The Smirking SOLDIER
Chapter Twenty: Briefing
While the Highwind was en-route to Nibelheim, John made his way to the Infirmary to check on the newest members of AVALANCHE. Elena, Reno and Rude were having their injuries tended to by Aeris, who had taken a medical course back at Junon University.
Tseng was nowhere to be found. John walked up to The Turks trio and the blonde Turk glared at him. John sighed deeply before speaking. "Look, we may not like each other, but we AT LEAST have to try and get along if we're going to take down Shin-Ra. When your wounds have been tended to by our Healer, come to the Operations Room in an hour. We need all the information you have on Shin-Ra's operations."
Reno got up from the bed and tried to punch the SOLDIER, but the latter deftly blocked it and grabbed the Turks' arm, holding it behind his back.
"Get back into bed, Reno. You all know that when I shot you it was NOT personal. If it was, why did I only shoot to wound? I had every intention of recruiting you to New AVALANCHE's cause. Come on, you guys and I had some great times in Junon's bars. Do you really think I'd try and kill old friends, even if they were the enemy?"
Reno sighed in defeat, knowing deep down that the ex-SOLDIER was right. "Fine. We'll play it your way. You'd better go and find Tseng, though. He knows more than we do, being the leader of us Turks and all."
With those final words, John released his grip and smirked as Reno sat back down on his bed. The ex-SOLDIER then nodded at Aeris and left the Infirmary. John made his way past the Operations Room and up both flights of stairs, heading for the observation deck.
He smirked again when he found Tseng with his back to him, arms folded and looking out towards Mt. Nibel which was rapidly forming on the horizon. John stood next to Tseng and sighed. "It's been a challenging time for us all."
Tseng nodded and didn't move from his spot on the deck. "These past couple of days especially. What's our next move?" John pulled his PHS out of his pocket and flipped open the device, checking the time for the second continent, immediately pocketing it afterwards.
"Come to the Observation Room in one hour. The Captain and I will brief the whole of New AVALANCHE, The Turks included." Tseng nodded again. "Reno will take some convincing, however."
John smirked and unclipped his lance, inspecting it. "No need, he got the message back in the infirmary." Tseng raised an eyebrow which made the ex-SOLDIER chuckle loudly. "Dare I ask, Mr. Valentine?" John shook his head and chuckled louder, turning on his heel and heading for the bridge, seeking out the Captain of the Highwind.
The Operations Room, one hour later
Every single member of New AVALANCHE was gathered around the table, half of the team had sat down while the others chose to stand. Cid was one of the members who chose to sit, resting his legs on the wooden table.
While Cid was enjoying yet another cigarette and remained silent as he did so, John decided he would brief everyone on the mission ahead. He cleared his throat before speaking. "Okay, everyone. As most of you have realised, we're on course for Nibelheim. Yes, Yuffie?"
The Wutaiian ninja raised her hand. "Why can't we go to Midgar and give the rest of Shin-Ra what for?" John shook his head. "Because, Yuffie, if we head to Midgar unprepared, we'd be sitting ducks. We're all wanted criminals, especially due to the reactor bombing. We're not ready to take them on."
Barret growled and slammed his gun-arm on the wood, causing splinters to fly all around the room. "Fuck this! Ah say we go ahead and wipe out all of tha Shin-Ra suits right now!" John shook his head again.
"Barret, we all want our revenge. Even with SOLDIER and The Turks on our side, we're still not ready. We're heading to Nibelheim for one simple reason. We need a new base of operations. The Captain and I have decided on the old Shin-Ra mansion."
John took a moment to direct his gaze to Tiffany who didn't look best pleased about this decision. "Are you okay, Tifa?" Tiffany nodded and brushed away a stray tear. "I'm fine, John. Please continue."
John was concerned, but he continued with the briefing. "The Shin-Ra mansion has more than enough space and a room for each of us. Plus, we can fortify the basement and use it as our HQ. There's just one problem, though..."
Sephiroth interjected. "The monsters. We'll have to send in a team to clear the entire building. I suggest two teams. One team will focus on the residential area, while the other makes their way to the basement and laboratory."
Angeal raised his hand. "I say we pick teams now. I know that two people in New AVALANCHE will be inseparable..." Angeal turned his attention to a certain martial artist who blushed and an ex-SOLDIER who just smirked proudly.
Yuffie was the next to interject. "I'm staying with Genny! If you don't like it, take a number and wait at the back of the line!" With those words, Yuffie took hold of Genesis' hand, refusing to let go. Genesis merely sighed and accepted his fate as he knew he couldn't worm out of it if he even tried.
John turned to look at Tseng. "We need all the information you have on Shin-Ra up to press." Tseng nodded and kept his arms folded. "Right. Since the death of President Shin-Ra, the company will have already sworn in the President's heir, Rufus Shin-Ra. From what we have been told, Shin-Ra plan to leave Midgar and form a new city, somewhere on the Northern Continent, in an area rich in Mako."
Sephiroth's eyes widened. "The Whirlwind Maze..." Tseng raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me, Sephiroth?" Sephiroth stood up from his seat next to Zack. "The Whirlwind Maze, located past the City Of The Ancients and the Corral Valley. It is an area filled with bountiful Mako and Huge Materia."
Zack piped up, instantly more alert! "Hey, Sephiroth! We were there! All five of us!" Sephiroth rolled his eyes. "Yes, Puppy. We were there. Congratulations." Zack cheered and Aeris rolled her eyes, hiding her face in her hand.
Sephiroth continued. "If Shin-Ra plan to form a new Midgar or whatever it may be, it will most likely be there, due to the huge amounts of Mako. That also poses a new threat." John nodded in his friend's direction.
"Right, the Huge Materia. If Rufus and his cronies get a hold of that, Gaia knows what they'd be capable of. I wouldn't be surprised if they repaired the cannon at Junon, moved it to the new city and built fortifications. We all know how efficient Shin-Ra is at construction. From what I read in the newspapers back when I was in SOLDIER, it only took them a few months to build a Mako Reactor at Midgar."
Cid interrupted. "Don't forget that that fuckin' Shin-Ra publishes the papers. You can't fuckin' trust what those bastards say. Take it with a fuckin' pinch of salt. Load of cunts, the lot of them, even SOLDIER! Oh, hey... Present fuckin' company excluded."
John merely smirked and continued with the briefing. "We need to work out how we're gonna stop Shin-Ra from building their new city and further damaging the Planet with more Mako Reactors. I suggest we also shut down the Nibelheim Reactor, clear it of Makonoids and find a new power source. We can't risk using Mako any more than we need to."
Tiffany grinned proudly at her boyfriend, taking in every single word. Elena noticed this and glared at the martial artist. "Why should we listen to anything that this FREAK has to say?" Everyone turned their attention to the blonde Turk and Tiffany clenched her fists, speaking through clenched teeth.
"Call my boyfriend a freak one more time. I fucking DARE you." Tiffany dug her boots into the wooden floor and prepared to leap over the table as Elena opened her mouth. John left his place at the front of the table and ran over to Tiffany, taking her into his arms.
"It's okay, Tifa. I can handle it." Tiffany glared at Elena, refusing to listen to the man she loved. "Why the FUCK should she be allowed to get away with that!?" John immediately began stroking his partner's hair and she began calming down, but the moment of silence was soon over when Elena smirked evilly and uttered one word.
"Freak." With that insult, Tiffany broke free from her lover and leapt over the table, landing a perfect right hook at Elena's jaw, sending the Turk crashing to the floor. John reached over the table and grabbed his girlfriend's waist, pulling her back into his arms,
No-one bothered to help Elena up as they knew she was completely in the wrong. "Fuck you all, then!" Elena got up from the floor and stormed out of the Operations Room, heading for a quiet space, nursing an injured jaw as she did so.
Tseng left the room moments after to check on the fellow Turk and John spoke as soon as Tseng left. "We'll continue the briefing when all members are present. Take a break, everyone. We'll be back here in half an hour."
With the command from the ex-SOLDIER, New AVALANCHE disbanded and left the Operations Room, heading their separate ways. Only John and Tiffany remained. As soon as the room was silent, Tiffany buried her head in John's chest.
"I'm sorry about that." John merely chuckled before speaking. "I've never actually seen you attack till now. Damn, you can deal one Hell of a punch. We should definitely spar some time." Tiffany grinned.
"What, and damage your pretty face? Never." John raised a hand and placed a finger on his sharp jawline. "Shut up and kiss me, Tifa." With that final request, the Nibelheim-born fighter happily obliged.
End Of Chapter Twenty