A/N alright saturday, feels good to be normally updated again. However more things keep popping up in my life so I might start irregular downloads at some point. I don't believe that will happen this week but this is just so you guys have a heads up if I'm late on updates again.
I'd like to shout out to Saria19 for her's in her latest chapter on her fic Between Worlds by the way.
Now on with the reading
Ch 39
The lift off from the Highwind was almost exhilarating; it was like the build up at the start of a roller coaster, but without the sudden smash of G-forces to the face. That was the only enjoyment I got out of the flight though. Going up to the bridge everyone seemed to be in some sort of depression. I could hardly blame them though. The world was going to hell, their main leader was incapacitated, and they found out another friend was lying to them. In fact I didn't feel all that hot either.
"You too?" Looking up I saw Yuffie come over and sit down, the same downtrodden look in her eyes like the rest of the group.
"Yeah, the whole week for everyone has been probably the most hectic, and sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but it's even more of an uphill battle from here on out." She sighed and looked at the floor.
"But you can help right? You know everything that's going to happen."
"Not everything, just the major story plot. Which has remained relatively unchanged actually."
"Why would it not be the same?" She asked.
"While I've been here, technically I have influenced decisions and people in ways they weren't originally supposed to. By all means I thought there would be a drastic difference in plot by now." I'd have thought saving Aeris would cause more of the story to be changed besides Cloud's recovery getting complicated.
"Be happy nothing big has happened. Because that would mean you wouldn't know anything." Wow, she's got me there. Its better nothing's changed at all than everything at once.
"What is going to happen then?" A very deep voice asked. I heard Vincent's metal shoes walk up to me and Yuffie.
"So you believe now?" I asked, I couldn't tell if he did considering that cloak covers everything.
"I would like to see more proof of your... situation." Fair enough, Vincent was the cynical type of person.
"Has Barret been in here yet?" Yuffie shook her head.
"Then he is going to walk in here most likely confused, then Cait will have information about the Huge materia; which is very important to obtain by the way, one is going to be in Corel which we will head to first and another at Fort Condor." Thank god Shinra didn't mobilize at the Fort yet, time constrictions are horrible now that I can't just screw around and get a bunch of items.
Soon enough Barret walked into the room. The look on his face told me how torn he was. The team's leader was gone, and he didn't feel like he should take the spot. Maybe a month ago he would have gladly jumped straight in. Now, Barrets matured quite a bit over time.
"What are we going to do? What can we do?" Apparently he expected an answer, when he turned he looked impatient.
"Ain't there something we can do? And don't tell me it's to wait till Clouds better." His eyes landed on me but Cait had walked up to answer.
"I've got some news."
"Yeah, what? That you're a spy?"
"Yeah... I already told you I was." He answered awkwardly.
"Don't lash out on him Barret, he didn't do anything wrong... Well lately he hasn't." I said. The large man ignored me however and kept staring at Cait.
"Well, both gya ha ha and kya ha ha, are up to something." I snickered at Heidegger and Scarlet's nicknames. Both really did have those really annoying kind of laughs.
"Wanna eavesdrop?"
Reeve adjusted the listening device under his coat. Rufus had called for a meeting not two minutes after Nathan's prediction. Since he had listened to how he came about he couldn't help but be skeptical. Yet it explained so much about him. His lack of files, incredible luck and guessing, He didn't make the phone or music player but simply brought them from his world. Every time he rationalized something to prove against him the story would hold up.
It was ridiculous to outright believe him, it was an impossible situation. Then again he never expected to help topple the company he was currently working for as well as fight a 2000 year old creature that controlled said company's most powerful warrior.
"Now then...we have two issues." Reeve started paying attention to Rufus at the other end of the table. He was standing in the corner of the meeting room while Heidegger and Palmer took seats in the middle.
"One, destroy Meteor. Two, remove the barrier surrounding the Northern Cave and defeat Sephiroth... any ideas?" Reeve stiffened a little when Heidegger started laughing.
"Gya hah ha hah! We already solved the first problem! Meteor will soon be smashed to bits!" He slammed his fist down on the table in confidence.
"The plan has already been set in motion. Namely, to collect Huge materia from every region." Rufus showed some hesitation at the plan. Reeve felt it as well. Before Nathan he had only heard of Huge materia once. It was from...
"Huge materia is a high density special type of materia made through a special compression process in Mako reactors." Scarlet walked in, a very smug smile on her face. "The energy extracted from it is 330 times the strength of a normal materia. Kya ha ha! How about that?" Reeve noticed the flinch Rufus had from Scarlet's laughter.
"We will gather all the Huge materia together and ram it into Meteor. That will cause a huge explosion! Reducing the meteor to bits."
"You're going to ram Meteor? Do you think we have the technology to do it?" Reeve would have agreed with Rufus. Shinra was advanced but he couldn't think of to many ways to successfully pull off Scarlet's plan. The trail of thought led him back to Nathan, making him wonder how technology advancement was for him.
"Don't worry about that! More importantly, we've got to collect Huge materia from each area." Scarlet waved off any concern.
"We've already collected materia from Nibelheim. All that's left is Corel and Fort Condor. I've already dispatched troops to Corel." Reeves eyes momentarily widened. Nathan's prediction was spot on. Something that he couldn't possibly have simply predicted.
"Then this meeting is adjourned. I expect results." Rufus finished. Reeve left and went straight for his office.
"Corel!" Barret yelled. "What else can they do to Corel?"
"And the Huge materia, something is supposed to happen when smaller ones are near them." Nanaki added. I groaned, if we had to master all of the magic just to get one master materia I was going to shatter the jewels.
"We can't let Shinra get a hold of the Huge materia! And when Cloud wakes up, I'm gunna show him the Huge materia. He'll be shocked." Good to know he's looking to the positive side.
"So what are you saying Barret? Even though you're always knocking on him, you really want Cloud to return huh?" Cait asked. Barret turned away.
"I ain't sayin nothing about nothin. So you... shut your face." I openly laughed at Barret. No matter how much he didn't want to admit it the blonde grew on him.
"Every groups got to have a leader, and that's me... or at least I want to be... But I ain't cut out to be leader. I never knew that till now" Barret walked over to Cid, who had been sleeping the entire time. The pilot had suddenly awoken to the heavy footsteps and stood up.
"What's going on?"
"You been chosen to be the new leader." The momentary surprise on Cid's face was priceless.
"Nope, forget it. Too much of a pain in the ass." He shook his head.
"But for us to fight, we gotta have Highwind, and you. We need it to save the Planet. And who's running this ship? You! That's why you're our new leader, ain't no one else can." Cid looked around the room at everyone. No one argued with Barret and no one seemed to want to take charge themselves.
"Hmm... This ships going to save the Planet huh? That's gunna be tough. Oh man, that went straight to my heart." Cid looked unsure before he shook his head and pumped his fist.
"I'm a man too! Okay, I'll do it! Everyone follow me!" Cid said, a certain fire in his eyes seemed to show.
"Awright, now here's the first job. Operation room's waiting for you."
"Yeah!" Cid basically ran out of the room. I couldn't hold my laughter in. Cid pumping himself up has got to be one of the funniest things I've ever seen. Barret was amused as well and chuckled before yelling at him down the hall.
"Yo Cid. When you're ready. We're heading to the Corel reactor. You better hurry up mister leader."
"Looks like I better get ready." I said, getting up.
"You're going to fight?" Yuffie asked.
"Hell no. I'm not stupid; I'm going to tell you guys as much as I can before everybody runs off. Do I look like the kind of guy that would try to fight with a broken arm?"
"You've pushed yourself through worse."
"Not helping Nanaki." I looked over to the cat.
"So what should we expect from Corel?" He asked. Vincent and Yuffie both looked at me expectantly.
"Shinra is going to transport the Huge materia via train. But the problem is Corel is in the middle of the tracks."
"You mean they're just going to smash through the town?" Yuffie asked.
"WHAT!" Barret barged right past Nanaki and almost got into my face.
"They're going to destroy Corel?"
"To them Corel is just an obstacle. So the sooner we get there, the more time we have to save them." Barret seemed to calm down but promptly walked to the Operations room.
"I really do hope we have enough time to stop them. How fast is this thing?"
"The Highwind can travel up to 386 knots." One of the crew members informed me.
"So... like over 200 miles?" I asked. I really don't know much about planes. They get to places faster than cars, that's the most important part to me
"Closer to 450 miles sir."
"Oh... so how long till we arrive at Corel?"
"A few hours." At least that puts things in perspective.
"Hopefully we have enough time. They did say they already sent troops out to the area."
"Everyone to the Operation room! On the double!" I heard over the intercom. Everyone left the bridge and arrived. It looked like a war room to me. It had a large wooden table in the center along with a screen displaying data about the airship.
"No chairs?" I asked.
"Just stand like a man." Cid said at the other end.
"Great, this is just like Mass Effect Two, a billion gil ship and Shinra can't afford to put in chairs for the Operations room."
"Quit your bitching, you're going to do most of the talking."
"Wait what?"
"You said you know what's going to happen. So you're going to fill everyone in on how we're going to do this right. Time to prove yourself kid."
"Umm." Well this was a little awkward...never thought I would be in this.
"Come on Nate." Yuffie elbowed me. I nodded and went to the other end of the table with Cid.
"So what are we expecting kid?" He asked.
"Well... Shinra is going to get the Huge materia out of there by train. Cid you're going to have to catch up to it and jump on with a couple other people."
"How the fuck am I going to drive a train?" I shrugged.
"It looked easy from where I was. Look I can only give you a solid base. Your actions are your own. Now you have a time limit of about ten minutes. You have to fight a few enemies on the train but nothing you guys can't handle. I recommend Barret as well as maybe Vincent. Guns will be really useful, and make sure to stock up on good materia, including healing ones. I'll give you a few of mine if you ask. When you get to the front, alternate between brakes and accelerating."
"How can we be sure this works?" Barret asked.
"I'm pretty sure this is how it will work Barret. Corel will be safe and you hailed as a hero, not the bad guy."
"How well can we trust this? How do we know you didn't mess up before?"
"Barret, I know you don't like it when people lie to you. You're still pissed at Cait and now you're pissed at me. Now is not the time. Yes bad shit has happened, but sadly I can't prevent every horrible thing that happens." Barret snorted before leaving the room, I sighed.
"That's everything. Just remember what I said and you're covered. Just be careful about the time limit." I really wish I could help more but I need my arm to be back at one hundred percent before I can try anything.
"Meetings done. Tell the brute I want him with me. He knows the area. I'll take darkness with me too. Get ready; it won't be too long until we reach Corel." Cid nodded towards me before walking out himself.
"It looks like most of the group is taking this well enough." Aeris walked next to me. I decided to head to the bridge again so I could get a look at how fast we were going.
"Barret's still on my case. And Cid is basically tolerating it. Cait is going to rationalize, Vincent's coming around. It's been more of a hassle than anything. Plus I have problems to think about for the future..."
"Nathan you need to calm down. Take deep breaths." I did just that and stopped at the bridge railing.
"I'm good... It feels like I've been thinking a mile a minute lately."
"You've got to stay calm. If you get flustered you might do something wrong and hurt yourself."
"I know, it's just harder now with all of the extra pressure. It was easier when Nanaki was the only one to know what was going on. Now Barret's pissed for no reason and Tifa probably hates me." They were the first two people I really got along with too.
"Well... Could you have thought of a way to stop Marlene from being taken hostage?"
"Well no, but…"
"Did you have a fool-proof plan to stop Sector Seven's destruction?"
"I..."
"And did you think it was necessary for Cloud to go through the Lifestream?"
"...Yes. It was necessary." If he had never gone through, he would have been susceptible to Sephiroth. When he got his real persona he was able to fight off the control.
"Then you have done what you thought was right. You did get most of Sector Seven out before it collapsed with the help of your other friends." I have got to do something for Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie when this is over.
"But now Cloud won't be himself." I realized.
"Why?"
"Tifa and Cloud both fall into the Lifestream when you all went back to Mideel. You, being a part of the Lifestream then, were able to protect them from being flooded with Mako... But now that you're here..."
"Then I will have to try to protect them as I am now." Aww Aeris, looking to the positive side. As always.
"I'm not sure how that will work. Your abilities are really limited Aeris. You haven't had enough time to practice your powers as a Cetra. In the Lifestream you had more influence. It's a problem I have been trying to solve for some time." She put her hand on my shoulder.
"I said calm down. You'll think of something. Just give it time, and it will work out." How is it she always sounded so reassuring? Back on Earth Aeris would have been the greatest therapist ever.
"I guess you're right." We both stood at the railing for some time. The silence was nice, complemented by the ground rushing past outside.
"Can I ask you something?"
"You just did." Aeris made a small smile to the joke, but it fell quick enough.
"Do you know how...Zack went?" I looked back out the window.
"Shinra basically sent its army after him. Both he and Cloud were experimented on at the same time. Zack was maybe a day's walk away from Midgar before Shinra got to him. Tseng had actually ordered for the Turks to find him before the army did. But they were too late. I don't know how many he fought, but Zack took a good number of Shinra's army with him before he was finally done." Aeris looked like she was about to cry the entire time.
"He got all of your letters. Albeit all at once, bet he was happy you still waited for him after four years. I know you can sense him, and I'm sure he's happy right now." Aeris nodded, a few tears fell before she quickly wiped them off.
"Thank you." She said.
"You're welcome." I walked off towards the medic's room. I wanted to heal while everyone went on the mission. Hopefully I would be better for the battle at Fort Condor.
"Damn this place is depressing." Cid mumbled. The Highwind had landed a few minutes before and Cid along with Barret and Vincent had entered the slum-like village.
"Alright so we have to head to the reactor. Barret I need you to guide us." Cid ordered. Barret apparently didn't hear him. The man looked so depressed looking at all of the people walking around, but he also noticed the glares the people sent their way, all directed at Barret.
"Yeah, let's go." he finally said. Cid and Vincent followed behind him as he led them on the train tracks toward the reactor.
"Am I missing something here?" Cid asked.
"Barret is blamed for the state that Corel is in now." Vincent started. Cid soon got the full story about Barret and how Shinra had essentially ruined another life. To him it was the same old story almost everyone in the group had. A normal life before Shinra came into the picture and altered it to the worst possible situation.
"We're almost there. I think I see guards though." Barret announced. The three of them slowly walked up a cliff until they could clearly see the entrance to the reactor.
"Two MPs, nothing we can't handle with a little gun play." Cid said. He looked at Vincent expectantly. The man blinked before he pulled out his weapon. A Sniper CR, a very powerful weapon but rare to see these days. Cid thought about asking where Vincent got his.
The cloaked man took aim before taking a well placed shot at one of the guards. The man fell like a sack of rocks when the shot passed right through his head. Before the other could even think about calling for backup he met with the same fate.
"Clear." Vincent said.
"Scoped and dropped. Now let's get that materia." The three man team sprinted to the reactor opening, all prepping their weapons for a confrontation. However the entire area was eerily quiet.
"I guess we're safe for now." Cid said. But when the words left his mouth a very loud whistle had sounded. Barret jumped while Vincent's eyes widened. All three jumped back as the train almost barreled past them. The loud engine drowning out sound as it passed before it was far enough for the team to hear themselves.
"Damn. It looks like they are taking it away by train."
"NO! You damn boneheads!" Barret yelled at the retreating image of a train.
"...Go after them?" Vincent asked, very confused. Cid shook his head before he remembered Nate saying something about driving a train to catch up. He felt his confidence begin to swell again.
"Hey, do you know who I am? I'm Cid, that's who the hell I am. Now let me handle this." He declared before running into the reactor. Looking around he saw multiple carts ready for transportation. He also saw one train ready to be deployed.
"I'll have to thank that kid." He mumbled to himself. He got on the train and looked at all of the controls only finding a few knobs, two levers, and a few small ones.
"Now how do I start this thing?" He scratched his chin. Winging it he flipped a few levers. The sudden sound of a hiss filled his ears as the train slowly lurched forward and gain speed.
"Hey, hey, hey, hey" He called. The train passed the opening as both Vincent and Barret jumped on as the train started going faster. Both came up front with Barret looking very confused.
"How can they even drive this?"
"Don't ask me, I don't know." Cid didn't think this was simple at all. Nate must have lost something in translation because the train had too many things for one person to work on.
"What?" Well it had levers, Cid could deal with those.
"Don't worry. I can handle this kind of stuff... okay so one lever on my left, and another for my right." Cid experimented and alternated the two levers for a second. He noticed the train started gaining speed again.
"I see, just alternate the two levers up and down. Right?" That actually is simple.
"Judging by the enemies speed we'll arrive in about..."
"Ten minutes." Vincent finished for him. Cid nodded.
"Come on, we're going to fly. Hang on tight!" Cid started alternating the levers at a faster pace. Although theirs had taken a different track Cid could see the carrier train in the distance. He worked his arms harder to catch up to the other one.
"There it is. Keep doin that!" Barret yelled.
"I'm trying" Cid grunted. The levers were getting harder to push and pull as the train gained more and more speed.
"We're almost there!"
"Quite yellin!" Cid yelled out. He put more of his energy into pushing and pulling until he was finally aligned somewhat with the other train.
"Alright. We're going to jump!"
"What?" Barret yelled, looking over at the large gap between them and the other train.
"We can make it, I'm sure." Cid assured.
"But what if we miss?"
"Then we're going to be splatters, but we need to get that Huge materia. So on the count of three we're going to jump. We got the higher ground so we're good." Barret still didn't look convinced.
"One" Cid readied himself.
"Two." He saw movement.
"Three." Vincent had grabbed Barret and jumped with him as Cid went by himself. All three landed roughly on the last cart.
"Don't ever do that again! I almost died!" He yelled at the ever stoic man.
"Whatever, we don't have time!" Cid turned to climb the cart's ladder but a security robot was in their way.
"A Gasductor here? Damn we have the worst luck." Cid said. Just as he finished a few bolts of lightning shot towards the machine and overloaded the mech as it fizzled out. Cid looked back at Vincent.
"Nathan allowed me to borrow his materia. He said it would help." Cid nodded as he climbed the ladder and jumped to the next cart. When he landed inside he found two of the same machine now.
"Darkness, I could use your help here." Instead Barret landed in front of him and started spraying bullets at the machines. They made decent dents but the machines held together as they both charged at the men. Cid blocked one of the machine's attacks with his spear as Barret dodges the other. Vincent finally came in and launched a bolt spell at one while Barret emptied a clip into the other.
All three prepared their next jumps before hitting the next cart at the same time. But now it had a large machine with an equally large blade.
"Aw shit." Cid said before he dodged a slash from the giant. He jumped and speared its shoulder but the creature barely registered the pain as it tried to grab a hold of the man before he jumped off.
"I need a distraction here." Cid called out. Sure enough Barret had his gun loaded, but with about five more clips than normal.
"Time to test this out!" Barret started firing nonstop at the machine. Cid was able to get off as it kept getting pelted over and over with bullets. Finally Barret's gun had stopped along with looking like it was about to burst from overheating. But it did its job as the machine stopped moving and fell over.
"What the hell was that?"
"That was the Ungarmax feature. Like a heavy machine gun on the fly. But it overheats my gun too fast. Damn I need a new one!" Barret bragged.
"Get it later. We're almost to the front." Cid said.
"We have another problem on our hands." Vincent said. Cid looked above the cart to see a giant metallic bird glaring at them.
"I fucking hate being leader. I don't remember the chocobo having to deal with this." He mumbled before the machine cawed and aimed one of its wing guns at the group.
"Get out the way!" Barret yelled. But the confined space made it so the bullets ricocheted around the cart when it hit causing the men to panic.
"We need to bring that bird down. Vincent we need your lightning." Barret said. Vincent nodded before shooting bolts at the machine, causing it to fall into the cart. Barret took a few shots at the head but the machine was back up and started firing at him.
"I should use materia more." Cid mumbled. But he got an idea as he pulled out his lighter. From his pocket he also picked out a stick of dynamite and lit it.
"What the hell are you doing?" Barret yelled. Cid stayed in cover as the wick burned closer to the stick. The machine paid no mind and kept firing at all three men.
"Just a little more." Right before the wick was out Cid threw it into the air. The explosion rocked the cart some but the brunt of the force was taken by the bird; its body hit the tracks before falling down the cliffs.
"Let's hurry!" Cid didn't know how long it had been. But the battles ate up their time. He climbed the ladder to see a single MP operating the train. The MP turned around.
"What the! You guys!"
"All right. Hand over the Huge materia." The MP seemed to debate what to do before he reached for his gun. Not giving the man a chance Cid took his spear and slammed it into the side of the man's head, knocking him off of the train.
"Couldn't make it easy... Still, you got guts coming after me. I'll never forget you."
"We don't have time for that! Stop this now!"
"Hit the brakes, chief" Both Barret and Vincent said.
"I know already! Just shut up and keep quiet. If we keep this up we'll crash into North Corel!" Cid jumped down and grabbed the levers.
"Nate said alternating. So if alternating is accelerating, then breaking is using them at the same time." He pushed both levers up.
Nothing happened. The train moved exactly the same speed as before.
"Hey! It's not working!"
"Isn't it the other way?"
"Fuck the other way! Hold on a second!" Cid pushed both levers down. Suddenly the train had gained speed in an instant and started flying down the tracks. Cid was frantic now; he pushed the breaks back up, now seeing Corel appear in the distance. Barret and Vincent were both yelling into his ears.
"Shit, Shit, Shit, Shit, SHIT, SHIT!" He chanted as he pushed the levers up and down constantly until he left them down. Suddenly the train slowed down immensely before coming to a stop right next to the village.
"Damn... We did it."
"That was too close even for me."
"Fuck this leader shit. I need a smoke."