The Last of an Elite
Chapter Five: Explosion
By InterfaceLeader
-~-~-~-
"Hee hee hee"
Aeris covered her mouth to stifle her laughter as she watched Tseng hunt for her. The church was a large building and contained plenty of hidey- holes. It was taking Tseng a while and she could tell his heart wasn't in it. He thought she'd gone, obviously.
'Stupid guy....' she thought affectionately. Tseng had been trying to catch her on and off for a few years, and it had taken on a game-like Tom and Jerry feel to her. Sometime she suspected he made it deliberately easy for her. At other times she thought herself wonderfully smart for outwitting the Shinra man so often. Either way she felt no danger as she peeked downwards from her hiding place at the dark haired man below.
1 'No! Never!'
Her own words came back to her from the first time she had met him. He had scared her then, with his talk of Ancients and voices. He had wanted her to go with him, but she had ran out of the room.
'He didn't actually try to stop me' she thought. 'He probably didn't – and doesn't - care all that much about catching me.'
She saw Tseng turn and head out of the church, clearly having given up. Crawling out of her hiding place she bounced happily back to her flowers.
-~-~-~-
"Hey Rude!"
Rude turned uncertainly towards the voice. 'Where'd he get those scars from all of a sudden?' he wondered.
"Look what I can do!" Reno grinned and held up his hands. "Neo-Turk-Light!"
Rude watched impassively as the powerful electrical spell smashed into the wall next to him, reducing it to rubble. The employees working in the room behind looked round in amazement as the flickering blue light died away, leaving them staring at two blue-suited men.
Reno blinked. "Woah. I didn't know it would do that."
"What the hell happened to the wall?" One of the employees came up to the wreckage and touched it, receiving a static discharge in the process. "Ow!"
"St Elmo's fire." Reno told the man authoritatively "Something you need to watch for."
"St Elmo's fire....? I thought that only happened on ships?"
"Ships and in high-up – " Reno glanced at the sign on the door "Tax Exemption Officers rooms."
"You have to be kidding...."
"Nope, we were just coming down here to warn you actually, and do some research." Reno drew a thin metal rod Rude hadn't seen before and tapped the rubble thoughtfully. "Yep, that's St. Elmo's fault alright. We'd better evacuate the room. All you guys can take a half day."
"Uh... Thank you sir!" The employee had enough sense not to argue with that. Behind him the rest of the employees all started cheering and packing up. Rude watched as they streamed out of the door and down the corridor.
"........."
"Phew, that was close. Want to go grab a drink?"
"We're on duty."
"Nah, totally not a problem. Tseng's disappeared on some wild goose chase. Heidegger's chewing out some of the guards and is gonna call a suprise inspection. We've got plenty of time to slip down the bar and chug a few. I want to check out the rich-man's booze anyway. See if it's any better than the paint thinner we get downstairs." Reno winked, and grabbed the bald man by the elbow, trying to pull him down the corridor. Rude stood and looked at him, refusing to be pulled.
"We're on duty."
"Ok.... I heard you the first time." Reno sighed "Man, you're stiff. Loosen up will ya? No one's gonna notice if we miss a few hours. We might as well sit around on our asses in a bar as sit around on our asses in an office right?"
"We're on duty."
"Argh! You are so frikkin' obstinate!" Reno rammed Rude as hard as he could in the chest, trying to push him down the corridor. Rude responded by staring into the distance, ignoring the redhead straining to move him.
Reno gave up and flopped against the wall, forgetting he had blasted it out earlier and falling through. Rude hid a smile.
"Ah crap....." Reno climbed back to his feet and shrugged. "We'll stay here and drink then" He produced a flask from his back pocket and unscrewed the top. "Here's to booze." He swigged from the container and grinned at Rude. "Want some?"
Rude accepted the flask without comment and drank from it. The alcohol inside was strong, and a sudden streak of machismo cause him to upend the entire contents of it down his throat. He handed the empty flask back to Reno.
"Thanks"
Reno examined the container. ".Well... Remind me to never offer you a drink again."
-~-~-~-
Time passed, as it always does. Midgar gained it's eighth and final reactor. The city had come to the end of it's master plan, now there remained only the usual day-to-day maintenance and extension. The world was - on the surface – at peace. The Shin-Ra army settled into a routine and gradually the numbers of people applying dwindled. Slum-dwellers came up less and less often. They missed the slow growth in prosperity and opulence on the top plate. The Shin-Ra building gained more stories, off-limits to most personnel. The buildings round about got taller, more ornate, and more expensive.
Beneath the plate the opposite was true. Buildings slid into disrepair and were botched back together using scrap. A rising tide of dirt engulfed the streets and walls, gradually dying everything a grimy grey-green. The only light was from the Mako-powered flood lights provided by Shin-Ra and as the funds spent on the slums got turned elsewhere they slowly dimmed and flickered. Trains ran less often as the contact between the two halves of the city choked, and disused trains were dumped into the "train graveyard".
It was peaceful – on the surface. Below the surface deep undercurrents of hate and resentment joined together, gaining power, biding their time....
-~-~-~-
Don't be fooled by Shinra! Mako energy doesn't last forever! Mako is the planet's lifesource! The end is in sight!
Protectors of the planet: AVALANCHE
"Who the hell are Avalanche?"
Rude frowned at Reno. The five years that had passed since their first meeting had forged something resembling friendship between the two but sometimes Rude still got annoyed by the smaller man's irreverent attitude towards the less interesting parts of his job. Rude respected Reno's fighting skills, but not his laziness.
"Terrorists." He said.
"Terrorists?" Reno raised an eyebrow "Leaving nasty graffiti doesn't make them terrorists ya know. We'll just put them on community service, and have them scrub it off."
Tseng frowned "They are terrorists. We don't know who they are, or where they're based – "
"Great! Catching them should be a breeze then!" Reno interrupted sarcastically
"But they have been responsible for some minor incidents. A few isolated explosions, not against any major targets. They're an irritation, but they don't concern us currently."
"So why bring it up?"
"So that you're aware of them. Now, I'm reassigning certain tasks. Reno you've been taken off Tax Evasions – "
"Yay!"
"And you're now trying to capture the Ancient - Aerith. We have some records on her, and I suggest you try the Sector Five Church first. You can take some Shinra Guards with you."
"Oh man.... Not her... If you can't catch her how'm I supposed to?"
Tseng turned to Rude, but before he could say anything a security light suddenly started flashing from a yellow and black panel in one corner of the room. An oscillating whine filled the air at the same time.
"What the hell...?" Reno glanced towards the light
"..........."
Tseng turned on the communication lines that joined the Turks office to the security centre. An alert voice filled the room.
"Sir! There's been a security breach of the No. 1 Reactor!"
"What kind of breach?"
"It appears a group of people entered the reactor and set off an explosive device. The reactor is currently off-line and we have to wait for Reeve to deliver a full damage report before we can make any more assumptions."
"What happened to the Guard Scorpion?" Tseng inquired, referring to the robotic security guard that formed part of the defence of each reactor.
"It's been completely destroyed sir. Any surveillance footage will have been lost."
"Anything else to report?"
"Yes sir! It appears a group known as Avalanche is claiming responsibility for the explosion."
"Avalanche hmm? Very well, get me the full report as soon as possible." Tseng cut the communication line off.
"I guess they just went from being an irritation to being a concern huh?" said Reno.
-~-~-~-
A/N: Yes we're getting into the actual game now so you know the storyline – but I have no intention of rehashing what you already know. The scenes with the Turks will be in here, as well as all the background stories you never got shown in the game ^_~ Keep reviewing, I'll take all comments into consideration.
Also, I must thank Little Chiba for creating a complete transcript of the whole game – making my life a lot easier ^_^ Visit http://www.sapphirewired.com/caffeine/bombshelter/ for the script.
Chapter Five: Explosion
By InterfaceLeader
-~-~-~-
"Hee hee hee"
Aeris covered her mouth to stifle her laughter as she watched Tseng hunt for her. The church was a large building and contained plenty of hidey- holes. It was taking Tseng a while and she could tell his heart wasn't in it. He thought she'd gone, obviously.
'Stupid guy....' she thought affectionately. Tseng had been trying to catch her on and off for a few years, and it had taken on a game-like Tom and Jerry feel to her. Sometime she suspected he made it deliberately easy for her. At other times she thought herself wonderfully smart for outwitting the Shinra man so often. Either way she felt no danger as she peeked downwards from her hiding place at the dark haired man below.
1 'No! Never!'
Her own words came back to her from the first time she had met him. He had scared her then, with his talk of Ancients and voices. He had wanted her to go with him, but she had ran out of the room.
'He didn't actually try to stop me' she thought. 'He probably didn't – and doesn't - care all that much about catching me.'
She saw Tseng turn and head out of the church, clearly having given up. Crawling out of her hiding place she bounced happily back to her flowers.
-~-~-~-
"Hey Rude!"
Rude turned uncertainly towards the voice. 'Where'd he get those scars from all of a sudden?' he wondered.
"Look what I can do!" Reno grinned and held up his hands. "Neo-Turk-Light!"
Rude watched impassively as the powerful electrical spell smashed into the wall next to him, reducing it to rubble. The employees working in the room behind looked round in amazement as the flickering blue light died away, leaving them staring at two blue-suited men.
Reno blinked. "Woah. I didn't know it would do that."
"What the hell happened to the wall?" One of the employees came up to the wreckage and touched it, receiving a static discharge in the process. "Ow!"
"St Elmo's fire." Reno told the man authoritatively "Something you need to watch for."
"St Elmo's fire....? I thought that only happened on ships?"
"Ships and in high-up – " Reno glanced at the sign on the door "Tax Exemption Officers rooms."
"You have to be kidding...."
"Nope, we were just coming down here to warn you actually, and do some research." Reno drew a thin metal rod Rude hadn't seen before and tapped the rubble thoughtfully. "Yep, that's St. Elmo's fault alright. We'd better evacuate the room. All you guys can take a half day."
"Uh... Thank you sir!" The employee had enough sense not to argue with that. Behind him the rest of the employees all started cheering and packing up. Rude watched as they streamed out of the door and down the corridor.
"........."
"Phew, that was close. Want to go grab a drink?"
"We're on duty."
"Nah, totally not a problem. Tseng's disappeared on some wild goose chase. Heidegger's chewing out some of the guards and is gonna call a suprise inspection. We've got plenty of time to slip down the bar and chug a few. I want to check out the rich-man's booze anyway. See if it's any better than the paint thinner we get downstairs." Reno winked, and grabbed the bald man by the elbow, trying to pull him down the corridor. Rude stood and looked at him, refusing to be pulled.
"We're on duty."
"Ok.... I heard you the first time." Reno sighed "Man, you're stiff. Loosen up will ya? No one's gonna notice if we miss a few hours. We might as well sit around on our asses in a bar as sit around on our asses in an office right?"
"We're on duty."
"Argh! You are so frikkin' obstinate!" Reno rammed Rude as hard as he could in the chest, trying to push him down the corridor. Rude responded by staring into the distance, ignoring the redhead straining to move him.
Reno gave up and flopped against the wall, forgetting he had blasted it out earlier and falling through. Rude hid a smile.
"Ah crap....." Reno climbed back to his feet and shrugged. "We'll stay here and drink then" He produced a flask from his back pocket and unscrewed the top. "Here's to booze." He swigged from the container and grinned at Rude. "Want some?"
Rude accepted the flask without comment and drank from it. The alcohol inside was strong, and a sudden streak of machismo cause him to upend the entire contents of it down his throat. He handed the empty flask back to Reno.
"Thanks"
Reno examined the container. ".Well... Remind me to never offer you a drink again."
-~-~-~-
Time passed, as it always does. Midgar gained it's eighth and final reactor. The city had come to the end of it's master plan, now there remained only the usual day-to-day maintenance and extension. The world was - on the surface – at peace. The Shin-Ra army settled into a routine and gradually the numbers of people applying dwindled. Slum-dwellers came up less and less often. They missed the slow growth in prosperity and opulence on the top plate. The Shin-Ra building gained more stories, off-limits to most personnel. The buildings round about got taller, more ornate, and more expensive.
Beneath the plate the opposite was true. Buildings slid into disrepair and were botched back together using scrap. A rising tide of dirt engulfed the streets and walls, gradually dying everything a grimy grey-green. The only light was from the Mako-powered flood lights provided by Shin-Ra and as the funds spent on the slums got turned elsewhere they slowly dimmed and flickered. Trains ran less often as the contact between the two halves of the city choked, and disused trains were dumped into the "train graveyard".
It was peaceful – on the surface. Below the surface deep undercurrents of hate and resentment joined together, gaining power, biding their time....
-~-~-~-
Don't be fooled by Shinra! Mako energy doesn't last forever! Mako is the planet's lifesource! The end is in sight!
Protectors of the planet: AVALANCHE
"Who the hell are Avalanche?"
Rude frowned at Reno. The five years that had passed since their first meeting had forged something resembling friendship between the two but sometimes Rude still got annoyed by the smaller man's irreverent attitude towards the less interesting parts of his job. Rude respected Reno's fighting skills, but not his laziness.
"Terrorists." He said.
"Terrorists?" Reno raised an eyebrow "Leaving nasty graffiti doesn't make them terrorists ya know. We'll just put them on community service, and have them scrub it off."
Tseng frowned "They are terrorists. We don't know who they are, or where they're based – "
"Great! Catching them should be a breeze then!" Reno interrupted sarcastically
"But they have been responsible for some minor incidents. A few isolated explosions, not against any major targets. They're an irritation, but they don't concern us currently."
"So why bring it up?"
"So that you're aware of them. Now, I'm reassigning certain tasks. Reno you've been taken off Tax Evasions – "
"Yay!"
"And you're now trying to capture the Ancient - Aerith. We have some records on her, and I suggest you try the Sector Five Church first. You can take some Shinra Guards with you."
"Oh man.... Not her... If you can't catch her how'm I supposed to?"
Tseng turned to Rude, but before he could say anything a security light suddenly started flashing from a yellow and black panel in one corner of the room. An oscillating whine filled the air at the same time.
"What the hell...?" Reno glanced towards the light
"..........."
Tseng turned on the communication lines that joined the Turks office to the security centre. An alert voice filled the room.
"Sir! There's been a security breach of the No. 1 Reactor!"
"What kind of breach?"
"It appears a group of people entered the reactor and set off an explosive device. The reactor is currently off-line and we have to wait for Reeve to deliver a full damage report before we can make any more assumptions."
"What happened to the Guard Scorpion?" Tseng inquired, referring to the robotic security guard that formed part of the defence of each reactor.
"It's been completely destroyed sir. Any surveillance footage will have been lost."
"Anything else to report?"
"Yes sir! It appears a group known as Avalanche is claiming responsibility for the explosion."
"Avalanche hmm? Very well, get me the full report as soon as possible." Tseng cut the communication line off.
"I guess they just went from being an irritation to being a concern huh?" said Reno.
-~-~-~-
A/N: Yes we're getting into the actual game now so you know the storyline – but I have no intention of rehashing what you already know. The scenes with the Turks will be in here, as well as all the background stories you never got shown in the game ^_~ Keep reviewing, I'll take all comments into consideration.
Also, I must thank Little Chiba for creating a complete transcript of the whole game – making my life a lot easier ^_^ Visit http://www.sapphirewired.com/caffeine/bombshelter/ for the script.