[Scenes of a smoking volcano in the background as the camp appears in disarray. The visuals were laggy at some points, indicating poor signal. The camera pans to the reporter, visibly shaken. The screen displays her name as Annabelle Lee. At the corner, "LIVE" indicated that the feed was near real time.]
"Good evening. I'm reporting live from Wutai, where the devastation following last night's volcanic eruption has left the camp at Crescent Bay reeling. Behind me, members of the Army are desperately trying to mount a rescue effort as the clock ticks down. Lava flows have severed multiple supply lines, and we still don't know the state of those trapped by the eruption."
[The camera switches to one closer to the new lava flows. It pans from the top of the mountain, seemingly losing part of its crest with smoke still bellowing high into the sky, to the still-smoking rubble that turned a previously blue lake into a mud pool. Then it switched back to Annabelle. Annabelle's voice trembles with emotion as she continues to report.]
"Eyewitness accounts described the events leading up to the eruption and the eruption as catastrophic. Initial reports indicate the disaster was triggered by a direct hit from the famed Junon Cannon, fired last night. Sources from inside Shinra say it was by direct order of the President. In a grim twist, the attack and eruption endangered Shinra's own military operations in the area-"
[Suddenly, Annabelle's expression shifts as she hears someone off-camera. The camera shakes and then points toward the ground. Annabelle could be heard saying, "Don't you dare cut the feed!" But the camera cuts to static and switches back to the shocked faces of the Midgar news anchors instead.]
XIX. Depth of Corruption
Reno knocked tentatively at the unfamiliar door in front of him.
Since the Midgar attack that left the former president dead and Rod with him, Gun hadn't been the same. Veld had approved Gun's bereavement leave, then her longer-term extension. Reno, who also saw Rod as a friend, understood. He really did.
However, she had been acting downright erratic. Instead of staying in company housing, Gun swiftly moved out, and for a while, no one knew where she was moving to. Until Reno ran into Gun in the Sector Six slums. Gun looked like she hadn't slept the entire time she was out. Her hair was limp, and dark circles under her eyes were accentuated by a gauntness that Reno hadn't seen even on their most grueling missions together.
When Reno greeted her, Gun gave him her new address and instructed him to keep it to himself.
Weeks later, Reno got a message from an unfamiliar number.
Maybe curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction would hopefully bring him back.
Thus, curiosity led Reno to knock on the door of an apartment in an older building in Sector Four on one of his off-the-clock days.
The silence on the other side would have most people think no one was home, but Reno knew better. He kept his hands where they could be seen from the peephole. Staring right into it, he saw when the pinpoint of light disappeared. Someone was home and looking right at him. If Gun didn't also have some firearm pointed at him, Reno would eat his old nightstick.
There was an audible click of the door latch, and the door swung open to reveal a dark interior. As Reno expected, Gun, not looking much better than the last time he had seen her, stood behind it, her sidearm in her right hand and pointed at the ground. Gun gestured inside with a tilt of her head.
"Well, what're you waiting for?"
It was all the invitation Reno needed.
The entrance opened into a narrow, dimly lit hall. Gun's Turk background was apparent in the way she arranged the mirrors leaving the doorway in view from any angle. Further in, the hall opened to a crammed kitchen and, beyond that, a brightly lit living room.
However, instead of couches and entertainment sets, Reno was greeted by sparse room furnished with a simple table and a set of chairs. On the far wall was a collage of pictures, notes, and newspaper printouts. They were arranged neatly if seemingly haphazardly, connected by various brightly colored strings.
Reno felt like he had seen this scene before in a email or show. Perhaps from It's Always Sunny in Costa Del Sol, a moment someone screen-captured and captioned, poking fun at conspiracy theorists. He never expected it of Gun.
"So…" Reno started nervously. It was the most nervous he ever felt around the other Turk. The lady had more firearms hidden on her than a trooper squad and wasn't currently an image of stability.
"I think I traced it all down," Gun said, staring blankly at her wall and its web of color.
"Traced…what?" Reno asked, standing next to Gun to stare examine the wall before him. It took a while. But Reno was quick on the uptake. Understanding dawned on him as Gun began to explain.
"After Rod…passed, I started tracing down the terrorist group. They were way too well-resourced to be the normal disorganized mess we deal with," Gun explained, "So… I followed the money."
Reno stared at Gun, who looked blankly at the wall. Reno wasn't dumb enough to believe the backers were Wutaian, but he also didn't think too much past it. Plenty of people were out for Shinra blood, even inside Midgar. "Who is it?"
Gun turned to look at him.
"I think you already suspected it all along," Gun said. "Who has the resources to fund this many attacks, this much gear? Who had access to all confidential information? Who arranged for the Palace del Monte hotel? Who used it as an excuse to escalate in Wutai? Who?"
"Rufus," Reno answered with certainty. Gun nodded with an air of approval.
"I knew you weren't as dumb as you look," she said as she walked over to the pile of papers on her table, either not yet put up on her wall or already taken down. She handed them to Reno. "He's smart enough to cover his tracks and use proxies, but Shinra's ledgers are harder to fake, and his proxies are not nearly as sophisticated." Reno flipped through the pages.
"He's funneling money through Corneo," Reno summarized, "And that is flowing to a …shipping company in Junon?"
"Not without Corneo skimming some off the top," Gun grimaced, "That's finally given him the guts to go toe to toe with the other big gangs in the slums."
"That's a lot of money," Reno whistled. It was. Enough to fund a small army. "Any idea what the Eco Global shipping company is doing?"
"It's a shell company," Gun replied with certainty, "For the biggest anti-Shinra group of all."
"You're telling me Rufus is funneling money into an anti-Shinra group?"
"Was. The money trail stopped a few weeks after the hotel attack," Gun corrected, "Tell me, what do you know about Avalanche?"
"Not a lot," Reno admitted. He knew the basics, of course. But Gun wasn't asking that. Gun grimaced.
"Let's just say Rufus had a vicious monster on a leash, and the leash slipped." Reno rubbed his eyes. He looked around Gun's sparse apartment and grabbed a chair. He sat and grabbed the first file he saw and flipped it open.
"I think more leashes slipped than just Avalanche's," Reno said. He hadn't seen a certain General in a while, after all. Gun stared at him blankly. Has she…? She's locked herself up. She hasn't seen the news, has she? Reno closed the file on his lap again and leaned back with a sigh.
The shield above them resembled a dome made of flaxen gold thread, only a shade paler than its summoner's hair. It looked deceptively fragile in the ash-filled afternoon sky.
Zack made his rounds and circled back. He was pretty certain Sephiroth stood vigil near Cloud for the entire time. Hours. The volcano raged for hours, blanketing the sky with hot ash and the earth with red rock. Meanwhile, the fort continued to smolder though most of the fires quenched when there was no more wood to burn. It felt as if the entire mountaintop had tumbled down its own side, blanketing the fort in a layer of sediment.
The Wutaians kept a wary distance, and Sephiroth sent any Soldiers who ventured close enough for a look away, either to help the rescue effort or the wounded. Zack left the pair for a while to organize the men in Sephiroth's stead when it became clear that Cloud wasn't moving, Sephiroth wasn't leaving Cloud, and the shield was holding.
From what Zack could tell, the Wutaians and Shinra didn't mingle, watching each other cautiously but neither making hostile moves. Zack made sure to transmit the orders to Soldier to focus on the wounded, just in case.
As the volcano's fury moved over and past them, everyone tensed at every strike against the thin golden filaments, even as they worked to clear debris and mount their own rescue efforts. The shield remained the only thing keeping them from certain death. And through every strike, the shield held.
By the time Zack returned to his friends, even more covered in soot than when he left, the shield had accumulated enough cracks that it looked like a golden ball of yarn.
Zack looked over Cloud in concern. His friend had been in a trance. Still glowing, he hadn't moved in hours. Zack couldn't imagine the amount of mana Cloud would be burning to sustain such a spell or what kind of materia would produce such an effect.
Sephiroth stood motionless as if transfixed in place.
As the light finally peaked in through the opaque shield, Cloud let out a wet cough. As if at the jarring sound, the top of the shield cracked like an egg. The spell was broken.
The dome began to break apart from the top, gold filaments shattering and falling apart. The fragments glistened in the sun's rays, dissipating into mana before they fell to the ground.
Cloud let out another wet cough, and Zack stepped forward when he saw bright red blood drip onto the muddy ground. Before Zack could take another step, Sephiroth moved. Cloud's unconscious form collapsed in his arms. He gently laid Cloud to the ground, kneeling on one knee and using his bent leg to prop Cloud up.
The shield dispelled around them. The only trace was the clear boundary where ash and debris built up so high it looked like a perfectly circular wall encircling them. The thick layers piled higher than the fort. It would have buried them alive if the mudslide and lava flows had not.
Zack walked to Sephiroth's side and bent down to look at Cloud, grabbing one limp hand. It was cold and clammy. Zack examined the bracer for the materia, and to his surprise, all four slots were empty.
"Mako poisoning," Sephiroth diagnosed grimly. Zack winced as well. They had been taught about the impact of materia overdraw since basic training, and it wasn't pretty.
The sound of boots crunching against the gravel drew Zack's attention. Instead of sending them away again, Sephiroth drew Cloud closer and bent over him.
Zack looked around at the gathering men. The closest was Roche, who still had a hand extended.
"You found him- I mean, you found another injured?" he asked, his voice breaking a little. Zack simply nodded instead of explaining.
"Got any more med packs?" he asked urgently. The Soldiers behind Roche shook their heads. Zack sent them off again to scrounge for medical supplies. Meanwhile, Sephiroth hefted Cloud up gently, settling the slighter man's head onto his shoulder and supporting his back and legs with his arms.
"Comms," Sephiroth commanded Roche.
The shield had been large enough to divert the path of the lava and prevented the worst of it from hitting the advancing Army. With any luck, the comms unit survived, too. Roche nodded and ran. And then Sephiroth and Zack were left alone again.
Sephiroth approached Zack, setting course for retreat but halted and turned his head. Zack tensed at the sight of an older Wutaian man in traditional armor that stepped into view. The man was so silent that Zack didn't hear his footsteps. Despite the layers of chainmail and plating, nothing jingled as he walked.
"General," the man called. Sephiroth showed no hint of surprise and calmly turned, Cloud still in his arms. Zack could see Cloud's face pressed against one smooth white pauldron, his skin almost as pale as the armor.
"The fight is over, Lord Kisaragi," Sephiroth said. Zack's hand instinctively reached up for the sword on his back. The name caused him to gasp as he sucked in air audibly. Godo Kisaragi was an infamous figure who was responsible for taking out many high-ranked Soldiers throughout the war. The Wutaian leader instead let out a grim laugh and held out his hands, bare of any weapon.
"Yes, it certainly is," he replied, "Don't you think it's time we sat down and chatted once again."
Sephiroth nodded.
"We'll be in touch. Until then, Lord Kisaragi." Zack watched as Kisaragi turned unconcerned and returned to the Wutaian troops, where his aide fussed over him.
In the distance was the welcome sound of helicopter blades cutting through the air.
Kunsel was grateful for the shower, lukewarm as it was. Ash sluiced in black streaks down his body and from his hair. The floors of the sectioned-off living quarters were littered with reminders of Mount Tamblin. As men took turns at the showers, the ash and dust gathered, cleaned periodically into small dusty mountains that reminded them all of the events of the previous day. Kunsel had been so tired that he dropped into his bunk right after being arilifted back- dust, sweat, and all- and slept until morning.
Coming out of the too-short shower, not entirely clean but at least less covered in dust, Kunsel donned a fresh uniform and his Soldier helmet and wandered into the main thoroughfare. His feet took him to the hospital tents, where many were being seen to by overworked medics. The smell of antiseptic stung Kunsel's nose.
At the very back, guarded by the familiar sight of Ramirez sitting on a crate, was a private ward. Kunsel nodded politely to Ramirez. When the fighting started, the trooper had been stationed in Nanzen but was called to help with the evacuation. They had all been pulling shifts since, and the trooper looked as exhausted as Kunsel had felt.
"General just left. No change," Ramirez reported as Kunsel stepped through the entryway. Kunsel nodded and peered inside. He didn't expect there would be. Nor was he surprised Sephiroth had been by. The man didn't even seem to sleep. He split his time between addressing the latest crisis and lingering by Cloud's bedside like it was a dea-
Kunsel shook his head. His thoughts turned to Cloud instead.
Severe mako overdraw followed by poisoning. That was the diagnosis. No one even knew how Cloud still lived.
Mako overdraw wasn't a light matter. So serious the consequences for enhanced people in particular that Soldiers were taught how to recognize the signs of when they were tapped out and stop accordingly. Ether was too expensive to give the Army, and too little, too slow acting for Soldier overdraw. Thus, for the most dire circumstances, they received more concentrated booster pills -tablets of almost pure mako. That overdraw training didn't account for the scale of what Kunsel saw.
They were keeping it hushed up—both Sephiroth and Zack were. Most of the men didn't know, but Kunsel suspected what, or who, made that shield.
Whatever Cloud did, it vaporized four equipped materia. Kunsel also discreetly checked Cloud's kit. The mako pill canister was gone.
On the gurney-turned-bed, Cloud's form looked small and vulnerable. His skin had a translucent quality. There was a monitor that steadily beeped at the foot of the bed. Above Cloud hung an IV bag that dripped almost synchronously with the beeping. Drip. Drip. Drip drip. The IV line ran down and over, taped carefully to the skin, and saline and medicine were fed to Cloud's inner elbow. Since Cloud collapsed, he had been unresponsive.
A medical chart clipped to the side of the gurney showed mako measurements high enough to kill a Soldier. When they pulled Cloud's eyelids back to check on him, the blond's bright blue eyes were glowing, so much mako was in his system. Kunsel put the chart back and turned to Cloud.
"Hang in there, buddy," he said, then stepped back out into the rest of the camp.
Kunsel next stopped at the mess. Despite the early hour, the mess was serving food, and a few occupants had already arrived.
"Hey," Essai greeted Kunsel, then shifted over, making a space between himself and Wendell. Sebastian grunted in protest when Essai jostled him, causing a piece of particularly unappetizing-looking protein to tumble off his fork and land back into his tray with a splat.
"Hey yourself," Kunsel said, "What had you all up so early?"
Another Soldier sitting across from them - Dale, Kunsel recalled, they had been on missions together in Midgar - responded grumpily after taking a sip of a dark beverage. "We all share quarters. Once one of us is up, we're all up." He shot a dark look at Essai, who raised his hands up defensively, waving them.
"Look," Essai said, "I can't sleep well camping on the floor."
"Say, how'd did you end up here anyway?" Wendell asked.
"Yeah," Dale chimed in, "Weren't you stationed in Junon?"
Essai nodded. He dropped his voice lower to explain. "I smuggled myself to Wutai with the clothes on my back. All I get as thanks is the floor. Seb won't even share- Ow." Sebastian had smacked Essai on the arm.
Kunsel heard a little about Essai's grand escape (does it count as deserting if he was deserting to …join back up?") They were supposed to keep it quiet, but at this point…well.
"Anyway, Junon. That's how I ran into Zack and the commanders," Essai explained as he rubbed his arm. "They'd been sent to inspect the mako reactor under the- oh…"
The table grew silent.
It was clear what beam of light struck them and set off Mount Tamblin—the mako canon, which stayed dormant for the entire Wutai campaign.
Dale took another swig of his coffee, then slammed it down on the table as though it were a beer flagon. "Damn, Shinra takes us for fools," he growled, "Shooting on his own men."
Wendell started to say, "Maybe it was an-"
"Accident? Impossible. What did he do, trip and fall on the damn launch console?" Dale interrupted, "What do you think, Kunsel?" The Thirds all turned to look at him. Kunsel could only shrug.
"Not sure what happened," Kunsel answered, "But it can't be by accident. Only the President can sanction something like this after a shit load of red tape."
Sebastian's face darkened behind Essai's crestfallen one. "Fuck. What if they send us out to fight again? Rufus can do whatever he wants without me."
Technically, that was desertion, but Kunsel couldn't say he disagreed with the sentiment. Risking their lives for a profit-making company only for that same company to shoot them down. Kunsel shook his head.
"Look, we don't know anything yet. The General was there too and in the same cursed boat as us. When have they ever risked the poster Soldier? Let's just see how this all shakes out."
"Aye," Dale said, and they all dug into the morning gruel.
"The meeting hall is prepared, Lord Kisaragi," Shake bowed at the entrance to Godo's makeshift quarters.
With Fort Tamblin rendered completely unusable and the crosshairs of Junon's canon locked on Wutai City, Godo, and his country sat on the precipice. If Shinra continued the fight now, Wutai would have little else left to give.
Yet Shinra's army was not advancing. Instead, the silver general acquiesced to a meeting—the one they were having now.
The room Godo stepped into had seen better days, as did all Wutai's buildings eight years into the war. Inside, Sephiroth and his lieutenant were already seated, his famed sword nowhere in sight.
They had agreed to meet in a village a ways outside the city. Despite Sephiroth's overtures for peace before, Godo didn't trust the man to come anywhere close to the capital. Likewise, Sephiroth expressed a desire to meet in a relatively neutral place. The room was emptied of anyone else—only Sephiroth, the dark-haired man seated next to him, Godo, and his own aide.
Shake and Goriki both had counseled Godo to hide some ninjas in the building, an idea Godo declined without even needing to contemplate it. He had clashed with Sephiroth when the man was younger and made out with only his life intact. A scar across his side reminded Godo of how deadly Shinra's finest Soldier could be. Sephiroth would know about the ninjas before he came within a hundred paces.
"We meet again," Sephiroth greeted, standing in one smooth motion. His lieutenant stood with him, albeit with far less grace. Godo gestured with his hand, palm up, for them to sit back down before being seated himself.
The tatami mats that filled the hall were gone, leaving bare wood. The repurposed village meeting hall was furnished with Eastern-style chairs and a simple table.
"And yet the circumstances are still dire," Godo said. Sephiroth tilted his head down.
"Yes. They are."
"Your company dropped pamphlets onto Wutai City this morning," Godo said bluntly, "They threaten to fire the Junon canon again if we don't surrender unconditionally." It was a gamble to start with, but Godo was old and wily and something told him Sephiroth wouldn't much approve of the move.
Acid-green eyes narrowed.
"Then I believe it is in both our best interests not to give them a reason to do so," Sephiroth replied smoothly.
Godo sat back even as Shake bristled. Ah, youth.
"Get your troops out, and Wutai won't attack you or interfere with the affairs in the East," Godo said. Sephiroth shook his head.
"The demand is unreasonable. Don't waste my time. Rufus won't leave Wutai alone without some benefit. You know that," Sephiroth said, "The best you can hope for is to keep your government intact." Godo sighed.
"What guarantees do I have that Rufus won't destroy Wutai City anyway?" Sephiroth smiled grimly.
"I suspect Shinra will have other matters that will become more pressing soon enough," he said. "Don't think of me as standing on Rufus's side. I only want to prevent more bloodshed, and am trying to broker a deal Rufus would accept."
Godo crossed his arms and frowned. "We've been here before, and the deal failed. What makes you think you can succeed now?" Sephiroth bowed his head.
"The last attempt indeed failed," he said, then met Godo's stare, "But Rufus Shinra is not his father. It's a matter of leverage and incentives." One of Godo's hands came up to tug on his goatee.
"And how do you think they differ?" Godo asked thoughtfully.
"It's simple," Sephiroth replied, "The former president built the company from the ground up. He needed control over every aspect and wouldn't concede an inch. Rufus, on the other hand, only cares about simple calculus. Profit."
Godo waved at Shake to bring tea. "Why don't you bring the General's companion with you," Godo bid. It was both a way to show Shinra that they had no tricks up their sleeves and a way to get the other two out. Shake nodded reluctantly and motioned for the dark-haired warrior to stand.
"Say," Godo asked as they left, "What became of the golden-haired Soldier?" With the way Sephiroth acted, well. Wutai did have a concept of sword brothers. And Godo suspected there was more to the man besides. The golden shield, for instance.
Sephiroth bristled almost imperceptibly at the question. To anyone else, he might have looked impassable.
"Recovering," Sephiroth replied in a tone that invited no more on the subject.
Curious.
"I see," Godo said, then leaned in and settled for a long negotiation without young, curious ears. And if the negotiation broke down, well. Godo was loyal to his country. And if his eyes weren't mistaken, the General in front of him had a weakness.
Roche's feet took him to the medical tent by instinct, okay? Despite the heavy rain that blew in, he still took the detour on his path to the mess.
After a few days of activity, those who could be treated quickly were swiftly seen and discharged. Thus, the only ones left were the most severely injured, those who couldn't be back on their feet with a simple spell. That left the infirmary more grim than anywhere else.
Yet, Roche could not help but stop by.
The first thing that clued Roche into something not being right was how quiet the ward was. Even though it was mostly empty, there were usually a few medics on staff, ready to treat whatever emergencies came their way, big or small.
The infirmary tent's flap fluttered loosely in the rain, and the rows of beds beyond, some occupied, were brightly lit, with no one to attend to them. Other than the silent hiss of respirators and discordant beeps of different machines, the only sound was heavy raindrops drumming against the tarp that kept the area dry.
Roche never much liked hospitals. At Shinra, the medical beds were indistinguishable from the ones R&D used to enhance Soldiers. The infirmary at Nanzen was made cheery by those who worked in it, and now devoid of a familiar face, the place made the hairs on his skin stand on end.
He slowly walked past the row of beds in the main area and then stared at the closed door leading to one of the private wards, which were, in reality, only sectioned off with heavy fabric and ties. It took him a moment to realize that what felt off was the empty crate in front of the door.
Following Sephiroth's order, they stationed a rotating guard there.
A clatter in the room tipped Roche from hesitation to action. He swung open the flap that blocked the entry, then gasped in shock. Leaning precariously against the gurney, Ramirez was gasping for air. He was bleeding from his chest, and the blood was starting to pool on the floor. Next to him, there was an overturned cart.
"Shit," Roche said and looked around for anything that would stop the bleeding. It was an infirmary. There has to be something, right? Grabbing the closest med pack he could see, Roche dashed back into the room and dropped to his knees next to Ramirez while ripping the pack open with his teeth. "Hang on."
As Roche reached forward with one hand, Ramirez grabbed Roche's wrist weakly, smiring blood over the sleeve. "Je…Jensen went berserk. He…he took Cloud. Tried to stop…"
Roche's head shot up to the bed. It was empty, the sheets messy. At the back of the private ward, there was a diagonal slit in the fabric. Roche got up and poked his head through the slit. It led to the backs of other tents. There were no people, most having gone to dinner. The rain continued to wash new patterns into the mud below, rapidly erasing any tracks. Roche rushed back to Ramirez's side.
"How long?" he asked, pressing a hand over Ramirez's wound, but Ramirez's eyes fluttered closed. Roche growled then, with a grunt, lifted Ramirez onto the empty gurney that once housed Cloud. He dressed the wound with shaking hands, then ran out of the ward, yelling.
"Hey! Any medics? There's someone wounded!"
The answer almost tripped Roche over. Near the desk, there was a corpse lying on the floor. Roche grimaced when he saw the slit throat. Instead of dwelling on it, Roche ran out into the rain and grabbed the first man he saw.
"Get a medic, get anyone. Go to the mess hall. We have injured." The trooper nodded, stupified, then ran away, splattering mud as he did. Roche turned toward the Soldier mess.
When he stormed in, the other Soldiers were still in the middle of eating.
"We have trouble," Roche said, "There's been-"
Suddenly, a loud horn blared. The same one sounded each time there was a monster attack on the camp.
Luxiere looked up and cursed. "Fuck I thought the damn Wutaians would give it a rest," he complained before standing up.
"Wait-" Roche said, "We have another-"
"Tell us after the monster attack."
Zack watched Sephiroth and Godo Kisaragi bow to each other in traditional Wutaian fashion and shake hands in the Eastern way. Across from Zack, Godo's aide was folding away Wutai's copy of the treaty. A second copy was given to Zack for safekeeping. Around them, the tea was cold. Outside, rain had hit the village, and the sound of it pattered across ceramic shingles that adorned the roof of the meeting hall.
"Well, I believe-"
"General!" there was a commotion at the front. After a rushed debate, the gate was flung open to reveal a Soldier in a Third's uniform.
"Attack at camp, sir," the Soldier said. His entire body was tense, as if ready to run Kisaragi through if given the order. Kisaragi's aide tensed, already on his feet at the first hint of trouble, reaching blindly before realizing he had no weapon.
"What attack?" Sephiroth asked.
"Monsters, like the ones Wutai uses-" Kisaragi was the one who interrupted.
"Wutai has nothing to do with this," he said, "We, too, have been plagued by mutant monsters, so much so that we had to divert our forces to cull them in the jungle." He turned to Sephiroth, "Believe me when I say they are a menace to us both. We first thought they were Shinra's doing until they started attacking Shinra's camps as well."
Sephiroth nodded. He turned to the panicked Third. "We're done here. Get the helicopters ready."
Before Sephiroth could step out of the hall, Kisaragi stopped him again. Zack was close enough to hear their low conversation.
"There's a group called Avalanche. I fear their presence has taken deep root in Wutai…and elsewhere." Sephiroth nodded.
"Understood. Take care, Lord Kisaragi."
"And you, General Sephiroth."
Kunsel was not around to greet Zack and Sephiroth as the helicopter touched back down at the camp. The monsters were contained once again, but not without leaving destruction behind. More importantly, they were rapidly losing any possible trails of the missing Cloud.
"Sir," Kunsel greeted, straightening from where he crouched, examining footprints deep in the mud.
"Sebastian said to see you immediately."
Kunsel closed his eyes and then simply said, "Cloud is gone." He was met with silence. When he opened his eyes again, he saw Sephiroth's expression. Eyes wide, he had an almost panicked expression on his face. One Kunsel had never seen on the man. It was Zack who reacted first.
"What do you mean gone?" Zack asked, then in a hopeful tone, he guessed, "Is he awake?" Kunsel shook his head.
"We think another trooper took him. We're still tracking them."
Sephiroth's face turned to anger. "Tell me everything. Now."
I have a theory that Soldiers have more casting capability than normal people. In this world, that makes them more susceptible to downsides, too. I'm taking this idea from Star Ocean 3, where you can also die when MP hits zero. I know you can use infinite ethers in video game logic to keep MP up, but it feels too "magical" in practice. The Mako pills are my way of handling that and are a parallel to the infamous pills many military gave soldiers historically, especially during WWII.