Behind Black Curtains
Amaranthos
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Chapter 46: The War
"…I look around and see so many anxious faces" the blond softly breathed, "but today my brothers we fight to the end in a war that calls us to be victors" he started, "we've fought so long, worked so hard, and chased and chased the things of the dark, but today we put all that behind us and destroy Red Hearts once and for all" he roared, "no longer will we hide and fade, no longer will we stay quiet, and no longer will there be death that robs us of our futures, of our families, of our lives – no today we fight to the end" Rufus shouted, the large crowd cheering in echo.
Rufus turned to his father and offered a small smile, "to victory" he rose his sword to the sky.
'Alas the day has come' Sephiroth mused.
He took a deep breath and felt stillness over him. He looked around his room and knew it to be his last. Fixing his black uniform just slightly he smirked that never once had he fancied casual garb. Dusting the invisible speck, his peripheral vision noted the figure of a woman approaching his side.
"Please don't this…" her voice was a whisper.
Moving past her and taking his Masamune from the mantle, he spent a moment staring at the weapon that had single-handedly defined him.
"There's no need for you to be part of a war like this Sephiroth, you've said it…" she continued.
"Unfortunately…there is" he countered.
"Please…"
"…Tifa" he drew closer to her, "this is the point in our journey we must step back and let the flow of our fates decide what may be" he placed a hand around her small waist, "I have treasured you - these ephemeral moments of my humanity has comforted me, and it is with that you gave me something my dead heart could not…" he leaned closer.
With tears in her eyes she breathed, "what?"
"Possibility… " he leaned forward and softly his lips touched hers
The burn of his lips against hers, felt so raw, so exquisite and yet ephemerally short.
Her long fingers clutched his jacket, "wait…" she swallowed
He looked into her eyes, something in his heart suddenly twisting…
"Come back to me" she drew closer until the colour of her burgundy eyes consumed him.
His lips took hold of hers for an even deeper kiss, and he lost himself for a second time…
Sephiroth appeared no later than the hour of his requirement, standing sharply in his imperial Black Crescent general uniform. He wore every medal, badge and honour he had acquired all these many years serving Velrog and Rufus Shinra in their idealistic war.
Sephiroth lightly bowed at both, who nodded in kind.
"Glad you could join us, General" Rufus started, "the troops are ready for deployment. I'll have you stationed here, seeing this our enterprise is of most importance." He paused to look over the vista of deployed soldiers, "I will miss this – the anthem of men who chorus the earth to victory"
"Poetic on the day of battle, I see" Sephiroth humoured
Rufus sighed, "perhaps…" he blew a breath, "nonetheless… we have a war to win. Father, you'll brief Sephiroth on the details of the girl… I best be off. Tseung mentioned there was a surprise he had for me…" Rufus faded and went off into the courtyard.
When he was a distance out Sephiroth inquired, "the girl?"
"I've personally decided to make it my business to rid her in some more fashionable finality" he explained.
Seeing the general's interested piqued, Velrog continued, "I had considered myself lacking the capacity for sometime – somehow regretting the death of my friend. After all, how could I kill my best friend's grand child?" he inquired, "but there is no need for men like you and me to be bereaved by matters of such limited importance" he sighed, "bring the girl to me tomorrow at midday and I will personally make it my duty to set right the burden expensed on you these many months" he said anew.
"As you wish" Sephiroth nodded.
Cloud Strife had never seen so many soldiers fall to their death all at once. There were bodies on the floor, bodies on the rocks, bodies at the bay. Black Crescents had tricked them!
He had deployed his safety beacon long ago in hopes Red Hearts would know the area had been compromised. The land was drenched in the taste of blood and soldiers flesh.
He charged through the air, manning his sword to his chest, swiping stroke after stroke through flesh and bone. The fresh sprinkle of warm blood touched his cheeks and there's this desensitized feeling haunting him. The dance goes on, and one after the other they fell, the earth welcoming another child into her bosom. The crescendo of machine guns and weapons burned past the understanding of who was firing from where and how. The echo of his own heart trembled like a boy, and yet Cloud Strife was not daunted when he took another life to the grave.
The warplanes flew above and dispelled weapons to the earth killing in notorious style all those in her radius. He ran faster through the crowd, noticing one of the Red Heart bases secured with a green flag. Taking cover in the confines, he practically fell to his knees when he realized he had been going for the last three days straight.
A medic rushed to him, and attended his petty wounds. Then suddenly a hand clutched his side, "Cloud?"
The blond whipped around almost like a deer in headlights and there he was, Zack Fair – Tactics Commander of Delta B regiment; they had arrived – which made sense considering the zone was safe.
"Zack!" he breathed, "the entire fleet's dead" he continued, "it just happened so fast" Cloud didn't even know it but tears were running down his face, "the first day we saw smoke and had a team sent out to investigate. It was a freakin' nightmare! Damn thing was a boobie trap. We never got a signal from the team so I took it as a sign something happened. I sent a stealth team of five to investigate, and got word Black Crescents had deployed a full frontal attack, and what was in the blink of eye they rigged the ground from right under us… mines – freakin mines, Zack!" he shook his head fiercely, "I should have known they were smarter considering they killed a striker team – 'had no idea we were being spotted. Long story short, we took one wink of sleep and just like that… the entire crew just…" Cloud couldn't bring himself to say it.
"It's okay man, you're safe now. We got you" Zack afforded
"Fifteen hundred soldiers dead Zackery, the hell man!" the blond shook his head tiredly.
"Correction, fourteen hundred and ninety-nine. You're still alive buddy" Zack informed, "get something to eat and take a rest."
A dejected look came to Cloud's face, "I don't deserve it"
"Look Strife…" Zack sighed, "now's not the time to fall apart. I need you to pull yourself together"
Zack stopped, "we've got this… you're in good hands."
Arthur focused on the document sent just minutes ago, greatly grieved at the news. They had killed so many, but tightening his jaw, he understood war would have her causalities. As General and leader of Red Hearts, it was important to stay calculated, alert and strong. Especially at a time like this.
Easing his eyes over the mammoth-sized mech, he momentarily smiled.
"She's a real beauty" Arthur commented, stroking his bare hand on the Mech's foot.
"You should see her run" the technician appeared, "she's definitely going to be the star of the show alright"
"Is she ready for her debut?"
"Not quite, she needs greasing, but I'd say after that she's all yours" he paused, "have you decided on who will pilot her?"
The elder man stayed silent for a few moments, it was his hope Cloud would be the pilot, but seeing's the boy's admiration to please, he granted him ranking on the field.
"I will"
The technicians in the room suddenly snapped their heads, "sir?"
"It's about time I man my position in this war" Arthur afforded, "I'll give you twenty-four hours to have her in top shape, after that… I roll"
Arthur had an agenda and his mech was carded to be the real icebreaker; he was a strategist planning his troops and efforts accordingly over an estimated timeline of two days. There was no reason for lengthy thrusting; this was about force, effort, strategy and a little something extra…
Speaking of extra, he'd had to communicate the good news to Sephiroth who greatly displeased of surprises. Entering his war room, he turned to his top generals in command.
"Any word from Sephiroth?"
"No sir" Genesis said, Arthur's right hand man.
"I don't think you should hold your breath Arthur" another general by the name of Noctis informed.
"And why's that?"
"Consider it like this… this game and it's pieces are in motion, Sephiroth can't be bothered now with the mundane tidings of keeping updates, or sending them for that matter. We rely on the plan Arthur…" Noctis was curt
"If I could reach him on the progress of the mech…"
"—it might be a disaster" Genesis interjected, "we can't risk the need to inform him now at least when things are so volatile there. You don't want the wrong person picking up our frequency, do you?"
Arthur sighed, he hated this. He didn't want to keep secrets from Sephiroth, not that the man didn't know, but its deployment…every little detail meant something to a strategist.
"You need to trust he knows what he's doing. He'll be fine…" Genesis afforded.
"This is Sephiroth we're talking about, he'll just be pissed if he sees it…" Arthur sighed, "nonetheless, it is what it is…"
"Have you heard any word from Delta B?" Arthur sat back in his chair, reading through a memo.
"They safely arrived, and had them some luck." Noctis started, "seems like your golden boy survived his frontal attack"
Arthur gave a quizzical look, "Cloud?"
"He made it through alright, and from the looks of it with his head on. Zack's doing his best to man the post, but it's been tricky down there. We might want to deploy some air tirade to diffuse the dominance" the blue-eyed general said.
"Can we spare it?" Arthur inquired
"I think I can pull a team together, but we have to work fast and closer to night"
"Then by all means, general" Arthur agreed.
"Another thing" Genesis started, "the Black Crescent bay has been a strong hold" he sighed, "we're being blown to smithereens every time we hit frontal lines"
"The hell… how many armadas do they have?"
"Don't forget Velrog was proactive about this war for years and bought every scrap metal junkie he could. Expensive yes… but working certainly" Genesis went on, "if we don't make a dent on those ships, we'll waste troops before we can even see the gates"
Arthur held the bridge of his nose, "what do you propose?"
"Well considering Delta B's there, with Alpha B to arrive shortly, I'd have them coordinate a sting operation to the coast, planting explosive devices on the relaying towers giving temporary loss of transmission. We'll destroy their terrain with mines, from there its all up to the black hawkes to finish off whatever gets left in the rubble. It's not going to be a big dent, but by then our troops from the north would have arrived giving us the open opportunity to attack"
"Sounds tedious…"
"Agreed, but the mech needs space and she'll never make it with those armadas at the coast"
"Very well… revise the plan and release accordingly to tier one"
"Yes sir…"
It was in that moment, they received a transmission.
"Sir, we've just received word from General Sephiroth" the soldier started
Arthur edged off his chair, "what is it?"
The soldier looked down, unable to bring himself to read the contents.
"Well…" Arthur was growing impatient
Genesis took the paper, "says, they have decided to" he stopped mid-sentence, "they've decided to execute your daughter"
Arthur stood up, "what, when?"
"Tomorrow at midday…"
Arthur felt the wind kicked right out of him. Slamming his fists to the table, he looked up suddenly in a fury, "mobilize and do everything in your capacity to assure the mech has safe passage, and as for Sephiroth… I best hope he's keeping his word" the man's jaw tightened
War was not something any human should endure, yet the fact that wars were, people died, and someone domineered, left questions and hurts so deep, they created just that breeding ground for more wars. So where was diplomacy when hostility was being effected?
Looking out the window, seeing all these men fighting and dying to their last breath, leaving behind family and any semblance of normalcy all to appease a stinking fiction called peace, troubled her. Even the man she loved was out there somewhere, killing himself to be relieved the sociopathic whet appetite for death.
The dream that one suddenly wakes up from the nightmare called war after being institutionalized for many years was but a childish idea, yet why oh why did she hope that even if Sephiroth survived, he could allow himself that simple simplicity to live like a normal man. To begin with, he'd never been normal, so was it complete trash that she hoped he could be, and with her?
She'd love him, and desperately too… but what did it mean now, when they both could die?
She'd spent her whole life looking through windows, wishing the bad things away while men like her father and Sephiroth ran forward manning wars, shaping lives…
Was there any real justice in being a pacifist, anything truly substantial she could merit herself, now that she knew neither side cared to listen? What then, what now?
She sighed against the window, praying that the ones she loved would somehow be safe, that this war would end, that Black Crescents and Red Hearts could see past their indifferences… and men could live with men, in peace
The sound of heavy rumblings jerked her to the window, where her eyes grew heavy. Over fifty tanks from courtyard started through the large black gates. These machines all equipped with advanced weaponry were designed to do just one thing, kill. She breathed heavily, it wasn't looking very good and seeing the way there was virtually not a speck of red (red hearts), it gravely discomforted her that her people might actually be under attack or worst, dead.
She prayed it wasn't so.
There were soldiers around and about, and commanders and generals. She looked through the ranks to find Sephiroth, unfortunately he was nowhere to be found. It was odd that she had seen him all this time as a Black Crescent, only to discover he were something else.
Her mind wandered back to the day of the bull arena. She figured he wasn't very known by her people considering, most had uttered depreciated names at him. So then were they truly going to kill him the day of the bullfight? Clearly there was more to this smoke and mirrors plan than she thought. What about the times he hurt her, was that all part of the plan too?
It couldn't be… could it? He had the imperial uniform. Exactly how far were they willing to go to convince credibility? Well, she'd admit it but they were all good actors, pretending in this skit…
"You've gotta be kidding me Genesis" Zack sputtered, "it's absolute suicide"
"You have yourself orders commander"
"To hell is with those orders, these guys are gonna lose their lives because you couldn't think of a better plan?"
"Must I remind you who you're speaking to?"
"To hell with it! Tell me" Zack shook his head, "is it so easy to sit where you are and not bat an eye that these guys who signed up for this, didn't sign up to throw themselves into literal fire. What the hell man!" he inquired
"Are you… questioning my command, soldier?"
"I thought I already did" Zack discharged, "if it's a command to get my guys killed then screw it. Our running directive is to secure the location, if we don't then nobody goes in or out"
"It's urgent we compromise the directive and focus on other aspects of the war. Let's just say something big came up"
"I don't really care, Genesis. The last time I checked nothing was so big it couldn't wait to follow protocol"
"When Arthur Lockhart's daughter is about to meet execution tell me then what would overhaul protocol" Genesis shouted, "not only are you insubordinate, but you trifle with a senior officer in the heat of war" he paused, "now isn't the time to act all sentimental, you have job, now do it"
Zack swallowed. So… Tifa Lockhart had become the focus again. Not that he blamed the girl for being in the wrong place at the time, but seriously she screwed up everything.
The agony, the hours, the time… the training, all of this was for her, right? It was hard to see how one person could be so significant to the rest, that the five hundred he manned as captain were so… unimportant. War certainly shaped lives… and so too the individuals mind… the moral compass was lost, the honouring of what was right and good, amiss…
Blue eyes faded, there wasn't much he could say now now that his orders were irrevocable.
"Understood," he finished.
"Excellent, I'll send you deployment times soon."
"Yes sir…"
"And Zackery…" Genesis started
"Sir?"
"That attitude… get rid of it"
Zack sighed and shook his head, "yes sir"
With a click, transmission was cut and Zack fell back almost unceremoniously into his chair. He looked around at the busy faces, studying their diligence, their tenacity to serve and serve with honour. Yet now the plan had changed and he would steer them from possible hope, to certain death.
He stood for a second and saw at his side, the blond man whom he favoured a long time friend.
"Didn't I tell you to get some rest Strife?"
The blond sheepishly grinned, "let's face it, no one's getting a wink in this noise" he afforded, "so what's the update?"
Zack drew a heavy breath.
"Couldn't be that bad…" Cloud paused to mutter, "nothing's as bad as losing fifteen hundred soldiers…"
Zack scoffed, "yeh, well, this just might…"
The younger man shot him a troubled look
Swallowing the thick lump, he adjusted his gaze, "everyone may I have your attention…"
The few in the tent on looked their superior, "I have some very important news from headquarters"
"Our directive has changed by order of General Lockhart" he informed.
"Directive's been changed?" Barret, a senior weaponry officer inquired, "how the hell does that even happen at a time like this?"
"When the life of Tifa Lockhart becomes decided" he shot him a look, "we've been ordered to move troops into the bay area, to destroy the relaying towers, and leave explosives alongside the beach." He paused, "from there Alpha B will join, to clean up and work with Alpha A in destroying the relaying towers" he explained.
"Tell me…" Barret shook his head, "why the hell does it sound like you're saying we're gonna die?"
Zack tightened his jaw.
"Oh man.. they sent us to our freakin graves?" Barret quarreled, "are you for real?"
He stood there unable to utter a single word.
"Why didn't you say something? Why didn't you defend us… you know this is suicide…"
"I have my orders" Zack whispered
"To hell is with your orders, this is crazy and you know it" Barret belted, "if you wanna have your team killed then do it, but like hell I'm not gonna stick around and take this"
"What the hell am I suppose to do?" the raven-head shouted back, "you don't think that I stand here disgusted at the words exiting my mouth?" he drew closer, "don't you think I know what it means to send my…" he paused unable to bring himself to say it, "my brothers to their death?" he asked quietly, "I have orders Barret!" he shouted, "and they're not optional, not for me, not for you so get yourself together because at sundown we move out" Zack shouted
Barret scoffed, whipping out the tent.
Zack took a breath, something heavy in his chest. When things had calmed down, Cloud drew nearer.
"General Lockhart can't be serious right?" Cloud asked
Zack turned lazily to study his watch, "for what reason does he have not to?" he asked, "Tifa's life is in danger. If they don't clear the land before midday tomorrow, let's just say we kiss this war and his daughter goodbye"
"Why such a critical timeline, what's coming midday?"
"You don't know?"
The blank expression was all Zack needed to know that Arthur, who prized overlooking Cloud, wouldn't have the decency to let him know, even now. How disgusting…
"There's a mech coming and they need minimum to little repetitive fire to get her through the Black Crescent gates. As of now that's all I know…"
"And Tifa's life?"
"It's been decided she'll be executed by midday. My guess is… Arthur's flustered" he paused, "so he's pushing for a quicker, tighter… more expensive war"
"Expensive?"
"When so many men die in a short space of time, we call it expensive because we'll never get back that brotherhood…"
For a long time the blond stood there allowing Zack's empathic words echo through his mind.
"Then let me help" Cloud found his tongue
Zack scoffed, "and watch you die? Not happening kid"
"I'm not a kid, Zack. I'm a commander just like you"
"And what the hell are you gonna do, risk your neck just to say you were one of us? No save yourself and die another day"
"I owe her, Zack…" the words were so tiny, Zack thought he never heard them.
"Why do you do this to yourself?" Zack asked, "you guys didn't work out…"
"She…" he paused, "she loved me, and I had the chance to love her the way she wanted, instead she somehow got into that carriage and … I blame myself everyday she's been away…"
"You can't change what happened man…"
"I know, and understanding that I can't - I need to let her know I'll be there for her. That I care…"
Zack sighed, "a romantic at the center of the war…" he scoffed, "do you hear yourself? I can't have you barging through enemy lines because of some guilt you feel. I'm sorry Cloud, but you'll sit this one out"
"You'd take away my only chance to redeem myself?" the blond irately inquired
"No. There will be other opportunities to redeem yourself, just not today"
"I can't just stand here Zack…"
"Well, I'm ordering you as head of Delta B to stay back"
"I'm not Delta B personnel, commander"
The look in Cloud's eyes was dark and devoid. Something definitely clicked in his head unfortunately Zack didn't have the time to probe.
Leaving the tent in a hurry, Zack looked over his team, somehow finding it hard to stand straight, muchless to mobilize them to their deaths.
To be continued…