Zack XIV: The mission
After Tseng had announced that Zack had new orders to expect, he decided to stop by on floor 46 before going home to see if Lazard was available. Sephiroth got off the elevator on floor 63 to return to the SOLDIER quarters without further delay. The effect of the stimulant the lab assistant had administered to him earlier had begun to wear off and he was starting to show signs of the mako poisoning aftereffects.
Zack had never been aware of the amount of pressure Sephiroth was under, but he could understand very well that he did not want to be in public when he would inevitably crash. Although the amount of mako he had been exposed to was concerning, Zack was not particularly worried that he would suffer any lasting effects. Still, he had asked if Sephiroth would mind if he checked up on him later, to which he had only shrugged. But at least he had not told Zack off as usual.
While Zack was riding on the elevator, he checked his mail, which he had not had opportunity to do since very early in the morning. It was mostly inconsequential pieces of news, but one message caught his attention. The message notified the recipients that three people had been promoted to SOLDIER first rank. What was more surprising to him was not only that he had never even heard their names, but that there was woman among them. There were a few women in SOLDIER, but he never heard of one being promoted to 1st class.
Zack got off on floor 46 and was a somewhat relieved to find none of his closer acquaintances were there. Although he had acted nonchalantly toward Sephiroth earlier, it took him some time to process that Angeal and Sephiroth had not just been dating; they had been living together for six years. And Angeal had never even once mentioned this to him. He knew it was technically none of his business, but it still bothered him to find out about such an important aspect of his friend's life only after he passed away. All of this kept him mentally occupied to the point where he was not quite in the mood to talk to anyone right now. And then there was the question Sephiroth had raised about Aerith. Although Zack had no idea what he was trying to get at, Sephiroth's reaction confirmed to him that her circumstances were more than suspicious.
He knocked at Lazard's office and was let in after a short moment. Lazard looked up from his work as Zack entered. "Ah, Zack. I was about to call you in." Zack nodded. "Tseng let me know that you had orders for me." As Lazard leaned back in his chair, he put down his pen and folded his arms. "Have you seen the news? We promoted three SOLDIERs to class 1st", he explained to Zack, who responded: "I have never met Venus, Theo and Locke, but I'm dying to meet them." Lazard nodded. "They've been deployed to Corel for quite some time. They were the ones who took care of the Corel incident." Zack was confused. "What do you mean by Corel incident?" But Lazard waved it off. "A small insurgence, but the region is unstable, so we had to station some manpower there for a period of time. It never made the news because the town is so insignificant. But good service is always rewarded. Remember that." Zack nodded.
"Which brings me to your mission. The details of this mission are secret, so keep everything I am about to tell you to yourself", he began. "As you know, we have all but won the Wutai war and it is finally time to initiate the peace negotiations." Zack nodded again. While he himself had undertaken just a single mission in the Wutai area, he had to deal with Wutai troops attempting to infiltrate and sabotage the company, so he was well aware of the state of things. "Reeve Tuesti, the Head of Urban Development will be leading the peace talks." Zack was surprised to hear that the Head of Urban Development, who had nothing to do with the military, would be given such a task, but he did not further question the decision, seeing as Heidegger, the leader of the Shinra army, was most likely not the most promising candidate to negotiate a peace treaty due to his character and favor of violent solutions to problems. Heidegger would probably not be easy to convince that peace was an option in the first place.
"You will join the advance party tomorrow to lay the ground work and prepare for the arrival of the main party, who will follow two days later. Any questions?" Zack had many questions, but he decided to ask the most pressing one first. "What exactly are we supposed to do once we arrive?" Lazard responded: "Two Turks will be joining you. Reno will be in command. He has already been briefed in detail and will give you further orders." Zack knew Reno from a few previous assignments, and he had gotten to know him as a very chaotic and reckless person. Reno was a good sport for a night out, but Zack sincerely doubted his qualification to lead an important mission in enemy territory.
"Generally speaking, your task will be to gather information on site and secure the area to ensure a safe arrival of the main party. At present, we cannot rule out that the peace negotiations are a trap. While Wutai's military is no match for us anymore, they always have tricks up their sleeves and who knows what they might do." Zack contemplated for a moment. "What could they possibly gain by targeting the Mr. Tuesti?" While the Urban Development Division was on paper equal to the other main branches of the Shinra company, it was no secret that it was only retained for appearances' sake. Midgar's urban development plan had not made any significant progress over the past decade, and according to rumors, this was due to the department being essentially defunded in favor of weapon development, research, and the army in order to keep Wutai in check. Reeve Tuesti did not appear to be target worth considering for an assassination or kidnapping plot.
His suspicion was confirmed when Lazard responded: "This is a secret, but you will find out once they arrive anyway. Rufus Shinra will be joining the negotiations. The Wutaians might try to kidnap and use him for ransom." Sending the successor of the Shinra company into enemy territory, on the other hand, appeared like a reckless move. But Zack would not question this choice. He just needed to know what he was dealing with. "Final question: who else will be supporting us?" Lazard nodded and responded: "Reno, Rude. and a few troopers will be in the advance party with. The main party will bring Mr. Tuesti, the vice president, Tseng, Sephiroth and a few more. Tseng will be in command once he arrives." Zack exhaled in relief. Knowing that not only Sephiroth would come, but that Tseng, one of the most dependable people he knew, would also be there, put his mind at ease. "You will leave tomorrow at dawn. You are to take a Gelnika from Junon to Rocket Town, where you will stay for a night and then continue to Wutai by helicopter. You are scheduled to arrive in Wutai in the morning in two days. The main party will arrive two days later." Zack saluted and confirmed: "Yes, sir!"
Lazard continued to muster him with his arms folded. "You seem to be doing well, considering the circumstances." Zack contemplated for a moment. "I try not to think about it." Lazard nodded. "That's fair. But I still think you should take some time off and have a proper vacation after this mission." Zack shrugged. "I don't really know what to do during my time off." – "Do you have anyone you would like to visit? Parents or friends perhaps?" Zack shook his head. "It's not really a good time", to which Lazard countered sarcastically: "It's never a good time, and then it's too late" Zack did not know what to say. "Think about it. I've seen too many men like you die. Angeal wasn't the first and he won't be the last. I know it's your job to fight and risk your life, but I want you to do so without any regrets."
No regrets, huh? "I can't imagine anything more painful than leaving a loved one behind." Lazard scratched the back of his head. "Then would you rather not have anything if there was a risk to lose it?" When Zack did not say anything, he continued: "It's none of my business, but I've known Angeal and Sephiroth even before they were together. They really flourished in their relationship and brought out the best in each other. It would have been a shame if they never got together." – "So you knew?" Lazard contemplated for a moment. "It couldn't be missed. Besides, Genesis came complaining to me all the time because they couldn't figure it out by themselves." Zack scratched the back of his head. He was not the only one surprised to be hearing this. I had no idea Genesis and Lazard talked about us when we were not there. "I told him one day that they might need a little push. And it appears he did that quite literally." That, on the other hand, did not surprise me that much. Genesis was not really the type to come up with the prank he pulled on us by himself. So we owe that to Lazard. "Anyway, they chose not to make it official, and I respect that. Not that it was really a secret. But most people just didn't know them well enough to notice." Director Lazard was the man whose orders could send them to their deaths, but Zack knew that really cared about them as people, and for that he was grateful. He knew that Lazard would never send anyone into a pointless death.
Lazard in the meantime appeared equally lost in thought, but Zack had heard enough and said: "I actually wanted to take my girlfriend out on a date tonight" Lazard looked up and encouraged him: "Ah, how nice. You should do that. I won't keep you any longer. If you have no further questions, you may go. We don't know how long the mission will take, so pack your things for seven days. Reno will pick you up early tomorrow morning." Zack saluted again. "Don't forget that this mission is to be kept a secret for now. Sephiroth will be briefed tomorrow."