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—Things are happening all over Gaia, not completely simultaneously; therefore, I'm giving you the time in each location. This chapter has events in Wutai, Gongaga, and Midgar, and touches on events in Mideel and Rocket Town. It is Tessa's third day in the tube, and at the end of the chapter it's the fourth day. I'm giving you the time in each location first in parentheses at the beginning of each section with the time in other locations around Gaia also for reference. Angeal Valentine insists I'm the only one who cares what time it is on Gaia, but I can't help it. I guess I'm as obsessed with the time as I am with writing the story.
(6 am Gongaga, 10 am Midgar, 12 noon Mideel)
Marcus looked skyward through the foliage hoping again to spot the incoming transport, even though he knew it was too early for its arrival by several hours—the sun had just come up. He and Nathan were covered head to toe in gooey mud. They lay hidden in some jungle undergrowth about ten miles out from the reactor whispering to each other. They had been dodging search parties of reactor personnel since the previous afternoon. Each had slept and guarded the other by turns. No help had been available via PHS – nothing but static had been heard on the phones. Marcus suspected that the reactor people had set up jamming equipment to block the signals. He and Nathan had moved in the direction of the likeliest approach to the reactor by the transport, hoping to visually signal the craft before it got within range of the jammers.
"But they're likely to spot us here, you know." Nathan had argued against the plan ever since Marcus had first mentioned it.
"You know I agree with you that the reactor people will expect us to move toward the transport, but I don't have any better idea as to how to warn it off. If you have one, go right ahead and say it…."
"Start a fire? Maybe we could get them to put down short of the reactor to investigate?"
"Actually we may have to try it. Don't know if much of this will burn though. It is a jungle after all." Marcus looked thoughtfully at his partner. "Did anything bother you about that fight back there yesterday? You remember how Carl used to fight, don't you?"
"Yeah, and it has been bothering me. While it certainly was satisfying to kill Matthews, both he and Connors were moving a little too slowly for second classes. The whole fight was just a little too easy… Maybe they haven't been getting sufficient mako? They certainly can't have been eating their Tessa Bars." Both men laughed softly.
"That fight was too easy—sorry to say since you took out two of them." Nathan shrugged, oh well. "There is one other possibility." Nathan raised an eyebrow at Marcus' words, though how Marcus could detect an eyebrow under all the mud that covered them, he wasn't sure. "Those three may have been clones. Genesis kidnapped Vester Hollander, and Hollander was a 'cloner' from day one."
"Hm. You could be right…" Nathan pondered the possibility. "Remind me. While clones often have some of the memories of the originals, there's always something wrong with them, right? Like lessened fighting skills?"
"Yeah, that's it. If the original is dead, the memories and skills tend to be closer to the original's. It's as if the Lifestream pushed more of the soul into the clone then. If the original is still alive, then not so much of the original's qualities go into the clone. At least, that's the theory as I understand it."
"So does that mean that the real Squad 13 members are still around somewhere?"
"Yeah. I think it does."
"Great. Just when I thought I'd gotten rid of Matthews for once and for all, I find out I may need to do it again… Then, on second thought, that might not be so bad…" Nathan flexed his fingers in anticipation.
Marcus laughed softly. It was just like Nathan to find the silver lining in any cloudy situation. Marcus rolled onto his back to look up at the jungle canopy. "Try the PHS again. Maybe we're out of jamming range."
Nathan pulled out his PHS and tried hailing Midgar HQ. He knew it was a long shot given the distance involved, but when a response came, it shocked him. "What the…?" Marcus glanced at his partner. "I got the 'emergency notification' signal!"
Marcus rolled onto his elbow to look at Nathan. "That means all unencoded frequencies are blocked, and only highly encoded communications are possible. We'll never reach headquarters given that situation."
Nathan gave Marcus a very worried look, "Something bad is going down, Marcus."
"Yeah, it can only mean that…" Marcus lay back down. "Hm… If Squad 13 has reappeared, then the odds are that Genesis has put in an appearance too. That would mean the General's got all Soldier on alert… We've got to get back… monsters or no." Nathan nodded his agreement. "But there's no possibility of that until the transport gets here." Again Nathan nodded. "Let's try another tack… Remember those monsters? How could Squad 13 show up on the heels of the monsters if they weren't behind the attacks in the first place? We need to head back to the reactor and find out how they did that. Maybe even rescue Bilson and the others before the transport comes—even take out the jammers."
"You're right… Our troops only went about a half mile from the reactor—tops—and no one reported anything. I'd guess if Squad 13 were somehow causing the monster incursions, they'd have to have done it somewhere outside that radius… probably along the outer road… Doubt they'd expect us to go that direction."
"Right. We head back…"
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(12 noon Midgar, 2 pm Mideel, 8 am Gongaga)
"That is incredible." Tseng narrowed his eyes peering at the man on the screen. Hutchins, the head of public security in Mideel, and an old associate of Heidegger's, had just told him he had no knowledge of two Turks in Mideel. "Mr. Hutchins, you are a habitual liar, and a pathetically bad one at that."
Hutchins reminded Tseng of Heidegger—so many of Heidegger's old people did—not so much by their looks, but by the way they sweat under pressure. Hutchins was a flabby-faced, balding man. Tseng wanted to reach through the screen, take the man by the throat, and strangle him; indeed, cutting some of that flesh from under his chin might not be a bad idea. Tseng took out a knife and tested its edge against his thumb, drawing a thin line of blood for Hutchins to see.
"I specifically ordered my people to report to you personally, and you received my orders to give them all the assistance they required in their investigation. I know that they met with you; therefore, someone in this conversation is lying. I suggest you start running now, because you're dead when we find you."
"You can't threaten me!" Hutchins' eyes actually bulged.
"I didn't threaten you. I predicted your future, and I can predict the future with 100 percent accuracy. After all," Tseng smirked evilly, "I am the god of information." Hutchins' skin had turned pale then a putrid green. "Find my people. You have twenty-four hours, and they had better be alive and well." Tseng slapped the line closed. "Probably should have shot Heidegger when I had the chance. Now I have to clean house in the middle of a war."
Tseng opened his PHS. "Cissnei! Round up every available Turk. Include everyone who can be spared. We are going to Mideel, and we are leaving ASAP. Tell Derek to pack all the heavy artillery." Tseng now turned to the man perched by his desk like a vulture, "Valentine, will you go to Banora? I could use all the help I can get."
"Rhapsodos will probably turn up in Banora sooner rather than later. Hutchins is probably protecting Banora—Londo Shinra's left over orders… I'll go."
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(1 pm Midgar, 3 pm Mideel, 9 am Gongaga)
"Let me see if I have this straight—Wutai is in rebellion because I wouldn't allow Godo to declare Princess Yuffie the heir to the throne? When did I do this? Did this happen at the last conference when I wasn't looking?" With the imminent removal of most of Soldier and the Turks from Midgar, Rufus Shinra had called his three remaining executives, Sephiroth, Tseng, and Reeve Tuesti, to a meeting in his office.
"You don't remember doing that?" Tseng was incredulous, "I remember it quite clearly." Sephiroth nodded in agreement.
"Of course she's the heir." Rufus said exasperated. "I just wanted Godo to understand that the role of the emperor of Wutai is strictly a ceremonial one. Did he misunderstand, or was there a mistranslation somewhere along the way?"
"Considering that he speaks perfectly acceptable Midgaran, I doubt that Godo misunderstood anything."
"Then what can I do remedy this situation?" Rufus twisted a lock of his hair about his finger. Tseng noted Rufus had acquired a new nervous gesture.
"Probably nothing. Godo has been seething for years over the treatment of Wutai by Shinra. Rhapsodos simply added fuel to the fire by showing up."
"Great… Just great… and now most of Soldier and most of the Turks are leaving. Who is going to be in charge of security here in Midgar?" Rufus' eyes jumped to the window as if he could already hear the bullets and bombs screaming toward him.
Tseng noted, "I'll be leaving my assistant, Cissnei, in charge here while I go to Mideel."
"Col. Gavin McIntyre from Junon will be in charge here in Midgar while I'm in Wutai. He'll have command of all forces on both continents." Sephiroth stared at Rufus. Perhaps this news would help alleviate the man's panic.
"He's your true second in command, isn't he? And Zack Fair will be going with you?"
"Yes."
"I'm not enjoying this, you know. The stock price is down. Investors are selling in droves. Tuesti tells me mako and power production are nearly at a stand-still, planet-wide. Prices are rising." Reeve nodded in agreement. "When will McIntyre get here?"
"The day after tomorrow. I won't leave until after he arrives."
Rufus made a sudden decision. He looked at Tseng. "I'm going with you."
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Reeve Tuesti, who had remained silent during the meeting, followed Tseng to his office. "Since I don't have the option of going with you, do you have any suggestions to help me mind the fort?"
Tseng smirked, "Let the cats out of the bag." Tuesti looked at Tseng in shock. He hadn't known that Tseng knew about his "herd of cats." "And by the way," Tseng continued, and Tuesti raised his head, "I need to borrow something from you."
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(11 am Gongaga, 7 am Wutai, 3 pm Midgar, 5 pm Mideel)
It wasn't as hard to find as Marcus had expected. Two miles out from the reactor, just off the one main road, they found what they sought. A van covered in microwave antennas and what looked like modified explosives with pipes jammed into the ground, were on a dry rise above the swampy soil. Marcus and Nathan stealthily took out the three reactor personnel operating the equipment. It was now time to put in a call to the transport, which should be arriving soon. Marcus was about to enter the van, when once again, the voice of Carl Matthews stopped him.
"Marcus, you surprised me. I figured you'd head for the transport flight line. That's where Rodriguez is looking for you."
"Oh well. I always try to do the unexpected, Carl. You should have learned that by now," Marcus jumped to the ground from the top of the van steps, "but then, you always were a slow learner." Marcus could tell he'd hit a nerve with Matthews—Matthews would probably lose his cool for good. "And are you the real thing this time, Carl?"
"You'll find out soon enough." Matthews came in with a downward right to left cut on Marcus that Marcus pushed aside. Marcus' pass continued into a counterattack with an upward left to right cut that caught Matthews' right knee then continued up to the left side of Matthews' head followed by a fan motion to his right temple. Neither side of the fan connected, but Matthews looked surprised at the strength and speed of the actions. Regrouping, both men backed off. Behind him, Marcus could hear the clang of blades—Nathan and another "Connors" were engaged.
Circling one another Marcus spotted it—the power supply for the equipment he'd been looking for. "Two birds with one stone… excellent." He kept his eyes away from the batteries. Matthews was strong and fresh, while Marcus was tired from a night of evading the reactor personnel. "Got to finish this quickly… Nathan's in no better shape…" Marcus stepped back, drawing Carl away from the jammers to get them out of Carl's range of vision, then attacked with a downward stab to Matthews' heart. Carl passed the strike as Marcus expected. Marcus turned the strike toward Carl's right knee, and this time he cut deeply into the same tissue he'd hit earlier. Marcus pulled back his claymore and stabbed Carl in the abdomen, twisting before kicking the body off the end of the sword and into the power supply. Sparks and explosions flew in all directions. Marcus turned to run, but he was too close. The ground came fast, and he landed hard, face first into the dirt.
"MARCUS!!"
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"Raise the reactor." Major Niles Britton, a candidate for first class, was in command of his first away-mission, a simple reinforcement at a remote reactor—almost boring. He and Maj. Juergen Alars, also a first class candidate, were anxious to get back to Midgar. Between the time they had left Midgar and now, all Soldier frequencies had gone to emergency mode—coded transmissions only. Neither their transport nor their PHSs were equipped with the latest codes, so they were effectively out of communication with Midgar and with their fellow Soldiers on the ground.
A voice came over Britton's headset speaker. "Glad you're here! This is reactor director Darren Walters. The monsters have been attacking here almost continuously for days. Five of your regular army guys are out of action—two of your Soldiers too."
"Two Soldiers! Who?!" Britton was surprised. He, like most Soldiers, tended to believe in the invincibility of all Soldiers in general, and of himself in particular, except, of course, where it came to General Sephiroth—who was completely unbeatable as far as Britton was concerned. He glanced at the questioning Alars.
"Your two First Classes… What were their names again?"
Britton felt anger that this Walters couldn't remember the names of two Soldiers who had probably been injured in the line of duty—protecting him and his stupid reactor. "Lieutenant Colonel Marcus MacArthur and Lieutenant Colonel Nathan Grainger! Are they all right?"
"Oh yeah…" Britton hoped Walters had caught the anger in his voice. "They're here inside the reactor with us. Right now nobody's outside fighting the monsters."
"We'll put down inside the reactor perimeter. Move all your people away. Soldier transport—out."
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Nathan had seen his partner fall and not get up. With adrenaline pumping he met Connors' sword force to force, got inside Connors' attack, elbowed him in the abdomen while cutting across the inside of Connors' right arm. Grabbing behind Connors' head with his left hand, Nathan pulled his claymore in a cross draw across Connors' throat while pushing his head to aid the slice, then backed away from the body avoiding most of the blood pouring from the open arteries. Connors would be dead before he hit the ground. Nathan turned and ran. "MARCUS!" They had one piece of healing materia between them, and Nathan now pulled it from his pocket heading for Marcus. He landed on his knees next to Marcus then felt a sword at his back.
"Don't bother, Nattie. He's dying, and you will be too, soon enough."
"MATTHEWS!!" Nathan started to spin on his knees, but he knew Matthews knew the maneuver and wasn't surprised when a sword pommel pounded him on a pressure point on his neck, and he fell to lie on top of Marcus.
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(7 am Wutai, 11 am Gongaga, 3 pm Midgar, 5 pm Mideel)
At Wutai Base, Col. Carlos Griegos ran a hand through his hair. He had been up all night and was showing the stress. He knew he had to sleep soon if he were to be effective. He looked at the lists he had made on the white board before him: names of troops (hand-picked, excellent fighters every one), supplies (two days worth, very light), equipment (swords, materia, guns, ammunition). He glanced at the map of the local surrounding area and again mentally traced routes to the imperial palace. He looked at his sergeant standing nearby and started dictating orders. Everything would soon be in place. The time for his counterattack would shortly be at hand. After his 8 am report to General Sephiroth, Griegos would sleep—for a few minutes, anyway.
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(10 am Rocket Town,11 am Gongaga, 3 pm Midgar, 5 pm Mideel)
"Goddamn, sonuvabitch, mother-fuckin'…" Cid Highwind in Rocket Town looked at the orders in his hand again. More carefully chosen language came sputtering out. "Q&#(#&#... Shera! Close up that instrument hatch! We've been ordered to go to Junon! Ordered by Tuesti, no less!! The same mother-fucker that just cut our budget!! Of all the (#&)#()# places to go! At top speed no less! &#(!#)&. Move it!!"
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(11 am Gongaga, 7 am Wutai, 3 pm Midgar, 5 pm Mideel)
"Shit for brains!" Niles Britton looked down on the inside of the reactor compound. Walters hadn't pulled his people back, so the Soldier transport couldn't land. Britton was now doubly pissed off at the reactor director. Not only could Walters not remember the names of First Class Soldiers, he couldn't give orders for his people to let their "saviors" land. "Idiots! Let's look like we're leaving. Maybe then they'll clear us a spot."
"You sure we should do that?" Juergen Alars questioned over the headset.
"Do it!" Britton snapped the order over the headset for the pilot's benefit. "Head about five miles out on the road, then I'll call Walters back and remind him of his situation."
Alars shook his head. They would hear about this when they got back to Midgar.
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Matthews snapped his head around at the familiar sound of a Soldier transport hovering low over the jungle trees headed away from the reactor, and right at him. "What the…?" No time to hide anything—not even time to properly kill these two—there was only time to run. "Well, Nattie. I guess this is it. Until next time…"
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"Oh… my… gosh!" Alars spotted it first. "Niles, put us down fast!"
The transport, rather than landing at the reactor, put down on the road near the site of the jamming equipment.
"Quick. Get out the materia!" Juergen Alars shook his head. He just couldn't believe it. It looked like they were just in time to save Marcus' and Nathan's lives. Just because the ever impulsive Niles Britton had been pissed off by a reactor director, he was probably now going to be a hero. Damn. Talk about a swollen head…
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"Marcus! Can you hear me? Col. MacArthur, can you hear me? Dammit. I need more healing materia!" Was that Bilson's voice? Must be back at the reactor. Did we get captured? Probably… For Marcus it was just too hard to open his eyes or even twitch a finger.
"Bilson, is he going to be okay?" Nathan? Good, Nathan was all right.
"Not sure, Nathan. Sometimes I think he can hear us, but most of the time he seems far away. We need to get more high level healing materia. There's not much more I can do. I don't even want to try to get him to the hospital in Gongaga. I'm afraid we'll lose him in the transport." Great, sounds like I'm dying… Wish I knew what happened to the clones… and the monsters… and the radio emergency… and…
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(12 midnight Wutai, 4 am Gongaga, 8 am Midgar, 10 am Mideel)
It was midnight—time for the operation to commence. Carlos Griegos reviewed his people one more time: his own second-in-command, Lt. Col. Bill Wallace, Jr., the son of the Gold Saucer base commander and one half of the only father-son pair of First Class Soldiers in Shinra; Lt. Col. Cho Lee (new to First Class, but the best swordsman on the base—as hard as that was for Griegos to admit); Major Ted Stanley and Captain Tom Danzen (both Second Class Soldiers, good shots and swordsmen); and Second Lieutenants Jerry Aman (a new Third Class Soldier, but a crack shot) and Jens Akita (also a new Third Class Soldier, but the best Wutainese speaker on base). All but the two new third classes were combat veterans of exactly the sort of operation Griegos had planned for this evening. In addition to these seven, three regular army guys and two Turks, who had been caught at Wutai Base without a way to get back to Midgar, had volunteered to go along. In all, there were just a dozen men to attempt the capture of an emperor…
The Turks checked out the entrance to the tunnel. Every secret tunnel entrance out of Wutai Base had been checked and double checked to determine whether the Wutainese knew their locations. Some tunnels were found to be watched, but some weren't. In particular, one tunnel, with its entrance about five miles out from the base in a copse of trees and in the direction of the palace, hadn't been watched. Griegos hoped this meant that the Wutainese were not somehow herding his group into a trap. He, Bill Wallace, and the Turks had gone over several possible routes to the palace on aerial photos of the region taken before the attacks. With fifteen miles yet to go, they could get close tonight, but they wouldn't be able to launch the attack and get away until tomorrow evening.
Twenty miles to the palace. When you said it like that, it didn't seem so very far. Twenty minutes by car, but hours on foot, hiding, waiting for peasants or cows to pass by. Griegos glanced over his shoulder. They'd need better transport back to the base when they caught Godo and his daughter.
The Turks signaled 'all clear.' Time to move… "Let's go!"
A/N—I almost split this chapter into two parts. The first chapter would have ended where Nathan shouts "MARCUS!!" That would have been a real cliffhanger, but Bjanik hates cliffhangers, and Bjanik knows where I live…