Sixth Iteration

Kirian had been a Turk for slightly over eighteen months and Don Corneo's bodyguard for the six years before that. He was a professional hitman, patient, obedient and highly intelligent; joining the Turks had been one of his better impulse decisions despite the irritating and sometimes illogical protocols involved and he liked his job. However as he scrambled over the bitterly cold hillside above the Nibelheim Mako reactor he caught himself wishing he'd turned Veld down. He hated the cold and his smart suit wasn't much protection from the freezing weather despite the thermal underwear he had on.

On being told he was being dispatched to Nibelheim to investigate the disappearance of the reactor staff Kirian had immediately hunted down SOLDIER Second-class Cloud Strife, the only person he knew who was native to the area. The Turks were a bit like a family and, since the blond SOLDIER had been raised by the infamous Vincent Valentine, Clous was considered to be a bastard son of the Department of Administrative Research. No-one talked about the connection of course, but Cloud played their games, got their jokes, appreciated their work in a way most SOLDIERs did not and ensured all the new Thirds knew better than to disrespect anyone wearing a blue suit. In return the Turks ignored the existence of his personal PHS' highly treasonous contact list, let him use their obstacle courses and overlooked the possibly dubious provenance of the notes and tip-offs that regularly made their way into the Department's inboxes. The system worked and the information had saved lives, so Veld and Tseng let the SOLDIER be.

Cloud, on learning that Kirian was going to Nibelheim, immediately advised he wear the thickest set of thermal underthings he could get his hands on.

"The Nibel area is absolutely miserable in autumn," the blond warned him, "and the monsters are all out in force. Nibel Wolves, Sonic Speeds, Twin Brains, Screamers, Bombs and all kinds of other nasties; you cannot possibly be too well-armed or too warmly dressed."

Kirian hadn't quite believed him –it couldn't possibly be that bad, could it?– but after parachuting out of a helicopter over Nibelheim, being blown several miles off-course by icy winds and having to fight his way across the mountainside as he tried to reach the reactor and complete his mission, the Turk had to conceded that Cloud might be considered a master of the art of the understatement. The area was even worse than the SOLDIER had described: damp, biting winds, vicious packs of monsters and highly confusing geography all made the Nibel mountains a miserable place for a mission. Kirian couldn't wait for it to be over.


Unfortunately for the Midgar native, whatever dark and hungry god had claimed Mt. Nibel and the surrounding area as its own clearly had it in for him as he was first forced to rescue a fifteen-year-old local girl from Kimara Bugs –she was looking for her cat of all things– then had to delay entering the reactor due to the path being blocked by several dragons. Deciding that enough really was enough, Kirian called Tseng to explain what had happened and hopefully get new and less suicidal orders. Tseng listened patiently before ordering Kirian to retreat to Nibelheim to await further instructions.

However on the way down to the tiny town Kirian and the girl –who had introduced herself as Tifa– were chased by a dragon which destroyed the ropeway ShinRa employees used to reach the reactor. When they finally got back to the village Tifa showed Kirian to the inn where he ordered a hot meal for both of them and had her tell him whether there was another way to reach the reactor and if so, how accessible it was. It turned out there was another route, but he and whoever his reinforcements ended up being would need a local guide. At that point Tseng called back to let him know that Sephiroth and Cloud Strife would be on the investigation team with a few ordinary troopers as backup, hopefully arriving in Nibelheim late the next day. After putting his PHS away Kirian asked Tifa if she would be willing to guide the party up to the reactor.

"Er, well, it's dangerous up there," the girl dithered.

"I'm sure Sephiroth will be able to deal with any monsters you might encounter," Kirian drawled, then watched as hero-worship did its work. Once the girl had agreed the Turk booked himself in at the inn, arranged for a few rooms for the investigation team to use, starting the next night for at least a week, then turned in. There was absolutely nothing else he could be doing around this town anyway.


Very short, but very important. Kirian makes his second appearance after his debut chasing Hojo and suffering Cloud's driving! Everything is hotting up now and I've had the Nibelheim Incident written up since before I started writing about Kunsel, so I already know exactly how it's all going to go. Mwa ha har...