Days of Exile

Hello bubs, I'm finally back!

As I've said in the previous chapter, 13th of January is an eventful day. The day had just started! Also, spot the FF7: Advent Children (in English dub) reference here!

Chapter 38 – Midgar

Previously on Days of Exile…

As Cloud and the other explored the Gelnika, they fought against Reno and Rude, who were looking around the plane to ensure that it was safe for Shinra to claim the items in the plane later. After their triumph, the party returned to the City of the Ancients with the Key. The Key revealed that Aerith had already summoned Holy with her White Materia, but Sephiroth has been holding its powers off.

Meanwhile, Rod, Mason and Kido were discouraging Tseng from leaving Junon. The leader of the Turks still had internal injuries that were not to be neglected. While they were talking, they found that Jade WEAPON was on its way to Junon.

Also, Cloud and the others discovered that the large Mako Cannon in Junon was transported in a span of a few days into Midgar…

13 January 0008

Midgar. Sector 8. Shinra Building.

At the top of the Shinra Building was a spick and span office belonging only to one person. Rufus Shinra looked up at the three executives standing around his desk. "… That's why, Reeve. It's your job to adjust the reactor's output," he explained nicely.

Reeve knew that if he were to argue anymore, Rufus' nice tone will not stay nice for long. Reeve Tuesti looked away. "I see…" There was no escaping from it. Previously he was asked to increase the rates for Mako on the civilians. Now he had just been asked to increase the Mako Reactor's output to support the Mako Cannon that was just transported from Junon.

They would not understand the risks in taxing the Mako Reactors so. They were not the ones who carefully designed the Reactor to work at optimum efficiency. They were not the ones who penned every sketch and considered every flaw. They were not the ones who scraped brilliant ideas due to realistic circumstances. They were not the ones who had to suffer in Costa del Sol while his architectural genius fell upon hundreds of innocent people.

Blinking back what could potentially become tears, Reeve ordered himself quietly to stay focused on the meeting. Of course these people did not understand Reeve, but he would not waste time to explain to them either.

Scarlet laughed and stepped forward. "Don't worry about adjusting it, Reeve," said the blonde woman as though she knew everything about Mako Reactors. "Once you open it up all the way, everything will go full speed!" She emphasised it with a punch in the air.

It was Heidegger's turn to laugh now. "The President's sure done it this time!" (Bootlickers, thought Reeve.) "The whole idea that Meteor will disappear if we defeat Sephiroth is brilliant!"

Scarlet wagged a finger coyly at Rufus. "If you remember… Mr. President… It was my idea to fire Mako powered shells."

Rufus flipped a small bit of hair that has fallen upon his forehead. "Will the shells really reach the northern border?" There was no mistaking an edge of concern in his tone. Nobody took Sephiroth lightly.

Well, maybe except for Heidegger and Scarlet.

Rufus' response was another shrill laugh from Scarlet. "Of course!" She spread her arms. "But Mr. President, let's not call it a Mako cannon. This new weapon is called…" Sweeping her arm in flourish, she declared. "The Sister Ray!"

Midgar. Sector Eight. Upper sectors.

Transported from Junon, rapidly assembled in less than 2 days, was a dangerous canon used as a last resort against Sephiroth. The "Sister Ray", or "SR" as some SOLDIERs had been whispering around, was connected to many pipelines in Midgar where Mako energy will surge through. By boosting the power output using most of Midgar's Mako, it should be able to handle the problem. They would aim it at Sephiroth, who was still dormant in the Northern Crater protected by a magical barrier.

Scarlet and Heidegger's theory was that it was never the right plan to focus on destroying Meteor. They should destroy the summoner of that Meteor. Thus, their new plan was that if Sephiroth died, Meteor would also disappear. Then, once the Planet was no longer threatened, the WEAPONs would surely return to where they came too.

"Theoretically, it's perfect," said Rude, looking up at the large Sister Ray.

When they had returned from the sunken Gelnika yesterday, Heidegger had ordered to help out in the assembly of Sister Ray, much to Reno's frustration. Reno had always prided himself with the knowledge that the Turks' jobs were less labour-intensive. He could not complain for long. The assembly of the enormous cannon took all of Shinra's manpower and all of yesterday to complete.

Today, straight after their breakfast, Heidegger's orders were to survey the area around the newly constructed Sister Ray, using the helicopter. Rude did not think it was necessary since they would not be able to spot any details amiss from that distance. However, Heidegger would not hear the end of it. It had been hectic for the last two days, and Rude doubted that the chaos will end anytime soon… literally.

"Theoretically? What about non-theoretically?" asked Reno of the new plan that Heidegger and Scarlet conjured. He spoke with a serious tone that he did not usually have. Rude could not blame Reno. The two weeks of nonstop pressure from all around the company had mellowed the acting-Turk-leader quite a bit. Reno's half-witted remarks diminished and he sighed most of the time. It did not help that Reno could not take time off to find Meia.

Rude stared out of the window, watching the Sister Ray and considering the odds of the cannon failing. "It leaves me concerned," he declared finally.

"Then I'm relieved."

"What do you mean?"

"I thought I was the only one worried," explained Reno, tilting the helicopter a little to the right. "Are we seriously going to fire this thing? Don't we have to test it out first? Will Midgar be alright?"

Rude took a deep breath. "Would you be reassured if I said it'll be alright?"

"Hey, don't get mad." Reno shrugged. "No one knows what will happen anyway. With all these nonsense here and there, the next thing we know, crazy things will happen. Maybe the Meteor will simply just implode and yay, happy ending for us all, yo? Or maybe Tseng will miraculously revive himself from the dead. Or maybe freaking Elena will stop moping around and get some work done. Just sayin'."

They received the report that Tseng was dead shortly after Elena returned from the Temple of the Ancients. Elena immediately flung herself into grief and did her Turk tasks half-heartedly. As for Reno and Rude, they did not want to give up on Tseng, choosing to believe that he was merely missing in action. Now that it has been three weeks, the chances of Tseng being alive were…

"No point in thinking about that, yo?" said Reno, knowing exactly what Rude was thinking. "At this point, we do what we can. If Tseng's alive, I doubt his presence will make Meteor disappear. Though his long and solemn face would be enough to send Meteor back to oblivion," he joked. "If Tseng's really dead, we will take over as Turks of Shinra and do the best in our jobs. Not that we have a choice," he added.

"There is no job too difficult for the Turks," chimed in Rude.

"Amazing how we are the last two people still hanging on, yo?" Reno remarked, tilting the helicopter again to get a better view of the Sister Ray. "From the pioneers of the Turks to Veld to the whole farm of them, and now… down to only us."

Rude stared at the structure, though he was not scrutinising the details like what Heidegger wanted them to do. "… Reno."

"Hmm?"

"Why are you still here?" Rude turned to look at him. "You could've gone with the rest of them, and be with Meia happily. Instead, when you discovered Tseng had killed Veld and Elfe, you turned heel and ran straight back to Shinra. … Why?"

For a moment, Reno was quiet, which was not normal because Reno was one who talked before he thought. "… Well, I've been thinking here and there… That's all." Rude did not reply; he did not have to. Reno knew that his partner was waiting for him to elaborate. "When I went back to Shinra, it was because Zirconiade was breaking apart. If we did not try to help, who knows what its destruction could do to Midgar? It was all duty that made me turn back, and duty that made me stay." Reno glanced at Rude. "There's really a lot to explain."

Rude shrugged and checked his watch. It was just ten minutes before eleven in the morning. "Go on, we have all day."

There was a short silence as Reno gathered his thoughts. "You know, it has been a long while since I felt loyalty towards Shinra." Reno's confession was no surprise to Rude. He had seen the bright spark of excitement dull in the redhead's blue eyes. "You remember when I first became a Turk, don't you? I was this overly-excited brat who was ready for a fight and a kill." Reno laughed dryly. "Now I don't feel like that anymore. I think I kinda lost it when Tseng shot Veld and Elfe."

Rude pushed his sunglasses against his nose. "You and I both know that Tseng is not like that."

"Yeah. I knew that Tseng admired and respected Veld." Reno shook his head in disbelief. "There is no way he would shoot the man who groomed him to be who he is today, not willingly. I'm still confident in Tseng's values."

"Shinra's orders were orders."

Another dry and cynical laugh from Reno. "How convenient for us to use Shinra's orders as an excuse to what we have done, however true that statement is. Still, I wanted to stay in Shinra. I had this novel idea that if I stayed here, I could protect those who had left – those lucky monkeys who fled from Shinra, including Meia. At least being here means I could watch out for them, in case Shinra changed their minds about letting them go, I could tip them off. That's the most basic of protections that I could afford to give." Reno had no problem telling these things to Rude. Although they may not share equal beliefs, but Reno trusted Rude that these things were for his ears only.

"…" Rude was silent for a while, then he said, "Maybe that's what Tseng thinks too."

Reno stared at the bald Turk in surprise. "You think so? Sacrificing his freedom so that they could live freely out of Shinra? That does not sound like something Tseng would do for his subordinates, yo."

"… Just a hunch."

"So…" The redhead stared at Rude. "You haven't told me YOUR reason for staying in Shinra." By now, the two of them were no longer staring at the Sister Ray. They were so deeply engrossed in their long-overdue discussion. Rude kept silent and folded his arms, but Reno was persistent. "Aw come on! I poured out my heart to you about my motivations, you gotta tell me yours!" He gave a cheeky grin. "Why won't you leave Shinra? You can then join AVALANCHE and be with your sweet little Tifa."

"…" With a quiet voice, Rude said, "The Turks who have left Shinra are safe as long as they are outside Midgar. You and Tseng, however, are not going to be safe if you keep staying in Shinra. If any one of you were to be gone, the other person will be handling everything here. Even Tseng would not be able to handle everything alone. The least I could do is to be here."

"Aww! Rudy is being so caring?" Reno gasped dramatically. "I gotta tell Momma Charity!"

Rude narrowed his eyes. "You leave my mother out of this. And stop using her nickname for me." He paused for a moment. "By the way, my mother invited you to dinner next week. She said that she will be cooking kebabs."

Reno grinned like a little boy. "Awesome! Your ma's cool. She is the only woman I know who can win me at arm-wrestling while cooking beef stew. Tell her I'll be there." His mirth died down quickly. "Rude?" There was a short grunt from his partner. "… Thanks a lot." He patted his partner's back, and his short moment of gratitude was gone. His cheeky, inappropriate personality returned. "You and I really got this whole bromance thing going on, yo?"

Rude stared at Reno with a look as if he had eaten something rotten. "We do NOT have bromance."

"Aww, come on! I know you have a soft spot for me, and I have a soft spot for ya!" Reno nudged his partner. "No matter what we become, you and I will always be the best team that Shinra has ever seen."

"… We did fine." Rude's words were humble, but not the smirk on his face.

"Since Meteor is going to come anyway, I say we just… heck them all!" If Reno could, he would throw his hands in the air for emphasis. "Let's take things easy a little, enjoy what is left of our lives, yo?"

"I have no problems with that." His partner considered Reno's suggestion and added, "In fact, let's take the chopper for a spin, now."

"Oh?" Reno's eyes lit up with mischief. "A spin, you say? Pokerfaced, strait-laced Rude ol' boy?" Rude rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses, and Reno saw that. "Hey! It's just that you are usually the one who will harrumph with disapproval."

"I do not harrumph."

"Well, you're right about the harrumphing." Reno grinned, wriggling his thumbs for a good stretch. "Anyway, if Gya-ha-ha is sending us everywhere for odd jobs, I say we take all the time we need!" Reno seemed revitalised with the plan of skiving on the job.

Rude shrugged. "Just get me back in time for lunch."

"You betcha!"

Junon. Shinra Office. Private wards.

Rod stood by the door, watching Tseng pack. Tseng was done in less than ten minutes, having brought only his PHS and handgun when he was first brought to the Junon ward. There was nothing they could do to stop Tseng from going to Midgar. At least the patient knew better to sleep a good eight hours, so it was approaching noon when Rod walked in to see Tseng about to leave. Mason and Kido had gone to the canteen to buy lunch. Tseng may not even be around to eat lunch.

They stared at each other briefly, and Tseng said, "WEAPON… was a difficult creature to defeat. Good work on teaming together to fight it."

They had successfully defeated the Jade WEAPON yesterday, Rod, Mason, Kido and Tseng. It was Rod and Tseng's first time seeing and fighting the Planet's defence trooper, but Mason and Kido had the experience. They did not take long – ten minutes at most. they took almost twenty minutes to defeat the weakened Jade WEAPON. Cissnei definitely had it the worst – she was fighting the WEAPON alone for almost an hour, and was on the verge of death until support came from Cosmo Canyon. None of the Turks had it as difficult as her after that because they fought in groups.

Finally, the monster was gone. Never to come back and haunt the rest of the Turks. They were free from Jade WEAPON… and Shinra.

"Thank you for providing combat support," answered Rod. Tseng shrugged, knowing that shooting behind his three main fighters provided little substantial support. At least it was a good "warmup", like what he guessed. "Going already?" Rod asked.

"Yes. I will see where and how I can help the President." Tseng replied, glancing around the room for a last check. "Seeing how the phonecalls and messages have stopped, they must be very busy with handling Meteor."

"Oh, that." Rod grimaced. "Um… According to Reeve, there was a rumour circulating around… Basically Shinra thinks you're dead."

The Wutaian spun around at Rod fiercely. "And you did not tell me earlier because?"

"Sorry, boss." Rod raised his hands in surrender. Tseng wondered if Rod's slip of the tongue was intentional. Many times this scene had played out, but in a different setting and circumstance.

The older man growled. "I could have gone back to help them."

"Could you, really?"

Instead of answering Rod's rhetorical question, Tseng shook his head in disbelief. "And nobody sends anyone to check on me? Or is it that Reeve's instructions were to keep me away from sight?" Rod joked that perhaps it was the latter. "I'm not as amused as you sound, Rodzen Daisa."

"Well," said Rod, still grinning. "I think it's great that no one knows that you're alive. Gives you a bigger impact when you return."

"Such frivolity and flashiness would only appeal to Reno." Tseng straightened his blazer for the last time. "In that case, I will return to Midgar now. Thank you for the help while I was in need."

"Tseng, hey." Rod stretched out a hand. "Allow us to go with you. You kept wanting to go back alone, but the three of us are also going to Midgar anyway. Why not let's go back together?"

Tseng did not see the problem in that. He still had a dull ache in his chest, though he could walk and fight. It would be better for him to travel in a group. However, he was not going to tell Rod that. His hand still on the sliding door, Tseng said, "… Don't get in my way."

It was no surprise that Rod's annoyed reaction simply reminded Tseng of a certain like-minded redhead, who was now handling matters of the biggest severity in Midgar.

Off the coast of the Northern Continent.

Something was stirring from within the seas. Birds that flew by immediately turned tail to fly in a different direction. A large shadow formed in the dark waters. Waters rippled and waved. With a huge splash, a metal creature emerged from the sea. It was tall and broad, made of a metal that was unknown to any scientist alive.

It roared with life, and began to walk… slowly towards Midgar…

Midgar. Shinra Building. Floor 67 cells.

Despite being labelled as a test subject with death and torture staring at her face, nothing stopped Meia from taking out her earpiece to listen in to AVALANCHE's conversations. And right on time too. She barely registered what the commotion was about when she heard Cait Sith's voice clearly. "This ain't good... WEAPON came out of the sea and is heading straight for Midgar."

"The new weapon should stop him, right?" asked Cloud.

Meia did not understand what Cloud meant. However, through the comments from Reeve, she figured out by context that there was some sort of huge cannon in Midgar that was used to destroy Sephiroth. If they could, she thought. They are overestimating their ability. Sephiroth has been dormant in the Lifestream for almost 6 years, he must be so much stronger than in Nibelheim.

"I don't know if it's ready or not…" Cait Sith admitted.

There were heavy footsteps, then the voice of Barret. "Hey! What's gonna happen to Marlene!?"

"Doncha worry none, Marlene's in a safe place. She's with Aerith's mama." A short pause, then Cait Sith's shouted angrily, "Barret!"

"What happened?" asked Reeve over the earpiece, though AVALANCHE could not hear him.

"He just scratched his head and turned," answered Cait Sith to Reeve (and Meia). "He doesn't believe me! What was that scratching just now!?" Cait Sith's words were now directed at Barret. "As long as Marlene is safe, who cares what else happens, right?"

There was no response from Barret. He distrusted Shinra from the very beginning, and Meia could imagine how ruthless Shinra was in their retaliation. Assurances from Shinra's mouth would do nothing to ease Barret's discomfort. The big man had shown plainly his dislike for Shinra, and remained steadfast in his dislike.

Reeve was not to be swayed. "He is being immature," he said to Cait Sith. "He is worried only for his own family and friends. What about the thousands of people who died in Sector 7?"

That was translated into Cait Sith's words as: "I've been itchin' to say this to you for a while now! When you blew the Midgar No. 1 up, how many folks d'ya think died?"

Finally, the big man spoke with a coarse voice. "… That was for the life of the planet. Ya gotta expect a few casualties."

The cheek! Meia thought furiously. Reeve is right, Barret is too self-centred for this whole salvation thing! He is only thinking of salvation of his own people, and not everyone! He wouldn't sing the same tune if Marlene was the one who had to sacrifice her life.

She hesitated and decided against thinking such negative thoughts. She still remembered the young girl whom Aerith had protected against Tseng. The look of relief and gratitude that surfaced from such a young face… Once upon a time, Meia possessed that same look of gratitude towards her friends, Sunny, Tihan and Carmelle. In that moment, Meia saw that bit of her former self in Marlene.

The next few lines were not from Reeve, but Cait Sith itself. "A few? Whaddya mean 'a few'? What may be a few to y'all is everything to them who died…" Another pause.

Reeve scoffed in the earpiece. "Great. They think silence will make sufficient atonement. I'd almost forgotten how arrogant they can be. As long as it's for the Planet, any amount of people can die… but not their family and friends. Sounds as inspiring as Shinra propaganda."

Cait Sith's modified version: "Protect the planet. Hah! Y'all sure sound good! Ain't no one that'd go against ya. So ya think ya can do whatever y'all want?"

"I don't wanna hear that from no one in Shinra..." Barret growled.

Meia was furious with Barret's remark. She did not know where Reeve's loyalties laid – AVALANCHE or Shinra. Nevertheless, Reeve had not been sabotaging AVALANCHE. Reeve's intentions of saving the Planet were sincere, but Barret's pride was hindering the bigger plan. If the Corel native were to persist in his tactless answers and impatience, AVALANCHE would not get anything done. As things stood now, Reeve was relying mainly on AVALANCHE to stop Meteor. Shinra was just doing their own thing. According to Reeve, Shinra had just moved a huge Mako cannon from Junon to Midgar. As if things were not ludicrous enough already.

"… nuthin' I can do 'bout that..." Cait Sith said sadly.

"Stop it!" shouted Cloud suddenly.

Tifa agreed. "Cait Sith… Barret, he knows what he did. What we did in Midgar can't be forgotten no matter what the reason. … Right? We haven't forgotten, right?"

Meia quickly realised that the silence from Barret this time was not from arrogance. It was something deeper, like regret or despair. Perhaps they had lost their friends and family through their own ways, or through Shinra. It was a never ending cycle of blame, with many of their loved ones involved unnecessarily. Meia shivered, AVALANCHE was similar to the Turks in a small sense.

Still, she thought indignantly. Doesn't give him the rights to think that he can blame everyone about his predicament. She paused in her thoughts, wondering if her thoughts made her the biggest hypocrite of all.

"… I know you," Tifa said, this time to Cait Sith and indirectly, Reeve. "You can't quit the company because you're worried about the people in Midgar, right?"

"I…" said Reeve.

Cait Sith said to Reeve, "Tifa actually knows how you feel, Reeve!"

"… That's just one out of the whole group." Reeve's tone was soft. "But she's right, we cannot afford to have any discord in AVALANCHE. We've made the decision to trust them that they'll save the Planet. Our best effort will be to make sure that they stay focused on their jobs."

Cloud had decided eventually that they would take things into their own hands. They would approach and take down WEAPON before it reaches Midgar. Meia listened to the rest of the conversation half-heartedly. In her mind, another issue grew in her mind. However, it would be difficult to get the answer, for how would she be able to guess the motivations and intentions of Reeve Tuesti?

Yes, I apologise. It has been close to two months since I last updated. Hopefully this slightly longer chapter will appease you! Now that I'm back, I hope that things will get running for me too. I really stopped writing because I was busy with work.

Well, the scenes from here on are heavily referenced and modified from "On the Way to a Smile – Case of Shinra". It is worth a read if you want to be extra sure of what is happening. If not, just sit back and relax!

Do read and review!