Before Crisis 2: The Crisis
CHAPTER 45 – SUNKEN GELNIKA
January 12th [ ν ] - εγλ 0008
Reno felt his clothes dampen from the knee down as he jumped inside the Gelnika. Rude was behind him, climbing down a ladder before joining his side in the slanted, semi-flooded hallway. They took a moment to look around, mildly surprised that most of the interior had kept from flooding, and was still intact. The hallway lights flickered back and forth, and the loud whirring sound that came from the nearest room was a strong indication that the plane's generator was still functioning.
"You smell that?" Reno asked, halfheartedly glaring at his partner.
The skinhead took a sniff of the rank air, unable to make out the smell right away. It was a combination of rusted metal, expired Mako, and deep seawater, but there was a distinct, bitter odor on top of everything. "Poison?" he made a wild guess.
The redhead scrunched up his nose while nodding. "Those monsters must be roaming around. Uh, what were they called again?"
"Unknowns?" Rude recalled.
"Oh yeah. If they attack us, we're gonna have a bad time. I say we try and get whatever we can in an hour and then book outta here."
"Good idea. Let's do this quick."
They ventured past the generator room and down the hallway, eventually reaching the two-story cargo room. There wasn't much flooding here, but the wreckage was evident. Dozens of barrels and boxes were scattered everywhere, with a pileup of damaged helicopters and tanks at the far bottom corner. Stockpiles of bullet shells, mines, and other explosives were also on the floor, and the Turks had to be wary about not stepping on them by accident.
"This whole place is messed up..." Reno said as he pulled out a flashlight. "You know-"
"Look."
He turned towards the direction Rude was pointing, and caught a glimpse of the first Unknown, moving behind some boxes. Rude positioned himself as the ten-foot creature stepped into view, its lizard-like feet carrying the weight of its massive, flower-shaped head. Although the genetically engineered monsters were created to kill Sephiroth, the Turks had no reason to believe that they wouldn't target them. Unsure if it would attack, Reno took out his EMR cautiously while Rude waited for it to notice their presence.
Quickly losing his patience, Reno tapped his EMR on the railing. The hideous creature turned towards them and froze, allowing the Turks to get a close look of its appearance. Unknown's flower-shaped head was about six feet in diameter, with pointy needles at the end of each petal, and a deformed limb out of the right eye. Reno was no expert when it came to genetically engineered monsters, but the one that stood before them looked weak. Its needles were brittle like burnt wood, and the way it moved seemed off. But when the monster hissed at them, Rude tensed up and stepped forward, his fists raised.
"He's going to attack."
He wasted no time charging at the monster, but was quickly batted away by an arm swipe. Reno followed with a shot of electricity, aiming straight for its legs so it wouldn't move. Unknown let out a shriek as Rude went for a powerful fist, the sudden impact knocking it flat on its back. A pink gaseous substance spewed out of its mouth as it fell, a defense mechanism that forced the Turks to step away. The monster stood tall again and leaned forward, surprising Rude as its head wrapped around him. Reno fired Neo Turk Light at Unknown while Rude did whatever he could to fend it off, but its death grip was released only after Reno jumped in with a physical attack.
As the redhead battled the monster, Rude took his time and self-cast Cure, before feeling something pressing against his back. He looked behind him and found a Poodler, sucking on his back like an oversized leech. He ran backwards and slammed the three-tentacled creature against the wall, and felt the crunch of its shell shattering upon impact. Seeing it down, but not out, he clenched his fists and called for Fire magic, its bright red haze forming around his forearm. Moments later, he blasted a large fireball at the Poodler.
Meanwhile, Reno was focused in his battle against the damned monster, wearing it down with every hit and dodge. Sweat dropped down his face and he found himself breathing heavily, realizing he'd spent most of the time dodging its attacks. Rude came to his aid and dashed forward with a shoulder tackle, which sent Unknown flying across the room. It crashed hard into a set of bomb barrels, and gave a shrill wail before falling flat to the floor.
Reno took a few steps towards Unknown, and stopped when he noticed a large box to his left, loaded with hand grenades. Wasting no time, he picked up two grenades and launched them forward, setting off a huge explosion as they fell onto Unknown. He snickered in amusement as a reddish ball of flame erupted from the wreckage of the barrels.
After the brilliant flash of the explosion died down, Reno approached the defeated monster and observed the debris around him. He turned to Rude with a victorious smile, only to grimace as the smell of burnt flesh came to him. "Fuckin' hell! That smells worse than Chocobo shit."
Rude ignored his warning and walked closer, eventually meeting his colleague safely away from the stench. His arm stretched back and pushed forward, sparkling Reno with a flash of bright green magic. The redhead nodded in appreciation, instantly rejuvenated from the Cure spell.
"Thanks, partner."
"Gotta be more of these here," Rude said sternly. "Should we dispose of them first?"
"That sounds like effort, so no," Reno scoffed. "We'll load... uh, ten of those boxes over there and call it a day. I can't bear staying here much longer."
Rude nodded; he wouldn't be surprised if his partner was traumatized from yesterday's mission. As for himself, he was perfectly fine with half-assing the mission, though he would've preferred to spend some time searching for rare Materia and keeping some for himself.
Elena held her head high as she strode down the Floor 70 hallway, the President's desk coming into view. She had no idea what Rufus wanted with her, but she was hoping she wouldn't run into the other execs. Nonetheless, she was satisfied to be back in her hometown of Midgar, and in good health.
She hesitated slightly when she saw him at the end of the hall, staring out the window. He stood all alone with his back turned, unaware that the person he was expecting had arrived. As she approached him, she took a deep breath and thought of a good way to get his attention.
"Sir?" she called out, a simple one-word greeting.
Rufus turned around and found her standing still, a few feet away. "Come here."
Elena gave a curt nod and walked forward as Rufus turned to the window again. He said nothing as she joined his side, and she felt her heart race. It gave her goosebumps to stand next to the President with no one else around. "Is there anything I can help you with?" she asked.
"Not at this instant," he answered, focused on the view below. "How are you feeling?"
"Pretty good, thank you for asking."
He nodded but continued looking out the window, still avoiding eye contact with her. Elena did the same and looked out, quickly realizing that the view of Midgar was somewhat obstructed by the Mako Cannon. Not far below, she could see a large crew of workers, prepping the cannon on a scaffolding that hung from the side of the Shinra Building. She had to admit that it was a scary sight, and wondered how it looked from the bottom.
"The cannon will be fired tomorrow," Rufus cut in, breaking the short silence.
Elena gave a curious look. "Do you think it can get through Sephiroth's barrier?"
"It should." He finally turned to her, his face void of expression.
"What's going to happen to Midgar?"
"The fate of our city lies in the hands of our experts," he answered with a half-smile. "Nothing's going to happen... unless that cow, Scarlet finds a way to screw up again. But I assure you that everything will be fine. What happens after the barrier is destroyed... is a topic to discuss another day."
"Um..." She opened her mouth without a full response in mind. "So you're not concerned, at all?"
"There's no reason to be concerned."
Elena studied his appearance. He looked confident as always, with no hint of doubt behind his young face. But she couldn't help but think that deep inside, he was feeling an immense amount of pressure. She was the new Turk and he was new President, and they had both assumed their respective positions on the exact same day. Nothing had gone easy for either of them since day one, but the world was counting on him to save them. It had to be overwhelming for the twenty-five-year-old man who was immediately thrust into the role of a world leader.
"Hm," Rufus snickered, and Elena realized that she had been staring blankly at him. "Anyway, the reason I called you here was to inform you of your next assignment." Pausing slightly, he pointed to the view below. "The people of Midgar. What do you think their reaction has been to see the Mako Cannon?"
"They must be scared and restless," she answered with a frown. "And uh... angry, I guess?"
"Right. The protests are picking up again. You will work with patrol and ensure that no delays occur between now and the launch of the cannon."
"Yes sir." Elena nodded, wondering where Heidegger was. She had never received a direct order from Rufus himself. "Thank you, Mr. President." Saluting him, she turned around and took two steps towards the exit, but was cut off by his voice.
"Elena."
"Sir?" She turned back to him and looked up.
"I am sure that Reno has said a lot about the Turks' disdain for our corrupt executives, Scarlet and Heidegger," he said, shaking his head. He turned to her and sighed, a frowning look on his face. "Their cruel and selfish methods of handling things, along with my father's psychotic acts, are the very reasons this company has suffered a great deal of lost trust and reputation."
Elena blinked in surprise, not knowing why he was telling her this. But she couldn't agree more with his statement. "Y-yes sir," she stammered, her voice wavering. "As a new employee myself, I am starting to see why they are disliked and feared by so many people."
"Once this crisis is behind us..." Rufus continued, "I will do something about the board of directors. Soon enough, the Turks will be under my direct command."
"That... sounds like a good idea, sir," she said, trying to smile. "I look forward to that day."
Reno watched in suspense as Rude knelt down and removed the lid of a metal box. Medium-sized bombs were arranged in a three by three square, with each packaged neatly in its own compartment. As Reno leaned over and grabbed a bomb, Rude found a sticker on the bottom of the lid and began to read aloud the specifications.
"Name, Mako S-Bomb 3000. Mass, eleven pounds. Blast yield, three tonnes. Blast radius, twenty-six yards. Can be linked with Materia for added effect."
"This bomb is stupidly powerful," Reno remarked, tossing it up and down. "For how little it weighs? Legend must have used these back in the day."
Rude stuffed one in his left pocket. "We should take a couple for Elena."
Reno smiled. "As a one-month anniversary gift?"
"Sure."
"Ha! What a great idea. I wonder what she'll use it for?"
"Hm..." Rude ignored him and held up the S-Bomb, studying it from every angle. After putting another three in his pocket, he grabbed the lid and placed it over the box. A clomp echoed through the hallway as the box was closed, and he looked up in confusion. "Did you hear something?"
Reno paused. "What?"
"There was a sound."
"...I thought that was just you closing the box."
"No, it was something else."
"Another monster?"
Still down to a knee, Rude peered out the doorway to the cargo room, unable to make out what he had just heard. Silence overwhelmed the hallway as his partner looked around his surroundings. "It was nothing..." he murmured, shaking his head. But Reno didn't stop looking around, his eyes scanning left and right.
"I hear footsteps," he gasped, quickly discovering that they were not alone. But he wasn't sure where the sound was coming from.
It was Rude who noticed the source. He stood up and turned around... only to groan at the sight of Cloud Strife. "Again?"
"...Turks?"
The swordsman was accompanied by Tifa and Yuffie. "We just seem to keep running into each other lately!" Reno exclaimed, walking towards them slowly.
"Reno..." Cloud murmured in surprise. "You're still alive..."
"...I've never swam so much in my life."
"What is this place?" Yuffie asked, a look of plain disgust on her face.
Reno shook his head. "There were weapons and Materia developed solely to destroy Sephiroth."
"But it was attacked by Weapon and sunk to the bottom of the sea," Rude added.
"Materia?" Yuffie exclaimed, forcing herself to stand upright. "I guess coming all the way here and nearly dying from motion sickness was worth it!"
"I can't give you what's here. We'll take out Sephiroth," Reno said, ignoring the ninja's excitement. Although he didn't care about securing the rest of the weapons, he was not going to let AVALANCHE have them so easily. With that in mind, he pulled out his EMR and pointed it at Cloud, hoping to drive his group away. "I guess this is our last meeting."
Rude cracked his knuckles. "I won't let you get in our way."
Unfortunately, there was no way AVALANCHE was going to retreat that easily. The Turks were outnumbered, and Cloud had proven time and again that he was the strongest fighter they had seen in a very long time. But despite the odds being stacked against them, they weren't about to go down without a fight. Reno and Rude took another step forward as Cloud and Tifa positioned themselves, poised to strike. Yuffie was hesitant to take out her shuriken.
Rude struck first with a magical spell, the shards of Ice magic piercing through Cloud's armor. Reno was quick to fire Neo Turk Light at Tifa, who managed to somersault sideways before launching herself at him. As Reno and Tifa traded shots, Rude battled Cloud in a test of strength, but quickly found the flat of his sword smacking him across the face. He stayed on his feet and leaped away to give himself space, only to feel the sharp blades of Yuffie's shuriken, cutting through his back. He spun around and crashed into Reno, who had also been hit by the long-ranged weapon.
"Oooh boy..." Stopping for a quick breather, the redhead looked up and gulped at the sight of a green haze, swirling around Cloud's arm. Before either Turk could respond, the spell took effect and the powerful mist of Ultima magic engulfed them. They groaned and tried desperately to shake off the stinging pain, but nothing seemed to help and the damage had already been done. As the pain faded away, Reno assumed a fighting stance but didn't attack, waiting for Rude to get to his feet. Cloud and Yuffie still had their weapons raised.
The Turks were wholly outmatched. The battle had gone on for just two minutes, but dragging it out any longer would be a huge mistake.
"These guys are pretty tough," Reno said, checking his watch before running for the exit. Rude nodded and followed suit.
They climbed up the ladder and scrambled inside the Shinra Sub 1, parked adjacent to the Gelnika. As the submarine took off, they looked out the window and spotted the stolen Shinra Sub 2, now property of AVALANCHE, parked on the other side of the sunken airship.
