Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII. I depend on my daughter, Angeal Valentine (the author formerly known as xXxValentinexXx), and on Bjanik for all my information on the subject.
A/N—Another early posting!! Angeal Valentine and I are going to be out of town for several days, and this chapter was ready, so here it is! In the story time line, it's now 4:00 pm in Wutai. That's midnight in Midgar.
The children of Wutai looked up at the televisions across the country. Blaring trumpets proclaimed an imperial announcement. Trumpets usually heralded the emperor's birthday celebration and fireworks displays. Those were fun. The emperor certainly appeared on the screen; however, he looked very serious and started talking. The children went back to their toys.
Across Wutai, children looked away, but adults were mesmerized. Standing to the right and left of Emperor Godo were his daughter, Yuffie, and a brown-haired man with Soldier-shine in his eyes. Looking directly at the camera, the emperor read a prepared statement:
"Citizens of Wutai—in recent meetings with Shinra, the head of Shinra denied me the right to proclaim my daughter, Princess Yuffie Kisaragi and he brought her hand to his lips and smiled at her gently, as Crown Princess of Wutai. I, Emperor Godo Kisaragi of Wutai, hereby proclaim that my daughter, Princess Yuffie Kisaragi, is the undoubted and sole heir to the throne of Wutai and was created such by me and High Priest Dong nine days ago. All other claims to the throne I hereby declare to be null and void.
My beloved people, you and I both know that Shinra has trampled the rights of the Wutainese people since the war. Wutai will fight for its independence against Shinra, against Soldier, against the Turks, and against all the forces of Gaia, if need be!
We have been preparing for this day in secret for a long time. Now is the time for our forces to get to their units and for our non-combatants to make their way to their shelters. Our attack on the Shinra base near the palace is beginning even as I speak, but very soon we will be attacked by Soldier and the troops of Shinra. May the gods protect us all.
Now however Godo paused and smiled slightly, I do have a happy announcement to make – there is an engagement in the imperial family. Today I have granted the hand of my daughter, Crown Princess Yuffie Kisaragi, the undisputed heir of Wutai, to this man, the former Soldier, Genesis Rhapsodos. In the event of my demise, my beloved Yuffie and Genesis Rhapsodos will rule Wutai jointly. The Crown Princess's children will be the sole heirs to the throne of Wutai after her. Lord General Genesis Rhapsodos will help lead Wutai in our upcoming fight.
So for the struggle to come, I offer my prayers for the futures of their highnesses, of you all, and of Wutai.
Victory."
With that Godo stepped back behind the couple, gathered all their hands between his own, and raised them together toward the camera. The adults in the audience looked at each other, some with anticipation, some with dread, and some with tears in their eyes. The war had returned.
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Yuffie had known of the engagement for exactly one hour before it became common knowledge in Wutai. Her father, with Genesis Rhapsodos beside him, had approached her, announced that she was now engaged to the man, and that the wedding would be soon—certainly before she left for her unit. Genesis had taken her hands in his, kissed her softly on the cheek, then slipped a large diamond ring (with materia orbs on each side of the diamond she noted) on her finger. She was sure she hadn't agreed to this marriage, although she would certainly do as her father wanted. In the time since her proclamation ceremony she had met Genesis Rhapsodos again exactly once, briefly, between his meetings with her father. Neither her father nor Rhapsodos had given her any indication that an engagement was in their plans. As soon as the broadcast lights on the television cameras went out, Yuffie looked angrily at her father.
"Why?!"
Emperor Godo sighed and looked rather sadly at his daughter. Genesis had turned away with a half-smile (or was it a smirk?, she wondered). "Because you are just fourteen years old and have no experience whatsoever in governance or command. You will be joining your unit at Tamblin fortress shortly just like every other young Wutainese in the country is joining their units, and you will gain some experience. However, if anything were to happen to me, could you really lead the country in a rebellion?"
"If anything were to happen to you, Father, I would have to lead the country. There would be no other way, would there? Whether I lead Wutai's rebellion well or badly, all the decisions would be mine."
"Yes, I suppose that's true…"
"Do you really trust him? He's a former Soldier! What if I were to have a baby, say in the next year. He could murder me and you and rule in the child's name for years. It's been known to happen in Wutai, after all. Do you really want that?"
"Even if that were to happen, a child of our blood would be on the throne, and Genesis would continue the fight. Isn't that what's important, after all?"
"Hm." Yuffie looked stunned, then a little thoughtful.
"There are other reasons for this marriage, of course. We do need allies in this rebellion. It seems that Wutai is not the only restive region on the planet at this time. Lord General Rhapsodos will be coordinating those efforts around Gaia… Then too there is one other claimant to the throne of Wutai. Your cousin, former-General Shion Kisaragi, is still very much alive—a fact I cannot deny no matter how many times I revoke his rights to the throne. Until he is dead, your throne will never be secure."
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At Wutai Base the attack was underway.
Col. Carlos Griegos was angry. Outlying censor positions, miles out from the base, had been disabled by Wutainese spies. For years Heidegger's public security people had assured Soldier command that the cameras and censors were impregnable to attack. Only in the last two weeks had Turk Commander Tseng, in his newly elevated capacity as head of planet-wide security, issued orders for upgrades to the systems. New parts had arrived the day before and were waiting in their shipping crates for installation. Overhead rockets were screeching across the sky hitting buildings across the base, keeping his people from counterattacking. Griegos' hands itched to hold his sword. Already half the base was on fire, although he had lost few military personnel so far—unfortunately that would change. He might have to evacuate the base, the largest on Gaia, and he would have to report it directly to General Sephiroth.
"Colonel, we've got Midgar on the line. It's 2:00 am there," the army sergeant turned and handed him a headset. Griegos stepped away from the sergeant and into a small, sound-proofed booth, away from prying ears and eyes. The glowering General appeared on a screen that Griegos knew was near his office in Midgar. Griegos cringed slightly at the memory of that look from the earlier war.
"Colonel, what's your situation?"
"General, we have been under continuous rocket attack for the past two hours—already half the base is on fire—although casualties have been relatively light… I request permission to counterattack using the emergency tunnels. We've pinpointed three locations from which these rocket attacks are being launched. I believe we can secure our position here at the base within the next forty-eight hours."
"You have the coordinates of the launch sites? Transmit them."
Griegos caught the eye of the sergeant and signaled to send the already waiting message. In Midgar Sephiroth looked intently at the locations but then leaned away from the screen to allow another man to also read the numbers. Tseng looked at the locations then at Sephiroth and shook his head slightly. The General nodded. He agreed with Tseng.
"No good, Colonel. Each of these areas is a baited trap. I want you to send a force out via the tunnels and head for the imperial palace. I want you to take Godo and his daughter prisoner, alive if at all possible. The Wutainese may know of the existence of the tunnels (he looked at Tseng and he nodded. Sephiroth frowned.), and they may know where they come out (again he looked at Tseng who shrugged, 'maybe.'). Be prepared for a fight when you emerge. Until you counterattack, keep your people underground. Hold the base if at all possible. They will be attacking you on the ground after they've softened you up for a while. If you find you have to evacuate the base, you have permission to do so, but only as a last resort. Relief is on the way."
"Yes, sir. Understood… Speaking of Godo, I believe you'll want to see this, sir." Griegos again looked at his sergeant and this time raised two fingers for his second message. The colonel watched the faces of the two men in Midgar intently as they watched Godo's defiant earlier proclamation. Sephiroth's face had become thunderous at the site of Genesis Rhapsodos. A glint of humor appeared at the mention of the engagement. Poor girl. She wouldn't survive long with Genesis as her husband—what was Godo thinking? Sephiroth doubted whether Genesis could even father children (smirk). Tseng, on the other hand, stepped back from the screen, a thoughtful expression on his face.
"Godo's desperate, but Genesis is certainly getting around these days. First Banora and now Wutai." Sephiroth looked a question at Tseng.
"Hm? Oh yes, he is… I rather expect this is not the last we'll hear of Rhapsodos. In fact, I suspect he's the architect of our problems right now. I have to believe Godo didn't come up with this rebellion all on his own."
"All right. That's all, Carlos. Make contact again in two hours and every two hours on the hour after that."
"Yes, sir. Wutai Base out."
As the screen blanked, Sephiroth looked at Tseng. "Spill. Something else is wrong with that speech." Tseng had again been looking thoughtful.
"Yes... Did you catch the part about declaring all other claims to the throne 'null and void'?"
"I wondered about that when he said it. I thought Princess Yuffie was the only heir to the throne."
"She is now. Godo just disowned the last Kisaragi cousin." Tseng laughed grimly and cut his eyes at his friend. "Me."
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"… and what was that about an engagement?!" Dr. Vester Hollander frowned at his erstwhile captor/cohort, Lord General Rhapsodos.
"It's her father's idea. We'll have to play it by ear. For now she and I are engaged… Strange bedfellows, as it were. I'm not sure she even likes me." Hollander turned away, continuing to frown at the genetic possibilities inherent in this news. Genesis' PHS beeped at him. Reading the message, his brain began planning feverishly. He rechecked the time stamp and calculated Midgar time—one day gone already.
"Hollander, look at this!" Genesis Rhapsodos held his PHS before the scientist's face.
"Oh..." he took the phone from the ex-Soldier. "Gracious… Dr. Romera, what have you done to yourself?"
"We need that baby… Do you remember the layout of the Shinra labs, my friend? Even with Hojo's room modifications, could we get her out of there?"
Hollander nodded and his eyes narrowed, his earlier consternation gone. "There's only one room in those labs that had the power and plumbing lines necessary for tubes, so, yes, I know exactly where she'll be. The crawl spaces into that area are over-large and would certainly support external penetration for a raid… The entrance to that ductwork will almost certainly be guarded, though I know where it comes out."
"Draw the layout for me. I'm sending some of our people to get those Jenova cells."
"Who?"
"Argento."
Hollander snorted at Genesis. "Argento?! She'll have your head when she hears about the princess." He even smirked and mumbled, "cut you a new asshole, too."
"I'll handle Argento and the princess. Just help me get that baby!"
"All right," Hollander sighed resignedly. "The team will need to take a flex-tube with them and have a great deal of mako solution and anesthetic on hand for the transport."
"Yes, I figured as much. It will take time to penetrate the outer perimeter of Shinra—a day or two perhaps… Draw up the way to that lab for me as best you can remember it, Vester. I'm giving orders for our people to start tonight. We've done what we came to Wutai to do."
"What about your bride-to-be? Aren't you supposed to be getting married shortly? What will her father say?"
"I doubt the princess will be too upset. I'll tell Godo we'll have to postpone the wedding—perhaps a week—but for now, it's time to get back to Banora and the labs, Dr. Hollander."