By Kal
He opened his emerald eyes slowly. Light still hurt him, being isolated from it
for a long time. He tried to clear his head, to remember how he got there.
"Sephiroth..."
That voice. He knew that voice. Like a distant dream...
"Colonel Sephiroth."
He knew that voice too.
"General Powers."
"Good. He recognizes you. That´s a good sign."
He disliked that voice.
Sephiroth was in a medical room, with Hojo continuously checking many devices
connected to Sephiroth´s body, and General Powers in a nearby chair. He nodded
to Hojo as he injected a substance through one of the many tubes attached to
Sephiroth. Sephiroth felt very tired, making a huge effort just to think.
"Colonel Sephiroth, do you hear me?"
"...yes..."
"What´s the last thing you remember?"
Sephiroth just wanted to sleep, but somehow, the more he tried to fight it, the
more it affected him.
"I... was... at Wutai.... at the southern border."
"Do you remember what happened next?"
"...I can´t...recall... What happened?"
"The important thing is that you´re alive, Colonel. Rest now, there will
be enough time for explanations later." Powers said, as Hojo injected
Sephiroth again. Sephiroth closed his eyes, and let the darkness engulf him
with its peace.
"How do you feel?"
"OK, I guess."
"I´m fine..."
Cloud and Vincent were at Dr. Rotschild´s lab. After being infused with Mako,
they felt a bit weak, but he assured them it would pass in 5 minutes or less.
Cloud was deep in his thoughts: How could he tell Tifa he was going to die? The
fact his death was 20 years away didn´t make him feel better. He clenched his
fist in impotence.
"So, Reeve, how´re things going?" Cid said, trying to start a conversation.
They were waiting outside the lab.
"Oh, pretty good, as you can see. My offer for a job is still open for you
two."
"Thanks, Reeve, but if we accepted, it would mean to quit our dream.
Right, Captain?" Shera said.
"Damn right! But thanks anyway."
Reeve´s cell phone rang, and after answering, he excused himself as he walked
to the elevator. This made Cid uncomfortable, since he would be all alone with
Shera. Why do Cloud and Vincent take so long to return?
"Captain?"
"...Ah, yes?"
"You haven´t thank me for saving you from those guys a while ago..."
"You´re right... Thanks."
"You´re welcome." Shera said, a bit disappointed.
"Dammit, I didn´t mean that... I mean, I meant that, but..." Cid only
confused himself more and more.
"It´s okay, Captain."
"No, it´s not okay! You saved my butt for the third time in my life. I
should say something more than just "Thanks"." Cid was
frustrated.
An awkward silence fell upon them. Cid was furious at himself. He could hear
that little voice in the back of his head, that always interrupted him when he
was about to say Shera what he felt for her. "She deserves someone better
than you. You´re just dreaming if you think you´re good enough for her".
He hated that voice. And he hated it because it was right.
General Powers was at his office, satisfied. He had the Jenova cells he needed,
along with Hojo, whose promises of giving the General more weapons to fight the
war made him a welcome bonus. Captain Starford was about to complete his team,
and soon, his main project would be complete. The future was brighter than
ever. Then the door opened, and a figure clad in a black ninja suit entered.
"I was expecting news of you since three days ago."
"Sorry. The beast got in the way, and I lost the Huge Materias."
The General closed his eyes. It was only a minor setback, he thought.
"I had to spend a whole day hiding from the guards at the Canyon, and I
managed to escape climbing its walls and going through the Ancient Forest. When
I reached Gongaga, I stole a truck and made it to the contact point. The
helicopter was about to leave; the pilot thought I would never appear. And here
I am giving you my report."
"So, you only succeeded in alerting them about our plans."
"It was a one in a million chance. It won´t happen next time."
"There won´t be a next time. I´ll send you in a new mission. Be ready to
part in ten hours. You´re dismissed."
When the agent was about to leave the General spoke.
"And Victoria, remember to not take any chances."
"I´ll do, father."
After she left, the General took the phone receiver.
"Tell Starford to bring his team in an hour. I´ll assign them their first
mission."
He hanged up. Soon, one way or another, his plans would be complete.
Barret was furious. After he saw the teacher the first time when he entered the
classroom, he thought a woman as cute as she would be also reasonable. But
although her small frame and short black hair made her look shy, her attitude
was completely different. Her green eyes contrasted remarkably with her black
skin and white teeth that she showed to Barret as she smiled. After the
obligatory exchange of greetings and her informing Barret about Marlene´s work
in class, the conversation turned to more displeasing affairs.
"I´m sorry, but I can´t teach about something there are no proofs about.
We only have your word and that of your friends to back you up. I´m
sorry."
"PROOFS!? And whaddaya say about that huge meteor that was in da sky for a
month? And the spirit energy dat disintegrate it!?"
"There was a meteor, yes. And it disintegrated thanks to the lifestream
energy the planet produced, yes. But I don´t see any relation between that
natural phenomenon and your bogus tale of a dead SOLDIER son of an alien, who
thought himself to be the last of an extinct race of super-humans and used a
mythical artifact to try and become a god." this she said with a sarcastic
smile.
"But, but...!!!"
"Mr. Wallace, you seem like a decent person, and I´m sure you have the
best of intentions, but I think it would be better for everyone, and especially
for Marlene, if you stopped telling those ridiculous tales."
"RIDICULOUS TALES!!? I..."
"Good day Mr. Wallace."
"BUT!!..."
"GOOD DAY, Mr. WALLACE!"
"Alright people. First, let me introduce myself. I´m Kal Starford, First
class SOLDIER with the rank of Captain. I battled in the Second Great War, in
places such as Gongaga, Icicle Village and Wutai. I served under the Great
Sephiroth´s command and I was of the first to enter Wutai during the Great
Site." he said with a smile. He then turned to his right to show a young
man in its twenties. He had light red short hair. He was dressed in a white
suit, obviously fit made for him. He was toying with a sharp dagger, and the
black glasses couldn´t hide a confident look.
"This gentleman is Paolo Giovanni. Some of you might have not heard of
him, but he has been in many famous... affairs. He will be our tactics
specialist. If you have any inquiry about the best way to do anything, ask
him." Paolo just gave everyone a cold smile, and continued to toy with the
knife.
"To my left is B´wana. By his looks you may have deduced he is our
tracker. He is, officially, the last of the famous Gi tribe. Although he is
quiet, make sure to hear him when he talks."
The man draped in wolf hides was silent; the skull he used as a mask concealed
his features.
"Here is Jane Harrison. Until a week ago she was a member of the shock troops of the new Shinra Army. She has a vast
knowledge in short and long range weapons, as well as being trained in many
self-defense disciplines. She´ll be the weapons specialist and field leader
when I´m not with you."
A blonde woman in a black shirt and military camouflage pants was tying the
cords of her black combat boots. Her beautiful face was matched by a body she
had obviously trained to perfection. Then she picked up a 9mm Shinra Zolom and
loaded it.
"This gentleman here is Dr. Ernest Johann. He has a master degree in
mathematics, astronomy, and physics. He is in our group because he will be in
charge of the information and as analyst. In other words, he will tell us the
enemy´s weaknesses."
A black man in his forties, dressed in a blue business suit arranged his tie
and cleaned his glasses. But not even this effort to appear more like a
businessman could hide the feel that he was a teacher, and the people around
him, his students.
"That gentleman that is concealing himself in the shadows is Hotori
Shiragasu. He´s a ninja of the Shiragasu clan. Actually, he´s the actual heir
of the clan. Please let everyone see you."
A young man clad in a black ninja suit stepped out of the shadows of a corner,
eyed everyone in the room with its blue eyes and stepped back in the shadows.
"He´ll be the one in charge of the stealth missions we´ll deal with. As
you can see, he has experience in that field." Kal said with a smile.
"Will you finish the goddamn presentation or are you going to keep
everyone here all day long?" a rough but clearly feminine voice yelled.
"That is Joan Richards. She´ll be the one who´ll deal with the
transportation and anything mechanic we deal with. She also is a recognized
hacker."
A woman with short red hair lighted another cigar after stepping over the ashes
of the previous one. A cloud of smoke came out of her mouth as she put her
lighter in one of the many pockets of her pilot overall.
"And now that the presentation is over, I´ll detail our first mission.
We´ll part to Junon in exactly 15 minutes, so make sure you´ve got your gear
before leaving. We are going to assault the building of Reeve´s Responses Inc.
There we are to find and seize this individuals." he said as he pointed to
three large pictures of Cloud, Vincent and Cid.
"You may recognize them as Cloud Strife, Vincent Valentine and Cid
Highwind of Avalanche. They´re extremely dangerous, but I think we have enough
manpower..."
"And girlpower..." Joan said, as Jane just smiled.
"...To make sure this operation will be successful. If you have to knock
them down, ok. But do not kill them, am I clear? We´re also sure to find
resistance from the security guards at the building, but they will be disposed
of easily. Any questions?"
Silence made clear everyone had understood.
"Then, let´s go."
Chapter
Eight is here! And Sephiroth is back! What role will he play in the coming
conflict? And the Unknown Soldiers are about to assault Reeve´s Responses! Next
chapter will be loaded with action and more shocks you can imagine.
-Whatever happened to Tifa? And where are Yuffie, Red, and the Turks? We´ll
find out in the next chapter that will be hopefully ended before a month.