The Last of an Elite
Chapter Forty Four: Nowhere Safe to Hide
By InterfaceLeader
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Auberon Ricks was Soldier 1st Class, and as such he commandeered his own squad of Soldier 2nd and 3rd class. He had led his troops to gate 6 upon Hojo's instructions but had found no sign of Avalanche and he now stood in military confusion, with no enemy and no orders.
PHS's did not work well in the slums, and besides he feared the consequences of calling Heidegger. The Head of Department did not look kindly upon questions, no matter what rank the inquirer was. He did not yet know that Rufus, Scarlet and Heidegger were all dead.
He was looking round the haphazard houses for any signs of terrorism when he saw the people.
They were upper-plate citizens, that was obvious. But they clutched possessions to themselves and huddled together, the people on the edge of the group trying to squirm towards the middle whilst they all hastened towards the gate. There must have been thirty or forty, enough to draw attention from the slummers, who stared blankly as they passed.
"What is the meaning of this?" Ricks barked, trying to hide his confusion under a show of authority.
The group muddled itself around, everyone trying to stay out of the spotlight and avoid becoming the spokesperson. Eventually a florid faced, soft looking, businessman stepped forward.
"We want to leave Midgar."
"Do you have permission? Do you have a key?"
"………… No sir." the man answered reluctantly.
"Then what in the name of Hades did you think would happen?" snapped Ricks. "We have terrorists in the city right now and - "
Instant panic rippled through the crowd, and a few people began muttering things to each other. Ricks distinctly caught "It's begun…" and "My son told me to get out before they got here!"
" - and you will all proceed back to your homes."
"Back up there?" the businessman gave a terrified look at the rest of the group. "We can't!"
"Why not?"
"Because of the revolution!" a woman at the back of the group burst out suddenly. She was clutching a child to herself protectively. "It's happening! We all have to get out!"
"Revolution!?"
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The Turks walked slowly back down the tunnel; Reno was smoking, dragging deep breaths of the smoke into his lungs. A horrible, nagging thought had edged into the side of his consciousness; what next?
He had rejected Shinra. He wasn't a Turk anymore. Somewhere, somehow, he had overcome Hojo's brainwashing. He was in control of his own fate - and the thought made him shiver.
He was a terrible person. He had done terrible things, but admittedly he had been under orders at the time. Now he wasn't. What sort of person was he without Shinra? There were so many roads he could take… what if he left Midgar and just went some place and drank himself into oblivion? What would be the point?
Just delayed suicide… if you're gonna do that Reno, you might as well have jumped, he thought vaguely to himself.
He was jerked out of his thoughts by the sight of twelve Shinra Guards running down the service tunnel towards the three Turks. They were all clutching a motley of weapons: Soldier swords, Turk guns, and here and there a specialist stave or knife. Materia orbs glittered.
"What are they - " Elena began, but Reno had already thrown himself sideways, pulling the blonde Turk down with him as the first bullets zinged past. Rude had gone the other way, pulling out his own gun and blasting the first Guard with it. The Guard staggered back, but then kept running. Rude noted the blue Materia gleaming in the slots on the sword he carried. An enhancement materia - tapping into the Planets energy and translating that into every cell of the bearer's body. A powerful one too, considering the Guard wasn't even bleeding from a shot that would normally have torn right through him.
Reno was knelt down, Elena shoved behind him as the Neo-Turk-Light spell crackled through the air, into the centre of the group and ran from body to body. The Guards had been bunched together, and Reno took advantage of that fact, making sure every one got a blast of voltage.
The Guards separated, some on their knees groaning, others looking as though they had barely noticed the attack. These latter wielded their weapons with grim efficiency, one turning to swing a long blade at Rude, another sending a stream of bullets towards Reno and a third leaping past the red-head and coming violently at Elena with a Mythril-bladed knife, the sharp edge catching her on the arm and slashing a long vertical cut into it. Blood welled up, Elena cried out with surprise, but her other arm was already coming round in a counter-attack, slamming into his face with every ounce of strength she had. The Guard dropped like a stone, out cold.
Reno had taken the advantage in his battle with the gunman, bringing the fight in close and using his electro-mag rod, swinging it up and round, the sparks it generating confusing the guard as he tried to aim his weapon. Reno caught his wrist and pulled the gun up and round so it was jammed into the man's chin and then forced the trigger down. Blood and brains splattered over him and he involuntarily shuddered, as he had never done before.
Rude was ducking and weaving the long sword blade, moving with a speed and agility few would have thought him to posses. As the Guard lunged forward he span round and let him fly past, grabbing him round the waist as he passed and throwing him into the wall of the tunnel. The guard slid to the ground, the sword clattering some distance away.
The rest of the attackers had gone into retreat, vanishing down the tunnel.
Elena stared at the headless body that had been a guard.
Reno wiped the back of his hand across his face, trying not to notice the way blood was soaking down into his shirt and running over his chest. The guard Rude had thrown into the wall groaned, and Reno hastened over, grabbing the man, yanking off the helmet and dragging him up to eye-level. The guard opened his eyes and found he staring into a furious face, blood running in rivulets down it, the hair matted with the same sticky red substance.
"What the fuck is going on?"
"I can't say" the guards voice quavered somewhat; he had heard the stories spread about the Turks and the way they treated prisoners.
Reno reached into his pocket and pulled out his lighter. The guard trembled as the Turk held it close to his cheek and flicked the switch casually. The heat brought sweat to him, not quite close enough to burn, but hot enough to make him feel the amount of pain that could be contained in that flickering light.
"You attacked us. Tell me why."
Elena watched, her hands over her mouth. Rude was expressionless as always.
"…" the guard closed his eyes, and remembered the feeling of euphoria he had felt when he thought of tearing down Shinra. That was more important than any single guards life, he thought. The plan had said that the enemy should be kept confused and unsure of the scale of this operation for as long as possible. He opened his eyes again and looked calmly into the Turks face.
"I will not say."
Reno had started to shake.
Screams…
Burnt and blistered skin… charred black, crumbling at touch…
How could you? How could you do this? A voice distraught.
"Don't make me do this," he snarled into the guards face.
"I will not say."
Eyes, open wide, lost in shock. Lost in themselves. He had driven him into the arms of insanity because he would not say.
Mother…
Mum…
Where are you?
Blood dripped down him. The lighter had gone out.
I'm so confused Mum… What am I doing? All I ever wanted was to protect you and Ali and Gerry and Nico. And where are you now?
I can't do this.
You did it before.
And it's killing me.
What's one life? He attacked you. You don't even have to kill him. Just make him tell you why.
I can't.
The lighter fell to the floor, and Reno stepped back, letting the Guard go. His eyes were wild, confused, staring into a medley of memories.
The guard slumped back against the wall, surprised. He had no idea what had just happened, but the Turk who had been about to torture him was now looking like he was about to throw up.
"Reno..?" Elena took a step forward, afraid and worried.
"… Don't…" Reno turned away, his stomach cramping, his eyes blurring.
Be a good boy whilst I'm gone Reno, and look after Ali.
I will Mum.
A body, left to rot in the streets. Blood ran from the hole in its head.
A kid, torn through by a spike of metal from a falling plate.
A woman, electrified, slumped dead on her husband's corpse.
A frightened teenager, bound and gagged, delivered to Hojo's lab.
"………" Rude turned his head. From the far distance he could hear steady marching footsteps, the beat of ranks of feet hitting the ground in perfect time. The Shinra Guards were coming. "………Elena……… We need to get to the office."
"The Turks office?" she asked, darting a terrified look to Reno's shaking shoulders.
"Yes…… we need to barricade ourselves in……… until we find out what's going on."
She nodded, she too hearing the noise of the marching. Rude turned to the guard still leaning against the wall for support.
"…… you. Get out of here."
The guard shot him a surprised look and fled. Rude walked determinedly to where Reno was stood and spun him round with one large hand. He took a look at the distraught face that met his, and shook his head. Not a good time to snap, Reno.
Taking the redhead's arm he pulled him roughly down the tunnel, hearing Elena's quick footsteps following. With any luck they could outrun the army behind them, and get up to the Turks office without meeting any more wild groups of rebels.
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Reeve was unlucky. The Soldiers got to him before the guards, their key cards letting them up the levels of the Shinra building faster than the Guards, who had to batter each one down with their rifle butts. Ricks dragged him out, his sword running with blood. It was the blood of Shinra Guards, the battle to get through the army had been violent and fast. He now knew that nearly the entire of Midgar based guards was against him, and that Reeve had somehow been named leader of the revolution.
"Alright traitor! On your knees! What's going on?" he roared, thrusting the city builder to the floor. Reeve stared at the man's kneecaps, clad in shining armour.
"A revolution?" he offered timidly.
"You worthless maggot! Did you really think you'd get away with this?" Ricks smacked Reeve's head sideways, fury radiating off him. "Rufus, Hojo, Scarlet, Heidegger are all dead and now you're trying to take over the company? Well forget it! You're up against Ricks, Soldier 1st class now!"
Reeve considered this.
"Now order your troops to surrender!"
"I can't." Reeve said apologetically. "They're not mine."
"Well they sure seem to think they are! Don't try and lie to me!"
Reeve was silent for a moment. And suddenly he realised what must have happened. Scarlet had been behind the revolution - and now she was dead. She must have named him as her successor.
The sound of marching footsteps echoed through the prison corridors.
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Elena and Rude dragged the unresponsive Reno into the Turks office and slammed the door shut. They had been hard pressed to reach the room without the guards noticing them, but they had managed, sneaking past the groups stealthily as they had hammered on doors and blasted equipment. The lifts had stopped working.
The scale of it had shocked them. Shinra employees had fled before the massed army of blue, and helicopters were taking off even now, piloted by frightened businessmen and deserting Soldiers. Rude was worried; he knew the guards would be taking out years of petty insults and prejudice on all those ranked above them. A wild army, fuelled by bitterness, would not listen to reason. They would smash and kill everything in sight, and the slummers were bound to join in eventually. The best thing would be to escape the city, but the sounds of helicopters had faded out and he knew the employees had got there first.
Good luck to them, he thought grimly. As soon as the news of this spreads, every town is going to turn against us. There'll be nowhere safe to hide.
Elena was dragging the desks over to the door. Rude joined her, overturning it and sending paperwork everywhere. He felt a brief flicker of pleasure at that, quickly dispelled when he turned to look at Reno. His partner had wound up in the corner of the room, leaning into the meeting point of the walls as thought trying to burrow into them.
His gaze went from Reno to the window, overlooking the destruction of Sector Seven. Above the city burned the great ball of rock that was going to blow up the Planet. From there his eyes went to the barricaded doors, already reverberating to the sound of marching footsteps.
"………" he said.
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Ricks drew his sword, as the footsteps grew louder. Around him his squad of Soldier drew theirs, the blades catching what light there was and sending it glittering along the sharp edges. They were a formidable sight.
The first ranks of the guards turned the corner, forced into coming two at a time because of the narrowness of the corridor. It was quick work to dispatch them, but after them came two more, and two more, and two more, filling up the space between the prison cells with bullets and roars of anger. Reeve flattened himself against a wall, his dark blue suit merging him into the shadows as the two groups fought. He slid as quietly as he could past the melee, ducking wild sword attacks and somehow evading the bullets that zinged off walls.
Sliding round the corner he took to his heels, running for the stairs. He didn't have to worry about controlling Cait Sith at least - Cloud had given them all a night to go and find out what they were fighting for. Reeve thought of the two battling groups of men he had just escaped from and then of the millions of slummers below and decided he knew what he was fighting for.
As he pounded up the stairs he suddenly noticed the soot lined walls, and a minute later he'd run out of stairs and into blown apart wreckage. He hesitated; hoping the damage done by Weapon wasn't as extensive as it looked. The windows were glassless, and everything in the room had been blasted apart, lying in misshapen heaps of wood, plastic and metal.
Rufus had died here. A few weeks ago Reeve would have shuddered to find himself in the situation he was now in, but he barely gave it a thought as he hunted for the media controls that had enabled Shinra to patch into every intercom, television and radio across the city. He found it eventually, buried beneath a pile of wreckage and miraculously unharmed, although the wires that had connected it to the control panel had burned right through.
He fumbled in his pocket and brought out his portable toolkit. This was going to take some work. He just hoped he had enough time to fix it before too many people were killed.
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Tseng was standing in the garden with Elmyra and Marlene when the materia shop owner came running out, clutching handfuls of his wares and swearing loudly.
"What's wrong?" Elmyra asked, hurrying out of the garden and over to the man who spun on her, waving materia - grey materia - in her face.
"Look! All my materia's turned to rock!"
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A/N: Hope you enjoyed that chapter - and I hope you haven't forgotten Joanna! She pops up again, never fear. Thanks, as always, to everyone who reviewed my last chapter ^_^ Not long at all to go now…