Author's Note- Oh, how I detest doing this. I don't exactly enjoy writing
my ramblings when, if you're reading this, you want to read, well, the
story. Anyways, my account won't upload italics, so therefore thoughts will
be offset by triple hyphens. Huzzah, huzzah.
Sephiroth landed quietly on one of the beaches near Rocket Town. He then made the short walk to Rocket Town, brandishing his sword all the way. Godo had revealed that there were several rebel battalions in the area, lurking in the shadows, preparing to ambush anyone who crossed their paths. Sephiroth managed to find a dozen or so of the rebels, and he took great pleasure in killing them. He then reached the gates to Rocket Town, looking in awe at the centerpiece of the town. It was a rocket that was being built by Shinra, and despite being incomplete its height was already intimidating. The true reason for desiring space travel was not lost on Sephiroth. A technology-heavy company such as Shinra naturally had several very powerful trump cards, but if they weren't used precisely, they would basically go to waste. From space, recon and missile-guidance systems could come together as one, safely pointing out enemy positions and ordering hellish strikes at key locations, and then insuring that the fireworks went off in just the right place. A brilliant plan, if a bit too ambitious.
Sephiroth then passed the gate, and walked towards the temporary headquarters Shinra had placed in Rocket Town, built so that their little project, into which quite a bit of money must have gone, was given the chance to pay off. Shinra guarded the place around the clock. As he walked towards the HQ, one of the townspeople noticed his sword, which Sephiroth had forgotten to sheath. Blood was slowly dripping from it; it appeared Sephiroth had forgotten to clean it too. The people naturally panicked, thinking Sephiroth was out to get them, undoubtedly believing that he was a rebel. Sephiroth let them run about and flee. Trying to stop them would be futile.
The problem came when a group of Shinra MPs came to check out the cause of the disturbance. Sephiroth attempted to explain the situation, not desiring to kill them, full-heartedly anyways, but it was no use. They raised their guns and told him to drop the weapon. Killing them would be easy. If his recently returned memories were correct, he was SOLDIER, first class, and part of a very elite group. He couldn't say the same for the MPs.
Sephiroth adopted his battle stance, one that he had developed for its offensive and defensive capabilities. The MPs laughed; amused with the rebel who thought he could beat their high-tech guns with the archaic sword. Sephiroth then made one quick, precisely aimed slice, and suddenly they weren't laughing. They couldn't really. Sephiroth had cut through their voice boxes. They couldn't do much of anything, except for "play" dead. Sephiroth walked past their still bodies, somewhat disappointed with how easily they had succumbed to his power.
Sephiroth continued to stand in the center of town, waiting for someone to issue a challenge. Finally someone came. He wasn't a soldier. He had jet-black hair, and was dressed reputedly in a custom-tailored suit. He seemed to be of great importance, and Sephiroth believed he remembered meeting him before, but he couldn't place a name. It seemed as though some memories remained elusive. Regardless, Sephiroth plucked one of his command materia from its slot in his sword. He began to prepare it for use when the man finished walking up to him. He looked over Sephiroth, then whipped out a silver pistol and quickly fired off eight rounds. It was too little, too late. Sephiroth unleashed a Matra Magic spell, and the energy missiles destroyed each of the bullets before Sephiroth's opponent was also hit by the attack. He stood still for a second, and then collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
Reno sipped at his coffee while rubbing his throbbing temples. The problem with alcohol was, no matter how much fun you had while drinking it, it always came back to haunt you the next morning. It seemed very similar to some of Reno's one-night stands. Then there was the fact that it was really killing his liver. Naturally, that was where being a Turk really paid off. There just wasn't a job with better health benefits. The dental plan was nice too. All this coffee he drank while experiencing the nightmare of hangovers was beginning to stain his teeth.
Someone then knocked on the door, and Reno clutched his head in pain. The person then knocked again, and Reno told them to come in, angry at the disturbance. The person turned out to be one of the aides, busily running from office to office, delivering messages. Considering the pain he had caused Reno, this aide better have important news.
"Reno, sir! News from Rocket Town, sir!" the aide yelled. The loud noise gave Reno a splitting headache, so he yelled at the aide.
"Be quiet!" Reno then clutched at his head again. He himself had been too loud. After popping a few painkillers down his throat, praying that they acted fast, Reno asked what news the aide brought him.
"Sir, it appears as though a lone rebel has taken hold of Rocket Town. HQ there is asking for you to authorize for SOLDIER to be sent in."
"Ugh. That's Tseng's job. Let him handle it."
"That's the other thing, sir. Tseng was running a performance evaluation in Rocket Town. Authorities say that he attempted to stop the rebel, but was...knocked unconscious. That last part is confidential, and is not to be spread."
Reno then burst into laughter. It gave him a headache, but still...Tseng had always lectured him on battle, and had always talked about how by following his methods a person became unstoppable. And Tseng was his boss, and had always tried so desperately to command Rude and Reno's respect. Speaking of Rude, he would absolutely love this. Reno managed to gain control of himself to the point that he could take the authorization papers and the status report and dismiss the aide. Long after the aide left Reno continued to laugh.
When he had finally stopped laughing, Reno phoned Rude and told him he had matters to discuss with him, and then he told Rude the news. Rude began to laugh uncontrollably, just like Reno had, so Reno set the phone down, receiver end up so that he would know when Rude was done laughing. As he waited he reviewed the Rocket Town case. He found it odd that while the rebels had been content to lie in ambush of Rocket Town for the past six or so months, that they finally had the guts to invade Rocket Town. And, why send one person to do the job when they had hundreds available? Besides, the HQ was still near its full staff, they could handle one person, no matter how good he was. Reno filled out the papers and signed under the veto portion of the paper, using the specialized ink pen he had been given upon joining the Turks. Supposedly it prevented anyone from being fraudulent with his signature. Tseng would give him a lecture if he didn't use it, if Tseng was able to get out of his current predicament. Reno laughed lightly thinking about it again. Reno had no fear of Tseng, but the guy knew how to throw a hissy fit.
As his eyes opened, Tseng of the Turks immediately took in his surroundings. Deciding he was in a hospital from the sterile white appearance of the room, Tseng sought a button to call the nurse, as he really wanted a painkiller. Tseng rubbed his head in an attempt to relieve the pain, but his efforts were in vain.
A nurse walked in and asked why she was paged, and Tseng was quick to answer. "Two things. First, some aspirin or morphine or whatever painkiller you have. And second, I want any record of my having been here erased. Those drunkards Rude and Reno would have a field day if they ever found out about this. And do it quick! Word might have already spread."
"Yes, I can do both of those things with ease. Though the second might take a bit of, ah, insurance to get done." was the nurse's reply.
"If you're attempting to get me to bribe you, I wouldn't try it. You do realize just how much more power I have than you do. After all, I'm a Turk."
"Oh! Sorry, this doesn't really need to go on any sort of record about me, would it?"
"No, not at all. Though, it will take a bit of insurance to get done."
The nurse quickly paid Tseng off, gave him morphine, and got him out of the hospital as soon as possible.
As soon as he was out of the hospital, Tseng laughed lightly at the stupidity of people. ---As though the job of a Turk is actually to keep records of fools like her. If I wanted to do something that mundane, I would have joined Reeve and his band of do-gooders.--- Tseng then remembered something, namely how he was utterly beaten in a fight by some silver-haired impudent brat. Tseng soon spotted the man and confronted him.
"Who the hell do you think you are, fighting against a Turk? If you weren't so lucky, I'd have killed you, boy." At this, Sephiroth chuckled and decided to set this.Turk, straight.
"Frankly, I did nothing. You were the one who pulled out the gun. I merely defended myself from attack. Also, you're the lucky one; if I had decided to use Matra Magic at maximum power you'd be dead right now. One last thing, I came here to fight with Shinra, not against it, so call off whatever back-up you no doubt have called in by now."
"You're a real piece of work. You waltz on in here, kill six of my soldiers, knock me unconscious, and you actually think I believe you when you say that you want to fight with Shinra. I know your type. You try to trick people into escorting you into Midgar, and then you go and run some lunatic kamikaze mission on one of the reactors. It's been done before, and multiple times at that. Might I also point out that all your missions failed?"
"I'm not trying to trick you, whoever you are."
"Tseng, of the Turks. Sound familiar?"
"Right. Anyways, I don't need to go to Midgar. I just want to rejoin SOLDIER."
"Rejoin SOLDIER! That's the worst lie I've ever heard. No one who joins SOLDIER ever has to rejoin!"
"It's true. I was once part of SOLDIER, first class."
"You want to stick to your lie, eh? Well, we can run a quick test to see whether or not you really were part of SOLDIER." Tseng rummaged through his pockets before pulling out a tiny device. It appeared to be a miniature substance analyzer of sorts. A needle popped out of it, and Sephiroth allowed Tseng to poke it into him. Tseng retracted the needle and scraped some of the blood that came from Sephiroth's little wound onto a slide. He popped it into a tray in the analyzer and was shocked at the readings.
"What the. who the hell are you?! Your intake of.no. There's no way! Sephiroth! We thought you were dead!"
Sephiroth was somewhat surprised that Tseng had been able to identify him from a substance analyzer, but if that gained Tseng's trust, he'd have to let it slide.
"Yes, Tseng, it's me. As you can tell, I'm very much alive. How'd you know it was me?"
"You.don't remember, do you?"
"Remember what?"
"Nothing. Tell me, do you have any memories of a man named Hojo?"
"Yes. He's my father. Not that I could call him my father. I heard about him in the news almost constantly, but I never saw him."
"Never? Not once?"
"No."
Tseng had to mask his unease. Sephiroth didn't have a clue as to what Hojo had done to him. Sephiroth's psyche had been closely watched, and it was highly volatile. He now obviously trusted Shinra, so if he figured out what Hojo, and by proxy Shinra, had done, he would come after Shinra, and every person in his payroll. For the most part Tseng didn't mind that, but he treasured his life dearly, and would rather not be killed in a one-man purge.
Amidst this fear came all sorts of ideas. He was unable to get back to Midgar in the first place, he had been bluffing with his earlier claim, so perhaps Sephiroth would be powerful enough to get him back there. The thought intrigued him. And, as an alternative, he could have Sephiroth kill all the rebels outside or Rocket Town. Better yet, do both. The rebels were beginning to gather near the north entrance to Mt. Nibel, and Tseng needed to get to Nibelheim desperately, so that he might check up on Hojo and Reno. Reno was very important, as Tseng really needed to exert his authority over the young Turk. He had fallen into line with Rude, and perhaps while Rude was not physically present Tseng could convince him that Rude just wasn't a good role model. Checking up on Hojo was always most important, though. President Shinra himself had asked Tseng to do so. Recent studies of Hojo's activities showed many unaccounted hours. He was up to something, as usual, and it was high time for Tseng to figure out who the scientist was experimenting on now. And Tseng knew that it was a person Hojo was experimenting on. He had a unique fascination with manipulating the human body.
Tseng brushed the thought aside and entered Rocket Town HQ. He signed a couple of papers canceling out any threat status assigned to Sephiroth, and then went to his filing cabinet. He took the cabinet whenever he traveled to other towns. He used a key around his neck to open the second to the top drawer, and slid out the drawer. He looked over the files. Somewhere was a specific series of files. He found them. They were bios of miscellaneous members of SOLDIER, filed by their last initial. They didn't follow the regular alphabetical system in which everything had been filed. Their last initials, used one after another, spelled out J-E-N-O-V-A. Immediately after the last file was an unlabeled file. Inside it was another key. Tseng took it and unlocked the top drawer. It was sparsely filled, with only twenty-six files, but all of them were on the same person, and the project he was part of. They were all on Sephiroth.
Tseng turned to the very last file, which was an in-depth description of the time following the harvester incident. Six months had gone by before Shinra had finally declared Sephiroth dead, having hope after hope that he would magically resurface. Not that Tseng could blame him. Funding for Sephiroth had cost Shinra an arm and a leg during a time that funds needed to go into the war. Had the money been invested in research for safer ways for Shinra's military force to undergo treatment to become part of SOLDIER, perhaps the standards wouldn't have needed to be so strict, and SOLDIER would be more of a commodity. Still, the investment in Sephiroth just might pay off now. At the least, they would get something instead of nothing.
Tseng sighed and closed the filing cabinet, returning everything to the way it was. He thought of reporting to President Shinra Sephiroth's reappearance, but news of this importance couldn't risk being leaked out. He would have to do so in person. One more reason to head to Midgar.
Tseng knew that despite Sephiroth's awesome power, the two of them alone would never be enough to get all the way to Midgar. So, instead of acting foolishly and heading out immediately, Tseng formed a squad, all of whom were at the rank of SOLDIER First Class, to go with them. Tseng made Sephiroth their leader, reinstating him as a member of SOLDIER's elite first class, and he also made him a major so that he topped the others in rank, therefore drowning any protests of having to be led by someone who was still technically under them, not to mention the threats of pulling rank on Sephiroth. Tseng only privately acknowledged what fools they were to believe he could actually promote anyone, let alone make them a member of SOLDIER. The closest thing amongst his duties to doing such a thing was finding candidates for SOLDIER, and even then he couldn't put that candidate amongst their ranks. Tseng personally suspected that such limitations were due to Hojo's foolish ideas that only a scientist could determine whether or not someone would survive the treatment people underwent to become part of SOLDIER, despite the fact that Tseng guessed correctly around 80% of the time, Hojo only 30%. Hojo just had too much power due to his experiments on Jenova, not to mention all of the mysterious research he had shortly after Professor Gast was done in. Tseng didn't need to have the mind of a Turk to guess what happened there.
Tseng then shook his head, emptying his head of anything that wasn't related to the mission at hand. Tseng then focused on Sephiroth, who was debating heatedly with a captain over whether they should flank the rebels blockading the Nibel Mountains or if it would be best to attack in echelon, using three groups of four. Sephiroth was decidedly pro-flanking, while the SOLDIER wouldn't have it.
"Look Sephiroth, the fact of the matter is that the entrance to the Mt. Nibel is too narrow a passage to effectively flank our enemies! However, if we attack in echelon we can attack in rapid succession, which will strain and then overwhelm our opponents." Upon hearing this, Sephiroth unsheathed his sword and jabbed it at the Shinra captain, stopping the blade just as it hit the cloth of the man's uniform. The captain, obviously petrified, retreated two steps and quickly pulled out his own sword, the standardized Hardedge. He made a quick thrust and knocked Sephiroth's blade down before making a stabbing motion at Sephiroth only to find that Sephiroth had already brought his sword into a defensive position. Sephiroth blocked the attack and then followed up, making a neat cut into the man's hand. The Shinra captain dropped the sword in pain and clutched his hand. Sephiroth, rather amused at this display of weakness, shook his head before pulling out a Restore materia and healing his challenger's hand.
Sephiroth then sheathed his sword and said, "If anyone else becomes so bold as to defy me again, I warn you now I won't settle for merely making a cut into your hand. Now then, let's move out, the sooner we flank those rebels, the better."
Sephiroth had never liked surprises, so when he saw that the defense of the northern entrance to the Mt. Nibel had been raised from two to ten battalions it was only natural that he became rather angry. Now, if the added defense were the only issue at hand, Sephiroth would have been fine, but when someone who he outranked proved him wrong, that Sephiroth couldn't handle.
"As I said, we can't expect to survive by merely flanking them. Now, by attacking in echelon on the other hand."
Being angry at this most unpleasant surprise, and having been fed up with the Shinra captain's insolence, Sephiroth took out his blade and quickly stabbed the man. As the man was dying, Sephiroth decided to set one thing straight, "Based on their numbers, we would never overwhelm them by attacking in echelon. The only thing that would be accomplished is our dying, us including our esteemed guest."
Hearing this, Tseng became filled with rage at the man's suggestion of a plan that would kill him, so even though the wound Sephiroth inflicted was quite fatal, Tseng drew his pistol and shot the man seven times just in case. Satisfied when the man stopped convulsing in his death throes, Tseng tucked his pistol away. Then, somewhat embarrassed at his having lost his composure, Tseng put on a mask devoid of any anger so that it might not seem to the others like he lost control. ---It's just like Heidegger said Tseng thought, I either have to work on my temper or I'll never get respect from my colleagues.--- As he thought of this, Tseng envisioned Rude and Reno, making sure to put them into a bar. Although Reno was still only twenty, having such high status in Shinra had certain perks, including being able to bend certain rules. ---Therefore, Reno gets to destroy his brain and sully Shinra's reputation with his public drunkenness a year early.--- Tseng could do nothing to stop Reno, as he managed to command no respect over the ever-drunken Turk. Still, Reno was rather talented in his area of work, if a bit hypocritical at times.
Tseng's mind then slowly wandered back to the rather critical situation at hand. As he gazed into the distance Tseng observed the enemy. So far the rebels hadn't spotted them, but it would be impossible to determine how long such luck would hold out. If they were seen a hail of arrows or bullets would likely kill them rather quickly, with either method they'd still be dead, a prospect Tseng most definitely did not enjoy.
Tseng then saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head to see Sephiroth fiddling around with materia, taking out four materia, two in his sword and two in his bangle, and inserted four different materia. Sephiroth then stood and began to walk towards the enemy lines. Somewhat naturally, one member of Tseng's little escort protested against Sephiroth's choice of direction.
"Are you crazy? Scouts will spot us the minute you make another step, and then we'll all be killed!"
"Relax," Sephiroth replied, "just make sure you're protected from fire damage and you'll be fine. Just leave everything to me."
Immediately after hearing this, the SOLDIER troops frantically began to search for equipment or materia that would absorb fire. Tseng merely pulled out a small box from his pocket, opened it, selected a ring adorned with a red gemstone, and slipped it on. Having access to a full set of elemental absorption rings was just another benefit of being a Turk.
As for Sephiroth, the task at hand was much more stressful. Still, Sephiroth quickly ran through a series of exercises Godo had taught him to become cool and collected. When he felt his mind had attained perfect clarity, Sephiroth took out his sword and ran towards the enemy.
It was interesting, the effect battle had on Sephiroth. Time seemed to almost slow down, and his senses were heightened beyond any normal human capability. He could hear the bows creaking as archers prepared to fire. He could see each individual sword reflecting light off of its blade. He could smell the acrid scent as gunpowder exploded. Most importantly, he could taste the victory at hand.
Sephiroth easily strafed from side to side to dodge bullets and arrows headed at him, using his sword to deflect those he couldn't evade. As he began to close in Sephiroth also had to worry about the spears that his enemies began to throw in long arcs at him. Twisting, turning, weaving, moving from side to side, slashing and cutting and blocking with his sword Sephiroth was quite a sight. Nothing was able to hit him, no amount of ammunition or arrows or spears would ever stop Sephiroth. Then, finally, Sephiroth reached the front ranks. He targeted the closest person at hand and slashed with his sword. As he did so, a single materia within his sword began to glow a bright blue, and threads of blue light reached out from the materia to a linked magic materia, which in turn glowed green and extended its own thin beams of light. As the two joined the colors of both the materia and the light turned a bright orange. The color then extended across the blade of Sephiroth's sword, and the blade pulsed with an orange glow.
Then the glow spread from the blade and the magic materia suddenly released energy, and fire sprang forth, encompassing the blade. The blade grew white hot at the flame, and when it hit the neck of Sephiroth's victim it easily sliced through the flesh, searing and instantly cauterizing the flesh and charring the bone. The sword then exited the man's neck just as quickly as it had entered. As Sephiroth's slashing movement ended the fire materia dispersed the energy, and sparks trailed from the sword in a dramatic manner.
Sephiroth had slashed through the rebel's neck with such speed and precision that his head remained on his shoulders at first. The rebel himself probably didn't know what had happened, as his nerve endings had been destroyed before they could react and Sephiroth's blade had moved too quickly to be tracked by the eye. Then the rebel's eyes lolled upwards and his body collapsed forward, a noticeable black stump where the neck should have been. The heat of the still hot collarbone then ignited the grass, which was dry and withering from a drought, and the fire quickly spread. As he began to burn one rebel archer shot one last arrow, catching Sephiroth unaware. The arrow pierced into his left shoulder bone, and due to the proximity of the archer to Sephiroth the arrow had enough force to even go through the shoulder and protrude slightly out of Sephiroth's backside, the once silver tip now a deep crimson. Sephiroth glanced at the arrow without concern, not even taking the time to pull it out. As flames began to wreathe his body Sephiroth felt energy and vitality being restored to him due to the elemental-fire materia combination he had also put in his bangle. The fire eventually reached the arrow, and the wood blackened and slowly turned to ash. The metal tip grew too heavy for the ash to sustain and fell to the ground, the ash shortly joining it. As the normally lethal fire began to seal Sephiroth's shoulder wound Sephiroth felt a malicious grin come across his lips, and with each agonized scream as rebels began to burn that grin grew more and more sadistic.
Sephiroth landed quietly on one of the beaches near Rocket Town. He then made the short walk to Rocket Town, brandishing his sword all the way. Godo had revealed that there were several rebel battalions in the area, lurking in the shadows, preparing to ambush anyone who crossed their paths. Sephiroth managed to find a dozen or so of the rebels, and he took great pleasure in killing them. He then reached the gates to Rocket Town, looking in awe at the centerpiece of the town. It was a rocket that was being built by Shinra, and despite being incomplete its height was already intimidating. The true reason for desiring space travel was not lost on Sephiroth. A technology-heavy company such as Shinra naturally had several very powerful trump cards, but if they weren't used precisely, they would basically go to waste. From space, recon and missile-guidance systems could come together as one, safely pointing out enemy positions and ordering hellish strikes at key locations, and then insuring that the fireworks went off in just the right place. A brilliant plan, if a bit too ambitious.
Sephiroth then passed the gate, and walked towards the temporary headquarters Shinra had placed in Rocket Town, built so that their little project, into which quite a bit of money must have gone, was given the chance to pay off. Shinra guarded the place around the clock. As he walked towards the HQ, one of the townspeople noticed his sword, which Sephiroth had forgotten to sheath. Blood was slowly dripping from it; it appeared Sephiroth had forgotten to clean it too. The people naturally panicked, thinking Sephiroth was out to get them, undoubtedly believing that he was a rebel. Sephiroth let them run about and flee. Trying to stop them would be futile.
The problem came when a group of Shinra MPs came to check out the cause of the disturbance. Sephiroth attempted to explain the situation, not desiring to kill them, full-heartedly anyways, but it was no use. They raised their guns and told him to drop the weapon. Killing them would be easy. If his recently returned memories were correct, he was SOLDIER, first class, and part of a very elite group. He couldn't say the same for the MPs.
Sephiroth adopted his battle stance, one that he had developed for its offensive and defensive capabilities. The MPs laughed; amused with the rebel who thought he could beat their high-tech guns with the archaic sword. Sephiroth then made one quick, precisely aimed slice, and suddenly they weren't laughing. They couldn't really. Sephiroth had cut through their voice boxes. They couldn't do much of anything, except for "play" dead. Sephiroth walked past their still bodies, somewhat disappointed with how easily they had succumbed to his power.
Sephiroth continued to stand in the center of town, waiting for someone to issue a challenge. Finally someone came. He wasn't a soldier. He had jet-black hair, and was dressed reputedly in a custom-tailored suit. He seemed to be of great importance, and Sephiroth believed he remembered meeting him before, but he couldn't place a name. It seemed as though some memories remained elusive. Regardless, Sephiroth plucked one of his command materia from its slot in his sword. He began to prepare it for use when the man finished walking up to him. He looked over Sephiroth, then whipped out a silver pistol and quickly fired off eight rounds. It was too little, too late. Sephiroth unleashed a Matra Magic spell, and the energy missiles destroyed each of the bullets before Sephiroth's opponent was also hit by the attack. He stood still for a second, and then collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
Reno sipped at his coffee while rubbing his throbbing temples. The problem with alcohol was, no matter how much fun you had while drinking it, it always came back to haunt you the next morning. It seemed very similar to some of Reno's one-night stands. Then there was the fact that it was really killing his liver. Naturally, that was where being a Turk really paid off. There just wasn't a job with better health benefits. The dental plan was nice too. All this coffee he drank while experiencing the nightmare of hangovers was beginning to stain his teeth.
Someone then knocked on the door, and Reno clutched his head in pain. The person then knocked again, and Reno told them to come in, angry at the disturbance. The person turned out to be one of the aides, busily running from office to office, delivering messages. Considering the pain he had caused Reno, this aide better have important news.
"Reno, sir! News from Rocket Town, sir!" the aide yelled. The loud noise gave Reno a splitting headache, so he yelled at the aide.
"Be quiet!" Reno then clutched at his head again. He himself had been too loud. After popping a few painkillers down his throat, praying that they acted fast, Reno asked what news the aide brought him.
"Sir, it appears as though a lone rebel has taken hold of Rocket Town. HQ there is asking for you to authorize for SOLDIER to be sent in."
"Ugh. That's Tseng's job. Let him handle it."
"That's the other thing, sir. Tseng was running a performance evaluation in Rocket Town. Authorities say that he attempted to stop the rebel, but was...knocked unconscious. That last part is confidential, and is not to be spread."
Reno then burst into laughter. It gave him a headache, but still...Tseng had always lectured him on battle, and had always talked about how by following his methods a person became unstoppable. And Tseng was his boss, and had always tried so desperately to command Rude and Reno's respect. Speaking of Rude, he would absolutely love this. Reno managed to gain control of himself to the point that he could take the authorization papers and the status report and dismiss the aide. Long after the aide left Reno continued to laugh.
When he had finally stopped laughing, Reno phoned Rude and told him he had matters to discuss with him, and then he told Rude the news. Rude began to laugh uncontrollably, just like Reno had, so Reno set the phone down, receiver end up so that he would know when Rude was done laughing. As he waited he reviewed the Rocket Town case. He found it odd that while the rebels had been content to lie in ambush of Rocket Town for the past six or so months, that they finally had the guts to invade Rocket Town. And, why send one person to do the job when they had hundreds available? Besides, the HQ was still near its full staff, they could handle one person, no matter how good he was. Reno filled out the papers and signed under the veto portion of the paper, using the specialized ink pen he had been given upon joining the Turks. Supposedly it prevented anyone from being fraudulent with his signature. Tseng would give him a lecture if he didn't use it, if Tseng was able to get out of his current predicament. Reno laughed lightly thinking about it again. Reno had no fear of Tseng, but the guy knew how to throw a hissy fit.
As his eyes opened, Tseng of the Turks immediately took in his surroundings. Deciding he was in a hospital from the sterile white appearance of the room, Tseng sought a button to call the nurse, as he really wanted a painkiller. Tseng rubbed his head in an attempt to relieve the pain, but his efforts were in vain.
A nurse walked in and asked why she was paged, and Tseng was quick to answer. "Two things. First, some aspirin or morphine or whatever painkiller you have. And second, I want any record of my having been here erased. Those drunkards Rude and Reno would have a field day if they ever found out about this. And do it quick! Word might have already spread."
"Yes, I can do both of those things with ease. Though the second might take a bit of, ah, insurance to get done." was the nurse's reply.
"If you're attempting to get me to bribe you, I wouldn't try it. You do realize just how much more power I have than you do. After all, I'm a Turk."
"Oh! Sorry, this doesn't really need to go on any sort of record about me, would it?"
"No, not at all. Though, it will take a bit of insurance to get done."
The nurse quickly paid Tseng off, gave him morphine, and got him out of the hospital as soon as possible.
As soon as he was out of the hospital, Tseng laughed lightly at the stupidity of people. ---As though the job of a Turk is actually to keep records of fools like her. If I wanted to do something that mundane, I would have joined Reeve and his band of do-gooders.--- Tseng then remembered something, namely how he was utterly beaten in a fight by some silver-haired impudent brat. Tseng soon spotted the man and confronted him.
"Who the hell do you think you are, fighting against a Turk? If you weren't so lucky, I'd have killed you, boy." At this, Sephiroth chuckled and decided to set this.Turk, straight.
"Frankly, I did nothing. You were the one who pulled out the gun. I merely defended myself from attack. Also, you're the lucky one; if I had decided to use Matra Magic at maximum power you'd be dead right now. One last thing, I came here to fight with Shinra, not against it, so call off whatever back-up you no doubt have called in by now."
"You're a real piece of work. You waltz on in here, kill six of my soldiers, knock me unconscious, and you actually think I believe you when you say that you want to fight with Shinra. I know your type. You try to trick people into escorting you into Midgar, and then you go and run some lunatic kamikaze mission on one of the reactors. It's been done before, and multiple times at that. Might I also point out that all your missions failed?"
"I'm not trying to trick you, whoever you are."
"Tseng, of the Turks. Sound familiar?"
"Right. Anyways, I don't need to go to Midgar. I just want to rejoin SOLDIER."
"Rejoin SOLDIER! That's the worst lie I've ever heard. No one who joins SOLDIER ever has to rejoin!"
"It's true. I was once part of SOLDIER, first class."
"You want to stick to your lie, eh? Well, we can run a quick test to see whether or not you really were part of SOLDIER." Tseng rummaged through his pockets before pulling out a tiny device. It appeared to be a miniature substance analyzer of sorts. A needle popped out of it, and Sephiroth allowed Tseng to poke it into him. Tseng retracted the needle and scraped some of the blood that came from Sephiroth's little wound onto a slide. He popped it into a tray in the analyzer and was shocked at the readings.
"What the. who the hell are you?! Your intake of.no. There's no way! Sephiroth! We thought you were dead!"
Sephiroth was somewhat surprised that Tseng had been able to identify him from a substance analyzer, but if that gained Tseng's trust, he'd have to let it slide.
"Yes, Tseng, it's me. As you can tell, I'm very much alive. How'd you know it was me?"
"You.don't remember, do you?"
"Remember what?"
"Nothing. Tell me, do you have any memories of a man named Hojo?"
"Yes. He's my father. Not that I could call him my father. I heard about him in the news almost constantly, but I never saw him."
"Never? Not once?"
"No."
Tseng had to mask his unease. Sephiroth didn't have a clue as to what Hojo had done to him. Sephiroth's psyche had been closely watched, and it was highly volatile. He now obviously trusted Shinra, so if he figured out what Hojo, and by proxy Shinra, had done, he would come after Shinra, and every person in his payroll. For the most part Tseng didn't mind that, but he treasured his life dearly, and would rather not be killed in a one-man purge.
Amidst this fear came all sorts of ideas. He was unable to get back to Midgar in the first place, he had been bluffing with his earlier claim, so perhaps Sephiroth would be powerful enough to get him back there. The thought intrigued him. And, as an alternative, he could have Sephiroth kill all the rebels outside or Rocket Town. Better yet, do both. The rebels were beginning to gather near the north entrance to Mt. Nibel, and Tseng needed to get to Nibelheim desperately, so that he might check up on Hojo and Reno. Reno was very important, as Tseng really needed to exert his authority over the young Turk. He had fallen into line with Rude, and perhaps while Rude was not physically present Tseng could convince him that Rude just wasn't a good role model. Checking up on Hojo was always most important, though. President Shinra himself had asked Tseng to do so. Recent studies of Hojo's activities showed many unaccounted hours. He was up to something, as usual, and it was high time for Tseng to figure out who the scientist was experimenting on now. And Tseng knew that it was a person Hojo was experimenting on. He had a unique fascination with manipulating the human body.
Tseng brushed the thought aside and entered Rocket Town HQ. He signed a couple of papers canceling out any threat status assigned to Sephiroth, and then went to his filing cabinet. He took the cabinet whenever he traveled to other towns. He used a key around his neck to open the second to the top drawer, and slid out the drawer. He looked over the files. Somewhere was a specific series of files. He found them. They were bios of miscellaneous members of SOLDIER, filed by their last initial. They didn't follow the regular alphabetical system in which everything had been filed. Their last initials, used one after another, spelled out J-E-N-O-V-A. Immediately after the last file was an unlabeled file. Inside it was another key. Tseng took it and unlocked the top drawer. It was sparsely filled, with only twenty-six files, but all of them were on the same person, and the project he was part of. They were all on Sephiroth.
Tseng turned to the very last file, which was an in-depth description of the time following the harvester incident. Six months had gone by before Shinra had finally declared Sephiroth dead, having hope after hope that he would magically resurface. Not that Tseng could blame him. Funding for Sephiroth had cost Shinra an arm and a leg during a time that funds needed to go into the war. Had the money been invested in research for safer ways for Shinra's military force to undergo treatment to become part of SOLDIER, perhaps the standards wouldn't have needed to be so strict, and SOLDIER would be more of a commodity. Still, the investment in Sephiroth just might pay off now. At the least, they would get something instead of nothing.
Tseng sighed and closed the filing cabinet, returning everything to the way it was. He thought of reporting to President Shinra Sephiroth's reappearance, but news of this importance couldn't risk being leaked out. He would have to do so in person. One more reason to head to Midgar.
Tseng knew that despite Sephiroth's awesome power, the two of them alone would never be enough to get all the way to Midgar. So, instead of acting foolishly and heading out immediately, Tseng formed a squad, all of whom were at the rank of SOLDIER First Class, to go with them. Tseng made Sephiroth their leader, reinstating him as a member of SOLDIER's elite first class, and he also made him a major so that he topped the others in rank, therefore drowning any protests of having to be led by someone who was still technically under them, not to mention the threats of pulling rank on Sephiroth. Tseng only privately acknowledged what fools they were to believe he could actually promote anyone, let alone make them a member of SOLDIER. The closest thing amongst his duties to doing such a thing was finding candidates for SOLDIER, and even then he couldn't put that candidate amongst their ranks. Tseng personally suspected that such limitations were due to Hojo's foolish ideas that only a scientist could determine whether or not someone would survive the treatment people underwent to become part of SOLDIER, despite the fact that Tseng guessed correctly around 80% of the time, Hojo only 30%. Hojo just had too much power due to his experiments on Jenova, not to mention all of the mysterious research he had shortly after Professor Gast was done in. Tseng didn't need to have the mind of a Turk to guess what happened there.
Tseng then shook his head, emptying his head of anything that wasn't related to the mission at hand. Tseng then focused on Sephiroth, who was debating heatedly with a captain over whether they should flank the rebels blockading the Nibel Mountains or if it would be best to attack in echelon, using three groups of four. Sephiroth was decidedly pro-flanking, while the SOLDIER wouldn't have it.
"Look Sephiroth, the fact of the matter is that the entrance to the Mt. Nibel is too narrow a passage to effectively flank our enemies! However, if we attack in echelon we can attack in rapid succession, which will strain and then overwhelm our opponents." Upon hearing this, Sephiroth unsheathed his sword and jabbed it at the Shinra captain, stopping the blade just as it hit the cloth of the man's uniform. The captain, obviously petrified, retreated two steps and quickly pulled out his own sword, the standardized Hardedge. He made a quick thrust and knocked Sephiroth's blade down before making a stabbing motion at Sephiroth only to find that Sephiroth had already brought his sword into a defensive position. Sephiroth blocked the attack and then followed up, making a neat cut into the man's hand. The Shinra captain dropped the sword in pain and clutched his hand. Sephiroth, rather amused at this display of weakness, shook his head before pulling out a Restore materia and healing his challenger's hand.
Sephiroth then sheathed his sword and said, "If anyone else becomes so bold as to defy me again, I warn you now I won't settle for merely making a cut into your hand. Now then, let's move out, the sooner we flank those rebels, the better."
Sephiroth had never liked surprises, so when he saw that the defense of the northern entrance to the Mt. Nibel had been raised from two to ten battalions it was only natural that he became rather angry. Now, if the added defense were the only issue at hand, Sephiroth would have been fine, but when someone who he outranked proved him wrong, that Sephiroth couldn't handle.
"As I said, we can't expect to survive by merely flanking them. Now, by attacking in echelon on the other hand."
Being angry at this most unpleasant surprise, and having been fed up with the Shinra captain's insolence, Sephiroth took out his blade and quickly stabbed the man. As the man was dying, Sephiroth decided to set one thing straight, "Based on their numbers, we would never overwhelm them by attacking in echelon. The only thing that would be accomplished is our dying, us including our esteemed guest."
Hearing this, Tseng became filled with rage at the man's suggestion of a plan that would kill him, so even though the wound Sephiroth inflicted was quite fatal, Tseng drew his pistol and shot the man seven times just in case. Satisfied when the man stopped convulsing in his death throes, Tseng tucked his pistol away. Then, somewhat embarrassed at his having lost his composure, Tseng put on a mask devoid of any anger so that it might not seem to the others like he lost control. ---It's just like Heidegger said Tseng thought, I either have to work on my temper or I'll never get respect from my colleagues.--- As he thought of this, Tseng envisioned Rude and Reno, making sure to put them into a bar. Although Reno was still only twenty, having such high status in Shinra had certain perks, including being able to bend certain rules. ---Therefore, Reno gets to destroy his brain and sully Shinra's reputation with his public drunkenness a year early.--- Tseng could do nothing to stop Reno, as he managed to command no respect over the ever-drunken Turk. Still, Reno was rather talented in his area of work, if a bit hypocritical at times.
Tseng's mind then slowly wandered back to the rather critical situation at hand. As he gazed into the distance Tseng observed the enemy. So far the rebels hadn't spotted them, but it would be impossible to determine how long such luck would hold out. If they were seen a hail of arrows or bullets would likely kill them rather quickly, with either method they'd still be dead, a prospect Tseng most definitely did not enjoy.
Tseng then saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head to see Sephiroth fiddling around with materia, taking out four materia, two in his sword and two in his bangle, and inserted four different materia. Sephiroth then stood and began to walk towards the enemy lines. Somewhat naturally, one member of Tseng's little escort protested against Sephiroth's choice of direction.
"Are you crazy? Scouts will spot us the minute you make another step, and then we'll all be killed!"
"Relax," Sephiroth replied, "just make sure you're protected from fire damage and you'll be fine. Just leave everything to me."
Immediately after hearing this, the SOLDIER troops frantically began to search for equipment or materia that would absorb fire. Tseng merely pulled out a small box from his pocket, opened it, selected a ring adorned with a red gemstone, and slipped it on. Having access to a full set of elemental absorption rings was just another benefit of being a Turk.
As for Sephiroth, the task at hand was much more stressful. Still, Sephiroth quickly ran through a series of exercises Godo had taught him to become cool and collected. When he felt his mind had attained perfect clarity, Sephiroth took out his sword and ran towards the enemy.
It was interesting, the effect battle had on Sephiroth. Time seemed to almost slow down, and his senses were heightened beyond any normal human capability. He could hear the bows creaking as archers prepared to fire. He could see each individual sword reflecting light off of its blade. He could smell the acrid scent as gunpowder exploded. Most importantly, he could taste the victory at hand.
Sephiroth easily strafed from side to side to dodge bullets and arrows headed at him, using his sword to deflect those he couldn't evade. As he began to close in Sephiroth also had to worry about the spears that his enemies began to throw in long arcs at him. Twisting, turning, weaving, moving from side to side, slashing and cutting and blocking with his sword Sephiroth was quite a sight. Nothing was able to hit him, no amount of ammunition or arrows or spears would ever stop Sephiroth. Then, finally, Sephiroth reached the front ranks. He targeted the closest person at hand and slashed with his sword. As he did so, a single materia within his sword began to glow a bright blue, and threads of blue light reached out from the materia to a linked magic materia, which in turn glowed green and extended its own thin beams of light. As the two joined the colors of both the materia and the light turned a bright orange. The color then extended across the blade of Sephiroth's sword, and the blade pulsed with an orange glow.
Then the glow spread from the blade and the magic materia suddenly released energy, and fire sprang forth, encompassing the blade. The blade grew white hot at the flame, and when it hit the neck of Sephiroth's victim it easily sliced through the flesh, searing and instantly cauterizing the flesh and charring the bone. The sword then exited the man's neck just as quickly as it had entered. As Sephiroth's slashing movement ended the fire materia dispersed the energy, and sparks trailed from the sword in a dramatic manner.
Sephiroth had slashed through the rebel's neck with such speed and precision that his head remained on his shoulders at first. The rebel himself probably didn't know what had happened, as his nerve endings had been destroyed before they could react and Sephiroth's blade had moved too quickly to be tracked by the eye. Then the rebel's eyes lolled upwards and his body collapsed forward, a noticeable black stump where the neck should have been. The heat of the still hot collarbone then ignited the grass, which was dry and withering from a drought, and the fire quickly spread. As he began to burn one rebel archer shot one last arrow, catching Sephiroth unaware. The arrow pierced into his left shoulder bone, and due to the proximity of the archer to Sephiroth the arrow had enough force to even go through the shoulder and protrude slightly out of Sephiroth's backside, the once silver tip now a deep crimson. Sephiroth glanced at the arrow without concern, not even taking the time to pull it out. As flames began to wreathe his body Sephiroth felt energy and vitality being restored to him due to the elemental-fire materia combination he had also put in his bangle. The fire eventually reached the arrow, and the wood blackened and slowly turned to ash. The metal tip grew too heavy for the ash to sustain and fell to the ground, the ash shortly joining it. As the normally lethal fire began to seal Sephiroth's shoulder wound Sephiroth felt a malicious grin come across his lips, and with each agonized scream as rebels began to burn that grin grew more and more sadistic.