Hollander Lab - Experiment # 7309D January 12, [ μ ] - εγλ 1997
Experimentation Setup
Sample prep with freshly collected G cells: 2 x 0.010 ml
Injection into Specimen D and Specimen δ
Specimen D:
Species: Unenhanced Human
Sex: Male
Age: 24
Power rating: 3.5
Specimen δ:
Species: Wolf
Sex: Male
Age: Estimated at 2 years
Power rating: 4.2
Note: Base physical attributes and combat capabilities were calculated by taking measurements during obstacle trials and pitting specimens against a panel of monsters. Power rating was assigned based on the % progression of the two trials. Ratings are base 10 logarithmic.
Observations
…
Experiment Day 12
Both specimens showed remarkable increases in strength.
Subject D showed minor signs of mutation in line with other Soldier subjects. Noted a lack of mako eye glow due to no mako injection used in the enhancement process. The subject still acquired cat-like morphology, suggesting this mutation is highly specific to source cells.
Subject δ exhibited marked increases in combat capabilities but also underwent significant external mutation. Subject δ also exhibited higher aggression toward nonenhanced specimens of the same species.
…
Experiment Day 48
Both subjects performed significantly better against the panel of monsters.
Subject D power rating: 4.3
Subject δ power rating: 4.5
Where Subject D advanced significantly more, both subjects exhibited measurable speed, strength, and agility improvements. No cognitive decline was measured in Subject D, but a significant decline was observed in Subject δ. Subject δ presented a challenge to trial handlers and exhibited strong disinclination to follow commands.
…
Experiment Day 87
Subject D power rating: 2.8
Subject δ power rating: 4.4*
Subject D showed significant deterioration of combat capabilities. The breakdown was sudden, with subsequent measurements showing degradation acceleration. Regression of combat capabilities resulted in Subject D being weaker than the starting baseline. Subject D's internal systems are also beginning to fail. Subject D became less cooperative. Unknown if this is related to cognitive decline or due to irritability from general malaise.
Subject δ continued to exhibit deteriorated cognition. Power measurements for Subject δ are likely inaccurate due to complete belligerence toward handlers and disinclination to follow the obstacle course. The subject does not appear motivated by the threat of pain or food.
…
Conclusions
Mako-free treatments with G cells may result in significantly accelerated mutation and degradation. Degradation appears in humans differently from monsters. More data is needed to determine vectors for why this difference occurs and what aspects of monster physiology make them more or less susceptible to certain kinds of degradation. Subjects D expired on Day 129, and Subject δ was terminated on 130. The experiment will be repeated on Subjects E and ε.
XIV. Decamping Enemy
True to his word, Genesis was back on his feet in a worryingly short amount of time, given his state only hours prior. Everyone pretended not to see the blood Genesis still occasionally hacked up. They headed out in heavy silence, a sharp contrast to the lighthearted banter the company shared only the day prior.
Wutai was turning out to be every bit as formidable as thought. The entire company would not have survived the attack if they had been troopers.
The rest of the trek was thankfully uneventful, and they approached the outskirts of Toin when the full moon was at its zenith, casting the forest around them in eerie blue and obviating the need for any other light source. If anyone were watching, the glow of Soldiers' eyes would appear like a pack of predatory beasts prowling silently in the dark.
The landing zone was a ways outside of the village walls. Scouting turned up a few light defensive positions. There was no activity indicating Wutaians were on high alert. They set up a temporary camp to catch what shut-eye they could right next to the enemy's perimeter.
"Gamma team en route," a trooper confirmed over the soft crackling of the comms unit, and Kunsel breathed a sigh of relief, "ETA oh-three-hundred, read back, over."
"ETA oh-three-hundred. Confirmed, over."
"We have wounded. Can you prepare to medevac?"
"Roger, sir. The stranded team made it back and let us know what happened."
"Thanks. Alpha team, out."
"Hey," Sebastian ducked down and offered a food pack to Kunsel and Wendel. They both accepted gratefully. Kunsel ripped it open and bit into the dried jerky he found inside.
"Glad to see you're back on your feet," Kunsel said. To Sebastian's chagrin, he was taken out by a lucky Wutaian spell. Privately, Kunsel thought Sebastian might be too used to Essai watching his six. Luxiere made a poor substitute. Thankfully, Sebastian did respond to the cure spell. Kunsel was relieved to see the other man back to fighting form, even if he was favoring a shoulder.
"Hah, almost wasn't. Thanks," Sebastian replied.
"Genesis?" The Soldiers had all been keeping an eye on the commander. For all his bravado, Genesis was still more wan than they had ever seen him.
"Chicobo's looking out," Sebastian answered, and the three of them chuckled. No one has called Cloud that to his face yet. But over the last few days, most Soldiers warmed to Cloud. Contrary to expectations, the kid held his own in a firefight. And by the looks of it, canny in the field. Almost too much so. Kunsel made a note to subtly prob Cloud a bit if they made it out of this alive.
"How's scouting?" Kunsel asked between chewing on the tough meat with relish, more from staving off hunger than from any particular taste for the ration. Sebastian shrugged.
"Entrenched from here to Toin, but thankfully light on the flank like Gainsborough predicted."
Kunsel finished off his jerky and hummed. "Well, it's about time something went according to plan."
"You can't account for weather," Wendel said, grin crooked.
"Hey," Sebastian asked, "What do you think is preventing Genesis from healing? Some new Wutaian anti-Soldier poison?"
The trio went silent. It had been nagging at Kunsel, too. He had seen third-class Soldiers shrug off a wound like that in the field with a timely cure, never mind a first like Genesis.
"Whatever it is, hope there isn't more where that came from," Wendel said as he bit into his meal.
They heard footsteps, and then the brush was pushed aside. Kunsel relaxed. "Hans, Olen." It figured. Hans Zabac, Wendell Loire, and Olen Seagill were almost a package deal. Where one went, the others weren't far behind. What was surprising was the man following behind them. "Ah, Cloud."
Cloud nodded in acknowledgment, then turned to Kunsel. "Any word on the main force?"
"They're on schedule." Cloud nodded.
"I'll let Genesis know."
Kunsel turned to the others gathered around. "Pass the word along, and let's get some shut-eye for a couple of hours. Things are about to get loud around here."
As Cloud nodded and turned to leave, Kunsel caught a flicker in the soft moonlight.
The kid hadn't replaced his broken glasses, knocked off in the fight against the behemoth. Seems like Cloud's eyesight wasn't so bad, and as Cloud explained, they were lab safety rated and thus thankfully shatterproof. A saving grace, it turned out. It also meant that it was the first time Kunsel saw how expressive Cloud's eyes were, and in the moonlit night, it almost seemed like they glowed.
Kunsel shook his head. It must be the moonlight playing tricks. Human eyes that glowed could only be Soldier's eyes, but that would be pretty recognizable, especially in this group.
Time to get some rest. His eyes were tired.
"Firefight spotted below," the pilot reported.
Clay peered out and gave an appreciative whistle.
"Those boys pulled through. Tough motherfuckers."
When part of the Alpha team stumbled back, Clay feared the worst. Was about to call off the whole operation. Thankfully, the Soldiers corrected him and joined the main attack force instead. Looks like their faith was not misplaced.
"Secure the airspace," Clay commanded as he tugged the straps on his harness down, securing himself more tightly, then grabbed onto the machine gun, jutting out the side of the circling helicopter. Being escorted was a contingent of Gelnikas, ramps open to deploy helitroopers and paratroopers.
"Missiles incoming!"
The pilot swerved and deployed flares. The explosion rocked the helicopter, but it remained airborne. Spotting the flash below, Clay fired on the position. Ahead, flashes of magic lit the forest as Soldiers engaged.
"Take us down under the tree line. We're sitting chocobos up here."
Above them came a sharp screech.
"Airborne units incoming!"
Sebastian only winced when an explosion from a Firaga landed too close for comfort. Artillery bombardment started from the east, where the diversionary force kept the Wutaians busy. That was their cue.
The flank was more lightly guarded, but the fighters were no less ferocious. The Wutaians wasted no time putting pilfered materia back into use against Shinra. He threw up some protective magic and then dashed forward from his position, slashing down a Wutaian fighter and then taking down the caster he was guarding in the middle of channeling magic toward a landing aircraft.
"Well, if they didn't know we were here, they do now," Luxiere quipped, guarding Sebastian's flank.
Ahead, two more bursts of fire and then the sound of another antiaircraft missile.
"Shit!"
The missile was met halfway by a chunk of rock, which knocked it off course. The missile traveled a little more and then exploded harmlessly in the sky.
Sebastian glanced back. Cloud and Genesis were holding off a group of Wutaians. Seeing Genesis back in fighting form was a relief. He was fast enough to cover Cloud on a cast.
"Fucking amazing aim," Luxiere begrudgingly praised. Then, neither of them was saying anything anymore as they engaged the trio of Wutaians who fired the missile.
"Get down!" Sebastian heard. They both did so on instinct as a monster swooped overhead. Looking behind them, they saw Kunsel leap toward it as it swooped down again. The edge of his blade caught a wing, and the garuda crashed into the ground. Kunsel dispatched the bird quickly from there. Above them, another sharp screech sounded.
"Garuda is attacking one of the choppers!"
Sebastian looked up overhead. The helicopter was still airborne, machine gun fire shooting out the side, but the trained Wutaian bird was a much more agile flier than the mechanical one. It danced around the helicopter, narrowly dodging out of the way of its spinning blades as it unleashed a barrage of magic. A lucky hit knocked out the tail, and the helicopter twirled out of control. They watched the men inside leap out as the thing crashed into the jungle nearby, its blades shattering against Wutaian timber.
The garuda screeched again and then circled overhead, looking for the next target.
"Shit, get its attention!" Kunsel shouted. Luxiere shook his head.
"I'm out of mana." He looked at Sebastian, who also shook his head.
"Nothing long range. Give me a boost? Maybe I can get high enough."
A burst of gunfire marked Ramirez joining them, his rifle aimed at the Garuda. The bullets made contact, and it turned its head to them, angered.
"Incoming!"
Sebastian grinned as it swooped down. No reason to be outdone by Kunsel.
Roche swung his sword at the foulander, who leaped out of range of his blade and then was met by a scatter of bullets from Jensen.
They were moving slower than the others. Jensen was tasked with guarding the long-range comms unit. Not that Roche thought it did much good. It was chaos overhead. And they told him this was with most of the Wutaian forces diverted to the east?
"Come in, Alpha team," the radio crackled. Roche recognized that drawl.
"Aarde, good to hear you made it back," Roche answered. There was a laugh on the radio.
"Sounds like we had an easier time than y'all," he answered. Then, in a tone of seriousness, he said, "We are on one of the Gelnikas. Fifteen minutes out. Think the airspace will be clear by then?"
Roche nodded his head though Aarde wouldn't be able to see, and responded, "You can bet your sorry ass on it." The radio went silent halfway through a barking laugh, and Roche turned to Jensen, who immediately said, "I'll get the word out."
Roche grinned.
"Let's rev this baby up!"
Genesis could feel the injection of energy was waning quickly. He finished dispatching a pet Vajradhara, armored to the tusks, and Cloud fought at his back against the Wutai captain who commanded it.
They were doing their best to hold off the reinforcements from Toin, now cottoned on to the two-pronged attack they faced. They only needed to do so for a little longer while the drop was completed. Around them, other Soldier teams did the same, keeping the Toin side cut off from the Wutaian defenses closest to the landing zone.
Seeing that Cloud was holding off the captain fine alone, Genesis dashed toward the next group of enemies, a spell already channeling.
In hindsight, Genesis would admit that he got hasty. He didn't know when his malaise would affect him again and wanted to finish up with this group as quickly as possible. That made him sloppy. The first wave of Wutaian's were sent flying with the spell, but a second wave emerged from the smoke, dashing at almost the same speed as him. Ninja.
The lead fighter, a slightly looking woman, threw a large shuriken at him, which Genesis easily dodged. When he turned to attack, she was already darting out of the way, letting out waves of wind at him, followed by another toss of her weapon. Genesis assumed a guard position, letting the wind break harmlessly over his rapier. Then, with a twist, he knocked the flying weapon off course. A point embedded deeply into the ground.
"Shit," the ninja cursed, then darted backward on her feet, putting herself out of the range of Genesis's sword. Seeing his opening, Genesis lunged just as her feet left the ground. The ninja's eyes widened, unable to adjust quickly in midair.
"Sis!"
Genesis's rapier met a metal staff with a solid clank. The masked brown-haired man growled back at him. The weight of Genesis's strength in a single hand pushed him back. Genesis disengaged with his opponent when the female ninja tried to attack him from behind while he was preoccupied.
As the man ran forward, staff held in front of him, and a third ninja flew in from the trees, flying knives aimed. Genesis backed off and guarded against the projectiles.
"You're wasting my time," Genesis said, frustrated. He aimed a quick low-level fire spell at the new assailant, then stepped toward the female ninja, still weaponless. The staff wielder did what he expected, moving into the block. An opening.
"No, Sonon!" Genesis started channeling another spell as his blade struck, ready to knock the staff off course and leave the man open, but halfway through the channeling… failed. His magic gave a shutter and was simply no longer there. His fingertips burned painfully. Genesis was so shocked he faltered in his attack. He hadn't been using that much magic. How -?
At the same time, the third ninja capitalized on Genesis's brief distraction to throw a knife. A helmet, of all things, drew an arc in the air, knocking the knife off course.
Genesis's vision hazed with pain as the burning sensation traveled up his arm. He grimaced as he pushed on, channeling what magic he could into his other hand. He slashed forward, rapier lighting up with mana. The blade of energy that left its tip met flesh, and the ninja went down with a cry of pain. The attack left a lingering scent of cauterized flesh. In his peripheral vision, he saw the staff coming in for another hard blow. Genesis tried to dodge, but it would be too late.
Cloud's sword swung forward, the boy impressively quick on his feet as he darted forward from where he had tossed his helmet. The brown-haired ninja quickly switched stances to block. As Cloud stepped between him and the assailant, spiky blond hair filled Genesis's vision. Cloud knocked the staff aside, staring down the two ninjas before him.
"I can defend myself just fine," Genesis growled, already positioning himself to close the sloppy openings he left. His muscles ached as fatigue began to set in again.
"I'm saving my own ass," Cloud shot back. "Also, can you imagine what Angeal and Sephiroth would do to me if I didn't watch your back?"
Heh, cheeky kid.
"I doubt Sephiroth is thinking about my back," Genesis quipped. Cloud wasn't given a chance to respond.
Genesis thought he might have hallucinated what happened next, as Cloud met the staff with his sword while summoning pillars of earth to shield against blades of wind from the woman. With a solid kick, Cloud sent made contact with the staff in midair. The man had the weapon up to guard himself, and the kick knocked him back. The earth magic, almost at point blank, sent him flying back into a tree and the forest.
A page out of Genesis's own book.
The female ninja gritted her teeth at Cloud. Genesis couldn't see Cloud's expression, but their enemy seemed to acknowledge whatever was there, and she fled after her companion.
Cloud turned to Genesis and frowned with concern.
"I think it's time to leave the fight to the reinforcements."
Kunsel ducked just in time for a battle axe to swing overhead, barely grazing his helmet, still miraculously on all this time. The warrior shouted as he lept down after Kunsel, who raised his sword to block. His Soldier uniform stuck to him, soaked through and doing more to weigh him down than provide a measure of protection.
The battle waged through the morning and into the afternoon. Judging by the light, it was about to be sundown again. Like clockwork, heavy rain dumped on them, and the mud made combat even trickier. Kunsel could feel his muscles tiring. They felt tighter with every sword swing. Exhaustion was setting in, even as enhanced as he was.
Without warning, a stream of ninja stars flew at Kunsel. So wildly they flew, Kunsel's Wutaian opponent released an incomprehensible curse and disengaged.
"Ugly Shrina Soldier dudes must be punished!" a high-pitched voice shouted from the trees. The Wutaian groaned in…exasperation?
It made Kunsel feel a strange sense of kinship that he couldn't put a finger on. Like he made that same groan at some point.
Out darted -
"A little kid?" Kunsel asked. The kid - younger than Cloud by quite a bit, so definitely a kid - put one hand on her hips and held another up to point at Kunsel.
"It's over for you! Now you need to face Wutai's greatest warrior," she moved her arm so that her thumb pointed towards her own nose, "Me!"
Suddenly, he understood what his enemy was feeling. Kunsel felt a strong wave of sympathy wash over him. Kid sisters. right. Can't live with them, absolutely can't without them.
Kunsel turned to the person he was fighting.
"Dude, you might want to get her out of here." The exasperated man nodded, a look of gratefulness on his face when he realized that Kunsel wasn't going to press his advantage. There was another shout as another Wutaian chased after the little girl. The look on his face was a lot more furious.
"Get away from Princess Yuffie, Shinra dog!" Kunsel heard but didn't see the sound of a smack as he turned his attention to the new attacker. But judging by the sound and Kunsel's own familiarity with it, that was a facepalm. Yeah, Kunsel thought the new guy was an idiot, too. He just made the little girl - Princess Yuffie - the highest priority target on the battlefield. One that Kunsel was thankfully too occupied to pay attention to as he raised his sword to defend.
"Hey, get back here!"
Kunsel's first opponent chased after the wayward princess, who darted quickly away.
"Shit," Kunsel said as he fended off the enraged man, "Not that way!" He turned his head to look, a warning on his tongue. While the heaviest of the fighting took place in the cover of the forest, many Wutai troops were stationed at high vantage points and in clearings where they could get a decent shot. They were on the edge of one such clearing. Helicopters swirled overhead, shooting at anything that moved.
For his distraction, Kunsel was rewarded with a stabbing pain in his thigh. He fell to one knee as he continued fending off his attacker.
"Kunsel!" Luxiere shouted, sword out and heading toward him. Kunsel pushed back his attacker with a burst of strength, and Luxiere slashed at him. While Luxiere dealt with the man, Kunsel turned to where the girl had run, certain he was about to witness a tragedy. Just as the girl stepped one foot into the clearing, a red shadow swooped out, twisting around her. Between one blink and the next, the girl was gone. Kunsel held up a sword, but instead of attacking, the red shadow leaped away. Turning to his other two opponents, neither seemed particularly bothered by what just occurred, both turning to focus on Kunsel and Luxiere instead.
Godsdamnit.
Suddenly, the loud, distinctive sound of the Wutaian war shell bellowed through the woods. The sound bounced off the surrounding valley walls, seeming to come from all directions.
"Shit," Kunsel's first opponent cursed, "Ito, we are going." The other man also cursed and flung a few throwing stars at Luxiere, more as a distraction than to cause any damage, as they both disengaged. Luxiere looked after them but decided not to chase. Instead, he offered a hand to Kunsel, who wobbled to his feet, his thigh burning with pain.
"Looks like the main force breached the outer wall," Luxiere said. Above them rose an ominous black smoke that swirled into the atmosphere around the rotors of landing Gelnikas.
Luxiere half carried a limping Kunsel in some direction. Kunsel was hazy about the details as the pain in his leg started to feel like knives stabbing up and down his leg. Perhaps there was some credence to the idea that Wutaians were lacing their weapons with anti-Soldier poison. Kunsel didn't know how much time passed, but he found himself left in a hastily erected field camp half dug into a hillside, sandbags still in the middle of being piled high. Luxiere gingerly sat him down on a crate.
Around them, troopers and Soldiers were hurrying to and from, clean and bloodied bandages and cure materia in hand. Roche apparently had returned and was helping fill sandbags with Seagill. Every so often, the wounded were being hauled back, and depending on their state, they were healed and sent back out or kept to help in camp.
"Cleared for landing. Get the wounded ready to go," a familiar voice called out. Kunsel's head shot up just as Cloud strode out past the flap of a tent. His tone left no room for questions, back straight as he directed Soldiers around him easily twice his size.
Cloud turned to Roche and barked, "Get the stretcher."
Roche straightened immediately as if lightning shot down his spine.
"Yes, sir!" then he recognized Cloud, and his face went slack. "Uh, wait…"
Clay watched thoughtfully as the last of the helicopters escorting the wounded took off. They had pushed far enough that it was safe enough for medevac. As safe as any part of Wutai was, anyway.
The famed commander Genesis Rhapsodos.
Well, the reputation certainly holds. A small contingent of Soldiers managed to flank the Wutaians, something Clay had to see to believe. It remained to be seen what price they would pay for it. Rhapsodos looked to be in a bad way before he was packed onto a helicopter by his aide, bound for Nanzen camp. No medicine or materia seemed to do the man any good.
He turned to Genesis's second in command.
This entire time, he hadn't seen the boy's face once. But then again, Soldiers and troopers were always shiny and masked when they first came.
"Well, you might as well come with Kohari."
Clay picked carefully through the burning carnage that made up the outskirts of Toin as sounds of fighting continued not too far in the distance, further into the village. Ahead of him, a contingent of his men fan out, sweeping the abandoned homes around them. Nearby, an empty field smoldered. Likely only yesterday, it was filled with bountiful crops.
The other man was still limping slightly from his leg wound. The flesh may have healed, but the brain remembers the pain.
"It's horrifying," Kunsel commented as they walked.
"Aye," Clay said, not for the first time wishing he could light up a cigarette. He quit years ago, but war brought out his worst impulses. Instead, he warned, "Watch where you step. If it's anything like Nanzen, the place is booby-trapped to hell. You lads are lucky they didn't think to mine the forest."
Kunsel cursed.
"Aren't they destroying their own homes?" Clay laughed humorlessly.
"We are the ones doing the destroying," he said, shaking his head. "No, first they evacuate the women and children. Then, they burn everything Shinra could use to the ground. They'll fight us tooth and nail on the retreat. Trap and mine what they can. If they follow the pattern, they'll attack what supply lines we set up next. Try to slow us down."
"That's what's been going on this entire war?" Kunsel asked, sounding horrified. Clay shrugged. Other horrific sights flashed in his mind.
"The Wutaians are fighting for their homes. We're fighting for Shinra's profit. Who can blame them?" Clay's thoughts flashed to his own home. Someday soon.
Kunsel stewed silently as they continued walking further into the city. Fires already swept through, burning the wooden buildings to the studs. The roads were pockmarked with explosions from prior bombing runs.
Clay sighed, "Better tell the top brass. This thing is going faster than I expected with Soldiers here, but I imagine a lot slower than they hoped."
"Wouldn't that mean the Wutaians will have more time to dig in defensive positions?" Clay laid a hand on Kunsel's shoulder.
"If you think they haven't already, I'd wonder if you were actually born yesterday. But I think you're smarter than you look. It's taken us half a year to take Toin after Nanzen. More if we want to hold Toin. You think they won't prepare in that time?"
Kunsel shook his head, reality slowly sinking in.
"They might fight to the last woman and child at this rate."
"Wutaians are like that. They know they can't keep at this forever, but they'll make Shinra bleed for every inch of soil. The company doesn't care about blood, but money…well, that could make them think twice. And this is costing both."
"Glad you see you made it back in one piece," Angeal greeted Zack. "There were reports about a daring parachute escapade with the Turks? And you thought those Turk gigs were boring."
"Angeal," Zack whined, then pouted. After Reno came to pick Zack up, they dropped him off at the HQ and left with the suspect. The redhead asked Zack if anything else happened, and Zack simply shook his head. Reno shot him a look Zack couldn't really decipher but didn't ask anything else.
Angeal crossed his arms across his chest and smirked. Now that has to be a look he learned from Genesis.
"Here I thought you'd be so bored you'd jump at the chance for a 'real Soldier' mission and a change of scenery." Zack perked up.
"What, why didn't you say soon sooner, man? Where to?"
"Sephiroth, you, and me. Lazard cleared us to go to Junon on a mission. A mission for the president, even."
Zack felt unease.
Back to Junon, huh?
Faces of troopers flashed in Zack's mind. A mission in Junon. With Angeal and Sephiroth. He could do this. Junon was a major military base. Zack couldn't avoid the place forever. Zack took a deep breath in.
"Yes!" he crowed, faking enthusiasm. Then he asked, "Huh, Pres's orders? Thought he was keeping Soldiers in Midgar."
"You can leave that to me," Lazard's voice traveled from down the hall. The blond man waved at the two Soldiers, Sephiroth trailing not far behind.
Tseng looked up when the doors slid open, then looked away. It was only Lazard, running slightly late for the scheduled meeting. Ever since Rufus took office, the man had been acting more erratic. Still, things were getting done, and Rufus seemed almost amused at his (not so secret) half-brother's subtle rebellion.
"The campaign in Toin is a success," Heidegger reported, "The village is encircled. It's only a matter of time."
Rufus frowned.
"You said we would be capturing Fort Tamblin already."
Heidegger stumbled.
"Sir," he hastened to explain, "Timelines on these things are unpredictable -"
"You have until the end of the month to deliver a winning plan," Rufus said, eyes narrow, making him look more like his father than ever before. Dark Nation growled at his side as if emphasizing the man's words. "It may not be apparent, but Shinra is a business, and I'm interested in seeing returns."
"I-"
Rufus turned away from Heidegger.
"Professor Hollander? What are you doing here?"
Essai had been stationed for months now in Junon. Recently, there had been a ramp-up in activity between deployments to Wutai (including Genesis! The Genesis!) and monster activity that remained elevated. To have one of the top scientists visiting, though?
The kindly professor smiled.
"Not to worry. Simple research trip," he said. Essai nodded.
"Do you…need an escort?" Essai dreaded to hear the answer. Research and Development trips were rarely simple. Thankfully. the man shook his head.
"I'll be staying in upper Junon. Perfectly safe." Essai nodded. Hollander wasn't unsettling like Hojo, but something about him still made Soldiers nervous.
"If you need something, let us know."
A/N: There are various references/ easter eggs in some of the chapters. I don't always call them out, but one I will mention concerns Zabac, Seagill, and Loire. This refers to the FFVIII trio Laguna, Kiros, and Ward, who were soldiers in the Galbadian army. I quite liked FFVIII and think there are a lot of similarities between VII and VIII. For example- Cetra vs. Centra as an ancient civilization, pre-occupation with a threat from outer space (in FFVIII's case there was the Lunatic Pandora), and protagonists with messed up memories.
That said, there is no connection between FFVII and VIII implied in the timelines here.
As always, thank you for all the comments, favs, and follows!
