Author's note: To make up for the agonizing wait, I've decided to post another chapter almost immediately after the previous one. Sorry that it's slow and the lack of fights, but I do try to do them right, and the length of each chapter will be in random, so they'll either be short or long.
Let's continue on.
I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy Type-0, Sailor Moon or Pokemon. I do own Arien, though.
Chapter 5: Zolom Alert.
2 years later...
Feburary 8th [10:15 AM]-Year-1992.
Cafeteria-ShinRa Building-Edge.
(~Casual Good Day*Mog's Theme-Final Fantasy Type 0*~)
Two years. It's been two years since the beginning of the war against Militas Ultra, and it's been going on and off. Yet things somewhat calmed through out that time, but the Turks still tried to solve the mystery of the enemy. During that time, the ShinRa Company had them pretty busy with other orders as did SOLDIER. Thankfully had gained new members, while all of the rookie Turks that were involved had been promoted to senior status, but still under-leved to higher senior Turks.
Among them was Arien, whom had passed and despite having a bit of trouble and misunderstanding and made mistakes, she quickly learned from them and since then went on successful mission after successful mission. While being a Turk wasn't all as she thought it would be, she got the hang of it. So did her fellow rookies who'd been there longer than she had, but they got on quite well. Though, in passing as she learned, there was no success in locating a guy named Machina, but the Turks still believed that he was still alive, especially for Rem's sake.
New Banora had been repopulated but kept on guard in case Militas Ultra attacked again.
Being a girl original from Rocket Town, and orphaned as soon as she and her father had moved to Costa Del Sol at the age of six, Arien worked hard on her own and trained herself with the whip. Right now, after finishing filing up the reports and interrogations, Arien and some of her fellow Turks, Freya, St. Andrew, Rosalind and Rafe were seated in the Cafeteria having lunch.
Jake, Balto, Alana and Patrick, along with the other four newbies, Josh, who like Rude was strong but not as strong as the taller Turk, Seth who like Balto was a good swordsman, Katrina who uses Materia as her main weapon with a handgun as her back up, and Drake who unlike most Turks, uses a Crossbow as his weapon which was very rare, and a highly near secretive Turk none only to senior Turks, Cissnei who wields a Shuriken, were all out on assignments through out the world for a few days.
"Hey, guys. How'd your day go?" Arien greeted with a beaming smile as she joined them.
"Acceptional." Rosalind responded, and after taking a bite out of the Spagetti which was heavenly in her mouth, she continued after politely swallowing, "Last week's assignment with Balto solved the mystery of the minor leak in Movie Theatre as an accident."
"Ugh, you're lucky." St. Andrew groaned with a sour look. "I've been stuck doin' nothing but patrol Sector 8 all week and I still haven't seen any single trace of Militas Ultra. No wonder Reno complains about it. Boring as hell."
Rafe rolled his eyes, as did Freya, the latter pointing out, "You'd just rather go on more exciting and thrilling assignments. Luckily for me, I'm off to Icicle Inn tomorrow with Balto."
"Oh yeah? For what?" St. Andrew asked, almost challengingly.
"To find a fugitive who apparently ran of with a large amount of money a month back and hasn't been spotted until yesterday, apparently. From what I know, he works for the Weapons and technology Department. Guy took off with about 200.000 gil." The ash-blonde-haired young woman replied with some seriousness and a shrug.
The other Turks were shocked as Arien exclaimed softly, "That amount of money!? No wonder he's on the priority list."
Rafe whistled while wincing. "I can see why the President wants to find this guy as soon as possible. Knowing his luck, he'll be serving 20 years in prison."
"I'm betting 30 years in jail." St. Andrew scoffed, while annoyed that Freya gets to do another cool assignment.
"40." Arien betted.
"Life-time." Freya half-sarcastically concluded.
Rosalind, while not one for betting, simply said, "While I don't think which guess is right considering how he will be sent to prison no matter what sentence, I'm going to say that it will be at least 35 years."
That made their red-haired co-worker grin as he threw his arms up in victory, "Yes! I got the closest to being agreed!" he cheered, a little too loudly which made everyone else in the Cafeteria, including those who were either just arriving or leaving to stop what they were doing and gazed at the Turk with baffled expressions.
This made Rafe smack him on the back of the head, scolding, "Not so loud, you idiot. People are looking at us like you've gone even more crazy than you already are."
"Ow." St. Andrew grumbled, while glaring at the two-gun wielder.
"Actually, St. Andrew, it's a tie." Arien pointed out with a smug smirk, adding, "Because I said forty, which also connects to 35. So we're both almost agreed."
Realising this, St. Andrew groaned aloud and slumped in his seat, staring up at the ceiling in annoyed disappointment.
"Either you rookies are playing some kind of game during lunch break that involves numbers, or you're talkin' about somethin' important, which doesn't matter considerin' St. Andrew's lookin' miserable." A familiar cocky, can't-be-bothered voice spoke up, causing all of the five Turks to look up to see Reno having approached them.
"Buzz off, Reno, and we're not rookies anymore. You know that." St. Andrew growled, while Freya, Rafe, Rosalind and Arien all rolled their eyes at the younger redhead.
Reno grinned to that of a cheshire cat, "Oh, I know. You kiddos are still behind us, though. That still makes you rookies." he laughed while that made St. Andrew fold his arms in annoyance. "Now, what's this I hear about numbers?"
"Oh, we were talking about Freya's mission for tomorrow and all of us were guessing how many years does the target have to spend in jail when he's finally caught. St. Andrew betted thirty and I betted forty. Rosalind betted thirtyfive, which since it's in the middle, me and him are in a tie in being almost agreed on." Arien explained with a shrug.
"The guy from Weapons and Technology department who stole the ridiculously large amount of cash?" Reno asked, blinking and the younger Turks all nodded to confirm his quiery. He chuckled, "Heh. Never would've pegged Rose to make a small bet on somethin' like that. Who've thunk?"
Rosalind went a shade of red before she quickly said, professionally, "I was making an assumption."
Reno just laughed, "Ah, I was just messin' with ya." before turning a bit serious as he added to Arien and Rafe, "Anyway, got a job for you two. Tseng wants ya's to meet him in his office ASAP."
"Will do." Arien nodded with a smile, having already finished her lunch despite having nearly choked a short time ago. She and Rafe both stood up and waved a farewell to the others before heading out to head back to the Turks HQ.
(~End Casual Good Day*Mog's Theme~)
"I bet they get another exciting assignment while I'm stuck still patrolling Sector 8, right?" St. Andrew grumbled, a little jealously.
Reno turned to the former Gang leader and said, "Actually, the chief's got a new assignment for ya too. Josh's back and he'll take over the patrol for a while. Me and you are gonna be joinin' Rude to Gongaga."
A pause.
St. Andrew groaned even louder, "Great. Stuck with you again."
"It least it's not patrol or paperwork, and we all know how much you love that." Freya teased, which made Rosalind shake her head and Reno burst into laughter.
"Ha. Ha. You crack me up, Freya." St. Andrew sarcastically commented.
Feburary 8th [11:09 AM]-Year-1992.
Chocobo Farm-Choco Plains.
(~Chocobo Theme*Town of Forgotten Time-Final Fantasy Fables*~)
It wasn't long before Arien and Rafe arrived at their destination via car as the helicopter would frighten the animals of the place; the Chocobo Farm. It was owned by the generations of a family from 8,000 years ago and that was the one thing that hasn't changed even the slightest for those many centuries. The farm was built specifically to tame and hire out Chocobos for travellers wanting to cross the marshes or travel towards Edge near the Midgar Ruins. There were a number of Chocobos already gathered within the farm, with about four or five of them standing in the large pen in the middle of the farm, enjoying the sunshine. They looked up as the two Turks entered the farm, intrigued by their presence.
"Awww!" Arien squeeled as she approached the pens to get a closer look.
"Arien, careful! Those things bite and scratch and stomp." Rafe warned her. Having grown up in lower sectors of Edge, he didn't get around with Chocobo's that much. He shuddered at the thought at the last time he was here in his earlier days as a Turk with Rude.
To his surprise and disbelief, however, one Chocobo who walked over and stuck its head over the bar, leaning over as close to Arien as it could reach. The young woman carefully reached out and gently stroked it's feathers and beak. Apparently realising that she intended no harm, the Chocobo leaned into the Turk's touch and cooed.
"Oh, who's such a good boy?" Arien cooed happily. The Chocobo was sastified at the compliment and bobbed it's head while fluttering it's wings and danced around happily which made the other Chocobo's do the same.
Rafe couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Hey, how come they're nice to you?" He asked, almost pouting.
"Because I always loved Chocobos ever since I was little." Arien replied, grinning. "You don't like Chocobos, Rafe?"
The male Turk scoffed, "It's more the case that those birds don't like me, and I haven't even done anything to them, for Titan's sake."
"And I should know, because they gave him so many bites and pecks I couldn't stop laughing and neither could his friend." An unfamiliar female voice spoke up. The two Turks looked to see a young woman, around Rafe or Arien's age, having short reddish brown hair that barely touched her shoulders, dark blue eyes and wearing a casual cow-girl's clothes. "Long time no see, Rafe. Here for another ride on my Dad's birds?"
"As much as I don't want to, you're half right. And put a cork on it, Carter." Rafe rolled his eyes.
"You know each other?" Arien asked, curiously.
"Yeah, she helps run things with the birds here." Rafe grumbled.
The girl, Carter glared poutingly at him while placing her hands on her hips, "The Chocobos are all sweethearts, and you know it! The only reason they don't like you is because you're a city boy!" before seemingly correcting herself, "On second thought, you're the only city boy I've known so far who isn't much liked by the birds."
Arien couldn't help herself from giggling as she tried to hide it when her co-worker turned his glare at her. Ignoring the look, she turned to Carter and introduced herself, "I'm Arien. Pleased to meet you."
"I'm Carter." Carter replied, the two young women shaking hands with a smile. "You look like somebody all Chocobos really love."
"I loved Chocobos since I was little." Arien grinned.
(~End Chocobo Theme*Town of Forgotten Time*~)
"Let's just get this over with. Where are they?" Rafe interjected. Despite the pouting he rechieved from the two women, they both nodded in agreement, knowing that he was right.
"Around the corner near my house. Cloud's never been one for that much patience and he's been in a bit of a cranky mood lately. Then again, ever since that Zolom keep edging closer to his town and here, can't blame him or Tifa for being agitated." Carter replied, shaking her head.
Arien blinked in surprise. Zolom. As in the Midgar Zolom?
"I thought those things were extinct." Arien blurted out.
"So did everybody else, until somebody saw one the other day. At first it didn't look like it was heading towards anything or anyone. But each day it was getting closer and closer each time at night, people began to really worry." Carter explained.
"Good thing the nearby village called. Alright, please take us to our guides." Rafe nodded, understanding the situation, as did Arien.
Without further ado, the young farm girl lead the two Turks past the pens and around the corner. It was about a five minute walk before the three of them spotted the Turks' tour guides who had volunteered in meeting up with them today and Arien was admittedly shocked that they were no older than she and Rafe are. One was a fifteen year old girl, Tifa, she correctly guessed, with long black hair that went half down her back, also wearing more modern cow-girl clothes, and had dark red but beautiful eyes. With her was a sixteen year old boy, very likely to be Cloud, with spiky blond hair that sticked up, not as wild as Reno's, but close enough, and blue-aqua eyes with a hint of green. He wore a brown leather jacket, dark blue shirt underneath, dark cotton pants and boots, and dark grey gloves.
"You're finally here." Cloud commented at the two Turks.
"That, we are. So, you both are our guides, right?" Rafe inquired to the younger man.
The spiky-haired teen nodded, looking a bit relaxed but a little anxious too. Tifa looked the most anxious for some reason. Why, Arien had no idea. The four introduced each other and when Arien introduced herself to the younger girl, Tifa relaxed. Still, for some reason, like her co-workers, there was something extremely familiar with these two country-people.
But she had to worry about that later. Right now, Arien and Rafe had a job to do.
Feburary 8th [2:45 PM]-Year-1992.
Mythril Mine-Mountain Plains.
(~Find your Way-Dissidia 012~)
Mounted on four Chocobos, even though Rafe had to practically lie on his ride's back and clutched the reins so hard that his knuckles went white, the two Turks and the two Tour Guides passed through the Chocobo Plains and followed the direction where the apparently last ever living Midgar Zolom would most likely be. When they now stood at the foot of the mountain that went to the other side that would take them to Junon if they wanted to, the sight that greeted them near the entrance to Mythril Mine made their eyes widen in shock and horror and Arien's stomach lurch.
There stood a real Midgar Zolom...or what was left of it. The scaly skin had long rotted away into nothing, leaving behind a skeletion that was perched to a just dead tall tree. The large, long deceased reptile had obviously been perched right into the heart, it's head hanging limp backwards, the skull opened wide with it's terrifying fangs visible. The snake itself had to at least be 30 feet tall if standing up right or something.
Arien blinked almost rapidly at the sight and she heard Tifa softly gasp in horror. She didn't blame her for reacting as such.
"Good Odin." Rafe muttered, shocked. Not even he was immune to the sight. "Whoever or whatever did this to that Zolom ages ago must've been very dangerous."
"H-how could anyone or anything do such a thing?" Cloud asked as he climbed off his Chocobo's back and approached the tree and the skeletion of the Zolom corpse. His heart hammered, and he found himself having a bit of trouble breathing. He suddenly had an image of blood stained on the tree, wet and dripping. The blood had pretty much washed away due to the weather, and what was terrifying the most was that greenery has regrown onto the tree and, disturbingly on the skeletion as well, making it look like a dead Zolom hedge or a very fuzzy Zolom that had just been killed recently.
Even the Chocobos were anxious and practically terrified in being this close to a skeletion that was very much long dead before they were all even born. By then, Arien and Tifa both climbed off easily and joined Cloud, while Rafe, more slowly and awkwardly, slid off his own bird before, being the only one to hand it, was left to tie up the birds so that they didn't run off, which was a no easy task considering how Chocobos seem to always hate him.
"Ow! Ow! OW! Bloody, stupid, birds! Hold still!" Rafe yelled and yelped while being practically bitten and scratched. "Hey, guys! I could use some help here!"
"What in Titan's name could've done this?" Arien asked, she and the tour guides still having their attention on the dead Zolom.
"These can't be old foot prints. They're too new." Tifa suddenly said, and when Arien and Cloud looked to see what she was talking about, they noticed the black-haired girl leaning forward as she must've found something interesting. Curious, the two approached and true to her road, seemingly fresh-ish footprints, no doubt belonging to men in heavy boots, were a bit all over the place.
Frowning, Arien got a closer look as she bend on one knee, examining. Thanks to Freya and Balto, the white-haired girl learned how to examine footprints and how old they are due to both of them being nature-people despite Freya having grown up in rich family. Then again, she had spent most of her time hunting and out on the field than what her parents intended on having her to actually do. These had to be close to weeks and days old. The newer ones were from yesterday, if she was right.
Along with it was a long, slithered trail that no doubt belonged to a living Zolom.
"Looks like the Zolom isn't the only problem." Arien said, frowning deeply as she stood up. She didn't like this. Her first thoughts were that Militas Ultra may be involved, but even they wouldn't be as stupid as be around here messing with a Zolom, would they? Unless this was part of their incoming attack.
Rafe, who had finally managed to tie up the birds, approached with a couple of bruises and scratches, and heard what was happening. When he noticed the trail, he too frowned deeply.
"If that's not Militas Ultra, than I have no idea who the idiots being here are or is." The Turk muttered.
"Militas Ultra? You mean the guys that have been causing problems for the last two years?" Cloud inquired, with an eyebrow raised.
"Why would they be here? If there's a Zolom involved, even they wouldn't do something as dangerous as being around here, would they?" Tifa asked, worriedly.
Rafe's frown deepened, "Or maybe, given how damn organized they are, they might have something to do with the Zolom and either driving it off every night or are somehow using it to begin their next assault." (~End Find your Way~)
"I think we should call Tseng and tell him about this. I don't like it one bit." Arien suggested.
However, before either Turk could even pull out their PHS, a sound of rapid footprints filled everyone's ears and when they looked up and with not much of a place to hide, four men with very familiar uniforms of Militas Ultra came emerging from the Mines itself and they were armed with weapons.
"Turks! And intruders!" One of the men shouted, turning to his three other comrades and ordered, "Take them out!"
(~Duel Room-Final Fantasy Fables~)
"Damnit! That's all we need!" Rafe grunted as he quickly pulled out his two guns while Arien unlatched her whip, ready to fight. "Cloud, Tifa! Get to somewhere to hide, quick!" Rafe ordered before he opened fire and hit one of the men squarely in the chest before the Militas Ultra could even open fire himself.
However, before Cloud and Tifa could do that, the other three Militas Ultra, furious over their comrade's untimely demise, fired dangerously close to them and even narrowly hit the now very terrified Chocobos who warked in fear while the two guides were forced to stumble back to the Turks, as though they had no intention of leaving any survivors. That made Arien furious as she thrusted her whip at the one who opened fire at the two, cleanly snapping the man's weapon out of his hands, ripping into his sleeves and giving him very deep cuts that quickly bleed out as he hollored in agony.
She didn't given him a chance as while she, Rafe and both Cloud and Tifa were forced out of the way to avoid more rapid fire of gunshots, Arien whipped her whip around the man's neck tightly that caused him to choke. She pulled hard without hesitation and with a final tug he gurgled before collasping onto the ground, dead. She had no love for death or killing, but it was her job and these guys got on her nerves.
It was on Rafe's nerves as well, as he, after replacing the ammo in his guns, opened fire again before dodge-rolling out of the way when the men fired at him once more. On one knee, the Turk fired cleanly into the hearts of Militas Ultra, killing them. But to his and everyone else's dismay, four more Militas Ultra soldiers appeared, two with guns and two with broad swords. Apparently this was one of the Organization's hiding places it was no wonder no one heard anything until now. They opened fire again and Cloud, seeing it aimed towards Tifa, pushed her out of the way and intensively ducked to avoid in getting holes of gunshots himself while Arien casted Lightning from her Materia, zapping one of the men who screamed while being electrocuted, paralyzed. She finished him off by slashing him in the chest with her whip which, proven deadly, rendered him either unconscious or dead.
One of the Militas Ultra that carried a sword came charging at Rafe who nearly lost his head if hadn't ducked in time, though some of his hair were sliced away, before being kicked in the stomach and dropped to the ground hard, making him drop his weapons. Fortunately, he was also armed with Materia as most Turks are. He rolled out of the way to avoid in being stabbed or sliced, which aggravated his opponent even further before he shot out Fire spell right into the man's face, causing the helmet to burst in flames and dig into his skin. While the Militas Ultra screamed in panic, dropping his sword, Rafe jumped up and punched him in the chest before kicking him in the stomach as revenge before retrieving his guns and shot the man into the chest as he did with his other opponents.
Arien somersaulted while avoiding the rapid fire from another Militas Ultra with machine until his weapon jammed, much to his frustration. This allowed her to knock the said weapons away from their hands and casted Blizzard from her Ice Materia and a huge ice chunk materialized over his heads before it fell, hitting him squarely into his helmet and skull, rendering him dazed or semi-unconscious. She finished him off with another blast of Fire Materia which knocked the man into the ground. Just as the Turks were about to take on the last one, two more appeared, this time carrying Batons that looked similiar to the EMRs that both Reno and St. Andrew wielded each. This irritated the Turks even further. How many actually were there in this place!?
"Come on! Give us a break, already!" Arien whined, before she jumped back to avoid making contact with the Baton that would no doubt paralyze or kill her. She continued to do so and was shocked that this guy was almost as fast as Reno was. Still, when she was punched stomach before being kicked in the face, she flipped before landing on the wet, moist ground, and dodge-rolled out of the way just in time as the Militas Ultra soldier thrusted his weapon onto the ground, missing. Using this to her advantage, the young woman crouched down and swiped one leg at his own, tripping him before she rolled again and latched her whip around his neck, choking him to death.
By that time, Rafe was knocked down to the ground again and his weapons were knocked away from him. The Turk was grabbed by the shirt as his opponent prepared to stab him with his Baton for the kill. However, before he could, Tifa, who couldn't stand watching anymore and that something within her burst after seeing the Turks struggling to fight against Militas Ultra who'd been causing problems, ran towards the man despite Cloud's protest. Unexpectedly, even to herself, drew back her fist and punched the distracted soldier, so hard that her fist cracked the helmet half into pieces, forcing him to let go. She then grabbed him and kneed him hard in the chest before punching him in the same area that knocked him back, allowing Rafe, in his state of shock, to recover and finish the man off with a Lightning Materia.
Cloud in the meantime, saw that the Militas Ultra that was about to fire at Arien who'd been busy handling her opponent, grabbed hold of the fallen sword and with a yell while hoping that Tifa would be okay, raced towrad and swung the sword right at the enemy's side, causing the soldier to scream in agony before Cloud sliced him again, killing him. Arien's eyes widened in shock. When did this kid learn how to use a sword like that? She didn't have time to pounder as four more Militas Ultra approached with different varities of weapons, yelling as they went. As soon as Arien turned her head to face them, Cloud whirled around and caught an operative in the midsection, slicing neatly and killing him.
Tifa grabbed hold of one by the shirt, punched him in the face, shattering his helmet before kicking him in the stomach, sending him flying into the wall. Arien swiped at another with her Whip, catching him by the legs and pulling him forcefully onto the ground, and finished him off by choking him. Rafe finished off the last one with a single gunshot into the chest and grumbled that he was running out of ammo. With the enemy hiding here, he would have to be extremely careful.
(~End Duel Room~)
The four of them eyed the entrance carefully before they relaxed, relieved that there weren't anymore coming out for the time being. The Turks, Cloud and Tifa crouched, their hands on their knees while attempting to catch their breath. As soon as Cloud had taken out the Militas Ultra soldier, he dropped the sword.
"Wow...Cloud, that was amazing!" Arien said to the spiky-haired teen. While it was brutal and blunt, not to mention deadly, but man that kid was a natural with a sword. "Where'd you learn that?"
(~Missing You-KH 2.5 HD ReMix~)
"I...don't know." Cloud answered, his voice shaking as he started at his hands. "I have no idea what happened. I think was...desperate."
"Me too. I ever fought anyone before like that in my life. I don't even know where that had even come from." Tifa added, her voice too was shaking.
Both Turks frowned in concern. Their guides were shaking, as though they'd been possessed or something. It was clear that both Cloud and Tifa didn't understand their unusual skills that just appeared out of nowhere during the fight. Arien and Rafe shared a worried glance, wanting to say something to try and calm the two teens down, but neither one knew what to do.
Before Arien could say anything, there was a sharp intensed pain that hit her like a Lightning spell. Shutting her eyes tightly and moaning while her hands flew towards her head, the white-haired girl hissed, trying to figure out what was going on. She couldn't even hear the concern in Rafe's voice, or even Cloud and Tifa, seemingly recovered, rush over to see what was happening.
Arien's vision went dark before it went white, and she was suddenly seeing new images.
She saw herself fighting against men that looked to be from a different Organization, two SOLDIERs with helmets kidnapped and somehow transformed into dangerous fighters, and another SOLDIER, apparently First Class with a huge massive sword, yelling and screaming pleadingly at them. He had spiky black hair and blue eyes that glowed.
Then, as far as Arien knew, neither one could be saved and she felt her heart ache and wrench at the sight of the spiky-haired SOLDIER, no older than seventeen, crying at the dead bodies of the two converted SOLDIERs who were obviously his friends. Then in another image, she stood next to him in the icy mountains that looked near Modeohiem or Icicle Inn, with two swords perched into the snow as an memorial, and the spiky haired man gazing somberly at the swords, belonging to his deceased friends, no doubt.
"...Zack. I'm so sorry." She heard herself say, her voice cracking with emotion and tears of guilt.
"...It's okay. They came to their senses." The young man, Zack, replied...
As soon as that happened, Arien's world returned to her and she softly gasped, blinking and panting. As she blinked, her eyes somewhat stinged and felt the familiar moisture of tears, one escaping as she blinked. She hadn't even realised that Rafe was gently holding her by the shoulders. The young woman raised a hand to her face and caught sight of the wet fear on her hand, before wiping her face and eyes dry.
"Are you okay?" Tifa asked, worriedly.
"Y-yeah. No idea where that came from." Arien replied, panting softly before standing up. "No idea what just happened."
As she said this, her heart was somehow telling her it was not true. That Arien did know what happened, yet she couldn't understand why. It had to be some kind of dream, but was so realistic that it looked like a memory. A painful memory that almost made her lose consciousness. The sight of the SOLDIER, named Zack, to lose his friends and to see him cry broke her heart.
"Okay, this is getting me very worried. First Rosalind, then St. Andrew, both two years ago, I might add, and now you? This is really unusual." Rafe muttered, frowning.
Arien's eyes blinked in confusion before she realised what her friend was talking about. She hadn't been around when those incidents happened, but during a mission in New Banora and in Junon two years ago, Rosalind and St. Andrew both collasped and saw unusual visions, almost like memories yet couldn't be true. Come to think of it, she had feelings of deja vu when she first met everyone in the Turks, and it happened again with Cloud and Tifa earlier.
"You're right. It is really weird. But I'm okay, though." Arien shrugged. "Besides, we have a job to do and since there's a bunch of Militas Ultra Jerks here, either they beaten us to killing the Zolom or they're doing something with the Zolom, especially since they tried to kill us and both Cloud and Tifa."
It did scream 'Militas Ultra will kill anyone and everyone in our path' to Rafe. As much as it sounded completely ridiculous, he had a feeling that Arien was about that the enemy doing something with the Zolom. The only way to figure out what to do now is call Veld to tell him what was going on and then figure out what to do next via the Director's orders.
Plus this also could be the new strike the enemy was intending on doing, and they had to be stopped. (~End Missing You~)
Feburary 8th [3:12 PM]-Year-1992.
Highground HQ-UnderEdge.
(~Elfe's Theme*Arecia Al-Rashia's Theme-FINAL FANTASY TYPE 0*~)
Things had been suspiciously quiet for Militas Ultra. Too quiet for Elfe's taste and she didn't like it. Two years on, and neither one of her men nor even ShinRa heard anything from them ever since the little squabble in Costa Del Sol two years ago and the late President being killed by Tseng, the Turks' Second in Command. She, Shears and their men were having another meeting to discuss the recent reports on what they just heard.
"We have something to report!" One Highground soldier informed. "One of our men spotted the Turks and two teenagers heading towards Mythril Mines and heard clashes. He saw them fighting armored men."
"Militas Ultra?" Shears questioned, firmly. This also pipqued Elfe's interest.
"Very likely, sir. They wore uniforms exactly like them."
The second in command of Highground turned to Elfe who stood from her seat, "Keep us updated on that. It appears we're going to Mythril Mines." She ordered.
Apparently the soldier didn't like the sound of that. "B-But ma'am! There's also the remaining Midgar Zolom!"
"It might be dead, or perhaps they are using it as an experiment, this cannot be avoided. We are going to Mythril Mines. Is that understood?" The female leader told him sternly with a cold, sharp look in her eyes, one that could make a man faint, except for Shears who shared that expression as his leader.
Terrified, the soldier saluted, stuttering, "Y-Yes, ma'am!" before being dismissed and hurrying to give out the order to the rest of the organization.
Once their lacky was gone, Shears couldn't help but ask aloud, "What would Militas Ultra be doing with that damn giant snake? No one can survive those things."
"Not if they get caught. Yet Militas Ultra are not really simple-minded. They could've been doing something dangerous and waiting to strike without everyone else knowing for the last two years. In order to find out, we have to continue to observe and strike when we can." Elfe responded, frowning deeply.
"And ShinRa?"
"...I'd rather not get involved with them, but they are not enemies to us. They are enemies to our enemy. Whoever takes down Militas Ultra first doesn't matter, but I will get involved if I have to." Elfe replied, after a moment of silence.
"We haven't been in contact with them in two years. I take you want to keep things that way?" Shears questioned.
The brown-haired woman nodded, and while she still had the strange familiary with the Turks, especially with their leader, Veld, Elfe knew she couldn't have both organizations involved together unless it was necessary. For now, it wasn't.
For now, they had to move. (~End Elfe's Theme*Arecia Al-Rashia's Theme*~)
Feburary 8th [3:12 PM]-Year-1992.
Turks Headquarters-ShinRa Building-Edge.
Veld had listened in to Rafe's report and frowned deeply. So Militas Ultra were at it again, yet neither one of the younger Turks understood whether they were behind the situation with the supposedly last Midgar Zolom in the very existance or not and he shared that concerned thought. There was absolutely no way even the enemy Organization were that reckless into controlling the said giant serpant, yet it was still a possiblity, and there was only one way to solve this, despite that he didn't like the idea of sending two younger Turks into actually having to fight said Zolom.
Those things were deadly and dangerous, and have an appetite for anything that practically moved. Hell, there was a rumor that they were also cannibals, though that might be going a bit too far.
"...I see. Look into the situation, but be on your guard. Both of you, and make sure the guides are well out of harms way." Veld commanded, and when he got the response of acceptence, he and Rafe hung up and the Director sighed deeply, hands over his eyes.
(~Uneasy Feelings-DIRGE OF CERBERUS FINAL FANTASY VII~)
How in the world didn't they see this coming? Why were Militas Ultra that damned secretive to the point of attacking at the last minute notice? They had come dangerously close in killing the Turk under house arrest in Costa Del Sol. It was a blessing that Jake, Reno and Rude had put a stop to that and neither Turk even met him fully yet. But to make sure, Veld had called him himself and was relieved that he was still alive, but had told him to be on his guard due to the enemy.
The arrested Turk's reply was, 'Ah, don'tcha worry, ol'e man. Those morons will be dead before they'll put a scratch on me!' and Veld believed him. Obnoxious as he was, Veld knew that the house-arrested Turk should never be underestimated, but at the same time, he trusted him well enough to still be in contact. That was one of the reasons why he was to remain at the Beach resort instead of the holding cells.
"Militas Ultra...who or what are they?" Veld asked himself softly. Maybe some Coffee would do him a world of good. Feeling as stressed right now as he was, he could use some, desperately. Standing up from his chair, the Leader of the Turks and left his office for the lounge. Apparently, he wasn't the only one needing Coffee right now.
He caught sight of Tseng, folder in hand, approaching the lounge himself.
"Any process on the reconnaissance?" Veld spoke up, joining his Second in Command.
The Wutaiian Turk turned to face him and shook his head, sighing, "There's not a place in the world Militas Ultra hasn't reached, it seems." before gesturing at the Coffee machine, "Shall I prepare a cup?"
"Yes, please." Veld nodded, almost tiredly. As Tseng prepared two cups of much needed caffeine, the older man spoke again, "Militas Ultra has been sighted in Mythril Mine as well. Rafe and Arien are investigating whether they are behind the Zolom attack or not."
"Why do I get the feeling the enemy is much more unusual than we expected if they are reckless enough to risk their men to go and use the last Zolom in existance?" Tseng inquired with a sigh.
Veld shrugged, "Your guess is good as mine, Tseng. Though thus far, they are nowhere like that boy in the mask four years ago."
"I think that's the only blessing from Militas Ultra, sir." Tseng closed his eyes, stopping himself from groaning, while handing a cup of Coffee to his superior while holding another of his own.
"True." The Turk Leader nodded, both men sipping their coffee. After a moment of silence, he asked once more, "And the men in the black coats?"
"Still no sign of them either, sir." Tseng replied, before frowning in concern, "However, I get the feeling that like Militas Ultra, they will attack again with more members of their own, and I fear that they intend to target Reno despite not fully targeting us as Militas Ultra seem to be."
"Tell him to be on his guard and look further into it." Veld told him.
"Yes, sir." Tseng nodded.
This will definitely take a long while. (~End Uneasy Feelings~)
Feburary 8th [4:18 PM]-Year-1992.
Mythril Mine.
(~Find your Way-Dissidia 012~)
It had been a mystery of the origins of the Mythril Mine, but as far as most have learned, it was original used as an energy source before the discovery and eventual abandonment of Mako. Now all that was left was the abandoned elevators, very old machinary that, surprisingly, matched the ones that were used today, along with plain old rocks and flooded areas.
Rafe and Arien though encountered more than the abandoned junk in these caves. After telling Cloud and Tifa to wait outside as this was ShinRa operation and that Militas Ultra were dangerous, they ventured inside to find the said militants while hoping not to run into the Zolom. The ones they did encounter were struck down by the Turks.
After questioning at least one lacky who, scared out of his wits and possibly a rookie, knocking him unconscious and tying him up before taking his ID badge, they followed down the path, and noticed that something was entirely different. A newly made tunnel and ramp, clearly too new to be abandoned, lead down the lead with flights of metal stairs that went into the abyss that had a small light beneath. Next to it was a rock and wooden ramp, large enough to fit a Zolom.
"Now I'm nearly convinced they're using the Zolom somehow." Arien whispered as she and her partner gazed closely to the ramp. "Either these guys are more smarter than they look, or they're just plain crazy."
"I think we can agree on the crazy part. Question is, why is that the case and how?" Rafe responded, placing a hand to his chin in deep thought. Something wasn't right. No human could even dare to attempt to get close to a Zolom, even with an army. Unless...
They had some sort of machinary.
"We have to check it out, so follow my lead." Rafe whispered to his fellow Turk who nodded, apparently having come to the same conclusion.
The two Turks crept down the stairs as silently as possible without making much of a noise one by one. The closer they got, the more they could hear the faint sounds of electricity, and the humming of engines. (~End Find your Way~)
By the time they reached the bottom, it was perfectly obvious that Militas Ultra had really turned this place into one of their bases. Seeing a barricated door, the two Turks crept up to it and listened in through the door. They definitely heard voices from within.
"Excellent. The experiment is complete done to make a full scale attack on the Chocobo Farm in fifteen more minutes. Soon we will be able to preform a full scale attack against Edge and ShinRa." A man's voice could be heard from the other side.
Experiment? Full scale attack? That meant it wasn't a real Zolom after all, but something quiet close to it. Or maybe it was, neither Rafe or Arien could tell. Plus, with no time to call Veld or Tseng into this situation considering they only had fifteen minutes to stop it meant they had to handle this on their own. The two young Turks shared a look and, despite this going against orders, they had very little choice.
After careful planning for a minute, the male Turk used the ID badge against the scanner on the door, which lit up green to confirm and it slid open before the Turks raced in. What they found was completely disturbing. It was a labotory filled with tubes and computers, with only two Militas Ultra soldiers remainning. In the middle was a man in a lab coat, dark gray pants and black leather shoes. He had grey-brown hair, and within a massive glass tube, was what looked like a Zolom, but this one had metal and machine parts attatched to it and it seemed to be sleeping.
So it was a machine and not a real Zolom. Wasting no time, Arien slashed her whip against another Militas Ultra who, along with his ally and the scienist, was killed before he could open fire at her. Rafe, running low on his ammo, flared a Comet Spell that made the remaining fly across the room and crash into the wall where he slumped to the floor, dead.
"What do you think you're doing!?" Arien demanded angrily to the shocked scientist who then glared at her and the other Turk.
"I should be the one asking that! Where are the other soldiers!?" The scientist demanded.
Rafe glared heatedly at the man who no doubt worked for Militas Ultra. "We killed them or put them into dreamland. We're giving you ten seconds to shut down that thing you're working on and come with us quietly for interrogation. You're under arrest for attempted murder and trespassing on restricted areas!"
"You insolant fools! This is the future of humanity! I refuse to fail my superiors and let ShinRa get away! You leave me with no other choice but to delay the attack, but I would rather the delay than determination!" The scientist bellowed, and before either Turk could stop him, he slammed his fist onto a red button. The Turks stood ready even though they knew they were in deep trouble and smacked themselves for not shooting the man unconscious, though it wouldn't worked anyway.
(~Hunter of the Dark-KH:BBS/0.2~)
An alarm going off, the attatchment parts slid away from the machine-Zolom as did the glass which lowered to the ground. Before it disappeared, the Machine-Zolom's eyes snapped open to reveal red machine eyes that glowed, and once it was released, it hissed loudly before gazing down at the Turks who stared in horrified awe, but knew, despite that they never encountered a Zolom before, they had to fight it.
So after Rafe quickly fired a tranquilizing ammo at the scientist who tried to run but was hit and hit the ground, unconscious, he attempted to do the same to the Zolom, but due to it being a machine, it reflected and instead thrusted out towards him and Arien who jumped out of the way to avoid in getting hit, though it smashed through the doorway and created a new large hole. The saving grace was that the place didn't collapse in and on itself. Arien slashed at it's body, but she had to jump over the tail that came coming towards her and Rafe who ran out of the way while the machine Zolom was now causing more damage and if they didn't do something soon, they were goners.
The Machine-Zolom then straightened up a bit and hissed while it's chest opened up and revealed machine guns as it opened fire at the two Turks who dodged and powered up shields with their Barrier Materias to reflect the attack. Thankfully the chest was the weak spot as the reflected gunshots hit it in return, and wounding it where it hissed in agony but still not enough to kill it straight away. Still, while it was still reeling back, Rafe shot out a Fire spell at it's chest to cause more damage while Arien fired a Lightning Spell to hopefully have the machine parts of the Zolom malfunction. Paraylzed and frozen, the Turks quickly attacked it with their mastered skills along with others they learned in their training days and rookie days.
However, they were caught off-guard when it's tail unexpectly swished and smacked the Turks away, knocking them to the ground after they screamed. Pushing themselves up slowly, the Machine-Zolom regenerated and hissed before drew it's head back before it fired a laser beam from it's mouth at them. Despite running low on Mana, Arien flared up another Shield to block it, but it still shoved her and Rafe back even further and by the time it stopped, Arien was exhausted.
Fortunately, Rafe used Heal from his Cure Materia, before pulling Arien out of the way when the Zolom thrusted his tail downward at them, narrowing missing in being crushed by the heavy skin, flesh and metal that caused small rocks to rain all over the place. Some of them hit the Turks and had some wounds, but they didn't pay any attention to those. They had a much bigger problem, which was the Zolom that had full intention in killing them.
When the Zolom awkwardly turned it's head towards them, Rafe gazed at it's glowing eyes and had an idea. After telling Arien to move, he quickly took aim and fired at it's left eye in a direct hit and caused a spark to crackle while the Zolom hissed in pain again, it's head covered in more electricity which allowed Arien to slash her Whip at it's chest the moment she went up close to it and wounding it even more before the Zolom protected it's remaining eye with it's tail before flaring up it's gunshots of it's own again, firing in a rapid range all over the place to hit the Turks who attempted to dodge and avoid them as much as possible.
Arien screamed when one hit her in the left arm and she crouched low while holding the wound in her hand, tears beginning to form in her eyes as it bled. Rafe in the meantime hit the ground hard and hissed when his leg got scraped hard against a sharp piece of glass that had shattered, breaking the skin. The Zolom saw it's chance to finish the two Turks off, going after Arien first as the young woman heard Rafe scream out her name when he saw that happening.
Still, as she turned, Arien, attempting to ignore the pain, stood up and whipped her whip right at the Zolom's other eye, causing it to reel back in pain before she dodge-rolled out of the way and even hissed in pain even more as her bleeding arm protested. Yet the Zolom continued to arm towards here and the Turk was about to try and attack again, when unexpectedly a familiar spiky-blond-haired boy yelled out when he dashed past and slashed the sword from the dead Militas Ultra soldier right at snout of the giant snake, forcing the machine Zolom to lean back once more. Arien and Rafe's eyes widened as they recongised the teen. What was one of the guides doing here!?
"Cloud!?" Arien and Rafe both exclaimed in shock. What was that kid doing here when he should've been with Tifa? He shouldn't be here risking his life!
Cloud didn't pay them any mind, as he glared at the Machine-Zolom who, despite being permamently blind, hissed before it attempted to whack him with it's tail. Surprisingly, and like he had earlier, he jumped and slashed it's tail, slicing parts of it out before he was smacked and hit the ground hard, nearly hitting the wall as he yelled out in pain, the sword dropping from his hands. Seeing this made the Turks gasp before Rafe, despite the pain in his leg, and only having, to his dismay, five ammo cases left, aimed carefully and fired a shot into the Zolom's chest, but it's heart was barricated in the mixture of metel and scaly skin, which going to cause more problems. On the other hand, when Cloud had sliced off the tip of it's tail, the Zolom began to malfunction even more and taking a much slower time to power up it's laser or gunshots.
Arien, despite her arm hurting and causing her distraction, ran up to the Zolom and slashed at it's chest herself when she jumped before casting a bit of a weaker Fire Spell due to her Mana lowering rapidly, but it was still effective enough to rear it back before she landed awkwardly back on the ground, panting and near to exhaustion. If she, Rafe and even Cloud didn't to something to kill this thing now, all three of them were as good as dead. However, the problem seemed to be solved for them as they heard yelling coming from behind them. At first the Turks and Cloud, who was slowly pushing himself up, were worried that Militas Ultra may have called in reinforcements. However, to the Turks' shock and Cloud's confusion, the eleven men who came charging in were not Militas Ultra, but the Highground soldiers who opened fire at the Machine Zolom who hissed before flaring up it's laser again.
"Watch it's Laser!" Rafe warned, hissing as his legs was killing him.
Apparently he hadn't needed to, because Shears came charging with a roar himself, as he jumped and delivered a very powerful and incredible punch squarely in the chest of the Zolom, breaking through the machine and skin. As soon as he leaped away and landed on the ground, Elfe was already in the air, slashing and striking at the body of the Zolom in such power and speed before she sliced away into the heart which, like most of it, was also metal and machine like. She then literally ran up it's body as the Zolom attempted to bite at her, but the leader of Highground dodged each attempt and finally sliced her blade cleanly at it's throat, it's head seperating from the rest of it's body and crashed onto the ground. Elfe jumped off when the rest of the body, without it's head, slumped and collasped with a small quake, utterly defeated and well and truly dead.
(~End Hunter of the Dark~)
"Dear Ifrit..." Arien whispered in horrified awe. Such power from Highground was incredible.
"Sweet Odin." Rafe muttered, just as shocked as his co-worker, while Cloud, beyond shocked and amazed, slowly stood up. By the time the two Turks limped themselves up, Elfe turned to face them, sheathing away her sword.
"You three okay?" She inquired, then told Cloud to wait when he made for the fallen sword, and stopped when he saw that these people had no intention of attacking him or the Turks.
(~Organization XIII-KH2~)
Rafe was about to reply, when his head suddenly had a sharp, intensed pain that forced him to shut his eyes and wince, feeling extremely dizzy and somewhat disorientated. What was going on? Why was having such a painful headache? His vision darkened, and he couldn't hear anything anymore, and a new image filled his mind like a dream or a memory.
Rafe found himself in the cargo hold of a ship, he was standing with Rude and both Turks were facing Shears who seemed to be waiting for them, his arms placed on his hips and with an arrogant as he stood in front of the no longer electrified cell. "Back already?" The man the bandana inquired.
"Shears!" Rafe heard himself hiss in anger.
"It's a good thing you came," Shears said as he cracked his knuckles, preparing to apparently fight the two Turks. "You saved me the trouble of coming to find you. You're both gonna die. Right here, right now." From the looks of things, this man looked like he craved for their blood and would get it no matter what it took. The aura around him was sickening...
"Hey, kid! You alright?"
Blinking as the image faded, Rafe's vision returned to normal as he looked up to see a worried Arien, a concerned Cloud, Elfe, even Tifa who had arrived when he didn't notice, and...Shears who'd spoken, in a much less hostile tone he had in that...whatever the hell he saw, standing around him, wondering what happened. To be honest, Rafe had no idea what happened, either. Yet, whatever had happened, and while he couldn't stay it was a memory, the Turk glared heatedly at Elfe and Shears, especially the latter.
"What do you guys really want?" Rafe replied coldly, much to the surprise of Arien and Cloud, which told them that they didn't know why he was suddenly so hostile to the people who had saved them.
"Excuse me? We just happened to saved your butts, kid." Shears replied in return, having no idea why the Turk was angry with him.
"Yeah, but you disappeared for two years like Militas Ultra did." Rafe pointed out, hissing as he pushed himself up. Man, he and Arien were both going to be on medical restriction for a week. But that didn't matter at the moment. "Then you suddenly appear and finish off our job for us and you just happened to appear out of now here. I'm not sure if we can trust you."
"Rafe, what's gotten into you?" Arien asked, shocked and now agitated. "They saved us, and from what I heard from Freya, they saved you guys back in Junon two years ago! They don't want to attack us. They want to stop Militas Ultra as much as we do."
The two gun wielder shook his head, "We can't trust Highground, Arien. For all we know, they could be working with our enemy and trying to play us for fools."
This made Shears furious as he demanded while attempting to step forward, demanding, "What did you say!?"
"Shears, stand down!" Elfe ordered sharply at her Second in Command. Despite grumbling, Shears silenced himself and stepped aside, while she turned to Rafe and told him, "I don't know what made you think that, but I can assure you that we are not your enemy and we have no intention of joining Militas Ultra. However, ShinRa and Highground cannot join forces. All that matters is the enemy to be taken down."
Rafe was silent, glaring still. He had no idea why, but he knew that the vision he just say wasn't wrong. He didn't care of Highground had saved them, they couldn't be trusted.
"We'll help the four of you return to the surface and out of the marshes. Then we will go our seperate ways." Elfe informed, standing up.
Arien, not sure why Rafe was hostile and while she herself didn't know much about Highground, call up to Elfe who turned to her, and the younger woman said, a bit awkwardly, "Um...thanks for saving us. All of you guys."
While she normally didn't get that appreciation from the people she saved, Elfe shrugged, "Don't mention it." and turned before walking away, muttering to herself about the now dead Machine Zolom, "So they created a replica of the extinct species. What in the world are Militas Ultra?"
(~End Organization XIII~)
Feburary 8th [5:30 PM]-Year-1992.
Chocobo Farm-Choco Plains.
After Highground dropped Rafe, Arien, Cloud and Tifa back to the Farm with the Turks' prisoner tied up, the mysterious Organization departed while Arien called in for assistance to help haul the scientist to the holding Cells for Interrogation as well as hauling herself and Rafe to Edge Hosptial to see to their injuries while one of their co-workers to bring Rafe's car back to HQ.
"...If you don't mind me asking, who were those people that saved you back there?" Tifa asked to the two Turks.
Arien shrugged, "Well, I haven't met them before until now, but they're a bunch of weird people who help out people in secret for some reason. They helped out the Turks in Junon when Militas Ultra attacked two years ago. I wasn't with them at the time."
"The way how those two handled that Zolom machine...it was unbelievable. I've never seen anything like it." Cloud admitted, still stunned and still felt guilty for being useless. "I'm sorry...I was useless back there."
"What're you talking about? You saved our butts before that thing could've killed us." Arien pointed out with a smile. "Though, while it was a dumb thing to do in coming to help us when you were told to stay behind, I can't hold back on the fact that if it weren't for you, Rafe and I would've been goners and so would almost everybody else."
(~Understanding One Another*Roxas's Theme Coded Version-KH2.5 HD ReMix*~)
The sixteen year old looked away, seemingly embarrassed. "I just...have no idea why I could fight like that. I don't even remember how it even happened. It's almost like something was possessing me to fight. I was desperate and...worried."
"Same here. It's really strange. When I fought those bad guys, I felt...almost like a completely different person, someone that I once knew but I couldn't figure out why." Tifa nodded in agreement.
"Whatever the case, it's over now." Rafe told the three of them bluntly. He sighed almost explosively, "Whatever is happening to us is very dangerous. These headaches, unusual fighting power and emotion and images, it's not normal and I'm willing to bet that Highground has something to do with it, making us fight Militas Ultra who are trying to get us into thinking they know something we don't. Those two Organizations are working together, I'm telling you."
Arien was now getting very annoyed as she stomped over to Rafe, arguing, "You're being completely ridiculous, Rafe! Sure it's not normal for us in having these headaches and whatever else, but I seriously don't think Highground has anything to do with it! For all we know, Militas Ultra might not even be human! What is wrong with you? Ever since you had that, you've somehow...turned darker!"
The gunsman froze, his eyes widening in realization. She was right. Ever since that image entered his head...Rafe somehow changed rapidly. It's almost like something had taken over his subconsciousness and replaced his soul for another. As Arien said, he somehow turned...into a darker version of himself. Overcome by the image of Shears being an enemy.
"...Sorry. I think I...I think I'm starting to get how Rosalind, St. Andrew and now you felt when you had those headaches. The confusion of what's happening with our heads. Maybe I'm overreacting but...how do we know that Highground isn't our enemy too?" Rafe responded, more calmly and feeling guilty now.
Sighing and wondering what was really going on in Rafe's head, Arien responded, more gently this time, "I think that Zolom knocked us too many times that it's making us go crazy today. Or maybe Militas Ultra has gotten to us so badly we're losing concentration."
"Maybe." Rafe nodded, as the welcoming sound of a ShinRa helicopter greeted them. The two Turks and their tour guides looked up. "Looks like our ride's here."
Cloud nodded as he and Tifa stood up, the former saying, "Yeah. Tifa and I better head back too. Our parents are probably worried sick about us right now." shuddering at the thought of what his mother would do if he's late for dinner.
"Thank you for solving the mystery of the Zolom, and saving us." Tifa said to the Turks gratefully with a warm smile.
"Happy to help." Arien grinned back, with Rafe nodding in agreement.
Almost shyly but with small sparks in his eyes, Cloud smiled as he waved to Arien and Rafe, "See you around, right?"
"Yeah. You and Tifa take care, Cloud." Rafe replied, smiling finally.
So as Cloud and Tifa safely made their way back to their village, the Turks that were picking up the two injured Turks and their prisoner boarded the Helicopter while another drove Rafe's car back to Edge after waving Carter a goodbye for now.
(~End Understanding One Another*Roxas's Theme Coded Version*~)
With Militas Ultra still in active even in silence, the Turks interrogated the scientist behind the replica of the Zolom, learning part of the plot to distract ShinRa so the enemy could infiltrate the Company and take them down. Thanks to the efforts of Arien, Rafe and the young country boy Cloud Strife, that threat was settled.
However, the Turks still had yet to learn of the enemy's true motive, and despite the aid, Highground are now investigated via Rafe's suggestion given the vision he saw, fearing that it may be a vision of the future.
The Turks had no choice but to be on higher alert as they may have yet another enemy to fight, especially since Organization XIII may attack suddenly again as Militas Ultra had done.
But the real truth of this War was yet to come.
A/N: I may post Episode Reno in the next chapter or focus on another part of the main story before we yet another two year fast-forward afterwards. Hard to say. Things are getting a bit more dark as we move on.
See you in the next chapter!