Chapter Ten: Planning Stages
A few days later, Cloud and Jessie entered the militia headquarters. Still, it felt like they'd been at this for years.
The building was a large one that was once a factory in Los Andares. Cloud looked around, seeing men moving ammo carts around to machines. Others were checking guns or filing reports. It was all very chaotic, but there was an apparent reason for it.
Compared to the landscape of wrecked vehicles and damaged houses, it was orderly.
Chief Barret Warfield was found sitting at a table, checking a map. He had stubble on his face and scars on his body. With him was a lanky man Cloud's age with a red bandana, and an overweight man reading files. Barret himself was a giant of a man with dark skin and a heavy gauss pistol at one side.
The lanky man stepped between them. "Jessie, what's all this about? Where the hell were you before?"
"I uh..." Jessie shifted. "Cloud and I had a mission to take care of, Biggs."
"Was this mission more important than wiping out these fucking monsters trying to eat us all!" asked Biggs.
"We were trying to retrieve Sephiroth," said Jessie. "He's kind of important to our defense and all. Um, Wedge, how are our supplies doing?"
"Oh pretty well," said Wedge, shuffling through them. "For a bit, we had a shortage. But with all the cities and towns getting turned into ruins, our salvage teams are... um..." His voice became a bit less optimistic under Barret's gaze. "Well, they've had a lot more material to work with."
Barret turned to look at Cloud, narrowing his eyes as he did. Cloud said nothing as Jessie stepped forward. "Um... listen, Cloud has something he wants to talk to you about."
"Great, the SOLDIER, wants to lecture us," said Barret. Or so Cloud assumed he was Barret; he hadn't been introduced yet.
"Are you Barret?" asked Cloud. "The one in charge of this colonies' militia?"
"Yeah, what if I am?" asked Barret, checking his gun. "You got more drudge work for us, SOLDIER boy?"
Cloud decided to cut right to the chase. "I'm Cloud Strife of SOLDIER. We need to get off this planet. Now."
"What?" said Biggs. "But we totally kicked their asses last night."
"I was sworn to secrecy regarding these xenomorphs and Sephiroth yesterday," said Cloud. "If you look at the news, you'll see they are downplaying all the defeats. And Alpha Squadron is going to have to put even more troops in the field to hold back the xenomorphs."
"So?" asked Barret. "We already knew that."
"Do you think the Old Families are making more money than they are losing on Chau Sara right now?" asked Cloud.
They all looked at one another, then back to Cloud. Barret finished checking his gun. "What the hell does that matter?"
"The Confederacy of Man is a for-profit enterprise," said Cloud. "It is effectively a corporation run by a group of very rich people. This planet is a business investment, and you are all assets.
"Now, what does a corporation do when assets stop making money?"
Barret got it when the others didn't. Jessie had already heard all this from Cloud, and she hadn't picked up nearly as quick. "...They scrap em."
"That's why we need to get off this planet," said Cloud. "They aren't going to keep pouring money into Chau Sara just to stop these things. I'm pretty sure they are going to order a complete withdrawal. And since they are swearing people to secrecy, I don't think they're going to be evacuating us on the way out.
"The more people who get out of here, the more chance the story has of getting out."
"Hang on a sec," said Wedge. "They can't just walk out of Chau Sara?"
"Why not?" asked Cloud.
"Because if they let the xenomorphs take this place over, they'll jump over to the Sara system," said Barret. "We ain't gonna be facing no isolated incident anymore."
"Why should they care about the Mara Sara system?" asked Cloud. "It's even less profitable than Chau Sara and less defensible. The only reason they support it is as a food supply for Chau Sara."
"Now hang on a sec," said Wedge. "If they lose Chau Sara and Mara Sara, they lose the entire system! These things'll have a jumping-off point to all kinds of other worlds!"
Cloud looked at him. "So?"
"So, these corporate types can't be that stupid!" said Biggs.
"You're thinking like a military man, Biggs," said Barret thoughtfully. "The Confederacy thinks of these damn critters as dangerous animals. Maybe if they just leave, they'll be fine with just eating two worlds.
"Corporations don't care about human life, or efficiency, or territory. They don't even care about long term profit.
"Short term profit is the only thing they care about. And they are willing to do anything to get it."
"Now hang on-" said Biggs.
"Sephiroth is dead," said Jessie simply.
Everyone stopped.
"What?" said Barret.
"Samir Duran assassinated him in front of my eyes," said Cloud. "He was a war hero, one of the most famous Confederate soldiers in history. One nervous breakdown, and they murdered him in a heartbeat.
"If they are willing to murder the paragon of the Confederacy because he had one bad day, what would they do to us?"
"...They'd do it, Wedge," said Biggs. "This guy's right."
"Now hang on, maybe they would," said Wedge. "But they wouldn't, I mean, there are a lot of good people in the Confederacy."
"...I don't like the idea of taking that chance," said Barret thoughtfully. "Cloud, I'm guessing you weren't supposed to talk about what happened to Sephiroth?"
"No, no, I was not," said Cloud. "But they're probably going to kill me after the battle to tie up loose ends anyway. And if any of you tell anyone about what happened, we're all as good as dead."
"This is bad," said Wedge. "Really, really bad."
"Maybe," said Barret. "But you ain't focusing, Wedge.
"'What can we do about this?'" He sighed. "Wedge, Biggs, I want you to find me a lot of transportation. Dropships, transportation, and make contact with some traders. We need to prepare to evac Chau Sara."
"Hang on a sec, Barret," said Biggs. "If we do that and what this guy says is true, then the military is going to clamp down right away."
Cloud shook his head. "Not if we get clearance."
"How are you going to get clearance for an evacuation the Confederacy doesn't want to happen?" asked Biggs.
"I'm going to ask," said Cloud.
"How is that..." began Biggs.
"No, Cloud's right," said Wedge.
"What are you talking about?" asked Biggs.
"Think about it," said Wedge. "The Confederacy operates on a need to know basis. Most of the army doesn't actually need to know about this. If people knew they were going to abandon us, nobody would stand for it. Remember Korhal?
"There were mutinies and defections all over. The same thing would happen again. They probably haven't told anyone about this yet.
"So let's get General Duke to set up a system for evacuation on his own initiative. Just case the High Command orders an evacuation."
"Yeah, until the Confederates cancel the damn thing," noted Barret.
"Do you think they'll have time?" asked Jessie.
"She's right," said Cloud. "It's one thing for some paper pusher in an office to order transports filled with civilians blown up. It's another thing to actually do it.
"They aren't going to call in the other Squadrons.
"And Duke is a good man."
"He's a Confederate General," said Biggs. Which was a pretty good point, all things considered.
"Relatively speaking," Cloud said. "I don't think that Duke would be willing to shoot down civilian transports he set up. Especially since he'd end up as the scapegoat. At the least, he'd hate the waste of resources."
Barret nodded. "Alright, I go to Duke and get an evacuation plan set up. What then?"
"We go to Mar Sara," said Cloud. "The news media are useful idiots and don't actually know what the Confederates plans are. If they see everyone being evacuated to Mar Sara, they'll have a field day with it.
"That will put media pressure on the Confederates and hopefully force a response."
"Hang on a sec, Cloud," said Jessie. "We should be getting people as far away from the Chau Sara system as possible if we are leaving. We can't just send refugees right back into a war zone."
"Not like it fucking matters," muttered Barret. "Duke'll send em wherever he likes. Us fringe yokels ain't no concern of his. Still, I've got a couple of off-world contacts who might be able to help us out."
"Who?" asked Cloud.
"That ain't none of your damn business, SOLDIER boy!" said Barret. "Now come on, we've got to arrange evac. You get in contact with Duke."
"I'm supposed to meet with him and Magistrate Collins personally today," said Cloud. "When I do, I'll bring it up."
Officially, Cloud had only been dropping Jessie off at the militia headquarters.
Right afterward, he made his way to the Los Andares Command Center. While he did, he kept his eye out and wondered if a ghost was going to shoot him. Several times he checked behind him, but no one appeared.
Cloud doubted anyone was seriously watching him.
Samir's little speech had been designed to intimidate him. But with everything that was going on, no one had the time for a hit squad. Either way, it changed nothing. They'd murder him when all this was over. Just like they had Sephiroth.
It felt truly surreal, standing in an elevator and walking into the command room. There was Magistrate Collins, looking well dressed with his mustache neatly trimmed. Around him were a number of officers, including Lieutenant Swallow. Collins moved forward to offer Cloud a hand. "Cloud Strife, welcome."
Cloud took it and shook it, surprised at the gesture.
"Well done, all of you," said Collins. "I wish more colonial officers had your tenacity and spirit. But right now, we need to plan a tight defense.
"I've consulted with my top advisors. I believe that if we establish a perimeter, we can hold them off."
"Yes, sir," said Emily. "Frontal Company stands ready to do its duty."
"There ain't no time for that, Magistrate," said Duke, entering through the other door. "I've just received news from Tarsonis. President Shinra has authorized a new troop surge to assist. It seems that while we've been fighting here, he's been doing mass recruitment. We're to use this minted infantry to strike at the xenomorphs and take the planet back.
"Captain Swallow, you'll be commanding the assault."
Emily saluted him instantly. "Thank you, sir; I won't disappoint."
Cloud frowned, taken by surprise. Had he been wrong? "Where did they get all these people, General Duke?"
"Seems President Shinra of Electric Power has gotten generous. He's offered a lot of the dissidents in the prison planet of New Folsom the chance to redeem themselves," said Duke. "Full pardon in exchange for a full tour of service on Chau Sara.
"There are a few million of them at the moment.
"We'll be handing out promotions like candy to get experience men to run them. Guess we'll be reducing the surplus populace while holding Chau Sara."
A few million?
A purge.
Kill off the prisoner population against the zerg and get hailed as heroes for it. It would cut back on overhead and let President Shinra hand out the weapons contracts to his friends. The Confederacy at it's best, and that was really, really sad.
But Cloud had an opportunity. "With a few million marines, it will take a lot of transports, won't it?"
"Yeah," said Duke. "Why do you ask?"
"Maybe we should make sure to keep those transports here, General Duke," said Cloud. "They could come in handy if we need to do an evacuation."
"And what about the troops they'll be transporting?" asked Collins.
"If we have to evacuate in a hurry, there will be a lot of extra space," noted Emily. "Human wave assaults tend to be costly, after all."
"I take your point, ma'am," said Collins.
Duke drew out a badge and tossed it at Cloud, who barely caught it. "Strife, take this."
"What is it?" asked Cloud.
"You're hereby promoted to the rank of Corporal," said Duke. "That's a reward for service. You're going to be acting as a military advisor to one of the new officers. A Serena Calabas, I gather.
"A member of the Old Families looking to get a reputation as a war hero, I guess.
"Make sure she doesn't get herself killed. You might find her familiar."
"Yes, sir," said Cloud, wondering what he meant by that. "What about the militia?"
"The militia will be taking on a support role," said Duke. "We'll use em to hold ground and guard supply lines while the expendables take care of the heavy lifting—no sense in wasting any more than we need.
"You'll all report for duty immediately.
"Now get out of my office."
Collins blinked. "Sir, this is my office."
Duke gave Collins a look, and everyone took the point. "Getting out, as ordered."
They fled.