Six people stood below, and raised their eyes as one to regard the group up on the landing.
Two of them Veld recognized, and it made his chest go tight. It had been bad enough forcibly recruiting people when he'd thought it was for SOLDIER. To realize they'd been sent here…
Vincent's hand settled warmly on his shoulder and he let himself breathe. What was done was done. He could only move forward.
"Introduce us," Anya said evenly, though there was a glint of steel in icy blue eyes that said what she thought of seeing a literal child before them. Not that SOLDIER in general was much better, ages fifteen and up, but the one girl couldn't have been over ten.
"Argento the Silver." Restrictor waved imperiously and one of the three females stepped forward. Her uniform was unsurprisingly a steely gray, and covered her almost entirely. Unlike the others, she did not appear to possess any weapons, which he explained in short order. "She is both a weapon smith and instructor in how to use her creations. She has had a hand in training most of the other Tsviets and has created all of the weapons borne by the ones before you."
"Interesting," Anya murmured. For a moment, she met the single dark eye not covered by a patch, and they held each other's gaze.
Veld couldn't help but draw the parallel, though Anya's long hair was up and she wasn't quite as short as the Tsviet. But they both had an air of gravity, of dormant power and dignity that demanded respect. Maybe this Argento wasn't a fighter, but she was someone to be reckoned with.
She was, however, utterly dwarfed by the behemoth of a man next to her, one of the two Veld recognized as he was waved forward.
"Azul the Cerulean," Restrictor said. "The newest to the rank of colored Tsviets but undoubtedly deserving of his place. You will find his strength is easily on par with your SOLDIERs."
"Holy shit," Zack whispered, and was promptly pinched by his partner, rank be damned.
While inelegant… Veld couldn't blame him. The angle made it hard to be sure, but it sure looked like he was somewhere over nine literal feet tall. Even Sephiroth and Angeal hadn't been that tall, and Sephiroth in particular had been noteworthy.
And the man was built for it, like a goddamn tank. Azul had been big to begin with but this… this was unreal.
The next Tsviet was also one Veld recognized - one he'd wanted for the Turks, in fact, though the President had insisted on transferring her to SOLDIER. There had been an attack, however. She'd disappeared, and like so many others before her… she'd ended up here. It had to be deliberate; there was no way that was a coincidence. For a moment, though, Veld doubted his memory. Because he'd thought she looked entirely too familiar. Not just in the "I've seen her before a couple years ago" way but having seen her just like that.
Maybe it was a trick of the mind, but it didn't look like she'd aged at all.
"Shelke the Transparent is capable of combat, but generally reserved for intelligence," the Restrictor continued. "Her Synaptic Net Dive ability marks her as superior to any other intelligence operatives you have reliant on technology. I dare say she would match if not surpass anything you have ever encountered."
Kunsel's head tipped slightly, considering, but surprisingly a single, quiet negative sound from Anya kept him from asking further. Later, he was sure there would be digging. But they could deal with that when it came up.
"These three are also combatants," Restrictor said. He gestured to the woman first, and maybe it was an age thing but all Veld could think was get the girl some clothes. That was not fighting gear. Even Sephiroth had better 'armor' than that, and he'd had his chest bared. "Rosso the Crimson, one of our fiercest combatants and certainly the strongest, most skilled of our females. She is utterly ruthless and capable of meeting any objective."
Rosso made a sweeping gesture with her weapon, bowing gracefully, but there was something dangerous about her smile, hungry in a predatory way. She met and held Zack's gaze a moment and it went slyly pleased, but of course she said nothing, silent like the others.
He had a feeling that was expected.
"Feel honored that we have brought the last two out to see you, for they are usually… contained," Restrictor said. "Nero the Sable and Weiss the Immaculate. Nero in particular is of note - the only one to survive from the particular batch of dark mako treatments. His ability with shadows is… impressive, meriting him the rank of Tsviet. However, while he is indeed a force to be reckoned with, he is too dangerous to mingle with the rest of the troops."
"But not too dangerous to bring to see us?" Scarlet observed.
There was the distinct feeling of a grim smile on the Restrictor's hidden face, from tone alone. "He is a colored Tsviet. He has earned a coveted rank. But he still cannot go against my will."
Veld wouldn't swear to it but he was pretty sure that Zack's singsonged mutter was 'we are living in a dystopia' which was painfully accurate for the moment. This was the sort of crazy, wildly unethical bullshit you read in novels, not… saw at work.
Only this was ShinRa, and Hojo had already proven he was capable of deeply depraved things when push came to shove. Veld wasn't the sort of blind optimist who would refuse to see what was right in front of him.
And what was right in front of him was a too tall, too thin kid in a strait jacket and a muzzle. He could feel his blood pressure rise and closed his eyes a moment to process.
"You've got him pretty locked up, for all that confidence," Zack observed, something tight and dark in his tone. "Guess a little insurance doesn't hurt, huh?"
"With ordinary magic, you can strip away the mage's materia and be done with it entirely," Restrictor said. "Nero has no such weaknesses. All he needs is the use of his hands to use his shadows. For your sake, I would avoid a demonstration."
"Delightful," Kunsel muttered. "And the last one?"
"Weiss the Immaculate, Nero's brother," Restrictor said. "The strongest of the Tsviets, also restrained for your safety."
"But he can't go against you either, can he?" Kunsel said. It was clear something had occurred to him, something that he didn't like. Veld wondered just which point that had been, and chalked it up for 'asking later' because Weiss was staring just past his shoulder at Vincent and he didn't like that look.
He wouldn't be the first person to stare Vincent Valentine down in a cocky manner, and wouldn't be the last, but he might just be the first to back it up with something substantial. Maybe.
"No," the Restrictor said after far too long a pause for comfort. "He cannot go against me."
The implication that he either couldn't or wouldn't stop him from going against others wasn't lost on anyone.
"If he's smart, he won't try heading against unknowns, either," Zack said, with an uncharacteristic edge that made Veld look at him at once. That thin edging of green was still ringing his eyes, which - he hoped - was adrenaline. Most likely. The thing with mako eyes, they were telling. The color told you a lot about the enhancement process, and a change in color was never anything good. Especially from blue to green. From blue to green was like a stoplight going from green to red; whatever the cause, it damn well better stop, or there was going to be an 'accident.'
Kunsel placed a hand on Zack's shoulder, either reassurance or just trying to wind him down before things escalated like they so easily could. Whichever didn't matter, so long as he calmed down. Because Zack still looked ready to pick a fight.
Below them, Weiss looked an awful lot like he might like that, and Veld already knew he wanted no part of that.
"So, we're not seeing any demonstrations of their abilities, then?" Scarlet said, arching a brow. "Just taking your word at how amazing your little soldiers are?"
Restrictor glanced at her. "I had not expected you so eager to see someone die, Director."
"So they're not capable of nonlethal force?" Kunsel hummed, looking down at the group below. "Here I thought SOLDIER was the hammer."
"SOLDIER is the hammer," Zack said. "You can do detail work with the right kind. Deepground is a wrecking ball."
"They are capable of meeting any objective, including ones involving use of nonlethal force," Restrictor said, ignoring Zack's comment. "However, they are trained in extreme circumstances to create such versatility and strength. Only the strongest survive here."
"Literally," Zack muttered, and shrugged off Kunsel's hand on his shoulder, going to the edge of the platform and looking down over the Tsviets.
"He's feeling them out," Vincent murmured, just a breath by Veld's ear, but clear enough to pick up on it and the implications; Zack was sizing the Tsviets up, just like they were sizing him up. Like they were all preparing for things to go sideways in a way that Veld desperately hoped they didn't.
Veld took a gamble and stepped up beside Zack, lightly touching his arm to get his attention. After a long moment, those too-bright eyes met his, holding them a long moment. There was a deep, welling fury there; another kid-general of SOLDIER presented with ShinRa's twisted guts, but this time… this general was ready to put his foot down. Zack Fair would not stand by like Sephiroth had for so long. He would not break himself to fit into a mold, and he wasn't going to watch anyone else either.
But now wasn't the time to pick that fight, and Veld tried to convey it with his gaze alone.
From the grim, determined set of Zack's mouth, he wasn't sure the message had been received correctly. He clapped Veld on the shoulder, and turned to the Restrictor with a painfully sharp, mirthless version of his usual smile. Veld knew immediately he wasn't going to like anything that followed it.
"Any idiot can kill someone. A child can kill someone. A determined cat can kill someone. Taking someone out without harming them, let alone killing them, takes skill," Zack said. "Show me they've got the skill to stand beside SOLDIER."
Restrictor looked at him, silent a long moment. "And who are you, SOLDIER?"
"I'm General Zack Fair, SOLDIER First Class," Zack informed him. "And if you want to call yourselves SOLDIER someday, you're going to need to earn it my way."
Bold, bold words. Very much impulsive, throwing a gauntlet down like that.
Why did he have the feeling he wasn't talking to the Restrictor at all?