Chapter Nineteen: I Am A Sniper, Always Hit The Mark
Cid grinned as he surveyed the destruction he caused from his radar screen. "THAT'S FOR DESTROYING MY DREAMS, MOTHERFUCKER!" He lit a victorious cigarette and happily inhaled the nicotine.
Meanwhile, Barret and the rest of AVALANCHE had fully prepared themselves for the impending onslaught of Shin-Ra and were waiting for a safe LZ. (Landing Zone.). The dark-skinned juggernaut spoke to the smirking SOLDIER through his earpiece.
"Yo, Poison-Man!" John smirked. He had preferred and used the Poison element for as long as he could remember. "Barret, it's 'John.'. What's up?" Barret growled from inside the Cargo Bay. "Is that all ya can ask me!? WUT'S UP!? YOU AND TIFF'UH'NEE ARE OUT THERE ALONE, WITH NO BACKUP, AND THAT'S ALL YA CAN ASK ME!? WUT THE FUCK!?"
John laughed. "Calm down, Barret. Look, Tifa's in position and safe. I'm keeping an eye on her. She's in my sights, and I mean that both literally and figuratively. Don't start. Do you REALLY think I'd shoot her?"
Barret shook his head and sighed. As much as he hated Shin-Ra for what they did to his mining town birthplace of North Corel, he knew he could trust the SOLDIERs who were now a part of AVALANCHE.
John kept his eyes focussed on his gunsights while he changed the channel frequency of his earpiece to AVALANCHE's leader. "Captain, it's John!" Cid sighed and lit another cigarette. "Yeah? What is it?" John smirked. "I was thinking that you should let AVALANCHE fast rope down behind me and if you receive enemy fire, Tifa and I can cover you all. All I have to do is give Tifa a signal and you'll have a raging storm that will blind the enemy. Might even take out some of those other scumbags from Shin-Ra."
Cid thought things over for a moment before grunting. "I gotta say, kid, you're making a lotta fucking sense! Are you sure you've never been a leader!?" John smirked again. "Well, I DID set the all-time record for the military strategics exam. I even beat Sephiroth!"
Cid mulled things over for a moment before grinning, showing nicotine-stained teeth. "Yep, works for me, kid. I'll scan the area and make a low pass over the main street before giving AVALANCHE the green light."
John's smirk morphed into a full grin. "You know, Captain, you surprise me." Cid grunted, his grin dropping. "Yeah? And, how's that?" John chuckled into his earpiece. "Captain, you went a few sentences without swearing!" Cid growled. "Shut the fuck up, youngster."
John smirked, glad that things with Cid were as they should be. "Captain, I'm keeping an eye on things here, give me a signal if you need cover. I have a Mako-enhanced silencer attached to my rifle, radar can't pick up the bullet's signatures."
Cid grunted again. "Good. Let's get this shit moving! I've got a team in the cargo bay who are fucking BLOOD-THIRSTY!" John nodded, even though no-one could see him. "Roger that, Captain. I'll inform Tifa and get this party started!"
Tiffany was hiding behind her cover, waiting for the signal from her partner. Her earpiece crackled and she waited for the first shot to be fired. For the next few moments, there was silence, until John spoke into his earpiece.
The smirking SOLDIER had numerous targets to choose from, but picked one of the members of The Turks, who were the elite assassins of the Shin-Ra Electric Power Company. "Sorry, Reno. I know we used to be friends, but I have to do this for the Planet. It's nothing personal."
Reno of The Turks was in the middle of replacing the battery in his electrical nightstick, grumbling as he did so, when it happened. "SON OF A BITCH!" He felt a sharp, searing pain in his right shoulder as the Mako-enhanced bullet tore through his skin and muscle, narrowly missing his bone.
His weapon fell to the ground and he picked up the deadly nightstick with his left hand. His teammate Rude cast a Cure2 spell, and Reno sighed in relief as the green tendrils of the curative magic quickly wove muscle and skin back together, but the magic was only a temporary fix. The wound would require medical attention after the fight, if Reno survived.
All four of The Turks immediately ducked down for cover and their leader, the Turk Captain known as Tseng spoke to his team. "Rude, can you see him?" Rude tapped on the frame of his glasses and the lenses flickered a deep red colour as he used Shin-Ra technology to scan for heat signatures.
He edged cautiously forward to the nearest area of cover and ducked down behind it. He leaned over and scanned the area ahead. "Nothing. All I can see are our Roboguards." Tseng growled. "Alright, Rude, get back here. We're in command. The President and the Admiral are both dead, it's up to us."
Rude obeyed his command without question and made his way back to his point of cover. Before he reached his original cover, a pain similar to white-hot knives piercing his skin made his hand bleed. Rude immediately grabbed his wrist, wounded.
Tseng grabbed Rude's arm and pulled him to cover. The long-haired Turk was trying to determine the sniper's methods. "This sniper knew where to hit us. He's not trying to kill us. He's incapacitating us, without intention to maim. Elena!"
The young, blonde female Turk turned to her leader. "Where do you want me?" Tseng pointed to a catwalk atop a metal ladder. "Get up there. Fast." Elena nodded without hesitation and climbed up the ladder.
Tseng cast a Cure2 spell on Rude and tried to locate the talented marksman. He drew his side-arm, keeping an eye on Elena as she made her way to her point of cover. He tapped his earpiece. "Elena, report in." Elena spoke two words. "In position."
Tseng looked at the bullet holes in the metalwork that had made clean entry and exit wounds through Reno and Rude. He looked toward the sniper's apparent position and back to his point of cover.
He then signalled to Elena who then lay prone on the catwalk, adjusting her sights as she spotted a glint in the distance. "Tseng, I have him." Tseng grinned. "Elena, shoot to kill." Elena fired a round from her high-powered rifle.
John growled and shuffled to the right. "Tifa, I'm under fire! If you can come up with some way to clear out the Roboguards, I can signal the Captain to deploy the rest of AVALANCHE!" Tiffany channelled energy from a red Materia orb and summoned Bahamut Fury, a gold variant of the famed and feared dragon of the Bahamut family.
Bahamut Fury hovered over the Planet and fired a huge beam from its mouth. Exa Flare hit the Junon Airport Path and wiped out the entirety of the Shin-Ra forces, barring The Turks, leaving nothing but a mess of scrap metal, wires and other electronic parts.
John watched the entire event and smirked, before speaking into his earpiece. "Tifa, make your way up here." Tiffany made her way back from her cover, through the doors and to the metal pillar. She climbed up and found her lover laying prone in the rafters.
John turned to his girlfriend and smirked at her. "Good call on Bahamut Fury. I didn't even know you had it!" Tifa mirrored her partner's smirk. "Oh, Yuffie may be the materia thief, but even I have my uses!"
John's smirk once again morphed into a grin as he studied the wreckage before him. Past all the metal, all that could be seen were three Turks. Wait, that wasn't right. John adjusted his sights for a wider view of the battlefield.
"I see Tseng, Reno and Rude, but where is Elena...? I can't find her. She MUST be here, somewhere... She wouldn't have made it up to that catwalk without my knowing. Where the HELL is she?"
The SOLDIER's question was answered when a jagged shard of metal flew up from his cover and hit him just under his eye. "I could have been fucking blinded! I'll find you, Elena, just count yourself lucky that I won't kill you!"
The master of poison flicked a switch on his visor and scanned the area ahead for biological signatures, which were much more effective than heat signature detection. He smirked when he found one. "I have you now, Elena..." John took aim and fired. Elena growled as the bullet flew past her head, just grazing her ear.
John reloaded and fired another shot, hitting Elena in her wrist. The youngest member of The Turks spoke into her earpiece. "Tseng, I'm out! I can't fight like this!" Tseng growled into his own earpiece. "Elena, you, Reno and Rude are useless! The Turks shouldn't have been taken down this easily!"
With her other hand, Elena pulled out a Hi-Potion bottle from her breast pocket and opened the green bottle with her teeth, wincing as she poured the liquid over her wound. "I'll fucking kill him... This isn't over!"
As soon as John knew it was safe, he changed the channel frequency back to Cid. "Captain, you have a clear LZ! All that remain are The Turks, and I've incapacitated three of them!" Cid lit another cigarette and snarled. "It's about fucking time! AVALANCHE, FAST ROPE DOWN TO THE AIRPORT PATH!" Cid slammed a button on his console.
In the Cargo Bay, a bright green light filled the room, and the remaining members of AVALANCHE cheered. Hooking themselves to the ropes that dangled over the abyss, they made their way down to the Junon Airport Path.
As soon as AVALANCHE fast roped onto the Airport Path, the entire squad encircled The Turks. Tseng knew he couldn't take them all on, and neither could the rest of his team. He dropped his side-arm and put his hands over his head, surrendering.
Elena jumped down from her position and did the same, and watched Reno and Rude mirror the gesture toward AVALANCHE. Barret aimed his gun-arm in Reno's face and was about to fire when a hand met his shoulder.
The dark-skinned giant turned to the hand's owner and glared. John shook his head. "Put it down, Barret. They're not our enemy. They are just puppets of our real enemy, just like I was. You know killing The Turks won't bring back Myrna."
Barret Wallace sighed and lowered his arm, turning his back to The Turks. John took a step closer to The Turks, outstretching an arm. Tseng's eyes widened. "Aren't you going to kill us, Mr. Valentine?"
John shook his head. "No. I never intended to kill any of you, as you probably worked out. I'm giving you the chance to join us, and save the Planet. You four guys are Shin-Ra's Intelligence Division, surely you know about the company's plans for Gaia?"
Tseng nodded, his eyes fixed on the SOLDIER's hand. "So what if we do?" John smirked. "Join us, and we can overthrow the Shin-Ra Electric Power Company and save the Planet. Do you want to die in, say, the next... Year? That's the best estimate for the amount of time we'll all have left, if Shin-Ra can make their plans a reality."
Tseng looked back to his Turks, bloody and beaten with only three shots, one for each of them. Knowing there would be only execution if he went back to Midgar to report to Heidegger, he shook John's hand.
"We'll be a part of your group, but what do we do about Shin-Ra? How can we trust you?" John smirked again. "If I can prevent the man who hates Shin-Ra more than anyone from killing you at point-blank range, I think you can trust us."
Tseng nodded, still a little wary. "Okay, Mr. Valentine." John grabbed Tseng's arm and pulled him up. "We need to get the new members of AVALANCHE to the sickbay. Captain, can you land the Highwind at our position?"
Cid grunted from his consoles. "As long as the path is fuckin' clear!" John smirked and helped the other members of The Turks to their feet. Sephiroth looked up to the skies and saw the Highwind land on the runway of Junon Airport.
As AVALANCHE boarded the Highwind, Tiffany grabbed her lover's arm. John sighed in mock-anger and turned to face his girlfriend. "Something wrong, Tifa?" Tiffany reached into her pack and pulled out a small pack of tissues. She tore open the plastic wrapping with her nails and pulled out one of the tissues, standing on her tiptoes to reach her partner's cut.
John drew a full grin of pride. "It's just a cut, Tifa." Tiffany shook her head and smirked, removing another tissue from the pack and wiping away as much blood as possible. When she was satisfied, she put the tissues back into her pack and got out a pack of plasters. (She wasn't as good a magician as Aeris, but the warrior used more conventional healing methods!).
As soon as she attached the plaster to her lover's 'war wound', she smirked and kissed the plaster. "There, all better! Now, run along and play!" John growled and kissed his girlfriend. "I'm not a child." Tiffany gave her partner an innocent look. John glared at Tiffany. "Get aboard. Now. I'm not kidding."
Tiffany grinned and walked up the Cargo Bay's metal ramp. John shook his head and chuckled. "That woman will be the death of me..." He walked up the ramp and turned around, looking at the Airport one last time before hitting the large, red switch on the wall, raising the Cargo Bay's ramp as the Mako afterburners of the Highwind roared into life.
As the ramp closed, John watched the port city Of Junon fade into the horizon as the Highwind and her crew set course for Nibelheim.
End Of Chapter Nineteen