36
Forecast: Cloudy days ahead?
Time: Seven days after the escape from the crater
Place: The march to the gas chamber for our heroes Tifa and Barret
The president had come one last time, after Tifa woke up, about their escape plan.
"Cait Sith will be going with you. He'll take you to the airfield where the Highwind has been prepped for your departure. Follow him out and you'll be fine."
"You're giving us that airship?"
"Like you said, trust has to come from somewhere. Cait Sith saw what you could do, and so did I. Plus I got reports of a girl that looked an awful lot like you wandering around town. Yet you always came back, so I think you really do what to do what's best for the planet, despite our bad reputation."
"Maybe the food's better here."
He smiled. "If what you say is true, and I have no reason to believe it isn't, you may be the only hope for our world. Plus, you said you needed to see a place to go back to it, right?"
"That's right."
"Best way to do that is aboard that ship. Now these two are going to be marching to what they think is their doom. The guard will be light, so I don't want a lot of soldiers getting killed here, okay?"
"As long as they aren't random encounters, I'll disable them before they can actually fight us. That spell should still work." I hope.
"Fine."
"What about Aerith and the others?"
"They've already been snuck aboard."
"Excellent." Susan had the foresight, before this meeting, to put Detect Lies on herself, so she knew Rufus was telling the truth. "Then let the show begin!"
Susan was walking, Invisible to anyone, alongside the two that had been tied up. They believed that they were walking to a gas chamber, where they would be killed while the public watched.
Would so gruesome a display have actually been planned if they were really going to be killed? I wonder. Susan was going to see what the situation was by the chamber, then possibly wait until one person had been led inside. She would then switch them with someone else, if the door had a window she could look through. If it didn't, she would simply take out any guards that were there with Immobilize, before the door could be closed. She was Accelerated for this very purpose, to get the bonus to her Mercury check. Of course, if she could get them all with one casting of Hypnotic Field, so much the better. But the less showy here the better, Susan. Remember that.
Inside the gas chamber room there were only two guards, plus the woman in the red dress, who seemed to be wearing it again. Odd, she has a good job, you would think she could afford at least one other dress. Or maybe she alternates? Did I catch her on 'red dress day' both times? Focus, Susan!
Apart from that there was a man with a camera, a couple of people sitting on metal chairs, and that was it. Oh, and the very poorly disguised form of Cait Sith, holding a microphone and looking weird. Kind of spread out.
She quickly ran to the other door in the room, and yes, it was the chamber and yes, it had a window set in it. Though I guess it doesn't matter, the spell doesn't specify I have to be looking at either target. Just that I have to be within M range of it. Huh. The woman in red decided that Tifa would go first, and shoved her into the chamber. They sat her down and tied her arms to the chair, while the lady in red called Tifa some... less than polite things.
With that done, she and the guard left the room, closing the door behind them. She announced the execution was about to begin when suddenly alarms rang out through the complex that Weapon was attacking!
Hey, he doesn't mess around. I didn't think he was going to make it this easy for me.
She shrugged, and started casting. The woman was still very near the door as the people in the chairs jumped up, frightened by the sudden siren. Some soldiers all took off running, probably to their duty posts in a situation like this. The two holding Barret looked at each other, but didn't move.
"What's this?" asked the lady in red, looking at the swirling magic around her.
"Your death," Susan couldn't help but say, completing the spell. "Transposition."
Of course the universe chose that moment to make her check the worst possible, while Scarlet's check was almost the best possible. Susan couldn't have that, so she spent 1 XP to succeed, having gotten an XP Bonus card before this began. Tifa and Scarlet switched places.
Honestly, it was my own fault. I should have put extra energy in. Two more would have done it. Oh well.
"What?" exclaimed Tifa. The guards raised their guns, as Susan suddenly became visible.
Let it not be said I don't learn from my mistakes. "Immobilize!" she cast on the two of them, using 6 energy this time. Both failed their checks to break free, and Susan realized these people couldn't actually spend energy on stats like she could. Because you can't spend what you don't have! (Credit cards not withstanding) And that woman in red rolled that high regardless? Figures.
"What's going on?" asked Barret, as the two struggled to escape their bonds they suddenly found wrapped around them.
"We're getting out of here, is what's going on," she replied, running over to him. She drew her Alleviation knife and cut his ropes, not having to worry about cutting him with it. Soon he was free and Cait Sith ran over to them.
"Come on, the Highwind is waiting!" he said, struggling out of his odd disguise.
"You all planned this?" asked Tifa, eyes wide.
"No time to talk, let's go!" Susan and the others made for the door, but Susan stopped as she got there. "Somnolent Smog," she cast on the middle of the room, causing the two soldiers to fall asleep. She released their bonds.
"Now they won't remember what you guys said, and I don't have to maintain the Immobilize. Come on!" At least, I hope it works for them like it does for me. Suddenly she had a thought. I hope that wasn't real poison gas they were using. I would hate to have just killed that woman by accident.
Tifa saw her looking back at the room.
"The guard dropped the key, I was just reaching for it with my foot when I got switched for her. She'll get it and be fine."
"Oh, okay."
Even as they stepped out of the room, they all heard the sound of the cannon firing, and smaller guns opened up as well.
"Wait, Weapon is actually attacking?" Susan shrieked. "I thought it was just a trick to lure the soldiers away!"
"I guess not. Come on," said Cait Sith, "airfield is this way." He took off as best he could with those huge feet of his, and the others followed. They ran outside Junon, where Susan could see Weapon rising out of the sea. It smashed into the place, and Susan almost fell over, but was steadied by Barret.
"Are those guns even doing anything to it?" she asked, looking up at them. "Because they don't seem to be."
"Worry about that later," said Barret, pushing Susan forward. "Let's just go if we're going."
Suddenly a reporter ran up to them. "Can you comment on this whole situation happening right now?"
"Yeah, it's bad news. Out of the way!"
"Don't get so upset. It's me! Yuffie!"
"Where've you been all this time?" demanded Susan.
"Hiding out. Not going to see the number one ninja from Wutai get captured, no sir. Glad to see you escaped. I was beginning to get worried."
"Yeah, about time, huh Susan?" Barret growled. "So much for our magical girl."
"I'll explain later. Come on!"
They ran away from the scene of the battle, leaving Weapon to be shot point blank by the main cannon, and got away clean.
"Someone want to explain to me what's going on?" Barret demanded, once in the air and away from Junon.
"Sure," said Susan, looking around the ship. "This place have somewhere we can sit down?"
"War room over there," replied Cid, pointing.
"Let's go there. By the way, who's flying this thing?"
"Some people loyal to me, don't you worry."
"Okay."
They all sat, with Susan at the head of the table. "Basically, the president offered me a deal. Someone who shall remain nameless told them about me, so he knew what I can do. He wants to take the barrier down, and asked me to provide him a Teleportal to get the cannon blast a bit closer to the barrier for maximum effect. I told him fine, but my friends walk. He held up his end of the bargain, and threw in the Highwind to boot. Clear?"
"You saying president Shinra himself let us go?"
"Why do you think there were so few guards? He didn't want his people being killed, and I agreed. Seems like enough are getting killed by Weapon already, they don't need our help."
"But why?" asked Tifa. "We're terrorists!"
"You were. Now you're the only people with the strength and knowledge of what's really going on that might have a chance to actually do something about it. He's not stupid, he sees the signs. Maybe it's only self preservation, but you saw Weapon. You saw the news reports, right? Wherever that creature goes, Shinra is there to beat it back from populated areas. That's raising public opinion to an all time high. People are scared. I mean look at that hunk of rock in the sky!" She pointed, but they were all inside and couldn't see it. "Every day it gets a little closer. People need hope right now."
"And you guys are capable," agreed Cait Sith. "I've seen that again and again in my travels. I mean you have Yuffie."
"What? Me? I mean, yeah, that's right."
Everyone laughed a bit.
"Okay, I guess it makes sense. So, do we technically work for Shina now? Dang, that's not going down easy."
"Hey, technically we stole this airship. It's ours now. They won't be coming after it, at least until the planet is safe. We're still outlaws, just... outlaws they don't chase around any more. At least as long as you guys don't do anything dumb, like blow up more reactors."
"Nah, I can see that won't work, long term. Shinra has to change from the inside. Maybe this is the start. You believed the president?" he asked Susan.
She nodded. "Especially at the end, when I had anti-lying magic going. He told me the truth in what he was saying."
"Guess I'll put my trust in you."
"Thanks, Barret. The question now becomes, what's our next step?"
Everyone looked around.
"If Cloud were here, he would know."
"And there it is," said Susan, popping her book out. "Let's find out if Cloud is still alive, and if so, where he is."
"You can tell?"
"My magic might be able to. Only takes a few minutes, let's ask."
So Susan cast Question from writing, and got back a "yes" answer to the question "Does Cloud still live." Everyone seemed glad of that. She then asked a second question, which was a little bit more unclear. "Where is Cloud currently?"
"Lifestream."
"Oh great, he's physically in the Lifestream? What's that going to do to him?"
Everyone shook their heads. "I don't think tests have even been done, immersing someone in pure Lifestream energy," said Cid. "It's too hard to capture and control. It goes into reactors, yes, but unless processed rapidly, it sort of evaporates when cut off from the main stream."
"Sorry I can't narrow it down a little more," apologized Susan. "But he's alive, and that's the important thing. Perhaps he'll wash up somewhere, and if we keep checking, we'll snag his location soon."
"I hope so. What do we do in the meantime?"
"Level up?" suggested Cid.
"Materia hunt!"suggested Yuffie.
"Hunt for Huge Materia?" suggested Cait Sith.
"Okay, that's two votes for Materia," said Susan. "And I'll admit the stuff is useful, but can't you just buy the stuff in shops? And what's Huge Materia?"
"Ho, ho, ho!" said Yuffie. "You think the stuff in shops is the be all and end all of the Materia line? No, sir. When you're a Materia hunter like me, you hear rumors. Like people going to remote locations and finding some special stuff that never gets out of their hands. I'm talking premium stuff, here, like you've never seen. But this Huge Materia interests me as well."
"It should. It's something Shinra has been working on making for some time. Given that you guys need all the help you can get, my boss has given me permission to let you know where they are. You'll have to steal it, I guess, but that's better than nothing?"
"We get made into the bad guys again? Why?" demanded Barret.
"Yeah, it doesn't do them any good to look foolish as we steal stuff out from under them."
"No, no, you don't get it. It's top secret stuff. Even those that transport it don't know what they're transporting. We would be stealing a black box, basically, and it wouldn't be publicized that it was missing. It's not supposed to exist, you see."
"He really is giving us all the tools he can, isn't he?" remarked Susan.
"Hey, it's our world too. Just let us know when you want to make a move against it, and we'll get it ready for transport. That'll be your cue to get in there and swipe it. There's four in total, so it'll take a while to get them all under our control."
"Okay. Any other suggestions?"
"When did this become a democracy? We need a leader!" said Barret.
"Whatever," replied Susan. "If there's something important someone needs to do, I'm giving them a chance to speak up. I want to explore this world more, so I can open Teleportals to more locations. If that coincides with hunting Materia, large or small, I'm up for it. Of course I want that training Yuffie promised me, and finding better weapons might not be amiss. Aerith, you're pretty quiet, what do you want to do?"
"Find Cloud, but we can't yet. Apart from that, Materia is power for us. With how powerful Sephiroth is just by himself, I don't think we can ignore any avenue that helps us beat him. Getting stronger and finding Materia, that's my vote."
"Woo hoo, you're the best, Aerith!" gushed Yuffie.
"Any other votes?"
"Weapons are good," said Vincent. "Killing monsters to raise our Limit Break level. Getting stronger. I don't see anything wrong with that. According to what I was told, we're kind of on hold until that barrier is down, right? And the barrier won't come down until the cannon is moved. I heard weeks, at best."
"That's what I heard. I just hope that meteor isn't traveling very fast, and takes a few months to get here. Luckily space is pretty big, so that shouldn't be too much of a concern."
"From what I've observed," spoke up Sparkle, "great events in the world tend to happen when dramatically appropriate. Consider our recent escape. That Weapon could have attacked that city at any time in the last week. But the day Tifa wakes up and the plan to get us out of there goes off, that's when it decides is the best time? Really? And us arriving just in the nick of time to save Aerith? Us running into Hiraga in the last world, just as we both transited? I don't think we have to worry. Meteor will fall, but only as fast as it needs to in order to give us time to prepare and take action against it. Mark my words. I even have a name for the phenomenon that I made up: Narrative's Imperative."
The others looked at her, then back at Susan.
"Catchy. Technically, she's been traveling worlds longer than I have. If she's noticed something like that, it's probably true. I'll have to keep an eye out for that."
"Somehow that statement just seems so wrong on so many levels. Yet I find I can't think of a good counter example. Anyway, is it possible to do all this stuff at once? Is there a place we can go to get stronger and search for Materia?"
"Why would we have to do all this as a group? We can drop some people off in a good area to slaughter monsters, while us Materia hunters scour the world."
"What? Break up the party? Madness!" said Vincent.
"It won't work?"
"No, it's so crazy it just might work. Only three can participate in combat, and we have just about enough members for three groups. There must be a map around here someplace, let's look for an area with some high XP creatures to kill, and anyone who wants to get stronger can come with me."
"I'm going with Vincent!" said Aerith immediately.
"Really?" he said, a bit shocked. "I mean, of course! You're welcome to. Who else?"
"I'll go with you," said Tifa. "I need to get stronger if I'm going to keep up with Cloud when we find him."
"Vincent, you lucky dog!" said Susan, bumping him with an elbow. "Having two beautiful girls at your side as you roam the land, destroying all creatures in sight. How did you manage it?"
"Clean living," he deadpanned.
"I'm with my living Materia detector, I mean good buddy Susan!" said Yuffie, linking arms.
"And I'll need to stick around to help fly the Highwind," said Cid.
"I'm no help finding Materia," said Barret. "That leaves Cait Sith and Na with me. What to you guys want to do?"
"I suppose you're not one much for research, either?" asked Na.
"Not especially."
Na shook his head. "I guess Cosmo Canyon is out. There is a wealth of information there, but pouring through it to find what's relevant, that's the key."
"Do it yourself!"
He tried to stand on his hind paws, holding his front paws up for inspection. "No thumbs."
"Ah, always some excuse. Hey Cait Sith, where's these Huge Materia you talked about?"
"Let's see, there's one in an underwater reactor off Junon. One in the Condor Fort reactor. The Corel Mountain reaction made one-"
"Corel? We're heading there! That's my hometown, I know it best."
"Okay, I'll give Shinra the word. It'll be ready to move within the hour."
"Drop us off a little ways away then, we'll take the rest of the journey on foot, rack up some XP in the bargain. Like Cloud said, we did miss some with Susan moving us about before."
"Sounds like we have our plan," said Vincent. "Keep in touch."
"Yeah, if you run into trouble, I can reach you guys pretty quickly, so keep that in mind."
Everyone nodded, and Cid told the pilot where they wanted to go. With the groups dropped off, Yuffie could barely contain herself, bouncing in place.
"Where shall we start looking first?"
"You're asking me? Most of this world I've never seen, you know."
"Come on, I'll get the maps," said Cid, turning to head back to the operation's room.
"Wait a second," said Susan, putting up a hand. "When you're looking for something, it's best to start with the easiest place first."
"What do you mean?" asked Yuffie.
"We're going shopping!"