Another Chapter is here!
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Enjoy!
The night felt a bit chilly, and was far quieter than Aerith expected from a tourist trap. It must've been because of the Five Mighty Gods decree and the tremors from Yuffie's new Limit Break. She welcomed the quiet as it gave her some time to think.
At present, the last of the Cetra walked aimlessly in thought. Her only company was Mog, nestled in her arms crossed over her stomach as a source of warmth. She'd needed someone to talk to besides Crimson, and the Summoning had been the only one available.
The biggest issue that Aerith had wasn't the fact that Crimson was willing to orphan one of their friends (though it certainly did rub her the wrong way), but the fact that she used her mission as a justification for it, just like Leviathan itself did. At what point would her mission from the Planet become one that required more needless deaths? At what point would she need to do horrible things to some people to save many more?
It would be easy to say that Crimson was the one who made that call. She even declared she would be the one to take responsibility. But that wasn't right, not to any of them. Ideally, they shouldn't have to make such decisions in the first place.
Aerith wanted to at least apologize to Yuffie and her father for not interfering. But, when she arrived outside of the Head Temple that served as the elder's home, she could hear Yuffie talking happily to her father. How could she bring herself to break that up when they were finally getting along?
Her silent walk eventually brought her to a curious scene. The pilot that had accompanied them, Cid, was outside. A long pole-arm weapon was in his hand, the large and curved blade at the tip glinting in the moonlight as he twirled it around in practice drills.
He wasn't unfamiliar with it. That much was clear from how he used it, cleaving through imaginary foes with wide swings, stabbing with sharp thrusts, and maneuvering as though to evade retaliation. While she supposed pilots during war would need to learn how to defend themselves, in the event that they crash-landed in enemy territory, Aerith expected someone who worked for Shinra to use a firearm or knife instead.
After a few more drills with it, he perched the pole-arm into the crook of his bent elbow, pulled out a pack of cigarettes, and then lit one to smoke. A thin, long string of smoke left his lips before he turned in her direction. "How long you gonna stand there gawking?"
"I didn't want to disturb you while you were practicing," Aerith said as she took that as a cue to approach closer. "You looked like you knew what you were doing. I take it you had practice?"
"Call it something I picked up in my youth…." He looked up to the moon and exhaled another thin stream of smoke that drifted towards it, as though to reach it. "Coming along with you lot is gonna be dangerous, so I need to get myself back into practice."
"Are you sure you want to?" she asked cautiously, given her earlier thoughts when it came to the members of the party. "It'll be dangerous."
"I'm the only one who can fly the Tiny Bronco, and the runt of the group damn-near killed herself just to get you all in the air again on a promise I made," he told her, a firm tone in his voice. "A man who can't live up to his promises ain't one to begin with. Besides, if that's how far you numbskulls are going to go then you need someone looking out for you."
Aerith noticed that, at some point, his hand found its way to the haft of his weapon. "That's not the only reason, is it?"
Cid's grasp on it tightened. "…I still owe the fat pig and that little shit he squeals to for what happened in Rocket Town. They killed good people, stomped on our dreams, and then got away with it. I can't let that go."
Why is it always revenge? Aerith couldn't help but wonder as she held Mog a bit tighter against her body. While she did agree that Shinra and those in charge needed to be stopped, and that it would likely require their deaths, the end goal should never be purely for revenge in itself.
"Anyway, what are you doing wandering around at this time of night?" he asked, changing the topic. "Between that look on your face and stuffed animal, you look like a lost kid caught outside after dark."
Mog struggled within Aerith's grasp at that until she loosened her hold, allowing the Summoning to float free. He hovered in front of the pilot and pointed his small arm towards him in warning. "I'm not a stuffed animal, kupo! I'm a Moogle-Rider, kupo!"
Cid, for his part, merely raised a brow at the floating creature for a moment. Then he exhaled, and the ring of smoke left Mog coughing as he tried to fan it away with his stubby arms. Aerith caught the irate moogle before Mog tried to clobber Cid afterwards.
"You brats just keep bringing out weirder things every time I look," he said as she hugged the struggling Summoning closer to her. "It's kind of hard to take the 'saving the Planet' thing seriously with a flying toy."
"Mog is a Summoning, like Leviathan. You should be more respectful to him," she said, gently soothing the moogle trembling with rage. "And what will happen to your assistant? Will you bring her too?"
"The woman causes enough problems as is—you think I'm dragging her onto a battlefield!?" He pulled out his cigarette and dropped it into the ground, snuffing it out with the sole of his boot. "No, she's staying here… the quiet life suits her better anyway."
Aerith felt there was more to it than that as Mog finally stopped struggling and settled down. "Have you talked it over with her?"
"I'll do it before we leave so I don't have to put up her whining." He looked over into the distance before shaking his head. "Anyway, you still didn't answer my question. What's bothering you?"
She thought about how to put it into words before she spoke. "I'm just worried about everything that's happened during the battle. Even if the outcome was good for us, it wasn't how I wanted it to go."
"…That's life for you," he said after a moment, a grimace forming on his face. "We want things in life and we strive for them, but things don't always go the way we plan. Our feelings and goals might clash, or we hit a setback. It ultimately boils down to keep pressing on and hoping, no matter the cost, or if you change your priorities in life. If this mission is so important that you're willing to go against Shinra then you've got to concede that it won't be pretty, but as far as I can tell… every one of you signed up for this by choice, so it's on your shoulders in the end."
"…I suppose so," Aerith conceded. But it didn't ease her concerns at all.
Not a bit.
[-oOo-]
Kunsel and Vincent lingered at the top of an overlook by the Mako Reactor. Night covered them from the eyes of the guards patrolling, and the train itself was slowly emerging from within it. Somewhere among its payload was the Huge Materia, the prize that they sought.
Peering through the lenses of his binoculars, night-vision mode engaged, Kunsel eyed the sole soldier within the heavyweight train engine compartment. It registered that there were no other organic life-signs within it, but he also couldn't see the Huge Materia. "No sign of it in the front compartment at a glance."
"Do you think they've hidden it in one of the compartment coaches instead of the front?" Vincent asked.
"Possibly. We'd better just stop the train and then search for it." Kunsel put away the binoculars and then looked down to his side-pouch. "Nanaki, are you ready?"
The leonine warrior, shrunken down courtesy of a Mini spell using the former Second-Class SOLDIER's Transform Materia, popped out of an opening in the pouch and spoke in a small and squeaky voice. "Once more, I must state that I am not comfortable with this arrangement. It is… unnatural for me."
"It's a necessary precaution," he assured him. "Bear with it for a few moments longer."
Nanaki let a low growl rumble in his throat, but said nothing more as he retreated back inside of the pouch. Kunsel zipped it near-shut. Then he grasped his sword and shared a look with Vincent, who nodded.
The moment the train began to pull past the overlook they were on, they acted. The two men clung to the shadows as they slid down the side of the wall. Then they both made a mighty jump towards the train that had begun accelerating.
Kunsel thrust his blade down into the top of the rear compartment as he landed. The blade acted as a brake so that the momentum didn't carry him off of the train, leaving him atop the rear compartment as the wind hammered at his body. Vincent landed with far more grace, using his gauntlet and armored fingers to nail him into place.
Unzipping the pouch and allowing Nanaki to climb into his palm, Kunsel grasped another materia to undo the Mini spell with his other hand. That was when the hatch on the compartment opened, and a mechanical humanoid emerged. It was modeled after a knight armored in crimson-plating, and in its hand was a large sword that nearly rivaled its height in size.
A pale, cerulean light shone within its eyes. The light grew brighter, swelling with power, until it unleashed a piercing Atomic Ray. The laser sheared through the compartment's rear end as they dodged, destroying not only the tracks that it hit, but the support beams along the way, causing a great section of it to collapse behind them.
Vincent leapt above its head and hammered the Wolfmeister with a trio of solid rounds from his gun that caused sparks upon contact with the unyielding iron. It was a distraction that allowed Kunsel to slide under its legs to come out on the other side, rising to his feet in time to jump to the next compartment. Vincent then landed next to him and let loose another barrage of gunfire, while the former Second-Class undid the Mini spell.
Nanaki released a bone-shaking roar upon returning once more to full height, triggering the Enemy Skill Materia. Construct missiles flew towards the armored mechanical warrior, now protected by what looked to be a golden aura nestled within a shimmering blue barrier. They did next to nothing with the Big Guard spell in place, leaving the smoke to roll off its frame as it leapt forward to cut them down.
Kunsel triggered the Gravity Materia he possessed and let the intensified gravity field catch it mid-jump. The armored giant was abruptly pulled back down at the edge of the compartment, clinging to it desperately to continue its directive. However, its sword got caught in between and then into the tracks. The thick blade shattered, but not before causing the last compartment to begin to veer off and jostle violently, on the verge of derailing the entire train as they crossed the section of the tracks that were elevated by the support beams over a steep descent.
"Move!" Vincent said as he leapt ahead and fired down at the latch connecting that compartment to the last two, before they could drag the entire train over the edge. Kunsel and Nanaki made the jump as the compartments finally tipped over and plunged down the long drop to the bottom of the mountain. The crash could be heard over the roar of the wind as the train continued trudging forward.
Then the remaining hatches opened and two avian machines of war emerged. They were a mass of guns in the shape of a bird, thick steel plumes serving as barrels to fire bullets. Curved blades that served as talons, which would cut through whatever they caught, gleamed in the moonlight.
The pair of Eagle Guns flew alongside the compartment, internal computers and programming determining the best course of action. One rose upwards and then angled itself, calculations dictating how to best catch and tear asunder one of the intruders, while the other switched to its rear thrusters and stabilizers to remain aligned as it brought both wings around to open fire.
Nanaki turned and let the Laser spell fly free towards the one preparing to release a hail of gunfire. Ruby beams of light flew towards it, curving as the avian registered the attack and then tried to avoid. Each one hit their mark, sending the war-machine tumbling with every impact and sending it free-falling until it reoriented itself. The second Eagle Gun dove for his unprotected back, bladed-claws aiming to pierce and maim him in the process.
Steel clashed as the talons were intercepted by Kunsel's blade. With mako-strengthened muscles backing his counter swing, he pushed it off into the distance and created an opening for Vincent to give it the shock of its life. A tendril of lightning flew from his armored hand, snaking through the air in sharp angles before smashing into the Eagle Gun. It shrieked in a mechanical voice as its wings briefly stalled and then restarted, working to catch up to the train that had pulled ahead.
Vincent, having reloaded his gun, fired at them thrice. The first and second shots were avoided, but the third clipped the wing of the left Eagle Gun and caused it to spin out of control. He followed up with a Bolt 2 spell that slammed into it like a sledgehammer, sending it spiraling to the tracks. That moment led to it being torn to pieces as it plowed into the tracks and support beams below, its ruined remains scattering about.
Nanaki dealt with the other one using caged lightning. The Trine spell pinned it in place with the imprisoning pyramids as the countless bolts ravaged its systems and inner workings. The moment the spell wore off, the war-machine plummeted towards the ground and out of sight.
Those distractions taken care of, they crossed the top of the compartments and made it to the head of the train. Kunsel broke the lock on the door and wrenched it open, allowing them to enter inside. There, they found one terrified soldier who raised their hands in surrender when Vincent brought his large gun up.
"P-P-Please don't kill me," he said with a tremble in his voice. After seeing the other security-measures taken out, what chance did he have alone? "I'm just following orders, but this ain't worth getting killed over."
"Stop the train," Kunsel ordered. He did so, bringing it to a screeching halt maybe three-fourths to the point where the other two were stationed to take action. When the man turned back to them, Kunsel had him get on his knees and keep his hands on the floor before asking the next question. "Where's the Huge Materia?"
"My orders were to put it in there." The man gestured to what looked like a large, metal case of some kind. It had a combination lock built into it, like a safe. "Heidegger didn't give me the combination to it, probably because I haven't been at this long."
Kunsel's eyes narrowed behind his shades at that. "When exactly did you start working for Shinra?"
"When the Sector 7 Plate fell down," he said. "I was training to become a train operator when it went down, so I wasn't there in person. But there wasn't much for me to do afterwards with nowhere to go, and Shinra pays on-time… even if it means working for that ass."
His brain raced with thoughts, but Vincent asked the main one he had in mind. "Even if that's the case, why would Heidegger entrust someone so green with carrying something this important?"
It didn't make sense. They should have been on-edge given that Kunsel had actively taken the Huge Materia from Fort Condor. The machines they fought were a planned safe-measure, but for them to trust the transit and delivery to a single, untrained person is borderline incompetence. They weren't that understaffed when it came to their military forces—not when they still had some veterans in Costa del Sol.
Vincent lowered his gun and turned to Kunsel. "He's expendable."
The soldier in question tensed at hearing that. "What?"
Kunsel gave it some thought. Then he imbued his blade with the effect of the Gravity Materia and brought his sword down against the case. It barely scratched the thing, even as the entire car they were in shook from the force transferring through the floor.
"It makes more sense that way," he agreed as he attached his sword to his back, using the magnetic holster. "Not only is the case reinforced, but I'm betting the interior is lined with something to cushion it and absorb blunt force. Even if he dies there's no real loss of a valuable asset, and I'm guessing it'll take ages to get the case open without the code."
"What!?" the soldier said again, rising to his feet. Vincent raised his gun again without looking, training it on his head by reflex. He immediately sat back down.
That was when Nanaki hopped to the front of the window and a low snarl left his mouth. "Something's coming."
An aircraft sped towards the train, coming to a stop some distance away above the tracks. Soldiers armed with rocket-launchers slid out, attached to the wings by harnesses connected to their backs as they hung like ragdolls. The lines descended and dropped the grey and blue uniformed men and women, who had helmets encompassing their heads entirely. The moment they touched the tracks, they took aim at the train….
Then they fired.