Chapter 12:

Shinra News at Eleven:

The terrorist group, AVALANCHE, was seen today escaping on the freeway on two stolen vehicles: one a Hardy Daytona pickup truck, the other a Class C Wolffe Motorcycle. The group consists of Barret Wallace, a bouncer for the 7th Heaven Bar located in Sector 7, which is tragically no more; Cloud Strife, an ex-Shinra military employee; a flower girl unidentified from Sector 6; and an escaped experiment from Dr. Hojo's lab. They were headed eastbound at ten pm Shinra Standard Time. A special task force from Shinra was put together and sent to pursue the terrorists, but the one identified as the group leader cut them down with a weapon stolen from the late Soldier 1st Class Zack Fair, who had inherited it from his mentor, the late Soldier 1st Class Angeal Hewley. For more on their tragic story, stay tuned for tomorrow morning's report at 9. Currently, the terrorists have been chased out of the city, but citizens are asked to stay on high alert and are encouraged to report any strange activity to the local authorities. This is Cindy Breganns, with the Shinra News at Eleven. Stay safe, citizens.

Once the news concluded, the pictures of the entire group flashing over the screen once more, Rufus turned the tv off and spun on his heels to cast a look at his wife to see how this news affected her. Judging by the concerned looks she shot to the floor, he could see right through her tough act. The blond sat on the bed next to his wife and wrapped an arm around her.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked gently, and he felt, more than saw, Tifa shake her head.

"No. . .I just. . .I'm fine." Rufus frowned at this response, but decided not to push. If she wanted to talk, she would.

"If you do need to talk, just ask me. I'm here for you," he replied, taking the hand closest to him and placing a kiss upon her knuckles. A small chuckle escaped Tifa's lips, and she lightly bonked her head against his.

"Thank you. I will talk, just. . .not now. I need to figure myself out first before I can formulate any words," she said, sighing softly.

A moment of silence stretched between them before Rufus spoke again, catching Tifa's attention almost immediately. "Since we're alone now, we can revisit our conversation from earlier." Noticing her attention was wholly on him, the blond continued. "When I planned my coup, I created AVALANCHE to be that main driving force to get my father out of office. Unfortunately, his Turks were better than the people I had hired. AVALANCHE was mostly demolished, and when recruiting again, I guess they had gotten people with a bleeding heart more towards ecological standards than the innocents hurt by everything," Rufus explained. "My original intent for creating a terrorist group was to give my father all the trouble that should have accompanied him upon his 'election' into office." Rufus used air quotes when he mentioned the corrupt election process of becoming the CEO of the Shinra corporation, eliciting a giggle from his wife.

"Why did you plan to overthrow your father?" Tifa ventured to ask. "I did hear your speech to. . .to them while we were in Midgar, but you didn't go into too many details. . .if you don't mind me asking. . ." There was uncertainty in her voice, and Rufus didn't like it one bit. This whole event must have shaken her to the core, for the woman he married two years ago would never have hesitated in asking something like that.

"It seems to be a custom in my family that succession of the company can only be passed from father to son through elimination." At the question in her eyes, Rufus continued. "My grandfather killed my great-grandfather to gain control of the still young company. It had just been conceived, and the city of Junon was our headquarters. It was the night before the company's 4th anniversary when my grandfather killed his father in order to inherit. Without missing a beat, at the party the next night, he was introduced as the newest President. When my grandfather was old and greying, and his memory and mind were failing, he still refused to pass on the company to my father. For 'the good of the company', my father stuck a knife in my grandfather's back, in order to inherit the company, when I was ten years old. That was when my mother and I were forced to move to Junon. But Junon was my grandfather's city. My father wanted something more. Midgar was created, and for five years, I've watched him disregard every safety notice and violate basic rights of the people. I wanted him out. And people might fear me for my tactics, but no more life will be lost unnecessarily. My father ruled with greed and changed his mind depending on who had the fullest pockets and the deepest cleavage. The entire Shinra company will profit from the old man being gone, and I am planning on making the most of it." With his mini speech done, Rufus had to pause to catch his breath, unaware that he had raised his voice in his passion. His eyes turning to his wife, he managed a small smile, which she mirrored, her eyes softening. "And with just like my mother standing by my father's side as long as she could, I was hoping. . .I was hoping you would stand by me, and support me in my endeavors?"

The revulsion at the Shinra company, what it was doing to the Planet, and everything it's employees had done was being washed away by the past couple of days. Everyone had been so great, and she wasn't sure if it was because that was who they were, or if it was just because she was now Mrs. Shinra, the newest First Lady. If. . .if she could use her position to let her ideas be known. . .if her husband would listen to her. . .

Tifa nodded, her smile widening a bit.

The brunette gave him a small kiss, and he rested his forehead against hers as she gave her answer. "Of course, Rufus. I will stand by you, 'til death do us part."

The next few days were a blur to Tifa. There were several sightings of AVALANCHE getting further and further from Midgar, and with Rufus' new presidency, there was a welcoming parade to organize. With inheriting the company, Rufus also inherited Kiani as his personal secretary, as well as Astasia as his personal bodyguard. Jean wasn't the happiest, thinking his job would be unnecessary, until all five of them were in a meeting together and it was stated that he would be sharing his job with the two ladies. With Tifa vehemently against having a bodyguard of her own, despite now being the most popular woman in both Junon and Midgar combined, it was now a combined effort of Jean and Kiani to keep Mr. and Mrs. Shinra alive. There hadn't been any assassination attempts yet on the couple, but it was only a matter of time. They were still living in Junon, and in order to disassociate himself from his father, Rufus decided to reestablish his staff in the Junon tower. There was still staff in Midgar, but they would see to the day to day runnings of the city. One of the first things on the blond's agenda was to instate Mayor Domino as more than just a figurehead. The man and his deputy would get a promotion, and the both of them would share the old President Shinra's office on the top floor, as well as the ability to make decisions for the good of not only the public face of the company, but also the city of Midgar, a task he should have been assigned years ago when he became mayor. The only stipulation Rufus had was if he was ever in need of it, the office would be his base of operations. The two would not be displaced, they would merely have to share.

This was shown immediate approval from Mayor Domino, who was liking the newest President Shinra more and more. He hadn't even been inaugurated yet and he was already making more progress in human relations than his father ever had.

Which led the five back to brainstorming the entire parade and inauguration ceremony. The ceremony itself would take place, hopefully before AVALANCHE could make their way into the city. The Turks had been sent to hunt them down, and kept having run ins with the group, but were unable to apprehend any of them. It was a massive blow to the ego of the Turks, and when whipped by Tseng to do better, they exerted themselves. But nothing more.

"If AVALANCHE is heading this way, we should do the ceremony first," Kiani suggested. "There have been talks of sightings of Sephiroth-" Astasia made a strangled noise in the back of her throat, but Kiani ignored her and continued on. "-in the same places that AVALANCHE shows up in. We are unsure at this moment of whether or not the two incidents are related, but from what we can deduce, it seems like AVALANCHE is following this Sephiroth apparition."

"And what she means by 'apparition'," Jean continued, "is that the footage from Hojo's lab and the cells AVALANCHE was in the night of the massacre, shows a creature named Jenova burst out of its container and head toward the cells. It had entered a cell that was identified as having the ex-infantryman in it, and when the creature left, it was caught transforming into the visage of MIA General Sephiroth." Jean pulled out a picture from the stack he had in front of him and slid it across the table until it laid in front of Tifa and Rufus. It was of a monstrosity sliding into the form of a silver haired man. A second picture was slid over to them and that one showed a complete transformation. Tifa shuddered at the foreignness that was in the 'man's' eyes as it looked directly into the camera. Her mind immediately flashed back to five years ago when Sephiroth had burnt down her entire home, and she had gotten the scar on her chest. Her hand rose to cover the part of the scar that crossed over her heart and bit her lip, trying to reign in the fury that suddenly burst from her core.

"What is being done about this?" Rufus asked, his concern on the dangers this apparition posed more acute than those of the terrorist group running around. This time it was Astasia's turn to speak up, her voice thick with suppressed emotion.

"We have forces stationed everywhere between here and Midgar, with a few patrols in the area periodically checking in every once in a while. Dellusion has also agreed to come out of retirement in order to do a few sweeps. Frost was. . .not happy about this, but she allowed it on the grounds of her rejoining the Turks and helping with their search for AVALANCHE. She is in a separate task force dedicated first to put her old unit back together, but also hunt down the apparition." Astasia took a moment to shuffle her notes in front of her before continuing. "We also have a task force hunting down Hojo. He disappeared before the creature was released, but was videotaped leaving the building. He has not been seen since."

"Wait, so are you saying this creature killed President Shinra? Where was AVALANCHE in all of this?" Tifa then asked, curiously. She pulled one of the photographs closer to her.

"That's where everything gets fuzzy," Kiani replied, but Jean was the one to procure the next photo. His slid it over to the two. "The cameras in President Shinra's office were disabled between six pm and ten pm when we could get them back online. There were snapshots of Strife with the Masamune blade in President Shinra's back, but from the footage, we have been unable to determine whether or not he put the sword there or was trying to get it out."

"Either way, AVALANCHE must be stopped. They killed hundreds of people when they dropped the plate on Sector Seven, and even had several attempts at President Shinra's life. They have also destroyed three reactors, two to explosions and one to sabotage. Under the court of law, they could all get the death penalty, or at least permanently jailed." Jean's expression was hard as he further explained. "There is a bounty on their heads now. Hopefully citizens won't try to hide them, and they will receive justice quickly." Beginning to get uncomfortable with the direction this conversation was heading, Tifa brought them all back to the matter at hand.

"So, the inauguration and the parade. . ." she said, having everyone's attention directed towards her once more.

"Like I was saying," Kiani said, "we should do the ceremony first, and then have the parade. This limits the chance of AVALANCHE crashing the ceremony and halting any proceedings. If we keep this as a private event, and limit media coverage, then we lessen the chances of an attack. Then, if we up-play the parade, then the citizens will be able to focus on that more than anything happening behind closed doors."

"The citizens would like a little bit of a ceremony, though," Jean started.

"I can mobilize the infantry to put on a little show, if you'd like, sir. The men have been bored lately, and we would be giving them an opportunity to maybe get a bonus if they do well?" Astasia suggested, writing something down on the notepad in front of her.

"That would be good," Tifa agreed, glad to focus on something she somewhat knows. "Each unit could do something special, and the entire unit could get a reward for best performance. Rufus, of course, would decide, since it's his attention everyone is trying to get." Rufus blushed a little before composing himself. Leaning back in his chair, he slung an arm on the back of Tifa's chair before sighing.

"I suppose that would work. It would give the masses something to oo and ah about and give our men something to do. This way, also, if AVALANCHE does show up, or even the apparition, we will have most of our forces here to engage if need be," he said, agreeing. Both secretaries and Astasia made the proper notes on the papers in front of them. "We'll give you all a week. That gives everyone time to prepare, as well as get us ready for the ceremony itself," Rufus then said, indicating himself and his wife.

"Duly noted. I will let my troops and Heidegger know, Mr. President," Astasia commented, writing one last thing down before looking up expectantly. When Kiani and Jean did the same, Rufus double checked to make sure if there was anything else they wanted to have discussed, but all three replied in the negative.

"Alright, then. Meeting adjourned. We'll meet again in a few days time to go over progress?" Rufus asked, and both Jean and Kiani made notes in their planners.

"Until then," Astasia stated, and she stood up, gathered her notes, and left, intending on calling a meeting with her squad captains and sharing this information with them before telling the head of their military. Kiani and Jean were more lively as they packed up, talking with each other and delegating who would handle which part of the proceedings. Tifa stood up, with Rufus there, being a gentleman, and pulling out her chair for her. Leaving the two secretaries to hash out further details, Rufus offered his arm to his wife.

"Shall we, Mrs. Shinra?" he said teasingly, and Tifa grinned in reply, taking his arm and keeping pace with him as they walked to the elevator.

"We shall, Mr. Lockhart," she replied with a giggle.

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