"Do you know what a red herring is?" Angeal looked up from the report in his hands and lifted a brow at Genesis in exasperation. The commander was lounged back lackadaisically on the couch he specifically ordered to grace their office, matching his trademark trenchcoat, a leather bound book (mercifully not Loveless) held open above his head. It was a quiet afternoon, giving Angeal the chance to catch up with work for once. Genesis aught to do the same, but the man was frustratingly lazy when he wanted to be.
"Some kind of fish?" Angeal asked half heartly. Genesis harrumphed dramatically.
"No, not that, you uneducated curr," Genesis replied airly and Angeal, too used to trading casual insults just simply rolled his eyes.
"What then?"
Genesis gestured to the book in his hands. "Perhaps it began its origins as reference to fish," Genesis ignored Angeal's grumble of "I knew it" and continued, "But it most commonly refers to a literary device of something reasonable and plausible but is ultimately diversionary."
For a second, Angeal thought Genesiswas referring to their little hacking incident. Didn't they discuss this alrea-
Then realization dawned to Angeal that Genesis was looking meaningfully at the air vent at the foot of the couch. Their office was bugged. Seeing that his message got across, Genesis reclined back and sighed in disappointment as he tossed the book aside. Angeal, on the other hand, stood from his chair and reached down removing the bug. Instead of crushing it under his fingers like he intended, he instead deposited it into a box.
There may be use in leaking false information, once they figure out who is listening.
"This plot is far too transparent. It is certainly not the prostitute, but the banker's aide."
Angeal frowned and tried to puzzle out if Genesis was still speaking code or if he was back to being obtuse on purpose.
VII. Recircle
Genesis huffed and turned to Sephiroth after as the doors slid shut on Angeal's disappearing back..
"It's late. I am going to the training room. Care to join?" Sephiroth shook his head, then pinched his nose with his thumb and index.
"No, I must look over documents sent by Lazard."
"Well, that's no fun," Genesis complained. Genesis really needed to work off all his tension. With Angeal gone, his only sparring partner is Sephiroth.
"Unlike you, Genesis, I have an army to run. Even Angeal has a puppy to look after." Genesis scowled.
"Are you saying I have no responsibilities?"
"You can make what you want of it," Sephiroth snapped without looking up again from his papers. Genesis left with a huff and a thunderous expression.
He headed down to the Soldier Floor, prepared to wreak havoc on a simulation or two but paused when he spotted in the exercise room a flash of blond and civilian clothes. In his foul mood, Genesis didn't feel like suffering any fools, whether he was an army grunt or a lost pencil pusher.
"Hey," He shouted as soon as the doors slid open. "You aren't authorized to be her-" Where has he seen that mop before? The blond turned around, a look of puzzlement on his face.
"I have access…" He trailed off when he realized who was standing there. Genesis raised a brow. Awful hair, ugly glasses…
"Oh, it's the monkey!" Genesis said out loud. Didn't realize the kid was an infantryman, though maybe that explained a few things. He looked the boy up and down thoughtfully. It would work he supposed. There was potential, and the kid was skinny and thin like Genesis- would never do well mixed in with the regular army grunts who can't seem to pull their heads out of their asses.
"Who are you calling a monkey?" The blond protested.
"You, Monkey," Genesis retorted. Is the kid more stupid than Genesis gave him credit for?
"But I'm-"
"You have been sneaking in here unauthorized. If you don't submit to my will and authority, I will report you immediately."
"But I work-"
"Which is why from this day forth you are my student and personal aide," Genesis bulldozed on. Ha, take that Angela. We'll see who is the better teacher. And take that Sephiroth. No responsibilities, bah, Genesis thought triumphantly. Monkey just sighed in resignation, shoulders dropping.
"Good," Genesis crowed smugly, "Now give me push ups until you collapse, and homework for tonight- memorize the entirety of Loveless!"
"And what are you gonna do if I don't? You can't fire me," Monkey said with surprising defiance for a lesser being.
"Oh we'll see about that," Genesis chuckled, pushing the blond over with unsurprising ease and then finding a seat on Monkey's shoulders.
The boy let out a quiet "Oof". "I in the meantime, will help you get a head start with your assignment. 'When the war of beasts finally brings about the world's end'…"
Genesis was jarred awake a sudden tremor through the tower. He sat up and planted his feet on the ground. The tower wasn't shaking anymore. He lied back down once he detected no danger and fell back asleep, believing that he probably woke up from a forgotten dream.
About an hour later, he was awoken again by the sound of a funeral dirge playing on his phone. Well, that only meant one person. With a grown, Genesis flipped open the ringing phone at his bedside without even looking at the caller.
"Sephiroth? Do you know what time-"
"How are you not awake? Turn on the news," Sephiroth interrupted. That didn't sound good. Genesis paddled to his living room and flipped on the channel. "BREAKING NEWS" flashed across the bottom of the screen in bright yellow.
"-three days after the attack by the 'Body Bomber.' The suspect is still unidentified at this time. At two in the morning, the suspect was able to drive a rigged car through the Shinra district and into the lobby of the headquarters. Initial estimates give two casualties, and three missing. The structural integrity of one support column is now suspect.
The picture panned to the sight of the bombing, smoke bellowing out of a blackened, burnt out structure that Genesis realized with a start was the lobby several dozen floors below his feet. Why were the fire alarms not triggered? Why was there no evacuation? Genesis couldn't have been that heavy of a sleeper.
"The head of Urban Development, Reeve Tuesti, assures us that the building will remain standing even if the pillar does not hold and says that evacuation of the building and surrounding area is not expected at this time. The recent string of attacks has left the community doubting the efficacy of Shinra's current security system. With us now are experts in…."
"Awake now?" Sephiroth asked on the other end.
"Yeah, what happened to the alarms?"
"It was not triggered. Reeve is investigating. It was supposed to be functional."
Genesis let out a groan of frustration.
"The president is demanding that he be relocated out of the tower. He was very shaken by this attack."
"That's idiotic," Genesis frowned, "The tower is still safer than anywhere else on the Planet." Genesis opened his closet and slipped on his pants as he wedged his phone between his shoulder and his cheek.
"Veld has already raised this point to the president," Sephiroth answered, voice full of disapproval, "But since the president insists, the transfer will happen. They will be moving him to the Palace Hotel with the full Turk escort."
"That is way too obvious. If someone is targeting him-"
"I know," Sephiroth sighed, "briefing is in ten."
Genesis cursed colorfully as he set down the phone to tug on his shirt and coat.
"Fine," He said his PHS, "I'm leaving now."
When Zack woke up again, he winced, thankful that the cave was dark. Shifting slightly, he realized a light pull on the skin of his forehead. Dried blood then. They kicked him with more force than he thought. He was lying chest down on an uncomfortable bit of rock. They must have moved him when he was knocked out. He shifted to his side, taking the pressure of the rock stabbing into his ribs.
Surveying the jail again, he performed a mental count and frowned to himself. Andersen was gone. So was Hartwig. At least, he couldn't see them from his vantage. Those were the men under his command. Of the other squad, only two were left and in pretty bad shape. For the first time, Zack also noticed a few civilians in the cave. They looked emaciated to the point of skeletal and Zack estimated that they were probably held captive for at least a month, if not more, depending on food supply.
Zack didn't like that he can't account all his men. Where were they? In a separate cave? Just how long was he out for?
He stretched against his bonds and realized that the ropes were groaning against his movements, knots lubricated by warm blood oozing from cuts along his forearm that must have opened when he was dragged along the floor of the cave. Zack grinned to himself. Just a little more time and he will have himself loose.
He wiggled his fingers, trying to get some blood to flow back into the numbed digits. He needed to break free as soon as possible. If their captors where not feeding them, the longer he waited, the less energy he had to get his men to safety. Not for a second did Zack even consider leaving his squad there. Angeal's disappointed face would be the only lesser punishment to Zack's own guilt.
Zack rolled so that he was on his back, lifting his hips as his fingers searched for that bit of rock that was giving him grievances.
"Sir?" The voice next to his ear asked softly.
"Corporal," Zack grinned grimly, "Glad to know you are still with us and sounding better." Indeed, the corporal sounded more alert. The drugs were wearing off. The sound of Zack's voice caused the other men to stir.
"Glad to know you're back in the land of the living, Sir," one of his men- Ryan? Something with an R – added from below Zack's bound feet. "We weren't too sure. They kicked you hard, and then you were out for a quite a while." Zack finally frowned.
"What's the status?" he asked, serious voice back on. There was a pause. As if there was a reluctance to speak. Zack was instantly alarmed.
"They took Andersen, Thomas, Hartwig, and Bree," Lee finally answered, "And a few of the civilians. So far, none of them are back." There was an uneasy silence as they all contemplated what that could mean. As part of the same squad, these men were close and had probably gone through basic training together. Closer than they were with him, their CO only on this mission.
"What about the other squad?" Zack asked thoughtfully as he shifted more and his hand closed around the jagged piece of rock. He bent his wrist as far as he could, maneuvering it in place. The thick ropes would take forever to cut through-time he didn't have. Thankfully, he just needed to cut some of the fibers so he could break through the rest with pure brute strength. He hoped.
"Only me an' Corp'ral Dego left, Sir," a trooper groaned.
Frowning, Zack continued to saw at his ropes. They weren't the hemp he originally thought. Rather, it was a synthetic fiber. Hard to break. Shit.
"Wh-" Zack had opened his mouth to ask for cave layout, when the heavy metal door slammed open with a thud. Zack realized that other than Corporal Lee, he was the next closest to the door.
"Just take that one," the hulking silhouette at the door grunted. Both captive blinked at the exit, blinded by the sudden bright light of the hallway.
"Shit," Zack cursed, "Hey! Don't take him! Take me!" He scrambled into a fetal position, trying to rise to his knees.
"What a fucking hero," the man growled as he aimed a swift kick into Zack's side, sending him tumbling back, "Boss says to save you for last, Soldier."
"Don't worry about me, sir," the corporal said stiffly, as the grunt stooped down and grabbed his bond legs, "Just get everyone out."
"I'm not leaving you."
The soldier offered no response as he was dragged into the light and Zack could see a stony face and eyes wide with terror.
The man dragging him away was more beast than human, bulging with muscle that had taken a faintly blue tinge. Most troublesome was a pair of glowing green eyes, slitted like a cat's, peering back at him before total darkness fell again with a slam of metal on rock.
"Sir, the sun is setting, and we really need to go back and refuel."
Angeal sighed and looked at his pilot.
"How much fuel do we have?"
"Enough to make it back to Junon, sir. Only just."
"Okay." Angeal looked out past the cliffs and knolls below. Just hold on for one day more, Zack.
When the chopper landed on the Junon base, an uniformed trooper ran to him.
"Sir," he saluted, "Message from Midgar arrived while you were gone." Angeal looked down at the screen of the communicator in the man's hand.
"HQ BOMBED. YOU ARE RECALLED. EMERGENCY STATUS THROUGHOUT MIDGAR." Angeal growled. There is only one man who requires an escort from Angeal. President Shinra. That dishono-
"Sir," the man continued nervously, "We have transport to Midgar. We can leave in as soon as ten minutes."
"When did that message come?"
"Sir."
"When. Did. That. Message. Come?"
"Two hours ago, Sir." Angeal grimaced.
"Corporal, that message was delayed due to an unfortunate signal interference over the lines. Unfortunately, I will not receive it until tomorrow. Understood?"
"Ye-Yes, Sir."
"Good, schedule me for one last aerial survey."
"Yes, sir."
Angeal sighed at the man's retreating back. He had violated his own code of honor, but the life of his student was more important than the life of a man guarded by two generals of Shinra, and the entire Turk contingent. He was needed here. But one day did not give him much time at all.
The next time the door opened, Zack was ready. He slammed into the guard, who gave a grunt but otherwise did not budge.
Shit, Zack thought, Plan B! Plan B! Wait what was plan B? Zack's hesitance when he realized that the man actually didn't even flinch from the full-on tackle of a Solder Third Class cost him a valuable opportunity when on meaty fist slammed into his side.
Zack went crashing into the wall. He rolled quickly to avoid an incoming foot and rolled to his knees just in time to block a heavy blow from a muscled arm encased in what looks like stone.
"Shit," Zack cried, deflecting another glancing blow before the two circled each other cautiously in the narrow corridor, "What the fuck are you?" The man-beast only bared sharp canines at him and growled out a gravelly laugh. Then he charged. Zack dodged the last minute to avoid what was probably two hundred pounds of pure bone and muscle, turning around so that his back was against the wall.
He needed a weapon. Anything.
The beast came roaring again. Zack slammed a solid punch into the man's solar plexus- no use.
He just grabbed Zack by the hair in response and slammed Zack's face into the limestone wall. Leaving Zack to collapse in a heap at his feet, taking pieces of the wall with him.
Thank, Zack. Think! Zack wearily dragged himself back up on his hands and knees, spitting out blood. His head wound was bleeding freely again and flowing into his eye, obscuring part of his vision and his depth perception. He looked at the bounds, cut through and frayed, still wrapped loosely around his wrists and ankles.
If I could…
"Sir!" came a horrified cry from the door that was flapping uselessly on a squeaky hinge. Zack must have clipped it on his way out, because there was a red smear of blood along the length.
Both Zack and his opponent spun at the noise, but this time Zack did not hesitate. He had freed one of his men before the door swung open, with orders to free the rest. And he was expecting the company.
In one smooth motion, he grabbed the end of the rope used to tie him down and wrapped his arms over the beast's head. The synthetic fibers of the rope pulled taut against the beast's neck, which despite whatever had been done to enhance the man, was still vulnerable. Then Zack held on with every last ounce of his strength as his captor growled and thrashed. It slammed and flailed his body and threw it head back. Then it rammed itself back first into a cave wall.
Zack gasped breathlessly in pain but didn't let go.
"Stay back," Zack gasped to the frightened trooper in between two body slams into the wall as the creatures swung from one side to the other. Having a trooper there wasn't gonna help. It was just gonna to get the boy killed.
When it tried to throw Zack overhead, Zack locked his legs around the creature's waist as well, ignoring the sharp claws that dug into his calf. The creature threw its head back one last time to howl, but that came out as a whimper. Its movement slowed and eventually, it fell back,its bulk slamming into Zack one last time.
Zack kept his grip on the rope for a few minutes more, making certain that their captor was down permanently.
"Sir!" Zack felt the corpse being heaved aside with some difficulty and saw that the other troopers were trickling out. "You require medical attention."
No shit, Sherlock.
Zack gingerly got on one knee, hand on the blood slick wall to brace himself. He knew that at least one rib was broken, and he hoped that it wasn't piercing anything vital. He was having trouble breathing, and one eye was completely useless from the flood of blood. He wiped a hand across his face and looked down into the tunnel.
No one had come to check the commotion. A small blessing.
"Who here can still fight?" Half his squad came forward, but only two men were still in any shape. Zack nodded and then with a steadying hand to the wall, dragged himself up. "Two of you- with me- we need to find weapons and whoever we can. The rest of you- find an exit if you can and grab whatever you can use to fight with. Mark the walls as you go. Move out!"
The men nodded as one, and set about their orders as they were trained.
When Zack and company reached the end of the tunnel they were captive in, Zack realized why their commotion wasn't noticed. The tunnel opened up into a central cavern that has been turned into some mad man's science laboratory. The piece de la resistance were the three steel slab tables with bright operation lights. Howls of pain and screams filled the rooms.
Two men strapped to the table and still struggling were the missing Thomas and Lee. He watch with dawning horror as a silent and heavily mutilated body was being removed from the operation table as another- a thoroughly knocked out Andersen- was being strapped on. To one side, another man was lying on a slab, his insides exposed and a multitude of machines strapped into him. Vials of glowing mako surrounded the station. A man in a lab coat with greasy dark hair stood over the body, closely examining something on the screen across from him.
Zack swallowed the bile rising in his throat. The single eye ball that sat on a pair of bloody forceps told Zack all he needed to know. Though severed, it was still glowing. The prone corpse was the body of the other Soldier.
Breathing heavily, Zack forcibly turned his attention to the task at hand. He ducked back behind a boulder jutting out from the cave floor like a stone pillar and turned to the two men who were watching the proceedings with anger in their eyes and clenching hands.
He needed to think right now, act later. Focus on the survivors. Focus on their equipment, lying in a pile across the floor from where they were hidden.
"If you can get to them, free the survivors. Grab your weapons, and get out. I'll create a distraction."
"Sir- what about them," a private hissed.
"Let me worry about that," Zack ordered grimly, eyeing the two hulking men turned beasts that were guarding an entrance – possibly their only egress from the cave system, though Zack hoped he hadn't sent his squad the wrong way to their deaths- and the three scientists who were working on the men that were still struggling in against their manacles on the operation table. "I'm going to create a distraction. You grab whatever you can, free whoever you can. And then you run back to the group. Don't stop for anything. If they -."
"You can't survive two of them, sir. You're wounded. Let us he-"
"Hey," Zack grinned dangerously, nodding toward the confiscated gear, "I'm not going into this without a plan, 'kay? Just leave my bracer."
The men nodded reluctantly. Zack nodded.
"Go." Then he burst into motion, hoping that Plan A worked this time.
He dove to his right, opposite of his men,and rolled into one of the unsuspecting scientists, grunting as something in his chest shifted. It was probably something important. Like a rib. Zack ignored the stabbing pain and pushed the man into bubbling chemicals. The resulting scream of agony told Zack that whatever they were pumping his men full of, it burned inside and out. Probably a good bit of mako. And some other nasty shit.
Good for him, Zack thought, uncharacteristically vindictive, the good doctor gets a taste of his own medicine.
Zack's diversion worked. Both guards, one resembling a lion and the other having tusks and a few limbs too many bulldozed across the lab. Tusks made a grab for Zack, but Zack side-stepped. Out of the corner of his eye, Zack saw that the two troopers managed to overwhelm the scientists and free Andersen.
He just had to hold on a little longer.
The two guards lacked in brains where they made up for brawn, and Zack wasn't exactly slow even if his chest felt like it was going to burst through. Thankfully, these two ambling giants aren't built for maneuverability either.
"Make it quick!" Zack shouted to his men. He was running out of room to run and the two were pinning him against one corner.
Lion growled and flinched. It turned around and Zack saw a knife, thrown with impressive accuracy, imbedded in the creature's back. It got the heat off Zack, but now the troopers where in the hot spot.
"Get out now!" Zack cried. The two made a dash for the tunnel, stumbling under Andersen's dead weight. Seeing an opening, Zack grabbed the knife still sticking out of the creature's back when the two were preoccupied and twisted. An angry howl and at least one of them had its attention back on Zack's beaten and ragged form.
Good. Not Good. Flashed through Zack's mind as he jumped- more like fell over- dodging an angered swipe as the Lion turned around to face him again. They are angry, which means they aren't gonna think- not that they can-I think. Oh, I can't keep this up.
While the Lion continued to swipe at Zack, Tusks was clumsily wading through overturned desks and tables, chasing the two men. That just won't do. Seeing his opening, Zack dove between the two and grabbed his bracer and sword. Materia? Materia? Good.
Zack unleashed a fireball at the charging Lion, and then dealt with Tusks. Seems they were weak against fire. Zack rolled out of the way again as the Lion, now ablaze, howled in pain, slamming into a cave wall and then fell over with a thud. Tusk was flailing at the other end of the lab, knocking over flasks and setting fire to anything it touched.
Zack heaved himself up, digging his broadsword into the ground.
"Well," he said lightly to himself, "Guess Angeal is right about needing some improvement on that footwork." He ambled over to the operation tables. Thomas was dead. His table knocked over and he was still strapped in, blood pooling on the ground. Lee however was still breathing.
"Lee," Zack shook him, "Shit, wake up man." Slitted orange eyes opened and the man Zack knew as Corporal David Lee only snarled at him, growling as he fought the restraints.
"Fuck, man," Zack jumped back, "Get a hold of yourself!" Lee howled in answer and Zack paled as more howls echoed back from the tunnels leading out. "You have got to be shitting me," Zack groaned in frustration.
He back toward the tunnel he came from, taking shelter once again behind the natural pillar formation that hide him before, stepping gingerly around the body of the tusked man, still burning. All around the laboratory, the sound of glass exploding could be heard as the temperature of the room soared and an inferno began to engulf the "research."
Zack coughed as the smoke filled the room, consuming what oxygen there was. I did NOT think this through, Zack berated himself. But he had no Water or Ice to get himself out of this mess. He palmed the materia in his bracer. But Quake…
Zack looked up at the ceiling of the cavern. Sea caves. If he remembered his geography lesson right, they cannot be very far below ground and still have dry caves. He hoped he had given his men enough time to vacate, because the entire cave was going to crash down on his head. Probability of his survival? Probably zero.
Then, he looked toward the incoming hoard, a spell on his lips.
The first creatures to burst through caught fire immediately, but Zack was not so lucky with the second wave, who much like the Dual Horn he fought, shook off the magic flames easily.
Zack held on as long as he could, waiting for as many as possible to enter his trap. Then he pumped as much of his remaining energy into the glowing orb.
"QUAKE!" The shaking was instant, then boulders began to rain down on the howling beasts. To Zack's surprise, from the fissures in the ceiling, water began to pour in. Were they underwater somehow? He crawled toward the tunnel, hampered by the flooding of the cavern, the last of his strength sapped by the spell and watched tiredly as the rocks rained down, smashing into the once human forms mutilated beyond recognition, howling out in pain. Lee's howls joined them. He knew nothing more after that.
Angeal growled in frustration. Clear skies to previous day gave into a storm blown in from the sea. Angeal strong armed the navy to launch another helicopter in the inclement conditions to continue the search. They were on their last round and being pummeled by the wind.
To worsen the situation, the rain obscured everything, reducing visibility to almost nothing, and the waves of the storm crashing against the cliffs frustrated efforts to scour the beach for clues. They needed to end the search with results. This time of year, fog settled regularly along the coast. Then, the helicopters cannot fly or land.
"Sir," the pilot suddenly called in astonishment, "Sink hole formation below!"
Angeal twisted in his seat to look over the pilot's shoulder.
"That is no sink hole," he barked, "Order a search and rescue team immediately. What are you waiting for? Land!"
Rushed this one a bit (excuse the typos).