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RONIN - File 05: The Devil's Toys

UNITED PEOPLES OF FORT CONDOR HIGH MARSHALL GRIGGS’ OFFICE DISC 03 - AUGUST 2011

The dull brass pendulum of the grandfather clock marked the marching of long seconds and tense silence as the late afternoon sunlight spilled through window blinds in a wash of bright sepia. High Marshall Ernest Franklin Griggs stood behind an elaborately-engraved antique desk as he perused the personnel files in silence. The smoke from his Behemoth-bone pipe wisped up into the ventilation grates in the ceiling, and his sun-creased left eye narrowed even further as he read each file. His other eye was hidden perpetually behind a kevlar-aramid weave eyepatch, the stylized phoenix symbol of the United Peoples of Fort Condor embossed proudly upon it. Griggs inhaled audibly for a long breath, then exhaled in a foreboding cloud of tobacco smoke. Staring long and hard at one of the files in particular, he wrinkled his nose and spat into the garbage bin beside his desk. His disgusted frown was evident even through his scrappy, deep-brown beard. Known across Gaia as "The Lost Veteran," High Marshall Griggs, leader of the self-styled United Peoples of Fort Condor, was known by a different moniker amongst the denizens of that stronghold. To them, he was "The Gladius"--the sword that protects. Nearly all of the inhabitants of Fort Condor were in some way warriors and soldiers, and each in some way had been either benignly convinced to join the UPFC or personally saved by Griggs himself. Griggs was a grizzled fighter who understood the heart and soul of the warrior, and that in and of itself had apparently been enough to rally the first group of disenfranchised mercenaries to his banner in the initial incarnation of the UPFC a little over a decade prior. Since that time, the UPFC had grown steadily into a free principality which subsisted on a steady stream of mercenary contracts from all throughout Gaia. Unlink Shinra who had a corporate image to uphold and keep unsullied, the UPFC was known as an organization of principles, and the fulcrum of those principles was Griggs himself. His war record--the panoply of facial scars he had accrued in his decades as a line soldier--was something that he wore openly and proudly. As if to further offset his martial acumen, he wore his shoulder-length hair in a loose, short ponytail which lent him the aspect of a wandering Wutaian swordsman. Despite his lofty rank of High Marshall, Griggs was often seen wearing the same thing as his subordinates--combat fatigues and tactical webbing, sleeves rolled up to just past the elbow. The choice of outfits was no mere aesthetic concern--even though the UPFC had enough personnel to handle all of their mercenary contracts, Griggs himself was known to deploy as well on occasion, as need arose. Griggs was not known to speak very often, but whenever he did, it was always pertinent. His voice was the low gravel growl of a predator at rest. ’Nicodemus’,” Griggs said slowly. “That is what he’d called himself when he came here.” Griggs finally threw the files down on his desk and looked at the guest sitting comfortably in one of the cushioned chairs. The man, wearing a non-descript black suit, white dress shirt, and tie, was not smiling, but seemed to be somehow amused. “As you can see from the files,” Kezu said, “his real name is Valerick Goodliffe.” "What are you doing here?" Griggs said with open disgust. "I don't want to have anything more to do with you people." "And yet, you parlay with our false informant ‘Nicodemus’," Kezu said nonchalantly. "That's prudence in action," Griggs countered. "Furthermore, that was to get a line in with Shinra, not the Turks." "The Turks are Shinra, High Marshall." "And yet, you're not. I know how the Turks work." At this, Kezu had to chuckle. "Considering what you know, as a former member of the Aeronavy high command, it's a wonder that the company let you leave," Kezu said amusingly. Griggs issued another smoldering cloud of smoke, letting Kezu's jab go unanswered. "It is quite an outfit you have going on here, High Marshall. I noticed the construction. Are you adding another command fortification?" "Get to the point." "I wish to propose a trade," Kezu said. "What do you want?" "Though it's embarrassing to admit," Kezu began, "we have yet to ascertain the whereabouts of those individuals. It’s been a year since they escaped. We want to ask you to help us to look for them." "Within the jurisdiction of the UPFC. I see," Griggs said. "Of course," Kezu said. "Naturally, Shinra can't publicly open a contract with the UPFC for assistance. That's politically distasteful and, well, contrary to the company image." "No shit?" Kezu laughed again, as if genuinely amused by Grigg's sarcasm. "Turks," Griggs spat, as if the word itself had a rancid flavor. "What's to stop you suit-monkeys from simply coverting your way into our territory?" "We are not always terrible people, you know," Kezu said. "We can play amicably when the ideal outcome is achievable. This time, we are politely asking you to please keep an eye out for these fugitives--especially since you have had personal dealings with their second-in-command, Valerick Goodliffe. If you happen to find them within your borders, please apprehend them--alive if possible--and let me know. I'll be here to take them off your hands personally, post-haste." Griggs had a habit of staring out of his office window whenever contemplating decisions. This time he resisted the urge to do so. He'd be damned to take his eyes off a Turk in his own office. "What are you offering in return?" Griggs asked, though the question sounded more like a threat. "An unofficial non-aggression pact. Shinra will leave the UPFC alone for an entire calendar year." "That's it?" "Think of all you could do with the UPFC in a year's time if you didn't have to worry about Shinra at all. Isn't that worth it?" "That aside, I don't see how it is in your best interest to let us roam unchecked for a year." Kezu sighed. "No, you're right. The company would prefer not to have any kind of competition, commercial, industrial, military, or otherwise. However," Kezu said, "we'd much rather have those former assets in custody. That's how important this is for us." Griggs broke his borderline angry-stoicism and raised an eyebrow. "Who are these people you fools were stupid enough to train then let off the leash?" "People like me," Kezu said. Griggs took another long drag from his pipe, venting the smoke out from both nostrils as he rested his left fist on the small of his back. "One more condition," Griggs said. "What, pray tell, might that be?" Kezu asked, appearing mildly annoyed. "I want their full files." "That's a bit much, don't you think? The game is called 'give and take'. Not-" "In case you haven't noticed," Griggs interrupted suddenly, "I don't play ‘games’ with the lives of my men. You ask me to go up against a group of foes that Shinra's elite cannot subdue, and you want me to do so with inadequate intel. That's a bit much, don't you think?" Kezu threw his hands up in exasperation. "You want these ex-Turks in custody? I need to be properly equipped and prepared for them. Otherwise all of this is folly." "I'm not authorized to simply give you their full files," Kezu said. "Besides--there isn't much left on them. They covered their tracks pretty well, all things considered." Griggs bent down slightly to press an intercom button on his desk. "Mr. Deprieve will be leaving now. Please have an armed escort ready to convey him to his chopper." "Just a moment, High Marshall," Kezu began. "Hear me out--I said, I'm not authorized to simply give you the full files." "Then we have nothing further to discuss," Griggs said. "What I mean is, I'm not authorized to do so, but I could hypothetically get careless and just leave them in the bathroom on the way out." Griggs again raised an eyebrow. There was a knock on the office door. "You could then acquire whatever we have on these fugitives. Then act on that as you wish. Hypothetically-speaking, of course." Griggs chuckled, though it was a mirthless sound. "Hypothetically, yes," Griggs replied. Kezu gave a subtle nod to Griggs as he stood up to leave, and Griggs seemed to also return the nod. "Well then, I guess it is as you say. I should be going now," Kezu said. As Kezu left the office, Griggs overheard him asking the escorts about stopping at a bathroom on the way to the helipad.

/ / /

Griggs stepped into the armored prison cell, ducking under the low clearance of the porthole. His personal honor guard waited outside the cell as Griggs closed the door behind him. He folded his arms across his chest and regarded the newly-acquired personnel files on his private data slate, then turned his cyclopean gaze upon the prisoner in the cell before him. The prisoner was chained to the opposite wall, arms and legs splayed out from his body in an X shape. The prisoner was shirtless and wore only a loose-fitting pair of orange prison trousers. His head hung limp in front of him, chin resting upon his chest, a mop of unruly brown-black hair hiding what remained of his face. The evidence of torture was rampantly visible all throughout the prisoner's body. Though the prisoner appeared to be in somewhat of a catatonic state when Griggs and his men arrived, he seemed to twitch awake in the next few moments. He turned his face up to look at Griggs. A dried rivulet of crimson spilled out his swollen-shut right eye and cut a visceral line down his cheek. "Valerick…" the prisoner said through parched, cracked lips. "Yes," Griggs said contemptuously. "We know." Griggs stared on a few more moments before continuing. "Kezu Deprieve came looking for you today. He wanted to speak with you urgently. Don't worry though. I already talked with him on your behalf--he does not know you are down here. No one will." Raging screams filled the chamber.

OPENING (Ronin Theme): “YOUNG MEN DEAD” by THE BLACK ANGELS

SHINRA SCIENCE DIVISION, MATERIALS LAB #32 ROCKET TOWN DISC 03 - SEPTEMBER 2015

The sudden warning alarms made Shizune yank her USB data drive out of the computer with one hand and then rapidly initiate a factory reset on the InfoNet terminal in order to literally kill the machine. The comlink bead in her ear was a litany of Riwin Koucha’s most panic-crafted curses. “Shiz!” Riwin said, “This whole place is awake and looking for us.” “Yeah, no shit!” Shizune said as she sprinted past the chemical spectrometer. She grabbed the Akatsuki blade out of the unit and dove onto the floor, kick-sliding on the polished floor like a baseball player. She came to a stop underneath one of the data server racks which was suspended off the floor. There was just enough room for her to crawl under here, but the servers themselves were separated by several feet. She would have to sneak out the exit using the crawlspaces as cover. A slickness in her right hand made her look down--in her haste to retrieve the Akatsuki, she had grasped the old blade too tightly and was now slowly bleeding all over the blade. “Shiz!” Riwin com’d in. “What’s your current position and status?” “I’m still stuck in the lab, en route to our predetermined egress point. You?” “So far I haven’t been spotted. I’m lying flat on my back on the flat roof of the highest guard tower in the center of the compound. I can’t see much for right now, but I hear the usual--company detachments assembling, dogs barking.” “Copy that, I’ll wait for your signal to start egress.” “Roger, I’ll let you know in a bit, just be ready to jet on my mark, got it?” Riwin said. “No problem,” Shizune said. Despite the genuine danger, or perhaps because of it, both former Turks found this commotion exhilarating. Now all that had to be done was to wait for that security gap to form in the lab section, and to tell Shizune when to start sneaking out. A run of the mill activity for a former Ace Turk, until Riwin saw two royal-navy-blue-clad knights with brown leather tactical webbing, oversized pauldrons on their left shoulders, and elaborate buster swords slung across their backs. They were in jogging straight for the lab Shizune was in. “Shiz,” Riwin said, already beginning to shadow step down from his bird’s nest and toward the lab. “We’ve got company.” "You never have any good news," Shizune hissed. "SOLDIERs. Two of them. A 2nd and 3rd Class, by the looks of it." Shizune's heart skipped a beat. She had all the necessary training and indoctrination to handle SOLDIERs, but she had only ever been on a rogue SOLDIER op once, and that was with the full support of R0-414. Riwin's voice over the comlink seemed to respond to Shizune's apprehension as clearly as if she had spoken her fears aloud. "Don't worry, girl," Riwin said, "I got ya." Shizune's mind began to go into overdrive, her former training starting to kick in. She was already thinking several steps ahead. In an odd moment of stillness, she remembered Evan saying something randomly prosaic to her. "You are my unbroken blade…" Shizune glanced again at the worn Akatsuki blade in her right hand. A trickle of blood was running along the edge of the blade and left thin, snaking trails of blood on the tiled floor beneath her. She again cursed herself for her carelessness. The door to the lab flew open with such force that the slam of the door rebounding off the wall sounded like a gunshot followed by the whining of weakened steel hinges. Riwin was right--rushing immediately into the lab were two SOLDIERs. The 3rd Class SOLDIER came in first. He was armed with a buster-sized katana with Wutaian script engraved upon the flat of the blade. From where Shizune hid, she could also see his elaborately-crafted left-hand gauntlet whose most prominent feature was an over-abundance of dual-slotted materia. The SOLDIER behind him was a 2nd Class. A female SOLDIER, this woman sported her vibrant green hair in a tight ponytail, tied high. She was a dual-wielder--she sported a longsword in each of her gloved hands. Though the weapons themselves were of a simple design, Shizune could tell that these were no mere factory-pressed steel facsimiles. The split second which followed seemed to hang in complete stillness as Shizune recognized the woman.

 

SHINRA TOWER, LOBBY MIDGAR DISC 01 - FEBRUARY 1999

“For fuck’s sake, Shizune…” Shinra Military Police cadet, Private Lina Rosewater leaned against the blue-marbled lobby pillar, her arms crossed pugnaciously across her chest, chin raised, as she regarded fellow cadet, Private Shizune Mai, with a condescending sneer. Lina’s emerald mane shimmered like jade flame as she rolled her eyes and shook her head disapprovingly at Shizune, who was now on her knees sponging up spilled coffee on front of all the other MP trainees. “I'm sorry, Pvt. Rosewater,” Shizune said through gritted teeth. “‘I'm sorry’?” Lina mocked. “Ha! ‘Sorry’ helps no one. ‘Sorry’ isn't going to get you into any of the elite MP Companies. I heard you were gunning for Alpha.” Shizune bunched up her fists, feeling the leather of her gloves flex against her knuckles. “I aim only for the best,” Shizune seethed. “Nothing less.” Lina threw her head back and released a banshee laugh. “The best, huh?” Lina said, now pointing squarely at another cadet. “Hey, Vega! Which of the MP companies is the best at spilling coffee?” Private Chanceton Vega, a 10-foot-tall, mountain of a recruit with jet-black hair who had been trying not to get involved, turned to face the both of them. “I wouldn't know,” he said casually. “What I do know is that none of those companies have anyone as full of themselves as you, Lina.” All the assembled cadets laughed. Lina wrinkled her nose and sneered at Vega. “I'll have you all know,” she said, now spinning on her heel to address the entire lobby, “I'm better than this! Better than all of you! While you all will end up field grunts, hopeful to simply make Sergeant someday, I'm going straight to the top! SOLDIER 1st Class!” Lina's sudden proclamation, the thousandth of its kind since she joined the MP Academy nine months prior, was met by a variety of differing responses from the cadets gathered in the lobby. Lina looked down again at Shizune, who was now just finishing the last of the coffee clean up. Shizune, who had only entered the academy six months ago, had become a target of Lina's constant complaining, mainly because they were members of the same training platoon, where Lina was squad lead. Shizune did her best to ignore the vainglorious “Queen of Thorns,” but cracks were beginning to form in her patience at the nigh-daily berating. Shizune stood slowly to clean herself off when Lina continued her tirade. “And when I become a SOLDIER,” Lina said, “I'll make sure to request you, Shizune, as my personal equerry…” Shizune spun in a whirlwind, right fist cocked, sending a knockout blow straight to Lina’s chin. The entire room went dead silent. But instead of the satisfying gristle-crack Shizune was expecting, she felt her entire right forearm arrested in an overpowering grip. General Zedrick LaVend, Commander-in-Chief of the entire Military Police Corps, had appeared at Shizune’s side and had apparently gripped her forearm with his right hand. The scene was that of a father stopping his small child--Shizune was a petite Wutaian and Zedrick was a giant of a man from Goblin Island. Shizune’s entire forearm was covered by the General’s single right hand. He glared down at Shizune, and she relented, unable to hide her embarrassment. Lina looked genuinely afraid, squinting her pixie-esque face in preparation for the right hook that never came. When she realized that Zedrick had stopped the blow, she scoffed proudly. Until the General turned his glare upon her as well. While still looking squarely at Lina, Zedrick spoke in the voice of command incarnate. “Pvt. Mai, come with me immediately.”

 

SHINRA SCIENCE DIVISION, MATERIALS LAB #32 ROCKET TOWN DISC 03 - SEPTEMBER 2015

The emergency klaxons of the base were still blaring their piercing siren tones as the two SOLDIERs made their way slowly and cautiously through the lab. Shizune gauged that she could remain undetected in her current position, but equally assessed that so long as the SOLDIERs were here, there would be no egress out of the lab itself. Shizune continued to watch her hunters carefully from underneath the server rack. From the looks of it, this 3rd Class was Rosewater’s squire. His overly-cautious way of leading the room sweep told Shizune that he was new to his rank of 3rd Class, likely fresh out of the SOLDIER recruitment pool. Shizune knew from her time in R0-414 that older SOLDIERs--veteran SOLDIERs--had a tendency to throw caution to the wind, whereas their inexperienced counterparts had the opposite tendency to protect themselves when in potentially life-threatening situations. Shizune had learned that this was mainly because new SOLDIERs were still coming to terms with their superhuman physiologies. In other words, they were still behaving like mortals. Despite that, the fact that the 3rd Class squire was out in front of 2nd Class Lina Rosewater was very telling--Lina always had a thing for leading from the rear and putting her subordinates in the vanguard. For as much as Shizune hated to be encumbered by Rosewater again, she knew that patience and subterfuge would be her best friends in this situation. With any luck, the SOLDIERs’ sloppy, bullish ways would effectively prevent them from being sufficiently thorough in their room sweep, leaving Shizune the chance to egress once they were gone. Luck failing, she would have to rely on Riwin to create a diversion and draw them away. In either case, Shizune knew what she most certainly shouldn't do in this situation, as an old mentor had taught her years ago.

 

SHINRA TOWER, 66TH FLOOR MIDGAR DISC 02 - DECEMBER 2007

“Brains versus Brawn,” Valerick said as he steepled his thick fingers in front of his face. “Though it's a cliche, never was there a more appropriate analogy of what the Turks are, with respect to enemy SOLDIERs.” Shizune sat across from Valerick in the Turks meeting room. Of all the things she had learned about, and of all the things she had learned to do in the last year, the idea of facing a rogue SOLDIER in combat was the most fanciful thing. Although she showed none of her apprehension, Valerick seemed to know what Shizune had been thinking. “I know,” he said, “it seems like some kind of movie. That we would have to face down and destroy our own superhumans.” Shizune beetled her eyebrows. “May I speak frankly?” Shizune asked. “Always.” “I get that sometimes SOLDIERs will go rogue and that we have to stop them, one way or another. But, I've seen them in action, both here in Midgar and in Wutai. In applied combat operations. You can't physically win against that.” Valerick leaned back in his seat, folded his arms across his chest and exhaled. “One-on-one? No--the odds are most-decidedly not in your favor in such a scenario. If, when considering winning against a SOLDIER in a fight, and your mind consistently defaults to physical confrontation as a means of defeating the enemy, then you are thinking like a SOLDIER. You must instead think like a Turk--we are the triumph of reason over pure strength. When fighting a SOLDIER, you must actually eschew strength.” “Pardon? Eschew strength? You mean, ditch it?” Shizune asked, perplexed. “Use strength when necessary,” Valerick explained, “but lateral thinking will almost always subvert a SOLDIER. Don't counter a punch with another punch. Instead, create a situation where that SOLDIER’s punch will cause him to lose the fight. “SOLDIERs are Shinra’s ultimate frontline vanguard. They are trained--nay, indoctrinated--to rush towards danger, not away from it. Even in close combat situations, conventional melee weapons alone cannot mortally wound a SOLDIER. Therefore, they are typically not trained to block, evade, or parry. I'm not saying that they cannot do those things. Rather, that their fighting philosophy is one of brute force advancement and assault. So, use that against them. If, for example, you need to divert a SOLDIER away from a position, then create a diversion so tantalizingly dangerous, so promising in terms of action, that they simply must default to their training and run towards it.” Shizune nodded slowly as she listened to the normally-stoic Valerick launch into a lecture about fighting the devil. “When we ‘fight’ SOLDIERs, we lure them into traps. We use the momentum of their combat spirit to make them dive headfirst into where we need them to be. We create opportunities for them to choose to be in our traps.” Shizune raised a finger to her lip as she pondered what Valerick had said. She was coming to find that between the capriciousness of Riwin Koucha and the pragmatism of Evan Oris, the cold combat logic of Valerick Goodliffe--as well as his ability to have a cerebral conversation about it--was something she found immensely intriguing. She also noticed that, unlike almost everyone else in her life, Valerick never asked Shizune to simplify her language, and that was somehow oddly refreshing to her. As such, Shizune had capitalized on every opportunity to question, probe, and learn from him. “Out-thinking SOLDIERs as a group… I can conceptualized this better now, thank you,” Shizune said. “However…” “Go ahead.” Combat Theoretical: suppose the force ratio is 1:1,” Shizune said. Valerick frowned. Combat Practical: there are no straight fights against a SOLDIER,” Valerick said. “Either we play dirty, outnumbering and outsmarting them, or we get the hell out of there.”

 

NORTHERN CONTINENT 150 KILOMETERS NORTH OF BONE VILLAGE DISC 03 - 22 DAYS AFTER ZERO PROTOCOL

The SOLDIER took off like a bolt of lightning, eyes locked forward, sprinting. His muscular legs kicking up snow and dirt as he charged at Valerick like a bull. He was going to try and finish him in a single stroke. "I'll show you how a Turk fights," Valerick said as he dove forward, his rifle held like a spear. He fired once and activated his Wind materia which blew him under the falling arms of the SOLDIER. No time to pause, he activated it again straight down below himself, causing him rise rapidly into the air. The blade swung with an audible whoosh right where his legs had been a scant second before. Valerick drew his revolver and fan-fired it rapidly from the hip, aiming for the SOLDIER’s legs and pelvis. Valerick knew the SOLDIER would protect his torso, if anything. The shots landed. The SOLDIER took a knee, his shin cracked under a round. Despite this typically grievous injury, the SOLDIER stood up on his broken leg, his musculature, another act of superhuman determination and enhanced physiology making up for the lack of skeletal support. The SOLDIER roared back, his enhanced lungs giving him the voice of a lion. He limped forward at a solid jogging pace, his buster blade raising again. Valerick responded by sprinting off to the side into the wood line. The SOLDIER cleaved at the air behind him and trees began to shake, crack, and fall around them. He chased Valerick for another fifteen feet before letting out a groan of genuine pain. Valerick swung around to see the SOLDIER’s lower abdomen impaled by the four-foot-long sharpened length of wood from Valerick’s trap. The SOLDIER yanked the spear free from his stomach and let loose an explosive blast of Fire Materia from his outstretched, gauntleted hand, causing the surrounding snow to vaporize and dead trees to burst into flames. The sudden explosiveness of the attack caught Valerick off guard and he stumbled back raising his Wall spell while trying to keep his distance. Crashing through the fire, the SOLDIER's massive blade split open Valerick's lips and swished down the front of his coat. Valerick drew his black knife, thrusting it forward as he rolled into and off the SOLDIER's body to crash into the steaming ground below. The SOLDIER, to his credit, maintained his footing. Turning to glare down at Valerick, he gurgled in a frothing rage--Valerick’s knife was sticking out of the SOLDIER’s throat. The SOLDIER took a step forward, heavy and slow. Another step. Valerick had to reload and he could no longer cast anymore spells. He pushed back on his hands and feet, staring up at the bloody war god coming towards him. Despite himself, Valerick began to recall something that Evan had told him when they were all still together as a unit. You are the hammer and the anvil…” Evan had said, seemingly another lifetime ago. Valerick braced himself for the next few moments of combat which he knew with a warrior’s serenity might be his last. What did it matter? I will either slay this enemy now and continue living without purpose, or I will die trying and meet the Boss in the next world. I know this much, at least... The SOLDIER dropped. First to one knee, then the other, then face down.

 

SHINRA SCIENCE DIVISION, MATERIALS LAB #32 ROCKET TOWN DISC 03 - SEPTEMBER 2015

The concussion of a distant explosion rumbled through the lab, making the SOLDIERs immediately don their opaque helmets and adopt ready stances. Alright, Riwin! Shizune thought with a cheshire cat grin. Diversion in play, now to let the SOLDIERs take the bait… Almost like clockwork, both SOLDIERs began rushing for the exit to head out in the direction of the blast when second and third explosions rocked the base, stopping both of them in their tracks. Amidst the new explosive bass rumbles, Shizune’s “huh?” of surprise went completely unheard. A fourth explosion, this time much closer to the lab, made instruments and containers fall from shelves and actually forced the SOLDIERs to regain their footing. The next few moments were punctuated at random intervals by the sounds of metal and plastic things bouncing around and settling on the floor. When all was completely silent, Shizune heard a static chirp in her vox earbud. “Don’t worry, girl,” Riwin said almost over-confidently over the coms. Shizune could almost hear his devil grin. “I’m about to breach.” Shizune’s eyes went wide as she realized that Riwin was creating the opposite of a diversion, and that she was unable to break radio silence to wave him off. An ear-cracking explosion sent the lab door off its hinges and sailing directly at the two SOLDIERs, who expertly feinted to either side to avoid the flying door. Immediately afterward, two smoke bombs came sailing into the room, hitting the floor and spewing solid, sepia smoke in all directions. A strange hooting noise was diffusing all around, as though a group of hooligans had flooded into the room. As the SOLDIERs began to ready their weapons, a rapid-fire salvo of 12 shots came from the right side of the room. Four rounds found their mark, nailing the 3rd Class SOLDIER squarely in the side of the head. Two of the rounds glanced off the solid metal helm, and the remaining two were flattened and lodged in the helmet itself. Another 6 rounds peppered the 2nd Class throughout her torso, but she made no move to indicate that anything at all had happened. The remaining two rounds rang bell tones off of each of the SOLDIERs’ main melee weapons. Jetting out from her hiding place in the lab, Shizune took advantage of the smokescreen. Based on the trajectory of the rounds, the last known positions of the SOLDIERs, and the subsequent bullet hits, Shizune analyzed the layout of the battle that had just started. As she shadow-sprinted through the clouds of smoke toward where Riwin had secured the exit, she subvocalized into the vox. What the fuck are you doing here?” Shizune seethed in mid-sprint. “You’re welcome!” Riwin said louder than he had intended to. It was all 2nd Class Lina Rosewater needed. She lunged out of the smoke cloud with blinding speed, swinging both swords in axe-handed double-guillotine cuts. Due to the warcry and the displacement of smoke, Riwin had just barely enough time to stand as straight as an arrow to slip between both slashes, though he was now face-to-face with a 2nd Class SOLDIER. Shizune immediately dove into a feet-first powerslide aimed squarely at Lina’s ankles. The gamble payed off, and Lina was knocked onto her side in a deafening clatter of plate armor, tactical equipment and swords. Riwin and Shizune immediately bolted for the door, now a gaping maw of jagged metal and concrete after Riwin’s breaching charge. They almost made it out of the lab when Shizune felt like a car had crashed into her left side. The next moment saw her sailing through the air and crashing into an equipment shelf some 15 feet away, collapsing an entire shelf’s worth of lab equipment on top of her. Riwin had just enough time to duck under the 3rd Class’ lateral buster katana swipe. The slice cut the air with a miniature sonic boom, momentarily clearing that portion of the room of the smoke. Riwin used the momentum of his sudden ducking, channeling that into a floor roll, but the 3rd Class SOLDIER wielded his oversized weapon with unnatural ease. In a split second, the 3rd Class already had his buster katana over his head, prepared to bring the sword down on Riwin in an execution blow. Riwin ceased his dodge roll on the balls of his feet and sprang off the floor to the ceiling. He reached up and grabbed on to some of the piping that snaked across the ceiling at intervals, and gave a rapid, one-two kicking strike straight to the head of the 3rd Class. At Ace Turk levels, both kicks would have normally been enough to snap the neck of any normal opponent, but against the 3rd Class, the kicks had all the efficacy of a light-hearted tap dance upon a granite floor. The 3rd Class grinned and brought his buster katana down for the killing blow, ready to bisect Riwin vertically, straight down the middle. However, the 3rd Class was robbed of his kill when Lina grabbed the 3rd Class by the reinforced carry handle on the back of his combat webbing and threw him halfway across the room. “That’s my mark!” Lina spat as she slashed murderously at Riwin with diagonal cross-cuts.

 

LOCATION UNKNOWN DISC UNKNOWN

The resounding clang of metal on metal brought Valerick out of his fragmented nightmares and plunged him back into the world of the living. This time, he woke with sand and salt water in his lungs. He retched violently as he heaved the seawater out of his lungs and stomach. His hair was a tangled mess of sun-lightened brown. When Valerick finally calmed down enough, he was able to take in his surroundings. He was kneeling in the shade of a massive shipwreck on the shore of a beach. The midday sun beat down hard in all directions, and the rhythmic sound of the waves was a treacherous lullabye that sang to the fatigue in his very bones. Behind him was the endless deep-blue vista of the ocean, though which ocean, Valerick could not recall. Before him was what seemed to be an eternal expanse of white-yellow sand dunes. The horizon stretched out ahead of him like an eternity of yellow haze. Kneeling here in the shade of the broken ship, with seawater, blood, and drool dripping off of the scraggly beard he suddenly became aware of, he felt that the entire world was simply composed of two halves and nothing else--ocean and desert, and that he had somehow come to be here on the border of the salted world. She’s still dead. She warned you anyway. Valerick slumped down further, eventually falling over to one side. In the distance, on the horizon that shimmered of heat, he thought he saw a green man dancing on the top of one of the countless dunes.

 

SHINRA SCIENCE DIVISION, MATERIALS LAB #32 ROCKET TOWN DISC 03 - SEPTEMBER 2015

“That’s my mark!” Lina spat as she slashed murderously at Riwin with diagonal cross-cuts. But her deathblows found no target. Riwin was nowhere to be found. Lina scanned the surrounding area with wild eyes. Some parts of the room where the fight was commencing had been momentarily cleared of smoke from the overpowered sword swings of the SOLDIERs, but the smoke bombs Riwin had deployed were still issuing smoke, and the room began to fill yet again with milky ochre. Lina growled in frustration as she began to swing both her swords wildly. The sound of more equipment dislodging and clattering to the floor made Lina spin to face the wall to the right of the blown-out exit door where Shizune had been sent crashing into a shelf a few seconds earlier. Just as before, Lina had pinpointed the enemy position based simply on sound alone. Not a difficult thing for a SOLDIER to pull off, but Lina Rosewater needed no finesse, subtlety or even accuracy in this case--in two-seconds’ time, she could shred the entire western wall of the lab. Lina crouched into a killing pounce and screamed the name of her finishing move in an ululating banshee warcry. “EMERALD CUTTEEEEERRRRRR!” However, just as she was about to lunge forward, her 3rd Class subordinate, whom she had literally cast aside moments earlier, issued a battlecry of his own and surged past her in a whirlwind charge. So incensed by the audacity of her subordinate, Lina faltered in a red haze of pure anger, allowing the 3rd Class to truly shoot past her and towards the target area. He had his buster katana held low at his side and led his flying sprint with his armored shoulder.

 

DOCK JUNCTION 5C PORT OF JUNON DISC 03 - XX days after Zero Protocol Despite himself, Valerick stared at the massive mako cannon which had been christened, the Sister Ray. He moved along the dock, staying within the throng of sailors and laborers who swarmed the junction. The port of Junon, particularly the harbor, was never an empty place, and there was always a multitude of human rivers flowing in and out of the various ships in port. The hardest part was getting into the harbor area itself. Shinra had always had decent security around Junon in general, particularly at the Aeronavy HQ and the harbor and port authority. Though, once he managed to con his way in past the port authority security check, Valerick knew things today would get exponentially easier. Now all that was left was to find an appropriate ship to hitch a ride on. Valerick slipped out of the crowds and hid in a small space between two shipping containers that had yet to be loaded on their intended vessels. From this spot, Valerick could also spy a decent range of ships at anchor in the immediate vicinity. Based mainly on the cargo that was being loaded onto each of the ships he could see, Valerick theorized their potential destinations, and none of them looked particularly promising. Eventually, Valerick narrowed down his options to two ships. The first option was the Emerald Queen, a heavy cargo freighter which, from the looks of its bounty of mako reactor parts, was probably headed to Gongaga, Shinra’s newest mako plant. The second ship was the Anko Dancer, a mid-sized trawler which, based on the name and her load of salted hydra-fish, was likely headed for Wutai. While Wutai was farther away from Midgar, and Valerick had no doubts he could disguise himself adequately, even in Wutai, the idea of hiding in all that fish was the final factor for his decision--he’d take his chances on the mainland instead. Valerick pulled his cloak about him once more and slipped back into the morass of people flowing in the direction of the Emerald Queen. Just as he left the tiny space, a sailor sporting a jumpsuit with a stylized anchor and anglerfish patch on the shoulder slipped into the pocket space and lit up a cigarette.

 

SHINRA SCIENCE DIVISION, MATERIALS LAB #32 ROCKET TOWN DISC 03 - SEPTEMBER 2015

The 3rd Class found his mark. He had impacted the area with such speed that his buster katana had driven straight through the wall itself. The impact shockwave of his attack blasted the smoke away from the area, and now vision was completely unobscured near the crumpled equipment shelf. Conversely, all the smoke had been displaced to the area Lina was standing. Sure enough, the two intruders were there, just as the 3rd Class had imagined. The male intruder had indeed evaded them and returned to help the female intruder, who still appeared to be half buried in heavy equipment. But something wasn’t right. The two intruders had their hands and arms extended outward, towards the SOLDIER’s neck. His eyes followed their extended arms in horror, as he saw a green, rusted blade now protruding from his neck, just above the armored gorget. In that moment, his mind reeled and he was finally processing the pain of the wound. As he had been indoctrinated to do, he defaulted to his mental training, which objectively told him he would eventually shrug off this wound, that his mako-enhanced physiology would automatically kick in and begin rapid healing and even re-routing of his arterial flow, if necessary. Such enhancement even dulled normally-excruciating levels of pain to mere scratches. Objectively, he knew this. And this is precisely why, in that split second, he began to panic. The pain shouldn’t have been this intense. Something was horribly amiss. The next fraction of a second began to move in slow motion for the 3rd Class. He saw his own blood begin to jet out of the wound in his neck. He saw that copious fountain of blood burst into green flames. He saw the flame also envelope the blood that was on the rusted blade, and he felt the pain of his entire bloodstream literally on fire. He felt his ribcage burst open in several places as jets of flame and gas erupted violently out of his torso at the physically-weakest points. His musculature deformed instantly as muscles spasmed, and ultimately contracted to dessicated, burnt leather. The contraction was most severe in his largest muscle groups, where the supporting bones underneath, also being ravaged by flame at the molecular level, snapped and split, unable to bear the sudden stress. The Akatsuki blade, also still lodged deeply in the 3rd Class’ neck, snapped in half under the opposing destructive forces. The very last thing the 3rd Class felt--the last life experience he took with him back to the planet’s lifestream--was the bright green flame incinerating the gelatin of his mako-blue eyes. A concussive explosion of green fire devastated the entire laboratory and flooded the room with the 3rd Class’ blood. The blood itself appeared to be no benign thing, as it too was still aflame. The blood went everywhere. It was as if a balloon had been filled to capacity with blood and burst in the center of the room. Lina Rosewater, SOLDIER 2nd Class, was also bathed in the blood which burned of green flame. She screamed, half out of defiance and half out of pure shock. And that was all the opening Riwin needed. In the very next fraction of a second, he had buried the remaining half of the Akatsuki blade just below Lina’s left shoulder blade in an upward, lung-puncturing thrust. Riwin jumped away immediately, already shielding his face with his arms and bracing himself for the impending explosion which never came. Instead, Lina just gave out all the breath in her lungs and dropped to the floor. The wound around the Akatsuki blade was hissing and sizzling, and the veins below Lina’s skin began to emit a sickly green glow. Steam which reeked of chemically-burnt flesh began to rise from her body and fill the room. “Come on, girl,” Riwin said, bending down to lift Shizune to her feet. “We gotta get the fuck out of here.” Shizune grimaced in pain. Her ribs were broken again in two places. While she clutched her side with her left hand, she made sure to retrieve the pieces of the Akatsuki blade and secure them within her duffel bag. Riwin already made to sprint for the door, but he stopped when he realized that Shizune was not keeping up with him. “What the fuck are you doing? We have to split!” “About egress--how about a change of plan?” Shizune said in shock, her voice hoarse. Riwin followed her eyes to the impact crater left from the charging attack of the slain 3rd Class SOLDIER. The wall around the crater was giving way and pieces of the wall were falling away to reveal another part of the lab. Within that darkened room, both Shizune and Riwin were able to make out a strangely familiar warning sign. “EXPERIMENTAL ESCAPE ROCKET PODS.”

 

SHALLOW CAVE 30 KILOMETERS SOUTHEAST OF MITHRIL MINE DISC 03 - FALL

Valerick had forgotten how long it had been since he first entered the cave, whose entrance was sealed off by an impossibly massive wall of scales, like a warm boulder. He knew it had been a very long time that he had been trapped here. He knew how to survive in the cave--how to start and maintain a fire, how to hunt and scavenge for food--though from where he learned these skills, he could not recall. Combat Theoretical: I am not actually ‘surviving’... He stared at the fire. It was slowly dying. The cave itself was always moist. Always damp. Always dripping with cold water that stank of peat moss. It was hard to keep kindling dry and viable in this place. But that was to be expected in the swamp. How he knew that that was to be expected, he could not recall. Combat Practical: I am not actually surviving; I am simply ‘not dying.’ Not like her. She warned me anyway. Valerick heard a loud noise like sandpaper grinding against the earth. More foul water fell from the cave ceiling’s stalactites and onto the weak fire, making the flames sputter and hiss. Though, just like Valerick, the faint flame continued to not die. The wall of scales--that warm boulder blocking the cave entrance--began to move, as if it were scrolling from right to left. More sandpaper noises flooded the cave as the speed of the movement began to steadily increase, making more water fall and fascinating Valerick with its essence. Valerick reached a hand out to the wall of scales. He held his hand in place as the wall moved rapidly under the skin of his palm. The texture was real, visceral. It was the warmth of an inconceivably ancient predator. Recognizing this, for as much as Valerick wanted to curse and kill the wall of scales for sealing him in this cave, he had to revere its power of death and the many truths that it had made Valerick learn in his time here. You know, we were named after you. She used to have one of you as a pet. Though much smaller. Maybe that was you. Raging screams filled the cave.

 

SHINRA SCIENCE DIVISION, MATERIALS LAB #32 ROCKET TOWN DISC 03 - SEPTEMBER 2015

A security squad of Charlie Company MPs flooded into the materials lab, swords drawn, but each and every one of them began retching and gagging as soon as their eyes adjusted to the scene inside. The entire laboratory was a ravaged mess, and the interior appeared to have been splattered with blood. It was even dripping from the ceiling in a grotesque mimicry of cave stalactites. The blood appeared to be fueling green flames that did not seem to singe anything besides the blood itself. In the center of the slaughter was a female 2nd Class SOLDIER clutching at her side with her left hand. She was sitting on the floor in the center of the lab, cradling the head of a 3rd Class SOLDIER who looked like a mess of hamburger in the rough shape of a man. The only thing that indicated that he had been a SOLDIER at all was the helmeted head she was clutching on her lap. They were both covered from head to toe in blood and gore. A Charlie Sergeant shoved one of his vomiting men aside as he barged his way to the front. “We need to get you to a hospital?” the MP Sergeant fumbled. The Sergeant’s mind blanked--he had not intended for that to come out as a question, but it was the first time any of them had seen a wounded or dead SOLDIER. “Fools!” the 2nd Class SOLDIER growled ferally, albeit through the gritted teeth of pure pain. “They are getting away!” “But you’re, you’re… wounded?” “The rocket pods…” The SOLDIER seethed. “Follow them…” Just then, a rocket exhaust blast issued from the hole in the wall and an experimental emergency escape pod erupted out of the roof of the lab. “GO!” the SOLDIER said with such force and hatred that all of the Charlie MPs cleared out of the lab and went running for their pursuit vehicles, all their eyes still trained intently on the rocket pod which was climbing fast.

 

SECURITY CHECKPOINT CHARLIE-FIVE-DELTA UNITED PEOPLES OF FORT CONDOR DISC 03 - JUNE 2011

The fully-armed guard regarded the ID for a long moment. “This looks nothing like you,” he said. Valerick scratched the side of his shaggy-haired-head rapidly, like a dog scratching fleas. He was jittery. His head jerked suddenly left, right, up, and down. His gaze never lingered in any one place for more than a second. He looked everywhere except at the face of the guard who was talking to him. Not that it would have mattered, as all the guards of the UPFC wore balaclavas. Valerick mumbled something under his breath. “Come again?” the guard said. Valerick mumbled yet again. The line behind Valerick began to grow as the scene continued to play out. Now all of the guards at the checkpoint were beginning to take notice of the mongrel at the gate. As if in unison, all the UPFC guards thumbed off the safeties of their assault carbines. “I’m only going to ask you one more time,” the guard said. “I said,” Valerick suddenly blurted out, his rank breath misting out of his rancid mouth, “I want to talk to your boss.” The guard seemed to pause. He took another quick moment to glance down at the ID Valerick had given him, and then again at the man standing before him. “And who did you say you were again?” “Valerick Goodliffe,” Valerick said plainly. “It says here you’re ‘Rufus Shinra’.” “I mean, yeah,” Valerick said, blinking rapidly. “I’m Rufus.” “So what did you want with our boss, ‘Rufus’?” the guard asked, not hiding his contempt. “What?” Valerick responded, suddenly twitching and spinning around as if talking to someone behind him. All the guards raised their carbines at Valerick. “I told you the first time,” Valerick began mumbling, “I’m Galerick Voodliffe. And you’re a fucker, you know that? I’m going to Valhalla, you know? Lemee-” The guard knocked Valerick out cold with a well-placed rifle butt to the right temple.

 

VALEWOOD FOREST 68 KILOMETERS SOUTHWEST OF ROCKET TOWN DISC 03 - SEPTEMBER 2015

The pillar of smoke rising from the treeline was all that Charlie Company needed to track down the fallen emergency escape pod. The MPs secured the perimeter of the crash site before moving in. There appeared to be no signs of escape from the immediately area. This made sense to the Charlie Company Sergeant, as they had been tracking the rocket pod and remained in solid pursuit of it ever since it left Rocket Town. With guns and swords drawn, the first platoon moved up to the escape pod which was half-embedded in the ground at an awkward angle. The Sergeant himself was monitoring the situation from his command vehicle outside the established perimeter. “Open that fucking hatch, Corporal,” the Sergeant said over vox. “All other assets, standby.” I don’t really think anyone could have survived this, Sarge,” the young Corporal responded. The Sergeant slammed his fist on the coms console in front of him, eliciting gasps of shock from the technicians seated at the monitoring stations. “Firstly, whoever these punks are, they killed a SOLDIER and critically-wounded another, so nobody let your guard down. Secondly, I hope to fuck these assholes are still alive, because I want a piece of them!” The comlink crackled to life again. Sarge? We opened the hatch... “What’s the situation?” Um, it don’t make sense... “Well, come on, out with it! Are those fuckers alive or dead?” Silence and static filled the comlink for a long second. “Report!” the Sergeant barked. Two occupants confirmed, but it just doesn’t make any sense. One of them is 2nd Class Captain Rosewater, critical condition. The other one is, god, I dunno, body parts? The remains of 2nd Lieutenant Azazel? The Sergeant gritted his teeth audibly. The command vehicle interior was dead silent. “Corporal,” the Sergeant com’d, “The SOLDIERs’ equipment, combat webbing, helmets--are they wearing them, or are they anywhere in the escape pod?” The light static of other operational vox com traffic murmured in the background as they waited for a reply, though the sinking feeling in the Sergeant’s gut told him the answer he already knew. Negative, Sarge. No combat equipment or helmets, just duty fatigues. “Fuck,” the Sergeant said. “You’ve got to be kidding me…” He immediately bent over the command console touch panel to key up a secure line to headquarters. A female voice answered. Rocket Town Medical, Jennifer Wayland, speaking. “This is Sergeant Hux McAllister, Charlie Company. Have the two SOLDIERs from the attack on the lab been admitted? What’s their status?” I’m sorry Sergeant McAllister, but when our EMTs arrived on the scene, the SOLDIERs were gone.

 

CHOCOBO EXPRESS #346 BOUND FOR COSTA DEL SOL DISC 03 - SEPTEMBER 2015 1 DAY AFTER ROCKET TOWN INCIDENT

Riwin Koucha sent his best devil grin straight at the young woman who couldn’t help but blush. They were passing each other in different directions in the narrow hallway of the First Class car. Riwin could tell she was susceptible to his charms from from the first moment he saw her sneaking glances at him from the other end of the hallway. Still in all, there was another young woman who warranted his attention at the moment. As he unlocked and slid the door aside to their private car, he heard the nearly-inaudible signature sound of gunmetal sliding out from leather. He entered anyway, turned his back to the single occupant, then secured the door once more. “She’s not that pretty,” Shizune said. “Are we jealous?” Riwin said, beaming his best ladykiller grin now at Shizune. Shizune rolled her eyes i disgust and holstered her sidearm. “Alright,” Shizune said, “I’ll stop pointing this at you if you agree to stop pointing that fake-ass smile at me.” Shizune was sitting up, legs propped up on the bench. Riwin had fashioned a hasty torso cast for her using his expertise with Earth materia, and Shizune wore a bathrobe over the whole thing. That, combined with her own constant application of her Restore materia should ensure Shizune’s recovery by the time they reached their destination. “I got you something to eat, you ungrateful nerd,” Riwin jabbed. “Look,” Shizune said, pointing out the window. “You can actually see the top of Gold Saucer from here.” Riwin took a seat opposite Shizune and looked out the window. In the distance, just over the top of the Corellian Alps, Riwin could see the mushroom caps of Gold Saucer shining like burnished gold in the setting sun. He whistled at the vista outside the window as he began to peel one of the bananas he got from the food car. “You know,” Riwin said through a mouthful of banana, “I’ve been to Gold Saucer a lot for work, but I never really appreciated how pretty it could look.” Shizune looked as though she was about to say something, but instead continued to stare at the landscape as it passed by in the window. “That’s so like you,” Riwin said. “What?” “You pretty much suck at actual small talk. Especially when something is bothering you. So, since we’re pretty much cooped up in here for the next couple of days, you mind sharing?” Shizune flared her nostrils in frustration. “Though I loathe to admit it,” Shizune said, “you always seemed to be able to figure that out about me.” Riwin folded his arms across his chest and chuckled heartily. “Well, are you gonna talk, or are we just gonna be all frowny-bear the entire trip?” “‘Frowny-bear’? You’re never gonna let it go, are you?” Riwin shrugged innocently. “What? That was the best cover we ever had, remember? Operation: Rainy Sunday when we were that married couple and I kept calling you that?” Shizune narrowed her sharp eyes at Riwin. “Fine. Never forget it. I’m the best wife you’ll ever have, cover or not.” Riwin laughed genuinely. The sun continued its descent behind the alps, and the cabin darkened several shades. “I don’t know why this even matters,” Shizune said, staring at the table between them, “but, I just keep thinking that we almost really fucked up back there in Rocket Town.” Riwin nodded. “What do you think the boss would say?” Riwin asked honestly. “That’s just it,” Shizune said, “She’d be pissed. Beyond pissed. Shit, Riwin--blowing our cover, not to mention literally blowing up the target location.” As she rambled, Shizune fiddled with some empty candy wrappers on the table between them. “We’d be fired,” Riwin said casually. “Yeah, no shit.” As the sun continued to set, the lights in the private car automatically flickered on, bathing their little room in a stark fluorescence. “Well,” Riwin said, “I’ll tell you what--you can tell the boss how sorry you are in person, when we meet up with her again.” Shizune exhaled sharply and closed her eyes. Riwin saw that her expression softened to a kind of strange serenity that he found uncharacteristic of the Wutaian tinkerer. “The boss…” Shizune said speculatively. “Yeah, Evan--you didn’t happen to see where her biometric data led to, did you?” Riwin asked anxiously. “No, unfortunately we got found out before I could properly read her coordinate leads.” “Yeah, but, you still got the data right?” “Sure do. USB flash drive.” “Well, come on, let’s have a look!” Riwin said like a kid on his birthday. “With what?” Shizune said flatly. “You see any computers around here?” “Yeah, there’s that…” Riwin said, trailing off and scratching the back of his head. “At least,” Shizune said, “we know that Valerick is somewhere in Fort Condor.” “There you go!” Riwin suddenly blurted out. “Finally--you’re starting to think positively. See, that’s your problem. You’re always such a-” Riwin felt the air suddenly become heavier, and he noticed that Shizune was glaring at his very soul. “...genius! You’re always the total genius, always making like, ingenious things, you know?” “Indeed.” “Come on, Shiz! What did you think I was gonna say? You know what--don’t answer that. Because whatever you thought I was gonna say, that’s all you, my dear. I mean, you’re not that thing you were thinking; that just comes from your negativity. God! You know what, I’m just fucking this shit up. Cut me some slack, ok?” Shizune folded her arms across her chest and winced in pain. “Riwin Koucha--your singular saving grace, your one redeeming quality, is that you make me laugh,” Shizune said without laughing at all. “Yeah…” Riwin said, scratching the back of his head again. “So, yeah, anyway, let’s just keep thinking positively. And speaking of positivity and success, would you mind explaining to me why that boogery old Akatsuki sword was able to instantly explode a motherfucking SOLDIER? Because, you know, I actually still have trouble hearing out of this ear from when he exploded right in our faces, and I have just, you know, never fucking seen that happen before.” Shizune’s eyes narrowed again and the anger bled away from her face. “You in the mood for a physics lecture?” Shizune asked with an excited glint in her eyes. The way she had asked, it was almost as though she had asked, Hey--you want a pizza? Riwin raised an eyebrow. “Am I ever?” “Do me a favor and get the blade fragments out of my bag for me.” Riwin complied, fetching the two halves of the broken Akatsuki out of the duffle bag and placing them gingerly on the table in front of them. He was taken aback by the fact that, besides the corrosion that had been there from before, both pieces of the Akatsuki were completely clean of any traces of blood. “You remember how I said that Mi-235, the rare isotope of Mithril, can carry a mako charge?” “Yeah.” “The Akatsuki has a pretty high-level mako charge, but it’s not a normal mako charge,” Shizune explained. “Unlike 99.99% of the Mithril in the known world which carries a positive mako charge, the Akatsuki carries a negative mako charge. In other words, it’s anti-mako.” Shizune reached out to the table to pick up both halves of the broken blade. She fit the two halves together at the broken seams and continued to explain. “SOLDIER, Shinra’s superhuman combatants, are made that way in a process which primarily involves getting physically bombarded with positively-charged mako energy. It affects them down to the molecular level. Every atom in their body now carries an inherently positive mako charge. Though that charge is monumentally miniscule, the cumulative effect of combining each atom’s mako-charge into the total composition of the human body which is composed of several trillion-trillions of atoms is dramatic. Thus, is a SOLDIER and his superhuman physiology born.” Shizune raised the joined halves of the Akatsuki in both hands. “And just like our friends in SOLDIER,” Shizune explained, “the Akatsuki is born of the same functional process. However, unlike SOLDIERs, the atomic structure of the Akatsuki is comprised wholly of negatively-charged anti-mako. And so, when we suddenly and violently ‘introduce’ it into the body of a SOLDIER…” Shizune split the two halves of the Akatsuki in a dramatic gesture, and despite the corrosion on the blade, the two halves slightly contacting each other during the demonstration sounded a soft but lingering clang which eerily hung in the air. “Bang!” Shizune exclaimed. “An uncontrolled chain reaction wherein mako and anti-mako eliminate each other in a catastrophic release of energy. The anti-mako of the Akatsuki is much more densely-packed and atomically-stable than the positively-charged, artificially-infused mako of the SOLDIER’s body, which is why the blade itself is not destroyed in the process. It simply ‘wins the power struggle’, so to speak.” Riwin stared wide-eyed at the old blade. “What...the...fuck,” Riwin said slowly. “You mean to tell me that the Akatsuki is an anti-SOLDIER weapon?” Shizune placed the two pieces of the Akatsuki gently on the table and leaned back slowly, careful not to jostle her broken ribs any more than necessary. “Functionally,” Shizune said, “that’s precisely what it is. Though whether it was created specifically to combat SOLDIER in particular, I cannot say.” “Why did the blade blow up the one SOLDIER but not the other?” “I can’t say for sure,” Shizune said, “but I think it’s a problem of mass--the blade in its whole, unbroken form had sufficient mass to trigger the cascading chain reaction to the point of explosive detonation, whereas the half blade shard only succeeded in causing some kind of catastrophic damage and/or shock to the SOLDIER’s system. That’s just a guess, of course. I can’t be certain until I do more tests.” “Well,” Riwin said, now picking up one of the Akatsuki shards and turning it over in his hand, inspecting it with a newfound reverence. “It certainly works. But we can’t have a full-length melee weapon that explodes that violently every single time we slice into a SOLDIER.” “No,” Shizune conceded. “That simply will not do. Conceptually, this weapon is of unparalleled potency, but it’s just a prototype. The perfected version of this weapon would, theoretically, slay SOLDIERs in the same fundamental manner--by burning their bodies from the inside-out--but in a much more controlled chain reaction that wouldn’t result in an explosion…” Riwin, who had been staring at the Akatsuki, now shot his eyes to Shizune as he heard the musings of the familiar tinkerer he had known from years ago. “You almost sound like you might have an idea about how to fix this problem.” “That is highly likely,” Shizune said.

つづく To be continued in File 06: LEGION

ENDING (Valerick’s theme): “Blood, Milk, and Sky” by WHITE ZOMBIE

SHINRA TOWER, 66TH FLOOR MIDGAR DISC 03 - SEPTEMBER 2015

“This incident is peculiar in all the wrong ways,” Kezu said, phone raised to his ear. He sat at his desk in his darkened office, reclining in his seat, but far from relaxed. “A recommendation?” he said, rapping his fingers in a grim rhythm on the surface of the desk, eyes aimed at the ceiling as he thought for a moment. “FR-221 ‘Wizard’. Ramirez’ unit. They are the best group of bloodhounds we have.” The rough-hewn ice cubes in Kezu’s whiskey dislodged suddenly as they melted, sending a ring of glass tones through Kezu’s office. He raised an eyebrow as he heard the voice on the other end. “You want to mobilize ‘Avalon’ instead? Very well, V3-408 it is.” With that, Kezu ended the call. He sat up in his seat and keyed the rapid start-up sequence on his terminal. When presented with the password prompt, Kezu typed his 42-digit passcode with unnatural haste. A mere moment later, a video window opened which read “SOUND ONLY.” “Yes?” an even-tempered voice responded, glacially cool. “I’m sorry to bother you on your vacation,” Kezu said insincerely. “What’s the situation?” “A loose end, perhaps.” “I don’t deal in the trade of ambiguities, Kezu.” “Someone gravely wounded a 2nd Class and outright killed a 3rd Class in Rocket Town.” A beat of silence. “I told you it might come to this,” said the voice on the other end. Though the phrase was one of blame, the intonation was completely devoid of emotion. “Just muster your team, Tseng. Make for Rocket Town. I’ll send the briefing later,” Kezu said, masking his irritation. “Consider it done.”

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