Gongaga was not a place Godo had ever expected to end up in, it was far from his destination and even more difficult to find a way back to Wutai from than Junon. He never expected to have to set foot on this continent, and never in his life would he imagine that he would have to arrive here, injured and infected with some bizarre poison inflicted by Materia. The ShinRa were getting better at their Military work, creating more and more fusions of Materia, new variations to force the Planet Energy into being used, the Knowledge of the Ancients combining with the Science of the modern age. Godo almost admired them for their success in this field. If only it was funded by the exhaustion of the Lifestream.
He had been here for over a month now, recovering from this poison. The Mayor of Gongaga had to order a special antidote, again created by the ShinRa to help him dispel the effects it was having upon his already weak body. It wasn't the first time he had wished Staniv had remained with him. This wouldn't have occurred if he hadn't been alone. He would be in Wutai by now if Staniv hadn't left him to join the spies in Midgar.
Godo had travelled through the plains quickly, hiring a Chocobo to avoid the Midgar Zolom that patrolled the marshes at the entrance to the Mythril Mines. The mines were beginning to empty out; only a few diehard miners remained, working in teams to ward off the increasing number of monsters that had begun to infest the mines. Godo helped them where he could, killing any of the monsters that attacked when he was around. They were not difficult to fight, but for inexperienced fighters, their attacks were ferocious and almost constant. His stay in the mines was a pleasant one, a night he would always remember. The miners paid no heed to his race, telling him that it was unimportant, and they shared no loyalty to the ShinRa, only to their profession. The miners treated him with a kindness he did not expect in this part of the world, and left him with knowledge that changed him. ShinRa affected everyone, but not always negatively. The miners and agricultural workers in the fields surrounding Kalm and the Chocobo Ranch, all of these owed their work to the advances ShinRa provided.
It was this thought that plagued Godo as he travelled to Junon, if ShinRa had helped people, was it possible that the Wutai too could benefit from ShinRa's involvement. He thought of nothing else, turning the idea over and over in his mind, weighing up the arguments but unable to come to a conclusion. His pride as a warrior of Wutai stood firm, and perhaps this was his problem, perhaps this was all of Wutai's problem. They were too proud to accept the fact that maybe ShinRa could help. Was it worth the life of their planet though? Were a few years of comfort and abundance worth draining the planet of its life to further their own? Da-Chao taught that everything had its time and place in the grand scheme of things, and Leviathan supported this, the flow of the lifestream, the flow of a river, constantly moving but all connected. It was proof of the continuity of the planet, but as ShinRa sucked this river dry, the infinite continuity was cut short.
Junon reminded Godo of why he was fighting, the Slums, the polluted water, the illness that affected those living below the city. The same condition that affected Midgar's slums, the same look of desperate pride that shone in every eye. It was this that Godo wanted to protect Wutai from. This desperation, the pure desolation of their land and hope. Bribing the ShinRa guard Godo ascended in the lift to the upper city, the Junon that everybody saw, its shining buildings and proud cannon striking out over the sea. It was an impressive city, and reputedly where Rufus ShinRa had made his base of operations as Vice President. As the door of the lift opened to the streets Godo realised something was wrong, ShinRa troops were everywhere, checking alleyways and houses. Wreckage was strewn across the streets, mechanical soldiers created by ShinRa to replace the troops who had their organic limitations, even SOLDIER had these, and these robots were designed to remove these limits. Godo grinned as he saw they were not working as well as ShinRa seemed to hope. There were many more robots aflame than fallen humans. As more troops appeared from out of a house, Godo decided to run.
Godo was out of breath as he reached the alley leading to the docks. Junon would never stop sending out supplies or troops on these ships, it would be ruinous to their reputation if they did. It would make them seem weak and people would lose faith, an idea the ShinRa would hate. The people and cargo entering these ships were carefully monitored, a ShinRa troop checking the credentials of every passenger, worker and soldier on board, as well as inspecting all the cargo. Godo wondered if they were looking for the Wutai soldiers that had been here mere weeks before, and he wondered how difficult he would find it to get on board. He considered a strategy carefully, he could try and blend in, pretend to be just another worker, bluff his way onto the ship and be free, the ship would travel to Wutai, it seemed to be a troop carrier, and he would hide in the mountains of his homeland until he found a route home.
It was he considered this he heard a shout from one of the SOLDIERs, a tall dark haired young man, who pointed upwards and began to run off towards the steps to the upper levels. Looking up Godo saw a large looking man, do a double take, and run off, the tails of his lab coat flapping behind him. When Godo looked back to the boat, the troop guarding the entrance had run off, following the dark haired SOLDIER. Taking his opening Godo ran onto the boat, stealing a spare maintenance crew outfit and slipping in with the others.
The journey was a long one, and Godo used this time to think over what he had seen in Junon. The face of the dark haired SOLDIER played on his mind, like he should know him, but for the life of him Godo could not place the face, but something about his eyes stuck out, nagging at him like an old war wound. Placing it at the back of his mind Godo busied himself, pretending to work on the ship.
The sun blinded Godo as he stepped off the boat, it was something he didn't expect to see in Wutai, so bright, and the heat, the heat was so intense. Shielding his eyes from the painful rays of the sun he looked around. All he could see was the sand, and a few people in bikinis and swim shorts. Godo wandered around in a daze, looking for the stairs. When had Wutai's coast ever been like this? A hotbed of tourists, something big had changed while he had been away. It wasn't until he saw the mansion that he understood. Costa Del Sol. Godo sighed, there was no boats from here to Wutai he knew that, the journey home was going to be a long one.
The weeks of travel between Costa del Sol were mostly uninteresting, but everywhere he went he saw the destruction left by ShinRa. In Corel, a once proud town was reduced to scrap miners, hawking useless materials for Gil. The mountains were soulless peaks now, nothing like the proud mountains of Wutai. It wasn't until he reached Gongaga that he saw the true face of ShinRa. Years ago now, a Reactor installed in Gongaga exploded, destroying most of the town, and killing hundreds. ShinRa did nothing to help them, forcing them to call on aid from Nibelheim and Rocket Town to help them rebuild. The aid they received wasn't enough however, and now Gongaga was a ruin. Small huts, worthless shops and mostly inhabited by elderly people.
Godo had heard the news of the destruction years ago, but he never imagined it to be so horrific. Neither would he have ever imagined to see Turks inspecting the reactor. There were two of them, and both of them looked irritated. Godo could hear them complaining about the "pointlessness" of their mission, and how "looking for the scientist was more important". Godo shook his head and chose to sneak past, towards the village.
"Hey you…" someone spoke, one of the Turks, though Godo could not see which, "it's a little weird seeing a Wutai soldier so far from home, dont'cha think?"
Godo turned and sighed, the redhead had spotted him. He was a messy looking lank fellow, his jacket undone and his stained shirt unbuttoned. His bald partner turned, clenching his gloved fists. He stared at Godo through his dark glasses, and tensed.
"Hey Rude…About time we had ourselves some sport eh?" The redhead piped up again, and his partner grunted, although Godo had no idea whether it was in agreement or not. "I thought you'd feel that way partner, the boredom gets to you too huh?"
"Reno…" The bald one spoke, his voice deep and reserved, "Lets make this quick, we need to report back to Tseng soon."
"Anything you say buddy" the redhead, Reno, answered, pulling his rod from his jacket.
Godo sighed again, he had brought no weapons with him, so he had to rely on his fists to pull him through this. The speed of the redhead surprised him, the metal rod swinging towards his face faster than he had thought possible from such a lank man. Mentally he noted not to underestimate the Turks in the future. Raising his arms to protect his face Godo was pushed backwards, springing forward with his palm raised towards his attackers face. It was then that he felt a kick to his ribs, the pain nearly splitting him in two, still not completely recovered from his defeat in Tamblin. Struggling to his feet Godo landed a punch on the bald Turk, knocking him back before kicking out at Reno, tripping the redhead. Clutching his ribs, Godo looked at the two of his opponents, they were getting up quickly, and Godo didn't have time to waste, he began to run towards to the village where he would find a place to hide.
"Rude, he's getting away!" He heard Reno shout from behind him, "Use the Materia Veld gave us, now"
Godo pushed himself harder, running towards the village faster than he thought he could have. He was stopped by the energy that hit his back, falling flat on his face. He could feel something seeping inside him, such a bizarre sensation. As if water was pouring into him through every pore. Rolling onto his back he found he was unable to stand. The two Turks stood over him, the redhead grinning widely.
"Nice shot buddy," he complimented his partner, clapping him on the shoulder.
"That should finish him…there are no antidotes available here, only ShinRa HQ have them right now. We should leave" Rude said, his voice still reserved, as if nothing had happened at all.
The last thing Godo remembered was them walking away as his vision faded.
He had been in Gongaga for a month recovering he was told. No one in the village knew who he was, or where he was from. They only knew a villager had found him outside the Mako Reactor, and brought him to the village doctor. The doctor had kept him alive through a mixture of potions and regular antidotes until the ShinRa one arrived. Within another week Godo was on his feet and feeling better than he had since leaving Midgar. During this time he learnt all he could from about Gongaga, about the Mako Reactor, about ShinRa, and about the life the Gongagans lead. This, like the Mythril Miners, was something he would keep with him for the rest of his life. A memory of the kindness of strangers and the wisdom of others, despite them not believing in Da-Chao. It was also from these people that he learned of the Pilot, Cid Highwind; a man would fly Godo to Wutai in his Tiny Bronco, for the right price.
With this knowledge, Godo set out for Cosmo Canyon, Nibelheim and then onto Rocket town. Godo smiled as he left; glad to be on his way home, back where he could find Yuffie and lead the Wutai into more glorious means of defeating the ShinRa.