Hey everyone long time no see, you may want to go back and reread chapter 5 A pleasant surprise as this follows directly after.

Time running out; Reno has a bad day; Finding the target can't be this easy;
Gratuitous Quoting: The Genesis Rhapsodos Lifestyle;
A rundown of chocobos and terrorists; Underestimated on account of age and size

Veld screeched the company van to a stop in front of his family's quaint cottage style house. He jumped out, not bothering to close the door behind him, and ran down the walk to the front door. Securely locked and barred, of course. While ordinarily, that would have been good, right now he did not have the time for it. He aimed for door's weak spot, which he'd put there himself in case of a time-sensitive emergency like the one he found himself in now, and kicked with all his considerable might. After two kicks, the door swung open, revealing his wife rising out of the chair she had been reading in, hand on the pistol she kept under her cardigan.

"Oh, Veld, it's just you," she sighed in relief. She took a less than a second to analyze her husband, and noting the signs of stress, she asked, "What's wrong?"

"No time. Where's Felicia?"

"She's out playing with Rosa and Mia." She waved a hand.

Veld grabbed it, his knuckles turning white. "Where do they normally play?"

"They're at Mia's house. Veld, what's going on?"

He didn't answer the question. "Get the emergency bag, and get in the van. I'll be right back."

As he ran down the block, he could already hear the three helicopters approaching. He swore again. He was cutting this too close. If his family died because of him...

Arriving at Mia's, he could hear childish laughter behind the house. He circled around back just in time to see the back door shutting as the girls went inside. He heard the click of a lock. He swore under his breath. Today was not a good day for delays.

A leak of crucial Company intel had been traced to Kalm. Under extraordinary pressure from the president, he had ordered the Turks to bomb the town. Ordinarily, he would have had another hour to get his family out, but the president wanted no chance of word of the bombing leaking and warning the target. So here Veld was, grabbing onto seconds. Veld made for the front door, rung the door bell and was thankful for his training as a Turk. Despite his inward panic, he knew he seemed perfectly calm. When the door finally opened Mia's mother stood there, eyeing him warily. He wasn't home much, after all. It was no shock that his neighbors didn't remember his face. "Mrs. Hall, I'm here to pick up Felicia."

"Ah, Veld, right? It's been awhile. Please come on in," she said as recognition dawned.

"I'm sorry, but I truly can't stay. If you wouldn't mind getting my daughter..."

"Well, I guess you're busy. Felicia!" The woman called over her shoulder. "Your father is here."

Thankfully, he didn't have to wait long for his daughter to appear, waving good-bye to her friends and Mrs. Hall. Veld turned to his pre-teen daughter. "I had some time off work, so I thought the family could go for a drive. Race you to the car?" he asked. The more normal the situation seemed to her, the better. As the two took off down the street Veld could hear the choppers almost overhead. Please, just a little more time, he thought, but in his heart he knew that even if they managed to reach the van, they wouldn't be able to make it out of town. It was too late.

Suddenly the sky darkened and the sick droning of the helicopter rotors was drowned out by an angry roar, like the sky had been ripped open. He saw Felicia had stopped and was staring up in shock. Veld looked up too, just in time to see a Bahamut summon slam into the side of one the helicopters, sending the machine careening in a nauseating spin to the ground. He almost ran after it, to check on his people. He shook himself, grabbed his daughter's hand and continued to run to the van. His wife was behind the wheel and as soon as they were in she hit the gas.

"If you wouldn't mind, I would like an explanation now," she stated with a huff.

"Later. For now, just get us away from here as quickly as possible." While he was relieved that he and his family were safe, he was also professionally annoyed that the mission had been interrupted. Had the mission intel leaked after all? The only ones in the loop were himself, the three Turk pilots, and the president himself. The possibility of a leak through those avenues was negligible. Then who, and how? Drawing out his PHS, he sent a text to the Turk in the downed chopper, asking for a status report.

[alive need assistance]

Sighing, Veld pocketed the PHS. "Drop me off by the crashed helicopter, then make your way to the Midgar apartment."

"I'm not one of your Turks, Veld. I want, I deserve, answers."

"So do I." She gave him a withering side-eye. He smiled reassuringly. "When I can tell you, I will. You know that."

"I guess that's what I get for marrying a spy," she muttered under her breath. Veld restrained a sigh. She was going to hold this over his head for a long time, he could already tell.

"Dad? Are Rosa and Mia gonna be okay?" Felicia was twisted around in her seat, trying to peer through the van's small, dark rear windows.

Another question he couldn't answer. "I don't know. Once you get to Midgar, you can try calling them."

Coming up to the crash, Veld motioned for his wife to stop and let him out. Leaning over, he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'll call this evening, if I can." With that, he slipped out, leaving his blood family behind to go help a member of his work family.

This was Reno's first solo mission, and he was pumped. Well, it was sorta a solo mission. There were two other Turks on the team, but at least he was getting to pilot the chopper without a backseat driver. Bombing Kalm was going to be too easy: just fly over and drop the payload. Heck, they'd be back to Midgar in time for lunch. At first he'd been kinda (but only kinda, he reassured himself) put off by the idea of bombing a whole town just for one little leak but hey, the order was straight from the director. If a guy who had family living there was okay with bombing the place, who was he to raise a stink?

The intercom crackled, and a serious, no-nonsense voice came through. "Positions. Alright, fire on my mark." Yeah, yeah. Guns was too straight laced for Reno's taste. "Five, four, three, screeeech..."

Reno jerked the head set off, ears ringing with feedback. The chopper in front of him was knocked to the side by... Bahamut. Shit. Someone had summoned Bahamut.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Yelling and cursing, he pulled the joy-stick to the side, just missing one of the summon's massive red/black wings. Swinging around, he watched in horror as the beast again rammed Guns's chopper, sending it to the ground.

"Bastard! I'll teach you to mess with the Turks!" Pulling the trigger, he fired a pair of missiles at the lord of dragons. Heh. Take that, you overgrown lizard. His grin faded as soon a the smoke started to clear. It was still there, charging up an energy blast. A blast aimed right at him.

Letting out a shaky "Hello!", he jerked the joy-stick to the side again. But he underestimated the size of the blast. It caught the chopper's tail and sent the machine freewheeling. As Reno tried to get some control over the craft, he cursed his luck. Of course this would happen on his first solo flight. Even if he survived this crash, would they ever let him fly again?

The chopper crumpled, catching fire on impact with the ground, but Reno was ready for this. He sprang the door just before the impact, and flung himself out of the wreckage. He hit the ground rolling to extinguish the few flames on his suit. Standing up, he surveyed the damage. The helicopter was done for, his clothes were singed and smoking, but all in all, he was alright. He began to grin like a maniac. He couldn't believe his luck at being unhurt! A roar and the rattle of gunfire broke him out of his exuberance. Bahamut was still flying above him, and so was Rod. The last Turk pilot was doing a pretty good job at staying out of Bahamut's range. He managed to drop one bomb on the town before the summon caught up with him again, and it seemed pissed. The blast that it sent towards the last airborne Turk was so large that it just barely missed the tops of Kalm's taller buildings and trees.

Blue flame engulfed the last chopper, sending it hurtling through the sky like a comet before crashing on the other side of Kalm. Seeing its last target defeated, the dragon king disappeared from the sky. After just standing there for a moment blinking, Reno finally kicked his mind into gear.

"Damn it!" He started to run over to Rod's chopper to see if the other Turk was alright. What had happened to the easy "fly there, fly back" mission? It was sicking how fast it had gone downhill. They were Turks! How could it be over so quickly? Another question pressed to the forefront of his mind. Who, and more importantly where, was the summoner? They couldn't be too far, right? He scanned everyone he passed. Most of them were busy with a fire brigade where the one bomb had gone off. Some looked as if they were in shock. A pair of woman stood off to the side, already gossiping. A few men, a couple of women, and a kid seemed to be trying to lift up some fallen rubble where a house had collapsed. Presumably, someone was trapped underneath. He wouldn't have paid the group a second glance if it weren't for shocked gasps and a man's deep voice asking, "Kid, you sure you aren't SOLDER?" Turning back around, Reno's jaw dropped. The kid, a short blond thing, was bracing up a beam with his back - a beam that a burly six-foot-plus guy would have had trouble with.

"Not SOLDIER," the kid snapped. "Hurry up, I can't hold this forever."

"A-al-right." The adults quit staring at the blond and quickly went back to the task at hand, pulling two bodies out from under the collapsed building.

Deciding this was too strange to ignore, Reno left Rod to his fate and sidled up to the kid, a preteen, judging by his height.

"That looks pretty heavy, yo. Want a hand?"

The boy jerked his head up, startled by his voice. Not SOLDIER, huh? Reno called bullshit. There was no way to mistake those eyes. If the kid wasn't Shinra manufacture, where was he from? And more to the point, was he the summoner?

"I can handle it."

"You sure about that?"

"I'm fine, Reno." The response was snappish and irritated, and as soon as the name left the kid's lips his eyes sparked with panic for a millisecond, before his face locked down into complete blankness. Reno blinked in surprise, then grinned. Gotcha. He wasn't sure what he'd got, but if this kid knew his name and not vice-versa... Well, that just wasn't a good combination for the not-a-SOLDIER. Apparently the kid knew it too, because as soon as he saw the other people clear, he dropped the beam and punched Reno right in the gut.

The force of the blow was enough to knock all the wind out out of the redhead. Reno fell to his knees, gasping and fighting to stay conscious. Above him, the kid murmured "Sorry," and then was gone, just like that. This really wasn't his day, Reno moaned to himself silently. Getting up slowly on shaky legs, he saw the shocked looks he was getting from the locals. Giving them a crooked, wheezy smile, he turned and unsteadily headed for Rod's chopper, all the while thinking about the strange kid.

Judging by the strength and speed he'd seen from him, the blond probably had enough MP for summoning. Bahamut wasn't a beginner's summon, and that kid was no beginner. Another thing that made the kid a likely suspect was the fact that the summon had only gone after the choppers, not the pilots. The blond could have killed Reno with that one punch, but he'd chosen not to. Hell, he'd even apologized. The avoidance of lethal force by both summon and stranger was a notable link. But Reno knew his own luck. It was too easy, coming right across the target just like that.

Reno reached the edge of town before he could reach a conclusion. Scanning the horizon, he spotted Rod coming towards him, blackened with soot and with his right arm cradled to his chest.

"Hey, Rod, you're alive!" the red head called out, waving hugely at the other Turk then wincing and hunching back over as his abs protested. Yeah, that was definitely going to bruise.

The other Turk nodded in greeting. Coming up beside Reno, he asked "Have you heard from Guns or the director? My PHS is in that fireball." He jerked his head over his shoulder, indicating the burning remains of the helicopter.

Right! Reno liked the little device a lot, but with it being so new and all, he kept forgetting he owned one now. He pulled it out and hit the speed dial for Guns. He answered Rod's question with an easy grin. "Nah, decided to check on you first. Plus, bonus points: when I was crossing through town, I think I spotted our summoner."

"And you didn't apprehend them?" Rod asked incredulously. Disgust for the newbie washed over his face. Reno would have have defended himself if the line hadn't been answered right then.

"Reno, damage report." Unexpectedly, the director answered. His stern voice sounded strangely crackly. Reno wondered whether Gun's PHS had taken some damage from the crash.

"Yeah, nice to hear from you too, yo. I'm a little singed, Rod's burnt worse and broke, sprained? no, broke, his right arm, and both choppers are dead. How are you and Guns?"

"Guns is in need of medical assistance; another helicopter is bringing a medical team in. Listen up, this is the report for the public: we were flying over when we were attacked by a summon called forth by terrorists. While engaging in battle, one bomb missed its target and hit the town below. Do either of you have something to add to this line or to the true report?"

"Yeah, said terrorist was probably a blond kid with reeeallly spiky hair. Off the record, the kid also had mako eyes and speed and strength that equaled at least a second class. Oh, and when I say kid, I mean it. Think twelve, maybe thirteen."

Beside him, Rod's look of disgust deepened. "A thirteen year old can't cast Bahamut."

"Yeah, and they can't hold up half a house on their own, or be fast enough to make it look like they just disappeared either," he shot back.

"Rod, rendezvous with Guns and I on the southwest side of town. Reno, dig around more. See what you can find out about this kid from the townspeople."

"Hey, yo, can't I at least get a cure or potion or something before I have to walk all over the place?"

"I thought you said you were fine."

"Well, I talked with the kid for a moment, and he hit me pretty hard, so that he could get away and all. Weird thing is, he apologized before he left. And, even weirder, he knew my name." Reno shrugged. The kid was strange.

"Hmm. Did he say anything else?"

"Somebody asked whether he was SOLDIER, and he said no. He seemed kinda irritated about it, but maybe that was just 'cause he was holding up a beam bigger'n he was."

"How much damage did he do to you when he hit you?"

Ahh, so the director did care. "Hurts like a bitch, but I got the feeling he was holding back."

"I see. We'll talk more once we get back to HQ. And no, Reno, we do not have time to get you a cure or potion for a mere bruise."

Damn. Hey, couldn't blame a guy for trying.

"Ripples form on the water's surface, the wandering soul knows no rest." Genesis snapped the book shut, and sighed deeply. Why was it that Sephiroth got to be the "Hero of Wutai", while Genesis was stuck running errands with the Turks? Command of the troops in Wutai rotated between the top three SOLDIER 1st Classes, and right now, it was the General's turn to cover himself in glory. While Genesis was privately happy enough for a break from the war, the unpleasant downside to being home was that he got stuck with idiotic, time-killing nonsense. All the good military minds were busy with Wutai. The imbeciles in charge of domestic missions had no idea of how to properly deploy their resources.

Looking over the latest mission briefing again, he scoffed. He, with a Turk and two troopers, would be going to Junon after a possible terrorist suspect had allegedly been seen there. The mere idea of a SOLDIER 1st going after a single target was laughable, particularly if that target was reportedly a scrawny child. The justification for sending a 1st was that the target had mako enhancements and a Bahamut summon, which Genesis thought highly unlikely. Although the report was from a Turk, it was still the report of a rookie, who had likely been dazzled by some pyrotechnics and whose novice eye couldn't tell apart genuine mako enhancement from colored contacts. This seemed like something that a 3rd or 2nd Class already stationed in Junon could safely handle. The whole ordeal would probably end up as a wild chocobo chase, which would be fitting considering their target supposedly had the hairstyle of one.

The beeping from his PHS alerted the twenty-year-old to a new message. 'Change of plans' was the subject. Smiling, Genesis quickly scrolled to the rest of the message. The idiots in charge must have seen their folly for what it was and given him a mission that was more worthy of the crimson commander's time. Quickly, however, his smile morphed into a grimace. No, the mission was still about the chocobo-headed terrorist. Apparently the brat had three traveling companions. They were transporting a flock of rare gold chocobos and had been spotted in Costa Del Sol. What the change of plans amounted to was a switch from one seaside town destination to another, and the addition of three new targets. Genesis found himself praying to the Goddess that at least one of these three would prove more of a challenge than some diminutive blond.

Shoving the dog-eared copy of Loveless into his kit, he made his way to the helipad, encountering his longtime friend Angeal in the hall, morning coffee in hand. He filled the other 1st in on his fool's errand. "I fully intend to be back by the weekend. The Theater Grand has a new Loveless performance premiering," he politely ignored Angeal's discreet eye-roll, "and as it features one of the more tragic endings, which most of the modern interpretations shy from, it's well worth your time to see."

Angeal gave him a look that Genesis was well-used to. It read, "I'm not terribly interested, but for the sake of our friendship, I'll at least consider it." Aloud, the dark-haired man answered, "Maybe, if I have the time. Remember, the first serious test for the new cadets is at the end of this week. My desk will be flooded with paper work, especially if you're off playing hooky. You might consider helping me out once in a while."

Genesis flipped a stray hair out of his face. "Perhaps I'll feel so generous when I get back, but for now I must go. Even if the morrow is barren of promises, nothing shall forestall my return."

Genesis watched as the numbers rose on the elevator display until he was level with the helipad. The doors slid open with a polite ding, inaudible to any but a SOLDIER under the sudden drone of a helicopter's rotors. With his signature red leather coat flapping in the wind, the commander stalked across the flat concrete to the helicopter that would be taking him to the resort town. As he approached, he caught sight of a dark blue suit in the pilot's seat. Behind him, he heard the solid beat of military issue boots coming up the stairwell. Seemed that the grunts had arrived. He turned to inspect the two men under his command. They stared back with the solid impassivity of veteran soldiers. They were equipped with standard issue rifles and, surprisingly, swords as well. Those few units who carried both weapons were skilled and versatile. The Turks were taking no chances on this chocobo hunt. When he finally settled into his seat, he was finally forced to give up his condescending notion of a simple mission, for it was the leader of the Turks in the pilot's seat.

Veld's face was grim and stony as he went over the controls. With the rotors already running, the noise level was too loud to ask any questions, so Genesis was forced to go without answers for now. This being the case, he simply pulled out his copy of Loveless and began to read through its familiar lines. He would get his answers once they landed, he consoled himself.

After a four hour flight across the ocean, they landed at the small Shinra base in the resort city of Costa Del Sol. While waiting on the tarmac for Veld to secure the helicopter, Genesis watched the gulls drifting on the wind. "We seek it thus, and take to the sky, no matter where the winds may blow."

"I guess they weren't kidding when they said they'd be sending the "poetic" commander, yo." Genesis arched an annoyed eye brow at the unfamiliar Turk approaching them, clothes as rumpled as if the man had slept in them.

"Genesis, this is Reno, one of our newest members. He has been gathering intel on our targets." Here, Veld turned his full attention to the young Turk. "What've you found so far?"

The Turk, Reno, shook his head and sighed. "Not much. The suspects are a group of four individuals: a blond boy, about 145 centimeters tall, carrying a buster style sword and riding one mean looking motorcycle; a brown haired male teen, around 160 centimeters, armed with a broadsword; a black haired teenage girl, standing about 154 centimeters, with no visible weapon; and a pre-teen girl of Wutaian descent, conflicting reports on height, but undoubtedly short, weapon an over-sized shuriken. They boarded a cargo ship in Mideel a week ago with a flock of fifteen chocobos, all golds 'cept for one chick, reports vary on color, but probably blue or white. No reports before this of a similar flock. With the Wutaian girl, the group might be something to do with Wutai or they could be a group of orphans, parents killed in the war, and now they're looking for answers and or revenge. 'Nother option is that they're connected to 'The Death God on the Battle Field' and his group. That being part of the mission the blonde interfered with, and all. But with no names, it's hard to find out for sure."

"Reno, you have four other Turks with you and you still don't have their names?" Veld asked, obviously displeased with the crucial lack of information.

"Hey, 's not my fault the kids don't use their names, yo. They always pay up front with gil, and never officially bought tickets. All we've got is 'Strife'. The one time they did have to drop a name, that was it. Whether it's a group name, code name, alias or what - we don't know."

Veld gave a short nod. "So they're being careful. What else?"

"Kay, so the ship headed from Mideel for Junon, stopped in port at 1000 hours to load and unload there on Monday, before it docked here in Costa yesterday morning at 0800 hours. The targets paid for passage to Costa del Sol, but there was an incident in Junon. Somebody may've tipped 'em off in regards to our mission. The blond left in a rush, making a bit of a scene. Some troopers tried to apprehend him, but watching the security footage from the city gate - Look, the way he went through it, it was pretty damn obvious that they didn't have a prayer of catching him. I did tell you the bike was mean looking, yo. Anyway, next time the blond shows up is about five n' a half hours later in Kalm."

Genesis snorted while behind him the troopers murmured between themselves. "Impossible. Only a helicopter could get there that fast. I would imagine you have the wrong blond, Turk."

"Doubt it. How many blonds out there have chocobo-ass hair and a behemoth of a motorcycle?"

Before Genesis could rebuke the novice Turk, Veld cut in. "Get on with the report, Reno."

"Yeah, right. So as the Commander points out, that's not a easy feat. The reaction times needed to drive a bike at that speed indicate mako enhancements. And the bike itself must be unusual - a gas- or mako-powered vehicle would've needed to stop at least twice for fuel, but the speed with which he showed up makes that unlikely, if not straight-up impossible. Anyway, kid showed up in Kalm, interfered with a Turk mission only five people knew about, and used a Bahamut summon to take out three helicopters. I came across the kid in town, and he had mako eyes, as well as displaying strength and speed to rival a 2nd or 1st class SOLDER. I spoke to him, and he knew my name. When he realized he'd slipped, he clammed up, hit me, and moved out."

Genesis frowned even more deeply. He was not persuaded that the child was the equal of a 1st Class SOLDIER, but he was prepared to entertain the notion of mako enhancements, and that the brat had access to Turk-level intelligence seemed incontrovertible. He could understand now why the Turks were on such high alert, but he still didn't know why they couldn't have had one of the other 1sts handle it. Chasing after a bunch of kids was not what Genesis had trained for.

Reno continued. He told them how he questioned residents of Kalm and found that no one knew anything about the blond, and many hadn't even seen him. "Backtracking a little to the three left in Junon, a guard was set up on board the ship and 'round the chocobos, so that they could question the blond's companions 'bout the stunt he pulled when leaving. The guards collared the three at 2100, but the other boy and the Wutaian girl walked right past, claiming to be heading for their rooms. The guards, knowin' that there were other troopers stationed at the bunks, didn't put up much fuss and attempted to question the older girl. …And got absolutely nowhere, like I said earlier - not even their names."

"Meanwhile, the situation on the rest of the ship is FUBAR. The guards on the rooms get taken out by the tiny girl; so do all the guards with the birds. The suspects gather their things and the chocobos and make their way off ship. The older girl, seeing 'em, takes out the three guards detaining her. Apparently, she's a damn good martial artist, yo. The whole group sets out across the water with their birds, arriving here the next day at 0200 hours. Currently, they've got the birds at the race track, under the heading of Strife Stables. They hired some jockeys, and two of their birds were entered in a race this morning, where they made quite a bit of gil and set a track record. The blond showed up two days ago. So far I haven't figured out how he got here. Probably bribed someone not to mention they ferried him over. Anyway, he arrived, gave the jockeys quite a lecture about how to treat the birds, then the entire group left late that evening, Blondie on his bike and the others by chocobo. They only took three of the birds with them, and we've got a watch on the remaining ones. Haven't approached them yet; don't want to tip the kids off that we're watching them. If you don't catch 'em, we can get 'em when they come back to check on the birds."

"As though I won't be able to catch four children. I intend to be back in Midgar by this weekend, and I won't stand for any delay." Genesis scowled at the troopers meaningfully. They may be from amongst the more elite army grunts, but they were still just that: grunts, best suited to carrying the supplies.

"Do you have any intel on where they may have gone?" Veld questioned.

"Sorry, old man. We lost 'em in the Corel area. General direction is west, towards the Nibel mountain range."

"Right. Send me the coordinates of where you lost them, then head back to Midgar."

"Back to Midgar! But why? I've got it covered here, yo."

"Reno. They know you. I don't want you anywhere near here." The older Turk started to tap a message into his PHS. Clearly, the discussion was over.

Genesis smirked. "Run along home, Turk, we've got it covered."

Reno flashed him a dark look but left without saying anything else. Veld snapped his PHS shut and motioned them back to the helicopter. "We'll head for their last known location and pick up their trail from there."

Genesis seethed at Veld's preemptory tone, but obeyed. He hated taking orders from someone else, and did not much like having to share command either. This whole thing was starting to stretch his patience thin. Adding to the insult, apparently a girl described as 'tiny' had taken out multiple troopers. It only confirmed Genesis' low opinion of the Army, but as an operative of the same Company, it was a huge embarrassment. With performances like that, it was no wonder the war was taking so long.

Next time they disembarked, they were north of Corel, in the middle of nowhere. Dust puffed up from flat, hard-baked earth and settled on his high black boots and the hem of his red coat. Mountains shimmered in the distance, not a tree or any kind of shade for miles. What little vegetation there was, was scattered tuffs of dry pale grass or desiccated shrubs. He eyed the needle birds tracing high circles in the clear afternoon sky, their blue-and-dun feathers glinting in the golden light, and decided that they were no threat. The group spread out, canvassing the area. After a few minutes searching, he found the faint tracks of three chocobos and a motorcycle in the sand leading from the dunes eastward. He gave a shout to alert the others. Following the tracks west, he came to an abrupt end - the tracks and all signs of their suspects' passage disappeared. Behind him he could hear the murmurs of the troopers.

"Land-worm got them, I bet. Things are all over the place out here."

"If they've got a Bahamut summon, I don't think they're going down to a land worm. I say they got picked up by someone. See the distortions in the sand? That's from a wind getting kicked up by a chopper or something."

"Well, at least one of you isn't stupid," Genesis drawled, "but you're jumping to conclusions. While indeed the tracks were washed away by the wind, note the pattern of the disturbance. If they had been picked up by, as you suggested, by a helicopter, the dust would have been blown away from the craft in a circular fashion. Instead, it's been tossed around in all directions. A spell caused this - Whirlwind, or more likely, Tornado. The marks left by such magic are quite distinctive, really." The next comment Genesis directed towards Veld. "Evidently, your Turk was not as stealthy as he thought. They realized they were being followed and obliterated their tracks. Still, until now they had been traveling in a fairly straight line - obviously heading for the mountains. I would imagine that if we stop in at the villages there, we should be able to pick up their trail again in one of them." His pronouncement made, he turned and made his way back to the helicopter, red coat flapping behind him. He didn't care whether Veld agreed with him, but it was a moot point, because the chief Turk did.

True to his prediction, at a small village at the base of the Nibel Mountains, they received confirmation from a bleary-eyed innkeeper that the group had passed through in the afternoon. As it was getting late, or more accurately, early, they decided to rest in the village for a few hours. Veld was not eager to fly into the Nibel Mountains at night, and if it came to a fight on the morrow, they would be well-rested. Neither would they want to overshoot their targets in the dark. Genesis was pleased with how things were going. They would find the children tomorrow and he'd be back in Midgar in time for the performance.

They rose just before dawn, the pale light of the summer sun barely illumining the outline of the helicopter as they boarded. They flew above the road into the mountains, and it was only two hours before they spotted a flash of feathers below. After a quick conference, it was agreed that Genesis would confront and capture them for questioning while Veld landed in a small clearing visible from their position, since the road was too narrow to provide a safe landing spot. Once down, he and the Troopers would rejoin Genesis as backup. (The redhead smirked at the notion of needing such a thing, but since time was pressing, he didn't argue the point.) Veld brought the chopper low and the Commander jumped. He landed on his feet amidst the four suspects, rising gracefully from his feline crouch. Instead of being met with awe or fear as he had anticipated, he was met with annoyance.

"Aww, they just had to send someone after us." The smallest of the group slumped her shoulders in disappointment.

"You owe me a hundred gil. I told you that Whirlwind trick wouldn't work," was the reply from the tallest boy. He was the only one with an appropriate expression, staring at Genesis with apprehension, but his casual chatting was decidedly not what Genesis wanted.

"It worked against Reno! Besides, how do we know this guy didn't just get lucky finding us?" The little Wutaian girl pointed at him accusingly.

Genesis could feel the blood beginning to pound in his temples. "It was a cute parlor trick that could only fool an idiot. Now," he drew his Rapier and pointed it at the blond. "You will surrender and come quietly with me back to Shinra like a good little child."

Irritation flashed like lightning across the blond's face before his expression settled into a neutral mask. "No."

The two little brats who'd spoken earlier laughed. He had a sudden headache, brought on by sheer anger. He did not see how a threat against them from an enemy so obviously a much higher level than any of them could ever hope to be was funny. His temper snapped. Before any of them could react, he sent a full level Fire spell at the two he marked down as imbeciles. Only one or two of them needed to be taken alive; these two could burn. The massive fireball splashed onto them… only to sputter into harmless embers around the boy and simply disappear and fade into the girl in wisps of flickering orange light. Genesis stared. They were immune to fire! The boy must have some sort of magic barrier, and the girl had absorbed it! The level of their equipment was a nasty surprise.

At least they'd stopped laughing. The boy looked alarmed. The girl, on the other hand, shrieked, "Hey! You're going to regret that!"

The girl reached over her shoulder and threw the giant shuriken that had been resting on her back at him. It was faster than he expected it to be, but he managed to block it with relative ease, sending it rebounding back in her direction. Immediately he had to dodge a status spell. From the wash of quiet air next to him, he guessed it was Silence. Obviously, there was something she wasn't immune to and she was worried he would cast it. As he stood from his roll, he found the girl right next to him, inside his guard. He lashed out with his blade but she danced away with a cat's grin on her face... and his mastered Firaga materia! He let out a curse. How had she-?! The brat! He obviously hadn't taken the situation seriously enough…. He growled. Time to make up for that.

*Note

Heads up Zephyr and I most likely won't be very active in November as it is NANOWRIMO but when we're back I'll be adding another 2k-3k words into Chapter 7 Jungles are no place for beginners so look forward to it.

Caio.

P.S. good luck to anyone participating in NANOWRIMO