FF7
Heartstrings
Vincent
Unleashed
by
TacomaSquall
Part Seven:
The late afternoon sun beat down on the
ramparts of the Condor Fort. The mated pair of condors that gave the fortress
its name were building a new nest for the upcoming mating season. While the
male was searching for material for the nest, the female perched on the top of
the fort.
Two men came out of the upper-level entrance
to the fort, bearing some small pieces of kindling wood. The two men scattered
the wood on the parapet of the fortress. One of the men (the taller, more
slender one), pulled a canister out of one of his jacket pockets. Aiming it at
the scattered kindling, he sprayed the canister's contents onto the wood. The
aerosol mist contained within the canister spread over the wood, burying all
scents of humanity under its neutral odor. The men, their chore completed,
steeped back into the fort's interior.
The female condor stared at the wood. She
couldn't understand why the two-legged, non-flying things wanted to help her
with her nest, but they always made it easier for her and her mate. Deciding to
once again trust the two-legs, she stretched out her wings and glided down to
the pile of kindling.
As she landed, an unbidden instinct warned
her that she should fly away, as quickly as possible. She looked around her,
turning as she peered around her. No one was there.
She turned her attention to the pile of
kindling. The two-legs had cut it down to small enough pieces for her to
carry, she noted. She heard a rush of air behind her. She turned in time to
feel the Chaos Saber sweep down and embed itself in her head.
Lord Chaos, the Vanish enchantment securely
in place upon his person, laughed. The humans in this fortress have about as
much chance as that stupid bird did. This is child's play. He turned toward
the entrance of the Fort and readied himself for the coming slaughter.
* * * * * *
The SSV Palmer arrived at the ShinRa
Naval Base, next to Costa del Sol. As the submarine slowly steamed, with the
assistance of a Navy tugboat, into dock, three men stood on the deck. Captain
Townsend and Vincent stood, looking at the harbor, while Rude scanned the dock
for the person he was supposed to rendezvous with. Finally, Rude saw him – a
slender blond man who looked uncomfortable in the garish flower-patterned shirt
he was wearing.
"Captain Townsend, how long will it
take you to replenish your vessel and be prepared to set out to sea
again?" Rude set one hand on the Captain's shoulder as he spoke. "It
happens that we require transportation from Costa del Sol to another
destination."
The Captain looked at the Turk and sighed
inwardly. "Two hours to just replenish, Rude. My men could use some
down-time, however. We were on a research mission for a month, before you came
on board."
Rude grinned. "If we don't get to where
we need to go, then vacations won't matter. What we are doing has nothing to do
with ShinRa, but everything to do with the well-being of all of the members of
the Commonwealth." He smiled. "It's why we hooked up Vincent,
here."
The Captain nodded. "We will be as
quick as possible, sir."
Rude nodded at the Captain and turned to
Vincent. "How do you like the Twilight Scope?"
Vincent shrugged noncommittally. "It's
not a bad gun. I was never a huge fan of carbines."
"While we have the down-time in town,
let me show you some of this particular carbine's special features. After
you've seen 'em, I bet you'll never turn back." Rude laughed.
Vincent pointed to the dock, much closer
now. "Who is the blond?"
"An out-of-work merc from Dio's
mercenary days. He is a gunsmith, and you are going to need his services."
Rude smiled again. "You'll see why in just a few minutes."
The submarine eased its way into dock. The
Turk and Vincent were the first two off of the ship. They raced past the blond
man, who sported a scar that covered the side of his face from hairline to
jawline, and hurried into the town. Vincent felt himself being urged onward by
a sense of and anticipation and elation that he was unable to identify for a
few moments. He realized he was looking forward to seeing the new gun in
action.
* * * * * *
South of the ruins of Midgar stood a range
of mountains. The ShinRa cartographic survey notes it as the Mythril Mountains,
after the nearly-played out mine in its western reaches. A partially completed
rail line led into the mountains, heading toward Wallace City. Crews worked
around the clock to make sure that the rail line was ready for use when the
city's constriction was complete.
The rail line snaked into and around the
foothills of the Mythril Mountains. Proof of the rapid construction could be
seen along the railsides, where detritus from the workers mingled with earth,
wood and rock dug up by their efforts. The meandering path was a necessity, due
to the hurried timeline for completion. Finally, the rail line began to climb
up the side of a weather-beaten extinct volcano. About two thousand feet away
from the caldera's lip, the railway entered into a tunnel.
Within the volcano's cone-shaper crater,
massive work was underway. Rock and earth had been shaped and supplemented by
concrete to form a stable foundation for the city being built. On this
foundation, buildings had begun to sprout up like weeds. By the construction,
the city was being divided into two residential quarters, an
administrative/commercial quarter, and an industrial quarter. Towering over the
administrative/commercial quarter was a skyscraper that stretched one hundred
stories into the sky, and extended deep past the city's foundation. It was
called the Highwind tower.
Moored to the tower's roof was the famous
airship, the Highwind. Seven members of AVALANCHE, a middle-aged woman,
a Frogman, and a Sahugin climbed down the airship's ladder. The time had come
for a conference about the events that had taken place since Vincent's inner
demons had begun manifesting on their own.
* * * * * *
Inside the Highwind Tower, the members of
AVALANCHE held a council of war. They were arrayed in a conference room on the
top level of the Tower.
"The Galian Beast was in one of Kalm's
squares when we found it, and it had already killed twenty. The explosion that
resulted when the wagonload of fertilizer went up was responsible for another
sixty-five deaths. It would have killed us too, if it had not been for the
Final Attack Materia being combined with Phoenix." Cloud watched the
horror as it appeared on the faces of the others. " The Galian Beast was
healed by the explosion."
"However, Shiva stunned the beast, and
Yuffie and I were able to finish it off with our Limit Breaks." He smiled
wanly. "No one else was hurt by the beast."
Barrett scowled. "And there I thought
that we had been hit hard at Junon! There, the Death Gigas wiped out a squad of
ShinRa troops before Cid, Reeve and I were able to beat it down." He held
up the sphere of Materia that the demon had left behind. "It left
this."
Cloud nodded. "The Galian Beast left a
Materia behind as well. I wonder if they can be used to summon them?"
Nanaki replied. "I do not know."
The Kyrrawlen lay in a cushioned basket that had been fashioned by a resident
of Cosmo Canyon, in recognition of his action to help save the Planet. The
basket was woven with scenes of the Planet's history, and depicted the roles of
the many races dwelling on its surface. "However, we need to find the last
of Vincent's alter egos."
Tifa nodded her agreement. "We also
need to find out what happened to Vincent. We can assume that something has
happened to him, since his avatars have been freed. The question is –
what?"
A deep voice answered her query. "Your
companion had been imbued with the essence of three beings who were amongst
those captured by the Cetra in their quest to rid the world of the Mako-twisted
many years ago."
In shock, the members of AVALANCHE watched
as the great, horned warrior god, Odin, appeared in their midst. He held at his
side the Zantetsuken. Each of the members of AVALANCHE felt a chill that
burrowed deep into the marrow of their bones. Somehow, one of the Summon
Materia had activated itself!
"I have little time. The Galian Beast, the Death Gigas and the
Hellmasker all were beings from the age of the Cetra. They were imprisoned, as
were we all, due to the treachery of the only member of our number that evaded
the Cetra's purge."
Odin's voice became bitter. "Lord
Chaos was one of the greatest of us. He possessed greater knowledge, in
general, about the Mako energy and how to shape it. He foresaw that the Cetra
would wage a war to contain our kind, leading to many deaths of Cetra and
humans, in addition to the extinction of our kind."
"He argued for our surrender, but Lord Bahamut and I would not
permit it. We believed that we could force the Cetra to leave us alone." Odin sighed. "Lord Chaos saw no other way to avoid the war,
so he betrayed us to the Cetra. He stood by their side and aided their search
as every last one of us was rounded up."
"Somehow, Chaos avoided capture at the end of Cetra's pogrom." Odin's good eye blazed in rage. "Alone,
of all of us, he remained free."
"After more than two thousand years of existence and freedom, Chaos
is more powerful than any of us, even Lord Bahamut. Due to his knowledge of Mako
energies, he can destroy any of us who are summoned to combat him."
Cid jumped up. "What the hell are you
saying? That we –"
"Yes. We will not be able to help you against Lord Chaos." Odin faded from existence.
The great warrior's last words hung in the
room like a pall. We will not be able to help you against Lord Chaos. No Knights of the Round. No Bahamut-ZERO. No Hades.
No Phoenix. How was AVALANCHE going to find a way to defeat Chaos with their
greatest weapons unusable?
Finally, Barret smiled grimly, an idea
coming to his mind. "The Cetra was able to capture the Mako-twisted
before. Since Phoenix can bring back the dead, we need to go get a Cetra to
trap Chaos."
Cloud looked at his friend. "What do
you mean?"
"I suggest we use Phoenix to bring back
Aeris."
End of Part Seven