Chapter 4
And so things happened. First of all, Yuna and Rikku told Tidus, Wakka and Lulu. Then they called Shinra on the Comm Sphere. He used the remodelled Celsius to gather Ifalna, Yuna, Rikku, Tidus, Paine, Nooj, Baralai, and Gippal together.
Yuna recapped the situation for all their benefit, and Ifalna answered all the questions they had. There weren't many. Most of the questions were from Shinra, scientific questions about the meteor.
Eventually, they began discussing what to do.
"We need some way to protect people," said Baralai.
"Are you sure there's no way to destroy it before it hits?" Nooj asked Ifalna.
"Yes," she replied. "Even if you were able to smash it, the pieces would still hit, and possibly cause more damage. You need some sort of shelter to protect people while it hits, and afterwards as well,"
"Why?" Asked Rikku. "What's likely to happen afterwards?"
"The meteor will throw up huge clouds of dust, obscuring the sun. You'll need some way to keep warm, some sort of light source, food, things like that,"
"So," said Gippal, who had been sketching on a piece of paper while the others talked. "What about this?"
He showed them his drawing. Shinra and Ifalna examined it critically. It was a sketched out idea of a shelter. There was a list of possible materials and alternatives if the materials weren't available, as well as a basic design, and even an estimate of how long it would take to build, among other things. Eventually, Ifalna said "Yes, that will work,"
"You just designed this?" asked Shinra.
"Well, I am head of the Machine Faction," replied Gippal.
"Huh,"
"So how are we going to do this?" Asked Nooj, rescuing Shinra from Gippal's 'if only looks could kill' glare.
"What about one large shelter for each village, and one or two others scattered around?" Suggested Baralai. "If we make a list of everyone in Spira and work out how much space we'd need…"
"Yes," said Nooj. "Good idea, Baralai. Gippal, when could the Machine Faction start building those things?"
"Immediately. We haven't got all the materials right now, but if we have some people search for them while everyone else builds, we should be able to do it. What timescale are we working with?"
"We don't know exactly," said Tidus.
"You have at least three months," added Ifalna.
"We can do it in that time," said Gippal confidently.
"Where should we build them?" Said Baralai. "Shinra, do you have a map?"
"Yeah," said Shinra. He pulled out a map from one of the cupboards around the room and spread it across the table. Baralai leaned over it immediately, sketching in likely locations with a pencil.
"What are we going to tell people?" Said Paine. "You said there was a chance that we could all die. Some people, if they find that out - "
"You've got a point," said Nooj. "Some people would do whatever they wanted. There'd be murders, rapes…"
"Well, can't we just say that it's going to be bad, a few people might die, but it's not going to be that bad, and we'll get through it?" Suggested Tidus.
"If people hear Yuna say that, it'll be alright," said Shinra. Yuna nodded.
"Okay," she said.
"Is there anyway we could protect people from the full force of the blast?" Asked Rikku. "Like that spell you used to use, Yunie?"
"Which one?"
"Um…protect, I think you called it,"
Ifalna looked puzzled. "What is that?" She asked.
Yuna showed her, casting the spell and getting Rikku to throw things at it. Ifalna examined the shivering sphere that surrounded Yuna. She tried pushing her hand through it, and then smiled when she found how much effort it took her.
"Can many people cast this spell?" Asked Ifalna.
"Most white mages, I should think," said Yuna.
"Most of the Youth League can,"
"And new Yevon,"
"We could get all the mages to cast it at once," said Nooj.
"Yes!" Said Baralai. "That should shield us a little,"
"It wouldn't stop it," said Ifalna. "But it might stop it from killing everyone. To be perfectly honest, I don't know if the shelters alone will stand up to the force of the blow,"
From then on, the discussion became more and more confusing, but eventually, the decision was made. Yuna would tell people about the meteor, while the Machine faction began work on the shelters.
The shelters would be large enough to hold all the people of the village, and be stocked with enough dried food to last for several years. The Youth League and new Yevon were in charge of food and other supplies, as well as being general helpers to the Machine Faction. The Bevelle Shelter would be built in the Calm Lands, and be open to any who wished to stay there. There would also be a shelter built on an island to the east of there, for anyone who could not be found room for elsewhere.
Shinra was to set up a database, so they could keep a list of things; who was going where, how much supplies they'd need, who'd be casting protect…things like that.
When Meteor hit, every mage they could get hold of was to cast protect, to try to slow it down a little, to try and stop some of the damage. Then, at the last moment, they were to dive into the nearest shelter.
No one in the room expected the mages to survive. They hoped they would, of course. They did all they could to make sure they would. But everyone knew that if anyone were to die, it would be the mages. However, without that line of defence, they knew that only a handful of people would live, if any.
For all of these reasons, and a few more, Yuna kept it a secret when she put her own name down as one of the mages who would be casting the spell.