"WHAT!?"
Kyrie's hands immediately shot up to cover Aerith's mouth before she could yell anymore. The small-time criminal nervously looked around the bar to see if that outburst had attracted any attention. Thankfully, most people had already cleared out, getting ready for their work day or school. Even the majority of Tifa's part-time workers were gone, now that the morning rush had died out. Only a handful of hanger-ons or late shifters were still about. And sure enough, the two girls were getting a few curious and amused glances sent their way. But seeing that no one was in danger, everyone went back to minding their own business.
Signing a little in relief, Kyrie let go of Aerith's mouth.
"What are you doing!?" The tomboy harshly whispered to her… friend? Yeah, they were sort of friends now. Or something similar. They had even been getting along surprisingly well, despite their odd history. Present outburst excluded, of course. "Are you trying to bring the whole sector down on us?"
"S-sorry." The mage said abashedly, glancing around the room self consciously as she lowered her own voice. "But what the hell Kyrie! You shouldn't make jokes like that. What if Tifa overheard you?"
"Whose joking?"
"You, you punk!"
"I'm not–!" Kyrie cut herself off, trying to rein her temper in and not say anything she couldn't take back. "I wasn't joking, Aerith. If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. I get it… it's embarrassing. But don't blow your top and bite my head off!"
The two girls glared at each other for a full minute, before the healer caved.
"Are you being serious? Like, actually serious?" Aerith said in disbelieving wonder, as if mako wasn't green anymore and the sky wasn't metal. "What makes you think that we're going to have sex with Cloud? Or that Tifa is going to… encourage that?"
"I mean… because of the clues?" Kyrie said, now faltering a little at the other girl's blank look and nugget of doubt making her wonder if she had misread the situation. No she hadn't, she was certain of that much. Not to toot her own horn, but the tomboy was pretty great at spotting patterns. But maybe …it was just that her fellow Fiver didn't have as much context to work with as her? Should she try to walk the flower girl through her thought process? Perhaps. "Okay, hear me out. What do we know about Cloud?"
"He's an Ex-Soldier, he's dating Tifa, and works as a mercenary." Aerith said slowly, thankfully humoring her. "There were also some rumors about him being… well, a prostitute or something. But he's no longer offering services, for obvious reasons ." She emphasized that last part.
"All true. And surprisingly, all relevant evidence." Kyrie said as she nodded along in agreement.
Although, she had to cringe a bit inside when her friend mentioned the… uh, gossipy parts. She was honestly starting to feel a little guilty about spreading those stories about the blonde. It was one thing to do it to strangers, a whole other to people you actually shared a drink with. It kind of made her feel icky. But in her defense, it turned out he was a sex fiend anyway! She did, after all, witness it with her own two eyes. So it wasn't like she was actually lying … just embellishing certain exploits. Putting the cart before the chocobo, as the saying goes. No need to feel remorse or anything. Probably. Unfortunately with Aerith, she couldn't go too in depth on how she knew certain details. All the stuff she learned during her… ehem, "investigation". It may be considered somewhat socially unacceptable in polite company. So, a little more fibbing to back up her claims may be needed. Just to bridge certain gaps in knowledge without exposing herself. That wasn't going to cause any harm, right?
"But the last part especially." The troublemaker continued without missing a beat, all while organizing her thoughts. "You see, our hero wasn't just turning tricks for money. By all accounts he was addicted to sex… and the extra gil was just a nice bonus. The cherry on top if you will. But … how do you think he managed to go cold turkey, after years of debauchery?"
"Through sheer will power? And… Tifa taking care of it when that's not enough?"
"And you'd be half right, my pink friend." The tomboy said sagely, steepling her fingers and letting the words marinate for dramatic effect. She couldn't help herself. Kyrie was just naturally charismatic like that. 50% of convincing someone you were telling the truth was body language. She read that in a book somewhere. "But even someone as fit as Tifa is going to have a hard time handling a sex addled superhuman all by herself. So… what do you think is the obvious solution to such a dilemma? Other than kicking him to the curb, of course."
"Well… they could…you know, maybe…" Aerith petered off, as the answer started to formulate in her head. "No… you're not implying that…" She leaned forward to whisper this next part. "She's letting him sleep around, are you? Like… with Jessie?"
"Not just imply, I can confirm. And not just Jessie, because here comes the juicy bit." Kyrie said, grinning wider as she saw how hooked on the story the gardener was. "Tifa's not just allowing him to sleep around. No… she's actively recruiting new girls to join them in bed. With Jessie acting as her second in command, to boot! How might I know all this, you may wonder? Because I witnessed it with my own two peepers last night!"
"No way! Who? How!?"
"Some girl named Nayo." Kyrie casually said, shrugged nonchalantly as if she wasn't dropping bomb after bomb. "Another friend of theirs apparently. I'm not going to give you a play by play right now, otherwise we'd be here all afternoon. But! Jessie was there to bless the tryst. Even gave her tips on how to schmooze Tifa for a permanent invite into their little club. Made it clear to everyone there that the barmaid approved of what was happening. Hell, the man himself barely changed expression at the idea of getting passed around like a bargain sale hat! And that... is why Cloud wasn't in his apartment last night."
The tomboy took a gulp of water for her parched throat, giving Aerith a moment to take it in and finally connect the dots.
"Whoa…" The mage said in awe, a stunned look about her. "B-but… what does that have to do with us? I like to think we're all friends but… we just met them! Jessie and Tifa have been attached at the hip for years, and this Nayo sounds like she's probably known them just as long. Why would they invite a bunch of strangers into their bed?"
"Simple really. All those rumors about him…" Kyrie said, stalling a little to think of how she was going to say what she knew without sounding like a voyeur. "...underplayed his sexual prowess. By a lot. He's too much for them."
"Too much for three women?" Aerith asked, skeptically.
"Three… that we know about." The tomboy said, enjoying the sight of her friend's eyes widening. "As far as we're concerned, the Soldier's got a dozen women out there that he tosses the bedsheets with. So if we were to speculate a little… us getting recruited is par for course. Like generals trying to enlist soldiers for battle."
"Don't be gross." Aerith scolded, but couldn't hold back her giggle. "You're making it seem like it's one diabolical plot to get in our panties!"
"I'm not saying Jessie and Tifa aren't genuine friends." Kyrie said, not wanting to make it sound like she was accusing the girls of anything. "I'm sure they are. But looking the way we do, probably went a long way in attracting their attention. No ego but you and me? We're hot stuff. At least physically, we two are the most eligible bachelorettes in all of sector 5! I mean, there are hundreds of slum girls down on their luck… but the redhead picked me? Kind of suspicious."
"Yeah… but… I'm the one who approached Tifa." The mage said reluctantly, looking a little sad as she admitted this. "Even if what you're saying is true… and I'm still not sure about that, I don't think I'm one of these "recruits". I sort of pressured her into letting me tag along."
"Oh, poor little flower girl." The schemer mocked, tickled pink by the sour look she got for it. "C'mon Aerith, you got to read between the lines! Not everyone is just going to boldly proposition you like your old boyfriend. Think about it, she invited you to lunch where the two of you got to know each other. Probably making sure you weren't a psychopath or something. And then BAM! She starts talking about Cloud, playing him up in all her stories and making sure you have a positive opinion of him."
"Maybe…"
"And then she just "happens" to let slip that she's sleeping with him? Even straight up telling you he's a sex addict? Kind of a daring topic for someone you just met."
"That's true…"
"And you pressuring her? No offense, but you're not the most intimidating girl on this side of the planet Aerith. And have you seen Tifa's muscles? The scars on her fists? That is not a girl who gets pushed into doing something she doesn't want."
"I can be scary…" The mage muttered to herself, before looking up an uncertain expression. "You don't think they… planned for this do you? Engineered a run-in with us?"
Kyrie pretended to think about it seriously, letting her friend sweat it a bit. But unable to fake it any longer, she cracked up in laughter. "Nah, it's not that deep. They probably just saw an opportunity, and wanted to capitalize on it. And maybe not even that much. If anything, I wouldn't be surprised if they're just testing the water with us first. Might not even invite us for months, if ever. Jessie told me last night it's not a sex cult and… I believe her. It kind of just seems like a sexy friend group, if anything"
"I… guess that makes sense." Aerith said, her eyes reflected how dazed she was by all this information. "But wow, that's a lot to wrap my head around. It feels so weird knowing I might be scouted for a harem." She blinked up astonished at Kyrie. "And you're gonna say yes if they do ask? What about all that stuff last night about finding ?"
"I never said I was looking for love." The hat girl said, digging back into her cold meal. No point in wasting good food. "Even if I was, that could take years! I don't exactly got a lot of elligable guys falling through my roof, unlike a cetain someone. And...it's not like I'm really saving myself for anybody. I just want someone handsome, clean, and whose money I can spend. Cloud… pretty much hits the first two. Maybe I could negotiate the third? I did tease the thought of maybe trying to take him for myself for a hot moment." Seeing Aerith's unimpressed look, she quickly ripped her toast and popped a piece into her mouth, mumbling. "I'm not gonna anymore! It was just a passing thought. And… I realized it wouldn't be worth the bad blood if I tried to pull something like that. Truthfully, I was kind of iffy about the whole thing last night but the more I thought about it on the walk over… the more the idea kind of jelled with me."
"Joining a harem started to make sense to you?" Aerith asked in disbelief. "But you want to discuss terms first?"
"Well… yeah. I'm not asking for a lot, just… if you're going to open this treasure box… take care of me too, you know?"
"Was that what changed your mind?"
"It wasn't just one thing really." Counting off her fingers, she started listing off her reasons. "I get along with Jessie and Tifa, which is a plus. And since they've been doing it for a while and haven't killed each other in a jealous rage yet, then they probably figured out some balance. So hopefully, drama free. Also, if I can get Cloud to take care of me financially as well as physically… I don't know." She shrugged a shoulder. "The idea of being their mistress or something, didn't sound so bad."
"That's… a very logical way of thinking." Aerith said lamely, looking too stunned. "But what about–"
CRACK!
The sudden noise caused the two startled girls' heads shot up in surprise… only to see that the bar had empty out of patrons some time ago. Unfortunately, that left three people still in the building. So absorbed in their conversation, they had forgotten to keep an eye out for eavesdroppers. And in that moment of inattention, the owner of Seventh Heaven had approached their table without them noticing. And holding two pieces of a broken plate, the fresh pancakes now dirty on the floor, they looked up to see a horrified expression on Tifa Lockhart's face,
000
Yuffie thought she might be having a fever dream, an unfortunate side effect of her late night "scouting mission".
By the time she had gotten back to her safehouse for some much needed rest, she was worn out to the bone. So much so that she… well, accidentally over slept. By the time she woke up and rushed back to Nayo's apartment everyone was already gone! And not a single clue where they went. Not even a stinking message from HQ, beyond a vague excuse from Billy-Bob that they had some errands to run and not to worry.
Well, she was worried! Because every cell in her body was screaming at her that something was going on, that everyone suddenly being "busy" was NOT a coincidence.
And she was right!
Because except for that big boobed Wutain girl at Seventh Heaven, every known Avalanche member was MIA. Something major was going down and this beautiful ninja wasn't going to be left out. If there was trouble and mischief afoot, the White Rose wanted to be in the thick of it!
Unfortunately, after about a solid half-hour of watching her, the bartender didn't seem to be doing anything interesting. This Tifa … was just puttering around her kitchen cooking food and cleaning up. She was acting like some goddang housewife, while her friends were missing! This girl did not have her priorities straight.
Or maybe she did?
Was she assigned to hold the fort or something? Maybe left behind while all the important members were out actually doing the real work? Perhaps she was just eye candy? The woman certainly looked the part, despite the muscles. From her hiding spot she he saw the barmaid murmuring the merc's name, before giggling a little. Wow, that girl had it bad! Were those two together? Maybe a girlfriend, considering how obviously smitten she was? Yuffie could have sworn she heard the blonde saying her name a few times last night, even he was guts deep in Nayo. So~o...there had to be some romantic connection.
But did… she know where her boy was last night?
Possibly, since Tifa did not at all look stressed, despite the man being gone all night. A regular girl would have been blowing up her boyfriend's phone demanding answers.
Could he or she… uh, be into that kind of kink? And not just cheating like she had initially assumed? The fact that the Soldier didn't get slapped silly for accidentally saying Tifa's name kind of gave credence to that.
It could be how the splinter cell got the Soldier to turn his back on Shinra. Get him this super sexy but lenient and kinky girlfriend that allowed him to act like a tomcat for anything with a pulse. If so, that was a very underhanded but effective tactic. Especially since the man seemed to be an endless well of lust.
Not her cup of tea but Yuffie approved.
Sometimes a good leader needs to manipulate those under them a little to get the best results.
But now wasn't the time to be speculating on people's sex lives, cause she still didn't know where the rest of Avalanche were!
The Wutains decide to change gear and put in some leg work to find their missing terrorists. As luck would have it, near the far side of the sector, a few of these Midgardians happen to catch sight of Cloud. His uniform, giant ass sword, and golden chocobo head acting as a calling card. After doing some investigation and asking more locals for info, she and Sonon manage to track the Soldier's general direction down. He had gone into the scrap yard with a friend, some girl named Nellie.
Another girl so soon? This man was insatiable!
It didn't take long for the two ninjas to find a trail leading to a hidden side passage, tracking the two foot paths to a side passage.
Only to find the Soldier fighting a horde of monsters! Giant bug fiends that Yuffie had never seen before. But that didn't mean much, there were a lot of odd creatures in the Eastern continent she hadn't thought to encounter. And he wasn't alone, because by his side were the weirdest assortment of allies.
Behind him, shooting a gun, was a short blonde girl who looked eerily like him. His sister? Possibly. But the idea of Shinra's elite having any family had Yuffie blinking a little stupidly to reconcile that fact. It was a strange reminder for the princess that Soldiers weren't artificially created. Made in a lab, sure… but they were still just regular humans before they sold their soul to the Company. Just dolls assembled on a conveyer belt and designed to do their master's bidding.
By Cloud's side was a red dog, viciously tearing into its enemies with teeth and claws. Even stranger, the mutt seemed to be on fire, but nobody seemed concerned. However, being burned to death didn't seem to slow the canine monster down one bit! It was matching the merc step for step in kills.
Maybe an animal version of the Soldiers?
"What do you want to do?" Sonon asked, the look on his face making it obvious that he wanted to jump in and help, but was waiting for her cue. She was the boss of the two after all. But he didn't need to worry, it was an especially cruel person to see a stranger in a crisis and not do something about it. And technically Yuffie knew one of them, even if he didn't know her… yet. Besides that blonde wasn't just some nobody, that was her future subordinate! She'd be derelecting her duty as his future commander if she left him to the wolves. Or bug monsters in this case.
"We go in and make a good impression of course." Yuffie grinned, already unhooking her shuriken and running headlong into the danger.
A second later she heard Sonon footsteps chasing after her, his laughter trailing behind them.
Rearing her arms back, she threw her weapon at a monster bug hovering slightly above the rest. The spinning blade struck true, slicing cleanly into a wing and one of its right arms, before returning to her hand. She may not know what kind of fiends these were, but if you cut something deep enough, add a few dozen slices… well, dead was dead. Can't be a threat if you're in a million pieces.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the other freedom fighter smash his collapsible Bo staff into the skull of another, caving its head in.
'Dead was dead. ' Yuffie laughed as she repeated the phrase in her mind. Leviathan! It felt so good to do something! And fighting just happened to be her favorite something!
The two of them worked in tandem, striking hard at the flank of the unsuspecting creatures. Their teamwork was damn near flawless, the similar martial training making up for their lack of experience working together. Through serrated edge or blunt trauma, the bugs fell and made way for their approach. Eventually, they left a broken trail of bodies behind them, managing to reach the center of the encirclement where the Soldier was.
The small group was surprised to see the ninjas appear, but recovered quickly enough from the shock when they realized the newcomers was there to help. The girl and the dog jumped back into the fray almost immediately. But the Soldier hesitated, uncertainty on his face as he regarded the new arrivals, mako eyes flickering between the Wutains
Holding Cloud's gaze for a moment, Yuffie tried to give him her best winning smile, hoping to put him at ease… which only caused him to narrow his eyes in suspicion.
Thankfully he relented, finally giving her and Sonon a nod in acknowledgement. Shooting a quick glance at his sister, the Soldier rushed back into battle, sword swinging high overhead. Yuffie couldn't help but frown a little at that, disgruntled at him taking the lead. The senior officer should be the one to lead the charge, anything else would be impolite. But she had to remember that Cloud was not a ninja and … not quite her minion yet. Once the dust settled, she'd have to give him a crash course on Wutian military etiquette.
Still, plenty of time to worry about that later. Bugs first.
Disapointingly, the battle didn't last long. The whole thing only took minutes. Between the five of them, the strange insect monster didn't stand a chance, those few dozen still fighting when she arrived, now a broken mess.
"Hell yeah!" Yuffie yelled, as she yanked her shuriken out of a fiend's body, green blood flying out from the force. Hot damn! This… this was what she was built for. Stealth and assassination missions were good and all, vital even, but open combat was where she lived! Turning to the rest of the group with her arms spread wide to take in the battlefield. "Now that's how you start your day! You're welcome by the way." She addressed that last bit to Cloud.
"Thanks." He said, not sounding very grateful. Position himself before the other blonde and keeping his sword unholstered, he asked. "And not to sound unappreciative… but who are you guys? Your timings was… well, a little too convenient. And sane people don't just jump into a monster swarm like that."
Yuffie was a little offended that he was basically calling them weird, especially when she found him in the middle of the horde, but before she could say anything Sonon spoke up.
"We're friends of the cause." The bigger ninja said, trying not to spill the beans with the girl and the dog watching them. But seeing Cloud's confused look, he had to elaborate a bit more. "You know… your special club? The one started with a capital "A". He moved his hands to form the letter, as if that would help things along.
"Oh! You're those Wutains that Nayo was going to meet with." Nellie said in surprise. "Uh, Sonon and Yuffie right?
Okay, so much for beating around the bush. If everyone was on the page then no need to play word games, they can get into the meat of it. But better to exercise a little extra caution just in case.
"And you are?" Yuffie asked the pretty blonde, feigning ignorance. This ninja wasn't going to confirm anything till she had a bit more information.
"I'm Nellie, Avalanche's quartermaster." She said, as she leaned around her brother's shoulders to look at them, waving a little. Clapping the arm of the taller blonde, she said. "This, obviously, is Cloud as you already know and this here is…" She hesitated a little as she indicated the red dog. "Sorry, we never had a chance to, uh… before… you know…"
What on Leviathan's slimy scales did she talk to the mutt like it was going to respond to her?
"...You all may call me Red XIII" The possessed dog monster said, in a deep growl. "Or just Red for short, if you prefer."
It took every ounce of willpower in Yuffie's body to not throw her Shuriken at the evil thing. And nobody wa reacting, except Sonon, who tensed behind her but didn't move. What the fuck was that thing!? But no time to consider how she was going to exorcise the demon that inhabited the poor animal...because everyone was looking at her expectedly.
'Introductions now, save the animal later.'
"The world's greatest ninja…" She said slowly, but gradually picking up steam as she introduced herself. She made eye contact with each of them in turn before settling on Cloud, her grin growing wide as she got ready to impress."Number one materia hunter! Unstoppable assassin! The beautiful White Rose of Wutai~ IIIIIIIIIIIII'mmmmmmmm Yuffie!"
She puffed her chest out a little, in pride of her many titles and accomplishments. Although, admittedly some of them were self-appointed.
"Cool." The Soldier said, looking nonplussed.
"I'm Sonon, the Red Hammer of Wutai." Her friend said, words cutting through her irritation. Seeing everyone's confused looks, he elaborated. "They're just codenames, not meant to be literal. Trust me, I would have ran to the hills if they had tried to stick me with a name like "The Geen Stick of Wutai." He joked, motioning to his weapon.
"So, like what? You guys are terrorists too?"
"Freedom fighters." Yuffie emphasized, keen on making the distinction. She was trying to liberate her beloved country of Shinra's occupation, not just blow stuff up for the heck of it. "But one with a common cause with Avalanche, and are working together with. So to answer your earlier question… no we're not strangers, just people you haven't met yet."
"Uh, huh." Cloud said, looking unimpressed by her logic, but accepting it anyway when he holstered his sword. Glancing around the clearing and at the dead bodies, he said seriously. "Look-friends, allies, future acquaintances, whatever you guys are–here isn't the place to be talking. More monsters could come for our heads or Shinra might investigate the commotion. Let's get the hell out of the scrapyard to somewhere safer and we'll talk. Deal?" The ninjas nodded. "Nellie? Red?"
"Right! Follow me everyone." The little blonde said, waving for everyone to tail her as the group moved to a safer location. The canine seemed to hesitate, before shaking its head and trotting quickly to catch up.
They made it about a solid hundred feet, before Yuffie could hold back her questions anymore. Maneuvering over to Cloud, she lowered her voice in order to not be overheard.
"So~o, how's that dog talking?"
000
Jessie watched as everyone tiredly rubbed their eyes and slouch in their seats… a mixture of the long morning and Al's unexpected news making people feel like they've aged a few years. The knowledge that Shinra was going to attack the slums, all in a search for a killer that had nothing to do with them, was weighing on their minds. And the worst part? Avalanche was going to get the blame for this tragedy, through the Mega-corps propaganda.
"I say we kill them first." The redhead said, tapping her finger on the table counter with barely restrained energy. At everyone's surprised looks, she almost yelled in frustration. "We should! They're about to come down to the sectors, guns blazing. We can't play this cat and mouse game anymore. You all know as well a I–"
"We can't." Nayo interrupted her, letting out a tired breath.
"And why not?!" Jessie shot back, getting really tired of this pacificstik stance HQ was trying to maintain. This was a crisis! Now wasn't the time for HQ to be sitting on their moral high horse. They needed to act decisively. "I'm not saying let's go to war with them, fighting them in the trenches like command does at Fort Condor." Taking a calming breath, she tried to explain the plan. "Just the president and his Directors as soon as we can manage. We gather every member we can, and go for a few hard strikes at their tower. We keep it simple and clean. One night and we cut the head off the snake."
"If we come at them with a few hundred people, Shinra would see us coming from a mile away." The spy said stubbornly. "They'll cut us down before we could even set foot in the lobby."
"Not if we go in smart." Jessie said earnestly, hoping she could reason with the other girl. "Sewers, vents, freakin disguises if we need it. Not a single trigger would get pulled until we're already inside the building. We already got moles in their ranks and intel on the lay out. If both our groups pull together our resources, we could make a plan and put it into action by the end of the week."
Nayo stared at her long and hard, before sighing in resignation.
"I'm not saying I wouldn't consider it… but we just don't have the people."
"Bullshit." The redhead countered, now starting to feel angry at the blatant lie the glasses girl was trying to peddle. "I know for a fact that you guys got at least a platoon on the plate. I ran into them a few months ago when I went to see my parents!"
"The key word is months ago." Nayo said calmly, as she crossed her arms and glanced over at her companions. Seeing that Polk and Billy-Bob weren't going to interrupt her, she rubbed her face a little before continuing. "The situation at the Fort took a turn for the worse and they needed all hands on deck. Because of that… most of our combatants and personales got recalled to the frontlines. Only the specialty teams got left behind to man the branches. And even that got gutted to a skeleton crew." Waving a hand at herself and her two blond teammates, she said morosely. "You're looking at at least half of the Midgar team. I'm basically captaining this ship now."
"What the fuck?" Barret whispered in a daze, his voice carrying in the stunned silent room. "How bad is it that Command's got a handful of people trying to cover a whole city?!"
"Worse than you think, the other city branches have even less to work with than we do." The spy said morosely. "And the countryside's been picked clean for able bodies. The standing order is to observe and report only."
"Well, call them up! We have an emergency here!"
"We've tried." Polk said, giving Nayo an apologetic look as he said this. But seeing her nod to continue, he explained. "Already radio'd them about the situation before you and Jessie got here. And, well… Midgar's low on their priority right now. Everything but the conflict at Fort Condor is on the backburner."
"Well, thanks for telling us now." Biggs said stiffly, probably the angriest Jessie had seen him in years. "We've been sitting here since the ass crack of dawn and you didn't think to mention any of that to us?"
The blonde could only shrug helplessly in remorse. "W-well...they said maybe a few people might get spared to-"
"Not that it'd matter." Nayo cut back in, coming to her teammate's rescue. "Even if Command sent troops this very hour, it'd take them weeks to cross the continent. And by then, well…"
'The slums might be running red with blood.' Jessie finished in her head. Fuck!
"Look, it's not all doom and gloom guys!" Wedge jumped in, grabbing Biggs and Barret by the shoulders and shaking them a little. Addressing the whole room, he gave them all a reassuring smile. "So we're working with less than we thought… let's not worry about what we can't do, and focus on what we can." Clapping his hands, he addressed Nayo. "First things first, let's do a headcount and see how many boots on the group we got."
"Us three here." Nayo said, nodding to her fellow spies. "Plus Nellie, Finn, and Al. And maybe–"
"Count me out!" Al interrupted, having been silent in the corner this entire time. "I'm leaving the city the first chance I can get. I'm a spy, not a soldier! There's no way–"
His voice trailed off as Barret glared at him.
"Okay , so that's five on your end." Wedge stated without missing a beat, rolling right past the interruption. "Including Cloud and Tifa, we got six on our side, for eleven in total." Looking thoughtful, he added. "That's not so bad. We've done more with less."
"Except half of them aren't fighters." Jessie said seriously, ignoring the disgruntled mutterings to her right. "That's a guaranteed suicide run, if I ever saw one. Blowing up another reactor would be easier than getting past the 59th floor with that kind of team. We'd honestly be better off just sticking to our own people at that point."
"We got some fighters!" Billy-Bob defended his team. "We've been in contact with Wutai and got two badass ninja's on our side now!"
Surprised, the rogue Avalanche member's stares found Nayo for confirmation.
"Sort of." She said, looking a little embarrassed and giving them a so-and-so motion with her hand. "They're certainly in the city and can definitely scrap. It's just that… they're not really ours, per say. We haven't really made a formal alliance between our groups, it's… a work in progress." With a defeated sigh, she said, "But they might be willing to help us if… uh, you ask them."
She looked at Barret as she said this.
"And why would they take my word over yours?" The gunman asked, raising an eyebrow curiously at the admission. "If you've already been rubbing shoulders with these Wutains and can't get them to commit, can't see how me saying anything would get them to change their minds."
"Well… it's because they think we ." She indicated herself and the two blondes. "Are you." Rubbing her hands a little in nervousness, she looked at the big man apologetically. "I might have told them we were the ones to blow up the reactor."
"What!?"
"It's– look, they were already on the way to the city." The bookworm said, turning in her seat a bit to address Barret fully. "Your bombing caught their interest. And the intercepted messages made it clear that the ninjas, Sonon and Yuffie, were going to try and join up with your cell. But Command wanted my team to make contact first, to try and convince them to join HQ's side. And failing that, roadblock that meet up for as long as possible, since the bosses were trying to get an alliance going with the New Wutian interim gov–"
"What the hell!" Barret exclaimed in bewilderment. "You were trying to snipe allies from us? Take credit for our work? You and Command are a bunch of hypocrites!"
"I know, I know!" Nayo interjected, trying to get ahead of Barret's rant before he got really going. "The guilt got to me… and I told them the truth almost instantly. Even pointed you guys out to them, as an apology. And… they said it was fine to my face, but… well, I could tell they were pulling away. That our relationship was on the rocks. So if we're going to ask them to join our crusade… it'd be better if I wasn't the one asking."
The former miner took a deep breath and held it. Jessie could practically see him counting numbers in his head in order to calm down. Exhaling, he leaned forward in his chair to look Nayo in the eyes.
"You're lucky we got bigger things to worry about." He managed to grit out. "When we're done here, set a meeting with them and I'll see what I can do. But this…" He waved a finger to himself, then at her. "It ain't over. Me and Command are going to settle our differences once and for all."
The spy nodded along unhappily.
"Great! So we got maybe an extra two." Jessie said, trying to break the tension. She wasn't happy about the underhandedness Nayo and her bosses tried to pull on them. But… was she surprised? Absolutely not. Command having their head up their asses was one of the many reasons why she split from the main group in the first place. If anything, she felt sorry for her friend being put in that unwinnable position. "A little better, especially if these ninjas' are worth their salt. But thirteen against the whole Shinra building is still going to be an uphill battle for us."
"It's not like we're going to find anymore people on short notice." Polk said, looking a little queasy at their odds. "Maybe we should just focus on the Directors, like you said? Get at them when they're going home?"
"Try to catch them outside? Not a bad idea in general but… as far as I know, all of them live in the building, somewhere past the 60th floors. We don't even have a clue on the exact rooms they're staying in. Then the numbers issue again. Seven fighters, for the seven remaining Heads of Shinra. We'd be threading the needle just to get at all of them without alerting the rest. The coordination and logistics of that operation would be insane! We miss one and the whole place goes on lockdown, putting us in a worse position than when we started."
"Well… maybe we don't need to assassinate anyone." Biggs said slowly, looking like he was contemplating their options, the gears starting to kick into motion. Jessie almost wanted to grin at the sight. If the strategist of their team was already thinking through the pros and cons of a plan, then they might have a chance! "And I'm not a big fan of a full on assault, even if we had ten times our numbers, so let's just put both in our back pocket for now." Tapping his chin a little, he regarded each of them. "I'm thinking… maybe sabotage could work in our favor?"
"Sabotage how? Blowing up reactors and checkpoints wouldn't stop them from attacking the slums. If anything, it'd give them more reason to double down and follow through with their plans."
"True enough, but maybe something not so loud?" Her friend nodded in contemplation, no doubt answering that question in his mind. Looking over at Al, he asked. "Just to make sure… the Directors, you're 100 percent sure they don't get along?"
"Yeah…" the man said, a little more relaxed now that Barret wasn't pinning him to the wall with a scowl. The familiar feeling of giving a mission report, probably added comfort. "If there's one thing I can guarantee, it's that those people absolutely hate each other's guts. They're better at hiding it depending on who's against who, might even pretend to be friendly on occasion… but wouldn't hesitate to drop a dime on another Director if they thought they could get away with it. But considering the Turks are usually sniffing around… they stick to mainly small power plays or keeping secrets from each other. Petty stuff for the most part."
"And the president?"
"All loyal, unfortunately." Al groused, sitting up a little straighter in his seat as he thought it over. "The same can't be said the other way though. At the very least, the man up top couldn't give two shits what his Directors got up to, so long as they do their jobs properly. And… they don't actually kill each other, of course." In afterthought, he added. "Although Palmer might get a pass, being his cousin and all."
"What can you tell me about Hojo?"
"Brilliant. Scary. A sick fuck of the highest proportion." The spy listed, as he counted off his fingers. "You might think I'm being facetious but that literally was the best ways to describe the man. He was a genius, enough of one that the president more or less gave him leeway to do whatever the hell he wanted. Also extremely unlikable, to the point preliminary investigation into his death had the Turks seriously consider if it might be an inside job. And let's just say… he had a tendency to commit more crimes against humanity in an hour… then the rest of the Board could in a month. Combined."
"So the rest of the Directors, and President Shinra, could they believe that Hojo was hiding something from them? That he had a… special project on the side, that he kept under wraps?"
"…possibly?" Al said slowly, looking like he wasn't sure if he should commit an answer to that question.
Nodding his head solemnly, Biggs opened his mouth to ask a follow up question.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Jessie said, waving her hands in front of her. Her thoughts raced as she tried to put a break in the conversation. "I think I might be having a stroke here Biggs… and tell me if I'm wrong, but are you actually suggesting we pit the Heads of Shinra against each other? Feed them some type of lie? Make a false flag operation and use the dead professor as our patsy?"
Seeing his embarrassed shrug, she couldn't help but laugh.
"Well don't keep us waiting you dork!" The redhead scolded him in amusement. She leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs as everyone watched in anticipation. "What's the lead? How are we going to kick the hornet's nest that is Shinra?"
"So… do you know what professor Hojo is most famous for?" Biggs asked her, but it was directed at everybody. "Publicly, at least? The reason that most boys would have heard his name at least once, because of?"
"His designs for mako weaponry during the Wutai war?" She hedged.
"His research into genetic engineering for animals and fiends." Nayo supplied promptly.
Shaking his head, Bigs said. "Sort of, it's–"
"Soldiers." Polk answered nervously, as if he wasn't sure he should speak up. "He's famous for making the second generation of Soldiers. The ones responsible for ending the Wutai war. The professor is credited with combining humans with mako and figured out how to safely mutate them into super beings. Creating… well, Sephiroth."
"Bingo."
"And that's relevant because…" Barret trailed, taking a moment to consider the information. "Because of the mec?"
"Yes, and it gets better." Biggs looked over at Jessie and Wedge in turn, giving them an awkward smile. "You two don't know this, but when Cloud first came to Midgar, Barret had me dig into Shinra's personnel files to see if he was on the up-and-up."
"And you found something?" Jessie asked, a little skeptically.
"The opposite actually. No records of him ever being a Soldier. The only thing I could find was him joining up with the infantry for a bit before… nothing. The last five years in general didn't flag anything for him. It was like he fell off the face of Gaia."
"And what does that tell us?"
"Truthfully? Not much."
"You're not, like… accusing him of anything, are you? Because you might find yourself on the wrong end of Tifa's knuckles, if so."
"No way, I trust the guy with my life." Her childhood friend reassured them, shaking his head in emphasis. "Even if I was a bit suspicious at first, especially with how convenient it was that he showed up right before our mission, helping us to blow up a reactor put all that to bed. That's way too much just to maintain a cover. He's solid as far as I'm concerned. Besides, his blank files might just be revenge by his bosses for defecting… or it might have even just been Cloud destroying his own records before he left. Who knows? There could honestly be a million different reasons. But none of it important, because unless Shinra kept a black box on him somewhere off the server… it gives us an opportunity."
"Holy crap." Nayo said in surprise. "You want Cloud to infiltrate Shinra. And pretend to be… some secret project of the professor."
Biggs tapped the side of his nose in confirmation. "Five missing years for a Soldier is suspicious, it just reeks of conspiracy. A hidden weapon for a man who nobody trusted and everyone hated. Riddikulus, but believable. And now that Hojo's dead… Cloud could pretend to seek asylum with one of the Directors. Maybe more than one? And as a show of good faith… he would provide critical "information" about the other members of the board. Secret plots, blackmail, assassination attempts, etc. All shit "Hojo" was stockpiling for a rainy day. And through our inside man, we'll stir up some trouble and cause paranoia. Enough that the upper brass is going to have bigger things to worry about than the slums or Avalanche. Like each other."
Everyone was stunned silent, as they took in the sheer audacity of the plan before them.
"Biggs, you beautiful and manipulative little shit!" Jessie shouted happily, jumping out of her seat to give her friend a sock in the shoulder, before pulling him out of his chair. Giving him a tight squeeze and a bright smile, she pumped a fist in the air and addressed the room. "Operation " Fuck with Shinra's head" is a go!"
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Finally wrapping up story lines and moving on to the the next stages.
In hindsight I should have put all of the scrapyard scenes in one chapter. Oh, well
Fun fact: Members of the board having secrect weapons to use against each other is not a new concept. Deepground was basically that x100. Even Reeves creating Cait Sith was a lowkey example of that.