Days of Exile

Chapter 39 – End of Shinra?

Previously on Days of Exile…

While surveying the newly assembled Sister Ray, Reno and Rude had a truthful talk with each other. Rude discovered Reno's intention of staying in Shinra as a means to protect the exiled Turks from further investigation and possible elimination. It was not an issue for Rude – his reason for staying in Shinra was to ensure that both Reno and Tseng do not lose themselves while remaining in Shinra.

After weeks of recuperation, Tseng was ready to return to Midgar with Rod, Mason and Kido.

It had not been a good start for Reeve Tuesti's day. First, he had to face the abominable duo, Scarlet and Heidegger, convince President Rufus to use Sister Ray to kill WEAPON. As a result of this outrageous decision, he had to raise the Mako rates from the city. Shortly after that, he had a small disagreement with AVALANCHE leader Barret Wallace over beliefs and values.

Could the day be any worse?

13 January 0008

Midgar. Sector Two. Rod's garage.

As AVALANCHE fought the colossal Diamond WEAPON, in Sector Two, the exiled Turks were blissfully unaware that a fight with another WEAPON was going on just mere miles away from them. They were busy with their own preparations.

Haato, Leia and Legend were the last few Turks to reach Rod's garage. Cissnei had already unpacked her things in Meia's room. The four newcomers shared what was happening in Icicle Inn and Gongaga while drinking tea from the pantry. They had not gathered together like this for a long time. It was almost exciting, like reliving the former days of their glory. KK was dusting the place to prepare for the massive amount of people living in their garage today. Cassie had managed to shirk the responsibility of cleaning the place by offering to head out to buy food.

"KK, you look so sullen cleaning the place all by yourself!" laughed Cissnei. "Here, let me help you." She stood up and walked to the knife-user. "I helped Dannie and Annie a lot with the household chores. I think I will be okay on my own."

Katherine passed the only broom to her with a huff. "How did we degrade from elite Turks to cleaning Turks?"

Legend chortled and brushed his hair with his fingers. "Sorry I can't help you," he said with a flashy grin. He wriggled his fingers. "I'm born to destroy things, not organise things."

"Excuses."

"We appreciate the accommodation, KK," said Leia with a smile. "Alana's house was too small to fit all of us, and we may cause a problem for Alana's family, especially when Elena is a Turk now."

"And a real devout," grinned KK. "Alana cannot stop complaining how her sister would rattle at home about being a Turk. Well, that," KK said, pointing at Meteor above them. "Would give Elena something to talk about for the rest of her life."

Haato, who had been reading his messages, made a sound of surprise. When everyone looked at him, he replied, "Rod, Mason and Kido are coming back to Midgar… with Tseng." There were murmurs of excitement and relief. Everyone talked at once, wondering aloud if Tseng had managed to fully recover and remarking that finally the three Turks were coming back to do some work again. Then, another piece of good news. Haato chuckled merrily. "The Jade WEAPON is gone for good. The four of them defeated it."

Indeed, that was better news than any of them could expect. Everyone leaned back on their chairs and sighed with relief.

"Why was Tseng fighting Jade WEAPON?" frowned Cissnei. "He was not involved in the Zirconiade incident, was he?"

KK shrugged. "Who knows? But if Tseng is able to fight Jade WEAPON, then he is better than recovered, huh?" she grinned. "So… do you know what it all implies?" They stared at her, waiting for her to continue. She counted off her fingers. "We don't have to worry about Jade WEAPON. As long as we don't interfere with Shinra's matters, they won't pursue us… We are free."

"No we're not," came Leia's flat tone. "Meia is still trapped in Shinra, in Gaia knows where. And there's nothing we can do to help her."

"Seriously," Legend added. "It has been almost a week since she disappeared. Apart from Reeve's info that she was indeed captured by Hojo in the cells, we have not heard anything since. You guys not gonna help Meia at all?"

"Don't say it like that," KK said softly, her gleeful expression now subdued. "The truth is that we can't afford to barge in and dig her out."

"What are these babies for, then?" Legend patted a duffel bag of fine explosives.

Leia narrowed her eyes. "I believe a baby would tell you that if we will be outnumbered if we run in from the front."

"Not really, you know. I heard that many people resigned a week ago. Shinra is very, very, very understaffed."

"Where is Reeve anyway?" Haato piped up. "Didn't he tell Cassie that he would check on Meia occasionally?"

"I called Reeve a few times today," came the sound of Cassie's voice as she walked in through the front door, her arms full of groceries. Haato got up to relieve her the load. "But I keep getting voicemail," Cassie complained.

"This is not good." Haato shook his head. "Even our last bit of contact with Meia had vanished. You know ladies, I hate to tell you this but…" He exchanged a knowing glance with Legend. "We boys do want to crash a good party upstairs."

"You mean barge into Shinra and demand for Meia?" Cassie suggested with a smile on her face. "I could do with some excitement, at last!"

"That's what I'm talking about!" Legend whistled and patted his bag. "It's time to bring out my babies for a ride!"

Leia shook her head in exasperation, while KK said, "You guys are nuts."

"Well, madam, do you have better alternatives?" Haato asked of Leia.

"The point is to get Meia out of Shinra as soon as possible." Cissnei folded her arms. "With the chaos that Meteor is causing, people usually overlook many details. I say it's worth a shot."

"Are we even prepared to fight all these people?" asked Leia cynically. "Sorry to burst your bubble, but we are not as top-notch in our fighting skills like before."

Haato squeezed Leia's shoulder. "Like Cissnei said, it's worth a shot. You want Meia to come back, right? One more day of tarrying could be dangerous for that girl, if she is passively waiting for rescue."

"What do you think, Leia?" KK turned to Leia for her opinion.

The martial artist was quiet, thinking of all consequences and possibilities. Reluctant as she was, she could not deny what Cissnei said – they had to get Meia out as soon as possible. "When Rod, Mason and Kido arrive, we will get their opinion too. Then, it might be in our favour if we act as soon as possible… tonight."

Midgar. Sector Eight. Shinra Building.

Rufus Shinra stood by his window, facing North. He indeed saw the huge mountain of metal that was WEAPON. Without any additional equipment, the large creature was no bigger than the size of his thumbnail. The monster crossed the ocean, but stopped when it stepped on the shore just north of Kalm. Something had intervened its route.

Grabbing the binoculars from his desk, Rufus peered out into the darkness. He did not have to do that, actually. Midgar was miles away from the northern shore. There was no way he could see what was stopping the WEAPON. He could tell, however, that WEAPON was intending to eliminate anything that got in its way. He leaned closer to the window, hoping to make out something.

Finally, whatever that was stopping WEAPON seemed to be successful. The WEAPON roared, so loudly that even Rufus could hear its cry. Naturally, so could everyone in Kalm and Midgar. All activity stopped as they tried to comprehend where the source came from.

The intercom on his desk buzzed and Heidegger's boisterous laugh was heard from the speakers. "Mr. President, preparations for Sister Ray are now in order." Rufus turned to look at his desk, just in time to hear Scarlet's laughter and report that he could fire the Sister Ray anytime he chose.

The President turned back to the window. He could see the WEAPON plodding back onto land, across the ocean at the Northern continent. If he could get the WEAPON to stand in line with the cannon, he could take down both WEAPON and Sephiroth. It was worth a shot. He waited patiently, like a hunter waiting for his trap to go off.

Just a little more… Rufus' heart thumped in anticipation. He had not felt this sort of tension for a long time, which meant that it was time that he brought his shotgun for a hunting trip again.

And the WEAPON stopped, miles away from the cannon, but it was facing the cannon nevertheless.

"… Fire."

Things progressed too quickly. Everything happened above the heads of the people in Midgar. The only people who saw the entire sequence were Reno and Rude, who were on the chopper. But they were too far away from Midgar to see clearly. No one could accurately describe what happened.

When Rufus gave his command, at first there was nothing, except the blinking lights on the Sister Ray. Then, Mako Reactors lit up with Mako energy. One by one, the Mako Reactors surrounding Midgar lit up like a festival.

Then, Mako energy flowed through translucent pipes from the Reactors directly to Sister Ray. Due to Reeve's aesthetic design of the pipes, people from below could not see the pipe structures with their naked eye. From the upper Sectors and the slums, the Mako flowed into Sister Ray like green shooting stars. But the spectacle did not last long. In less than a minute, all the Mako energy flowed into Sister Ray, and Midgar fell into pitch darkness from the lack of power.

The Sister Ray fired. There was a large sound as the cannon released a ray of blue light, sounding like an explosion. The impact was so great that structures supporting Sister Ray collapsed and windows of the Shinra Building shattered, falling into the slums below. People ran for cover and some dropped onto the ground for lesser impact.

Rufus flipped his hair and pondered the effects. It was risky to use the Sister Ray when its assembly was less than perfect, but it would do.

Meia jumped at the sudden sound of an explosion and the tremors that shook the entire building. What was that? She thought. It was bad enough that there was a power failure. She could not even see her outstretched fingers. Outside, she heard guards speaking in frantic and low tones, but she could not catch what they were saying. I really need to get out of here. The world could be ending outside right now and here I am, rotting. Meia decided that by hook or by crook, she would find a way to escape the cell today.

The Diamond WEAPON, now across the waters and at the Northern part of the Planet, sensed danger coming miles away. The shoulder plates of its metal body raised, and bullets of energy shot out of its shoulders, towards Midgar. The fire of the Sister Ray and the Diamond WEAPON now crossed each others' paths. Then at last, the WEAPON was knocked down as the white ray of Mako energy pierced through the ancient being's body.

After its success with WEAPON, the Mako ray continued its unchanging path. Across the Northern continent and its snowy lands, and towards a large crater covered by a dome of energy. The blast slammed into the energy dome, creating large tremors across the continent. Then, the energy barrier was neutralised and it disappeared.

Back in the Shinra office, Rufus was still staring out of the window, wondering if the plan was a success. The intercom buzzed and a young man spoke, "Sir! Weapon's been defeated! The barrier has disappeared!"

A surge of triumph and relief washed over the young heir. He walked to his desk, ready to give a short speech of thanks when the intercom burst, "Sir! A mass of high-density energy is heading towards Midgar!"

Rufus looked up in time to see the bright yellow bursts of energy sail across Midgar. Even though the Diamond WEAPON was defeated, the Sister Ray was not fast enough. The Diamond WEAPON had done its part to damage Midgar too.

As Rufus stood in his office, watching everything, he knew that it was the end for him. At least he was going to die standing straight and proud of everything that he had done. Then, the building shook as the attacks flailed on the Shinra Building. By natural reflex, Rufus Shinra doubled over and fell onto the floor…

And in an instant, he was surrounded by flames.

"Hold it!" Reeve shouted. He no longer cared if he was speaking to AVALANCHE or to his colleagues. "Scarlet! Heidegger! What's going on?"

Heidegger pressed a phone against his ear, while they waited. Soon, Heidegger put the phone down and said in a worried voice, "Strange. I can't reach the President."

Reeve rolled his eyes. "Not the President. To Sister Ray!" He said.

The head of Weapons department, Scarlet, laughed with Heidegger. "What is it Reeve? You're speaking strangely."

Reeve could not deny that fact. It was hard to function with a semi-independent mind in your own mind. He shook his head. "None of that matters! The reactor's output is increasing all by itself!"

Horror was written all over Scarlet's face. "W- Wait a minute. That's not wise!" She said. "It must be cool for 3 hours or it won't work. Reeve, shut off the machine!"

Precisely what I meant. Reeve shook his head. "We can't do that! It's inoperable!"

His PHS vibrated and Reeve picked it up. Over the phone, his operations manager spoke frantically. "Someone has switched the machine over to mainframe operation! We can't operate it from here."

"What about the mainframe? Who!?" Reeve roared. Turning to Heidegger, he ordered, "Hey, call the mainframe!"

The bulky man was about to do that, but he immediately put his PHS down and stared at Reeve. "Huh? Why are you giving orders?"

The head of Urban Development could have pulled out his hair in frustration. The Mako Reactors were in critical danger and all Heidegger could care about was the hierarchy of orders? "I don't give a damn about the details!" Reeve shouted.

The expression on the face of Heidegger was priceless. Reeve was known for his gentle disposition. Thus, it had always been that Heidegger and Scarlet would take advantage of his good nature. It was the first time the man reacted so badly about something.

Pulling his PHS out again, Reeve listened to it carefully as his operations manager connected him to the mainframe controlling and monitoring all the Reactors in Midgar. In the open air, he heard a familiar voice cackling to himself. "Just you wait, Sephiroth. I'll give you all the Mako you want."

Hojo! Reeve pressed the button for intercom, and he shouted into his PHS. "Hojo, STOP! The cannon, no, Midgar itself is in danger!"

The scientist laughed again. "One or two Midgars? … It's a small price to pay."

"Hojo!" Reeve called again. There was no more reply. "HOJO...!"

Then the intercom disconnected. Reeve wanted to throw his PHS on the floor, or punch something. What could he do?

In his earpiece, he heard Barret asking Cait Sith. "YO! Do somethin'! Ya big cat!"

"We're sunk. Hojo's doing this on his own…" Cait Sith replied.

Reeve's PHS rang again, he picked it up and listened to Larry, his operations manager over the phone. In his haste, he had forgotten to give proper commands to Cait Sith. The robotic cat spun around and looked confused. I was never good at multitasking, thought Reeve. Sorry, Cait Sith. I just received a call from Larry.

When Cait Sith heard the news, it sighed. "I don't like this…"

Barret walked up to Cait Sith. "You're busted, Reeve!" Both Cait Sith and Reeve jumped at their discovery. "Too late tryin' to hide it now..."

He's right, said Cait Sith to Reeve. Let's just be honest about it. They… They are our last hope. Reeve hesitated, but knew that Cait Sith was right. They had to be honest from now if they want any help.

"Can't you stop the Mako Reactor?" asked Cloud.

"… We can't stop it." Cait Sith answered quietly.

"You're from Shinra, ain't ya? So why's it impossible!?" Barret pressed on.

Reeve thought quietly, displeased with the leader's ambivalence. Barret did not like Shinra, yet he expected Shinra to do everything. It was true that Shinra had a huge contribution to the mess. However, in order to undo their mistake, they would need to put aside all accusations and work together. Why was Barret so difficult to convince when it came to cooperation? To Reeve it was simple – get rid of Meteor and WEAPON first. They can have all the time in the world to point fingers afterwards.

While Reeve and Cait Sith were thinking, Cid warned, "We came a long way to get here. You better not double-cross us now!"

Cait Sith sighed, on his own accord. "I can't make you trust me…"

"You damn fool!" Cid shouted, making Cait Sith jump. "Don't you understand anything I'm saying? I don't give a damn about Shinra. If you're a man... no, if you're a human being, you'll save the planet! Don't you even care?"

In the spare moment, Reeve realised that Cid was serious about solving the problem. While Heidegger insisted on the hierarchy of orders and Barret questioned the source of the problem, Cid was not like them; he was more concerned in seeking solutions.

"No way!" Cait Sith answered. "If we shut down the reactor, all hell will break loose!"

"Why? Can't you just shut off the valve?"

"Yeah, it's easy to shut off the reactor's pipe valves…" Reeve now spoke plainly without the need for Cait Sith. "But the reactor made a path for the energy to escape from below. Once you open that, it'll be impossible to close it until everything blasts out… And we can't try to stop the energy from gushing out…"

"An explosion!" exclaimed Barrret, finally understanding the severity of the situation.

"This blast will be way stronger than when the Sector One Reactor blew up!" Cait Sith added. Barret cursed to himself. "Forget about that… the CANNON! We've got to get to Midgar! That's the first thing!"

Cloud agreed. "Must stop Hojo… first."

Hearing AVALANCHE's new plans, Reeve felt a wave of relief. "Looks like Cloud and the others are on their way. Stay out of the way!" He blurted to Heidegger and almost gasped.

Heidegger obviously did not know who Cloud was. He was not one who meddled with the smaller and "unnecessary" affairs. The head of the Public Safety chortled. "Don't be ludicrous! I don't recall you giving me any orders! The Peace Preservation will give their best effort to make the enemy retreat!" Both Reeve and Scarlet knew Heidegger's incompetence in leadership. Scarlet's laughter threw the hairy man off his guard. "Because of them, I… I…!" Heidegger's stumbling words failed to affirm his stand.

"That's a private matter…" Reeve consoled.

The face of Heidegger turned beet red in anger and embarrassment. "The President is dead! Now I'm doing things my way!" He laughed, the huge bulge at his abdomen shaking like jelly as he did so.

Scarlet laughed too. "Heidegger! Now I'm going to use the new weapon!"

What new weapon? Reeve wanted to ask, but he could not. Scarlet motioned with a slight incline of her head and two infantrymen walked into the meeting room, surrounding Reeve. They grabbed hold of Reeve's arms.

"Hey! Wait!" Reeve shouted. Scarlet and Heidegger walked away, laughing. Reeve shook his head, unable to believe what had happened.

Why was he captured? He needed to tell Cloud and the others… tell them that he was no longer able to help them on Shinra's side… So much for collaboration… It was all nothing but another of my wistful dreams…

"Cloud, everybody! Sorry… But!" Reeve took a deep breath. "But you'll come, won't you!?" The Mako Reactors and the whole of Midgar laid in the hands of these people. If they do not come to Midgar, they will surely be done for.

Reeve did not hear properly Cloud's answer, because the two infantrymen heaved him out of the meeting room. "Hey!" Reeve growled. "I am a grown up man, not a child. I can walk by myself." The guards stopped carrying him, but they did not release their tight grip on him. The least Reeve could do was to walk out of the meeting room, still looking like a dignified man.

When he spotted the two executive heads, he called out to them. "Can somebody explain to me what is happenng?" Reeve demanded. "What are you doing?"

Scarlet and Heidegger stopped to face him. "Oh, Reeve Tuesti," cooed Scarlet. "Are you really that oblivious or are you just feigning ignorance? Kya ha ha ha ha!"

"Gya ha ha ha!" Heidegger snorted. "Don't think that we are clueless of your betrayal!"

"We know that Cait Sith is still with the AVALANCHE!"

"As a spy," pointed out Reeve.

Scarlet wagged a perfectly manicured finger. "More like YOU'RE the spy, feeding AVALANCHE information of Shinra's doings." She folded her arms. "I don't recall that you were under orders to support our enemies. Imagine what would the President say if he knew of this?"

"You don't understand, Scarlet!" Reeve argued. "They can help-"

"You acted on your own accord," Heidegger cut in. "Now that the President is dead, there is no one to tell us what to do. So we will take our own liberties to handle everything." He laughed again. "Without your pesky nose in the way, we will take down Meteor. Boys," he motioned to the guards holding onto Reeve. "Bring him to the cells." To Scarlet, he said, "To the Proud Clod!"

"To the Proud Clod!" echoed the blonde.

The duo walked away, laughing and chatting excitedly about their plans. As the two infantrymen touched his shoulder, Reeve shrugged them off. "I will walk to the cells myself, if you don't mind," He said. "I do not like to be treated any less."

Despite his brilliant show of looking unfazed and composed, only Cait Sith and Meia, who had been listening to everything in horror, knew of Reeve's anxiety of the end and his hope for AVALANCHE's help.

Is it December already? How time flies! Anyway, this chapter is out early because I will be traveling! Now back to the story, which is almost at its end. That is, the whole whingding of Meteorfall. If you're wondering, the day of Meteorfall is planned to be on Chapter 47. No guarantee, though. I've been struggling for the longest time about the plot, of which I will explain some time soon. Till then, I can only write and keep writing.

Let's see what's new with me… I have been so quiet on the fanfiction website. It's like I've vanished. I don't read fanfiction of the other authors, I don't blabber on my blog, I don't anything. Similarly, my readers have vanished too. Oh well.

Not to worry though, I will continue uploading. I believe that there are silent readers out there who are waiting faithfully for my chapters. So yeah, I will persevere. I want to see the ending of this story too.

Alright! Enough with the gloomy talk! Do read and review! Spread the Christmas joy and eat lots of food this season! Whoo!