Disclaimers 'n' Crap: Haihai peeps! (looks back) Wow, this one is kinda long. You can probably tell where I was in my best writing frame of mind here. You can also probably tell that I might be taking this whole thing with bringing the Cliffhangers back for the war a little too seriously. Umm…yeah. Usual disclaimers apply. Enjoy!
"I can't believe she pulled a stunt like that," gasped Scott at the medical center later "What if she had died?"
"Look, beet," said Auggie "The main thing is, she ain't dead. She just gave us all one helluva scare." Juliette looked at the cutting scars on her arms with guilt. Scott still didn't look reassured.
"Scott," said Daisy, finally, grabbing Scott's shoulders "She's going to live." There was a few moments pause. Yes, she was going to live. There was that strange aura that protected all of them. At least, until it was their time.
Sigh.
That was all that echoed through the room.
Sigh.
And then there was a knock.
"Your Highness, may I come in?"
"…Sure."
The door opened. Solidus Snake, known officially as George Sears, stepped in. His expression was one of deep concern. He turned to Queen Hannah, sitting by herself in the darkness. Thinking. Contemplating. Philosophizing, probably. "You're still thinking about it, aren't you," Solidus said, simply.
"After that stunt Shelby pulled this afternoon, of course I am," said Hannah. There was more silence. An ordinary person, at this point, would wish for just about any sound: a drop of water, the low hum of a computer, anything, if just to end the eeriness. Solidus had watched Hannah for many years and had gotten used to this eerie silence that usually was usually followed by one of her big philosophical rants. He didn't wish for the creepy to cease. He just went right along with it. He waited quietly for the queen to proceed, which she did with The Big Question: "Solidus, why did I bring them here?"
"You're still asking yourself that," said Solidus, a bit dismissively "Hannah, I thought we'd already sorted this out: you were young and Scott was becoming a great friend to you. You, and most of the others, didn't want to see him go after such a short time so you did what you've done with all of the Crystal Alliance members from other worlds whose series had ended. You brought them back here to stay because you loved them. You had no idea that Scott would become so corrupted back then! You had no idea that Elaine would come back and destroy him all over again! Are you still blaming yourself for everything that's happened to him since he came here?"
"Dammit, Solidus, THAT'S NOT MY POINT," said Hannah, starting to lose it "I wasn't talking about Scott specifically. I was talking about his whole unit! The Cliffhangers! Why did I bring them here? To fight? To die? They'll only survive until they've served their purpose! What is that purpose, Solidus? To suffer more? They've been through enough already in their own world! Am I that heartless that part of me doesn't exactly care whether the Cliffhangers Unit dies or not? I…I can't…" Lost for more words, she stopped trying to hold back the tears of confusion.
Solidus put an understanding arm around her. He too knew what it was like to take pawns, human pawns, pawns with lives, use them, and let them be thrown away without much care once they'd served their purpose. But still, if there was something in that field that separated Hannah from him, it was that she felt more immediate remorse for those actions. In his old days, Solidus had watched subordinates die and hadn't cared until much later when he himself had been granted a second chance at life. When Hannah hurt someone, it started to tear her up right there.
"My Queen," he said "You do care. When the Cliffhangers are gone and Scott is all that remains, you will mourn them with him. I know you will. But right now, you're going on as if they're only going to live to see the penultimate battle of the war." Hannah looked up at him slowly. There was something disturbing and ominous about her gaze.
"They will die there," she said, filling the room with a chilling air "I have forseen it."
The door opened again, breaking the eerie stillness at last.
"Your Highness, Mr. Sears," said the man. Hannah wiped her face and regained composure as fast as she could.
"Minister of Finance Finnegan Dutch," she said "What is it?"
"We need to talk," said Minister Dutch "About finances concerning the Cliffhangers Unit." Hannah paused, thoroughly confused.
"Excuse me…what?" she said. Minister Dutch chuckled slightly before speaking three very shocking words:
"Name your price."
"WHAT?" Hannah nearly shrieked.
"How much do you want to be reimbursed for the unit when they're gone?" Hannah just stood there, gaping. Was she really hearing this? "I was listening to your conversation with Mr. Sears a moment ago and it seems that you know quite well that the Cliffhangers are not going to survive this war. I am asking you how much money you would like in compensation when we lose them."
"Are you asking me to put a price on the Cliffhangers Unit?" Hannah bellowed "Those eight are far beyond fiscal numbers! Furthermore, they're living human beings that you seem to think are little inanimate playthings that can have insurance put on them! Minister Dutch, how can you be so heartless?"
"I wouldn't call it heartlessness," said Minister Dutch, calmly "I'm just doing my job and trying to be reasonable with you about this. We all know how directly money is involved in war and that the Cliffhangers are expendable like every other soldier out there. Now, how much was invested in training the unit?"
"There was no money invested in their training," said Solidus, starting to have enough of this "My brother and my former foster son took them to training on their own with the support of the E-Maxen royals and M.A.R.S. Program."
"M.A.R.S. Program is an over-blown science laboratory," said Minister Dutch "They are irrelevant to this war."
"Their technology has saved the lives of MILLIONS in this war! How DARE you deem them irrelevant!" Hannah screamed "Also, THEY'RE the ones who brought the Cliffhangers here in the FIRST PLACE!"
"You're moving further and further away from the numbers," said Minister Dutch, astoundingly able to keep his cruel cool this whole time. Hannah tried desperately not to explode while Solidus looked on in shock.
"Minister Dutch," Hannah breathed, quietly "Get out."
"Pardon me?" said Minister Dutch.
"You are herby charged with corruption and shall be tried by the people to judge whether or not you stay in office," said Hannah, in her most official voice "Now, leave." Pouting, Minister Dutch whirled around and stormed out of the room. There was silence once more. Solidus slowly turned to Hannah.
"You see?" he said "I was right. You do care. And it could be worse! You could be like him." Hannah was quiet for a moment.
"You're right," she said at last "Actually, that makes me feel a lot better."
The End?
Woot! Not only was I able to make Solidus' input more relevant than I originally thought, but I was able to transition from the conversation with him to the conversation with Minister Dutch a lot easier, theme-wise. Sooooooo, yeah. If I do another Higher Ground fic (which I probably will), it'll explain what Solidus meant by "Scott becoming corrupt" and what Scott was talking about in Cliffhangers Unit with him becoming brain damaged and killing people when Elaine came back. There will be LOTS of Naruto-inspired content in it. Well, until then, someone PLEASE force me to write more of Back In Britain!