Finally here! I've been preoccupied a lot lately. School...field trips...Final Fantasy VI Advance(which I could rant on for pages if given opportunity i.e. NO VANISH/DOOM TRICK?!)... That, coupled to the fact that this wasn't a particularly interesting chapter, made it forever for me to crank out the last of it. I've also endlessly been thinking about how to do the next chapter, which will be a tough one for me.
65 Hours Until The Firing Of The Gauntlet Of Zeus
Ragnar took a moment to wipe his brow. He was sweating despite how cool it was out. After all, he had been running around a lot…and now was a very "sweat-worthy" time.
Time was running out. Down at the shore, most of the confusion and scrambling had become isolated. And here the young general was in the middle of it. Large crates and pieces of artillery were being wheeled around and onto boats as fast as they could be. The problem was order. There were several officers in charge, but keeping track of so many pieces being shoved onto so many boats was troublesome. Likewise, there was a backup error. Some of them had tried to shove their artillery onto the modified cargo ships, which had more room. However, most of these weren't nearly as well armed as the destroyers, and hitting one would be costly if it sank. So they had to pull them out and move them somewhere else. There was more than weapons, of course. There were also vehicles and camping supplies. Fast as Ragnar intended this operation to be, they needed places to sleep. He also had to try and accommodate room to "crash" tonight aboard the vessels. The army would be in bad shape if they ran around so much today and then were forced to battle right afterward. Personnel were now coming out onto the field as well, but at the moment they were still just standing around, and really serving to clutter up space.
Ragnar was in the center of a particularly busy area, trying to avoid trucks and troops. He hadn't had a lot of time to delegate all responsibility to lower officials. Hence, he found him doing some of the things he had done back in the early days of the army, when he had to make lots of decisions. A few commanders were around him, moving with him as he tried to avoid getting in the ways of others. Red XIII had recently joined up with him, but he had to wait his turn.
"None of the Comets are getting stored." Ragnar instructed one officer. "Each one of them has to get mounted on top of a destroyer. They're too valuable to the conflict. And that's destroyers. Don't put any of them on top of one of our artificial warships or they'll be the first things to go."
"Aye sir." The officer added with a nod, and then turned and moved out.
"Sir, Midgar's own loaders unions have come out to help us. The mayor has signed over the police at our disposal."
"Good news, for a change. The loaders need to get busy, but the police need to just stand by. I may put them at Major Rui's disposal for evacuation after we're gone. Tell them to start on the opposite end of the warehouses we haven't broken open yet."
"Yes sir."
"Commander Jensen…what's the count?"
"…Only about 40 percent of munitions are at the shore, sir."
"That's not nearly good enough, commander. We need to get that stuff moved out. You get on the radio and tell them 'five hours, not one minute more'."
"Yes sir."
"General…" Red XIII spoke up, finally getting the chance to move in and interject. "We have a meeting area. On the Yojimbo. We're sending what graphics we have over there now and alerting the higher officers."
"Great job, Colonel. Get the message out. Meeting at 2000."
Red XIII nodded and turned away to go about his business, swishing his tail out of the way of an oncoming forklift wheel as he did so. No sooner had he left, however, than another person stepped out from behind the forklift and advanced on the youth. Ragnar looked up to him, and saw that it was none other than Cloud. He was fully battle dressed, but looking rather upset at the moment as he approached.
Ragnar turned fully to him. "Cloud?"
"We have a big problem." He warned as he came up to him.
Ragnar frowned. "Tell me something I don't know."
"I mean in addition to the Gauntlet of Zeus."
"Again, tell me-"
"I just checked in with the ordination officers." The ex-mercenary cut off. "We're short transports, and they won't be done for another week. We also lost more room because we're putting in areas to sleep during the voyage. We have a surplus of 30,000 troops and nowhere to put them."
Ragnar hesitated, and then groaned as he put his hand to his brow. Of course…he had forgotten all about that. There had been room for the troops only if the transports he had signed off on this morning had been done in time. They weren't. That meant that they were going to have to leave a large portion of their troops behind…
"We can't do this, Cloud." He warned. "We're already going to have to leave some artillery behind at this rate. Personnel is our only advantage now. We leave the 30,000 and we'll be almost dead even."
"I'm aware of that, kid. But there isn't anymore room on the destroyers or the transports. Unless you want them to stand on deck where they're fodder for shrapnel."
Ragnar paused again. He thought for a few moments about what they were going to do. He knew they hadn't had enough ships last time they had left the Northern Continent. But it was hardly a factor then. There wasn't a navy shooting after them, and they were able to get by with rafts. He couldn't afford to put people on deck and make them go in a column. He had already done that with the transports. Any further strung out and the NSN would be able to flank them even if they could take down the Juggernaut and the Defense Grid. There had to be another way…and eventually Ragnar could think of only one.
With a sigh, Ragnar began to reach down for his radio.
"What are you going to do?" Cloud asked.
"The only thing I can do." Ragnar drearily answered. "I'm going to put out a call for volunteers to ride on board our artificial warships. I'll do it myself if I have to."
Cloud didn't show amazement. After all, when it came to reckless ideas, he had done quite a few himself. But he did cross his arms and look at Ragnar critically.
"Those things aren't armored much better than our transports. And once the NSN sees how weak they are they'll be the first to get shot down."
"But they're capable of fighting back, and they're still more difficult to destroy than transports." Ragnar protested as he began to adjust his channels. "Also they don't know they're carrying troops. They'll think they're all on the transports themselves. It'll make them a bit less of a target."
Cloud still looked rueful as Ragnar brought the radio to his head to give out the call. He gave out a bit of a sigh.
"Well damnit, kid. Thanks a lot." He sarcastically uttered.
The youth turned curiously to him. "Huh?"
"I'm not going to let you outclass me in reckless endangerment on this." Cloud answered. "I guess I'm going to have to ride on one of those too."
64 Hours, 5 Minutes Until The Firing Of The Gauntlet Of Zeus
"Right in the water! That'll do just great!"
The truck driver looked back to Maritza skeptically, as did those who were on the loading team helping the truck back up to the shore. After all, they weren't even exactly sure what was on the extra large truck they were unloading. Maritza had refused to remove the canvas covers. However, she had come by and unfastened it, so that now it was only resting on the flatbeds of the trucks, and had uncoupled the trailers so that the truck would only push back. It looked like she was intending for the whole thing to simply crash into the water. None of them were that easy about it, but they didn't cause any dispute. After all, they had been cleared to do as she said.
The driver shrugged and turned back to the wheel. After throwing the truck into reverse, he gave it some gas. The trailers began to back up over the edge of the dock, right next to the open destroyer they thought they were loading it onto. It continued to push back for a few moments nice and slow…
"Faster!" Maritza yelled, stamping her foot. "Or it will get caught! FLOOR IT!"
Even over the sounds of engines and loading, the screaming was so loud that it caught the driver's attention and made him spasm. Out of surprise, he shoved his foot down on the gas…and the truck responded by going backward much faster. In seconds, the first trailer was over the edge. The wheels went out from under it, and it slammed down on the edge of the concrete dock. Sparks flew everywhere, but the momentum kept it pushing. Soon, it spilled over the rest of the way and over the edge. Seconds later, and the bulk on top of the truck slammed down on it. Normally this would have stopped it, but the momentum kept going, and soon the other trailer went over the edge as well as the first splashed down into the water. This caused enough tipping to lose the bundle on top of the trailers…and it slid off the rest of the top truck before heading down into the water. It sent up a huge crash of water as it landed.
The truck driver gulped and quickly hit the brakes. It was a bit too late. The other trailer followed the first, and he was pretty near the edge himself when he finally brought it to a halt. As for the bulk in the water, it lurched forward and back once inside, like some kid's toy dropped into a tub. It continued to shift for a short while, but then it began to stabilize. Something was making it float, and it did so as it steadied out so that the canvas covering was on top.
The driver and the workmen turned with something of a frown to Maritza, at how she had yelled at them. She merely grinned and slapped her hands together in delight.
"Very good work, boys."
Maritza was interrupted a moment later, however. Suddenly, she felt a hand from behind her lightly rest on her shoulder. Her face turned to a bit of intrigue, and curiously she turned around to see who it was…
She found herself staring right into the incensed face of Reno of the Turks, with Rude and Elena at his sides.
None of them looked happy.
Maritza looked over them for a brief moment, showing genuine surprise at seeing them. But then, she smiled a bit as she looked to Reno. "So…you guys made it over too?"
"If it isn't Colonel Maritza…" Reno mentioned out loud, glaring at the woman darkly and keeping one hand on her shoulder…clamping it now to make sure she wouldn't escape. "The woman who BSed us for several months while she treated Krystea as a guinea pig…"
Elena's dark look stayed cold as she drew out her gun, complete with a new fire materia. Rude began to crack his neck.
Maritza, however, seemed little miffed. She looked again over them all, first at Reno and then over at his two companions. After that, she looked back to Reno, keeping her smile. "I see Krystea isn't with you at the moment… So I'm guessing at this point that she's completed her transformation, most likely into something that's rather like Sephiroth himself, yes?"
Reno answered by pointing the end of his nightstick in her face. He crackled out a bit of electricity, so much that she got a bit of a shock on the end of her nose. This made her wince and her grin falter.
"I don't suppose you have any good reason why we shouldn't beat your new-found youth out of you, do you?" Reno asked. "Or would you rather pick now if you'd like to be Original Recipe or Extra Crispy?"
Maritza adjusted her neck a bit, seeming to be somewhat uncomfortable of the situation, but still kept her grin as she raised two fingers, put them on the safe part of Reno's nightstick, and slowly began to move them away from her head.
"Now, now…you really wouldn't want to do that."
"I really think I would. And even if I wouldn't, I'm betting Rude would like to give your face a two inch indentation, and that Elena would like to see how fast you can dance."
"Kill me, and you'll kill all the lovely, sugary sweet ideas and plans within my pretty little head." Maritza warned, crooking her head and smiling as she did so.
"It really doesn't matter to me whether or not the PPA gets wasted on this invasion. We get work either way."
"How interesting you should say that." Maritza calmly answered. "Because I had much of the same mentality. However…the Planet Protector Army does coincide with what I truly want, which has little to do with this actual invasion. By extension…the Planet Protector Army coincides with what you truly want. A service only I can provide."
Reno hesitated here. He turned his head to the sides, looking back to Rude and Elena. They both had hesitated as well on hearing this, although they were still, like him, extremely distrustful. The man turned back to Maritza a moment later.
"…What kind of service?" He asked.
"Do you really want to know, or are you just planning on turning me into fried food?" Maritza innocently asked. "I don't talk well with a nightstick shoved in my face."
Reno hesitated a moment longer after hearing this. His look was dark, and still rather distrusting. But in the end…he slowly loosened his grip on Maritza's shoulder. Afterward, he took one step back, pulling his arm down to his side as he did so, and letting his nightstick temporarily fall.
"You have five minutes. And if you try to run, you'll be dead before you even fully turn around."
64 Hours Until The Firing Of The Gauntlet Of Zeus
This was reckless even according to Ragnar's standards.
Whereas the meeting hall on the Yojimbo had been intended for large meetings, official and well prepared, it instead had a smattering of the highest officers in the PPA and WGN hunkering down into the first few rows of the ampitheater. Rather than having an official seating arrangement or order, the highest officers; the four main captains, Admiral Godo, Colonel Nanaki, and Generals Cloud and Ragnar; were seated in the rotating zone. But it wasn't rotating now. Instead, everyone was seated on one side of the room to face it. Although it was mostly major officers there, including Ragnar's friends, anyone was allowed to show up at a time like this.
The lights were already dimmed when Ragnar arrived and quickly took his seat. There was quite a bit of commotion going on too. Not all of the officers, including the Wutai ones, were fully dressed, and everyone was a bit haggard from having been running around over the last eight hours. Ragnar noticed with some disdain that Lieutenant Maritza had not shown up. He had hoped that she would have arrived to show them exactly what she had planned. Not even he knew exactly what was up her sleeve, but just generalities. He hoped she didn't make an entrance. They didn't have time for her theatrics.
Ragnar and the others waited a few more minutes for whoever could make it to arrive. However, they knew that time was a factor and that many were busy. The young general himself checked his watch, and waited until it was exactly 2000 hours. At that point, it didn't matter to him whether they were running late or not. They should have realized by now that time was of the essence. He turned and looked over to the Admiral, giving him a nod. Godo nodded back, and then rose from his own position. On seeing him do this, those in the aisles quickly calmed down and turned their attention to him. Godo himself didn't go to the podium, instead relying on his standing position for attention, and began to reach into his pocket.
"We don't have much time, so we'll forgo any formalities and get right into the heart of the matter." Godo announced as he grasped something and pulled it out. It was a remote clicker. There was no time to arrange audio cues this time around. Instead, he pointed it to the center of the floor and pushed the button.
As before, a large three dimensional image popped up. Ragnar looked up to it, and watched as it took the shape of the Northern Continent coastline, in particular in the area around Neo Junon. It contained images showing the main enemy fleet as well, signified especially by the presence of the Juggernaut.
"This is the enemy coast. At 0000 hours, we will depart for it and on arrival at 0800 we will immediately engage the enemy. Just prior to arrival, however, our new weapon, the Leviathan, will attack the Juggernaut moments before we open fire. We are hoping that the opening attack will leave the aircraft carrier seriously damaged and crippled, throwing the rest of the fleet into disarray. The Phoenix squadrons will not proceed to attack the Defense Grid, but instead will concentrate all firepower on the fleet."
The graphics changed, showing an incoming fleet doing battle with the enemy one to accent this. The Juggernaut itself was disabled during it, which Ragnar hoped would reflect reality. During the graphics, however, a single craft broke off from their fleet and continued on toward the shore. The images zoomed in on it.
"During the attack, one of our craft, the Palidor, will break off and make an assault on the enemy grid. The fighter will disable the grid at this point, enabling us to crush the fleet against the shore and land our transports. With their artillery disabled, we hope that the garrison at Neo Junon will break and we'll be able to land all of our troops before tomorrow is over."
A hand went up in the audience. Godo looked to it.
"Yes, commander?"
"I'm a little confused, sir." The PPA commander answered. "How exactly will one new fighter take out the entire grid? Not even three full sized airships were able to do that."
"That's not your concern, commander." The Admiral calmly answered. "Know only when it goes down that we may move in."
Ragnar grimaced a bit to himself here. That was part of the reason, but the other part was that neither Godo nor any of them knew exactly what Maritza was planning with that fighter…only that if it didn't work they were all in trouble. The technicians said that she had been modifying a Phoenix to have a second rear facing seat for gunnery capability, but other than that the fighter didn't have anything outstanding about it. He hoped she'd come through. It would be her on the line anyway, so he had little reason to believe it was a trick. She was going to be the one in the back seat.
"I will now give the floor to Colonel Nanaki for the next portion of Operation Dragon." Godo responded, and then sat down. The canine creature rose next. He took a moment to clear his throat, but then continued with the briefing.
"The key to the entire invasion will be speed. The enemy must be struck fast and hard, and kept reeling for as long as possible. With that in mind, the enemy, at this point, should be disorientated and in disarray. If we sweep them fast and hard enough, they will begin a full scale retreat against overwhelming forces. We will not, at this time, come to a halt, but neither will we begin a systematic 'cleansing' of the area for enemy outposts and troops."
The graphic above Red XIII changed, moving further up the coast. A large force of PPA came from the transports that arrived at shore, and in a monolithic mass moved forward across the landscape.
"By moving fast enough, we should divide the scattered remnants of the army in half so that neither might assemble an effective counter offensive, while at the same time driving the bulk of the army from the field. With that, the enemy will retreat toward the valley of the City of the Ancients. That is the only bottleneck from which they can hold off an invasion of our size. This is also the last line of defense prior to the Dome itself."
The graphic stopped on the valley and zoomed in slightly. Enemy army units moved into it, and began to go through. However, a different colored one was in the lead.
"The idea will be to get behind the checkpoint and hold it as long as possible for the remaining enemy troops above the canyon to respond to our assault. Therefore…we cannot let this checkpoint become a barrier. The last remaining espionage agents for Wutai have been organized to form a single dummy division. They have been contacted about our impending invasion, and have hidden out near the head of the valley. At the point where we drive the enemy to the valley, they will move out impersonating the New Shinra Army. It is severely unlikely that General Leers will abandon what amounts to half of his army without trying to salvage some of it. He will try to let as many troops as possible through before being forced to shut off the valley. Because of our spies, and the confusion causing an abandonment of procedure, the team should be able to get through and neutralize their control. From this position, they can go overhead and take out any gunnery emplacements that might not be affected. However, they will have little time to do so. It is important that we follow through, rout any following troops that may attempt to retake control, and secure the opposite end of the valley. Once we have established a presence and fortified our position, we will be able to hold the valley indefinitely and set our line of territory that far."
Red XIII moved back a bit and sat down again. Ragnar inhaled deeply and then began to rise. Already, that strategy was risky. But it had to be done. They had to at least take the valley. Once they had it, they could force every troop south to surrender. At least…he hoped they were fragmented and weak enough for that. If not, they'd be the ones in the pincer. But if so…then the troops to the north would be under increased pressure to end the war. At any rate, if they could get that close, their army was effectively safe from the Gauntlet of Zeus. He just hoped they weren't crazy enough to fire on the cities anyway…
Once standing, Ragnar faced the crowds and began.
"We are hoping that by the time we take and fortify the north entrance that the time will be no later than 1200 hours of two days from now. At this point, we will break camp for twelve hours to give our troops a chance to recuperate. We can't afford to give any longer than that. After that, we push north. We will continue to do so until we are within one kilometer of the New Shinra HQ Dome. It's a lot of ground to cover, and we may have to break some defensive lines…but that is the minimum. At that point, we will deploy a device that will neutralize the shield around the Dome and open fire with whatever heavy artillery is left. With any luck, this attack on their last fortification and neutralization of their final line of defense will cause the army's resolve to break, and we can force a surrender."
A hand went up. Ragnar looked to the individual and pointed at her.
"Yes, commander?"
"Permission to speak frankly, sir?"
Ragnar hesitated here, but then nodded. "…Granted."
"What if their resolve is stronger than we're planning, and they hold their positions?"
The youth was afraid that question would come up. He inhaled again and slowly exhaled. "…Well then, commander…we will have no choice but to take the Dome ourselves. At this point it will be impossible for the Gauntlet of Zeus to fire on us without damaging their own army just as badly, in a move that would amount to suicide. The point being is that after we break camp, we will have exactly twelve hours to end the war before the Gauntlet of Zeus is ready to fire on anything. Any more questions?"
The people looked a bit uneasy. It was quite a bit over a limited time frame, and many of them had never had to work under such severe pressure. It was also requiring a lot from them…possibly more than they could give. Most of them had never conducted an offensive in this war. However, it was the only course of action too. And when it concerned the fate of them and their families, they were ready to go through with it with all that they could muster. They stayed silent, and looked back to Ragnar with steely gazes.
The youth gave a nod. "Very well. You are dismissed to give the news to your subordinates…and you have three hours and fifty-five minutes to get them on board the transports."
The Turks were silent. Elena stared blankly at Martiza, clearly showing her amazement and disbelief at what she had heard. Reno was more controlled. After all…he was very doubtful about the truthfulness of this woman. Yet even Rude was hesitant now, again showing some rare emotion…and Reno would be lying if he said that he too wasn't hopeful about what she had told them. Incredulous as it was…if it was true…
"So you expect us to believe that you were able to build that just from the limited data we sent you?"
"I had some help and some ideas." Maritza answered with a shrug. "What matters is that it exists."
In that case, Reno continued, crossing his arms. "You expect us to believe that this is possible. I'm not a science whiz, but this sounds pretty farfetched to me."
"It has required months of work, no doubts there." Maritza answered. "Which is why it wasn't until now that I was able to pull it off. And I had to wait until now."
"Why would you even care one way or another?" Elena interjected. "What's she to you?"
Maritza's gaze narrowed. Her wily smile grew a bit wider. However, other than this, she stayed silent. Her look seemed to mock them all with the chant, "I know something; I won't tell".
"…Personal reasons." She finally said. "But I'm going to need help. Not from the PPA. They'll probably try to stop me before I get close enough. You three, on the other hand, have a common cause with mine. And your skills would prove most invaluable. In particular, I need an expert pilot for the operation in a few hours to carry out the first phase of my plans. But they'll be plenty more to do once we hit the Dome. What do you say?"
Reno kept his arms crossed for a moment. When he broke, he began to put his nightstick back into his suitcoat. He wouldn't need it anytime soon. He didn't quite feel the desire to kill her so greatly now. After doing so, however, he reached for the side of his head and plucked a cigarette out. He put it in his lips, went into his pockets, fished out his lighter, and began to fire up the end.
"What do I say?" He spoke around the cigarette as he pulled the lighter down and took his first puff. "I might be more inclined if you told me what interest you had in her. As you haven't, my first impulse says that you want an even more ambitious experiment. For all I know, you're nuttier than Hojo. You lied to us once before. Why should we trust you now?"
Maritza kept her smile. She bent her hands behind her, and began to slyly walk forward toward the larger man, gazing up at him with her mischievious look.
"Let's put it on this footing… If I am lying to you…what have you got to lose? She can't get any worse than she is right now, and I doubt you believe I can control her. Any attempt would wind up in getting myself killed." She hesitated here, and put an edge on her voice.
"But if I'm telling the truth…then can you really afford to take the chance of not listening to me and helping me? Do you really want to take that chance?"
Reno hesitated here. The other two did as well. Reno, at length, cracked a grin and gave a chuckle out of the corner of his mouth as he puffed on his cigarette. This woman might have seemed crazy, but she was shrewd. He bet that the PPA had no idea how shrewd of crafty she was. You could never tell what was her being wild and what was her hiding her true intentions behind a veil of childishness. Even he found it impossible to read this woman most of the time. He did have very little faith in this scheme of hers. It sounded like a bunch of crap to him. Even if she could produce the physical evidence, he'd just as soon think it was fake. But then again…that was his nature. He didn't even trust his own shadow.
Yet some of what she said made sense. Naturally, if the New Shinra knew that Krystea would soon be another Sephiroth, they'd definitely want to use her as a biological weapon. She could have turned the tide of the war single handedly, just like Sephiroth and SOLDIER had won the Wutai war before them. In the process…they'd probably make sure to obliterate as much of her personality and independent thought as possible. Assuming she wanted Aleron intact…this coincided with it. And if she had been trying to keep the New Shinra from finding out about her, as well as saving her skin from Ashiah (which seemed likely), then this was a likely venue now. It seemed unusual that she would have gone through all of these hoops otherwise if she didn't have something big planned against the New Shinra and the Northern Continent.
Most importantly, however, was the cost/benefits analysis. Like Maritza said…if she was telling the truth, they stood to gain much, much more than what it would cost if she was lying.
Reno turned his head behind him to either side, seeing what the others thought. Elena uneasily grimaced, and gave a shrug. As for Rude, he stayed stoic and tall, relying on Reno's judgment in this case, it seemed. On picking this up, the man turned back to Maritza. He crossed his arms again, and took another long drag from his cigarette.
"…Alright." He finally said. "We'll go along until we start smelling the distinctive odor of rats or fish. What do you need?"
Maritza smiled here, and clapped her hands in delight, seeming very pleased with this.
"Splendid. Alright…first, like I said, I need the best pilot among you…"
62 Hours Before The Firing Of The Gauntlet Of Zeus
Ragnar inhaled as he looked over the loading ramp. He was alone at the moment, although Cloud was coming in from behind and Barret was coming out to greet them. It was rather dark out now, even with the pale illumination of the dock lights. He used their glow to look over the Dyne slowly, checking it over and searching for whatever fatal flaw could be in its upgraded design. However, for now he saw nothing, although in engineering looks could be deceiving…
A moment later, he heard the crash of Cloud's duffel bag next to his. The ex-mercenary came to a stop next to him, and looked up and over the ship as well.
"Thinking this is some floating coffin, kid?"
Ragnar paused a bit longer, but then shrugged. "I really shouldn't. This one was armored pretty well. It'll be hanging toward the back too."
"I think they'd understand if you got on board a stronger destroyer." Cloud mentioned. "You are the lead commander, after all."
"Well, this is an important ship too." Ragnar answered. "We're launching the Palidor from this one. Besides…" Ragnar hesitated a moment, and then turned over to his friend. "I'd like to hang out with you all before we get started."
Cloud cracked a smile as well. As it had turned out, most of the group was going on board the Dyne. The only exceptions were Colonel Nanaki, who was standing on board one of the radar ships to provide tactical information, and Commander Yuffie, who wouldn't be able to hold her stomach contents on board one of these ships. Solidarity in risks had something to do with it. After all, the group had stuck together in unity for a while before now. And Tifa definitely wasn't going anywhere without Cloud, while Aerith wasn't going anywhere without Ragnar. However, it was also a pleasing sensation for them to be working together in close contact.
Also…Ragnar had a feeling he might have some things to say to a few of the others before they arrived…
The youth inhaled and exhaled.
"…This is it."
"Yeah."
The general paused momentarily, and turned over to Cloud. "…You know I'm not talking about the battle with the New Shinra, right?"
"Of course." Cloud answered, not turning back.
"You think we're ready?"
"Ready or not, I'll be glad to be done with it." Cloud answered, still looking forward. "Of course…this isn't the first time I thought it would be over. But third time's a charm."
Ragnar inhaled and exhaled as he turned back away. He had lots on his mind as well…and each one had equal importance to him. He hadn't the room to devote to them all. Once they had taken off, he was going to try and clear his mind and not think about anything until the battle began. He had to focus himself and concentrate on his senses.
"One thing's for sure…" Cloud spoke again after a moment. "Once this is done…fighting is not going to have a place in my life anymore. I've been fighting long enough. Now I'd rather have time for what other people think about…"
Ragnar didn't answer, but he knew full well what Cloud meant. The man had more than earned it. To tell the truth…Ragnar had a life to begin of his own after this was over. The past eight years of it had been a mixture of pain and fighting, of discovering and acting out his destiny. He wasn't sure what exactly would be left for him after this was done… He hadn't really thought that much about this part of it either, even less than Cloud. It would be something he'd have to figure out too before long…
A sound of tramping on metal came forward up ahead. Both generals looked up and to the source, and saw as Barret's massive body came out to stand on the top of the ramp leading up onto the boat. He was dressed entirely the same as usual, with the only exception being a PPA Captain's hat and insignia resting on his head. He gave them both a gruff look as he came to a stop, and crossed his arms in front of him.
"'Bout time ol' Scrawny an' Spiky showed up." He accosted them. "Thought I'd hafta leave wit'out ya'…and I would too, if it meant missin' the fight. Aerith an' Tifa've been loadin' up for an hour now. And that damn cat is runnin' 'round pissin' me off wit' his damn fortunes. So get on board already!"
Ragnar allowed himself to snicker a bit as he walked up. He should, after all. There'd be plenty of time to worry later… Cloud followed shortly behind. Barret kept his position, but he wasn't alone. A few of the other crewmen were on board now, each one dressed like a PPA sailor. In addition, two more people began to materialize from behind Barret to greet the oncoming men. Again, Ragnar allowed himself a smile as he saw Aerith and Tifa walking to the rail and looking over the edge.
"Typical…you two run off and expect us to set up everything for you." Tifa teased.
"How're the kids?" Cloud asked as he began to cross over the top.
"I already took them to Reeve's." Aerith answered. "They weren't exactly in the best of moods…but I know it can't be helped."
"This will be the last time we have to leave them." Cloud answered with resolution in his voice.
Ragnar tried to think of that as well. Yes…one way or another, that would be the case. While there was a lot to look forward to, there was still a lot between then and now. He noticed that all four of them were now going. There was a good chance that, due to Sephiroth and Aleron if nothing else, that some of them weren't going to be coming back. Even if Ragnar's humanness wanted to deny that, Bahamut's experience with loss through the centuries made it all too clear. It seemed that nothing ever came that was worthwhile without a sacrifice first…
Ragnar hadn't noticed that his step had slowed until now, when he saw himself step over the edge well behind Cloud. He tried to snap out of it after that, and looked up to the others. Again, he forced a smile…but that soon faltered when the first person that he saw was Aerith. She was greeting him with a genuine hopeful smile…and much as he wanted too he couldn't return it authentically. The fateful moment was coming. Even if he could defeat Sephiroth and the NSA…something could still happen to push Aerith over the edge. It should have been alright… After all, he wasn't going to release Bahamut until after Sephiroth and Aleron were finished. But there were lots of things that could go wrong before then…
Apparently, his worry began to bleed through. Aerith's face turned to concern.
"…You alright?"
Ragnar hesitated a moment, but then snapped his head. "Um…yeah. I'm fine." He managed to choke out after a moment, forcing himself to grow more at ease. "I'm just…just a bit nervous, is all. I still have to address the troops and everything. This is going to be the big one…and I've got to think of something to say."
"Well, think fast." Cloud matter-of-factly answered as he set his bag down and looked to his watch. "You only have about two hours left."
"One hour…fifty one minutes, you generals of the slow timepieces."
On hearing this unexpected voice, all five people turned to the source…the ramp leading onto the ship. Ragnar blanched a bit as he recognized who it was…remembered what he had agreed to. The others were quite a bit surprised. As for Barret…his face tightened and his tone grew angry.
"What the hell… Who said she was comin' on my ship?!"
Dragging her way up the ramp like a pampered lady who had brought too much luggage was Lieutenant Maritza. She had no less than five bags strapped to her torso, each fat and overflowing. Most of them looked like they had scientific purposes rather than luggage, however. Two more heavy bags, bursting with materials, tools, and what looked like a fast food value meal were in her arms…one being dragged and the other over her shoulder. If that wasn't enough, she was dragging behind her on rollers a crate-sized container. Nevertheless, she looked bright and energetic as always, if not huffing and puffing the whole way. Again…Ragnar was stunned to see her again for the first time in a short while.
She looked even younger than before…no older than eighteen…
"That would be your commanding officer." Maritza huffed in between gasps, giving a smile and nod to Ragnar.
The general paled a bit, and turned back to Barret. The big man, in response, turned and glared at him.
"You didn' tell me I was gonna be shuttlin' her ass up north!"
Ragnar sighed and shrugged. "Last minute decision. She didn't tell me until today that she had to be on board the Palidor herself, and we're taking it off from here. I had to shove her somewhere. There was no time to rearrange things."
Barret continued to fume, but held his tongue as he muttered obscenities about having to "chauffer a Shinra wacko". In the meantime, Ragnar turned back to the lieutenant as she grunted up the last few steps.
"I thought you were supposed to put all of your equipment in the hold."
"I did." Maritza answered. "These are my personal effects. And by the way, you big strong titans of men…don't feel obliged at all to help a little old lady like me get this stuff on deck."
Cloud shrugged and crossed his arms at this. "Alright, I won't."
"…Ingrate." Maritza snapped as she pulled her body over the top.
Cloud blanched slightly here. Obviously, he had expected Maritza to go on further about how exactly she had helped him in the past. Although Ragnar knew the truth, he doubted that Tifa knew, or anyone else. After all, he said that he wasn't proud of it… A bit reluctantly, and to change the subject, he moved forward and grabbed one of the heavier bags off of Maritza's shoulder. It soon dragged his arm down…even with his added strength. He began to wonder exactly what she was bringing…
"The Palidor is already on board." Ragnar told her as she moved forward. "All we're waiting on is Lieutenant Harris to fly you in."
"Thanks just the same, General." Maritza answered, seeming to get a bit more of her cocky self as she said this. "But I think I'll supply my own pilot on this one."
The group gathered hesitated and looked to the woman in puzzlement.
"Um…excuse me?"
Maritza stopped dragging for a moment, and with a pant waved her head behind her. "I ran into a talented group of individuals who wanted to come along on our merry-old invasion, and they graciously volunteered to supply a pilot of superior skill from among their ranks."
Ragnar and the others looked to where she was motioning, back down the ramp. The young general was a bit surprised to see whow as there. With all that had been going on…he had nearly forgotten about them.
Standing plainly with arms crossed were the three remaining Turks.
Barret, who had never liked them, tensed up a bit. Cloud showed nothing. All the others showed mixtures of confusion. Ragnar himself, however, immediately put two and two together. He remembered how the Turks had told him that Colonel Maritza had been key in keeping them from knowing about Krystea until it was too late. As such, they couldn't have been too happy with him about not telling them the truth earlier. Yet even more confusing than that was why they apparently were the ones Maritza was talking about. They were actually working together?
Without another word, Reno began to walk up on the plank. The two others followed behind. Unlike Maritza, they had no luggage save for their weapons and ammunition. Perhaps some things were hidden in their suits, but other than that nothing.
"Room for three more, cap?"
The question was addressed to Barret. He snarled in response, and immediately grumbled as he threw his arms up. "Do whatever the hell ya' want. Obviously, it don't matter what I think… Everythin's the General's call now." He complained as he turned. "I'm gettin' outta here before anyone else gets let on that pisses me off…" He muttered over his shoulder before storming away.
Cloud crossed his arms as the three continued to ascend. "…So you decided to come? I didn't think we had offered you any money to join in this invasion."
"Hey, we're allowed to do some pro-bono work every now and then." Reno answered with a shrug.
"Somehow, you guys don't strike me as the kind of people who are big into altruism." Ragnar threw in.
Reno stopped and gave a shrug. "Hey, if you guys are trying to say we made a mistake in joining up on this mission, and think you don't need three more guys who could take five hundred apiece, then there's still more than enough time for us to turn back and return to our little apartment."
"It just strikes me as weird, given our past history, that you don't have some sort of alterior motive. Especially since for some reason you're teaming up with the woman you wanted to kill so much as look at a month ago." Ragnar continued.
Here, Elena frowned. "You've got a lot of nerve grilling us about that. You're the one who didn't tell us about her being here."
"So you could what? Kill our big advantage against the New Shinra?" Ragnar answered.
"Assuming she isn't playing you for a fool…" Reno answered…grinning in a none-too-subtle way. This caught Ragnar and the others…and they didn't like the way it sounded. "In which case we would have been doing you a favor. But if you can obviously look the other way for a common cause, then we can too."
"What common cause?" Tifa asked from behind the others.
Reno paused a moment, still smiling as he went for a cigarette. "You never told us your motives, why should we tell you ours?"
"If you want on this boat, you'll tell us." Cloud interjected.
"And who says we care if we're on your little trawler?" Reno calmly answered as he put the stick in his mouth and went for his lighter. "We're more likely to get blown out of the water if we do pile on this rust heap. But I know that Reno's the best pilot short of that farm boy in this entire region. It's your loss if we're not here to pilot your precious fighter."
The man paused to take a drag from the cigarette, and then removed it from his mouth as he casually looked up the ramp.
"Besides…you four honestly think that you can keep us from getting on the Northern Continent and back to Maritza simply by keeping us from being on this boat? It's like your strategy, General. You want us on the payroll so we can be under your regulation. Am I right? This is the only way you can keep any eyes on us."
Ragnar and the others stopped here. They turned and looked to one another. Tifa didn't look very easy, and Aerith's own apprehension was understandable. Cloud showed his normal grim self. Neither he nor Ragnar had liked that comment about Maritza possibly tricking them… Ragnar realized there wasn't exactly a lot of reasons to trust her at this point. She had only been marginally helpful so far. Most of their benefits were going to come from things that no one save her knew entirely about. And a traitor was the last possible thing they needed. She did seem to have all of her designs done just in time for this invasion, though it wasn't supposed to take place for two more weeks…
However, the Turks might have been a bit more trustworthy than they implied. They weren't ones to beat around the bush about stabbing you in the back. They just walked right up and did it if they were going to. And they were right in one regard. Only by letting them on board could they know for sure where they were and, to an extent, what they were doing. Having them along would be an asset if they were on their side. They definitely didn't have any love for the New Shinra. And as for Maritza…they should, at the bare minimum, favor them over her. They hadn't cheated them or lied to them…much. And they had to know that they'd be meeting up with Aleron on this trip…
Being the higher general, it was Ragnar's decision. Cloud would likely go along with it, no matter what it was. And so, he found himself finally reluctantly nodding.
"Good choice." Reno answered as he calmly resumed walking up the plank.
To be continued...