Chapter 10

When they 'know' we are evil
We're strangers
And danger and fire,
The dark and the light
We are eyes in the night
Lost souls' they curse

As we sail away, moonstruck and astray
We're fallen angels
We're the scary tale to scare your mind away
From fallen angels

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"Ah, my fallen angels return." Rufus's slightly sarcastic voice was dry, and it seemed to Tseng as he entered the President's office with Reno there would be a lot of explaining to do. The Turks very rarely completely failed a mission, with him as leader, they had never failed. This was their first incomplete mission. Tseng didn't blame Reno, and trusted his judgement fully. He believed Reno when he said Sephiroth had been there, and the near-fatal injury suffered by Elena added to the proof. She was lucky to be alive.

"President." Tseng said simply, awaiting what Rufus had to say. For a few moments the room stayed silent, in the distance there was the faint sound of chatter, ALIEN employees worked directly below them, and the sound carried softly into the office of the president.

"I hear your last mission didn't exactly go to plan." Rufus turned in his chair, brushing some dark brown hair out of his eyes and staring out of the large window at the back of his office. It overlooked the vast plains to the East of Midgcar, in the distance one could make out a tiny black dot. The charred remains of Kalm.

"I'm afraid not. Things were going relatively well…" Tseng paused, pondering how to phrase the rest of his sentence. "However, we ran into … difficulties."

"I figured you were strong enough to defeat a couple of rebels." The comment from Rufus made Tseng cringe. He felt like his pride had been cut in half and sighed.

"We would have. Nobody could have anticipated what happened…"

"I'm eager to hear what could have caused such a simple mission to go awry." Rufus cut Tseng off, still not facing him.

"I wasn't there, I was inside with the two occupants of the facility. Reno, Rude and Elena were the ones who faced this problem. Therefore, I shall let them explain." Tseng turned to Reno, who nodded, they had already agreed Reno would be the one to explain the mishap.

"President. I apologise for our failure to complete our mission. However, I believe you will find our reasons for retreating were justified."

"Continue." Rufus's tone had not changed.

"We had the rebels defeated. They had killed six of our guards, however, upon trying to escape, one had injured himself jumping from quite a distance. The other tried to defend him and I dealt him a couple of blows with the new prototype… it seemed they were ready for capture, but that's when …" Reno took a deep breath, knowing how crazy this would sound. "That's when Sephiroth appeared."

Silence again. This lasted longer. The Turks could just about make out Rufus's reflection in the glass, it had not changed. His eyes however looked thoughtful now.

"Sephiroth. The soldier who has been missing for so long?"

"Yes." Reno nodded, absolute conviction in his voice. "I have no doubt about it, sir. He was as amazing as the stories say. We couldn't stop him attacking Elena… she was stabbed in the chest."

"How is she?" The question was empty, Rufus certainly didn't honestly care about Elena's well-being as a person, simply as a commodity.

"In as good condition as could be hoped." Reno replied. "He barely missed her heart… she is lucky to be alive. After he stabbed her, he told us to leave. We couldn't combat that kind of skill, so I decided it was in our best interests to leave."

Rufus slowly turned back to face Reno, locking eyes with him. "Why did you not get Tseng, and then go back to defeat him?"

"I don't think we could have." Reno replied honestly.

Rufus had only heard about Sephiroth in stories. As had Reno, for the most part. Reno acted like he knew Sephiroth, and Rufus found it irritating. People still talked a lot about him, and his mysterious disappearance. He was without a doubt the greatest soldier ever to exist in ALIEN's ranks. Rufus used to get sick with the constant storytelling his father used to indulge in about the heroic soldier. He had grown up with an image of Sephiroth as some kind of immortal warrior. Where had he gone? Nobody knew. Rufus's father had only told him that Sephiroth's wife was found dead, one day, and his two sons gone. Sephiroth had disappeared, as had his sons. It was assumed either Sephiroth had taken them, or killed them. Some suggested perhaps all three were dead along with his wife.

"Whilst this story does sound rather fictitious…" Rufus looked at Reno again. "I have no reason to doubt your words. You have been extremely reliable and efficient in the past. If Sephiroth is indeed back, it would seem he is no longer on our side. If he is a rebel, he will need to be destroyed. I take  his attack on Elena and other guards as a declaration of hostility, and he is now considered an enemy of ours."

"Other Guards?" Tseng said, a little surprised.

 "I was sent some footage a short time ago…" Rufus pressed a small button on his desk. A holographic screen appeared before them, and the slaughter of the two guards by a silver-haired fighter, resembling Sephiroth in every way, was played.

"That was the same man I saw." Reno said as the hologram vanished.

"So it seems." Rufus responded, he still looked thoughtful, unable to understand Sephiroth's reasons for attacking them now. Their political gain should not have been of any significance to him.

"Sir…" Reno said uneasily. "Permission to speak freely…" He had noticed something he thought should be brought to Rufus's attention.

"What is it?" Rufus sounded slightly annoyed at the idea of the subject being changed.

"I've noticed… one of the rebels we fought resembles you rather closely in looks."

"Meaning?" Rufus growled after a few seconds.

"That I believe he may be styling himself in your image to gain a mistaken identity." Reno concluded quickly.

"The Guards will know the difference." Rufus said, waving his hand. "It is an unfortunate coincidence. Is that all?"

"What are our future orders?" Tseng asked, trying to sound more confident than he felt. Rufus turned his gaze to Tseng and sat back, humming to himself and nodding.

"Yes, your orders. Until Elena gets better, I want you all to be on the hunt for the rebels. That includes Sephiroth. Send Guards to the location you visited previously and take the occupants prisoners, if they still reside there, which I doubt…"

Tseng nodded. The Turks made their way to the door, when Rufus spoke again.

"Oh, Tseng, one more thing."

Tseng turned to Rufus. "Hm?"

"I expect results, fast. Don't fail me again." Rufus had turned back to the window, a smirk on his face.

"Yes, President." Tseng nodded and followed Reno out of the president's office. Overall the meeting had gone far better than he'd planned. He had expected an outburst from Rufus, yet, the president had remained relatively calm. Although in some ways he felt the sarcastic comments were just as angering. He hoped they didn't meet Sephiroth again, yet he knew if they found the rebels, Sephiroth would not be far behind.