By a Fraction of a Degree
A FFVII Fanfiction work by findthetiger129
Rated T for Violence and Language.
I do not own Final Fantasy VII, or any of the characters, trademarks or likenesses from Final Fantasy VII or its spinoffs. That honor goes to Square-Enix.
Part II: Reunion
Chapter 19, Uh, Guys? Wasn't Corel the Other Way?
December 19th [ ν ] – εуλ 0007
Cloud looked up at the huge being that materialized where Sephiroth once stood with a combination of awe, and revulsion. The gigantic mass of goo and tentacles that stood before them, vaguely resembling the shape of a woman with a pair of outstretched wings, seemed familiar to him somehow, but…
"Jenova?" He heard Zack next to him.
It did kind of look like her, now that Cloud could make the comparison.
Whatever it was, their surprise was short lived as it suddenly shot a laser in their direction and the group was forced to scatter. When the dust cleared, he saw a shuriken fly through the air out of the corner of his eye before a hail of bullets rocketed overhead from Barret's gun arm. Zack was already running in with his sword, and Cloud hurried in a different direction, going for one of the tentacles at the base of the thing.
He caught the flash of a Bolt spell being cast nearby as he sliced his sword into the curling tendril. Jumping away when it flailed out in retaliation, he barely missed getting hit by another laser beam. It seared the ground a few feet in front of him. He spared a moment to find another opening and caught sight of Zack, leaping back into action after getting knocked away and Tifa landing a punch on a tendril she'd frozen with an Ice spell, causing it to shatter, before he rushed in again, using his forward momentum to stab his sword into the thing tentatively believed to be Jenova. He pulled it out, cutting through its flesh and leaving a deep gash before everyone hurriedly backed away as a cloud of noxious gas suddenly permeated the area.
Backing away to avoid the fumes, he heard Zack nearby. "Head for that construction site, we can take cover in there!"
Sure enough, on the side of the dock opposite the water, there was some kind of building being constructed, though now it was a skeleton of steel girders, wires, and scaffolding. Even now, he could hear shouts nearby as members of Rufus's entourage were starting to notice the disturbance. It would definitely be better to be out of their line of fire too. He got off a Fire spell as they retreated to the building. Yuffie was already scaling a girder, climbing to a better position to throw her shuriken as Barret was headed for a set of stairs leading up to the network of scaffolds.
In the time its attackers were getting in position, the giant tentacled monster followed the two swordsmen until it couldn't follow them anymore. Cloud slashed at another tentacle Tifa had just frozen when another wave of lasers peppered the ground. He heard Tifa yelp as one of them hit her and looked up to see her race in with several hard punches as he felt the energy from a limit break going off. Tifa ducked back to safety among the building supports as Barret found a roost to his liking and resumed shooting at the thing.
It was at that moment when Cloud noticed that slightly to his right, Zack was rushing towards a wire holding up a pallet of construction materials. Using the Buster Sword to cut the wire as he grabbed it, he was propelled into the air, landing on one of the higher girders before lunging to meet the monster in front of him.
Ducking to avoid another laser directed at himself, Cloud followed Zack from the ground, rushing forward and bringing his sword once again to bear on the hide of their opponent's gelatinous trunk. A tentacle reached up and knocked him away, sending him flying until his back connected with something hard. He picked himself up, sparing only a glance to see that the girder he'd hit was slightly bent out of shape, before racing back to the front, channeling a limit break of his own. Ramming his sword deep into the morass of tendrils, he leapt into the air slashing through it as though it were nothing, before coming to a halt a few girders up. Looking around he noticed that Nanaki was standing as still as a statue nearby and Allen was attempting to help cover him.
He leapt back to avoid another tentacle, landing gracefully on the ground near the Turk, when suddenly, he heard the sound of a gun going off that wasn't Barret's. As if out of nowhere, a second shotgun blast fired and then Freya landed next to him with catlike grace, followed by Kunsel, and Aerith hurried up behind them.
Kunsel drew his sword looking up at the monster they were fighting in surprise, as he took in the size of it. "Sorry we're late," He said.
"No problem," Cloud stepped up next to him and the two swordsmen charged back into the fray, rushing past Allen while he cast another Bolt spell and Tifa, casting another Ice. The two of them rolled out of the way when more lasers peppered the construction site and then Kunsel raced forward, slashing at one of Jenova's tentacles as Cloud vaulted up to the first level of girders. He saw a second wire hanging down the side of the building. Taking hold of it to keep himself from falling with his left hand, he ran sideways along the girder before jumping off of it and propelling himself at Jenova's head. He landed, digging the sword into its body, using gravity to pull him down towards the ground. A laser went off nearby and as he leapt back to avoid a second beam, he felt a limit channel and saw Kunsel standing in front of Tifa, having taken a blow for her.
The great hulk of Jenova looked very beaten at that point and it may not have been necessary for Zack to give it another stab, but he did anyway, before it gave a final shudder and dissolved into nothing.
A hush fell over the construction site and a final limit break channeled behind them. When Cloud looked, he saw Aerith standing by Nanaki. He was shaking himself after having been released from the Stop. Near the edge of the building, there lay a small piece of something that Cloud suddenly realized was Jenova's arm.
Zack was standing a few feet away from it, and he deliberately raised his hand and cast Firaga at it, burning it to ashes. Once that was done, he reached out with a gloved hand and picked up a small red orb that had appeared in Jenova's remains. At that same moment, Cloud heard Freya behind him on her PHS. "Cissnei, I hope you're close because we're going to need a pickup, now."
It was then that the final aspect of this scenario came into focus. Forming a perimeter around the building, guns aimed squarely at them, stood a whole horde of troopers, and standing centered in front of them, was Rufus with Heidegger right next to him.
"What happened here?" The president demanded, taking in the assembled group.
"Sephiroth was here," Zack answered coldly, "And if you're smart, you'll take those guards of yours and search for him. He's probably still around, trying to get to the other continent."
Rufus regarded him curiously before looking around at the others, finally resting his gaze on Freya and Allen. The two Turks stood tall under his gaze, looking right back at him with feigned disinterest. "You. You're both renegade Turks." Rufus took in the others in various trooper and sailor uniforms. "And what about the rest of you?"
"Zack, ex-SOLDIER 1st Class!" Zack answered and the others seemed to take this as an invitation to sound off.
"Kunsel, also ex-SOLDIER."
"Cloud! Former infantryman!"
"Barret, I'm part of AVALANCHE!"
"Same here!"
"A research specimen!"
"A flower girl!"
"A kick-ass ninja from Wutai!"
Rufus shrugged as a wry smile spread across his face. "What a crew." He brushed his bangs out of his eyes as he paced a few steps to the right. "Well, you may already know this, but I'm Rufus, the current President of Shinra Inc."
Barret scoffed. "You only the President 'cause yer old man died!"
Rufus didn't act offended in the slightest. "Maybe, but let me tell you, I am quite decidedly not my old man." He walked up to Zack, looking him in the eye. "He tried to control the world with money, and sure, it wasn't the worst plan one could come up with…" He moved onward to Kunsel, his expression unchanging as he spoke. "The population thought Shinra would protect them…" He moved on to Cloud. "…Work at Shinra, get your pay. If a terrorist attacks, the Shinra army will help you…" He moved past Freya and Allen as though they weren't even there, instead gliding over to Tifa. "It looks perfect on the outside…" He finished his inspection of those standing in the center of the construction site before walking back to his spot in front of the troopers. "As for myself, I do things differently."
He faced them all, his expression hungry, like a guard hound who has just spotted a fresh piece of meat. "I'll control the world with fear. It takes so much less effort than my father's way of doing things, and it will keep the common people kneeling at my feet where they belong without wasting the resources."
"I don't know about all that," Zack commented. "But you sure do like to talk."
Kunsel laughed. "I guess that's something you two have in common, huh Zack?"
"I guess so. I'm not particularly crazy about the fear thing though. We might want to get going before he starts trying to scare us into going with those guards of his."
"Go where?" Aerith asked.
Rufus continued to smirk, certain of his own control over the situation. "The flower girl's right. Where are you going to go, if not with my guards?"
Freya pointed out the set of stairs that Barret had climbed. "I'm going to say… that way!" As one, all of the party that had remained on the ground rushed in that direction, some going more quickly than others. Zack ducked back to get Aerith since she wasn't running as fast, and before long they were halfway to what was going to be the roof. Yuffie had been standing on one of the nearby girders and she generously threw a couple of smoke-bombs to cover their retreat before the troopers could fire on them.
The sound of gunshots echoed through the steel structure, the metal bits vibrating the girders under their feet as they ran. Zack threw up a few Wall spells on the people in the back as Barret and Freya gave them covering fire. They were almost to the fifth and final floor when Cloud saw his friend pause and reach into his pocket. A wild grin spread across his face as he pulled out what was in it, and Cloud realized it was the grenade he'd been given after doing so horribly at the parade.
"You know what? I think I'll give this back!" Zack yelled as he pulled the pin and tossed it down the stairwell. It rolled down the stairs as they reached the top before a loud explosion reverberated through the building's girders near the base.
"That won't hold them for long!" Freya yelled.
"I know. Do you think Cissnei'll get here in time?"
"She'd better." The Turk chambered out her spent ammunition before loading fresh shells in her gun.
"Did she say how far out she was?" Kunsel asked.
"A minute or so, maybe…" At that point, they were interrupted by the sound of troopers racing up the stairs they'd just climbed and Zack readied his sword, balancing himself neatly on one of the girders between the rest of the group and the stairs. Kunsel took his place on a girder adjacent to them and Barret took a cover fire position a short distance back, ready to spray the stairs with bullets at the first sign of movement. Cloud jumped to the girder that was at Zack's right side after a moment as he heard Zack yelling back at the others to have their spells ready.
As the first few troopers ran up the steps, Barret unloaded his gun-arm at them with a battle cry before the three swordsmen leapt forward. Cloud easily knocked a trooper off his girder before seeing three more attempt to duck past Barret's barrage. Zack and Kunsel seemed to be all right for the time being, and so he set about unleashing a Fire spell in the area around the stairs. A trooper ran through the inferno, straight onto Zack's girder, but the ex-SOLDIER quickly dispatched him with the sword. It was around that point they heard the sound of rotors and soon the wind began to pick up.
Allen spoke up behind them "I think this is where I leave you guys."
"Are you crazy?" Zack demanded.
The blonde haired Turk just smiled. "You've got your ride. I've got mine." He reached for his nunchaku and ran to the far edge of the building. A wire hung there just within reach and the Turk looped his weapon around it before using it to slide away from the fighting and far out of sight.
As the helicopter neared, Cloud saw a rope slide down near where Aerith and the others were. Zack glanced over at Kunsel, yelling over the sound of the rapidly spinning blades. "Get Aerith and Nanaki up! We got this!" Kunsel nodded and hurried back as Yuffie shimmied up the rope with the grace of… well, a ninja. Cloud turned his attention back to the oncoming enemies, landing a kick on a trooper that had gotten too close to him on the steel beam. Another one tried to run along the beam Kunsel had just vacated, but Zack leapt the gap, blocking his way even as the man tried to raise his rifle. Zack held up his sword and pressed forward until the trooper lost his balance.
A trooper in front of him collapsed as though he'd just been shot, but it hadn't been by Barret. Looking back, he saw that Freya was holding a trooper rifle up in the chopper and she gave him a nod indicating she was covering them.
"Barret! Get moving!" Zack called, once he saw everyone else was clear. The older man nodded and ran for the rope. Zack and Cloud were the last ones on the roof. They spared a glance for each other before Cloud unleashed a last Fire spell and Zack let off a Firaga as they backed away towards the rope. They were almost there when Zack gestured that Cloud go first. He did so without argument, climbing hand over hand until he reached the grips on the landing gear and pulled himself the rest of the way in. Zack was already climbing up even as they pulled the rope in after them.
As they slammed the hatch shut, Cissnei pulled the chopper forward and called out over the intercom "Hang on guys, we've got company!"
Zack pulled on a headset and asked "What kind of company?"
"I've got two other helicopters coming after us. If we try to head for home we'll be flying right into them."
"Then head west!"
"You do know that'll put us over the other continent, right? Unless we find fuel, we won't be able to get back." Cissnei was incredulous.
"Right now, all I care about is getting away from Junon. We can decide what to do next once we're away from here!" As he spoke, Zack was gripping the earpiece on the headset hard enough Cloud wondered if he might break it.
"Understood. Strap yourselves in. This could be a rough ride." Everyone scrambled to find a seat and go for the seatbelts as the helicopter zoomed forward. Cloud didn't know how fast they were going, but there was too much adrenaline running through his system at the moment for him to have time to be airsick. There was no chatter as the helicopter zoomed over the water, a solid deep green mass flowing beneath them in a blur.
The helicopter lurched as Cissnei jerked the flight stick, but not even Yuffie complained. There was the sound of an explosion nearby. "We've got missiles." Cissnei commented, her voice eerily calm as she continued to maintain the chopper's speed.
"Anything we can do about that?" Zack asked. The helicopter lurched again and another explosion flashed outside the window.
"Not unless you think you can shoot down those birds with rifles, or does someone have a materia they can use?"
Zack stood and grabbed one of the handholds on the ceiling of the passenger compartment, searching through his pockets. Finally he pulled out the red materia he had picked up on the dock, holding it in his palm to identify it before speaking. "Would Ifrit work?"
"You can try."
He fought to stay standing as another missile went off and then he looked around at the others, an idea forming in his mind. He turned his attention to Kunsel. "I need rigging."
Kunsel gave him a worried look. "If you're thinking of doing what I think you are…"
"Who here feels they can concentrate well enough to cast a summon over a moving helicopter?" Zack interrupted, yelling over the sound of the rotors.
Everyone looked at each other before Aerith raised her hand. "I'll try!" She called out.
Zack looked hard at her. He really didn't want her in the line of fire if he could help it, but there wasn't time to argue. "Kunsel, make sure she's secured to me, I think you know what I'm planning."
The other SOLDIER stood, almost losing his balance as the chopper vibrated from another explosion nearby and hurried to the back of the vehicle, returning with a parachute harness, some rope, and carabiners. Zack went over to Aerith and once she pulled herself to her feet, he put an arm around her so she was positioned in front of him and wouldn't fall over. Kunsel worked quickly, helping her into the harness before the next missile shook the helicopter. After Cissnei had stabilized the craft again, he threaded a rope through the harness and tied her securely to Zack. As they moved towards the door, the dark haired SOLDIER handed Ifrit to her.
"You all right?" he asked.
She slipped it into her bangle. "I think so!"
"If you're sure. Just focus the best you can. I've got you, okay?"
She nodded. Kunsel secured the rope to a handgrip hanging from the ceiling by two of the carabiners, giving Zack the thumbs up once he was sure they were secure. Once that was done, he took a position by the door. "Cissnei," Zack spoke into his headset. "I need a ninety degree turn to the left!"
"What?"
"Just do it!"
"If you're sure!" As soon as the helicopter turned, he signaled to Kunsel to pull open the hatch and a rush of fast moving air blew through the interior of the passenger compartment. It was flying slightly slower now that it had turned, but Zack hurriedly took a step out onto the landing gear, holding Aerith close while she found her footing in front of him. They looked out over the ocean and he saw one of the helicopters coming closer even as Aerith was already aiming at it. The materia glowed in her bangle and for a second, it seemed like nothing happened, but then there was a spark of yellow orange flames on the front of the enemy chopper. He thought he saw something that vaguely resembled the outline of some great fiery beast start clawing at the cockpit before the helicopter's flight pattern became erratic as it tried to get the thing off. It wasn't long after that when it burst into flames, retreating back the way it had come, probably to explode before it made it back to the airport.
"Yeah!" Zack crowed and Aerith looked up at him with a determined smile.
Because it would be too dangerous to remain flying perpendicular to the other pursuing helicopter while Ifrit was detained, Cissnei pulled back into flying straight again, and the two hanging out the side were slightly buffeted by the force of her acceleration. Zack felt secure though. With Kunsel's rope work and his strength, he knew neither of them would be knocked from their perch at the opening. A moment or so later, Aerith tapped him on the shoulder indicating she was sure Ifrit was no longer busy before something whizzed by on the other side. Zack held Aerith tight to his chest to keep her from being jostled.
"What have we got?" He asked after a moment.
"Just the one left. If we can repeat that one more time, we should be all right!" Freya answered him.
He looked down at Aerith. "You think you can do that again?"
The flower girl nodded, her face alight with determination.
"All right, Cissnei! Give us another ninety!"
The helicopter turned again and they saw the other chopper closing in fast. Once again, Aerith raised her hand and the fiery beast reappeared before the other helicopter was covered in flames. "We got it!" Zack said into the mic.
In a curving line, the helicopter resumed its course west as Kunsel helped Zack and Aerith back through the hatch, and pulled it shut. After he disconnected the two of them, they promptly plopped down into their seats while the others cheered.
The helicopter had passed over Costa Del Sol before landing on a patch of grass to the south of town. It was late when they set up camp, but no one complained. Freya, Nanaki, and Yuffie went out to forage for food while the others pitched tents and got a fire going. Once those chores were finished those who hadn't gone out to hunt sat around the campfire, exhausted from the day's exertions. Kunsel was looking at his map again and Aerith leaned tiredly against Zack. He held an arm around her while they watched the flames together. Cloud sat next to them along with Tifa and Barret, while Cissnei stood a little bit away from the group, talking on her PHS.
After she hung up she walked over to sit cross-legged next to Aerith. "I just talked to Legend and Kemp. They said we'd be the first to know if Sephiroth is spotted in Costa del Sol."
"Good," Zack said gratefully. He'd never spoken with the demolitionist or the male martial artist, but it was good to know someone was around to watch for the former general.
"What was that thing?" Barret asked.
Zack reached out with a stick and poked at a log that was hanging out of the fire too far for his liking. "I'm pretty sure it was Jenova."
"That was Jenova?" Barret looked a little concerned. "I thought we were chasin' Sephiroth."
"We are," Cloud said, "But it looks like he has Jenova with him, somehow."
"How did he have her arm with him though?" Zack wondered aloud. "Back at the reactor, the only thing we saw him try to take was her head, never mind that I don't remember her moving on her own before."
"Seeing as none of us actually knew what he's been up to since Nibelheim, we can't be sure what happened after you guys blacked out, and Freya left," Kunsel mused, "Though honestly, I'm having trouble believing he's still wandering around. If Cloud threw him into the reactor, even if the fall didn't kill him, the mako should have."
"But it was definitely him. It had to be. I'd never forget that face," Tifa asserted.
Zack frowned. "You don't think… Hojo found a way to fish him out of the reactor, do you? That might explain how he was in the Science Department."
"That begs a couple of questions though," Cissnei said.
"She's right." Kunsel looked up from the map, having given up on perusing it for the time being. "For one thing, if Hojo had the original Sephiroth, then why would he go to the trouble to use you guys to recreate him?"
"I dunno," Zack shrugged. "Maybe he wanted more than one? Or maybe before now Sephiroth wasn't able to do what he wanted. I mean, he did fall into a reactor core. That's the most undiluted mako you'll ever be exposed to. It'd be tough to avoid getting sick from that, even for him."
At that point, the three SOLDIERs heard the sound of footsteps approaching and not long afterward, Freya and Yuffie returned, followed by Nanaki. The red lion and the ninja sat down next to Cissnei and Freya began making preparations for putting the bird she'd caught on a spit so it could begin roasting, starting by plucking the feathers.
"Any trouble out there?" Zack asked her.
"Nope. Everything's quiet except for the animals, and they probably all cleared out when I found our dinner." She gestured to the bird she was preparing.
"At some point we need to figure out where we're going. We can't leave the helicopter out here too long or someone will notice it," Cissnei pointed out.
"Rocket Town," Freya said, "They may be Shinra but they're far enough removed from the company we can probably negotiate with them without trouble."
"You sure about that?" Kunsel asked.
"Oh, I'm sure there are people there who are loyal and would turn us in at the first opportunity, but since the space program's defunct, there's hardly any garrison there to speak of, and it would take forever for them to call in reinforcements. We can be gone long before they get there. Tseng could be there by tomorrow, but he's focusing on Sephiroth, so he'll probably leave us alone for now. Most importantly, we need fuel. If we want to stay in the air, we don't have a choice."
"Speaking of Sephiroth, what about him?" Tifa asked. "What happens if he shows up in Costa del Sol while we're gone?"
Freya didn't even bat an eye at that. "Legend and Kemp know what's up right?" She asked Cissnei.
The younger Turk nodded.
Once she'd received confirmation, she turned back to Tifa. "They'll tell us if he shows up. And even if they miss him, if there's anywhere on this continent that Sephiroth might go, where would it be?"
"Nibelheim," Cloud answered immediately.
"That's what I think too. None of the other towns in the area have anything of interest, at least pertaining to him. Corel's a wreck. The Gold Saucer's an entertainment district. Gongaga? Too small. And Cosmo Canyon? He's never shown any interest before. But if we can find a way to work our way back from Nibelheim, I'd say our chances are pretty good that we will run into him again."
"My parents are in Gongaga though," Zack said gravely. "Kunsel, can I see that map for a sec?"
The other SOLDIER handed over and Zack walked over to Freya, holding the map so she could see too. "The only way to get to Nibelheim on foot would be to head around the south end of the continent. He'd have to pass Gongaga to get there."
Freya shook her head. "Yes, but he's not going to just walk in there. It's too far southeast and it would mean going out of his way just to destroy a village he has no connection to and wouldn't care anything about, unless there's something you haven't told me. So far, with the exception of the President, whom he had ample reason to get rid of and was a convenient target at the time, he's only killed anyone who got in his way."
"What were they in the way of, specifically?" Nanaki wondered.
Zack folded up the map and gave it back to Kunsel. "Your guess is as good as mine. There was that whole insanity about the Promised Land when he went to find Jenova in the reactor, but I wouldn't know where to start looking for that."
Aerith looked thoughtful. "The Promised Land… I wonder if it has anything to do with the stories my mother used to tell me."
"You mean, Elmyra?" Zack asked.
"No. My real mother." Aerith sat up straighter, reaching for the bow in her hair and pulling on something wrapped in its folds. When her hand pulled away, Zack realized she held something in her hand that he'd never noticed before. It was a small materia, clear and white. He'd guessed Aerith was adopted. How could she not have been? Otherwise Elmyra would have been under survelliance by the Turks too. "I'm not sure what it is exactly… but what I do know is that she used to say the Cetra are born from the planet, speak with the planet, and unlock the planet. And then… the Cetra will return to the Promised Land. A land that promises supreme happiness. She said I'd find it one day…"
"I wonder what it means," Kunsel mused aloud.
Aerith shrugged. "I wish I knew."
"So what's that white materia?" Nanaki approached the object in her hand, regarding it curiously.
"It was a gift from my mother. It's special." She said with a giggle that completely broke the seriousness of the mood, putting it back in her hair ribbon. "It's good for absolutely nothing."
"Nothing?" Cloud asked.
"Nothing." Aerith confirmed.
Zack wasn't sure if she was telling the truth or deflecting questions, but he didn't mind, as his thoughts drifted back to the previous topic. "Much as I don't particularly want to go back, Nibelheim is just south of Rocket Town, and there is a pretty good reason for us to go."
"That's true," Cissnei agreed, "Rayleigh did want us to take a look around the mansion."
"Why there?" Tifa asked.
"Some of Hojo's notes might be left for one thing," Freya said, "We still only have a rough idea of what he was trying to do in there, and any information we can get for Rayleigh might bring us one step closer to figuring that out for sure."
"I guess it's settled then." Zack looked around at everyone. "Tomorrow, we're going to Rocket Town."
Tseng took in the streets by lamplight outside the sprawling picture window on the back wall of his office at the Turk headquarters in Junon, contemplating his next move. Thanks to Rufus, he now had confirmation of a number of things. It seemed Zack and Cloud had indeed been involved in the invasion of the Shinra building along with Freya. Further, somehow it seemed they knew about Sephiroth. More important, though it was uncertain where they had gone immediately after fleeing west from the city, he was quite certain that whatever they were doing, they were highly likely to try to find the former general again.
He watched the street crews below as they worked to clean the confetti and other debris off the streets from the parade. They had searched the city for Allen for quite a while, but the renegade Turk had disappeared more completely than a ghost. To be expected, of course. If there was one thing Tseng knew about his former subordinates it was that they were the best at what they did. He didn't think the other renegades would be stupid enough to openly oppose Shinra. More than likely, as he'd pointed out to Rufus, the blonde Turk had simply joined them because he was in the area and had been contacted by Freya. Tseng knew better than anyone the extent of a Turk's loyalties. To him, it wasn't a stretch in the least.
If his former subordinate was keeping true to Turk protocol, Allen probably didn't know much more about Freya's movements than Tseng did, which meant that as tempting as it would be to try and catch him, it would serve no purpose except to divert attention from tasks that were much more pressing, such as tracking down an insane former general that somehow just didn't die.
They'd searched the entire ship thoroughly before Rufus departed with Heidegger, just in case the man turned up, but there hadn't been a trace of him. Jenova on the other hand… It seemed Zack had torched the part of her that had turned up on the deck, but there were enough remnants that the Junon laboratories had been able to identify the dead cells that hadn't been completely flash-fried. It was an interesting conundrum. How had Sephiroth acquired that fragment of Jenova? And what was his aim? Between tracking the former general and trying to find Freya and Zack, he didn't have the manpower to investigate and that was a big problem when it might turn out to be extremely important. It occurred to him that it might be time to outsource.
He gathered the series of reports that littered his desk, looking over them meticulously. Based on their last sighting, the stolen helicopter had been headed west, which meant he already had an idea of where they might be headed. Freya would undoubtedly be aware that Rocket Town was a risk for them, but it was the kind that they had no choice but to take if they wanted fuel, which a helicopter would need after a trip across the ocean. Tseng's plan was also a risk, considering that if the agent in question was spotted, he would be recognized right away, but if they were successful in inserting their operative, it would mean one less task to have to focus on. He reached for his PHS and punched in a number. It rang twice before someone picked up.
"Tseng?" The voice on the other end was a rich, smooth baritone, honed with diplomatic precision.
"Reeve, I'm calling to make use of your services again."
A couple of things to note. First off Kunsel showed us a new limit break this chapter. The details are below.
Loyalty: Level two limit break, based off of, what else? That Cover Materia the party never got. It ups his defense and enables him to cover for other party members easily, like he did for Tifa there.
Also, in the scene with the helicopters, yes, I know summons can't be used in a single battle more than the number their level is, but how can you enforce that when we're going for more realistic combat? If it's a big issue, just count it as two individual fights. ^^;