a problem. I'm not completely certain, though. Yes, there's a little scarring, and it may be more difficult for you to get pregnant after this, but it should be possible nonetheless. Yes, there was a growing difference in your mako levels, but you were carrying two children when those measurements were made." He took a deep breath. "The part I worry about more with you is that you will be a candidate for pre-term labor in every pregnancy you have in the future. You'll have to be monitored regularly and often."
"Premature labor." Not carrying a healthy child to term hadn't entered her mind when she had first become pregnant, wanted to be pregnant. Now the idea scared her. And how was she going to tell Sephiroth? Or did he already suspect? Was that why he had asked if she "blamed him"?
"Tessa, when we first did your medical history, I asked if twinning ran in your family or the General's and you said 'no.'"
"That's right. There are no twins in my family. There are none in his father's family's either. We don't know much about Sephiroth's mother's family, however—nearly nothing, actually." Tessa had an uncomfortable suspicion about the direction of Caperton's question. "You're thinking about the Jenova DNA, aren't you, Leonard?"
"Identical twins don't typically run in families although fraternal twinning can run in the maternal line."
"Yes, yes, I know all that! Let me guess, though. You're suggesting that the Jenova DNA in my husband's code may be resulting in multiple births?!"
"It is a possibility, isn't it?"
"I suppose," Tessa shook her head. "Even so…"
"Even so, we need to know more about Jenovan biology to determine how it will affect your future pregnancies, much less how it will affect your children." Caperton paused. He wasn't sure she was listening. "Tessa, did you hear me?"
Tessa sighed and shook her head slightly. One of those pesky Lifestream voices was trying to get her attention—something about records. "There might be more records about Jenova in Shinra somewhere. I've looked, but Shinra is so big and secretive it's hard to know where to look, or what to look for… much less get access." She looked back at Caperton. "I don't know what to tell you, Leonard. I've looked. I'll look some more and reexamine my husband's code, see what I can make of it."
"I guess that's all I can ask of you." He wasn't sure why he was pressing her on this matter, but… "Tessa, I do think the likelihood that you will have multiple embryos again is high. It's just a feeling, though. I have no scientific basis for it, if that's at all reassuring."
"You're worried that human bodies weren't made to bear partially Jenovan babies." Tessa smiled ruefully. "You're not half as worried about that as I am. Now." Tessa knew she'd have to face the possibility of carrying multiple children again and its implications: possibly more stagnant mako and future immersions in mako solution, early labor, even very small, underweight, premature babies. She made a mental note to have Vincent check her for stagnant mako. He seemed to have an affinity for it, after all. Was that a "gift" of Chaos?
"No, I suppose not." Caperton turned to leave. "Well, anyway, you still haven't had a chance to get cleaned up. There's a shower here if you think you'll be able to use it, or I can have someone bathe you. While you do that, I'll go order the antibiotics—and some vitamins too!—and be back shortly."
Tessa smiled gently. "Thanks. I will try the shower… I see you got cleaned up already."
"Yes, while you and the General slept, I took a shower and checked on that prisoner." Tessa nodded. "Now, after the injections, I want you to sleep, certainly the rest of the day, maybe the rest of the week! I certainly want to!"
"Half of me wants to sleep. The other half wants to get up and get to work. I'd really like to know how Glenn is faring with the lab in my absence."
"He'll either be just fine or pulling his hair out." Tessa laughed softly. The doctor raised an eyebrow at her. "Now, I want you to promise me that if anything goes wrong while I'm gone, you'll hit that call button. I'll just be a few minutes."
Tessa nodded. "Sure."
Cccccccccccccccccc
Cloud sighed and shuddered with pleasure. He hadn't realized that just being clean after a horrendous battle would feel like such a luxury! While Dr. Caperton examined Dr. Romera, Cloud had escaped to the doctors' lounge back on the third floor for a much-needed shower and change of clothes. With the hot water running over his body, he could feel his tight muscles relax, unwind. If this kept up much longer, he'd be asleep where he stood!
Cloud leaned to prop his hands against the shower wall on either side of the controls and turned his face to the stream. Oh-h even better! He let the events of the past few hours wash over his mind. Yesterday morning back in his room in Midgar, he'd been worried that his career in Soldier was over; now he was pulling personal protection detail on the General's wife—protecting her again after he'd lost her out of her tube two days ago!
It had started with the orders texted to him by Zack to get to transport #36 on the departure field—"NOW." Cloud had run without any of his gear except his Baby Buster. Upon his arrival, his fellow Soldiers had laughed and kidded him then had contributed individual items to get him supplied. On the transport he'd learned that while most of Soldier was going to Rocket Town for deployment to Wutai, the troops on #36 had been handpicked by the General for this special mission to Mideel! Whoa, wait a minute! Cloud's eyes jerked open in surprise. How about that?! This "special mission" was an example of a military principal he'd been studying in class: always be where the enemy doesn't expect you! The General was renowned for doing that! Wo-ow! He was making history!
That's right! From Midgar they'd flown west with the other transports—to put off any spies who might be watching the General's movements—until somewhere over open water north of Costa del Sol—and far from land and prying eyes—their transport had abruptly about-faced and headed for Junon. At Junon Base they'd deplaned and reloaded on the oddest airship Cloud had ever seen. It had looked so pieced together that Cloud had expected it to crash to the ground; indeed, most Soldiers slept through takeoffs and landings to minimize the effects of crashes, but Cloud had stayed awake worrying. When it had finally got in the air, however, the junker ship had proven to be twice as fast as any normal Shinra airship! That ship let the General be anywhere in the world he wanted to be before anyone knew it! I got it! I got it! Cool!
Come to think of it, just after takeoff from Junon had been the last time he'd slept! They'd landed at Mideel Base briefly to take on more Soldiers, been briefed on the latest reports from the Turks—that there were hundreds of clones and monsters awaiting them—then had short hopped to an orchard called "Banora." On that hop, Cloud had heard a rumor that the General had been unwell earlier, but upon landing there had been enemies to fight and the General'd seemed fine—except he'd died—Cloud hadn't seen it, but he'd heard it happened. Cloud shook his head. How could something like that have happened, anyway? But if it could happen it would probably be the General that it would happen to! Hm. Must have been while I was fighting that clone...
Cloud had been in fights with monsters before, but somehow those encounters hadn't been as horrifying as his fight with Angeal Hewley, Zack's old friend. That damn Hewley had taunted Zack, even poisoned him, then left him for dead! How could anyone who had ever claimed they were your friend do something like that to you?! Cloud had destroyed Hewley—for Zack. Cloud could feel himself suddenly shake—he'd never killed a fellow Soldier before, even a clone of a dead Soldier. He never wanted to again, either! Cloud let the water pound on his back and thighs. Perhaps it would relieve his shaking. Would anything remove from his memory, though, the sight of Hewley's blood and organs fanning out in a wide, thick arc as the full-up Buster Sword he had wielded nearly cut the man in two? He'd have to ask Zack how he'd gotten over killing Hewley. It sure bothered Cloud, he realized, and he hadn't even known Angeal Hewley!
Gradually the shakes passed, and Cloud again felt the warmth of the pounding water. How long could he stand here? How long did it take a doctor to examine a pregnant woman, anyway? Damn. Probably not as long as this shower! Cloud turned the control lever to "off," dried himself with a towel hanging outside the stall, then wrapped it about his narrow waist. He was about to step out onto the lounge floor when the door to the doctor's facilities opened. What the…?! He'd been sure he'd set the sign to "occupied." Whoever it was hadn't even knocked… "Who is it?!"
"What?! Oh, sorry." Cloud heard the door close. He rushed to the entrance and jerked the door open to stick out his head and glare at whomever had disturbed him. The nurse who'd pointed him to the doctor's lounge and shower had said he wouldn't be bothered and to take his time—how wrong she'd been! His glare was ineffectual, however. Two male orderlies in pastel scrubs were walking down the hall with their backs to him. No one else was in sight.
"Hmph. Illiterate idiots are everywhere, I guess." Cloud sighed, dressed in peach-colored scrubs ("Hope nobody sees me in this."), added his back sheath, and tied on his boots (he wasn't about to wear those little hospital booties—too cute for words and no traction at all if he had to fight!). He raked his fingers through his hair, and with a glance at himself in a mirror ("Yikes, mini-spikes!"), sheathed his Baby Buster, gathered his combat clothes under his left arm, and left the lounge. Upon emerging, he spotted the nurse he'd spoken to earlier. "Ma'am, I thought you said nobody would come in?!"
The small, brown-haired woman looked at Cloud in surprise. "Somebody came in? Who?!"
"Two guys, a pair of orderlies…" Looking about, Cloud tried to spot the men. "Hunh. They're gone."
"Two male orderlies, did you say? I'm sorry, but you must be mistaken. We don't have male nurses or orderlies in maternity—against hospital policy, you know."
"But…" Cloud stood dumbfounded for just a moment then turned and ran for the stairwell next to the elevator shaft. He just knew something was wrong!
Cccccccccccccccccc
(7:30-8:00 pm, Wutai—Tamblin Fortress; 5:30-6:00 am, Mideel—Mideel Base; 3:30-4:00 am, Midgar; 11:30 pm-midnight, Gongaga)
"Your majesty! Look at this!"
On a television monitor in his command center, Emperor Godo of Wutai saw something utterly horrifying—the ruination of his hopes and dreams! On the right half of a split screen was his daughter. Yuffie's face was bruised, and she was seated before a Soldier who held a knife at her throat. That the knife-wielder was Carlos Griegos, commander of Shinra's Wutai Base, barely registered on Godo's mind, though he'd met the man many times. The left half of the screen held the face of Sephiroth, the head of Soldier. Sephiroth was talking right to him! Something about terms? What?!
"Shinra's terms are these, Godo: the immediate end to the attack on Wutai Base, and the complete surrender of all your forces at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow, Wutai time. Otherwise, your stated reason for this rebellion [and here Carlos Griegos pressed the knife edge firmly against the princess' throat causing a thin line of blood to run down her neck] will be dead. So… What will it be, Godo? Your rebellion or your daughter? We'll know your answer when the artillery barrages end. Remember she's under fire at the base, too…" The screen suddenly filled with only Sephiroth's face. "One more thing… If you're counting on Genesis Rhapsodos to aid you, you can forget it. I destroyed him myself earlier tonight. New Banora is mine. He got no terms whatsoever." The screen went blank.
Godo's face went red and horror flashed across his mind. He gulped air, leaned over, and gripped the edge of the table in the Tamblin command center. When had he started thinking of Sephiroth as a man?! He truly was a silver-haired monster, a demon-god, straight out of folklore and legend! YUFFIE!! No, he couldn't lose Yuffie—so brave, so beautiful, so like her mother! She hadn't flinched even the tiniest bit when the knife cut her throat; he was so proud of her… "Cease fire," he mumbled.
"Majesty?" One of his commanders took a step toward the emperor.
"I said, 'CEASE FIRE'!" The emperor shouted and turned his head toward the man—Akita, the glory seeker. Yes, he would object.
The room erupted in pandemonium.
ccccccccccccccccc
(5:30-6:00 am, Mideel—Mideel Base; 7:30-8:00 pm, Wutai—Wutai Base; 3:30-4:00 am, Midgar; 11:30 pm-midnight, Gongaga)
Standing before Malik's world wall-map in the command center at Mideel Base, Sephiroth estimated travel times and distances. He'd given Godo twelve hours to surrender—that was the normal straight flying time from Mideel Base to Wutai Base—but, he had an advantage. That experimental airship could travel twice as fast as any normal airship on Gaia. He had six hours to be somewhere he wasn't expected. Hm. He stretched his left hand wide across the map. Yes. There. That would do.
"Za…" Sephiroth stopped himself. It wasn't Zack behind him acting as his second. It was Malik. Damn. He missed Zack's steady presence at his side. Steady? When had he started thinking of Zack as "steady"? Niven was "steady." Usually "emotional," "exuberant," even "loving," applied to Zack. He wanted Zack with him. He'd need Zack, especially if Tessa were coming along. He'd said he'd take her with him to Rocket Town, but then, he wasn't going to Rocket Town!
"Malik," Sephiroth looked over his shoulder at the Mideel commander. "As soon as they arrive, I want my team from Midgar reloaded on Highwind's airship. Contact that pilot and ascertain his status."
"Sir." Malik nodded, stepped across the room to a phone, and made the call. He was back in seconds to stand behind his commander as Sephiroth continued his examination of the maps on the wall. "Seph, Highwind's unhappy about having to take off again so soon, but he says he'll be ready." At Sephiroth's distracted nod, Malik decided to try his luck. "Seph, I know I'm needed here, but I'd like to request permission to accompany you on that expedition."
Sephiroth laughed softly. "Yes, you are needed here." He turned to face Malik. "Tell me, though, just how good is this civilian second you've got standing in for Barnes?"
"Good enough for a few days."
"Fine. You'll come along, at least 'for a few days'." Sephiroth smiled grimly. "I know, Malik. Just like Gavin, you can't stand to be left out of the action…" Trouble was, action in plenty could be about to be had.
Suddenly the screen from Wutai Base came alive. "General!" It was Carlos Griegos—shouting. "General! The shelling of the base has stopped! For the first time in three days there's silence at Wutai Base!"
"Mal, get the other bases on the horn."
"Seph!" Carlos looked as though he were about to jump through the screen. "I request permission to go above ground and secure my perimeter!"
The other base screens came alive: Sam Kuhn and John Nichols at Rocket Town, Bill Wallace Sr. at Gold Saucer, and Gavin McIntyre in Midgar. Sephiroth waited just a minute for them all to come on line before giving Carlos his orders. "Everyone. Carlos has just reported that the shelling has stopped at Wutai Base! Go ahead, colonel. Secure your perimeter. Take out the missile sites, though be ready for booby traps and assassins and secure the heights in the region. Just remember, Carlos, things can still go wrong in Wutai. Don't let your guard down." Sephiroth glanced at his other commanders. "Sam, I want you to continue the invasion preparations as if nothing had changed. The surrender deadline is still twelve hours away." All the men glanced at clocks and made the calculation for the deadline. Just over twelve hours: 8 am in Wutai, 6 pm in Mideel, 4 pm in Midgar. The ball was now in the emperor's court. How would he play it?
"Seph? May I ask a question?"
Sephiroth glanced at Gavin McIntyre's screen. "Go ahead, Gavin." Somewhere in the back of his brain, Sephiroth noted that McIntyre had less hair on his upper lip. Good.
McIntyre drew a deep breath. He wasn't entirely sure where this could lead; Seph might not even answer the question. "You expect Godo to surrender, don't you? You didn't really need to have him in custody. It was always the princess." Sephiroth didn't respond. "Seph? Just let me know if I'm out of line with this one…"
"Gavin. All I can tell you is—it's a gamble. While threatening the girl, and doing so in front of the entire country, might strengthen Wutai's resolve to fight, Godo might just back down. I think he will, if I read him right. While he's chafed under Shinra's rule, I doubt he'd have started this war without Genesis' interference—Godo basically accepts Shinra's control. He started this, however, in order to guarantee that his daughter would rule independent of Shinra. What he could accept for himself, he could not accept for her. Without her, and without Genesis' prodding, he has no real reason to continue."
"Interesting… So you do believe he'll surrender?"
Sephiroth nodded then looked down at the control panels before him without really seeing them. "If I've learned one thing from the last few days with Tessa's and the baby's lives on the line, it's that I would sacrifice everything—anything—for my loved ones, and the baby hasn't even been born yet." Sephiroth looked back at the screens of his commanders. The fathers in the group, Sam Kuhn and Bill Sr., were nodding thoughtfully in agreement. "I'm rather expecting Godo to feel the same way."
Sephiroth stiffened slightly. "Godo recognized that vulnerability in me and tried to exploit it by siding with Genesis in order to give his daughter an independent future. Whether Shinra will allow Wutai's limited independence to continue after this—hmph—isn't my decision." He found himself wishing for Tseng's viewpoint on the imperial family—have to get in touch with those guys and light a fire under them. Vincent, hurry up!
…Keep your pantyhose on. We're about thirty miles out and moving as fast as these vehicles can go! Any faster and your military trucks won't be able to keep up!
Move it!
Sephiroth took a deep breath to center and returned his attention to McIntyre's screen. "If you were to ask me, Gavin, if I were forced to choose between duty to Shinra, to Soldier, and the lives of my family, I can tell you that there would be no choice." The corner of his mouth twitched in a half-smile. All heads rose. "You don't have to worry, Gavin. There will be no 'either/ors' as long as I live. I will have everything." Sephiroth laughed softly. "You should all know that I number Soldier in the collective body of 'my loved ones'."
The corners of Sephiroth's mouth quirked in an evil smile. His commanders stiffened; that smile was an ominous, foreboding sight. "Of course, as far as this little war of Godo's is concerned, anything can go wrong at anytime, so we will continue the preparations for the invasion." Sephiroth smiled again; yes, they could well need to invade yet. "Any other questions?" Not a sound could be heard. "All right. Mideel Base out."
Cccccccccccccccccc
(7:30-8:00 pm, Wutai—Tamblin Fortress; 5:30-6:00 am, Mideel; 3:30-4:00 am, Midgar; 11:30 pm-midnight, Gongaga)
"Your Imperial Majesty! You can't surrender! You can't give up! The entire country is prepared for this war! Everything is in position! Everyone is ready! The time for this rebellion is now! Now, before Shinra has driven us into the ground completely! It's too late to back down from those Shinra dogs!"
Godo looked with anger at his top commander, General Makoto Akita. The man was insane! The room had exploded at Godo's announcement. Akita wasn't alone in his objections; he was just the most vocal. Godo put his face inches from Akita; control him, and the rest would be quiet. "This war is all for Yuffie," Godo growled quietly. "For the future. Without her, there is no reason to continue! She is the heart and soul of this country, and she is the only heir to the throne of Wutai!" Godo glared at Akita, his teeth clenched. "I want to go on the air in half an hour. Contact the demons. Let them know I'm going make a statement. They won't want to miss it."
Ccccccccccccccccc
(5:30-6:00 am, Mideel—Mideel Base; 7:30-8:00 pm, Wutai; 3:30-4:00 am, Midgar; 11:30 pm-midnight, Gongaga)
Like Cloud, Tessa, too, stood in the shower with the water hitting her lower back, but Tessa barely felt its heat. Instead she curled her arms under her stomach as if cradling the baby to her. There. And there again. It was the first time she'd felt the baby kick since she'd awakened! "Good morning. I hope you're feeling better this morning. I know I am, little one. Lucy. Are you wondering, like I am, what's for breakfast? After all, we haven't eaten anything but mako in, what, a week?"
Tessa thought again about that Lifestream voice she'd heard during her conversation with Leonard. Something about Shinra records and Jenova. Somewhere. She'd have to try and pursue that voice. It would take some time—maybe she'd hear it again in her sleep. Just have to protect you, Lucy. We'll have to find out everything we can about Jenova—and you… She wondered briefly when Sephiroth would be back and when he would want to leave for Rocket Town. Probably shortly for both. She considered briefly not going to sleep. It would be like him to leave her peacefully asleep while he went off to his war. She frowned. Not that she would let him!
Suddenly a noise came to Tessa's ears. It sounded like the outside door to her room closing; Leonard must be back with the antiobiotics. She turned off the controls and reached for the towel. The sooner she got the antibiotics, the safer Lucy would be. Next she reached for the fresh hospital gown and terry-cloth robe she'd been left. She wound another towel about her hair and threw it over the top of her head. At least her hair wasn't clacking with dried mako any longer.
Tessa stepped from the tiny bathroom. "Leonard, that was qui…" She froze, gasped, then reached out a hand. Poor Leonard was out cold on the floor! The back of his head was bloody, and two loaded syringes had rolled away from a tray near his hand.
Suddenly Tessa felt herself jerked backward against a hard body. An arm pressed itself around her right shoulder holding a knife to her throat, while another arm held her left shoulder. "Don't move. Don't make a sound."
Ccccccccccccccccc
"Fools. How long are they going to keep me here anyway?" Vester Hollander sat on an examining table in his temporary cell in the basement of Mideel Base Hospital. That damned doctor had come and examined him, pronounced him fit, then left him to fume. "Damn it!" His sons were dead now, Genesis Rhapsodos and his reincarnated Angeal Hewley. He'd never forgive Shinra for that! Sephiroth! You, spawn of Jenova! When you offered your blood as a transfusion for Genesis on that horrible day when he nearly lost that arm, maybe I should have allowed it instead of transfusing only Angeal's blood. Maybe then Genesis would have had enough Jenova tissue to survive!
Have to get out of here. Hollander knew Shinra wouldn't let him live. Not for long, anyway. He knew where too many secrets were kept, too many skeletons buried. Hell, he'd buried many of them himself! He'd have some unfortunate accident, maybe die in his sleep, of all things. The Turks would see to it… Shinra's precious Sephiroth, the great war hero! It should have been Genesis and Angeal, never Hojo and his Sephiroth! Hojo's laughter still rang through Hollander's mind. Laughing at him. Laughing at his sons. Vester Hollander suddenly paused in his ruminations and laughed softly himself. "How ironic, Hojo. You were killed by your own creation. Londo Shinra, too." He'd heard that Sephiroth had killed Hojo from the bug on Londo Shinra. Presumably Sephiroth had killed Old Man Shinra as well, though the recordings from the bug had been indistinct, just a whoosh before the transmission ended. Suddenly he and Genesis had been cut off, isolated, again. But Old Man Shinra's death had signaled the time to put their plans in action. Gather all Shinra's enemies in one great alliance—Wutai, Deepground, and Banora.
Wutai. Sephiroth would deal with Wutai as he had in the past—it was only a matter of time. Hollander had no confidence in Godo's individual ability to hold off Sephiroth for longer than a few months at most—but they would be a precious few months. Yes, Sephiroth—damn him!—would deal with Wutai, as he'd dealt with New Banora. That left only Deepground—hopefully Argento was still alive. If she were alive, then there was a possibility that she might be carrying Genesis' child. Genesis had thought she might be. Have to get out of here. Back to Midgar!
"Damn it!" Hollander shook his head, clenched his fists, and pounded them on his thighs. He'd been so close! He and Genesis and Angeal had been so close! But no matter. He would start over again, rebuild his sons, both of them this time. He'd hidden their tissue samples away in New Banora. No one would find them. All he needed were his samples, a lab, and Jenova tissue. He'd have to have Jenova tissue to make his sons even stronger than before…
Suddenly gunfire rang out. "What?!" Hollander ran across the room and grasped the bars in the tiny window in his cell door trying to see. A face looked back at him through the bars. "Dr. Hollander? Mr. Hutchins sent us. We're getting you out. We have to go now! One of the guards got off a shot. They'll be coming."
Ccccccccccccccccc
Private Walters paced outside the main communications room. He'd been waiting for what seemed forever for the brass to finish their teleconference to tell the colonel about the helicopter. Walters' head jerked up. What?! Jack Cubbins was running toward him from the other end of the hall!
"Wally! We just got a report! There's gunfire near the base's south entrance! Where's the colonel?"
"He's still inside on a teleconference with the General. Damn!" Walters could feel the color leave his face. He turned to look back through the small window in the room's door. Previously all he'd seen was the back of the colonel's head. Now, though, the colonel had stepped aside, and the General was approaching the door! Guess he wouldn't have to interrupt…
"Sir!" Walters and Cubbins came to frozen, glassy-eyed salutes as the door swung open.
"At ease, army." Sephiroth stopped. He could tell from their rigidity that something was wrong—and that he wasn't going to like it. "Report."
"Sir, uh, sirs!" Walters, the closer of the two privates, snapped off another salute in Malik's direction. "Yes, sir! We've just had a report that there's gunfire coming from the direction of the base's south entrance, and there's a non-army helicopter sitting over a rise outside the south fence line. Sirs, we're under attack!"
Malik blanched. "Seph, that's near the hospital!"
"Move!" Sephiroth was gone almost before Malik heard his words.
Malik called over his shoulder to his two privates. "Swords, people! Everyone to the south entrance! Now!" Malik pulled out his PHS and issued similar orders to his civilian acting-second as he ran to keep up with his commander.
Ccccccccccccccccccc
(6:00 am, Mideel—Apple Town; 8:00 pm, Wutai; 4:00 am, Midgar; midnight, Gongaga)
Finally, everyone was gone. A black-clad, strawberry-blond woman got out of a small, black sports car hidden in the shadows of some trees, made her way across the road, and over Apple Town's white-painted fence to stand in the small grove of trees from which Reno and his fellow Turks had surveyed the Apple Town administration building earlier. She studied it as well. Vanessa-1 hoped Shinra had left something behind, for her.
A/N—Well, NaNoWriMo is over for another year. I just wanted to congratulate all of you who took on the challenge of writing 50,000 words in 30 days, and especially those of you who accomplished this feat! I'm sure I couldn't turn off my "inner editor" to do this, so NaNoWriMo is not for me! AV produced ~52k by 11/29/08 and has since started a sequel—it's her first original manuscript! Congratulations again!