Reasons to Fight
Cloud was working with Scarlet that day to actually make his weapon—something he had to do because they were her facilities and her materials, so she had to give both approval and supervision. At first, when he'd shown her the complete schematic that morning, he'd balked at her insistence, but she pulled out the regulation books which stated that detail in them. He could only be thankful she had been more amused by it than anything—had even told him it was common for those who had previously worked alone—but still meant she had to work with him. Or, in theory, she just had to be in the room, but before he'd realized it, they were working together.
It was harder on him than most of the other work he was more familiar with because it had a lot of smaller precision parts. It was also going to be his test for how much weight he could cut off while keeping durability and functionality with Adamantaimai shell. By extension, most of the base combat star was in the shell material, giving it a very interesting, shiny, patterned, green look. The handles of the swords were also in shell, while the guards and blades were in mythril. He'd already known it would take more than one day to make, so was prepared to spend a lot of time with Scarlet for the next week or two.
As they took a break for lunch, alone in the crafting room they were using and with their meals in their hands, he glanced over at her again and wondered about that dress. Before he could stop himself, he asked, "Why do you dress like that?" She turned to stare at him in surprise, then looked down at herself, and he suddenly realized what he'd just said. "Sorry if that was rude—"
"Cloud..." she sighed faintly, so he shut up. For a minute, she was silent, but then told him, "The head of Weapons before me was...abusive. To everyone on the staff, but especially to certain people. The entire department took a complaint directly to the President, and he ignored it. All we got out of it was worse abuse. If that wasn't going to work, I thought the only way to get him out of power would be to climb the ranks, and he'd made sure none of us could, not by traditional means..."
When she drifted off to stare into space, he blinked, then said in something like horror, "So you sold yourself in exchange for climbing those ranks." She nodded, but kept her gaze down, so he carefully asked, "But you've got your rank now, so why are you still...?"
Her face twisted with pain and disgust. "I didn't realize when I used that tactic that I'd never actually be able to stop. I have to keep giving them what they want to keep this position."
"...'Them' who?" the man-boy asked quietly, feeling pained at what kind of life she'd been living.
"...Heidegger. The President. There used to be others, but now, it's just them—Hojo, Palmer, and Reeve all seem to have affairs with their own department projects, not people, so at least I have that, and most of the 'Director' level people never had any interest in me—the ones who did have since been replaced with people who don't care, like Lazard. Except, there's someone who doesn't actually have any right or power over me demanding it, but while I can keep my position and still refuse him, they won't stop him, either. Once again, I'm on my own," Scarlet sighed tiredly.
Cloud shuffled over to lean against her side, startling her—but she put an arm around him as he hugged her from the side. "It shouldn't have to be like that," he said softly. "Who's the one they won't stop?"
At that, the woman gave a small chuckle. "I've already said far too much to a child. That's not something you need to worry about, Cloud."
"...What if I want to worry about it, and about you?" he asked in reply, realizing he now pretty much knew how she'd become so cold.
It gave him pause, though, because he'd suspected she was the President's daughter, and now he had to question that possibility. Now, either she wasn't the President's daughter, the President didn't know she was, or he knew and was doing it anyway. The first two were bad enough, but if it was the last, that just made him ill.
"I'd even let you if you were about ten years older," she answered, her tone fond. "But believe it or not...This helps, too. I never thought even just someone hearing me out and offering a hug could help so much, but it has. So, thank you."
They sat silently for a few more minutes, just like that, then Cloud shifted back from her and looked up to meet her gaze as he said, "If something bad happens, come to us? Me if I'm there, but to the other Turks, too, if I'm not. Please?"
That made the woman stare, but she asked cautiously, "Why would they help me if they belong to the President?"
Cloud blinked and glanced away as his brow furrowed in thought for a moment, then his gaze returned to hers. "Because I think you've been underestimating what they would or wouldn't do for you, or for anyone. And they weren't always the President's—they were his wife's first. We've had reason to be reminded of that lately, so please...Try. Reach out to us. You might be surprised by the results."
She looked away and gave a small nod. "I...have to think about it for awhile...But thank you for the offer."
"Okay," he agreed. They finished eating in silence, then returned to work on his weapon. By the end of the day, he had the base of the star nearly done and had begun shaping the blade handles...And Scarlet had been quiet for the rest of the day, only really acknowledging him by ruffling his hair absently as she passed him on her way out.
By then, though, Cloud mostly just hoped she would go to the Turks.
When he returned to the Turks' office, most of the others had left, but the door to Veld's office was open, so Cloud went to look. An annoyed-looking Derin was sitting across from the Director, who was leaning back in his seat tiredly. "Should I ask, or just head home?"
"Have you been able to work something out for my weapon?" Derin asked hopefully.
"I've got something I'm testing with my own weapon, first, and if it works, you and Leana will have re-made weapons, probably within a month," Cloud answered in amusement.
"Good, thank you!" the black haired man grinned.
"And the situation here?" Cloud asked.
"You wouldn't happen to know if this is AVALANCHE's work, would you?" Veld asked, pushing a small stack of photos over towards him.
Cloud stepped closer to them, frowning thoughtfully as he flipped slowly from one to the next. It showed damage to a town which looked like it was probably Corel, where they were planning to build a Reactor soon. "I know they had a base in that area, and that they went after the Reactor, trying to blow it up before it was fully functional. The result was for the whole town to be wiped out, other than a couple people. Well, I guess more than a couple, but the survivors ended up in a tent village at the entrance to the mountain pass, other than three. So I would guess this would be something they did early in their occupation of the area."
"I was afraid of that," Veld sighed. "But you don't know if their leader would be there? Er, their new leader, not their founder and tactician."
"Sorry, I don't know that," the blond boy answered with a shake of his head, pushing the photos back over to Veld. "I really never met them, other than the Ravens their tactician created."
"Ravens?" both Veld and Derin blinked.
"Tseng didn't tell you?" Cloud asked with a raised brow.
"He's never mentioned the name to me before," Veld answered.
Blinking, the younger Turk nodded and said, "They were AVALANCHE's version of SOLDIER, but if I remember right, they were more like walking corpses than people. Very powerful, and very creepy, basically. I think usually he either used willing members or people he kidnapped from places like battlefields or small towns. Also, I'm pretty sure those haven't actually been created just yet. Otherwise, I don't have a lot of details."
Derin sat back with a sigh and said, "That means we have to send people in to do something about this, and getting caught is going to be a no-go."
"Which also means you and Ansha are the most likely to get in and out without being caught," Veld returned to him. "Unless you think someone else would be better?"
Shaking his head, the black haired Turk replied, "Other than Vincent, who's needed here just now, we're the best ones to send in."
"Maybe wait on that until you can get word back from Tseng?" Cloud offered, and the other two blinked. "I don't think anything of significance happens for a few years, so it's really not a rush in that sense."
"Fine," Veld agreed. "Derin, take your time to prepare, and keep working on your usual things in the meantime. I'll let Kariya know we need word back from him on this."
"Sure thing. I'll head home to rest, then," Derin answered, rising, and Veld motioned him away.
Once he was gone, Cloud asked, "Not word back from me or Tifa, when we see them almost every other day, one or both of us?"
"I'd rather this go through Kariya, and frankly, most of the Turks don't know you're also middle-men in the situation. I'd like to keep it that way for as long as possible." After a pause, the Turk Director asked, "So, what do you have to report today, Cloud?"
After repeating the discussion he'd had with Scarlet, Cloud asked, "If we know that, what can we do now?"
"Unless she asks us for help, we can't put her under direct guard, but we can increase our watch on her so we'll have a better chance of intercepting something," Veld answered. "About Heidegger and the President...Well, that will take getting them out of power, which we can't do until Rufus is ready to take over. Thanks to you and Vincent, that just might happen in a reasonable time. It's also good that you told her to come to us for help, since she'll be more likely to take the offer seriously from a Turk than a random person. If she won't tell you directly because it's not the kind of thing she's comfortable sharing with 'a child', your offer will give her another option."
"That's why I did it," Cloud agreed. "Thanks. I should go rest, too."
"Go on," the man agreed, waving him away.
MB
Cloud's following day progressed much the same, but without the heavy lunchtime discussion, and when he got back to the Turks' office, he was surprised to find Rufus sitting in the chair at 'his' desk. Since he didn't need it then, Cloud wasn't especially bothered by it, but it was obvious Rufus was waiting for him, so he went over to his desk to ask, "What did you need, Rufus?"
The older, annoyed teen replied, "You learn to fight so you can defeat people. But, Vincent won't train me unless I can give him some other answer. And I have no idea what to say."
"You're cheating by asking me," the younger blond answered in amusement. When Rufus gave him a glare, he commented, "But training isn't about defeating anyone, it's about learning the skills which will allow you to defeat someone."
"Isn't that the same thing?" the other man asked, now looking puzzled.
Cloud pulled a chair over from another desk and set it across from the seat Rufus was occupying, then sat and crossed his arms on the desk. "If you're training to defeat people, why are the targets you shoot bullets at just pieces of wood and paper?" he asked, and the older blond blinked. "You don't 'train' to defeat people. That ultimately doesn't help you learn anything—you may as well pick up a stick, or a sword, and randomly hit stuff with it if you think that's what training is for. Because without training to hone necessary skills, you're not going to be very useful in battle."
Rufus opened his mouth in anger—then snapped it shut as his gaze moved to something far away. He opened his mouth again after a moment, only to shut once more. Cloud's brow quirked as it happened a third time, and he asked, "Coerl got your tongue?"
"What?" the older man blinked, focusing on him again, then snorted. "No, not really. 'Honing necessary skills' means what?"
"In the example with the gun, to learn how to aim and target," Cloud offered. "With other weapons, or your fists and feet, it depends on the weapon and the skills you want to learn. If your goal is to go around without being seen, you have to learn different skills from if you want to hold the front line in a battle and take hits so others can get behind the enemy. One Turk has to learn to hone her data influx since she apparently has a very unique effect with her Materia, and it makes it harder for her to track targets in crowds. Most Turks train in how to sense and react to attacks from behind."
"You're still doing that to learn to defeat people, though," Rufus scowled.
"Training is for honing skills. There's no actual winning or losing when you're training," Cloud answered in a flat tone. "No one's going into it to win, or they shouldn't be, because you don't need to win to hone a skill. In the Turks, training and battle are two different things. In battle, you fight to either capture, subdue, or kill, depending on your orders and-or goal, and that's where your training gets put to use. The training isn't a battle, and you can't fore-go it, but without that training, you won't be able to be effective when you need to be. It's about learning to do something before you have to do it when your life is on the line. And frankly, taking a battlefield as a winner-loser situation is naïve."
"Naïve?" Rufus scowled.
Cloud rose and bluntly told him, "If you fight 'to win', you disregard human life, even your own allies. Are you sure that's the kind of person you want to be?" He then headed for Veld's office, leaving a stunned Rufus at his desk.
MB
Vincent was in the room where he'd arranged to meet Rufus to train, doing some of his own warm-ups and practices while he waited to see if 'the brat' would turn up. He hadn't for the last two days, and he wasn't expecting to see him that day, either. Still, he'd said he would be there if the younger wanted to talk, so felt it best to keep to that.
To his surprise, he sensed the Shinra Heir watching him about half-way through the training time, so was thankful he'd decided to keep to it. Rather than respond right away to the silent young man's presence, he finished his current practice, then straightened and turned to face him. The blond seemed confused, so he just waited for him to decide what he should do or say next.
Finally, after several minutes, Rufus asked, "How is it that you could fight a battle with the intent to win it, while not fighting with the intent to win?"
Vincent's brow rose. "I think you need to clarify the situation a bit, Rufus."
The younger man released a gust of air, then said, "Cloud told me fighting to win is how you disregard human life. But in a battle, aren't you aiming to win?"
"Cloud," Vincent repeated, feeling a headache come on. "You would be surprised at what he's been through. What he told you is something he's seen often. Sometimes, he forgets that people don't know the background he's speaking from, and simplifies his statements too much." Rufus blinked, but Vincent motioned him to follow, and led the way to the company cafeteria, where they both sat, Rufus with something to snack on and drink while Vincent just took a drink.
"So, what did we come here for?" the younger man asked, just looking confused.
"It's more comfortable to have a discussion," Vincent answered, taking a sip of his drink. "You see, every battle has a purpose. There are reasons why the fight started in the first place, regardless of how good—or not—they are. The Wutai War is happening because they refused to allow Shinra to put a Reactor there, Sirra and Verde nearly killed each other a few days ago because of a personal dispute, and Cloud only fights with the intent to protect. Those are just a few examples. Are any of those reasons 'to win', or is 'winning' just a side-effect of some other reason?"
Rufus was quiet and thoughtful for a long time before he asked, "Is it possible to fight to win and no other reason?"
"Yes. What did Cloud say about that?" Vincent asked in reply.
"...That you stop caring about the lives of others," the blond sighed. "If that's true, then why has my father spent so much time pressuring me in to being the best and winning at all costs?"
"Because greed, which knows no bounds, is just like winning," the Turk informed him evenly. "Your father is greedy and wants to amass everything he can, control everything he can, own everything he can. Unfortunately, in his mind, that includes people. We're tools to him, not living, breathing, thinking people who have lives of our own. And because he's greedy, he's forcing that on you, because he doesn't know any other way to be, and doesn't want to know any other way to be. Being greedy is advantageous—he went from slum rat to richest man in the world in a few years by being greedy, after all. But, in the process, he lost his humanity and has set an awful lot of people against him. Because he stopped caring about their lives."
For several long minutes, Rufus stared down at his meal before slowly asking, "Cloud meant...that if I was going to fight, it should be to—say, protect people, or to keep their lands safe from harm...So that my purpose isn't a selfish thing, it's being done for others. By thinking about others, I would approach the battle differently than if I just aimed to win. Even just thinking about that—yes, I want to win, but unlike before, I suddenly start trying to find ways to keep as many of my own people alive as possible."
"And that's why Cloud is only an engineer with the Turks, so he will never have to kill people in cold blood," Vincent replied, making Rufus start. "It's the kind of perspective a good leader should have, otherwise life becomes cheap. While the work the Turks do is still important, and sometimes even necessary, no one who thinks life is cheap should be leading large groups of people. Your mother was exactly the kind of leader people wanted to follow, because her sole reason for everything she did was that she cared about everyone and wanted to make their lives better."
Rufus' eyes widened and he breathed, "Mother always tried to be what you've been trying to make me see...?"
"Did, and succeeded," Vincent agreed. "She was never weak. If it hadn't been Veld before he knew she had never betrayed him, she would be alive now. Her loss is one we're still feeling now. This is why I train others in a way which helps her memory live on. And for you, that's especially important, because you hold the lives of everyone in these lands in your hands. Are you still so certain you're training to defeat your opponents?"
For another minute, he just stared at the Turk across from him, then the blond said, "When Veld first talked with me about it, it was with the intent that I learn to properly wield any weapons I decided on. If it's true training isn't about winning, it's about honing skills, then I have a lot of skills I need to hone." He paused and gave his head a shake. "If there's really no winning or losing...No mockery or incessant push to excel, to do better, to be better..."
When the younger man's wary gaze landed on him again, Vincent explained, "Turks don't berate a person for being in a process of training unless we already know your skills are better than you've shown. In which case, we ask you why you're not living up to the standard you've already set and let you tell us, rather than just berating you to do better. In all other cases, we don't train to win or lose, and unless you're learning a specific kind of skill, a practice match only ends when a halt is called—we're not going to fight to beat you, and because we're not doing so, even if you happen to get dumped on your ass, we won't say a word about it, other than to give you tips on how to improve. It's not a competition. You don't lose anything by training with us. What you stand to gain, on the other hand..."
A pause followed before Vincent saw the younger man's shoulders relax with obvious relief. "If that's really true, it will be such a relief to not have to worry about where I rank or whether I'm doing exactly so well..."
At the wistful tone in Rufus' voice, Vincent smiled. "Would you like to try training again, this time to learn how to use your weapons?"
"Please," the younger man agreed.
Nodding, the Turk rose and said, "Let's return to the training room, then." Rufus quickly joined him.
MB
Weiss, Nero, Rosso, Argento, and Azul had also been sitting in the cafeteria, not far from the table Vincent and Rufus had chosen. By extension, with their enhanced senses, they'd all heard the discussion. Weiss, curious about their reactions, observed the other Tsviets during it. Azul's brow was furrowed in a frown, but Argento looked amused, and Rosso and Nero both just looked confused.
"Is that all true, Brother?" Nero asked him tentatively after the two left.
"I think that depends to some extent on the person," Weiss offered. "We're a combat group and that won't change. That doesn't mean we can't work to keep 'our people' alive, while still eliminating the enemy. In this case, 'our people' are the others in Shinra Company, and the civilians living in Shinra-owned lands. But, when someone attacks those people who are ours, I don't think any of us would hesitate to kill them, and I wouldn't want to change that. Some people are better off eliminated. By taking on that burden, people like Rufus Shinra won't have to, so people can keep 'liking' him."
Azul snorted and asked, "Isn't that the Turks' job?"
"Anyone in a combat position can do it, Azul," Argento replied in amusement. "In this case, the Turks would hit people behind the scenes while we would do things like tackle anti-Shinra terrorists head-on. We still have to kill them, either way, or they'll just keep being terrorists. All it means is that we try to keep collateral damage to a minimum so we don't hurt the same people we were sent to protect."
"There's that," Weiss agreed mildly.
"And exploring?" Rosso asked eagerly.
Everyone paused for a minute in surprise before Weiss asked in reply, "Does the Science Department have a list of people who want to do their acquisitions jobs? That's maybe the best place to start. But maybe stipulate 'no kidnapping requests,' which would usually mean hurting our own people?"
"Ohhhhh..." Rosso agreed thoughtfully, then smiled. "I'll ask, then! Thank you!"
"Me, too!" Nero agreed with a grin. The two quickly rose and left.
"And that leaves pure combat for us," Azul smirked.
"I wonder if the others have a plan to stop the Wutai War sooner..." Weiss murmured. "If not, maybe we should suggest heavy-handing it..."
"I doubt they'd agree to that, but maybe it will work," Azul agreed with a shrug.
"We'll see what they say. Personally, though, I wouldn't mind 'heavy-handing' them. They've been killing too many of their truly good Lords lately," Argento commented mildly. Azul stared at her in shock.
"Maybe you should point that out and explain why it's important, then," Weiss told her. "It may change their minds about how to approach it."
She looked at the younger boy thoughtfully for a minute before nodding and agreeing, "I'll do that, then. Thank you for the suggestion, Weiss." He nodded and looked at Azul questioningly, who paused, then also nodded.
Agreement from them both was good, so he'd let Argento tell the Turks and Genesis as soon as they had an opportunity. That she felt she should bring it up to someone with Leviathan's Blessing left him no doubt it was actually a valid thing in need of fixing.
Just one more thing...How many more were there?