Ragnar wiped some sweat from his brow and uneasily exhaled. A gnawing feeling was in his stomach.
It's time… I suppose it's better to get it over with now…
The young general drummed his fingers uneasily against the podium. It wasn't the crowd in front of him that made him nervous. Well…it was. He was always nervous before a crowd. But what worked for him on his first speech worked for him now…he had been through much worse. And he had addressed the assembly of PPA and WGN officers often enough in this very room. And though the situation was serious, that wasn't the sole cause of his worry.
He wasn't even nervous that Cloud had not been looking at him or speaking to him. He was over in his own corner talking with Tifa with the rest of their mutual friends interspersed throughout the room. Strangely…he looked a bit stressed out, as if he had been working hard. He still felt the sting from what he had said earlier. Ragnar wanted to slap himself again right now for having let that slip. Of course…he'd be lying if he said that he had no thoughts that it was a waste of time. He wasn't getting anything from his sparring with Cloud…and given the coming danger a part of him wished he would just stay out of it. He didn't dare say this, of course.
No…the biggest part was the fact that it would be the first meeting with ex-Colonel Maritza attending as a member of the Planet Protector Army.
Ragnar pulled at his uniform collar as he looked to the officers from the WGN. They already looked unpleasant, and gave Ragnar occasional looks of disapproval. Staniv had never consented to the part of the agreement that gave Maritza a commission in the PPA. To even have her working for their allies was infuriating to them. He only hoped that they didn't cause too much trouble…and that she didn't do something to make them regret it.
Ragnar looked to the time. It was a minute past their commencement of the meeting. She still hadn't arrived. He frowned at the thought. She had received her commission after being checked out by Rufus, but didn't want to attend until she had her own uniform. He had to have one run out to her. He hoped, in a way, that whoever was delivering it took their time. Then maybe she would miss this meeting and delay the fateful moment a bit longer…
The door abruptly swung open so hard that the smash against the wall sent an echo throughout the entire chamber, making more than a few people wince. They wheeled around immediately to the source, while Ragnar simply grimaced and put a hand to his face in embarrassment.
"Sorry I'm late." He heard from the other side of his hand. "I had a devil of a time finding my way here with these piecemeal directions."
Ragnar sighed and told himself that he'd have to look up sometime. With that, he raised his gaze and looked out over his hand. Sure enough…there she was. She was in the tan uniform of the Planet Protector Army now, and had that crazed grin plastered across her face again. Her pips indicated that she was a Lieutenant now, and was in the reserve corps rather than active duty. Both sets of officers gave her a dark look, although there was far more loathing in the eyes of the WGN members. The room went silent, and all eyes focused on the newest officer.
Now that she was inside, Maritza looked over the risers of the meeting hall to see where she could find a chair. In response, many of the lower officers shoved their bodies over, trying to take up two seats wherever they could. The woman looked around for a moment longer before finally resting her eyes on a place in the front row, next to a rather large lieutenant. He seemed rather dark and aggressive looking, and scooted over a bit more.
Maritza kept her calm grin on, and walked up to him. "Pardon me…may I sit here?"
"It's taken." He snorted in response.
The woman hesitated here. "…I see." She slowly murmured aloud. She paused for a moment, seeming to think something over. She folded her hands and drummed her fingers on her knuckles. The man glared back, obstinate and unmoving.
Suddenly, something caught the corner of Maritza's eye, and she looked to it with an expression of shock. "What the hell is that?" She shrieked as she pointed out to the wall.
The voice was so loud and the change of attitude so sharp that not only the lieutenant, but the surrounding officers turned and looked. The moment they did, Maritza's hand shot out like a viper, seized the lieutenant's ear lobe in two fingers, and pinched like a vise.
"Ack!" The man cried out, and reflexively spasmed to one side, opening the space up again.
"Why thank you for being so gentlemanly!" Maritza answered as she released his ear, and then, acting like some old stuffed shirt lady, spun around and daintily sat herself down on the blank spot.
The lieutenant, on his part, reached for his ear in agony, and grit his teeth at the woman. One of his hands began to ball into a fist…
"Alright…we'll have order." Ragnar immediately shouted out before things could get any worse. This served to turn everyone's attention off of Maritza and back to the podium in the center of the room, where Ragnar was standing. "This meeting is now in session. For those of you who don't know already, the purpose of this meeting is to go about planning our next large scale operation. Now seeing as this is the only one we'll probably be able to get off before the New Shinra Army completes the Gauntlet of Zeus, it's going to have to be all out and hopefully the one that ends the war. Now…we have four…"
Maritza raised her hand.
Ragnar noticed this and cut off. He silently prayed that this was good. "…Yes, lieutenant?"
Maritza put her hand down. "Aren't you going to introduce me to everyone, General?"
Ragnar sighed. He was hoping that the few people who didn't yet know who she was would stay unknowing to hopefully make things more smooth. But he supposed since she was working with them now, they had to know sometime, and a formal introduction would probably be required.
The youth gestured to Maritza. "…Everyone, this is our newest officer…Lieutenant Selena M."
The woman immediately rose to her feet and turned to smile and wave at everyone before Ragnar could stop her. "M for Maritza, if you're wondering." She announced brightly, like the new kid in first grade. Ragnar heard this and immediately groaned. So much for trying to hide her identity…
"I just want to say a very big 'hi there' and 'hello' to everyone in the room!" She chirped. "I would have brought cookies, but I didn't know how many there were of you."
Maritza's happy greeting was received with a mixture of dirty looks and mutters under people's breath. A few looked ready to pull out their sidearms and shoot her right now.
"Please sit down, Lieutenant." Ragnar said after he felt this had gone on more than long enough.
Maritza waved again, and then began to sit. Halfway down, however, she froze and spoke up again. "And if anyone wants to chat, I live at 16 South-"
"Thank you, Lieutenant!" Ragnar cut off.
The woman turned to him and made a pouting expression that she had been cut off. After sticking out her tongue at him, she slumped back into her chair and crossed her arms indignantly.
Ragnar sighed again, and reached up to wipe the sweat out of his face. The part of him that was Bahamut was tempted to give a tongue lashing to Maritza, but Ragnar tried to press on. Once he had composed himself, he started again.
"…We have four lines of defense to deal with." Ragnar continued. "The first line of defense is, of course, the navy. Now they are in bad shape…"
"Whew, don't I know it…" Maritza said aloud in full volume.
Ragnar gave the woman a glare at having been interrupted. She didn't seem miffed by it, sitting plainly and calmly. However, she said nothing else. The others in the room glared at her again, yet she didn't seem to care. After swallowing again, Ragnar was composed to turn back to the audience and speak further.
"…But they are still dangerous, and we have the Juggernaut to worry about. The next-"
Maritza turned her head to the lieutenant she had pinched and gave him a nudge. "Don't worry, boys. I'll take care of it." Again, she was at full volume.
The part of Ragnar that was Bahamut began to lose his temper. He swung his fist down on the podium, producing a smacking sound that was loud enough to get Maritza to snap around to him.
"Lieutenant…I would appreciate it if you stopped interrupting me and raise your hand before you speak."
Maritza gave a ready nod in reply. "Sure, sure. Order and all that boring crap. Got it. Continue."
Ragnar's own hand began to ball into a fist. Perhaps there was more to the reasons why her superiors wanted to kill her than she let on… Ragnar paused for a long time, but then managed to calm down enough to keep going.
"…The next line of defense is the Defense Grid. We'll have to find some way to destroy or disable it. Infiltration will be risky, but it's not entirely out of the realm of possibities. Third is the standing army. We'll have to fight our way through the remaining 200,000 troops that are still-"
Maritza's hand went up.
Ragnar swallowed and stiffened. By now, Cloud too was turning and looking ready to pin the woman to the ground with his sword. Red XIII let out a snarl. Still, the young general composed himself and went through the motions.
"…Yes, Lieutenant?"
"193,433."
Ragnar paused for a moment at this, confused as to what this meant and wondering what inane babble the woman was doing now. "…Excuse me?"
"The current number roster for registered troops, minus the three hundred that defected, is 193,433." Maritza plainly replied. "I wanted to clear that up."
Ragnar's calm face turned dark. He tapped his finger against the podium. His excess strength began to slip through…and chips of wood began to flake off from it.
"…Lieutenant…I don't want to hear another comment from you this entire meeting unless you are spoken to or it is a legitimate question. Is that understood?"
Maritza looked a bit surprised at this. She suddenly gave a whistle and waved her hands in front of her. "Whoo… Soooorry, Principal Vice." She gave in an exaggerated voice. "Sheesh, where do you keep the knuckle cracker? Do I have to bang erasers now?"
"She don't shut up, I'll crack her knuckles…" A murmur from Barret went out, just audible.
The part that was Bahamut desired to crack a bit more than knuckles. Ragnar was now seriously wondering if Maritza had some alterior motive…if only to drive them crazy. He didn't think he could restrain himself much longer. If she pulled one more stunt, he would have to do something. But what? Drag her outside? Tongue lash her? Would she even care if he did that?
Fearing what she would say next, but nevertheless trying to move ahead with the meeting, Ragnar inhaled deeply and looked back out again to the floor. "…The fourth and final line of defense is the New Shinra HQ Dome itself, which is armed with artillery, thick armor, and a shield generator. They can remotely-"
Maritza's hand went up.
Ragnar swung his fist down on the podium, this time making it crack a bit under his unrestrained power as he wheeled around to Maritza. He paused long enough to compose himself, and then spoke up.
"…Yes?"
"Can I be excused to go to the bathroom?"
That sank it. People in the crowd began to turn to her and yell. Others turned to the general and shouted for him to throw her out. They had all had enough of this. As for Ragnar himself, he stepped out from behind the podium and began to advance on the woman. That was the last straw. He was going to throw her out of this room himself…
The moment that he had stepped out from behind the podium and toward her, however…Maritza reacted. Abruptly, moving like the crack of a whip, Maritza dove for the side of the lieutenant she was next to. She grabbed his own sidearm, and in a flash pulled it out as she rose to her feet. A moment later, Ragnar froze as he saw her twist the gun around and point it right at him. The farther away officers went silent and snapped back in shock at what the woman suddenly did. Others, like Yuffie, only paused a split second before diving at the woman to wrench the gun out of her hands. However…it was a moment too late. Maritza shifted the aim of the gun slightly and fired a moment before Yuffie, the nearest, leapt onto her shoulders and wrenched her to the ground.
While officers began yelling and dogpiling onto Maritza, Ragnar shot back for a moment. A bullet wouldn't be enough to kill him now unless it was in a tender spot. But with his faster senses, he knew enough to not even bother looking down at himself an instant later. The shot hadn't been aimed at him after all. He saw the pistol had shifted at the last moment, and the bullet that had come out of it went to the side… He turned his head to look to the source…
"Get off me!" Maritza yelled from beneath the pile. "Look at the wall!"
Most of the officers kept piling on Maritza. But some of them did as they were told and looked where Ragnar was now looking. On doing so…they froze and went silent. Noticing this, others began to look up at well to see the cause, and likewise froze. This continued on through the entire assembly of officers, until each one was silent and looking up at the wall behind the podium, right where Ragnar had been standing.
There was a bullet hole in the wall…and a small trickle of blood was running down it.
The rest of the officers stayed frozen. The entire room was silent. As such, Maritza was able to give a grunt and literally drag herself out from under the pile of officers that had formed on her. Once she finally had managed to pull her legs free, one at a time, she tucked them underneath herself and began to stand. Once on her feet, she walked up to Ragnar rather calmly, smoothing herself out as she approached. On reaching him, she gestured out to the bullet hole.
"General Ragnar…meet Indren Lewis, spy for the New Shinra Army." She began as she breathed a bit to calm herself down. "They still do have spies, remember. Luckily I remember all of our high level ones. This one enlisted as a low level page in your army under the name Bernard Rock. I knew he had managed to get a position in this building if not in this very room, and that he found a way to get in the wall behind the podium. I would have preferred to have him taken alive, but we saw each other as we came into the building this morning. He was closer to the entrance. I was still a block away. He knew his cover was compromised, but he was a patriotic SOB. As soon as he had gotten enough information to relay, he was going to shoot you in the back, or simply do it the moment he was about to be uncovered. Plus he didn't know that I remembered exactly where he was going to be."
Maritza gestured behind her to the burly lieutenant. "I sat next to him because I could get his gun and he was in a good position to shoot. If I had tried to tell you that I knew where he was and he picked up on it, he would have shot you immediately. So I tried to piss you off to the best of my ability so that you'd get out from behind the podium and give me a clean shot."
The room was silent. Everyone had gone deathly quiet, and began to look uneasily to one another. Ragnar himself hesitated. He knew that name…Bernard Rock. He had seen him before. And with his new senses…he had detected unusual levels of anxiety around him before. But he had assumed it was general nervousness at the position, and he had written it off as him being nervous about Sephiroth. In retrospect…he began to realize something else. He was nervous coming in here today…but he realized he had also sensed nervousness nearby. Again, he had written it off as either coming from him or the others in the room. The part of him that was Bahamut cursed himself. What good was having all of these senses if you ignored them? If some spy was able to get close enough to you to shoot you, how would you do against Sephiroth?
Maritza had done more than she realized. She had exposed to him that he still had a long way to go before he gained mastery of his new powers, but that he had to before he encountered Sephiroth again. He had been too cocky and confident until now…thinking himself unbeatable in his new body. He had forgotten there were other ways to beat people that had nothing to do with strength or speed…
The people slowly began to stand up off of the ground again. People were still silent. The officers were all looking at Maritza again…but now their opinions had slightly changed. After all, if what she said was true…she could have just stayed silent and let Ragnar be killed. She wouldn't have blown her own cover. Perhaps she was genuine about helping out then… The WGN officers were still highly suspicious. It wasn't above their culture to have a person sacrifice themselves for the sake of convincing an enemy that an agent was on their side. But still…this was rather extreme even for them. Once they were all standing, Maritza turned around and looked back to the crowd. She zeroed in on the burly lieutenant. Quite calmly, she walked back over to him, and then held out his pistol to him.
"Here you go, Ace."
Somewhat hesitantly, the much milder lieutenant took the gun from the woman. Once he had it, Maritza, now very calm and proper, walked back to her seat, sat down, and turned again to the front. Now, she was in the full decorum of a responsible, attentive officer.
"Shall we continue?" She asked. "Or shall we take a recess to clean up the remains of Mr. Lewis' head?"
"We're here."
"Phew…finally."
"We're going to have to go through a checkpoint though. You got any ideas how to get through, Reno?"
"…Reno?"
The Turk raised his head in a dazed manner. "Huh? Oh…uh…let me handle it." He finally managed to spit out.
The others gave him weird looks at this, but he didn't pay it any mind. He didn't care at the moment. He was too busy thinking about that note he had received last night.
The four Turks were still marching through snow, but it was no longer a matter of hiking across barren tundra. They were coming down into the narrow valley between Icicle Inn and the City of the Ancients. Nearby was a wide gravel road, one that had been set down ever since the New Shinra took over the entire Northern Continent. It led straight down into the city, through the canyon that had once been murder to the New Shinra. The road had been modified up ahead so that one could drive completely through it without fear of negotiating any cliffs. It had been a major undertaking, but it was worth it for the speed it provided. Also, this was a good place to hold. Geographically, it was perfect, a fact that the PPA had exploited well. People had to move through the valley to get north, and so the NSA was able to build a checkpoint here and flank it with guards. They had built some more permenant installations for heavy guns on the cliffs, providing more than ample security. It would take days to get through this valley, during which time more and more troops and artillery could be gathered to mount a defense or flood the area.
The canyons were beginning to rise sharply on either side now. The Turks were being moved inward, pushed into a narrower and narrower space. As such, they were starting to move onto the gravel road. It was hard to tell. The fresh snow from last night had it covered, and no new troops or vehicles were in use today. They were, after all, still experiencing a lockdown.
About a mile ahead, clearly visible, was an armored steel wall built right into the canyon valley. It had a heavy gate built into it, which would allow things to move through if it was open. It also had an installation built into it, where a complement of guards were posted. This wasn't the thinnest point of the valley, but it still was pretty narrow. It had to be somewhat wide in order to fit enough room for a metal gate, outpost, and soldiers. Up above, built into the sides of the canyon, were turrets for cannon and machine guns. They slowly turned one way and another, lazily scanning the area. All in all…it was a scary place to be if you weren't on their side…
Yet Reno couldn't focus on this incoming danger. He only thought about the message he had found…
There was little doubt in his mind now that what he had dreamt last night wasn't a dream at all. Someone had come into his tent and left that message…probably the same sound he heard running around outside. Something inside him, based simply on a hunch, wanted to think that one of the girls had done it…one in particular. But they gave no indication that this was the case. When he tried giving either of them a hard look, as if to tell them that they should indicate to him what they meant, both of them simply looked puzzled and turned away. That meant it was probably someone else. But who? Who would even know him? If it hadn't been for that storm, he could have looked for clues in the snow…like footprints. But as it was, there was nothing.
Reno would almost have just as soon ignored it and given it up as a hopeless case. But something inside him refused to…even warned him about the danger of leaving this alone…
Chill out, Reno… The man told himself. You got to keep your head on. You'll need it for this next part…
The four continued to walk on. As they dipped lower and lower into the canyon, the outpost came closer into view. Rude went ahead and took care of the preliminary stuff, radioing the outpost in and identifying themselves via code before they got within firing range. The sun was setting at this point, and descending into the canyon made it rather cold between the shadows and the wind. Yet still they toughed on. Apparently they would have to keep their gear a bit longer. The guns overhead scanned over them, but then went back to looking around again. After all, they hadn't been told to fire yet. There weren't any soldiers out already, but that didn't mean this wasn't guarded. They were probably just inside.
At last, the Turks were coming up on the steel wall. The gate itself looked cold and formidable. Just to the left of it from their side was an outgrowth from the wall that spread alongside it. There was a metal door on the front, with a peephole mounted into it. Smoke was coming out of a pipe at the top, and as they got closer they could hear a power generator working.
Reno pushed his distracting thoughts away, and moved to the lead of the group. He walked straight for the door, and brought himself and the group to a halt in front of it. Once that was done, he reached up and knocked. There was a momentary pause on the other side. Reno saw light moving from his side of the peephole, and at last an electronic lock disengaged. The door opened inward, revealing a single cold weather geared soldier standing at it.
"Yo." Reno greeted with a smile. "Mind if we come in? We've been hiking all day."
The soldier stared at Reno a moment, a bit puzzled by seeing four troops out here in the middle of nowhere suddenly walking up on an outpost. However, they had been cleared, and so he stepped back from blocking the doorway. "Leave your weapons outside, please." He instructed as he did so.
Reno didn't mind. He reached into his coat and pulled out his nightstick, and proceeded to calmly set it next to the doorway. Krystea likewise unzipped her coat, pulled out the Valentine, and set it next to the door along with it. Elena pulled out her own sidearm with the materia attachment, and set that down as well. The soldier looked expectantly at Rude for a moment, but after seeing him fail to react he slowly exhaled and then gestured inside.
Reno walked in first, followed closely by the others. He was greeted by a pleasant feeling of warm air as he came, as well as electrical lighting. He looked over the interior as he entered. It wasn't much…pretty much a living barrack area. There were three bunk beds, accommodating six soldiers. There was a card table where three of the soldiers were playing a game. The other two were at one side of the chamber, seated in front of an assortment of controls and equipment mounted into the wall. It was probably both for operating the gate as well as radioing in if necessary. There were also a few things for clothing, eating, and showering, but all of it was in the same room. Reno tried not to grimace. He didn't want to think of what daily life was like out here…
As Reno and the others entered, one of the ones at the controls turned. Reno looked to him, and saw that he had the markings of a higher officer. He was probably the one over the others. On seeing them, he stood up and began to walk over to them.
"Hi there." He said as he approached, extending his hand to Reno. The Turk thought of ignoring it like he usually did…but he didn't want to get any more suspicion on them than they had to. He took it and shook it. "I'm Lieutenant Chalmers. I'm enough in the know to recognize you four. The Turks, correct?"
Reno cracked a grin and gave a nod. "You're keeping on top of the game, I see, Mr. Chalmers." He answered as he withdrew his hand. The last of the Turks entered here. Reno didn't turn to see it…but he heard quite distinctly as the soldier at the door immediately closed it again. He also heard the clicking of a lock. With that in mind, the Turk gave a glance over the room…making sure that he knew where everyone and their weapons were...
"What can we do for you?"
Reno gave a sigh and a shrug. "Well…we're on a mission down in Neo Junon, but thanks to Colonel Maritza going AWOL we weren't allowed to just fly there. We're having to go on foot instead. It's a royal, category five pain in the ass, but we do our job whenever we're assigned to one. We need to get through this checkpoint and head on down."
The lieutenant readily nodded. "Sure, sure. I'll get it opened for you. Just give me a few minutes to radio ahead to the guns to tell them to stand down. Alright?"
Reno didn't answer this, but the lieutenant didn't seem to wait either. He turned and began to walk back to the console. Reno eyed him as he did so, although he didn't say anything to stop him. However…his suspicions were now fully aroused. The people at the Dome had more than enough time to notice that the Turks were missing. They might have radioed ahead to their outposts… If that was the case, then they might need to get out of here a bit quicker.
He cast a glance back to Rude. The Turk didn't need any further words or gestures. Pulling off his outer gloves, he began to make his way over to the console as well. Reno also took note of one of the door guard moving over to one side…closer to a gun that was against the wall. Elena seemed to already pick up on this, however, and slid over to him as well. The room was silent save for some moving around on their parts. It increased the tension a bit more. At any rate, Reno turned over to Krystea next, trying to see she made sure she knew her part.
To his surprise, she had already moved. That was weird. He hadn't heard her shift positions... He turned his head around, actually having lost track of where she was in the room, before his eyes rested on her. He soon received another surprise at what she was doing…
"Ugh…it's sooo warm in here…" She said aloud as she walked up to the three soldiers at the table. Reno took one look…and noticed that her gait was not entirely benign. She moved to unzip her coat, and then proceeded to take it completely off. She threw it to one side…exposing her new shapely curves and her unbuttoned neck region. Then, not seemingly satisfied with that, she somehow managed to pull off her boots with her feet without untying them, and then unzipped her snowpants as well. This, in turn, exposed the little skirt that hung her hips, and her long, perfect legs. Last but not least, she reached up to her head and pulled off her stocking cap. In response, her smooth, perfect silver hair seemed to fountain out over her shoulders. She smiled an odd little seductive grin after she was done.
"That's much better." She remarked aloud.
At this point, Reno had an eyebrow crooked. Despite the break in procedure, he risked a look back at his companions. Rude seemed to have forgotten all about his task, and his mouth hung slightly as he stared at her. As for Elena, she looked overwhelmed, and even a bit disgusted. Reno looked back to the woman, and felt a bit unnerved himself. What exactly was Krystea trying here?
However…he soon realized that her actions were effective. The six men in here hadn't seen a woman in months…maybe longer. And Krystea's new body was, in all honesty, rather shapely and appealing. He soon saw that she had gained the attention of every man in the room. They were all halting in their duties, including the calls that the lieutenant was going to make, and focusing on her. A bit more and they'd be ogling…
Krystea seemed to move smoothly over to the men at the card table. The three men were transfixed on her as she did so, having forgotten about their game. Once she reached them, she stood on the blank side of the table. She then leaned over and appeared to look around at their cards and game. As she leaned…she gave them all a wide view of her inner curves…which they, rough as they were, made no secret of drinking in.
"What're you boys playing?" She asked, her tone like that of a seductress.
The three were stunned for a moment. It was just like a scene out of one of those old movies where the men were tongue-tied in the prescence of a lady. Reno didn't think something like that was actually possible in today's day and age…but they were dumbly acting the parts.
"Um…uh…blackjack…ma'am."
Ma'am? Reno thought to himself. Sheesh…I don't believe this…
Krystea smiled and leaned on the table a bit, putting an elbow up and resting her head on it. "Oh?" She innocently asked. "And what are you playing for?"
Again, the men fumbled a moment before one of them managed to speak. "Er…cigarettes…beers…stuff like that… Few bucks now and then…"
Krystea formed a pouting expression. "Well that's no fun." She stated aloud. After that, her seductive smile returned. "How about we raise the stakes a bit on this next game? I don't see any chairs around here for me to sit in. So I'll just have to make do with one of you boys' laps. Whoever wins this next hand gets me."
"Um…Krystea?" Elena began to speak. Reno didn't see her, but her face was now nearly aghast.
However, on hearing this…Reno realized something else. He wanted to look back to see Elena's reaction, but he found that he couldn't. All of the sudden…his muscles seemed to have frozen up. His gaze was fixed on Krystea. It wasn't just mere lust. It was like something inside him was making him look at her…and that he couldn't turn aside if he wanted to. Wanted to was appropriate…because every time he heard her voice…it seemed to be tickling something in his brain…made him want to look away less and less…
At any rate, the men were putty in Krystea's hands. They quickly turned back to their game and played through as fast as they were able. In no time at all, there was a winner. The man on Krystea's right came out with twenty. He nearly exclaimed for joy at it, and turned over to Krystea. The woman looked up to him, her pale green eyes large and entrancing.
"Guess you're the big winner." She spoke aloud. Very calmly and smoothly, accentuating everything about her features, Krystea pushed herself off of the table. She turned slightly, and then began to walk up toward the man. Again, she swayed her hips to emphasize her curves, and Reno felt whatever hold was on him tighten… She was soon up to the man. He paused a moment, but then readily scooted away to make room for her as he came to his senses. He was so frantic that he pushed it well away from the table, actually making himself diagonal to his two friends. She slowly turned and aimed her rear end toward him, and began to sit…poking it out in front of him. Reno saw the man nearly salivate.
However…at that point, she froze.
"Actually…I prefer to sit this way."
With that, she stood back up, and turned around so that she was facing him. As Reno watched in growing surprise at Krystea's behavior…he saw her straddle the man, putting her legs around his body, before sitting down on his lap. As she slowly came down, she put her arms up and around his shoulders. She didn't enclose him. She just let her arms rest there. Still smiling, she slid down in front of him.
The man was paralyzed. He could only stare and gawk as Krystea flashed her pale green eyes at him. Reno wanted to say that he was a captive of his own lusts…frozen from being enamoured with this attractive woman.
But he couldn't. Something seemed strange about this… Something was weird. It wasn't so much as if the man was in the woman's arms and he was drinking her in…
It was almost like…he was a frozen prey item in the grasp of a large and dangerous animal…
"So, big winner," Krystea let slide from her lips in a lusty undertone. "How long has it been since you've had a woman this close to you?"
Krystea pulled one of her arms back, and began to run the tips of her fingers over the ears of the man she sat on. The soldier broke out into a sweat and stammered. Reno, by now, realized he truly couldn't look away…but he was caring less and less. The only person who still looked disgusted and unsettled was Elena. The other men were transfixed on Krystea. Yet even Elena could no longer respond to this. Something was freezing her in place too, though Reno didn't know it. All he could do was watch Krystea and the soldier…
And begin to fantasize himself being in that chair…
"Uh…five years…ever since I left Midgar…"
"What a pity…" Krystea nearly whispered in response. Her fingertips went to his face next, and began to trace along them. Her other arm began to pull back. "What did you do with her?"
The man swallowed. "We…um…had dinner…saw that show…'My Bloody Valentine'… Then we went back to her apartment…"
"Mmm-hmm…" Krystea gently answered as she smiled wider. Her fingers moved to the man's lips and began to trace over them. Her other hand was back now, and she dipped it down, this time moving to the space between the two of them. "I was kind of thinking about that…"
The man paused, dazzled again. "…About what?"
"You…" She answered in a bright, soft voice. Her one hand brushed back across the side of his head, pushing back his hair.
Then…something impossible occurred.
Krystea pulled up her other arm…and revealed that she was holding none other than her own gun as she pointed it against the man's head.
"…And my bloody Valentine."
Krystea pulled the trigger.
It was as if the men had been lulled by a snake charmer. The man Krystea sat on never even looked surprised before she unloaded. The bullet that exploded from the Valentine instantly killed the man…and tore through his skull to sail across into the next soldier at the table. It tore through him too, and blew at last through the third and final soldier at the table. Despite the deafening sound, and seeing three men blown away with one shot, their blood spraying up…Reno still found himself partially immobilized. He could barely tear his eyes away from Krystea…or get that image of him in that chair out of his mind…to look away to another part of the room.
Krystea moved quickly. Her face was not angry or tense. In fact…it was the same lusty look it had been a moment ago as she spun around and blew away the soldier at the door. After that, she turned and let the man still seated at the console have it. Rude was near this man, and it wasn't until blood erupted from him and splashed onto his own body that he snapped out of it enough to leap back. Here…Reno noticed that Krystea actually paused for a split second. He didn't know why at first.
Then he saw the last man: the lieutenant. He blinked once as his relaxed, casual expression was slowly painted over by one of horror. It was as if he had been under a spell, and was only now coming out of it. Shocked and horrified at what the woman had suddenly done, he whipped around and reached out a hand to go for the Emergency Alert button on the wall, to signal for help and let the Dome know this place was ambushed.
This was what Krystea was waiting for.
A gunshot later…and the man's hand exploded into a red splatter.
Reno was stunned. He actually was rendered silent for a moment, which was quite an accomplishment. He looked as he saw the man collapse to the floor, wringing his wrist in agony. The other Turks stared at him blankly, shocked not so much at his condition as to how Krystea had done that. Reno turned and looked back up to the woman. She had finally lost her seductive look, but she was still calm and smiling. She blew on the end of the Valentine as she began to walk forward toward the man. The other Turks were silent. Krystea's sudden and totally unexpected lashing out had left them immobilized… Even a bit…frightened. They hadn't seen anyone act so ruthless and nonchalant in their lives…and this was including themselves.
Krystea was soon up to the man. He looked up and saw her, and vainly tried to reach along the ground for his weapon with his one remaining hand. Before he could, Krystea was on him, and smashing her boot down on his limb. The sounds of bones breaking went out as she did so, and the lieutenant snapped back and writhed in pain.
The woman let him moan for a moment. As Reno watched…her eyes seemed to flash…almost as if she was enjoying it. Then, once he calmed down, she put the barrel of the Valentine against his forehead.
"Tell me something." She stated. As she did, she reached over to the console. A moment later, she picked up the radio, and extended it down in front of her. "Command radioed you earlier. Told you to expect us, didn't they?"
"You crazy bitch…" The man spoke aloud.
Krystea responded by turning over and pointing her gun at one of the man's fingers. She blew it off a moment later.
Again, the man screamed out in agony.
Elena couldn't take it anymore. "Krystea…what the hell are you doing?" She cried out.
"My job, in case you haven't noticed." Krystea flatly answered, not even looking up. "Alright, wise guy. You have one hand and four fingers left. You want to have a pair of hooks on your hands for the rest of your life, then by all means keep pissing me off. You want to keep what digits you have, you'll tell me what I want to know."
The man breathed sharply for a few moments. Rude was nearby, but didn't know what to do. Krystea's mean snap had him a bit on edge, and he seemed unwilling to get close. Just as she had seemed to hold them before…now she seemed to be keeping them at bay. Only this time…it was out of an energy of darkness and fear.
The lieutenant smoothed himself out a bit more, calming down. He looked back up to her…and saw her predatory green gaze hovering over him. He swallowed.
"…Yes."
"So you were going to call us in, correct? Have a whole regiment of troops coming at us?
The man swallowed. He began to sweat, but not just from pain. "…Yes."
Krystea held out the radio in front of her. "What is the channel for the gunnery command in this valley? Tell me and I'll set it on it. And don't lie. I know all of the emergency channel numbers."
The lieutenant paused a moment, but then realized he had no choice. "…23."
Krystea reached up and turned the console to that channel. The Valentine stayed on the man's head, and her boot stayed on his remaining hand.
"You screwed around with me the moment I walked in here." Krystea calmly continued. "So I screwed around with you. It's not my fault you men always think with your underpants." Krystea turned back down to him and held the radio up to the man's head.
"Now you have two choices. You can either very calmly and very businesslike clear the four of us through this canyon…or you can have me blow your head off. And if you try anything funny…I'll do worse than kill you."
With that, the Turk put the radio up to his head and ear and pressed the button. A sound of static began to go through the now silent room. The lieutenant looked into the burning green eyes of the woman and swallowed. After a somewhat long pause, he found his voice and began to speak.
"Artillery Command? This is North Gate Outpost. Come in."
There was a moment of static, but then a voice. "I read you, North Gate Outpost. Is something wrong? We heard gunshots…"
"Those weren't gunshots." The man immediately corrected, nearly too quickly. "That was…the generator. It's a bit on the fritz. We were banging on it. We've got it working again now."
Krystea gave the man a wide smile of approval at this.
"Listen…we just got a message from command. They gave us the ten-forward to let these four people I've got down here through. They're the Turks. They're the special agents for the NSA. It's best we don't hold them up."
"…Lieutenant, you just radioed me six hours ago telling me that we were supposed to detain them if they came this way."
The man swallowed, but stayed calm. "I know, I know…but they've been checked out. I got the message that it was a false alarm. The General's moving them south…to…make sure no one else defects. They have a…a…"
Krystea realized he was floundering here. She raised the radio away from his head and to her own. She smiled and flicked her hair once, taking on a far more amiable attitude. "This is Krystea of the Turks. We have a notice here authorizing us to move forward on our mission. It's signed by the General himself. We could show each and everyone one of you out there that it's legitimate, but that would take forever and we're on a tight schedule. So will you settle for the General's confirmation code?"
There was a pause on the other end. Krystea pulled the radio away from her mouth and patiently waited. It took about a half minute of silence, but at last a voice came through. It was a bit irritable.
"…Fine. Go ahead."
Krystea looked up to Rude here, and handed the radio out to him. He looked at it and stiffened a moment. He nearly drew away from Krystea as she reached out to him. However, after a pause, he was able to compose himself. He took the radio from her hand and exhaled. Becoming as boldfaced as possible, he raised it up to the side of his head and began to say the code. He had it memorized by now, after all.
As this went on, Reno turned and looked to the door outside. He looked back to Krystea, but saw that she wasn't looking at him. Confused, he turned back to the door, walked up to it, undid the locks, and then swung it open. A blast of cold air hit him, but he bore through it and poked his head out, turning to look to the side wall of the building.
There was his nightstick, Elena's gun…and an indentation in the snow where Krystea's handgun had been.
The Turk ducked his head back inside and looked to Krystea in disbelief. She had put her gun down. The guard didn't let them in until they removed weapons. And yet…she had it again. She had pulled it up from her side as if she had never put it outside. Yet…the only time she could have gotten it is if she would have put it down and then taken it back up again. He supposed she could have…because he wasn't looking…but that was too obvious. That guard would have had to have seen it.
But…how else did she get her gun back?
Rude finished with the code, and handed the radio back out to Krystea. The woman took it, and then lowered it back to the lieutenant's head. There was a pause on the other end, before a long sigh came out.
"…This is too damn irregular, lieutenant. Are you sure everything is fine down there?"
"Everything's fine. Situation normal."
"Just the same…I'll give clearance after I double check this with command."
Krystea pressed her gun a bit harder against the man's head…indicating he had better find a way around this.
The lieutenant swallowed, and then spoke up again. "Look…they're in a serious hurry down here, and they need to get to Neo Junon. They gave me this code so that they could bypass this kind of stuff. I'll take full responsibility for anything that goes wrong. But I need to let them move right now."
Having calmed down a bit from the initial shock of what Krystea had done, Reno's own brain began to work again. Quickly, he reached over and snatched the radio from Krystea's hand, and brought it up to his own head. "Officer, all you need to do is tell command that we are in a hurry to try and stop a potential defector from making contact with the PPA, and they'll understand. This is irregular, but this is the only way we can keep it quiet. But we need to move out right now. Alright?"
Reno brought the radio down. That should have done it, though. The NSA didn't know precisely if they were running away. All they had was the word of some peon. Even if they didn't believe them, it would at least cause enough of a delay to get away with any hope. Again, there was a long period of silence. The Turks waited nervously, hoping that they would buy it.
At last, another sigh went out.
"Fine. But like you said…it's your ass. I'm placing that call as soon as I sign off. Gunnery Command out."
The radio sounded a blip of static from the other end as the person shut off. Krystea smiled. She calmly replaced the radio on the console, and then looked back down to the man she had under the gun.
"Thank you." She greeted, before shifting her gun over his heart and pulling the trigger.
The other three Turks recoiled as the sharp sound went through the outpost room, and the man hunched against the console went limp forever. Yet as Krystea replaced the Valentine in her side holster and looked over the console again, Elena recovered and glared at her.
"Are you totally insane?" She nearly screamed at her. "What the hell was that all about?"
"I was getting us out of this, you ingrate." Krystea nearly sneered back as she began to look for the right controls. "Why are you all so shocked about this?"
Reno let out a nervous chuckle and wiped his brow as he turned and looked over the dead soldiers. "This whole 'Dragon Lady' thing was a bit crazy… And how you suddenly-"
"Give me a break." Krystea groaned, rolling her eyes for a moment before continuing to look. "You all act like I grew acid dripping tentacles and melted their faces off. I knew they were horny guys the moment I stepped in here, and I knew they were going to call on us. So I used what I had to distract them until I could kill them. At what time did I do anything out of the realm of work or what we were intending? We were going to kill them, right? We weren't going to leave them here to try and alert them as to how we slipped right through security, were we?"
Reno hesitated for a moment at this. He moistened his lips and looked up to the ceiling, and then gave an uneasy shrug. "True, but-"
"But nothing." Krystea snapped back. "I did your job for you, quicker and easier than the rest of you wanted. I played the part of a Turk. End of job. End of mission. End of story. Why should you three be the only people who go around getting rid of witnesses? Instead of bitching, you should try and see how we're going to get through this canyon before they find out our story is full of crap."
Reno didn't answer. Neither did the others. Elena still looked uneasily at Krystea, but as for Rude, he paused only a moment before trying to appear normal again. Krystea went about her work again, and started pushing some buttons.
The red-headed Turk wasn't sure how to answer that. The truth was…that was indeed what they were planning. They had been moving in position to ambush them, and in the end they probably would have had to kill them or made sure that they wouldn't be moving around or talking for a while. That was the way the Turks operated, just as Krystea had said. And as for the whole seductive act…it worked, didn't it? Reno had impersonated…intentionally and unintentionally…a drunk lots of times in order to ambush someone. The name of the game was getting your opponent off guard and then killing them. Krystea had done that part well. So what was wrong? What was there to be upset about?
Plenty.
It didn't matter that what Krystea had done was something a Turk would do, because it wasn't something she would do. Krystea would never flaunt herself to distract a man. If any of the men had acted the slightest bit interested in her in the past, she probably would have slapped them across the face with the back of her gun. Also…Krystea did as she was told. She went along with plans, not out to form her own. And she was more merciful. She didn't kill people when she could avoid it, and she definitely didn't use the kind of torture methods she performed on the lieutenant. She certainly didn't swear this much either…or get this brittle.
Yet even after that, there was a lot of reason to worry. When Reno had saw her go through her routine…he found himself as mesmerized as the others. He couldn't deny it. He actually…visualized himself with her… He knew it was an act at best from the start, and yet he had gone along with it as it was real. And the more she talked, the more he had felt his will slipping away. Everything she did not commanded the world around her. When she wanted to seduce someone, everything she said was a lure and temptation. When she was angry, the world around her grew cold and dark. And when she was defensive…no one would dare challenge her.
Even now…as Reno was beginning to desire to challenge her…he couldn't bring the will to do it. He could almost swear that he felt, out of all things…fear of her.
Elena was right. Something is wrong with her.
Reno thought this a moment, but then quickly shoved it into his brain, under his shield of smiles and cockiness. He didn't wish to let her know that he saw something wrong. He was beginning to think that she might lash out unexpectantly if she knew that. Krystea was quickly becoming someone he didn't recognize…and it was scaring him more by the minute.
"Well…sun's almost down." Reno announced at last, trying to sound bright and chipper again. "And it's not like they have the general on 1-800-LEERS. It'll take them at least 30 minutes to get through all the channels and get a message back. Even if they don't go for it, we have a head start at least. By then it will be dark, and we should clear the rest of the valley easy if we're careful."
Elena frowned. "…We're hiking all night?"
"Of course." Reno answered with a shrug. "There won't be a place to rest until Neo Junon, and this place ain't safe to stay the night anymore. Hopefully by tomorrow afternoon we'll be there, and then we can get a boat and get out of here."
"Let's not dawdle then." Krystea answered as she turned away from the console and began to walk to her cold weather gear. Again, her personality had changed…now more bold and commanding, almost as if she was leading the group. "I'll set this gate on a one minute delay, so hopefully they'll think they shut it behind us. Hopefully this is the last of the New Shinra we'll have to kill to get by."
To be continued...