Before Crisis 2: The Crisis
CHAPTER 44 – LAUNCH OF THE ROCKET
January 11th [ ν ] - εγλ 0008, 11:55 AM
Elena watched in anticipation as the Gelnika took off from Junon Airport, streaking through the skies at high speed. The Huge Materia was inside that airship, if she wasn't mistaken, on its way to Rocket Town for the launch. Like everyone, she'd followed the news very closely and wondered if today was the day Meteor was going to be destroyed.
She'd spent the previous night in her room in Junon headquarters, definitively annoyed by the loud noises caused by the moving of the Mako Cannon. But the cannon was no longer there, and her morning had been relatively peaceful, so far. She was at the firing range, practicing her shot when she saw the Gelnika take off.
It was her first day back from injury. Not long after target practice, she found herself on the streets of Upper Junon, heading for the gym.
"Elena!"
She stopped at the sound of an unfamiliar voice, and turned around to see who had called her. A SOLDIER.
"Glad to see you on your feet," he said, approaching her calmly.
"Thanks." She smiled at his kind words, but didn't know what else to say. His face was hidden behind a helmet and she was certain they'd never met. "Uh-"
"The name's Kunsel." He took off his helmet, revealing a young face and short brown hair. "SOLDIER 2nd Class. My comrades and I found you knocked out the other day. We were the ones who brought you into the infirmary. Sorry we couldn't come earlier."
"Oh..." Elena mumbled to herself, and then smiled again. "No need to be apologize. Thank you for saving me!"
"Please be more careful next time." Kunsel dismissed her show of gratitude and frowned. "Heidegger will take any opportunity to get rid of the Turks."
She repeated his words in her mind, staring at him blankly. "Huh?"
"It's why he sent you after Hojo's flunkies first..." The SOLDIER shook his head. "Before letting any of us know what was happening. He didn't think you'd stand much of a chance alone."
Her expression changed to one of mild surprise. "I... I didn't know that..."
"Now you do," he said with a shrug. "It's not my problem, but since you're still new, I just wanted to warn you. Watch out for Scarlet, too."
Elena was starting to wonder how he knew so much, considering he was only 2nd Class. But his information seemed reliable, and it wasn't like she still believed that Heidegger and Scarlet were on good terms with the Turks. "I appreciate the warning. Thanks, Kunsel."
Reno surfaced, finding himself washed up on the shore of Junon Harbor. He was panting wildly, still half-conscious as his body stiffened at the shock of cold water. With a loud groan, he felt his stomach clench in pain as thick liquid rose up his esophagus. His throat wrenched and he huffed.
"UURRRRRRGGGGHHH!"
His last meal of cup noodles flew all over the place, leaving stains of shame and regret on his drenched suit. But he didn't care. He rolled over to his side nonchalantly, away from the disaster before spitting out another mouthful of liquid.
"Sir!"
Reno heard an annoying voice nearby, followed by a progression of heavy footsteps. He couldn't tell who it was right away, but he wasn't in the mood to find out. Remaining face-down on the ground, he rubbed his cheek against the sand and let out another groan. "Ah..."
"You saved our lives!"
"Everyone's safe!"
"...You okay?"
It was the submarine crew. So they had come through unscathed, thanks to the Red Leader's escape pod. Reno couldn't remember what he'd done, and how he'd managed to save all of them in time.
"I think we should call Shinra Medical."
"I'm okay," Reno grunted. When he felt someone touch his back, he growled, "Leave me alone."
Gasps of excitement were heard from the crowd as the Gelnika arrived at the launch pad, stopping just above the metal structure. A rope was dropped down from the hovering airship, attached to a pallet containing the Huge Materia. Three workers gathered to pick up the precious cargo before following Rude inside the rocket.
After the lone Huge Materia was loaded, Rude returned to his usual spot outside the rocket and pulled out his PHS. He called Palmer and reported, "We only have one Materia. Not two."
"Hey-hey! That's okay!" Palmer replied excitedly. "Shera's repairing the autopilot right now. We should be ready for takeoff soon!"
Rude sighed as the call ended. Were they really going to launch this thing with just one Huge Materia? How could Reno fail? His colleague hadn't messaged him back so something must have happened. AVALANCHE must have interfered again. Were they headed this way?
His musings were interrupted by a commotion below. He looked over the railing and found the terrorists, storming into the gate, and chasing the guards away. Speak of the devil...
His eyes narrowed as Cloud, Tifa, and Cid raced up the stairs, effortlessly dispatching the troops blocking their path. It had been a while since he last saw Cloud. If his memory was correct, the last time he saw him was in the Northern Cave, where Sephiroth manipulated him into surrendering the Black Materia. Today, the swordsman showed no uncertainty in his movement... only will and determination to stop Shinra once again.
Sightly anxious, Rude double-checked his armor and watched Cid climb up the ladder first. The two troops behind the Turk reached for their weapons.
He took a step forward when all three members of AVALANCHE reached the top. "You again?" he said. "We will eliminate everyone who gets in Shinra's way."
"Uh-oh," Cid muttered sarcastically as he drew his spear. "Guess it's time to kick some Turkish ass!"
One of the troops opened fire, and Cid wasted no time lunging forward and taking him out. Cloud attacked next, but Rude was quick to jump aside and run into Tifa's fists instead. He took a moment to regain his balance, catching a spear under his arm before delivering a ferocious headbutt to his attacker. Cid staggered backwards, allowing Rude to dash forward and surprise him with a fist.
But he didn't realize, until turning belatedly towards Cloud and Tifa, that both troops had already been defeated, and thrown off to the platform beneath him. Tifa glared at the Turk, and went after him while Cloud came to Cid's aid with Cure. Rude did well to dodge her quick strikes before catching a leg under his arm. Grabbing her other leg, he swung her around multiple times before throwing her at Cloud. As they fell on top of one another, he pressed the Ziedrich on his forearm and jumped onto the ground, creating a Grand Spark and sending them crashing into the side of the Shinra 26.
The next thing he felt was a sudden stabbing pain, and he glanced around to see Cid's spear, driven through his back. Rude stumbled forward as Cid pulled his weapon away and paused momentarily... only to swing it across the Turk's face. Moments later, he felt a boot smack him in the back of the head.
"Ugh... gh..." He bent over on one knee, swaying unsteadily for a few seconds, before falling flat onto the metal walkway. "They... they got us."
Tseng found it odd that the live broadcast had shifted away from Rocket Town. Had something happened that Shinra didn't want to show? For the last fifteen minutes, the broadcast had shifted its focus to various news reporters from around the world, interviewing random people about the launch. Judging by their excitement, it was obvious that the people being interviewed were nothing but paid actors.
Eventually, all the speculation mattered no more, as the telecast returned just in time to show the launch of the rocket. But it just... took off. There was no countdown or anything.
The Shinra 26 soared into the air at an angle towards Meteor, expelling a monstrous cloud of smoke around the launch pad. Within moments, the rocket was gaining tremendous speed as it got further away from the ground. It appeared smaller and smaller as seconds passed, quickly becoming a speck in the distance. Tseng swallowed sharply as the reported altitude reached twenty miles in no less than a minute. The rocket was fast approaching outer space.
Abandoning the TV, Tseng rushed outside his apartment room and stepped onto the balcony. He looked down for a moment, and saw a crowd of people, all staring up at the sky in silence. He followed their gaze and looked up, and felt his knees shake in anticipation. The time had to be coming soon.
It wasn't long before a massive flash of light came from within Meteor... a light so bright that he had to look away and shield his eyes. Frightened screams were heard below as he waited for the light to fade away, desperate to find out the end result. The screams turned into quiet murmurs when the light disappeared... and then they dropped silent. His eyes squinted at the sky and he gasped.
There was a collision, no doubt about that. But Meteor was still there.
"Welp... didn't work," Tseng said to Veld over the PHS. "Too bad."
Beaten and bruised from their respective missions, Reno and Rude returned to Midgar headquarters later that night. They walked into the conference room and found Rufus, seated at the far end of the table, and Heidegger, pacing back and forth in a circle. The older man stopped as soon as he noticed the Turks, before charging at them with an angry scowl.
"HEY!" Heidegger screamed. "This is all your fault we failed! Both of you! And Palmer!" He stopped before them and pointed directly at Reno. "You. What were you doing?! We gave you the easiest job in the world, and you crashed the fuckin' submarine! That Materia was ours! How worthless can you get?!"
Without waiting for his response, the furious executive turned to Rude and shouted, "And you. You equally worthless piece of trash. We gave you plenty of backup from the army, and you still let the terrorists inside the damn rocket!"
Unperturbed by his anger, Reno merely shrugged. "Not my fault Scarlet's drone was as useful as Fire magic in a wildfire."
Heidegger grabbed him by the collar. "You... worthless fucking... twerp! Don't you dare blame Scarlet for your own screw-up!"
"Dude, get your greasy hands off me." Reno pushed back aggressively. Heidegger didn't let go.
"I'LL BEAT SOME SENSE INTO YOU!"
He swung his fist forward for a punch, but Reno dodged easily and grabbed him by the neckband. Before he could retaliate, Rude stepped in between them, immediately stopping the fistfight.
BANG!
It was a gunshot that separated the three. Reno, Rude, and Heidegger turned towards the hole in the wall before finding Rufus behind them, holding out his double-barred shotgun.
"That's enough," the President demanded as he stood up. Drawing a tense silence, he lowered his gun and scratched his head. "At this point, it won't do any of us good to point fingers. We'll just have to move forward with the Great Sephiroth Plan." He paused again and sighed, glancing at his three subordinates. "As much as I am disappointed with the Turks... Heidegger, you need to calm down. Take a chill pill."
Heidegger scowled at Reno one last time before turning away. "Fuckin' Palmer. I swear, the next time I see him, I'm gonna-"
"Why don't you tell Reno and Rude their next mission?" Rufus cut him off.
"Another mission to fail?" he spat, still clearly furious. "Another submarine to sink? They're fucking useless at this point."
"Well, if they somehow manage to sink another submarine, we won't be seeing them again. The Gelnika is five hundred feet down."
"Gelnika?" Reno murmured.
Rufus nodded. "We have located the Gelnika that was shot down by Weapon on New Year's Day," he explained with a frown. "Tomorrow, you and Rude will recover the weapons that went down with it. We may need them to kill Sephiroth."
"Where is it?" Rude asked.
"Not far from Costa del Sol. I'll let you know the exact location."
Heidegger turned to Rufus. "What about AVALANCHE?"
"We'll dispose of them once we've dealt with Sephiroth."
The man nodded in understanding... and slowly turned his head towards the door. A sudden scowl crossed his face as Palmer walked in with a teacup. Reno gasped as Heidegger rushed forward and clutched Palmer by the collar, beginning to shake it forcefully.
"You fucking idiot! Why did you launch the rocket?! The terrorists were inside!"
"U-u-u-uhhhh!" Palmer spluttered in fear as his tea spilled on the floor. Unable to think out a quick reply, he made no attempt to defend himself, which only allowed Heidegger to yell harder, spit flying all over.
"THE TERRORISTS WERE INSIDE!"
Reno and Rude looked at each other before running towards the two men. Rude leaned in and tried dragging Heidegger off of Palmer, but it was Reno who took an unexpected elbow to the face. He lurched backwards a little bit, and took a moment to find his balance. Heidegger's grip on Palmer remained tight.
BANG!
The Turks turned around again, and saw Rufus' shotgun pointed in their direction. They followed his gaze and found Heidegger, crumpled on the floor and reduced to whimpers. Reno stared wide-eyed at the injured executive as he clutched his left leg, writhing in agony.
"This man needs serious help," Rufus said. "Send him to the medical room, immediately."
