Chapter Six
Zack was not a happy camper.
Granted, he felt he might actually be better off if he actually was camping. Then he wouldn't be stuck with people like Angry-Glare-Man and Bird-Encyclopedia-Lady shouting at him to wake him up (he was unsure of their actual names at this time as the shouting had not included introductions). The residents of Fort Condor meant to tell him exactly what they thought about his 'negotiating' mission. After a couple of days inspecting the fort and the condors' nest with Kunsel's group, he had sparked a conversation with the leader of their group. Angry-Glare-Man had become Zack's nickname for him, as the leader had only graced Zack with an intensely displeased expression before brushing him off. The rest had thus far been equally helpful in their opinions. He now found himself standing in the common area of the fort surrounded by angry locals, dressed only in his fatigues and holding a still too-hot mug of coffee.
Can't I even get some breakfast before we start all the drama… he thought, grouchy. He felt sorry for this group, he really did, but it was extremely difficult to sympathize when his stomach was threatening to eat itself if it didn't get any food soon. He sipped his coffee experimentally, but immediately drew it away again. Still scalding.
"And furthermore-"
"Yeah, okay, thanks, can we discuss this over food?" Zack asked, cutting off the words of one man who was currently instructing him on where SOLDIER should be shoving their swords. "Seriously, I honestly want to hear your guys' side of the story, but I can't really manage…uh…" He knew this word, dammit. Why did it have to be so early? He'd bet the sun hadn't even risen yet. "…Word things. With people. In the morning."
Zack heard Angry-Glare-Man mutter, "Shin-Ra actually sent this moron?"
"You know I can hear you when you whisper three feet away from me. Pretty sure I could do that even without enhancements."
"Well, you may be enhanced, but it sure looks like they didn't help your brain power," the man scoffed.
"It's early and you guys jumped me before I had even woken up!" Zack argued, trying to keep his emphatic arm waving to a minimum so as not to spill his precious caffeine.
Bird-Encyclopedia-Lady sighed wearily. "He does have a point, Ray." Angry-Glare-Man, now known properly as Ray, huffed in response.
"Fine," Ray growled. "Let 'im eat. But then we're dealing with this so-called negotiation." He turned to leave. "Don't want you damn SOLDIERs sticking around any longer than necessary. You scare the birds."
Zack sighed wearily and followed another local to a small table in the corner. The woman promised to bring some breakfast out, and left him there to brood over his drink. He stirred the liquid idly with a spoon. I can't really blame them, he thought, remembering Shin-Ra's habit of destroying anything that happened to disagree with their methods. But sheesh, do they have to be so pushy? I'm more on their side than some of the others would be…
"Zack?" Cloud walked over to the table and joined the other. "Is everything all right? They practically dragged you out of bed this morning." The cadet was sporting even fluffier hair than usual, if that was even possible. He also hadn't had a chance to change into his uniform, having been roused by the clamor earlier.
"Yeah, negotiations just aren't going very smoothly." Zack sighed again. "You don't know where Kunsel and the others are, do you?"
"I thought I saw Michelson heading upstairs." Cloud leaned forward on the table and rubbed an eye sleepily. "He's always the first one up for morning drills at HQ, so he's probably checking the reactor early again to see if the condors are asleep."
The two discussed the lack of progress over the past two days, only pausing to eat the simple breakfasts that were brought to them. As they ate, a group of mercenaries arrived at the entrance of the common area, followed closely by Ray. The pair eyed the newcomers warily. The amount of mercenaries currently staying at Fort Condor was increasing rapidly; the stockpiling before Shin-Ra's supposedly inevitable attack was blatantly obvious. Zack frowned at the group. He knew he'd have to include their presence in the report, but it wouldn't look good for the residents. Once the mercenaries had gotten settled, Zack waved a hand over to Ray. The man immediately frowned, but began walking toward their table.
Zack turned to Cloud. "Could you talk to some of the residents again today? I want to get their opinion on what they think their chances are." Cloud stood and saluted quickly, dashing off to start his task. Ray approached the table, stopping a few feet short of Zack.
"You done procrastinating?" His voice was rough, and as irritated as ever.
"Depends. You done avoiding me?" Zack returned the man's glare. "You guys do realize that I'm just here to talk, right? And Kunsel's team is just here to check out the reactor. If they can ever get in." Ray sniffed contemptuously. He gestured to the soldier to get up.
"Follow me. Let's talk somewhere more private."
Zack stood and walked close behind the other. Ray led him up a rope ladder and then up a set of stairs, ending up in a watch tower built of wood. Zack could see a pale blue sky out of a small window, beams of light illuminating the metal of the reactor and the edges of the condor nest. There was no glass, so the breeze played lightly with his spiked tresses and the brim of Ray's hat. The man gestured for Zack to sit on a fold-out stool under the window, while he sat on an old crate next to it.
"Alright," Ray started as Zack rearranged himself so as not to collapse the stool, "Business."
"I'm not gonna sugar-coat it," Zack said, finally settled. "They want you all out of here. 'Failure to comply with demands will be met with the force of SOLDIER' and all that. If I can't tell the company that you're leaving, they'll send a squad out here to force you."
"Let them." Ray was scowling now, arms folded so tightly across his chest that it looked to Zack like the man might hurt himself. "We've lived in this fort for years – working for Shin-Ra, mind you. Those suits gave us protocols to protect the reactor in case Emperor Kisaragi tried to come through here." He leaned forward, his eyes gleaming under the wide brim of his hat. "If Shin-Ra sends their precious army here, they'll get a chance to see how we've improved on those protocols."
"But if they send SOLDIERs you'll get slaughtered!" Zack protested. "Plus hiring those mercenaries to keep Shin-Ra off their own property? The President won't like that."
Ray leaned back in his chair with a huff. "If we leave, the condor chick is as good as dead. I've seen what Shin-Ra really uses these reactors for, boy." The man paused suddenly, his expression haunted. He stared at Zack with different eyes now. Pitying, even, as they surveyed the belt around Zack's waist that proudly displayed the SOLDIER insignia. Ray finally let out a short breath, and said "I just want something good to come from this reactor. I want it to help foster life," his expression darkened again, "instead of taking it."
Zack fidgeted in his chair. He couldn't blame Ray. Couldn't blame any of them really. He'd seen the darker side of the reactors first hand. Monster breeding grounds. Secret labs for unethical experiments. Hell, even when the reactors performed only their most basic functions, they were draining the life out of the planet itself.
And I have to save it all, Zack thought.
He suddenly felt very small.
Ray eyed the other curiously, seeming to have taken Zack's slumped shoulders as a sign of resignation. "You can't stop us, kid." His voice was gruff, but softer now. Less accusing. Zack took no notice.
"…The others all feel the same as you?"
Ray nodded, but upon seeing that Zack refused to lift his gaze from the surface of the table, opted to clear his throat. "Yes."
Zack looked up then, his eyes hard and jaw set. "Don't say I didn't warn you, then." He stood brusquely, not bothering to push his chair back into place. He made his way back down the stairs, fists clenched at his sides. Somewhere behind him he heard the door open, and voices, but he ignored it. He was fuming too much to talk to any more of the fort's residents, or one of Kunsel's cadets coming back to say they'd failed to get into the reactor again.
He understood Ray's mentality. He understood it so well that it was physically painful. Zack knew exactly what it was like to sacrifice in order to save the people and things you cared about. Angeal had done it. Aerith had done it.
He glanced up briefly and spotted Cloud speaking to Katrina over at the item shop. His stomach did a backflip; the sight of hundreds of guns aimed at him as he tried to keep them from spotting the blond behind him flashed in his mind.
He had sacrificed himself.
And what had he learned from all of it? Zack found himself wondering, for what seemed like the millionth time. Sure, he had felt peace and happiness when he first joined the lifestream. But after that? He'd watched Aerith die. Watched Cloud go on to forget that he had never been in SOLDIER. To forget who Zack was entirely. And then the kid had gone on still, only to be put through more pain and heartache and more psychological torture than Zack had even realized was possible. It didn't even stop there, he realized. It kept going. Repeating. Cloud's fight with Sephiroth just never ended. There was nothing to save Cloud from that nightmare. It was like Zack's sacrifice hadn't done a thing for him.
'Can you really call yourself a hero?'
Zack shook his head, ignoring the curious stares of a group of mercenaries seated in the far corner. He had done good. Cloud had…eventually found himself again. He found Tifa. Made friends. Cloud had ended up becoming the strongest man on the planet, capable of defeating Sephiroth when the man was at his worst.
And now that's my job.
Zack could swear that his stomach had a future in gymnastics with how many flips it was doing now. Rubbing the back of his head, he let out a heavy sigh. Brooding like this wasn't going to help him solve the condor fiasco. But, he thought, there didn't seem to be much he could do. Not from here, at any rate. Sephiroth was in Nibelheim, much too far for Zack to get to by the end of the week, even if he could commandeer one of Shin-Ra's helicopters. He'd stick it out here for now, but the problems facing him in the form of unruly bird-lovers weren't so easy for him to resolve either. He may not be able to convince the residents of the fort to evacuate, but he might be able to put a word in for them back at headquarters. Once the condor chick hatched, there wouldn't be anything to guard. Shin-Ra could continue business as usual.
It'll only take it about…Oh. Five years, wasn't it? Zack recalled. He sat down at a nearby table and began to drum his fingers against the hard wood surface. Five years. The chick had hatched during Cloud's adventures with AVALANCHE, and that was quite a while from now. It might be a bit too long of a wait as far as Shin-Ra was concerned. At this point, though, Zack wasn't really sure what else he could even do. The briefing had been so vague on the situation here that he wasn't sure what actions would be effective or not.
Zack paused in his drumming and lay his head down on the table, shutting his eyes. I…could attempt to get the company to lay off the fort… He strived to think of alternate strategies, but found himself coming up empty. Strategy just wasn't his forte. The company would probably just disregard him again, at this rate. And then…then what would he do?
I could ask to just not be a part of the raid…
Zack groaned in frustration and opened his eyes. It took him a moment to register that he was now staring at another SOLDIER belt. And that the belt was attached to a person.
"Hi, Kunsel," Zack murmured, his words slurred from his cheek being pressed flat against the table.
"Hello," Kunsel responded cheerfully. Zack saw the other's hands move to rest on his hips. "Negotiations going well?"
"I think I would prefer being surrounded by Tonberrys."
"That good, eh?" Zack could hear Kunsel chuckling. The Second pulled up a chair on the opposite side of the table, but Zack couldn't bring himself to pull his head up. "Are they being uncooperative?" Kunsel asked casually.
"More like flat-out refusing." Zack finally managed to get his head upright, only to keep resting his chin on the table. He pouted slightly that, even at this angle, he still couldn't see Kunsel's face under his helmet. "How's your mission going?"
"About the same," Kunsel admitted, resting his arm on the back of his chair. "We can't even get close to the reactor with those condors around. They're really territorial. I'm surprised the locals haven't gotten attacked."
"Wait," Zack sat bolt upright in alarm. "You haven't fought the birds, have you?" His friend gave him a blank look, and then waved his hand dismissively.
"I gave my group orders not to harm them. Y'know, in case the negotiations work out in their favor." He nodded to Zack. "What are you gonna do now?"
Zack simpered. "Beg Shin-Ra to ignore the fort until the egg hatches…?"
"I know you realize that isn't going to work."
"I know, I know!" Zack exclaimed, exasperated. He leaned onto the table, placing his head in his hands. "I'm really off my game, man. I don't know what I should do. I don't even know why we need the birds to leave in the first place!"
"Because they won't let us near the reactor," Kunsel clarified again.
"But why do we even need the reactor?" Zack argued, gesturing at the rock wall behind him. "We've never even used this fort! We never will! The briefing they gave me didn't tell me anything about why this place is so damn important!"
Kunsel watched him for a moment before suggesting quietly, "Why don't you ask Tseng, then?"
"…What?" Zack's head cocked to the side.
"Just tell them that you can't proceed with the negotiations without more information. Besides, my group can't work with the birds here, and their being here is dependent on your mission." The man smiled wryly.
"Oh." Zack grinned as the idea clicked. "Right! Tseng would know!" He gave his friend a grateful clap on the shoulder and headed toward the bedroom area to find his PHS. No sense in waiting, even if he wasn't sure Tseng would be awake yet.
"Wait—Zack!" The soldier turned to see Cloud jogging to catch up. The boy gestured up to the ceiling. "You finished talking to Ray?"
"Yeah. How about your end?" Cloud nodded. "And?"
"They say they won't leave." Cloud started biting the inside of his lip, visibly worried.
Zack frowned, but not as much as he would have five minutes prior. "That's what I thought. I'm gonna call HQ and see if I can't figure some of this stuff out."
Cloud nodded sharply and then asked, "What should I do?"
"Just keep an eye on things for now." Zack turned to descend to the bedrooms, but stopped halfway. As an afterthought, he added, "Let me know if anything changes." At Cloud's salute, he smiled and made his way down to locate his PHS.
"Kill the birds."
"What?!" Zack yelled into the phone. Explaining the situation to head of the Turks had only yielded these three words. Zack knew for a fact that the idea wouldn't fly with the locals. "Are you crazy?"
"We need to get into that reactor Zack," came the cool reply. "The condors are preventing the other team from approaching. If the residents won't cooperate, then remove them."
"You mean kill them if they get in the way," Zack growled.
"If you deem it necessary."
"This is ridiculous! What do we even need the reactor for?" Zack was fed up. Sure, the company had kept him in the dark for a lot of things, but killing people for a reactor in the middle of nowhere? It was too infuriating for him to let it slide.
He could hear Tseng sigh on the other end of the line. "That information is need-to-know, Zack."
"Well I need to know!"
"No." The barest hint of irritation was starting to creep into the Turk's voice. "It's above your pay grade. The Turks wouldn't release that information to you." Zack was about to retort when he heard a loud click. The line went dead. Zack growled again and restrained himself from throwing the device at the wall. Slowly, he managed to curb his anger somewhat, and dropped the PHS unceremoniously on his bed.
"This is nuts…"
He sat down on the sheets, leaning heavily on his knees. He glared at his phone as if the device was responsible for this stroke of bad luck. The screen glowed innocently, illuminating the area around it in a soft blue light.
What did I used to do when crap like this happened? He knew he'd gotten out of tight spots before. Usually it was his own fault he was stuck, but he always had some sort of backup to get out of it. The immediate answer pricked his chest: He'd call Angeal. But there was no Angeal here. He couldn't contact him without being dead himself. Who else? There was Aerith, but she hadn't come back with him. The Aerith here was just an innocent girl of sixteen. She hadn't even been out of Midgar yet. Kunsel had already given him the best advice he could, and nothing had come of it. Come on, Zack racked his brains. He had to have someone he could contact in a situation like this. Someone who had a knack for strategy and could give him more head jerked back to his phone.
Sephiroth.
The man shouldn't have burned Nibelheim by now. Zack shuddered slightly. Should he risk it? He didn't know how long it would take Sephiroth to go crazy without him there, but it had taken a week last time. So, theoretically, the other soldier should still be sane. Zack grabbed his PHS and stared hard at the numbers. He shouldn't be hesitating, he knew. If Sephiroth was still himself, then it might even be beneficial for Zack to call him. Talk him out of whatever nonsense Jenova might try to convince him of. He dialed quickly and held the phone to his ear, unconsciously holding his breath. He didn't hear any ringing from the other end.
"We're sorry," a feminine voice spoke in his ear. "The PHS you are trying to call is unable to connect. It may be turned off or out of range. Please try a different number."
"Dammit." Zack hung up and let the PHS fall to the bed again. Nibelheim was pretty far away, he mused. Too far for me to stop him...
He'd just have to handle this himself. He'd deal with the Sephiroth issue later.
Zack lay on his bed staring at the ceiling. Checking his PHS for the time again, he noted that it was already evening. Several hours had passed since he'd last attempted to call Sephiroth. For the fifth time. Every time was the same. He'd get frustrated about not being able to think of a solution, and he'd call. The call wouldn't go through. He'd spend the next half hour worrying and not being able to focus.
This is a vicious cycle.
"Hey, Zack?" Kunsel called down from the common area.
"What is it?"
"Almost dinner time. Thought you might want to get up here."
Zack heard the soft thump of the Second's boots walking away. After a moment's contemplation on whether or not he was actually hungry, and his stomach's angry reply, he rolled casually off the bed and headed up the ladder. The common area was packed with mercenaries and locals, all dishing up a menagerie of food. Zack breathed in deep, appreciative of the scent of spices and meat. His stomach demanded a sacrifice of sustenance with a loud growl, and Zack patted it sheepishly.
"Hungry, Zack?" Cloud had come up next to him carrying a plate of glazed chicken and potatoes.
"Famished," the First grinned. As he began to load his own plate, he looked around the room to find a place to sit. In a far corner he spotted Kunsel's group of infantrymen. Or, most of them. He did a headcount and frowned. "Cloud," he asked the cadet. "There are five other infantrymen, right?"
"Yeah," Cloud said as he grabbed a soda bottle from a cooler.
"That's what I thought…" Michelson's missing. Zack's eyes narrowed, but he began to resume shoveling food onto his plate. The last guy could have just not arrived yet. But… Zack looked around the crowded room again. Despite the dim lighting, he could see clearly that everyone else currently living in the fort was here. Then, far to the back heading towards the stairs to the watch tower, Zack spotted Angry-Bird-Lady rushing off after someone in a blue uniform. His frown deepened.
Is he checking the reactor again? What for?
"Hey, hold this a minute." He piled his own plate on top of Cloud's. The blond yelped and worked to steady himself at the immense increase in weight. Zack jogged after the pair he'd seen. The look on the woman's face had reminded him a tad too much of his mother's when she'd caught him about to wander into Gongaga's reactor for fun. Livid was too tame a description.
Reaching the corner, Zack stopped at the foot of the stairs and heard the woman shouting at the infantryman.
"Don't you dare—No! Stop!"
He took the steps two at a time.
"Dammit, stop!" The woman yelled as the man darted out the door of the watch tower. She screamed in frustration, dashing to the window. No sooner had she done so that Zack heard a piercing screech, and the sound of shots being fired. His eyes widened.
"The condor?" He spoke without thinking. But Kunsel ordered his group not to attack them…!
The woman rounded on Zack, her eyes wide and distressed. "It's you!" She pointed sharply out the window. "You're his superior, right? Go stop him!"
Zack bolted out the door and found himself face-to-face with an angry mother condor. The bird squawked and flapped her large, bronze wings. Under the flurry, Zack spotted the form of Michelson brandishing his gun. The bird swept her wing in front of the cadet, and he retaliated with a few shots to her torso. The bullets didn't seem to faze her, but Michelson made no motion to back down.
"Hey!" Zack yelled to him, running across the top of the reactor toward the nest. His grip on the Buster Sword tightened as the condor flapped hard at the intruders. The powerful gusts knocked Michelson off his feet, and he scrambled into Zack. The soldier turned him around and held him steady. "What the hell is going on?!"
Michelson gestured at the bird with his rifle, finger still on the trigger. "The male's gone off somewhere – I thought I'd get in while the mother was alone, but she started attacking me!"
"Kid!" The soldier turned his head to see Ray and the woman calling from inside the watch tower. "If she doesn't calm down she could damage the reactor! This whole place could go up!"
"Great," Zack grimaced. The condor's eyes flared in anger as she watched him. As he made to usher Michelson back to the watch tower, she took another swipe at them with her wing. She let out another screech as her targets dove down to avoid her. Zack gave Michelson a rough push back to the fort, and steadied his hand on the hilt of his blade. The mother condor snapped at him with her beak, aiming to cleave him in two. He parried quickly, but the gesture didn't knock her away as far as he had intended.
Zack staggered as the reason dawned on him. He was weaker. The last time he'd fought seriously, his levels had been drastically higher. The monsters in the Mythril Mines had been so weak he hadn't even noticed the difference in his strength. Zack leapt out of the way of another snap of the bird's beak, thoughts whirling. A condor was much stronger than anything he'd faced so far.
The bird raised its wings with a loud cry, issuing forth another devastating gust of wind. Zack quickly impaled the Buster Sword into the metal beneath him, gripping it tight so as not to be blown off the reactor. The bird cawed in anger when he wasn't immediately swept away.
"Sorry, but I don't feel like dying today!" Zack cried, though his voice was swallowed by the rushing air. The condor showed no signs of slowing its assault, so Zack tapped briefly into the Thundaga materia in his sword. I shouldn't be able to kill it with this, he thought. Just stun it. That's all I need. The spell shot forth from his hand, rushing at the condor's head and illuminating her feathers in a burst of light.
She flinched, but shook it off. With another screech, the bird lowered herself over her nest protectively, making a few more snaps at the soldier. Zack ducked behind his sword, and she resumed her flapping. He cursed. Those wings were a definite issue. He tried to peer over the Buster Sword, but only succeeded in making his eyes water from the wind. Vision blurred, he reached forward to try another Thundaga. A little stronger this time. He aimed a bit lower, hoping the condor's underbelly would prove to be a better target. The force of the gusts caused his eyes to water so much that the bird now resembled a giant brown blurry blob. Zack squinted, trying to focus his aim against the air that was trying to push him back. The spell fired, and Zack heard a crackle as its target burst into flames.
Zack took a moment to wipe his eyes as the distressed condor ceased her assault. When his vision had refocused, his heart stopped. He'd missed.
He'd hit the nest instead.
The sticks and feathers used to build the condors' home was blazing only a few feet from the egg. Angry reds and oranges danced in their reflection on the pale pink and yellow shell. The mother condor was swatting at flames, stomping on them, desperate for anything to put them out. Zack grimaced. It wasn't intentional, but it did make a good distraction. He could knock the bird out now, and then put out the fire. He judged the distance as he pulled the Buster Sword out of the reactor, the high metal-on-metal screech not enough to grab the panicking bird's attention.
I'll have to climb up to her head, but she might catch me with those wings… Zack set his jaw. He'd have to take out her wings first. Injure them just enough for him to make his way up to her head. Adjusting his hold on his sword, he charged, swerving around the flames and jumping to slash at the wings. As he brought his sword down, he heard an indignant squawk. The next thing Zack knew, he had been smashed to the side by the wing he'd been attacking. His sword caught something, and he lost his grip. He tumbled to the ground, his pauldrons ringing as they hit the metal beneath. After a couple painful backward somersaults, Zack finally stopped rolling, landing heavily on his front. With a groan, he pushed himself up.
"Well that was one hell of a ride…" At the sound of a weak caw, he looked up. The condor stood there, frozen, as if he'd somehow cast a Stop spell. Her head twisted at an awkward angle as she stretched it away from herself. Away from the thing in her neck.
His sword.
The Buster Sword had gotten impaled in her throat when she had hit him. Zack's mouth went dry as he watched her, twitching in pain and crying softly. Her blood ran down her feathers like a river of red. The bird began to sway forward, and then, slowly toppled over. Zack stared helplessly as she fell, crashing down onto her own nest with her wings outstretched, her body snuffing out the fire. As she landed, Zack's enhanced hearing picked up the sound of a sickening series of cracking sounds, like something large and fragile being crushed beneath the mother's weight.
Zack paled. 'Kill the birds,' Tseng had told him. Standing there, hands dangling uselessly at his sides, the thought occurred to him that he had fulfilled the command flawlessly. Shin-Ra would own this reactor again unopposed.
All thanks to him.
"I…didn't mean to," he choked. His own voice was foreign to him, the sound far away and broken. "I didn't want – I wasn't going to –" Facing him now was the bloodied body of the mother Condor, the Buster Sword standing in her neck like a horrible beacon against the burning orange of the setting sun. The once shining bronze feathers were now stained a dark, wet crimson, sticking together as the blood of the bird oozed out. Cracked pieces of egg shell were poking out from underneath her, bright pink and yellow against a burned-black nest.
Zack fell to his knees, eyes stinging and blurring again, but there was no wind assaulting them. I didn't mean for this to happen, his mind screamed. I didn't mean it, I didn't mean it, I didn't –
"Zack!"
He vaguely made out the form of Cloud running to him from the watch tower.
"Zack, are you alright?!"
No, he thought miserably. He wasn't all right. Nothing was right. Nothing he had done from the start of all this was right. If he could screw this up, how could he possibly stop Sephiroth? How was he supposed to save the Planet and his friends if he couldn't even save one damn bird?