Chapter 15: I Fort of a Condor
After hiking for a day and a half, Tifa, Red XIII and myself, Jethro James John Logan, alias: Spike, came across a rather odd building. It looked almost exactly like one of the Mako reactors back in Midgar, only this one was over grown with moss and vines and things. But no, the real kicker was the giant bird on top of the large structure.
"Is that a Condor?" Tifa asked, looking up at the giant bird in awe.
"It certainly looks like one." Red responded, looking at the bird.
"What's it doing on a Mako reactor?" I queried.
"It looks like it hasn't been in use for years." Tifa mused.
"Maybe we should take a closer look." Red suggested.
Tifa and I looked at each other, before shrugging. It sounded like a plan. Plus, I have to say that I am just a tad curious about that Condor. It looks vaguely akin to a Phoenix, but with little details that told us that it wasn't the case.
We were halfway up a very steep hill, well, that's an understatement. We were halfway up a small mountain, and halfway was as far as we had planned on going, but we had noticed signs of civilisation, and seeing as we were running short on supplies, decided to make a supply run and stock up.
As we neared the reactor, I noticed that the ground was showing typical signs of a reactor being nearby. The closer we got, the more barren the land became.
Finally, we reached the reactor, and almost immediately, found the entrance. It was guarded by a man, who was dressed in urban camouflage colours, and holding an assault rifle. He looked at our little rag-tag group and nodded.
"Been a while since anybody has visited our friendly little community." He muttered, sarcastically.
"What is this place?" Tifa asked him.
"This is Fort Condor. Listen, you look like fighters, we could use some help."
"What do you need help with?" I asked.
"There's a Shinra attack coming. The army is about a day away now, but we're not soldiers here, we're just a lot of people, with guns. We need all the help we can get."
We looked at each other, thinking.
"We should help out." Tifa claimed. "Besides, it's for a good cause."
"We'll be hurting the Shinra, that's always a plus." I grinned.
"I believe that we should help them. Plus, they could give us our much needed supplies afterwards." And Red went all logical.
I turned to the guard.
"We'll help." I told him.
The guard grinned, hearing the good news.
"Great, go on in, and report to the boss, he's in the observation room. He'll give you the briefing."
'I thought he said they were a group of people with weapons, and not actual soldiers.' Spike murmured. 'He sounded pretty military to me.'
Ignoring the lizard within, I stepped through the door and observed the vine that happened to be the only way into the building proper. Yeah... now... HOW THE FLYING FUCK ARE WE SUPPOSED TO GET RED UP THERE?
"How am I supposed to climb up there?" Red asked, mirroring my thoughts.
"Maybe we can tie the vine around you then pull you up." I suggested.
"Only as a last resort."
"Maybe you can piggyback him." Tifa put in her two cents.
"I like that idea."
Trust Red to like the idea that I piggyback him. This is his idea of revenge for the meat shield joke several days ago, isn't it?
And thus, I was forced to piggyback him up the vine, which didn't snap, by some kind of miracle. At the top, now in the building proper, I took my first look around. It wasn't very technological, compared to the one I visited back in Midgar; in fact, everything looks rather dank, and dingy. But then, if you're in a state of worrying over whether Shinra are about to attack or not, I suppose keeping the place clean would be a rather low priority.
We walked through the hallway, and came out in a large hall, several tables scattered around, with a few people seated at these tables. On one end of the hall, was a bar, complete with those nifty bear taps. One of the men seated closest to us looked up as we entered and grinned. He was too old to be of any good fighting, so I wondered why he was here.
"Ah, hello." The old man grinned.
"Hi." I said.
"Looking for anyway in particular?"
"Yeah, we were told to go to the observation room."
"Ah." The old man nodded in understanding, before pointing to a door which led to a ladder. "That ladder will lead you right up there."
"Thanks."
We walked over to the ladder.
"I don't have to carry you up this as well, do I?" I asked Red.
"Mo. I can climb ladders without too much difficulty." He assured me.
As if to prove it, he then climbed up the ladder, without any assistance. I stared up at his retreating form.
"Clever." Tifa let out.
"He's had practice." I pointed out.
We followed our canine (or is it feline?) companion up the ladder. At the top, is a large man, who looks like he's a Russian. Seriously, you know those Soviet Russian soldiers, and how they're always portrayed in movies. This guy looks just like that.
"Welcome aboard, chaps."
Ok, this guy looks like a stereotypical Soviet Russian soldier, but talks with a stereotypical British accent.
"Err..." I started. "We were told to report to you for briefing."
"I see. Well, the situation is thus..." He began. "Shinra have never liked us living here, but never really tried when it came to evicting us. Some nasty business in Midgar involving a landslide or some such lark."
"I think it was involving AVALANCHE." I interrupted him.
"Right on, ol' chap. Anyway, fairly recently, this Condor recently built its nest and lay an egg here. Since then, the Shinra seems to be coming in full force now. We barely survived the last siege, and haven't had time to lick out wounds before they sent another force to besiege us. We need all the help we can get. If we can survive this one siege, then we'll have time for the reinforcements to arrive. See, we hired some a small army to aid us, but they won't get here in time to help out with this army, unless the siege is still going on in a week's time."
"So at the moment, you're hurting for all the help you can get to help repel this one attack."
"Exactly."
"We'll do what we can." Tifa told him.
"Appreciate it." The strange man held out his hand. "I'm Captain Antonio, formerly of the Shinra."
I accepted his hand, finding him even more amusing now. He looks like a stereotypical Soviet Russian soldier, with a stereotypical British accent, and a name that, if I'm not mistaken, is Italian. This guy is all over the atlas.
"You're welcome to use any of our facilities. We have a weapon shop, a general items shop, an inn which you may stay in for free and you passed the bar on the way here. All money spent at the shops goes towards our hiring more mercenaries."
Wow, what an advertisement for the shops here: 'all your money goes to charity.' That really makes me wanna buy stuff. Well, no, the fact that we need more supplies makes me wanna buy stuff. Tifa seems interested in the mentioning of the shops, but personally, I'm more interested in the inn that they're letting us stay in, free of charge. Trust me, after spending most nights in a tent, which isn't very comfortable, a bed can seem like a gift from the heavens.
Red didn't seem to have an interest in either of those. He cared more about having a dinner which was rationed. You know, I think he has the right idea, when Tifa made us start rationing our precious few supplies; I haven't actually had the satisfaction of having a nice, full stomach. I don't know whether it's because my metabolism changed, when I became what I am, but I don't care, I've always needed a full stomach to be the end result when I eat.
So, this was the plan we agreed on: Tifa would go shopping for our supplies, me and Red would get us some dinner, and she would join us once she was done. I liked that plan. It was a very good plan, it involved me and food and the food being eaten by me. A better plan, you could not find.
So we parted ways in the large hall, where sometime during our talk with Antonio, more people had sat themselves down and carts were bought in, you know, those ones that act as portable ovens, so that the food doesn't get cold. It seemed to be an all you can eat buffet. Well, they probably didn't anticipate me eating all that I could, since chances are, there'll be none left for them.
Well, who am I to deny myself food? I thought, grabbing a plate.
Let's see, they have chips, they have burgers, they have hot dogs, they have various amounts of different styles of foods. But what really got my attention was in the curry cart. Lamb Tika Madras. My favourite. With a wide grin, I start loading my plate up full of the madras, with accompanying rice, whatsit bread, and spare ribs. A feast fit for me. I walked back to the table where Red was waiting for me, and slid a second plate, one I had loaded with whatever meat I could find, in front of him.
"I can't recall what it was you ate, so I just grabbed random meat for you." I told him, as he eyed the food.
"Appreciated." He grunted, grabbing a poor defenceless piece of meat and tearing it a new one. "I see your appetite has only grown."
"What can I say; I'm still a growing lad." I laughed, starting to eat the ribs.
After I finished my first plate, Tifa returned, with our supplies, and a plate of her own, with almost as much food as I'd just eaten.
"Jeez, Tifa, a little much?" I asked, staring at all the food on her plate.
"With the amount of calories I burn off, even on a slow day, I need all the energy I can get." She snapped at me, before gorging herself into her dinner.
"Never question a female's diet." Red nodded, sagely.
"I thought it was never, not even subtly, suggest that a female is fat?" I asked, looking at him.
"That too."
Rolling my eyes, I got up and refilled my plate, with the exact same amount as my first helping. Now it was Tifa's turn to stare at my plate.
"And you thought that I had a bit much..."
"My metabolism is different from yours, so don't start." I muttered, digging in. "And I'm a guy, that also affects my diet needs."
As it was, I managed to eat about four plates of Lamb Tika Madras. And then I would have eaten more, but there was none left; I wasn't the only one eating the stuff, so it did run out. With a shrug, I picked up a burger to eat as we left for the inn. It wasn't too difficult to find, Tifa had found it on her way to the shops.
What can I say; we all fell asleep, with full stomachs. Not much to tell here. Let's just skip to the morning.
In the morning, we were awakened by a loud, wailing siren. One that almost gave me a heart attack. Bastard. Now, let's go talk to the good Captain and find out just why he deemed it necessary to give me a near heart attack.
Upon reaching the observation room, we observed several men running out of the door at the other end of the room. Antonio turned to look at us, gravely.
"Seems the Shinra have arrived several hours ahead of schedule." He informed us, looking out the window. "They'll be crawling up the mountainside in a matter of moments."
"What makes you think that they'll be coming up this side?" Tifa asked, taking a look out the window as well.
"Not even the Shinra is dumb enough to attempt to climb the other side, and the way you three entered; when under lock down, may as well be a steel wall. Why do you think we use a vine as a means of getting up? So they can't swarm us. The first time they attacked us, it took four men to kill the entire lot. So now, we keep four guards posted at the trap door, and everyone else here, at the only other entrance."
"I see."
"Now, hop to it. The objective is to either kill the entire lot, or wipe out their commander. A fierce fellow who goes under Supreme Commander Garland Horn is leading them. Take him out, and the remainder of the attackers will be without a leader."
"Yes, sir." I grunted, moving towards the door.
Outside, the air was cold, and the wind strong. Directly behind me was the Condor's nest. Let me tell you, that bird is freaking huge. Why would it lay its egg here of all places? This area is a battleground.
Now, looking down, I could see a very large number of blue clad men, all at the base of the mountain, and starting to march up. Red looked at them, thinking.
"Spike, summon your chocobo; it'll cause disruption in their ranks. Break morale."
Nodding, I focused on summoning Montblanc and Boko. Both appeared, already charging down the mountain towards the army. As they went, I could faintly hear Montblanc yelling:
"Kamikaze!"
Well, whatever floats his boat. Faintly, I could see the large army breaking apart as a large, mystical chocobo ploughed through their ranks, breaking up their oh-so-good formations. Well, HA!
At that point, me, Red and Tifa split up, taking different positions, further down the mountain. We were supposed to be keeping them from getting that high up, after all. I took up a position about halfway down, behind a large rock, with two other people. One of them was the guard from yesterday; the other was a guy who looked like an extra from the Matrix. Tall, dark hair, trench coat, shades, you know what I mean. Both of them shot me a brief glance, but otherwise ignored me.
About quarter of an hour later, I heard the sounds of fighting start further down the mountain. Seems that the Shinra just hit our first line of defence. Another ten minutes later, and I heard footsteps. My two companions must have as well, since they both tensed. I took a quick look around the corner of the rock and quickly counted five Shinra troops. I held out my hand, all fingers outstretched, telling my comrades how many there were, before, silently, unsheathing my gunblade. We waited for several brief seconds, letting them get closer before leaping out, ambushing them.
I swung around, killing one soldier with a nasty slash to his chest. The Neo-wannabe decided that he wanted to be like Neo so much, he decided to use Kung Fu on the troops, beating them to bloody pulps with his bare fists. The other guy did what his weapon allowed him to do; he just shot anybody that he spotted. I slammed my elbow into a trooper's jaw, sending him rolling down the mountain; something I watched with interest, before cheering as I watched my human bowling ball achieve a great strike. Of course, when the idiots that allowed themselves to be bowled over recovered, they didn't appreciate my bowling talent, in fact, they must have been jealous, since they promptly started to shoot at me. My quick and obviously skillful response; duck and cover...
(More like trip over your own feet, trying to avoid the bullets, before rolling down the hill behind another rock...)
...But this isn't a tale of my obvious heroism. (What heroism?) After taking out another trooper, this one stupidly screaming a war cry as he charged to where I was... erm... covering (read cowering)... warning me long in advance that he was coming.
After wiping the floor with the remnants of the squad, I viewed Tifa, some way up the mountain, taking on another group of the Shinra soldiers. Single handedly. And winning. Ok, she's giving Trinity a run for her money. Of course, Trinity never had the ability to cast magic when needed, so I suppose that's a mute-point. I actually winced in sympathy at the vicious iron-palm he received. If he's alive at the end of this, I doubt his nose will recover.
I side-step and spinning kick later, I faced the next group of soldiers, waiting for one of them to make a move, which, unless it were to turn and run away, would be very stupid on their parts. They charged as a group, well, all except one. A very elaborately dressed man stood by, watching with interest. Déjá vu... I could have sworn that something like this happened once before.
The moron soldiers charged, but their morale dropped, quite significantly, when Red leapt into their midst, attacking them without mercy. Between us and the Neo-wannabe, who quickly came to our assistance, we made quick work of the group, and turned to the officer. The officer had a look of mild annoyance, like he'd just been stung in the ass by a bee. Neo-wannabe tensed, seeing the man.
"That's the Supreme Commander." He told us.
Supreme Commander Horn looked up at us, hearing us talking about him.
"Stupid idiots." He snarled. "You have no idea who you're messing with! I, Garland, shall knock you all down!"
If he was trying to be dramatic, then he just failed. Miserably. That one sentence just ruined the effect. We burst out laughing. Obviously not the effect he was looking for, since he started growling. Loudly.
"DIE!" He screamed, drawing a bastard sword (does anybody know why they're called that?) and charging.
I blocked his first strike, but found myself struggling against his strength. Ok, I'll give him this... he's strong. I found that just deflecting a single blow had my knees buckling. Instead of wait around for his next strike, I leapt backwards, avoiding the slash. Now, let's think up a strategy.
'I say we just charge mindlessly and try to hack him to bits.' Spike spoke up.
What a good plan. Readying my gunblade, I proceed to charge at him, only I didn't. I pretended to, making him flinch and throw up an impressive defence, one that would have ripped me to shreds if I'd actually charged. And that there, was why I decided against the advice of charging mindlessly.
The guy was an idiot. He kept waving his huge sword around for ten seconds, and only stopped because Neo-wannabe decided to do a flying kick to the back of his head, sending him head over heels, down the mountain, bowling me over. I clambered to my feet and lifted my gunblade in time to block the already recovered Garland's blade. Ok, an idiot he may be, but he does seem to recover pretty quickly.
Several dodges later, I actually moved in for my attack, our blades clashing, creating an impressive display of sparks. Both of us stood there, each trying to over-power the other. Even with Spike taking more and more control, trying to grant me his strength, I could tell that I was physically weaker than him. Of course, the fact that my spine was slowing being forced into a position where it'd snap at any minute kind of helped me reach that conclusion. Spike made me deliver a swift kick to the Supreme Commander's mid-torso, sending him staggering back, before slipping and taking another tumble down the mountain.
I suppressed a gasp when, despite having gone quite a distance, when he got back to his feet, he ran faster then should be possible, back up the mountain and into fighting distance, where I barely saw the sword as he swung it. It was only thanks to Spike's reflexes that I was able to duck in time. No time to think, I allowed his reflexes to carry on as he dodged another two slashes, before doing a cartwheel to avoid a downward slash, which would have left me in two halves. But, I was never any good at cartwheels, so I fell into a heap.
Garland smirked at me as he moved towards where I lay, looking very much like a predator. Only he didn't get halfway. He looked up the mountain sharply, before shifting his blade. Not a second after, Tifa appeared, her kick hitting the broad side of the Supreme Commander's blade, which he'd shifted to act as a make-shift shield when he'd spotted her flying down the mountain, towards him. A grunt, and he swung the blade, swatting Tifa like a fly. The martial artist landed in a much better cartwheel then what I'd managed to pull off, before she did a back flip, landing in a ready position, fists raised. While the Grand Commander was pre-occupied with Tifa, I clambered to my feet and leapt up, executing a Braver-like move.
Garland must have been expecting it, because at the last second, he spun around, sword blocking my blade. However, as I was send back in the air from the force of his defence, I doubt he expected me to shoot at him. The bullet connected with his shoulder, exiting the other side, leaving a trail of blood in its wake.
Garland roared in pain. But that bullet hole didn't disappear just because he screamed at it. No, it stayed, and may as well have been a painted target. Tifa used that bullet hole for her bunch bag; she aimed a punch at the injury, giving the Supreme Commander more pain to deal with. Unfortunately for him.
Though he must have held me responsible, since he charged at me, with a roar, and started swinging that sword of his again. I shot him in the chest before he reached me, but he ignored the new wound, and didn't even falter.
Oh, great. A Berserker...
I slid under the Supreme Commander's legs during his first swing, kicking both of my feet into the small of his back, sending him rolling down the hill again. During the lapse in action, I tried to run back up the mountain, towards a larger cluster of friendlies. When a shadow covered me, I looked up, and gulped.
"Don't tell me he's a Dragoon as well as a Berserker!" I whimpered to myself, watching him get closer to me.
As he neared, Spike took full control, making me do something that I doubted I'd ever be able to do again. My somersault narrowly dodged the attack, but I wasted precious seconds trying to recover from the shock. Unfortunately, the last time I'd done a somersault, I almost snapped my back, and afterwards, my body tends to freeze before I can even try, so now that I've been forced to do one, I need moments to recover movement in my body.
Moments that I did not have. I was lucky enough that Spike realized that the move probably hadn't been the best one, giving my history, and took control again, ducking under a spinning slash that sliced off half of the rock that had been to our back. A diving roll to the side managed to avoid his uppercut.
It also avoided the large boulders that started to rain down the area. The boulders hit the Commander, but he somehow managed to simply shrug them off. Is this guy even human? If I just got hit by a large boulder, I know I'd be dead, or at least be in agony.
Garland moved towards me, blade raised, when Neo-wannabe leapt on his back, wrapping his arms around the Supreme Commander's neck as tightly as he could. Garland threatened to cleave the fighter in half, but the Neo-wannabe must have realized that it was a bluff, because he didn't move. Easy to tell why it was a bluff, since going through with it would likely cleave himself in half as well. But that didn't stop Garland from backing into one of the boulders that hadn't crumbled upon impact. A loud crack told me what had happened to Neo-wannabe's spine. The fighter fell to the ground, unmoving.
The Supreme Commander smirked at me, before charging again.
I fired several shots at him before diving further down the mountain. Is it humanely possible to ignore having your knee-cap shattered? Apparently so. Ok, another question... why is this guy only a Supreme Commander? He could be the freaking Juggernaut, for all the good all of my efforts so far have had in getting him to freaking die!
Tifa came in for another go at Garland, swinging her leg around. Her foot connected with the man's neck, but it didn't faze him. He turned and tried to get a hit in at Tifa, but with a strength I didn't know she had, she literally threw the man over her shoulder. Garland groaned as his back connected with the rocks, but already, he was getting back to his feet.
I used the distraction to check on the Neo-wannabe. No pulse. Dead. Well that's ok; I have a supply of Phoenix Downs. Pulling out a bottle, I opened it and poured the majority of the liquid down the corpse's throat. After five seconds, colour returned to his face and he started coughing.
"Erg." He groaned, opening his eyes. "A word of advice. Never get your spine shattered. Not pleasant."
"I'll keep that in mind." I nodded, looking behind me.
Red had gotten involved in the fight with the Supreme Commander, but it still wasn't going in our favour. Far from it, it was like we were just an itch that he couldn't scratch. Well, seeing as I have time to aim without him breathing down my neck, I pointed my gunblade and lined up for a shot at his head. I fired.
His head snapped back, and everyone, both ally and enemy paused in their actions.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" I cursed.
Supreme Commander Garland Horn just glared at me, still alive despite the bullet hole that was gracing him with its appearance, on his forehead. I swallowed as he swatted Tifa and Red aside and charged at me. I lifted my gunblade, but I wasn't quick enough. He grabbed my neck and threw me over the edge of a particularly steep part of the mountain. Make that, a vertical drop. I grabbed onto the edge, just barely and grunted as my body was forced to follow gravity and connect with the mountainside.
I tried to pull myself back up, but I couldn't find the strength. The appearance of Garland hardly made matters any better, especially after he stamped down on my fingers. I fell.
As I fell, I pushed my hands against the mountain, trying, hoping to find a hand hold. All I succeeded in doing was tearing the scales from my fingers. It didn't improve my condition when something forced my face against the wall, giving it the same treatment. I lashed out with my tail, and whatever it was let go.
When the ground came, I somehow didn't find myself under the standard condition of being a large puddle. Mostly, because whatever had been forcing my face into the wall had redirected what direction the momentum was taking me, so I was going more to the side, and gravity had to start all its hard work all over. That's not to say that my landing didn't hurt though.
I staggered to my feet and looked up in time to witness Garland's fist. I was back on the floor as a result of his punch. I watched as he pulled back a foot before swinging it towards me. Everything went red after that.
My last thought was that I was going to make him suffer.
I woke up in a very comfortable bed, with no idea how I'd got there. I also felt very... well, I've been high before, so I can't really tell whether I feel high, but I did have a very funny feeling. And the numbness. Everything felt numb. And I don't mean 'someone spilt potion all over my arm' numb, I mean... I don't know what I mean. I also had a foul taste in the back of my throat, one that was familiar, but I had difficulty identifying it.
"You alright?"
I turned my head, and found Red sitting next to my bed, looking concerned.
"Peachy." I grunted, discovering that my throat was feeling like it had been put through a blender.
"Do you remember what happened?"
I frowned, trying to recall.
"No."
"The Shinra retreated because of what you did to the Supreme Commander."
"What I did? The last thing I remember was his boot making friends with my face."
"You are certain you do not remember?"
I shook my head in the negative.
"You ripped his throat out. We presume with a rock."
I ripped Garland's throat out? I really can't remember...
"You were found unconscious. We presume from blood loss, through all of the blood, I could see your skull."
I looked at him, hearing the words, but having difficulty registering them.
"You were lucky they had a Materia with Curaga. Anything less, I doubt they could have repaired the damage. You were also lucky that you didn't lose an eye, not even a Curaja could help with that."
I recognised the taste lingering at the back of my throat. I could taste blood.
"Bathroom." I croaked, and then changed my mind. "Bucket!"
Red paused, and then pulled a pot or something from under the bed. I grabbed it and almost immediately emptied my stomach into it.
"Even with the routine Curagas, you still need to be on medication for at least two weeks."
During a pause in my vomiting, I glanced at Red.
"Medication?"
"The injuries you got, not even a megalixier will stop the pain for good. You lost the scales on your skull! It was luck that you could be healed at all, let alone that it won't leave a scar."
I laughed, lightly, for a few seconds before I had to resume my vomiting.
"Two prescribed painkillers everyday for two weeks. After that, the pain will be bearable. But you have to stop by then, or risk addiction."
I gave him a thumbs p to say I understand; all that I could do, considering that I was still emptying my stomach.
A sigh from my companion.
"I hope you recover soon."
Turned out that Spike and Montblanc hadn't been able to see anything either. They said there was a memory, but it was being blocked somehow. Like I subconsciously didn't want to know about it. But that can't be right...
I learnt from Tifa later that day that I had been out cold for a couple of days. Not surprising, she'd told me. She also told me that she'd been talking to Antonio. Once I'd recovered enough to walk, we were going to be driven to Junon.
She told me that there was no way she was going to make me walk across the wilderness in my current condition, hence the ride. I agreed, especially when I learnt that it would take precious days off of the journey.
Two days later, and I was in the back of a pickup truck, Red next to me, and Tifa in the passenger seat. The driver was driving carefully, because of a threat Tifa had made, something concerning me. I'm actually rather thankful for the careful driving. The painkillers seem to make me rather prone to throwing up.
They also make me sleepy, so I've been getting more sleep lately then I usually get in a month. Well, small blessings, I suppose. I have mentioned at some point that I'm an insomniac, so the sleepiness is considered a blessing by me.
But even after several days, I've still been unable to get the taste of blood out of my mouth.
I can't help but wonder whether or not it's even my blood.