CHAPTER 28:
THE CAVALRY ARRIVES
And it had been going so well, Aerith reflected as the Shinra troopers surrounded them in the foyer of the Shinra building. Without their weapons, they couldn't fight their way through, and fleeing wasn't an option now. To have this many surrounding them, that cow Scarlet must've radioed ahead.
However, as the commander of the troops debated where to take them, a salvation of the most unexpected sort walked through the doors. Four people who normally worked here.
"Rufus Shinra, sir!" the commander said, saluting, nervously.
"At ease, man," Rufus said. "I am here to reclaim stolen property." His eyes narrowed at the commander, who gulped. He knew what Rufus meant.
"Th-th-then I will help you reclaim it, sir."
"Good man."
"Sir, Scarlet's the president now! We have to arrest…" Any further word the brave, or foolish, trooper said was cut off by a gunshot and a scream of pain, as Rufus shot the man in the knee.
"Take the man to the infirmary. Tell him he should be grateful, as I usually deal with thieves and their accomplices far more harshly. Though to be fair, I will deal with Scarlet myself. And she will wish I merely kneecapped her after I am done." He then turned to the Turks flanking him, as well as the nervous-looking man in the suit and with the beard. "Reno, Rude, Reeve, with me. Elena, escort these four to the Highwind."
"Rufus," Aerith said. "Hojo's become a monster, literally. He injected himself with Jenova cells. Jenova is fighting him off. In addition, Scarlet's scurried off."
Rufus' eyes widened. He then turned to Elena. "Get them back to the Highwind now!"
"But what are you going to do?" Cid demanded.
"Recover my stolen property, of course. I only need Reno and Rude. Elena, you have your orders."
"Sir!" she saluted, before she gestured to the four nearly-prisoners to follow her.
Harry's eyes widened when he saw who was there, amongst the members of AVALANCHE who were there. "Sirius?!" he yelled.
Sirius grinned, and waved. "Sorry to worry you, Pup. I…"
Harry ran to give him a hug, to punch him in the stomach for worrying him, doing something…until something fell to the ground next to him, and bounced with a musical ting. He caught it as it arced down again. He stared at the blood red orb in his hand.
"Hey, good on you, Harry. You've got the reflexes of a Seeker, like Prongs," Sirius said with a grin.
"Isn't that a Summon Materia?" Cid asked.
"It's Knights of the Round," Aerith whispered. Suddenly, a noise from above drew her attention, and she looked up. Her eyes widened, almost comically. "SCATTER!" she screamed.
The group scattered, as something very large and very red smashed into the ground. But this was no crash-landing. Whatever it was had landed with surprising grace, on one knee.
"What the hell is that?!" Barrett bellowed, aiming his gun-arm at it.
"Scarlet's pride and joy," Cait Sith said. "Anti-Weapon mobile artillery, the Proud-Clad!"
Jenova swooped in, two raven-black wings spread out from her back, and landed gracefully. Harry stared at her. As much as he felt ambivalent about her, he had to say that was one hell of an entrance. "Wicked," he murmured.
Proud-Clad looked around, taking in the members of AVALANCHE, along with Elena and Sirius. "Ah, so the criminals and traitors are all gathered here," Scarlet's voice boomed from the external speakers.
"Eh, wouldn't be the first time I've been called that," Sirius said, grinning ruefully. "You've got a nice voice, y'know. Shame about the attitude that'd put a Malfoy to shame."
"You? But you're dead!" Scarlet snapped.
"Nope. Very nearly was. Allow me to introduce myself: Sirius Black. Ladies man, excellent magical duellist, and Harry's godfather. And let me tell you, lady," Sirius said, his eyes narrowing, "I take a lot of offence when anyone tries to kill my godson."
"Your offence is irrelevant, Sirius Black. This was designed to fight Weapons. It's overkill for the likes of you, but I don't care."
"Harry!" Jenova yelled, seeing the Materia in his hand. "Throw that over here!"
Harry did so, but Jenova's shout had attracted Scarlet's attention. With pinpoint accuracy, she shot the Materia, sending it spiralling away.
And then, all hell broke loose. Scarlet turned her weapons on AVALANCHE and their allies, not caring for the members of the public who were in the way. They were all useless to her anyway. Sirius, by using wandless and Materia-less magic to create a shield, protected them, though he was more concerned about saving the lives of his new friends, and his godson. Not that he wanted to endanger the civilians. In fact, he would have been glad of saving them, once he was out of his Hit-Wizard mode of concentration.
Aerith scurried after the rolling Summon Materia, only to have to dive out of the way of a blast from the Proud-Clad.
"Accio!" Sirius yelled, the Materia flying into his hand. But the Proud-Clad only turned its attention onto him. He threw the Materia over to Cloud, who snatched it out of the air, before being knocked back by a blast from the Proud-Clad, sending the Materia skittering away...
Heidegger was waiting nervously in the boardroom. He had been waiting there for some time for Scarlet to come back with her prisoners in tow. And Palmer wasn't good company, swigging as he did from a hip flask as he did every so often.
So it was to his utter (and terminal) surprise when Rufus barged in, flanked by the Turks and Reeve. "Rufus?" Heidegger demanded, his eyes wide. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Taking back my company," Rufus sneered. "I'd call it a hostile takeover, but that would presume that the company isn't mine to begin with." He raised the shotgun until it was level with Heidegger's head.
"No, wait, Rufus, we can make a deal!" Heidegger said desperately. "If you spare me, I'll help."
"Until the next opportunity comes for you to stab me in the back? I don't think so. Any last words before I send you to the Knacker's Yard, Horse-Laugh?"
"You can't do this!" Heidegger yelled, partially in indignation, and partly out of fear. "I was your father's loyal subordinate!"
"But you weren't mine." The shotgun bucked in Rufus' hand, the bark of the weapon loud in the boardroom. Heidegger's head dissolved into a spray of blood and brain, decorating the walls in macabre colours. "Which is rather the point."
The shotgun turned on Palmer, who was staring at Rufus in fear. With a whimper, the man fainted. Rufus noticed a puddle forming beneath the man, and scowled. The man fainted AND pissed himself. That carpet was expensive to clean, and Rufus already had to deal with Heidegger's mess!
That being said, Rufus also knew that Palmer was easily bullied into doing what others wanted of him. Unlike Heidegger, he wouldn't be getting a lead salad severance package.
"Right," Rufus said, as if he was in a boardroom meeting rather than having murdered a former underling. "Reeve, find out the status of the Sister Ray. Find out how long it will be until the damn thing can be fired. Like it or not, it may be our best hope of breaching Sephiroth's barrier at the Crater."
Reeve nodded, and took out his PHS. As he began speaking, Rufus turned to the Turks. "Reno, Rude, we need to find Scarlet."
Reno nodded. "I'll call Elena. Maybe the others might have a better idea of where she was." He then activated his PHS. "Yo, Elena? Could you ask one of the would-be escapees where they last saw Scarlet?"
"Not a good time, Reno!"
"Why? What's the matter?"
"Scarlet's down here already, in the Proud-Clad!"
Rufus, Reno, and Rude shared a look. Rufus snatched the PHS from Reno. "Hold tight, Elena. I'll send some troops down to help!" He then disconnected.
"We've got to go help her!" Reno yelled.
"Reno, Rude! Stay here!" As the Turks turned to him, glowering mutinously, Rufus said, "Must I remind you of the oath you swore to me after that whole mess under Veld's administration of the Turks? I need you with me in case my rhetoric and my shotgun aren't enough to sway my employees. And Elena is with AVALANCHE. If they can't beat the Proud-Clad together, what makes you think your contribution will make a difference?"
Suddenly, an alarm sounded, and Rufus ran over to a computer console where Reeve was already staring at what was on the screen. "Damn!" Rufus screamed, losing his cool. "Damn this thing to Hell!"
"What's wrong, boss?" Reno asked.
"Things have gone from bad to worse. An old friend has turned up," Rufus said, though they didn't miss the sarcastic lilt on the word 'friend'. "And he's bought company. I thought only we could get cavalry arriving…"
When he was created, he knew his purpose. It was to return as much Mako Energy to the Lifestream, to assist the Planet that birthed him in its time of need. But he slumbered, because the crisis passed, and the Calamity was sealed. And there yet may come a time when he and his siblings were needed again.
But now, a new crisis had eventuated. The Calamity had been unleashed once more. And he and his siblings had been loosed upon the Planet yet again.
He felt sadness and sorrow, a sorrow more profound and deep than any human was capable of feeling. He knew what he was doing. He felt sorrow for the lives that he had to destroy to help the Planet weather the coming disaster. But the Planet had to endure, or there could be no lives to live on it in the first place.
Sapphire and Ultima were search and destroy units, designed to seek out the Calamity and purge it from the world, as was their now perished sibling, Jade. Emerald and Ruby were sentinels, intended to monitor the situation within the oceans and the desert, and intervene if necessary as back-ups to the others. Omega was the final sanction, the last resort, and may he never be needed.
It was Diamond's cruel duty to purge other forms of life to strengthen the Lifestream. Namely, humans.
He didn't want to. Even as he was born, he saw the manifold things humans could do, whether they were normal, or of the Cetra. The cruelty, and the wonders. Through the Mako Energy that fuelled him, he saw their lives, filled with folly and fury and fun. Even now, even as he knew that humanity was trying to drain the Planet dry, he wept for their coming demise. He knew not all of humanity was represented by Shinra. But it meant little to his duty, and he must do it.
Diamond! Ultima screamed at him as Diamond emerged from the shores near Midgar.
I hear you, brother. You can cease shouting. You are as bad as your sister, Sapphire. The voice of Diamond Weapon, had it been actually audible to human ears, was as soft as a whisper, and yet, had all the power of rumbling thunder.
Ultima bristled. We are the only ones taking active measures to safeguard the Planet! Emerald is content to destroy the occasional underwater contrivance of the humans, while Ruby sits in the desert, watching that hedonistic complex of the humans! And you! Why have you waited until now to advance on this vampiric dwelling of humans?
Why have YOU waited, overeager brother of mine? Diamond asked mildly.
I needed to track down the Calamity again! For a moment, they left the Planet on the human contrivance! It's only now that I managed to sense them again! In fact, this is perfect! Between the two of us, we can annihilate this parasitic dwelling, and purge the Calamity from this world!
I will annihilate it because it is my duty, Diamond said solemnly, beginning to stride towards Midgar. You, however, seem to have confused duty with vendetta. I know of what happened at your other battlefield. Your targets emerged from the Lifestream. If the Planet wished them destroyed, then it would have finished the job you started.
I WILL NOT ACCEPT FAILURE OR CRITICISM! Ultima snarled.
Then purge this metropolis of the Calamity, and only the Calamity, Diamond said. I shall do the rest.
Ultima flew off with a sullen snarl, while Diamond continued his relentless march towards Midgar. He wept for the lives that were to be lost, but he knew that to not do his duty would be to invite further disaster…
CHAPTER 28 ANNOTATIONS:
Wow. What a chapter. Harry, AVALANCHE, and Scarlet playing Hot Potato with the Knights of the Round Materia, Rufus is taking his company back, and now, Diamond and Ultima Weapons are about to attack Midgar.
As for the Weapons' various personalities, I decided that the Jenova-seekers had more vindictive personalities, while the sentinels and harvesters (Diamond Weapon is a harvester) are somewhat more contemplative. While the Jenova-seekers will destroy human settlements to bolster the Lifestream, their primary goal is to destroy anything with a Jenova influence.
Since giving Ultima Weapon a voice and personality in Chapter 20, I decided then and there that Diamond would be somewhat more sympathetic. Unlike Ultima, who is overzealous and prideful, Diamond is more introspective and lugubrious. He still kills people. That's his duty. But it doesn't mean he has to like it.
I thought about who I would like to have voicing Diamond, as I said Gabriel Woolf would be a good Ultima Weapon. After some thought, and considering both Valentine Dyall and Tony Jay (sadly, both deceased), I decided that Christopher Lee would be a damned good choice.
No numbered annotations this chapter. Sorry.
CHAPTER 28 SOUNDTRACK:
The Proud-Clad's Power: The Second Malformation of G, from Resident Evil 2, composed by Masami Ueda et al. I remember reading a comment on a YouTube video of this song saying that this song basically says "WHERE'S YOUR GOD NOW?" I wanted to evoke the same feeling with the Proud-Clad.
Diamond Weapon's March: The Theme of Tyrant 3: A, from Resident Evil: Code Veronica, composed by Takeshi Miura et al. Having used another Resident Evil boss battle theme for Ultima Weapon, I wanted something a bit more ponderous for Diamond Weapon. I think this may have worked.