The Ranger
The ride back to Shinra was whole heartedly uneventful to say the least. We sort of just sat there without much talking on either side for most of the ride, but when we were about five minutes out from HQ, I finally broke the ice.
"So, what's your name for real?" I asked.
"I'm called Shuriken," She replied. After she saw me make a face, she explained, "In the Turks, we don't go by names for the most part. Many of us find it easier if we disassociate our past from where we're at now. From your profile, you would have fit right in."
"How so?" I quizzically asked.
"It doesn't take a genius to see that you didn't exist until a few days ago. Even Midel would have medical records on you, after all, some of the world's top cancer researchers live out that way," Shuriken stated.
"Fair point," I replied.
"So, who are you really? Abraham Revelation isn't a name," she inquired.
"I find it easier to disassociate my past from my current situation. All I've known for the past several years is a military life. War seems to be a universal occurrence, so I'll fit right in," I answered.
The chopper touched down with a small thud. The two of us dropped the conversation at that as we continued on to the door. I opened it for her, didn't get a thank you, and continued through the door to see Lizard standing at the door to his office. I marched over and gave a salute.
"You don't have to do that here," He said.
I dropped the salute and said, "Mission complete."
With a nod, he said as he checked his watch, "I expect a report no later than… 08:00. Until then, you are dismissed."
I nodded once more, and moved to the elevator. Once in the elevator, I looked at my phone to see that it was almost four in the afternoon. I pressed the floor 25, and rode down to it quickly enough. Once out of the elevator, I made my way to my room. Before I even touched the knob, the door opened to reveal Zack with a sheepish grin.
"So, you in Soldier?" He asked through his smile.
I smiled back while giving a thumbs up, and he almost lifted me into the air.
"We should celebrate!" He said aloud.
I frowned, and said, "I have to write a report before I do anything else." A part of me hoped he would find the reasoning solid, mostly to my chagrin. His frown would have hurt me, but he nodded. I sighed.
"Okay, how about you tell me about it while you write it, then we get drinks!" He suggested, which a nodded to.
So that's how I found myself sitting at my desk typing away and talking to another grown man who was sitting on my bed. It only took me about an hour and a half to finish the report, which then Zack attempted to push me out of the door.
"Let me change first!" I shouted at him. He rolled his eyes at me, but left me to my room. This was the first moment I'd had to myself in almost twelve hours, and I would make the most of it. I let my mind wander as I changed. At first, I thought about what types of beer they had on this world, then they shifted to the overly energetic roommate of mine. How could a dude who looked five years younger than me have this much energy in his body? I've met teens who wouldn't even hold a candle to him. Once I was finished, I stood up and opened the door.
"So, how are we gunna christen my ascension to Soldier?" I asked jokingly.
"Grab your blade, we're going to a bad neighborhood to get drunk!" He nearly exploded.
I frowned a little in my confusion. Of course, there were going to be bad neighborhoods around, but why would I need my blade to handle them? I nodded nevertheless, as I went back and grabbed the long-bladed gun. I placed it on the magnet on my back, then exited my room once more. The two of us left the apartment, but as we turned to the elevator, the doors slid open to reveal a tall man dressed in all black with silver hair.
"Abraham, I was just coming to congratulate you," Seph called through the hall towards me.
I gave a salute, and said, "Thank you, sir!"
He returned it. "At ease, Cadet Revelation," He ordered, walking towards the two of us.
I looked over to Zack, who still was as ridged as an ironing board. I almost chuckled, but held it down. I elbowed him, but his eyes stayed affixed to the silver haired man. While Seph could absolutely be intimidating beyond measure, but he had his lighter side if you looked hard enough.
"So, where to at 18:00?" Seph asked.
"Celebration, sir," I answered honestly.
He gave a small smile, and said, "I remember my first mission, but it didn't have as much riding on it. You deserve this tiny break…" He trailed off, I caught his gaze on my blade. I grabbed the blade by the middle and pulled it out. I extended it outward in two hands on the guard and center. He looked it over for a few minutes, then smiled.
"Double edged, around two and a half feet in length, with a barrel in the middle. If I remember correctly there is a gravity materia in the center of the cross guard," Sephiroth stated aloud.
"Yes, sir. May I ask how you know that, sir?" I asked in awe of his immediate knowledge.
He tapped his hand to his hip before explaining, "Before I settled on the Masamune, I had tested many different weapons. That was one of those weapons I had tried out."
I nodded, as I swung the blade back to its magnetic sheath.
"Keep that blade oiled, and it will keep you well served. Dismissed," Seph said, walking away.
I gave one last salute, then Zack and I walked to the elevator. Once the doors slid shut, and I pressed the ground floor button, did Zack finally freak out.
"Dude, you really DO know General Sephiroth!" Zack bellowed at an ear-splitting pitch. I put my pointer finger and thumb to my nose, then took a deep breath. As I pushed the air out, my ears popped and the tinnitus in my ears alleviated slightly.
"Calm down. Yes, I know the man," I answered.
"But you know him though. What's he like?" Zack asked.
"I don't know the man, Zack. It's more like one Soldier respecting another. I can't really explain it," I stated, looking him in the eyes, "But, while he seems super serious, I sense that he has a decent sense of humor."
"Really? Wouldn't think that about the man," Zack said, not expecting my answer if his eyebrows were anything to go by.
The doors slid open to reveal a lobby. I hadn't been down here yet, so it was a bit of a shock to see a front desk with two receptionists at the front. Many people wearing suits were leaving, a few wearing white lab coats, but all worked for ShinRa. We moved past the front desk and found stairs. Going down these, I saw an elevator that was nearest to the doors.
"An elevator AT the front doors?" I asked, pointing at them.
"That is the President's personal elevator. Only people with TOP clearance can enter them," Zack said in a whisper.
I nodded, then I turned to see a statue of a man at the front doors. I leaned over and whispered, "That the President?"
Zack gave a curt nod, and the two of us left the Headquarters. I looked around to see the main building was behind us, with a few smaller buildings that were only three stories tall on either side. A long street came to an abrupt end as a small building was all that was left. We walked to it, then I noticed why everything came to an end. I looked out to see that we were extremely high in the sky, with the rest of the city down below.
We entered the building, then made our way to a man wearing a blue suit with a white shirt and black tie. He looked at the two of us and asked, "On your way to the plate?"
Zack shook his head, and said, "Down below. Sector Seven train station please."
The man looked extended two tickets out, while Zack pulled out a couple hundred numbered bills. We moved out onto the deck, and waited for a few minutes.
"What is the currency here?" I asked.
"Gil. What else is there?" Zack retorted.
"We used dollars back where I was from. Good thing that it's all paper currency though, right?" I countered.
"We have coin too, but it isn't used much anymore. Everyone just rounds either up or down depending on how close the bill is," Zack answered.
After about ten minutes of back and forth rambling, a train arrived, causing my tinnitus to act up again. After a few minutes, we were somewhere in the middle of the train. I looked around to see many men wearing suits, others without, but all looking at the floor or somewhere else. The only one who seemed out of place was some blonde with some headphones on looking out of the window.
My gaze returned to Zack when he said, "Dude, quit staring at people."
"Sorry, I'm a people watcher," I replied.
"Tell me about where you lived before Midgar," Zack suggested.
"I grew up in a small town in the country. Very tightly knit community, knew almost everyone from either school or church," I answered.
"Really?" Zack perked up. "I grew up in the country too!" He finished.
"So, how old are you?" I asked.
"I'm seventeen. You?" He answered.
"Wait what?" I asked. The first time I'd seen this tall, black haired and blue-eyed TEEN, I'd assumed he was at least twenty or so, but seventeen is insanely young to be in a quasi-military city state.
"What do you mean?" Zack retorted.
"I joined the military when I was eighteen, then spent the next four years going from combat roles to civilian life," I explained.
"That makes you twenty-two," Zack said, realizing that he was talking to a much older man compared to himself.
"You caught me off guard, sorry. Different world, different rules I guess," I said, staring out of the window as I saw many buildings begin to pass by. I shut my eyes and fell asleep for a little while, but woke up about thirty minutes later when the train lurched to a stop. My eyes took in a new dark world. The sky was pitch black, which threw off my perspective of the city, or perhaps time itself.
"Let's go," Zack said getting off of the bench.
The two of us weaved our way through the train yard, as well as a large set of iron sliding doors. The entire way I was asking various questions. Where we were going, and what we were doing. Apparently the city I had always seen from above was built into the air with an entire slum underneath. All sorts of shady individuals lived and worked here, but what's most interesting was that they all put up with it. The air was stale, and the garbage was piled up high. I was convinced that the people who lived here probably knew little of the world outside of their abodes, then again, I they probably knew more than I do.
We passed through a market on our way to a bar. Eventually, we hit a small building that had good drink and food. I can't tell how many beers and shots we did this night, but I could tell that it was the first time I had let loose in almost a year…
One month later…
After a month of work, you break into a routine fairly quickly. I wake up at five in the morning to a warm shower, and dress in a clean uniform. By six, Zack wakes to the smell of cooked food wafting through the apartment. We scarf down our food quickly, because we have a spar every day for half an hour except on Sundays. These spars always start out with stretches, then hand to hand combat. I hate these mornings most of all because I can tell that he's holding back quite a bit. Around seven, I eat an energy bar while I check for my daily tasks through my phone. Every Tuesday I have a class on battlefield tactics, and every Thursday I have a class on Materia usage at noon until one. At one, I eat lunch, then I get to work on finishing any uncompleted tasks for the day. After the tasks are completed, I go to the gym for some workout time, or make my way to the Turks for some "marksmen practice". At around six, I eat dinner, and am free to spend my time as I see fit. Typically, I would hang with Zack for this time if he isn't busy with his own training.
I wasn't a pushover back in the day, and I considered myself to be a pretty tough guy, but in this last month I could run farther, lift more, and last longer than I ever could before. All thanks to the hard work with Zack, I had accumulated over twenty-four hours of unscheduled training time with a higher-ranking officer. Zack filed the paperwork, and our sessions were being monitored, so now I qualified for proper work in the field that goes beyond just guarding an area.
I woke up, took my shower, and went to the kitchen. I was making a couple omelets, but before I could eat them my phone buzzed. It was a little early for my usual tasks to hit my phone, and when I looked at the message I saw it was from Lazard.
'Abraham, please report to the briefing room for an assignment. L.'
I went back to my room, leaving the food on two plates, and grabbed my blade and standard issue helmet. I didn't like the damn things, as they covered my peripherals, but I wanted to make a good first impression to the higher ups that go beyond Lazard. Returning to the living room, I found a semiconscious Zack stumbling to the plate of food.
"Morning," I said.
Zack looked back, his blue eyes peering through the darkness, before sleepily saying, "I love the way you just make breakfast for us in the morning."
I suppressed a chuckle. As I moved to the door, I replied, "I've got a mission today, so I'm heading to a briefing. See you later."
Five minutes later, I was in front of the briefing room one floor up. I took the stairs to save potential time, but for some reason I was a bit petrified. I took a deep breath, then entered. I took in three faces, two of which I was familiar with. Lazard sat in a chair to the left, and Veld sat in a chair to the right, but the unknown figure that sat in between the two was unknown to me. He was a pale skinned, and heavy-set man with very short brown hair, and a big beard.
"Greetings, Abraham. Please take a seat with the others," Lazard stated.
I noticed two other men as I sat next to them. One was an infantryman wearing a red outfit, the other wore a black suit.
"I'm glad you all made it on time to the briefing, as we have a joint operation today with both the military and the administrative departments…" Lazard said, gesturing towards the man in the middle to continue.
"We have received reports that one of the scientists under Professor Hojo has been compromised. We are sending a contingency of infantry and soldiers to evac her back to the HQ asap," the fat man said.
"We plan to evac her using the train in sector seven. The train will not stop at any stations beyond the HQ and Sector Seven. We don't anticipate any major resistance, that being said, there have emerged a few terrorist cells under the plate that want to see anything in a Shin-Ra uniform dead. Execute any hostiles with extreme prejudice," Lazard ordered, leaning forward to grab a glass of water.
"Any questions before we begin?" Veld asked.
"How many units will be on the train?" Asked the infantry commander.
"I have three units already mobilized at the station, the Soldier will be overseeing things," the fat man informed.
The three of us quieted after this, but my mind was ablaze with many questions and ideas. If I was overseeing the infantry, then was the suit next to me going to be overseeing me? And if so, what could this mean if I'm being watched by the company in such a manner.
"If there are no more questions, then you are all due to catch a train asap," Lazard said, leaning back in his chair.
The three of us stood from our chairs, the infantryman and myself gave a salute, and the three of us left the room. We remained quiet while walking to the elevator. I fidgeted with my helmet in my hands as we rode our way down to the lobby. The infantry commander seemed to notice this, but kept quiet at first.
He cleared his throat, then asked, "You gunna be alright?"
I nodded. I didn't say what was on my mind, it didn't seem like a good idea right now to give away too much on what I was thinking. As the elevator reached the lobby, I took a deep breath and put the helmet onto my head. The three of us left the metal device and made our way down the first set of stairs to the company store, and then down the final set to reach the reception area.
Once out of the building, we walked with stride to the train station. Around fifteen men in blue uniforms with black Kevlar vests stood with around waiting for us. Their rifles looked remarkably similar to M16's, which made me smile at the familiarity. Some of the men held their rifles in one hand at the hand guard, others had theirs hanging by the strap over a shoulder, a few had the butt of the stock on the ground and held the muzzle. I took note of around four men who had swords at their hips, and wondered how practical they would be in a fire fight, then I remembered my own blade the was on my back. They noticed us, and all broke into formation awaiting orders.
I took note that there was the engine cart and three cabins. "Five to a cart, one swordsman in each," I muttered to the commander.
"Alright men, on the train! Five to a cart, one sword per cabin!" The commander bellowed to the infantrymen. Each man went onto the train, but one man hesitated. Before the commander could say anything, I moved to him.
"Problem, swordsman?" I asked him in a confident and commanding tone.
"No problem, Sir." He said, then turned to enter the train.
As they got into the train, the commander sighed. "Guess they recruited Strife for this mission," he said.
I didn't dig any deeper, but instead followed the infantry swordsman onto the train.
One hour later
The sounds of gunfire were ringing throughout the train station as we disembarked at the sector seven train yard. Three infantrymen were already at the platform with a woman wearing a lab coat and a briefcase was handcuffed to her hand. She was completely out of breath, and her hair was all over the place.
"On the train," the Turk said to the woman.
Through her huffs, she said, "Finally!"
As she walked past me, the three men at the station were blasted with a ball of fire. The explosion blasted the Turk, Professor, and myself backwards. The world went grey and my ears popped and rang. Despite this, I bolted to my feet and observed a man wearing all black tactical gear walk up the steps. Many of the infantrymen on the train opened fire out of the windows, but well-placed sniper shots picked them off one at a time. I looked over to the large beam holding the plate up and noticed a glint of a sniper scope. I removed my blade from the magnet on my back, and took cover. I saw the doctor was hiding under a seat, with the Turk covering her with his body. Two more men fell down with blood splattering the chairs before the train lurched forward. I looked around to see only one swordsman was still with the Turk, doctor, and myself. Then I saw the man in black had jumped through the doors as they slid shut.
As I stood from my cover, my blade at the ready, I took in his tactical gear. Some sort of black vest with many pot shots in it was on his chest, a black pauldron with arm gaurds covered his left arm, and many green orbs adorned each piece of armor. I screamed, "Get the professor to the next cart!"
The man smiled, his hands slowly starting to lit on fire. As he threw the ball at me, I ducked down and darted towards him. I intended to thrust my blade through his chest, but before I made it to him he snapped his fingers. A jolt of electricity went through my body, forcing me to trip and fall onto the ground with a small convulsion. I let my blade go on the ground, and reached for the knife in my boot. The man chuckled as I threw the three-inch knife at him, then he simply lifted his hand up. The blade stopped in midair and shook his head. With a flick of his wrist, the small blade flew back at me, lodging into my helmet, but not piercing my skin. I fell to the ground, playing dead. I heard a few gunshots, then the sound of a sword being drawn. I removed my helmet, rolled over and grabbed my blade. In the moment that I prepared to pounce, I noticed the swordsman glowed a bright blue hue as he jumped into the air and slice the guys face up pretty good. He fell to the floor, clutching onto his heavily bleeding face.
I got to my feet and walked over to the infantry swordsman and said, "Good work." That's when we heard gunshots in the next cart. The two of us moved through the doorway to see two more men dressed the same as the first insurgent. The Turk was clearly having a hard time dealing with these two, but with us here we stood a chance.
The man on the left charged first, swinging a knife at me. I couldn't swing in such a cramped space, so I felt as though this fight may be more difficult than anticipated. I took a step back and attempted to thrust the blade at him. He rolled around the stab and swiped for my face. I dropped my blade and grabbed the man's arms. It quickly turned to a stalemate.
I looked over to my right, still fighting the knife man off, only to find the Turk holding onto a cut on his jaw as the infantryman was punched in the face. As the infantryman stumbled from the punch, his helmet slid off revealing spikey blonde hair.
"Hey Turk, Help!" I called just as the knife wielding maniac sucker punched me in my lips. I stumbled back, awaiting my own stabbing, only to hear a loud bang and see the mans head jerk to the left. He fell with the momentum of the blow. I scooped up my blade, and charged the man fighting the blonde. I saw a flash of blue around my arms as I drove my blade through him, a small spasm and a scream erupted from the insurgent. As I withdrew my blade, I saw burn marks all around the entrance wound. His eyes began to bubble, then pop. He smelled like a charred piece of rotting meat, but for the most part I kept my composure and did not vomit.
"Professor Rayleigh was taken ahead by some woman wearing a red overcoat. I fear the worst," the Turk said.
My first thought went to the man in the woods, Genesis. Red coat wearer yes, but a woman he was not. The three of us burst through the door, but we were too late. The red hair of the professor matched the color of her lab coat wrapped around her right hand.
The blonde was now throwing up in the corner, I ran to the woman to provide aid, and the Turk called Veld to inform him of the status. As I passed the woman a vial of potion, she muttered incoherently about some AVALANCHE. She downed the liquid, then shut her eyes. Luckily she was still breathing, but the hand would be gone forever.
The three of us sat down, and sighed at a job well screwed.
End of Chapter
Edited March 15th 2020.