Chapter IV

Sephiroth must have vacated the building entirely some time before AVALANCHE had. Sephiroth had apparently made his way down the tower, level by level, killing anyone who had gotten in his way. Fortunately, the death toll wasn't too high, as most of the employees had gotten out when the alarm sounded, but there were still losses. AVALANCHE had escaped as well, in a dramatic highway chase on a stolen truck and motorcycle. Both AVALANCHE and Sephiroth were most likely outside of Midgar's city walls.

Reeve sat in his office again, looking at the mound of paperwork before him. Struggling to decide whether he was grateful or not for being asleep in his apartment when Sephiroth had broken into the building. It was the morning after, and the entire building was constantly on the go running from office to office because of the night before. The Turks had immediately been sent out to tail Sephiroth, find him, and eliminate him. Heidegger had apparently hired a woman named Elena to join their ranks as well, as Reno was currently still hospitalized. As soon as he had arrived in his office, he had found a memo calling a board meeting. The new president, Rufus, looked as if he hadn't gotten an ounce of sleep, and demanded as many details of the previous day as he could get. Palmer had apparently seen the murder of his father, as he was the only executive who had made an effort to see Rufus upon his arrival. Reeve was a bit glad he hadn't attempted to see Rufus, as he seemed to be even colder than he had remembered him. Junon had a draining effect on you if you stayed there too long, mused Reeve, but then again… maybe it was just the death of his father that had been bothering him.

At any rate, the meeting had been brief, as Scarlet had nothing to say, and it was mainly Palmer and Rufus who had spoken. Reeve had made a few comments, but it was Hojo who had seemed obsessed with the topic of Sephiroth and Jenova. Heidegger was absent due to the recruitment of Elena, and the briefing of her, Tseng, and Rude. Reno sat in for Heidegger, looking miserable, and uncharacteristically silent throughout the entire meeting. Now Reeve sat in his office, unable to focus on any of the paperwork that lay before him. He had thought that things couldn't have gotten any worse after the destruction of the plate. Fate seemed to slap him in the face for thinking this, as things had clearly gotten worse. He sighed as his door opened and a strange looking cat that sat atop a moogle waltzed in. The cat was holding a mug of coffee, and placed it enthusiastically on Reeve's desk, before asking him "Good morning, how are you?"

"Miserable," muttered Reeve. The cat frowned, while the moogle remained emotionless, as it should. These were Cait Sith and Mog robots, respectively. There were only a few in existence, and they were designed by Reeve's department. The Cait Sith doll was capable of speech, and the highest artificial intelligence available, making it impossible to identify as not being alive. It was equipped with an internal radio so that orders could be given to it from miles away, and inaudible to all but the cat. Also, a person could see through the robot's eyes with the use of a special pair of sunglasses or contact lenses.

The Mog robot was less advanced. Where the cat was designed for special espionage missions when the Turks were unavailable, or simple entertainment, the moogle was used for heavy maintenance work, as its strength was equal to four times a normal human. The Mog was supposedly indecipherable when compared to a live, uneducated giant moogle, however, Reeve doubted this claim. Capable only of saying "Kupo" when it understood its orders, which must be spoken aloud to it, Reeve was less satisfied with the results of it. However, this didn't stop him from using a pair of them for his own purposes.

"I'm sorry to hear that, sir," said Cait Sith, followed by a deep "Kupo!" from its counterpart.

"That's alright," Reeve replied, waving off his robotic secretary, "Thank you for the coffee. If I need you I'll call."

"Yes sir," it complied as they turned to leave.

"Kupo!"

Elena sat in the back of the helicopter quietly, straightening her new black suit and adjusting her tie. She had just been assigned to the Turks earlier that day after the chaos of the day before. She was very enthusiastic about her new position, and had been working her way there for some time. She was also a bit worried that she'd screw up. She had had the proper training and knew how to handle firearms, but she'd never actually used them on live targets. To top that off, her two partners, Tseng and Rude, were extremely intimidating. Rude was huge and quiet, and she had found herself slightly taken with Tseng since they had first met a year ago. She was worried about messing up in front of him, as childish as it sounded.

She inspected her firearm once more to distract herself from anxiety. She had a full 12 bullets in her state-of-the-art revolver, with its name, Outsider, etched into the handle. Elena knew quite a bit about guns, having done a lot of research on them while being on the "waiting list" for the Turks. This was the best revolver out there, not even available in shops, although mostly rifles were sold around the world and the Outsider had little competition. She had 3 spare speed loaders in a pouch on her belt as well as half of a dozen grenades. Grenades weren't standard issue to the Turks, but she wasn't breaking any protocol by taking them either.

Sliding her gun back into its holster located inside of her coat strapped over her left breast, she gazed in the direction of Tseng and Rude. Tseng seemed to be engaged in a conversation with someone via PHS, although she couldn't make out the conversation over the roar of the helicopter blades. Rude had taken his hands away from the controls briefly to slide on a pair of Work Gloves and then turn the helicopter slightly downward and to the left. They were about to land. Kalm was the closest town to Midgar that wasn't under Shin-Ra control, and if Sephiroth was to get any rest between escaping Midgar and braving through the southern Zolom Marshes and Mythril Mine, which would take some time to reach, and even then it would still be a long walk to Fort Condor, the small village that lay nearest the other side of the mines. The only other possible place for Sephiroth to rest at between Midgar and the marshes was a small town called Healin, which was in the middle of nowhere. The chances of this happening were very low.

As the helicopter started its landing, Elena finally had herself calm and confident. She could do this, she knew, because she was chosen for it. If she wasn't Turk material, she wouldn't be a Turk. It was as simple as that. Stepping out of the helicopter, she had to hold her hair in place against the heavy wind created under the slowing blades. She followed Tseng away from the helicopter and into town while Rude secured it.

"Tell me, Elena. Do you know how to use materia?" asked Tseng casually while still sounding no-nonsense.

"Sort of. I mean I've read guides about how to use it, absorbing it into my weapon or armor and then concentrating on the spell I want to cast, but what exactly is it? How is it made?" She replied, trying not to sound like she was asking a dumb question. Tseng replied firmly and informed her.

"When you condense Mako energy, materia is produced. The knowledge and wisdom of the Ancients is held in the materia. Anyone with this knowledge can freely use the powers of the Land and the Planet. That knowledge interacts between ourselves and the planet calling up magic." When Elena looked blankly at him, he added, "Basically it's a means of summoning magic from the Planet and using it." She nodded, now more understanding as they approached Kalm Inn, with Rude now following closely behind them.

The three Turks checked into the hotel, for free, and proceeded up to a room on the second floor. Once there, Elena sat on the bed watching as Rude closed and locked the door, and made sure there was no way they would be overheard. Once he was done with that, he turned to Tseng who had been standing by the window in the corner of the room looking outside.

"So what have you found out, Tseng? Anything about Sephiroth's return?" asked Rude, still standing by the door.

Tseng turned around and faced his partners before responding, "Yes. Sephiroth may not have been as dead as our superiors would like us to suspect. As it turns out, there's no official report on him ever dying. Official Shin-Ra records say that he was last seen on November 13th, seven years ago in Nibelheim on a mission to their reactor. Supposedly, there was something wrong there and monsters were escaping into the wild… particularly a blue dragon.

"Anyways, Sephiroth and another SOLDIER named Zack were accompanied to the reactor by two ordinary troopers. Sephiroth himself filed a report that one of the two troopers was lost in an accident three days before his own disappearance, and was presumed dead, and the other trooper was lost in the fire that destroyed the entire town except for Shin-Ra mansion. His body was recovered and identified."

"What? When did Nibelheim burn down?" Elena interrupted, then feeling a bit embarrassed about it. Tseng however, didn't seem to mind.

"It was quickly covered up by Shin-Ra by rebuilding the town exactly as it had been. Only the most important people of the business remember it, as well as the sole survivor of it, which is our Tifa Lockhart, member of AVALANCHE. She was Sephiroth's guide through the mountains, and somehow escaped from the town days later, unscarred. Though we haven't had any problems with her going public about the fire, Shin-Ra executives would have you assume that all of AVALANCHE is well aware. However, I think otherwise and say that she hasn't told anyone.

"As for Zack, he also disappeared at the same time as Sephiroth, but then resurfaced five years ago on the outskirts of Midgar, shot to death. There are no records as to who shot him, or that anyone was ever even persecuted for it. As you will now realize, it is only the body of Sephiroth that was never found. This is why I believe him to have never died. I haven't ever seen the records kept in the Shin-Ra mansion in Nibelheim, but I'm willing to bet he found something in there he didn't like that turned him against Shin-Ra. And judging from the fact that Hojo now has official ownership of said records, I wouldn't be surprised if the records contained experiments involving the end of the world."

"So then where has Sephiroth been for these past seven years?" asked Rude.

"I have no idea," replied Tseng. "But I'm more interested in where he's going now… In truth, I don't think Sephiroth is in this town at all."

"So then why are we here? Shouldn't we be after him?" asked Elena.

"In time. But we do have some business here. Elena, will you toss me your sidearm?" Elena looked confused, but complied. She drew her Outsider and approached Tseng, handing it to him. He gave her a slight nod in appreciation, before suddenly aiming at the wall adjacent to the window and firing. Just as suddenly, a man cried out in pain from the next room and Tseng gestured for Rude to quickly go inspect, before he handed the gun back to Elena and following behind Rude. Elena put her gun away and cautiously followed as well, not knowing what to expect. She mused that this was an interesting first day on the job indeed.

Elena entered the next room to find Rude holding a man up against a wall. The man looked very, almost like a slum dweller, and was bleeding from the shoulder, where he had been shot. Tseng stood next to Rude, interrogating him.

"Scotch, is it? Horrible eavesdropper. I've known you were listening in almost since I first entered our room. So where's your boss at these days? You know, the Don's a wanted man. If you were to give us some information on his whereabouts, we might be able to arrange to… not kill you." Scotch coughed up a bit of blood, and struggling against Rude's grip a little, he replied with great effort.

"I don't know where he is, I swear. He just told me he was heading west and told me to stay here in case any Shin-Ra stopped by. Then he'd send someone every few days to retrieve information. That's all I know!" Tseng thought for a moment before responding to him.

"Alright, thanks. Don Corneo was last seen heading east, unfortunately for you. We already have this information. If there's anything a Turk hates the most it's a liar. Elena, kill him."

"What!" she exclaimed surprised at the same time that Scotch wailed in fear. She knew it was part of the job, but it was her first day.

"He's a liar, criminal, and probably killed more people already than you're going to. Plus… it's mandatory for a sort of Turks initiation." Elena, still in shock, removed her Outsider from its holster once more, and with a shaky hand, aimed at the terrified double-crosser's heart. The pounding of her own heart in her chest against the screaming and kicking of Scotch was enough to give her a headache and cause her to sweat. She blinked and swallowed, and then after receiving a sympathetic nod from Tseng, she fired.

Rude had been in the Turks for almost as long as Tseng, but was still the oldest member. Rude was 29, but had been bald for years now. He was known for being extremely quiet while still being extremely intimidating. He was well over six feet tall, and always wore his sunglasses. However, this "muscle" persona that he was associated with didn't stop him from dressing appropriately, he mused as he straightened and zipped his black tie and coat. They were now leaving the inn and returning to the helicopter because, according to Tseng, "their neighbors would unleash an avalanche on them if they stuck around too long." Rude understood this far too well, having worked with Tseng for so long. Obviously, Tseng worded it this way because he didn't want Elena, still recovering, to be aware of AVALANCHE's close proximity.

In private, Tseng had told Rude that Sephiroth was headed west, and probably going to attempt to cross the ocean and return to Nibelheim. Rude and Tseng knew all along that Sephiroth hadn't stopped in Kalm. In fact, Tseng didn't think he was going to stop anywhere. Heidegger was working like a maniac trying to organize a parade at the Junon base for the inauguration of President Rufus. In fact, this would just be a ploy to have top-notch security there to make it impossible for Sephiroth to stow away on a ship. This parade was scheduled to happen in only a few days, and no ships would leave the harbor until then. In fact, the Turks weren't supposed to be tailing Sephiroth at all. He would be confronted at Junon. They had only come to Kalm to deal with Corneo's lackey, and for the rest of the day would just be monitoring AVALANCHE's progress. Rufus didn't want them dead, because they may be able to help against Sephiroth, and so the Turks were just supposed to keep their eyes on them. They had spent the night in Kalm, and so would probably be leaving soon in order to keep moving. Tseng wanted to leave Kalm before them, and keeping that in mind, Rude started the chopper up again and lifted off a few minutes later, leaving Tseng to the task of consoling Elena.

It didn't take long for them to reach the Mythril Mines, as flying over the marshes was much easier than walking through them, mainly due to the gigantic Midgar Zoloms, which were typically around 30 feet in length. Snakelike creatures, they were extremely dangerous too anyone who wasn't a professionally trained fighter, as not only were they fast and powerful, but they had a magical ability to summon a blanket of fire from the Planet and coat their enemies in it. Knowing this, it was understandable that Rude was extremely surprised when he saw one of them impaled on a tree outside the mine entrance.

After setting down the chopper behind some boulders, The Turks got off to inspect the murdered creature. "He's moving faster than I suspected. At this rate Sephiroth could arrive in Junon by late tomorrow. I hope he won't cause too much damage there before the parade," said Tseng.

"How could he have done this?" asked Elena, staring in awe at the skewered Zolom.

"He's Sephiroth… Come on, we'll search the mines for him. Split up to cover more ground, we all have our PHS's on right? If you find him… do not engage, just contact the other two of us and we'll meet back here." Rude noted the scared look Elena held in her eyes, but wrote it off as rookie inexperience. She was a Turk now, and so Rude knew she'd be able to handle herself. He was the last to enter the mines, and they quickly broke off into different directions to search the mines.

After a few short hours of searching to no avail, Rude got a call from Tseng, saying they were to give up and head back to the chopper and head for Junon. Tseng would stay behind to tail AVALANCHE there when they showed up. Rude made his way back toward the exit. When he reached the cave where he had split up with his two partners however, he was a bit surprised to find he was not alone.

Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, Barret, and the specimen known as Red XIII were making their way through the mines toward the exit on the Junon side. As they were between him and his destination, he made his presence known.

"Just a second!" He said, and they all quickly turned toward him, drawing their weapons. Rude however, was up on a ledge and safe from any sudden attack.

"Who are you?" asked Tifa, standing on guard in a martial arts stance Rude was not familiar with.

Rude responded with another question, "Do you know who I am?"

"From the Turks, right?" asked Cloud this time, although it was more of a statement.

"Well if you know, then this won't take long. It's difficult to explain what the Turks do..."

"Kidnapping, right?" asked Cloud, this time even more sure of himself.

"To put it negatively... you could say that. ...But, that's not all there is to it, anymore…" At this point, Elena had made her way into the room, on a high ledge overlooking everyone.

"Sir! It's all right, Rude! I know you don't like speeches, so don't force it!" she exclaimed to him, willing to wake over. Tseng hadn't wanted her to have to deal with AVALANCHE already… but Rude wanted to hear what she would say, so he let her.

"...Then Elena, explain," he said.

"I'm the newest member of the Turks, Elena," she explained. "Thanks to what you did to Reno, we're short of people. ...Although, because of that, I got promoted to the

Turks... In any case, our job is to find out where Sephiroth is headed… and to try and stop you every step of the way. Wait a minute; it's the other way around... You're the ones that are getting in our way." Now Tseng had come into the cave, from the third alcove in the cave on the other side of AVALANCHE.

"...Elena. You talk too much," he said bluntly.

Elena apologized, "Sorry... Tseng.

"No need to tell them about our orders," replied Tseng quickly. "Now go. Don't forget to file your report." Elena was now blushing and stammering, clearly nervous.

"Oh! Right! Very well, Rude and I will go after Sephiroth, who's heading for Junon Harbor!"

"...Elena. You don't seem to understand," snapped Tseng, now annoyed.

"Oh! I'm, I'm sorry..." she trailed off, now obviously embarrassed.

"...Go. Don't let Sephiroth get away."

"Yes sir!" said both Elena and he. They made their way around the group toward the exit, but before Rude left, he turned back to the group.

"...Reno said he wanted to see you after the injuries you gave him healed. He wants to show his affection for you all," he said, and then followed Elena back out to the helicopter. A few minutes later, they were in the air again and headed for Junon.