–Wutai soldiers...? –he repeated without realizing it, just the idea that there were soldiers approaching was something that hadn't crossed his mind, he had read a lot about battles and strategies but he hadn't really thought about what it would be like to be part of one.
–Hurry up Sephiroth... we're not sure how many there are but you'll be going along with a couple of armed vehicles...
–Yes... I'm coming right now... –said the young man hanging up, he put his cell phone away and froze for a couple of seconds. –What am I supposed to do...?
The lad took his sword alongside some materia, to equip them in his armor, Sephiroth had never fought against anyone who was not a monster or a machine before, he hadn't even taken an opportunity to investigate what Wutai's armed forces were like, he didn't have the slightest idea of what he was going to face.
Sephiroth felt strange and with a lump in his throat, he walked to the entrance and went to the elevator, he held his sword tightly as walking, he had no choice, they trusted him and he didn't want to let Lazard down.
–I got to do this… –he said to himself but his expression was one of complete sadness as the elevator doors closed behind him, the boy looked at his face reflected in the polished metal walls which covered the elevator and couldn't help but lower his gaze. Feeling ashamed of his pitiful expression, he covered his face with both hands.
–Easy... you can do this... so far there's nothing you haven't been able to overcome... "so far..." –he echoed in his mind, the child clenched his fists and frowned trying to suppress his emotions, thinking that it was just another trial.
When Sephiroth got out of the elevator several soldiers were preparing the vehicles that Lazard had told him about, luckily for him the building was quite high and he had had a chance to recover, at least in appearance.
–Lazard... –he called out as he reached his side.
–Sephiroth... –the blond looked worried but he was keeping himself together. –You will go in this vehicle... –he said pointing to the car behind him and smiled at the boy putting his hand on the young man's shoulder. –We will be monitoring you... and we are preparing reinforcements if necessary... we already have Scarlett's and Heidegger's units... they are also preparing to take action...
It was obvious to Sephiroth that they were not ready to fight, least expected Wutai to be the first to make a move. –First mistake... –thought the young man looking around. –We' d better leave at once if everyone's ready...
But the fact was that Wutai hadn't been the first to launch an attack, a couple of days before a machine developed by Scarlett's division was deployed in Wutai's territory destroying a small village after the villagers refused to surrender before Shinra's soldiers.
This attack disturbed the peace for the entire Wutai nation who realized Shinra was not going to stop until they reached their goal and thus decided to go on the offensive, taking a group of armed men to fight, including some of Wutai's strongest troops.
Wutai's soldiers had the objective of measuring the enemy's forces, they were divided into two groups of about one hundred people each troop, the first group had made a camp in the area north of Midgar and the other was still in the ocean to the west.
The northern troop sent a small group of ten people to watch the area, these were the soldiers detected by SOLDIER facilities, among the scouts there were six Xin soldiers and four imperial guards, which formed an elite group that were ready to fight until the last consequences, although their orders were to evaluate the Shinra army and return to alert the nation.
–As expected... the enemy is on their way to our position... –said one of the imperial guards. –Everybody get ready... they will arrive in seven minutes... –he said lowering the binoculars and put them in his clothes –don't forget the mission... our objective is to collect the information... stay alive... it is an order... dead people are not good at delivering messages...
Sephiroth was in the back of one of the assault vehicles, next to him were some of the new SOLDIERs alongside Peace Preservation veterans who had also enlisted, the boy held his sword tightly by the hilt while looking into the distance at the place where he had lost sight of the great walls that formed Midgard on the horizon.
–I have never left the city... –thought the young man as he looked into the distance, then he turned his gaze to the soldiers around him, many were noticeably nervous as it was obvious this was their first time in combat. –I'm not the only rookie here... but... they don't expect me to behave like one...
The boy was as nervous as those rookies but he did his best to keep himself together. He noticed that the veterans were looking at him and that made him uncomfortable, especially because those soldiers were whispering about him.
–It's the kid from the lab...
–Would he really be of any use to us?, he's just a little kid.
–They say his training is quite heavy compared to Peace Preservation's, plus he beat Scarlett's machines?
–I' m sure they weren't at their full power, there's no way Miss Scarlett would fail, it must be an exaggeration.
–It's possible... I heard they promoted Scarlett a few days ago. -Is it true?
–Of course, she's an impressive woman both in her talent for battle machines and her beauty.
–Although I hear she's a very belligerent woman...
–I wouldn't mind if she wanted to step on me... anything to get that close to those legs...
–At least they are more interested in talking about Scarlett than about me... –thought the youngest without looking at them, wishing he could no longer listen to those two since the conversation took such a turn.
Fortunately for Sephiroth the soldiers could not talk for long, at that moment the vehicles stopped and one of the soldiers in the cab tapped on the glass to get their attention.
–Everyone down... we will walk from here... –said the soldier who was riding next to the driver.
Sephiroth looked at that soldier and stood up jumping down by the side of the vehicle to look around, noticing the area wasn't the best to go down, they were in an open space but the terrain was very deserted and rocky so he couldn't ask too much, the young man was able to identify the place although he had never been there, he knew they were a few miles west of Kalm, still quite far from the coast.
The rest of the soldiers stepped out and lined up in two rows next to their vehicles waiting for their superior's orders, however when the sergeant looked around he noticed Sephiroth standing by himself and was the only one who hadn't line up.
–Hey kid... you better follow my orders... just because you have an independent training don't think you are more important than the others... now we all are SOLDIER and these guys are from my company... they entrusted us with this mission so work with us or step away...
Sephiroth looked at the man with a serious but calm expression, no one had said anything about following the soldier's orders but he didn't really care, he was aware that he didn't know the field nor the enemy so he decided that there was no point in arguing.
–As you say, sir... –answered the young boy and moved next to the other corporals to wait for their orders, he did not know what they expected from him but Lazard had entrusted him with the mission and he knew he had to work with those men, who were unknown to him and it was obvious that none of them trusted each other.
The sergeant gave them their orders, the corporals would go to the front and Sephiroth had to cover them along with three other soldiers while the first ones would attack the enemy, their main objective was to recover the ground to lead them back to the sea.
Sephiroth and the other men advanced towards the last location of the enemy, following the formation indicated, although Sephiroth did not know much of what they were referring to, so some soldiers explained to him where he should be placed.
After walking for several minutes the troop surveyed the field and located the enemy's base, there were only a few soldiers so they planned their assault, adjusting the strategy. The sergeant gave them the signal and the advance party launched the attack using Fire against the enemy.
The Wutai soldiers saw the fireballs approaching their position and took cover among the rocks preparing their counterattack, their leader indicated the direction of the Shinra soldiers to which they countered with Bio and Electro.
Sephiroth and the soldiers who were in the rear covered their companions with Barrier while they ran forward to the enemy camp dodging the attacks as best they could, the boy jumped to dodge a spell but a soldier behind him was not so lucky and was electrocuted, it was the first time Sephiroth saw someone suffer such an attack. –Are you all right? –He asked as he fell to the ground but the soldier pushed him off and got up, he was injured but he was still able to keep going and that's what he did.
The younger one kept dodging or deflecting the attacks that fell near him but now he was being careful not to hurt his comrades, which made his job difficult as it was not easy to keep his eyes on the attacks and keep track of the other soldiers both allies and enemies.
The SOLDIERs were a couple of yards away from the enemies and Sephiroth could see how the Wutai soldiers began to withdraw but something didn't look right, something told the young boy that he should not advance any further and when his gaze crossed with the Wutai leader he smiled at him.
–Get back! –Sephiroth shouted to his companions but they didn't listen to him, who did listen to him was the sergeant who grabbed Sephiroth by the arm and threw him to the ground hitting him in the face causing the boy to cut his lower lip with the fall. -What are you doing?
–That's what I want you to tell me! You stupid fucking kid! If you're a goddamn coward then go away... leave the fighting to real men! –He shouted angrily at the boy, but a huge explosion silenced him.
Wutai soldiers had prepared traps with several explosives around the camp, which went off as the SOLDIERs stepped on the mines, all the soldiers of the vanguard were seriously wounded while the Wutai leader grinned after having achieved his goal and gave a signal of retreat to his men.
–It cannot be... –said the sergeant when he saw his men being launched by the explosion.
Sephiroth stared in disbelief of what had just happened while feeling shaken, the place was full of blood, the smell was intense and metallic mixed with gunpowder and burnt flesh, both he and the sergeant were now covered by blood since the explosion had been a few feet away.
The younger looked across at the direction of the Wutai troops escaping on motorcycles, Sephiroth noticed how the Wutai leader smiled at him waving his hand in farewell before jumping onto his transport. Sephiroth got up and was about to run after them but the sergeant grabbed him again. -What are you doing? Do you want to get killed?
–They are going to escape... we can't allow it… –he said, getting loose and ran at high speed to catch up with them while the rest of the troop went to attend the wounded, ignoring the boy.
–That man... he was the one who plotted all this... but... why are they running away? –Sephiroth jumped to launch his attack but he saw how a wall of ice blocked his blow against the soldiers. –It's him... –he said to himself when he saw how that wall fell in big blocks of ice.
–You are very smart... I was surprised that you noticed the trap... your instinct is pretty good... and for a kid like you to be able to move at such speed is impressive... but tell me... are you only fast... or are you also strong? –said the man who jumped charging against the falling Sephiroth.
The minor stopped the blow with his sword but the strength of that soldier made him fall hard to the ground, with his fall a large crater was formed and the smoke completely covered the child, Sephiroth had trouble standing up but his biggest problem was that he had lost the location of the enemy.
–Where is he? –thought the young boy trying to feel the presence of that soldier but he was unable to detect him.
–Seems like he is really strong... but he is quite young... I don't like to think that those soldiers could also have been children like him... Shinra... it's disgusting... sending children to war... –thought the man while throwing sleep to Sephiroth who was still in the middle of that cloud of dust and didn't see the attack. –Let's leave things like this child... I don't want your blood on my hands... you better go to sleep...
Although the spell had reached Sephiroth it had no effect on him, but the boy now had that man's location and threw himself against him, knocking him down instantly, the boy was on top of that man with his boot on his opponent's chest and his sword on the man's throat. –Give up... tell your men to stop fighting... they must surrender...
–Well... so you are one of those optimists... I like you... it's a pity... -he said throwing fire against the kid who at that distance had no chance to dodge it, Sephiroth's arm was burned although it wasn't serious but the pain made him move back a few yards away from that man. –You gonna go far kid... but my mission is over... I can't keep playing with you... and I don't want to... –The leader of the Wutai couldn't continue speaking because a wave of lightning fell around him, but since he was no longer at Sephiroth's mercy he was able to keep himself safe. –We are not alone... I hate being interrupted...
Sephiroth looked at the leader of the soldiers and then at the place where the attack came from, his sergeant had caught up with them and a couple of war machines were at their backs preparing to attack again. –So the reinforcements arrived...
–I must go kid... I'd say I'd like to see you again but that means facing you again... so I hope not to see you again... take care of yourself silver soldier... –said to the boy smiling and threw a smoke bomb to cover his retreat.
Sephiroth covered his nose and mouth to avoid breathing much smoke but the gas was very dense, he could not see anything but he advanced carefully covering with his sword even though the machines had already stopped their attack, when he came out of the smoke he saw the sergeant running to his position.
–You let him get away! You are such an idiot!
–I didn't let him get away! I had him... until your useless attack gave him a chance to run away!
–Insolent... –he sneered and threw a punch at him but this time Sephiroth stopped it.
–Don't you dare touch me again... if you had listened to me no one would have been hurt!
–Died... they are dead... –he said, letting go of Sephiroth's grip.
–What? –Sephiroth hadn't had a chance to see the victims of the attack, he just wanted to finish the mission and capture the enemies as soon as possible but remembering what had happened he could realize. –All that blood... –thought the young man, noticing the state of the sergeant, then he lowered his eyes to his body to see his uniform stained with red, both were almost completely covered with the blood of his comrades.
The young soldier ran back to the camp as quickly as possible, when he arrived he noticed that some areas were still smoldering but most of it was intact, he approached to the few men who had been with him in the rear and watched as they arranged the fallen to bring back their bodies.
Sephiroth felt his heart in his throat, pounding hard as he slowly advanced to them, as he saw one of the men who had perished, he realized it was one of the boys he had heard in the vehicle. –It's the one who likes Scarlett... –he thought as he looked at his friend next to the body which had lost a leg and his left side was mangled.
The youngest felt a knot in his stomach, he looked around him, the other victims of the exploitation were just like that young man or worse, Sephiroth had an immense desire to cry, he could not believe that someone was capable of doing that to another person. –Where... where are the prisoners...?
–There were no prisoners... the enemies were killed in combat... –commented one of the soldiers seriously. –Those wretches didn't deserve anything else...
The boy took a second to understand what the man was referring to, realizing what his words represented, he lowered his gaze, closing his eyes tightly to prevent the tears from flowing. He had done his best not to harm anyone but it had been useless, the Wutai soldiers killed his comrades but the SOLDIERs also killed the Wutai soldiers. –They were helpless... –thought the young lad as he remembered that he had put them to sleep.
A few hours later what was left of the troop was back at Shinra's facilities, no one had spoken on the way back, some men silently mourned their comrades while others looked angry or scared.
Sephiroth for his part looked tired and pale, when they arrived to the facilities the boy got off the vehicle without waiting for orders, Lazard approached to welcome him but the minor was in no condition to talk to anyone, he ignored the blond and went directly to his room, once he was alone he locked himself in his room and turned off his phone.
He took off his uniform and threw it in the trash after entering the bathroom undressing to get in the shower, the boy could no longer stand the smell, his skin and hair were filthy with blood, dirt and smoke, so he got into the shower by turning the water as hot as he could stand as if that way he could clean even his memories, hoping that what he had seen would disappear with the water along with dirt and blood.
Sephiroth was under the water for a long time even after finishing his shower, when he got out of the bath he covered himself with a robe, he felt really bad, his head hurt and the image of the bodies did not disappear from his mind, so he let himself fall on the bed.
–Why did this have to happen... Why did they have to die...? –The boy began to cry himself to sleep, although his sleep did not last for long, as the nightmares woke him up after a few hours of slumber.