Chapter 18 – I'm Ready to do the Right Thing
When Reno left the room, he slammed the door behind him, as the group looked around at each other in awkward silence. Yuffie stood up. "I'm going after him." First she looked to Rude, then to Cloud for approval. She received a nod from each, however reluctant the latter's was. Jogging out of the house, Yuffie found Reno lighting up a cigarette not far from Cid's home.
"Reno, wait." She implored.
"Yeah, yeah, I ain't going anywhere."
Yuffie slowed down to a walk and stopped a couple feet from his back. "Are you alright?"
She watched Reno sigh deeply as his shoulders sagged. "You lie a lot right?"
"What?" Yuffie was confused, and a little insulted.
"I'm just asking, you've been known to tell a lie here or there."
"No, of course not." Yuffie shook her head furiously. Reno glanced back at her with a very skeptical look. "Well... Maybe sometimes..." she finished weakly.
"Right..." Reno took a deep drag on his cigarette. "So when you tell the truth it's usually pretty trustworthy.
Again, the younger woman was surprised. "Yeah, I- I guess so."
"Good. So then... Am I wrong?"
"What do you mean?"
"You know exactly what I mean."
Yuffie was hesitant to answer. "Yes. You are wrong."
"...Fuck..."
"I know." Yuffie stepped forward and put her hand on his shoulder. Cid then picked this moment to come out of his home and begin the evacuation of his town.
"Fuck, I don't have enough cigarettes for this shit." The pilot said as he passed.
"Hey." Reno's voice stopped him and he turned around, a quizzical expression on his face. "Here, take these, I've got plenty." Reno held out a fresh pack of cigarettes to the mayor.
"The hell?" Cid held them up and squinted. "I've never seen this brand before... probably terrible." He looked at Reno. "Uhh, thanks."
"Yeah, well I figure if I can't outright kill you, I may as well go subtle."
Yuffie slapped Reno across the back of the head, but Cid only laughed. "Later, you two."
Reno and Yuffie stood in silence for a couple moments watching Cid's retreating back fade into the dark of the night.
"You know, we should probably have a last romantic evening together before we head off into our last stand." Reno said, a disgusted look on his face.
"Yes, we probably should." Yuffie agreed. "But we won't, will we?"
"Do you want to?" Reno asked, turning to look her in the eyes.
"I do. I really do." Yuffie answered honestly, placing an open hand onto his chest.
"I'm sorry then. Really, I am." Reno reached up and encircled her hand with his. He held it closely for a second with his eyes closed. "Alright, that's enough of that." His eyes opened again and he left her hand go. Tapping her on the ass, Reno passed Yuffie and headed back into the house.
"Think you're able to handle this?" Cloud spoke as Reno re-entered with Yuffie right behind him.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. I hope you managed to slap together a half decent plan while I was out there. I know it's tough when the brains of the operation leaves."
"We were fine thanks." Cloud turned back to the group. "Alright, so we all agree then. Elena, Rude, I want you two in Mideel. Are you going to be ok with that?"
Elena understood the hidden question. "I'll do what needs to get done. My parents won't be an issue. I'll just save them with everybody else."
Tifa smiled softly at the blond. "They're in good hands."
Cloud nodded. "Good. Obviously Rocket Town is Cid's. No questions asked."
Red spoke up. "Do you think it's wise to be sending people to locations with personal attachments?" He ignored Elena's look. She knew he was right to ask.
Cloud leveled a sincere look at his friend. "I think we should be grateful for every ounce of motivation we can get." Red nodded in understanding. "Vincent, I want you in Corel while Cait Sith and I will handle Junon." Cloud continued. The group was surprised at the mention of the robot's name. "Reeve wants to be involved." Cloud supplied.
"I'm going after Barret." Tifa added impatiently. "And I'll do it alone."
"No you won't," Cloud spoke sternly. "Marlene is with him. I want you to go with Red so that he can get her out of there quickly if need be. Which leaves Wutai to Yuffie and Kalm to Reno."
"Nobody is going to Gongaga?" Cid asked as he walked back in. He had just finished alerting the neighbors. They knew what to do from there. You don't build a town around a potentially explosive device without having an evacuation plan in place. 'We should be in the safe zone by the first cigarette' Cid would shout in drills. "Shouldn't we be goin' right after this jackass."
"Yes and no." Cloud was ready for the question. He had thought it through himself, a thought that had been running through his mind constantly in the last half hour. "Our priority is the protection of the city and civilians. However," Cloud paused and took a moment to meet the eyes of everyone in the room. "Once you complete your objectives and take back the cities, we'll all meet outside of Gongaga and go in as a group. Then first one to Alexander gets him."
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The Highwind was pushing itself at top speed, but nobody could hear the wail of the engines, each lost in their own thoughts. Even the crew understood the magnitude of what was happening in their world at that moment and how the survival depended on the success of both Shin-Ra and AVALANCHE. The irony was not lost. Wordlessly the airship passengers departed.
Vincent touched down in Corel. The members of the Shin-Ra army he was assigned to had no idea that he had even arrived until he was at the head of their formation. As much as the ex-Turk wanted this to be a black ops mission, he knew time was of the essence. He made a point not to meet the eyes of any of the men he was with. Many of them would not survive and the burden would be heavy enough without the memories. Loading his weapon, the group charged into strategic positions surrounding the Mako facility.
Moments later Tifa and Red were dropped into the center of the town within a mile of the mayor's home. Reeve's intelligence had been able to determine the location of Barret and his daughter. Rather than removing them from their home, Alexander merely took control of it. Tifa broke into a dead sprint, Red running alongside her, forcing himself to maintain his pace and not to race ahead.
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Elena and Rude found themselves in front of the most loosely guarded complex in Mideel. Apparently Alexander had felt much security was not necessary in the protection of such a small town. Still ahead of the Shin-Ra troops, Elena's impatience quickly got the best of her. "We're going in." She spoke simply as she loaded her gun up with ammunition and material. Rude did not bother to argue with her, opting to adjust his sunglasses and lead the way instead. The first guards went down in a quiet heap.
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By the time Elena and Rude infiltrated their target, Cid had begun cleaning house in his own backyard. The Rocket Town citizenry was quick to rise to arms rather than be evacuated by their mayor and prepared themselves in anyway they could. It would be a foolish tactic, but the townspeople's sheer numbers were too much for the A.E.C. BlackOut troops. Cid led the way himself, swearing, stabbing and punching anything that he didn't like.
By the time Cloud arrived in Junon however, the army had proceeded without him and was led by Cait Sith, Reeve's voice barking out orders through the mechanical mega-phone, his own excitement burning into his words.
"That's right," The cat danced on the moogle. "Bring them down, bring them all right the hell down."
Cloud raced up, cutting down troops where he could help, healing any friendlies along the way. Just as Alexander had assured Reeve that he saved the largest bomb for him, his pride forced a concentration of his own men into Junon as well. Cloud did not enjoy the cutting down of so many enemies. But he didn't hate it either.
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Despite their fewer numbers, the Wutai troops were incredible in their proficiency. Not since the beginnings of the Wutai-Shin-Ra war had the people of the great nation been so incensed in the defense of its land and people. Yuffie made her way to the front lines on Chocobo to find her father leading the assault.
"Godo, what the hell are you doing here?" Yuffie's anger turned to concern as she noticed his limp right arm and the blood that stained the shoulder. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," he shouted loudly of the clash of weapons and gunfire. "Now stop talking and hit something."
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Reno swung his nightstick idly, angry that he had missed the fun. A.E.C. could not afford many more troops in Kalm and they were quickly dissipated by the Wutai warriors. Even now as he smoked outside of the location of the bomb, he considered his next steps. He also considered whether or not standing within spitting distance of a bomb was a great idea either, but that wasn't really under his control. Shrugging and discarding what was left of the cigarette, Reno asked to be taking to the Shin-Ra helicopter that had brought the bomb squad specialist to the city. After receiving directions, he sauntered off in that direction.
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Despite the superior weaponry and advanced tactics of Shin-ra forces, it was to be the Wutai warriors that attended to their business first. Yuffie's Conformer flashed briefly and rarely as few attackers made it past the honor guard to assault the Lord and his daughter. Completely over-run the A.E.C's forces began to fall back to the location of the bomb, saving the Wutai forces the time necessary to find it themselves.
Understanding the situation and receiving a nod of approval from her father, Yuffie cast one last sleep spell on a retreating Blackout troop and tore off in the direction of the Shin-ra helicopter that had brought her back to her homeland. The wind whipped the hair around her face, her eyes cold and determined. Too many times Wutai had been assaulted by foreign invaders, too many times in her lifetime even, much less in the great history of her nation.
"Never again." She spoke to herself, the words lost on the wind. Even if it cost her dearly, she would make an example of Alexander. He was hers. He was Wutai's.
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Vincent fired a few more times. The contingent he led had done surprisingly well for themselves he thought. Leaping across a corridor with long bounds, he fired as he sailed through the air. His sweep of the hallway complete, he signaled back at his men to follow. He heard the gunshot too late and spun, feeling the heavy pressure burrow into his arm. Suddenly the Death Penalty was too heavy for him and it hit the ground followed mere moments later by his own blood. 'Careless,' he thought, gritting his teeth against the pain. Rolling quickly, he found cover as his position was showered by splinters of debris from the gunshot. Vincent knew he would not die, not here. He wasn't afraid of that. What Vincent was afraid of was the voice inside of him, the pressure and pain inside of him that welled up and threatened to devour him and all those around him. Closing his eyes, he concentrated, forcing the feeling back down inside of its cage where it could tempt him some other day. The troops that he had been so worried for took care of his assailant.
The commanding officer approached the prone Vincent, mistaking the mask of concentration on his face for one of pain. "Are you all right, sir?" He asked with an unmistakable Junon accent. "The area just got the 'all-clear'. Do you need a med-evac?"
"No," Vincent spoke, opening his eyes and rising to his feet. "But I will need someone to carry my gun for me."
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Elena led her parents out of Mideel being covered by Rude, his broken sunglasses hanging on for dear life from his face. She thought back to the infiltration.
The moment they'd entered the building, the two Turks were under immediate fire. And not gunfire, there was a legitimate Fire spell launched at their faces the moment the door opened. Rolling through the flames, the couple came up with their guns blazing and Elena's hair was slightly singed for the effort.
Rude pulled up along side Elena and sniffed the air. "I hate the smell of burnt hair," he said.
"Yeah, well, I hate the smell of burnt bald," Elena looked down as she ran.
"That's not funny," Rude said pointedly and didn't notice the fist until it was too late. The A.E.C. troopers punch landed square in the middle of Rude's sunglasses, snapping the bridge. His head rocked, but he did not go down. "And you're very distracting," he added to Elena. Grabbing the man by his still extended arm, Rude applied pressure to the elbow until there was an audible pop and scream of pain. As the arm changed direction at the elbow, Elena's foot caught the side of the man's knee. Crippled, he crumbled. The two carried on. They could hear the fighting outside that signaled the arrival of the Shin-ra troops. Ducking into a side alcove, the two waited as the majority of the remaining guards were pulled to defend the outside of the fortification. With those troops gone, securing the explosive itself was no issue. Rude was the first to notice that the device was wired for remote detonation.
Elena's thoughts snapped back to the moment she was in and she held her mother a little closer while they evacuated with the rest of Mideel. "He's cute," her mother spoke.
"Not now, mama."
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Tifa approached the building quietly, Red tense by her knees. She knew that despite the fact that they had been the first dropped, it would not be long before Alexander heard of AVALANCHE's involvement and possibly go through with his threat. Fear gripping her again, Tifa finally ditched stealth for speed and dashed for a side door. She knew the home well and knew where she needed to go. Wordlessly, Red joined her.
Tifa spoke to Red as her foot connected with the jaw of the surprised man standing near the door in black gear. "Once we're in, you grab Marlene and get the hell out of here."
Red regained his balance after plowing his full weight into the other man that was stationed at the entrance. "Very well. Please be careful," he spoke as he rushed into the house, separating from his companion. He did not look back to see Tifa. He had no doubts that he would see her again. The only thing the great cat had on his mind was bringing a scared little girl to safety. Bursting into the room where the Shin-ra recon had determined Marlene was being held, Red pulled his muscles taught and strained his eyes to find his target.
In the middle of the room was an unfamiliar, unremarkable man that was patting Marlene's head. "There you go sweetie," He handed her a sucker. "I'm so sorry about this. I'll go get your dad now, ok?"
Marlene nodded and smiled through the tears that remained. Red could only imagine the terrifying ordeal the young girl went through. He kept a wary eye on the stranger in the room, who finally noticed him.
"Red right?" The cat bared his teeth as the man addressed him. "I'm glad it was you that found me. I hear how much respect you have on the world stage." The man smiled a very sad smile. "My name is Davis, and I'm ready to do the right thing."
Tifa's feet and fists sailed through the air in a barrage of fury that could be barely contained in her lithe body. The devastating blows buried the men in front of her who had long abandoned trying to fire on so swift a target in the close-quarters location. Hand-to-hand combat, as it turned out, was even less advisable. Throwing a man through a solid pine door, Tifa stepped through the hole in the wood and found Barrett on the other side bleeding from a wound in his head.
He looked up at her and smiled. "He got close enough for a good ole fashioned head butt," Barrett indicated the unconscious man at his feet. "Now get me out of here."