Days of Exile

Chapter 33 – You, the Protector

10 January 0008

Beads of perspiration glistened on Rude's bald head as he surveyed the area. In this time of the year, many towns should be experiencing cold temperatures, but not for today. Rocket Town was sweltering hot.

"Mr. Rude, sir!"

One of the service crew ran to him. Rude always wondered why his mother wanted to name him after an adjective. If not for his intimidating build and poker face, Rude wondered how many people would make a jab at his name. Obviously, anyone would think twice before making fun of his name, especially when he was the one overseeing the operations.

The crewman made a small and unnecessary salute at Rude. "The system has been checked and the Materia is in place." Rude nodded and the man walked briskly away.

"Sir!" Another one ran towards him. "The people sent their complaints again." He took out a bunch of letters from his pocket.

Rude glanced through the letters of complaints and concerns against the relaunching of Shinra's first space programme, Shinra No. 26. Many years ago, Cid Highwind of Rocket Town failed to launch the rocket. Since then, Shinra abandoned the project. Today, Shinra had revived the Space Project for a different reason. The space shuttle carrying the Huge Materia will be launched into space to collide head-on with Meteor. Hopefully the magical impact will be strong enough to engulf Meteor before it hit the Planet.

Just that AVALANCHE has been getting in the way. Currently, three out of four parts of the Huge Materia were snatched by the terrorist group. The only one that was under Shinra's possession was just loaded in the Shinra No. 26. Truthfully, Rude doubted the success of using the Huge Materia in its full 4-fragment form, much less the one pathetic part in their possession. However, Heidegger was adamant on the plan; who were Rude and Reno to suggest otherwise?

Rude crumpled the letter and tossed it into the bin. If it were Reno, he would throw it back at the serviceman's face for better impact, but Rude did not need to resort to that kind of tactic. "… The plan will continue." He said, pushing his sunglasses against his nose. That was message enough for everyone to know that he will not be questioned again.

Rude wiped the sweat off his brow. Shinra was not in a favourable position with the people now. To them, the imminent Meteor was Shinra's doing, as retribution for taking too much from the Planet. In response, Shinra took charge of the solution to destroy Meteor, albeit a little farfetched.

"Yo, Rude." Reno's voice screeched through the scratchy earpiece. Back at the headquarters, Reno was busy handling the demands of the higher ups. Thus, Rude was dispatched alone to Rocket Town. "Palmer's practically twitching in excitement, and I'm not exaggerating here. Is the crew giving the okay?"

"… The rocket will be launched in about 30 minutes, once the final preparations are done."

"So… All systems go? Dammmn," Reno punctuated proudly. "I've always wanted to say that phrase, yo?"

"…"

"Alright, alright!" Reno quickly said. "Geez, someone is really grumpy today."

"You would be too, if you have been in the rocket under the sun for over four hours."

Another staff came running towards Rude, shouting anxiously, "Mr. Rude, sir! Mr. Rude, sir!"

Reno, obviously hearing what was happening, chortled on the other end. "Like a little chicken running to Momma Chicken!"

Ignoring his partner's corny comment, Rude resisted his urge to roll his eyes (not that anyone could see) and asked, "What is it this time?"

The man panted, but choked out, "It's AVALANCHE!"

"Why am I not surprised," drawled Reno. "We've already given them three parts of the Materia, what are they going to do with it?"

Indeed. Thought Rude. What are they going to do with it?

"… I'm on my way," said Rude to the headset.

"Glad you could read my mind."

Rude began to walk out of the rocket, pulling on his combat gloves at the same time. In his mind, however, thoughts reeled. Why was the AVALANCHE thwarting their plans all the time? It was reasonable that they did so in the earlier days, when they were blowing up Mako Reactors in protest. It was bad enough that they were mostly successful, a horrible statistic since the beginning of the Turks. Did they need to intervene Shinra's search for Sephiroth too? What did Sephiroth have to do with any of them?

Their biggest enigma was their leader, Cloud Strife. His Mako blue eyes were of the greatest interest. The only people who possessed such eyes were the successful candidates of SOLDIER. Cloud Strife wore the First Class uniform too. Reno swore that he had never seen such a person, and Rude was pretty sure himself. It was rather disconcerting because they knew close to nothing about him. Not that Rude cared, but Reno would not stop talking about him. Perhaps there was some link, though Rude knew not what it was.

Even Reeve, who was initially sent to spy on them, seemed a little disjointed. Rude did not know him personally, but he knew that Cait Sith was an excellent spy. It would be quite impossible to have AVALANCHE succeed in their intervention if Cait Sith had been stopping them. Rude suspected that Reeve had gone rogue. The interesting thing was that Reeve was such a man of good character and disposition; if he could be won over to support AVALANCHE, then surely…

Rude tensed at where his thoughts were leading to. Was it wise to do so? It was dangerous to teeter on the line dividing both parties. At this point, nothing seemed right or wrong. What were AVALANCHE's motives? Were they just happy with preventing Shinra no matter what they did? Shinra is doing their part to save the Planet from Meteor too, isn't it? Rude pondered.

He saw a party of three people climbing up the metal scaffolding towards the entrance of the rocket.

Yet, AVALANCHE's actions seemed to involve more than just stopping Shinra. Rude folded his arms and thought hard. From behind him, the two infantrymen readied their guns, announcing that they were battle last, the intruders climbed the last of the ladder at the top of the rocket.

Rude regarded the intruders. The person leading the group was the mysterious Cloud Strife. The last time Rude saw him, he was under some kind of a spell, delivering the Black Materia to Sephiroth in the Northern Cave. Today, the blond leader showed no hesitation in his eyes – only pure determination to stop Shinra from launching the Huge Materia.

"… You again?" Rude stepped forward and regarded the strong party in front of him. He swung his arm out. "… We will eliminate everyone who gets in Shinra's way."

"Ain't worried about that!" cried Cid, tossing his harpoon in the air and catching it.

"Mr. Rude!" The two guards stood straighter beside Rude. "We will help you get rid of AVALANCHE."

Rude gave a curt nod, but in his mind, he had already made his decision.

The battle lasted less than 10 minutes. When Cloud swung his sword at Rude, he buckled at the pressure and collapsed onto the metal walkway. Rude pressed the button on his earpiece. "… They got us," he said to Reno.

"What? No way!" Reno was shouting over the earpiece. "How can that be? Rude, is it because of Tifa again?" Rude did not answer immediately. He stared at Cloud and Cid, who walked past him and entered the rocket. Reno was impatient for an explanation. "Aw come on, Rude!" That was all Rude heard before he pulled out his earpiece. Rude closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"I don't remember you being so weak."

Rude quickly opened his eyes and saw Tifa Lockhart standing over him. She was alone, and she looked suspicious. Rude kept quiet, not sure if it was because he did not want to explain himself or because of his shyness. Perhaps it was both.

"You weren't like that in… in Nibelheim." Tifa frowned. "You and Mr. Reno were the strongest people around town, and you helped Pa… you helped us with so many things." She folded her arms. "Why did you let us defeat you?"

"…" Rude did not speak for a moment, but Tifa was persistent in getting an answer. "… I… I don't know what I should believe in anymore." He mumbled. "I only want to protect what I have now."

Tifa hesitated in giving an immediate reply, but she said it eventually. "Just because you say some humanely things, it doesn't make you, the protector of anything." She clenched her jaw. "I do know for a fact that I should not believe in you and Reno anymore."

As Tifa was about to walk past Rude, he said quietly. "Tifa… We're sorry." Tifa paused, looking like she wanted to say more-

"Hey, Tifa!" Cid shouted. "Some help here!"

Tifa glanced at Rude again, and hurried towards her comrades.

That afternoon, there was a huge flash of light that almost blinded the entire Planet. Everyone covered their eyes as Shinra's rocket collided head on with Meteor. Due to its relative proximity to the Planet, the collision sent tremors that shook Gaia. Alarms triggered and evacuation warning signals were activated.

Did it work?

That was the million-gil question burning in everyone's hearts as the bright light burst from the collision. As parents covered their children and men crouched low bracing for impact, many prayed that Shinra will succeed in their attempt. As the light faded, people looked up into the sky. It was a sight to behold… and to despair.

Only astronomers could describe vividly what was left of the Meteor. There was a collision, no doubt. However, Shinra No. 26 did nothing more than to chip off a portion of Meteor. The rocks that were shattered now orbits around the remaining, still-massive Meteor. To the normal civilian, they did not need the specifics. It was clear as day that Meteor was unharmed, and still on its way to Gaia. People fell upon their knees in anguish. The sight of Meteor was the hopeless answer to everyone's hope for salvation.

Upon feeling the tremors, Meia looked up and stared out of the windows of her cell doors. What was that? Was that… the collision? From her small window, she could only see flashing lights and hear blaring alarms.

"Hey, did you feel that?" Meia heard one of the guards asking.

"Yeah, like some kind of earthquake."

"Check…"

As the guard's voice lowered, Meia checked her earpiece, tucked safely in her underwear. She has been quite paranoid about bring alert when listening to the earpiece. So far, so good. She quickly tucked her legs in and settled with staring at the floor with a bored expression. At least that will explain her silence. The guard looked in and Meia barely gave him a second glance. Soon, when she was quite sure that the guards were deep in conversation again, Meia put on her earpiece again.

"Whoa! Whoa!" Yuffie was exclaiming over in the Highwind. "They are alive!"

"Tifa!" Barret was speaking. "When the rocket flew, I thought… Anyway, where are you now?" Where Tifa was, Meia could not hear. But Barret immediately replied, "We are coming over to get ya outta there! Jus' stay put!"

"Where are they?" asked Vincent.

"Tifa says they got into an escape pod and now it is in the sea near Costa del Sol. You there!" Barret barked at someone else. "Fly this thing to Costa del Sol and keep a lookout for anything!"

"What?" Yuffie exclaimed. "How did they end up there?"

"Well, they did fly out of here in a rocket…" Cait Sith suggested.

Vincent grunted. "Not a surprise if it lands somewhere else."

"So after we spot them, we will go and pick them up with our chocobo?" Nanaki suggested.

"That's the plan."

Within the hour, Meia heard shouts of excitement as they spotted their surviving comrades off the coast of Costa del Sol.

Apparently, Cloud, Cid and Tifa went to Rocket Town to stop Shinra from launching the last piece of Materia into space. In a twist of events, they ended up being locked in the rocket. Palmer, being overly excited to be able to do something at last, gave the cue to blast off without checking for any safety measures. After retrieving the last bit of Huge Materia, they were on their way to an emergency escape pod when a tank exploded, trapping Cid underneath.

Then, Shera appeared. She was Cid's assistant and was also trapped in the rocket when making the last minute checks on the system. Together, they helped the injured Cid and managed to escape in the escape pod, mere minutes before collision. The escape pod sank back into the Earth's atmosphere, landing in sea. That was how Cloud, Cid and Tifa managed to live to tell the tale.

After Shera was safely sent back to Rocket Town, they met again in the cockpit of the Highwind. The joy of reunion earlier on now became much subdued. At first, Meia did not understand why, but slowly it dawned upon her what could be the problem – the rocket failed to destroy Meteor.

"Rufus and the others' plan was a failure…" Cloud said.

"What a bust..." Barret sighed. "But I kinda hoped it'd work."

Meia listened and was very confused. Shinra's plan was to create a magical force against Meteor. AVALANCHE had not only snatched the bulk of the Materia, they even removed the little bit of Huge Materia from the rocket. The rocket that hit Meteor was nothing but an empty shell. Of course it would not work. Meia understood that AVALANCHE took back the Huge Materia for a bigger reason than to stop Shinra. Materia is refined Mako, which is the product of the Lifestream, which is essentially souls. The Huge Materia was probably the equivalent of a million souls full of experience and knowledge. With that in mind, they should not really expect a normal rocket to make miracles.

These are not things to overlook. Meia thought with a pout. It's so difficult to see how people can forget things so easily.

"We've been botherin' them as much as we can…" said Cait Sith with a resigned sigh. "But there ain't no other way… Wonder if we've been wrong all this time?"

"Makes you worry, doesn't it?" Nanaki said.

"Don't worry!" came Tifa's girlish voice. "Think!"

A rough clearing of the throat. "Hey! The girl's right." Cid said. "You start worryin' and there's no stoppin' it! Things just start fallin' apart and get worse and worse."

Barret scoffed. "You're pretty damn optimistic! You up to somethin'?"

"Yeah," Cid paused. "I've been thinkin' about this and that. All the time we've been up here lookin' at the planet." He paused again. "I've been thinkin' even when we were floatin' in the ocean in that escape pod."

"I've been thinking too." Cloud agreed. "About the universe... planet... ocean. How wide and big... No matter where I go and what I do it won't change a thing."

"Maybe you're right." There was a pregnant pause around the cockpit. Meia wondered how outer space looked like. There were literally no resources and materials on anything outside the Planet. If it was like what they say – the universe is so big that a small person can hardly change anything, then is it futile to do something?

It was not the end of Cid's answer. "But I came up with something different." He said, breaking the heavy silence. "I always thought this planet was so huge. But lookin' at it from space, I realized it's so small… We're just floatin' in the dark. … Kind of makes you feel powerless.

"On top of that it's got Sephiroth festerin' inside it like a sickness. That's why I say this planet's still a kid. A little kid sick and trembling in the middle of this huge universe… Someone's gotta protect it." Another pause. "Ya follow me? That someone is us."

There was a long pause, sans some dramatic gasps from Yuffie. "Cid..." Tifa said after some time. "That's beautiful."

Meia grinned. Coming from such a crude man, it was passionate and meaningful. It should not be a surprise, though. Cid has been the captain of the crew under the Shinra Space Programme. Surely Cid Highwind must have some guts and passion in order to lead any crew. Meia was impressed with how the group worked together. No wonder Reeve and Cait Sith liked to work with them. Maybe, just maybe… They might succeed in protecting us all.

"Yo! Cid!" Barret laughed. "You even got to me! So, now what? How're we gonna protect the planet from Meteor?"

Another long silence, of which finally Cid admitted, "… I'm still thinkin' about that." No one rejoined Cid. Only a soft murmur arose as they went back to their activities.

Suddenly, Nanaki exclaimed. "Did you… hear something?"

Meia tuned the earpiece louder, straining her ears to catch anything. Then she heard it. It was soft, but undoubtedly a scream or a cry rumbling from deep within. Chilling as it sounded, Meia also felt a deep sadness that she could explain nor understand.

"The planet's scream…" Tifa murmured. "Or Meteor…? Is it this planet?"

"Hey," said Cloud. "How do we know that this is really the planet's scream?"

"Did you forget? Bugenhagen told us."

"Bugenhagen..."

"Let's go see Grandfather!" Nanaki said excitedly. "To Cosmo Canyon! I'm sure he'll be able to tell us something that will be helpful!"

Meia could not continue. She yanked the earpiece out of her ear and stuffed it in her underwear.

"Here's your lunch," said a guard, pushing a tray of food from under a flap. He eyed Meia suspiciously. "You are not up to any nonsense, are you?"

Meia stared at him with what seemed like nonchalance. "The only nonsense I'm up to is to find ways to make you open this door."

"Very funny."

The guard hastily withdrew himself from the cell doors and Meia found herself back in her thoughts. She did not dare to put back her earpiece in case the guard brought backup to thumb her down for her insolent remark.

The guard did not return, but Meia barely noticed. In her mind, she thought about the sorrowful cry of what they call the Planet. It was chilling. The Planet is indeed alive, with souls of many. Meia thought. The theory about the Lifestream being full of souls is really true. No non-living thing could do this.

Now, Cloud and gang are heading to Cosmo Canyon. With Shinra's failure, I hope that they will be able to get some perspective. Perhaps we've been resolving this the wrong way.

But will we ever get an answer? Or are we simply orbiting towards our doom? Meia dared not think of an answer. All she needed to do was to remind herself that she could do nothing to help until she got out of this place.

11 January 0008

Early morning. Mideel.

The smell of crispy bacon over traditional woodstoves made Cassie's stomach churn in hunger. (A/N: Mine too, as I'm writing this.) She missed Mideel's smoked bacon tremendously. After summoning her back to her hometown, insisting that she take the overnight ferry trip, surely her parents would allow her to have some breakfast first?

Luckily, they did. Cassie wolfed down the sumptuous breakfast set before her, cherishing every savoury taste. Her mother, with hums of disapproval at her daughter's lack of etiquette, made small talk with her about recent happenings, which mainly include her recent bridge game with her bevy of ladies. Andrew was out with his father, learning the ropes of the family timber business.

"It's great to hear that Andy is so motivated now," remarked Cassie, giving herself another helping of beans.

"Cassandra!" Pamela Windell frowned disapprovingly. "Use the serving spoon!" Cassie almost rolled her eyes – she was the only one dining. Still, she obediently swapped for the common serving spoon. "Yes, it was most relieving to see Andrew back on track. The last few years had been most humiliating for myself and worrying what would he turn out to be." Pamela Windell sipped from her cup of tea. "And all this would not be so if not for your help."

Cassie shrugged. "Just glad to see him back to himself again. And thank you for giving him the inheritance of the business."

"Oh Cassandra, I know you're saying this because you don't want the arranged marriage."

"I won't deny that, Mother." Cassie chuckled. "So… am I off the hook?"

Her mother did not immediately reply, a rare behavior from her usual responsive personality. It made Cassie uncomfortable that her mother was quiet. Finally, Pamela gave a loud sigh. "Your father has told me about that beau of yours."

Cassie reddened. "I… I guess he did."

"So the wonderful Bone Vilage boy will not do, but the wild child of the Midgar slums with a history of Gaia-knows-where is better?"

Setting her fork down, Cassie regarded her mother seriously. "Jasper is fine and cool, but it's just not right, I see him as a little brother. I do not approve of your judgement of Rodzen. If your intention of my stay here is to condemn him, then I won't stay any longer."

"Sit down, Cassandra," said Pamela, for Cassie was standing and really looked as if she was going to leave.

"No, I won't." Cassie insisted.

Pamela rubbed the bridge of her nose. "For heavens' sakes, Cassandra, sit down! I will not waste my time playing games with you! Listen to me first!" Cassie stared at her mother long enough to get her curiosity piqued. When the daughter sat down, Pamela said, "The intended marriage between the Gemsworths and the Windells is off."

"What?"

"It seemed that the young Gemsworth has found a beau."

"No way!" Cassie stared at her mother in surprise. "Jasper has a… girlfriend? I thought he liked Meia!"

Pamela did not question about the additional name. "It was a childhood friend of his. The three families have decided that the Windell marriage will be called off and the Gemsworth will rearrange the marriage with the current one."

Even though Cassie was glad that Jasper somehow managed to weasel his way out of their awkward arranged marriage, shame crept in her heart. "I'm sorry, Mother, if I had caused the family any embarrassment. Even though I am pretty relieved," she added with a cheeky grin.

"Hmph, at least you knew the implications of a cancelled wedding." Pamela narrowed her eyes. "Fortunately for us, the Gemsworths felt that it was their fault that the wedding is cancelled. They extended their sincerest apologies and much more." She smiled a secret smile which told Cassie it involved some sort of monetary payment. "The young Gemsworth had insisted on marrying this girl; we did not need to mention whether you were willing to marry. It seemed too unreal… almost like it was planned from the beginning…" Here, Pamela glanced at her sneaky daughter.

"Hey!" Cassie raised both her hands. "I swear I had nothing to do with Jasper and his new girlfriend! Yeah, we did discuss about going ahead with the arranged marriage just to keep you guys off our backs, but we did not discuss any further plans after that." She took her cup of tea and washed the savoury and dry taste of smoked bacon away. "I don't even know who the girl is…" She paused, thinking about what would everyone in the Turks say. "When is the wedding?"

"I do not know. But I believe we will not receive a family invitation, after such an awkward situation. However, the young Gemsworth would send you a friendly invitation, seeing that the both of you planned not to marry in the first place. My guess would be as soon as possible."

Pamela stood up from her cushioned chair and walked to the window. She drew back the curtains. Up in the sky, a visible Meteor was hovering above the Planet, as if choosing the perfect time to strike. "Cassandra," she asked. "Are you involved in any way in this?"

"Well, not directly." Cassie said. "Just… somewhat involved."

"It's dangerous." Her mother looked into the sky and spoke softly.

"Yes, it is." Cassie said. "But if not for us, who will protect the Planet and the people? Shinra may be the main force, and we are merely background helpers, but someone's gotta help the Planet. I don't want to be sitting by the sidelines when I know that I have the power and ability to protect someone's family."

Pamela released the curtains with a sigh. "You were always quite the wild stallion that your father and I cannot handle." Cassie bit back a sarcastic reply. She inherited the stubbornness and arrogance from her mother, after all. "Yet, you are still a pride to have."

Surprise took over Cassie's reaction. "Really? Even when I ran away from home and now found myself some random boy with a history of Gaia-knows-where?"

Pamela smiled. "Even though that thought makes me cringe… yes. We have our share of horrible disputes and your rebellion is simply too much for any family to handle." Pamela walked back and awkwardly placed a hand on Cassie's shoulder. "I know I don't say this much. But you are my daughter, a special place in this family. No one can ever replace your position, no matter how horrible you are in the family. You showed that to us through Andrew, no doubt we must show that to you."

"Gee… wow." Before Cassie could stop herself, she walked up to Pamela and hugged her. "You know what?" She murmured. "I actually appreciated that. Who knew? Thanks for not giving up on me despite my shortcomings… by your standards."

Pamela Windell smiled. Cassie always had to have the last say. That was something that was very similar to Pamela herself. However, the sincerity in her hug said more than what her daughter's words carry. "Your father said I should be more honest. As you can see, he is a very wise man."

"Yes." Cassie chuckled. "Yes, he is."

Thank you for reading.