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Darkened Skies	By : Cynthia Category: Final Fantasy VII > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 949 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy and all characters are the property of Square Enix. I do not profit from this fanfiction, it’s for entertainment purposes only.

Chapter List
- 14
- 15
- 16
"Darkened Skies"
Chapter fifteen: Evacuation
A Final Fantasy 7 AU fanfiction
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Author's note: Just a reminder that some time skipping will be necessary for the plot of this story, and as an AU, some events don't occur as they did in canon.
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*Disclaimer: Final Fantasy and all related characters belong to Square-Enix. This fiction piece is strictly a non-profit exercise of creativity and entertainment for people (like me) who can’t get enough of this world and the characters.
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A little over four years later:
            Angeal gripped his companion's naked hips tightly as he pumped over his supine body, taking him with deep, firm strokes. The redhead clutched handfuls of the bedsheets and rocked back against the bigger man, gasping and moaning approvingly. Angeal had found the ideal angle and he was doing his best to keep his thrusts steady, to optimize the pleasure he was giving Genesis.
            "Ahh...fuck...right there," rasped Genesis. "G-goddess...Angeal!"
            Encouraged by the reaction, Angeal clenched his jaw and sucked in a tight breath before holding it, struggling to keep his own climax at bay. He kept guiding Genesis' motions as he looked down and watched his rigid flesh sliding in and out of him. He realized he shouldn't have done that when the sight of it made his balls tighten warningly. Angeal blurted a rare curse and released one of Gen's hips to slide his hand around the redhead's pelvis and grip his straining erection. He pushed deep into him and held it there, breathing heavily as he fondled him. Gen was wearing a condom to contain the inevitable mess, and Angeal had to adjust his grip accordingly.
            "Why did you...stop?" panted Genesis demandingly. He shivered with pleasure as the bigger man's calloused grip slid back and forth along the length of his sheathed cock.
            "Had to," grunted Angeal, shutting his eyes as he tried to regulate his breathing. "I almost came."
            "Then come," suggested Genesis. "You can take care of me afterwards."
            Angeal had to hand it to him; Genesis had a generous nature in bed, if not anywhere else. Still, it didn't sit right with him. As far as he was concerned, the one taking it should get their climax first. He focused inwardly and steadied himself as he fondled Genesis with care. He gave a careful, experimental thrust and he felt Gen's body start to tense up. The husky little groan that followed made him smile with the knowledge that he wouldn't have to torture himself for much longer. He gave another thrust...and another.
            "Harder," demanded Genesis in a shaken tone that suggested he was riding the precipice.
            Angeal obliged and soon, he was fucking him with as much vigor as before. When Genesis' back arched and he bowed his head, the brunet released his hips again and slid his palms over his shoulders and down his spine. He cupped the tensed ass and squeezed it as it clenched spasmodically around his sex, and he drove into him one last time to let his body massage him to climax. Angeal groaned low in his throat and shuddered over his partner as he spent himself inside of him. Genesis collapsed onto his stomach as his climax overcame him, and Angeal was careful not to put his full weight onto him as he followed him down.
            They lay there like that for several minutes, with Angeal still wedged inside of Genesis as they panted for breath and the sweat began to dry on their bodies. After a while, Angeal lifted his head and kissed the side of Gen's face that was presented to him, nuzzling his damp temple before easing off of him. He rolled his lover onto his side and he slid the condom off of him and tied it into a knot. His own soon joined it.
            "I'll take care of these."
            Genesis nodded, rendered quiet by his satisfaction. He gazed up at Angeal with mellowed blue eyes, sweeping his muscular form with appreciation as the bigger man went to the bathroom to dispose of the objects.
~********************************~

            Roughly an hour later after showering and changing into fresh clothes, Genesis left their sleeping quarters to pay a visit to the library. It was an off-duty day and he intended to make the most of it, though being on duty wasn't particularly exciting, these days. Lately things had become almost boring around Midgar, with Wutai in relative peace and no maintenance issues with any of the reactors. There were still issues with a terrorist group calling themselves AVALANCHE, but the Turks were charged with dealing with them and SOLDIER involvement was only called upon when there was an immediate threat to Midgar or Headquarters.
            Genesis would almost welcome a major terrorist event, just for a new challenge. He could feel his edge leaving him and though his fellow officers were quiet about it, he knew they suffered the same restlessness. They were Soldiers, trained to excel and honed to deadly perfection. It was second nature to them now, and sex was the only thing that came close to a good battle. That was why he and Angeal had been screwing like rabbits, lately. The sex had always been great, but now it served as more than an act between lovers; it was also a diversion.

            Not that he didn't love a good fuck—especially with Angeal—but at the rate they were going, he thought he might end up a cripple before any fighting action occurred, and then he'd be of no use to anyone. He mused on this as he approached Sephiroth's quarters and Genesis paused when the door slid open. He stopped and watched with interest as a flustered young blond cadet stepped out into the hallway, straightening his uniform self-consciously as he looked up at the taller man standing in the doorway.
The cadet gave Sephiroth a salute and a breathless: "Thank you, sir," before retreating down the hall to the elevator, apparently not even noticing Genesis standing there. The cadet walked in a dazed manner and he cast one last glance over his shoulder at Sephiroth before the elevator doors opened, looking at the man with awed gray eyes. He was a good-looking fellow, though a bit too pretty for Genesis' tastes, these days.
When the cadet vanished into the elevator, Genesis regarded his friend with interest, taking note of the black robe Sephiroth wore and the tangles in his flowing silver hair. Emerald cat eyes met aqua blue over the distance and Sephiroth lifted a brow, silently daring Genesis to say something.
Genesis dared. "You and your blonds."
Sephiroth leaned casually against the doorframe and he crossed his arms over his partly bared chest, his gaze sated and content. "I have my needs too. Is that a problem?"
"Only if you forget to use protection," answered Genesis, "but considering you're even more anal retentive than I am, I doubt that's a risk for you."
A brief smirk curved the general's mouth. "I even take it one step further and require my bed partners to be tested, before anything occurs."
Genesis nodded, unsurprised. "Still, your record could soon rival Fair's, at this rate."
"They seek me out," answered Sephiroth, "I simply oblige them...if they appeal to me."
"Of course you do," Genesis answered dryly, but he really wasn't one to talk. It seemed they were all using sex as an outlet lately, and it occurred to him that they hadn't enjoyed a good sparring match in a while.
"I'm feeling restless," said Genesis, eyeing him thoughtfully. "Are you off duty for the full day, Sephiroth?"
"I'm flattered," answered the silver-haired man, "but we aren't one another's type and Angeal may get jealous."
Genesis smirked, taking the witty response in stride. Sephiroth only made jokes when he was in a particularly good mood. "Although it might prove to be an interesting encounter, I wasn't suggesting crossing swords that way and you know it. None of us has faced a real challenge in months, and I know you're getting just as restless as I am."
Sephiroth looked intrigued. "A dual, then?"
Genesis nodded. "After lunch. We can lock down the training room for it. I doubt Angeal and Zack will object."
Sephiroth nodded. "Not the training room, though. The last time we did too much damage and it cost us all a full month's pay."
Genesis smiled crookedly at the reminder. "Fair enough. What about the plains outside city limits? Aside from a few refineries in the area, there isn't much there we could destroy...except for each other."
"I'm looking forward to it," agreed Sephiroth, practically in a purr.
Anyone witnessing the exchange might have thought they were flirting with each other, if it weren't for their challenging stares.
~*******************************~

            Zack's first reaction when he got the text message was to than Gaia for the opportunity to get out and do some damage. After seeing his "guest" out of the barracks and getting cleaned up, he had a quick lunch and he was all too happy to meet up with his fellow officers at the allotted location, outside an old oil refinery three miles away from city limits. They were all eager to get started, happy for the chance to go up against someone besides trainees, regular militia or monsters.
            At first, it started as a typical friendly sparring match, with Zack starting off against Sephiroth and Angeal pairing up with Genesis. They tried to rotate opponents, because they each had their own fighting styles and it helped to keep them on their toes. Eventually, Genesis and Sephiroth faced off against one another and it inevitably advanced beyond friendly competition. It didn't get out of hand right away, but as was typical for the two of them, Sephiroth and Genesis began to take it too far.
            "You've gotten stronger," Angeal approved with a grunt as he blocked Zack's blade and their weapons threw sparks, "or I'm just more out of practice than I thought."
            "I've been practicing as much as I can," admitted Zack. "Gotta catch up with you guys."
            Angeal was about to comment on that when an explosion from somewhere behind him interrupted his train of thought. He felt a blast of hot air and he and Zack stopped what they were doing to watch one of Genesis' patented "nova" attacks spread out over the ground, where Sephiroth had been standing a moment before. The general had leaped into the air to avoid it and he was coming back down with his masamune poised to retaliate.
            "Are we going to have to—" Zack started to ask, but the blast from the release of energy knocked him off his feet and onto his back.
            Angeal managed to keep his balance, thanks to his greater weight and the number of times he'd braced himself against such shockwaves in the past. He helped his coughing ex-student up when it was over.
            "Intervene?" he guessed, pitching his voice to be heard over the sounds of their companion's clashing blades and challenging calls. He picked up Zack's sword and handed it to him as the younger man cleared his throat. "Maybe. Let them get some of it out of their system, first."
            That was all well and good, until the ground split open under their feet because of one of Sephiroth's slices cutting so deeply into the crust. Zack hastily jumped away and Angeal manifested his wing and took to the air. The big soldier sighed and shook his head at his lover and the general, realizing that they both had too much pent up energy to do this safely for very long. They always overdid it, and sometimes he wondered if they would actually kill each other in their vigor, if he weren't there to referee.
            "I don't think we should wait too long," Zack called out from below in a nervous tone. He was looking at the spreading crack in the earth and backing away from it. Too many cuts like that, combined with Genesis' explosions, might cause a giant sinkhole that could do real damage to surrounding roads if left to spread.
            Angeal dropped his sparring sword and reached for his thicker Buster sword, eyeing the two combatants for an opening. "Agreed. Here we go again."
            Sometimes he felt like an exasperated parent. He heard the sound of a chopper overhead and he looked up to see one of the ShinRa aircrafts flying in to Midgar. He paid it no mind; more worried about the damage Sephiroth and Genesis were doing to the landscape and each other than the helicopter.
~**********************************~

            Rude glanced behind him into the cabin, checking on the passengers. He grimaced slightly at the sight of the tears rolling down the pale cheeks of a bound and gagged teenaged girl in the group and he shut the door before facing forward again. Beside him in the pilot seat, his partner glanced sidelong at him with brooding, blue-green eyes. Rude's only expression of discomfort was the slight grimace on his tanned face and the loosening of his tie, but Reno knew him better than most. The redhead sighed and tugged his thin, long ponytail back over his shoulder, looking at Rude through low-hanging wisps of cinnamon-colored hair.
            "Don't let it get to ya, partner," advised Reno. His gaze was serious over the crescent tattoos on his cheekbones. "It's just a job, got it?"
            Rude cleared his throat and nodded. He started to check his communication gear to report in, but he saw the mess down below on the ground and he frowned at it. "What do you make of that, Red?"
            Reno leaned over to peer down from his side. A grin of recognition curved his mouth when he identified the participants in what looked like one hell of a sparring match. "Let's circle around and watch, yo. My money's on Rhapsodos."
            Rude shook his head, trying to take his mind off their unwilling "cargo" in the back. "The General will rip him a new one."
            "Wanna bet?" Reno dug through his blazer for his wallet. "Hundred gil says the redhead wins this one."
            "Redheads don't always win," reminded Rude. He dug for his wallet, too. "I'll raise you fifty."
            Reno gave him a feral grin. "You're on, man. Tonight, I'll be sitting pretty on a cool buck and a fifty."
            "Don't be so quick to...damn, never mind." Rude gestured at the scene below. "Hewley's breaking it up."
            Reno looked back down and grimaced. "Fucking nursemaid!"
            "There's a boxing match tonight in sector 8," Rude offered.
            Reno reached across and raised a palm for the bald man to slap. "I'm up for that."
            Rude smiled subtly at his partner, forcing his personal feelings about the things they'd been doing for the company into the background. Personally, he would have preferred to be assigned with Cissnei, Elena and Rod on the AVALANCHE case.
~*****************************~

            A few days later, the SOLDIER officers were finishing up some data entry requirements together in the control room, when Angeal passed by Zack on his way back in with some coffee and he paused upon seeing what was on his screen. He frowned and set the cupholder tray down, leaning over the younger man's shoulder.
            "Zack, what exactly is that?"
            Zack didn't even flinch. He shrugged and kept surfing the page he was on. "I finished my reports like five minutes ago, Ange. I'm just browsing my fan club."
            Directly across from him, Sephiroth sighed—the only reaction he had to the announcement. He kept typing.
            "Your fan club?" Angeal resisted a smile, interested in spite of himself.
            "Sure. We've all got one, man." Zack leaned to the side a little to show him the screen. "You guys had fans before I did, though. Hey, did you know some people on here think I'm six foot three? I think they have me mixed up with you."
            Angeal looked at the information. "I see you've responded to some of these posts. Why haven't you corrected that?"
            "He's too busy trying to impress the females," guessed Sephiroth.
            "Whatever," grumbled Zack. "Hey Gen, did you know you've got two fan clubs?"
            Genesis didn't miss a beat. "That's because I'm awesome." He finished up his data entry and shut his console down. "Angeal, is my Latte over there?"
            Angeal nodded. "It's labeled."
            Zack twisted in his seat. "Want to see your fanclub, Angeal?"
            The big man gave a modest smile. "What is it called?"
            "'Keepers of Honor'," answered Zack. "You've seriously never checked it out? Not even now, when everything's so slow?"
            Angeal briefly met Genesis' eyes as the red-clad Soldier passed by him to retrieve his cup of coffee. "I've had other things to occupy my time."
            "You're missing out on a lot of drooling fangirls," Zack warned. "Boys too. Here, I can show you the site."
            "I really don't need to—"
            "Come on, just check it out! It's been live for more than five years now, aren't you even a little curious?"
            "How is what people think of me going to help me serve my duty better?" questioned Angeal—inadvertently echoing the general's response when Zack once asked him the same thing. Across the way, Sephiroth nodded in agreement and kept typing.
            "Well, it won't," admitted Zack, "but it's still nice to see that some people appreciate what you try to do, right? Here, look. The last post on the shoutbox here is a guy saying he's trying to join SOLDIER because of you."
            Angeal leaned in closer. "Oh?"
            "Yeah, people look up to us! See, the next one if from a guy that admires your sense of chivalry. He says he never thought much of the military at all until he met you. The one after that is from a girl in Junon that wants to...uh..." Zack trailed off and grimaced. "Never mind that one, Ange...don't look at that."
            "Why? What does she want to do?" For all his stoicism and maturity, Angeal could be horribly naive at times and Zack tried to stick his head in the way to block the big man's view.
            Genesis stopped after grabbing his drink and upon seeing the text that Zack was hiding from Angeal, he snorted. "It seems the Junon cannon inspires thoughts of you in the minds of starry-eyed young women, Angeal."
            Angeal pushed Zack aside, driven to uncommon curiosity. When he saw the enthusiastic comment that the girl in question would be happy to ride his 'cannon', he flushed and wished he'd never looked at the screen.
            "I don't think browsing the fan clubs is for me."
            Zack started to respond to that, but his phone vibrated in his pocket and he checked it to find a text from his friend Kunsel. When he read the message, he frowned deeply.
            "Something going on. Have seen high rank ops sealing areas. U know anything?"
            "What the fuck?" Zack blurted the expletive without thought and shook his head as he texted back.
Ordinarily, his companions paid no mind to his texting and other communications, considering his chats with friends and girls none of their concern. His mannerisms drew their interest, however, and Angeal looked down at him with concern.
"Everything okay, Zack?"
Zack started to rise out of his seat, shaking his head as he responded to his friend. "I think someone's just messing with me. He's done it before."
An unexpected tremor shook the building at that moment, as if from a blast far below. Zack dropped his phone and the lights flickered as everyone grabbed onto something to steady themselves. The four operatives looked around at each other in equal confusion, and one of the security guards poked his head in to ask if they were okay.
"Fine," answered Sephiroth, rising from his seat, "but we need to know what's happening."
~********************************~


            President Shinra felt the tremors too, and the discussion he was having with Rufus had to be put on hold. He was getting an urgent, incoming message from Heidegger and given the location of Headquarters and the odd disturbance, he was inclined to answer it.
            "Stay on the line," instructed the president to his son. "I have to answer this call."
            He didn't wait to see if Rufus complained. He switched to the private line feeding directly from Deepground and he barked a question immediately. "Heidegger, just what in the hell was that?"
            "Mr. President," panted Heidegger's rough voice over the crackling frequency, "They're loose! They're killing...the Restrictors...taking over!"
            The president's face went pale. "That isn't possible. Make sense, man!"
            "They've broken...compulsion...killing everyone! They'll come up!"
            President Shinra's eyes went wide with the implications. "Who?" He demanded. "Who hacked the system and made this possible?"
            "They did," answered Heidegger. "The Tsviets! They delivered a virus that...oh my god...Sir, help me!"
            The president could hear the sound of gunfire rattling off, followed by a cry of agony, something sizzling and a clattering sound.
            "Heidegger," he yelled into the phone, "Heidegger, answer me!"
            A different voice spoke...a deep, cold male voice. "He is unable to respond at this time, President Shinra."
            The president swallowed, recognizing the voice. "Weiss, you are ordered to cease hostilities at once and fall in line."
            The voice sounded amused. "You no longer compel us. We're coming for you, President Shinra. We control Deepground, now."
~******************************~

            Heidegger had the sense to start security working on blocking off all sectors from the surface before he met whatever fate was dealt to him, but the nature of the emergency was such that the president couldn't afford to take any risks. He contacted Scarlet and after briefly discussing their options, he made his decision. He ordered a full evacuation of the city, under the guise that AVALANCHE had planted a massive bomb beneath ShinRa headquarters that would wipe out everyone in Midgar if it went off. In truth, he activated the self-destruct mechanism of Reactor 0, which would set off an explosive power core beneath HQ and erase what he sadly wrote off as a failed program.
            The loss of one of his top advisors was merely an afterthought. The loss of over two decades of work stung much worse—but at least he still had SOLDIER, the ShinRa army and the Turks. Midgar could be rebuilt.
~*******************************~

            "My research!" Hojo practically wailed as Zack dragged him out the door with the other scientists.
            "Screw your research," grunted Zack, losing all interest in diplomacy. "I've got orders to get you out of here alive and that's what I'm doing! Give me any crap and I'll knock you out!"
            "What's happening?" cried a frightened young research assistant, coming up beside Zack and the professor.
            Zack gentled his tone with her. "I don't know for sure, Miss. There's a terrorist threat and we're evacuating the city to deal with it. Just stick close to me and we'll get you out of here safely, okay? It's going to be all right."
            Hojo scowled at him, trying to pull his arm out of Zack's grasp. "You simple-minded buffoon! Release me! I have to go back and—"
            Zack suddenly punched Hojo in the back of the head, knocking him out. He slung the limp scientist over his shoulders with a slight grunt and hefted him like a sack of potatoes, winking at the wide-eyed assistant.
            "I'll bet you've wanted to do the same thing plenty of times." He steadied the bony professor draped over his shoulders with one hand and he put an arm loosely around the lab assistant. "Stick close."

~********************************~

            "Angeal," remarked Genesis as he and his lover oversaw the evacuation of sector seven, "Am I the only one that finds it peculiar that AVALANCHE would wait for this long to bomb HQ, if they had the means?"
            "Who knows what goes on in the minds of terrorists?" reasoned the big man. He helped a little girl to her feat as she stumbled in a puddle. Her mother thanked him and picked her up as they boarded the transport bus. "Focus on getting these people out safely, Gen. That's our only job and the rest can wait for later."
            Genesis sighed and checked his jacket once more for his beloved copy of "Loveless", having a feeling in his bones that he wouldn't get a second chance to go back for it. He relaxed a little when he felt the reassuring bulk of it in the inner pocket.
~*********************************~

            Hojo glared at the back of Zack Fair's head from his seat at the end of the bus, and he covertly reached into his lab coat for an electronic data executing device he'd been keeping on him.
            "You won't destroy all the work I've done," whispered the scientist—not exactly addressing Zack but finding him a convenient target to glare at.
He activated the device and deployed the artificial intelligence he'd planted into the Deepground mainframe. His plans for Sephiroth might never come to fruition now; but he still had another option. If the report he got about the Tsviets just before Fair came and abducted him were true, then they were in the system now, reprogramming it to suit their agenda.
Hojo smiled. "By all means, Weiss; use your Synaptic Net Dive. Jenova's will awaits you."
~********************************~

            "Don't argue with me," advised President Shinra over the phone, looking nervously toward the window. "Just implement the protocol and start the countdown! This must be dealt with before—"
            "Before what?" Asked an empty from somewhere behind him.
            The line went dead and President Shinra dropped his phone hastily as it went as cold as dry ice in his hand. He turned slowly, his blue-gray eyes wide in his face. Beads of sweat glistened on his head, peppering his thinning hairline as he faced one of the nightmares produced by his own greed—a nightmare that was once human.
A young man stood there in a metallic gray bodysuit, lined with glowing Mako strips. A mechanical, skeletal wing was spread out from the right side of his back, ending in a bionic hand clutching a gun. The young man's long, unkempt raven hair seemed to float around his shoulders as he regarded the president with slit-pupiled red eyes and he spoke through a mask of metallic bandages crossing over his face, obscuring all but his eyes, chin and cheekbones.
            "Nero," said President Shinra in recognition. "You've been ordered to stand down."
            The sparks of darkness floating around the young man intensified, and his voice was like the abyss itself. "That order has been rescinded...by my brother."
            The president didn't stand a chance. He barely had the chance to reach for his gun before the intruder acted, and his screams couldn't be heard over the sounds of the evacuation sirens and speakers.
~****************************~

            Lazard hurried along beside Sephiroth within the halls of Headquarters, his loafers touching down more softly than the taller man's boots on the immaculate floor. "What is the situation with our officers?"
            "The barracks have been evacuated. Hewley and Rhapsodos are overseeing Sector 7," answered Sephiroth. "Fair is charged with escorting Hojo and the science department to the airport, and he'll rendezvous with us there. What is the status of Tuesti, if I may ask?"
            "He's overseeing evacuation of the lower sectors," answered Lazard.
            Sephiroth nodded, finding it a fitting job for him. "What of the other executives and the President?"
            "Heidegger is missing. Palmer is with Reeve and you and I are to collect my f...I mean the president...on our way out. He will accompany us to the airport."
            Sephiroth let the slight lapse in speech slide, considering the circumstances. "Understood, Director. What of the Turks?"
            "Most of them are in Junon with the VP," answered Lazard. "But Tseng, Reno and Rude are here, prepared to aid with the evacuation of the city."

            They reached the huge double doors of President Shinra's office and Lazard frowned when he realized the doors were hanging partly open. When he saw what looked like bloody footsteps trailing out of the doors and around to the steps to the fire escape, he immediately reached for his gun. Sephiroth got in front of him immediately and gave him a silent, warning look before raising his slender sword. Lazard took the warning to heart and he stayed back with his gun ready, while the general went in to check it out.
            "Director, you can come in," called Sephiroth after a few moments, "but brace yourself."
            Frowning even more deeply, Lazard did as advised, keeping his weapon in one hand as he walked through the doors and avoided the tracks he found. He stared down at them in passing and he realized that what he'd assumed to be blood was more of a sticky, tar-like substance. When he lifted his gaze off the floor and looked upon his father's desk and the Soldier standing before it, he nearly dropped his gun.
            President Shinra—or what was left of him—lay crumpled over his desk. His body appeared to be half-dissolved and blackened beneath his suit. Lazard impulsively approached, but Sephiroth stopped him before he could reach out to the corpse.
            "Whatever did this may still be nearby," murmured the general. His raven wing manifested and he cast a quick look around, his eyes following the footsteps that went out the door. "Call for a helicopter to come to this floor and pick you up, Director. I will investigate."
            Lazard struggled against nausea and he shook his head. "The investigation will have to wait, Sephiroth. Orders were for a swift evacuation and this...whatever happened here...is just proof that it was warranted. We'll have to arrange an investigation later, after we've cleared the area and determined the severity of the threat."
            Sephiroth lifted his eyes from the footprints and nodded, lowering his blade. "I'll take you to the airport now, then."
~**********************************~

            It occurred to Angeal when Sephiroth contacted him with news of the president's demise that he hadn't heard a thing about the detention ward getting cleared out. Sephiroth confirmed that he'd gotten no word on the matter either, and his hands were tied escorting Lazard. Torn, Angeal looked to his companion and tried to decide what to do. The lines were steadily moving along and they'd nearly boarded the entire sector onto transport. Genesis noticed his troubled expression and he took his attention off of the queue for a moment to speak with him.
            "What's the matter now?" Murmured Genesis.
            "The president is dead," answered Angeal in a low voice. "Lazard and Sephiroth just found his body. It seems the terrorist threat is very real."
            "Goddess. I can't say I'm broken up over his death, but I can't help but see the irony. We were all just lamenting the fact that everything has been so quiet around here, lately."
            "We got complacent," agreed Angeal. "But that isn't all. I can't get confirmation that the detention ward has been evacuated. That means Hollander and the other detainees are still trapped, and if the alleged bomb threat is real and it goes off, they'll all be killed."
            Genesis sighed and looked around at the progress. "Go, then. Take care of it and I'll finish up here. Personally, I don't care if the bastard lives or dies, but I recognize that we may still need him and I prefer your conscience to remain clear."
            Angeal took a deep breath and nodded. There was no question about it; his morals couldn't allow him to leave those people to die—criminals or not—and there was no escaping the fact that Hollander was his biological father. He allowed himself a brief display of affection for Genesis, patting his arm.
            "I'll keep in contact. The minute you've finished getting the civilians in this sector onto transport, get out of the city. We'll meet up at the designated safe zone, later."
            Genesis patted him back and nodded.
~*****************************~

            Reeve had to organize a rotating transport system to get everyone out of the lower sectors. The number of poor and working class citizens was greater than the middle and upper class, so most of the busses had to take two trips; dropping off their passengers outside city limits and coming back for more. The one thing that troubled him about the procedure they were following was that no bomb had actually been confirmed, and there had been no sightings of AVALANCHE insurgents.
            "Something about this whole thing stinks," muttered Reeve under his breath as he stood by and watched another group of people board a returned bus. His phone began to buzz with an incoming call and he dug it out of his blazer hastily to answer it.
            "Tuesti here."
            "It's Lazard," answered the voice on the other end. The sound of wind whipping in the background and helicopter rotors forced the director to raise his voice. "President Shinra is dead, Reeve...assassinated. It seems this was no idle threat, after all."
            Reeve stood stunned for a moment. He'd been bracing for bad news, but he hadn't been expecting that. He responded impulsively, as he would to anyone losing a parent. "I'm sorry. Did...you find him?"
            "Yes. I appreciate the condolences, but there will be time for that later. This...situation is more dangerous than we first thought. If you can speed things along at all, I advise you to do it and get the hell out of the city, Reeve."
            Reeve looked up at the plate overhead grimly, nodding. "You don't have to tell me twice. We've almost finished loading the last transports. I'll try to speed things up without causing a panic. Is there any estimate on how much time we have?"
            "The president alleged that the terrorists gave two hours to meet their demands. I think we can safely assume those demands haven't been met and the bomb is still ticking. Going by the time he ordered evacuation protocols, that leaves us with less than an hour. Fortunately, Lt. Rhapsodos has confirmed that he's just seen off the last of the upper plate residents. That leaves you, Palmer and Lt. Hewley to finish clearing out the rest."
            Reeve sighed and looked across the distance at the head of the space program. Palmer stood aside eating a hotdog while he watched people board. So far, the man had been practically useless. "I'll take care of my end," he promised, resigned to the fact that he was practically on his own.
            "I'll see you in the safe zone," said Lazard, and then he ended the call.
            Reeve put his phone away and he started to walk over to Palmer, considering how he was going to explain the situation to the older man without alarming him. A hysterical Palmer was the last thing he needed. He spotted a flash of crimson out the corner of his eye, beyond the busses near the central pillar. He frowned when he identified a female form and he wondered why the woman was standing there, instead of boarding the transport with everyone else. He changed his trajectory and walked between the vehicles, concerned.
            "Miss?" he called out. "You need to board the transport with the other civilians. This isn't a drill."
            She didn't respond, except to smile at him. As he drew closer to her, he noticed interesting and strange details about her. Pale skin, auburn, shoulder-length hair in an unusual, slicked-back style. These things by themselves weren't so strange, but her eyes glowed violet and she appeared to be holding a bladed staff of some sort. Reeve stopped and frowned, recognizing the glow in her eyes as a SOLDIER feature...a mark of those infused with Mako. He'd never heard of any women being approved for the SOLDIER program, however.
            Palmer distracted him suddenly, grabbing his arm with a pudgy hand. Reeve turned to scowl at him, ready to snap at him for grabbing him without warning. The panicked look in the fat man's eyes told him Palmer had already gotten the news, however, and Reeve groaned inwardly.
            "The president's dead!" cried Palmer. "They...they k-killed him in his office! We have to go or we could be next!"
            "Keep your voice down," snapped Reeve with a meaningful look at the remaining civilians. A few of them had paused to regard them curiously, evidently hearing the fear in Palmer's voice even if they couldn't make out his words. "Everything is under control."
            Palmer shook his head, his jowls shaking with the motion. "No, no it isn't! Terrorists are loose in the city and they'll come after us, next!"
            Reeve sighed. Reasoning with the bloated jackass would do him no good. He deftly produced a device from his blazer and while Palmer stood babbling about doom, he tazered him. The older man fell to the ground, twitching. Reeve looked over at the MP's, who appeared uncertain as to what to do.
            "Get him into one of the transports," he instructed. "He'll be fine. We can't have him scaring people with his histrionics."
            As they hurried to comply, Reeve turned back to the mysterious young woman he'd spotted before, intending to get her boarded as well. He found no sign of her and his words died in his throat. He wondered if he'd truly seen her at all.
~*****************************~

            Hollander ogled Angeal as the big man let him out of the cell and ushered him along with the rest of the prisoners. Angeal warned them all that refusing to cooperate with him would only put them in greater peril. To emphasize his point, he announced that there was a very good chance a bomb would go off soon—one strong enough to level the upper plate and crush the lower sectors beneath it. Hollander had some questions about that, but a muscular black man in the ranks asked first.
            "Yo, who put the bomb there? How you know it ain't just a hoax?"
            Angeal urged everyone to keep moving and he looked over his shoulder at the inquiring man. "AVALANCHE. They've bombed other ShinRa structures before and this threat is to be taken seriously."
            "Bullshit!" The black man stopped in his tracks and Angeal stopped as well. "AVALANCHE only bombs reactors...the un-manned ones! We ain't people killers!"
            Angeal recognized the man, then. The bio-mechanical arm was further confirmation. "Barret Wallace, isn't it? Head of the AVALANCHE group in the Midgar area." He recalled the man being brought in for holding earlier in the week, caught trying to plant an explosive in one of the outer Mako reactors of the city. Supposedly, he lost his real arm in a conflict with the ShinRa army in Corel, years ago.
            "That's right," agreed Wallace, "and I'm here to tell you, we didn't plant no bomb to blow up this whole city! We don't run that way, no matter what fool lies they been telling you!"
            Angeal narrowed his eyes at him. Having no personal dealings with the echo-terrorist group himself, he only had the words of the media and the company to go by. After everything he'd been through, it wasn't hard to imagine the company covering up the truth and ShinRa Inc owned the media, after all. Maybe some of the more severe incidents broadcasted over the news were at least partially due to the actions of ShinRa, and AVALANCHE was a convenient scapegoat.
            "If there really is a bomb," urged Hollander, breaking into his thoughts, "then we don't have time to debate who really placed it."
            The other prisoners were already out of sight, eager to reach the exit whether there was a bomb or not. "We should get going," agreed Angeal. "Whether AVALANCHE is responsible or someone is just pinning the blame on them, there's been evidence that this threat is real. Get moving."
~******************************~

            "President Shinra is dead."
            In the helicopter flying beside Tseng's, Reno and Rude looked at each other before the redhead responded. "You shitting me, boss?"
            "I wish I were," answered Tseng's voice grimly. "But Director Lazard and General Sephiroth are with me and they've confirmed it. Someone assassinated the president before he could make it out of his office."
            "What about bodyguards?" Rude inquired.
            "There weren't any signs of his guards. Either they abandoned their post, he dismissed them or the assassin killed them and disposed of the bodies. We will investigate once we've completed this evacuation, if we can locate and defuse the bomb or confirm that there isn't one after all. For now, I need you to pick up a group of prisoners that Lt. Hewley is escorting to the airport."
            The Turk partners looked at one another again and shrugged. If it had been Rufus instead of his old man, they might have been a little upset about it.
~********************************~

            Seventeen minutes later:
            When Angeal touched down behind the Turk chopper carrying Hollander and the other prisoners, Genesis walked over the highway pavement to him and scanned him for injury before speaking.
            "Did you run into any trouble?"
            "No," answered the bigger man. He looked over at Zack and nodded at him when the younger Soldier waved at him with an openly relieved expression. Zack resumed his conversation with Kunsel and a few other Soldiers and Angeal turned to Genesis again. "Where is the general?"
            "Over there," answered Genesis with a nod in the direction of Tseng's landed chopper. "Discussing the situation with Tseng and the Director. They're planning to send a bomb squad in now that the city is evacuated. Frankly, I'm beginning to doubt there really was an explosive."
            "What gives you that idea?"
            Genesis glanced around before leaning closer to him and speaking in a low murmur. "Because the president died shortly after issuing the evacuation order, and how would AVALANCHE manage to get a bomb powerful enough to do what they threatened beneath HQ without anyone detecting them? As I said before, if they were capable of this, it stands to reason they would have done it long before now."
            "Then what is the purpose of making a bomb threat at all?" Angeal was finding Gen's logic disturbingly sound—especially when he considered Wallace's adamant denial that his insurgent group had anything to do with it.
            "Well, don't you think a bomb scare would create a convenient diversion?" Genesis looked out at the city in the distance, highlighted by the orange glow of the setting sun. "They did go after him while everyone was busy following evacuation procedures. I think the bomb was a ruse."
            A gigantic explosion from somewhere within the center of Midgar literally blew away Genesis' theory and knocked everyone off their feet. Civilians cried out and children screamed with fear as their parents shielded their tender young forms with their own bodies. Militia scrambled to surround the citizens of Midgar, not only to keep them from running off blindly in a panic, but also to protect them from any debris.
            Genesis looked up from his position on the broken concrete when the ground stopped buckling from the shockwaves. The weight of his companion half-sprawled on top of him made it difficult to breath, and his hair was in his eyes. He irritably pushed his bangs aside and squinted at the billowing mushroom cloud darkening the skies in the distance, and he wiped a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth.
            "Of course, even I can be wrong sometimes," he coughed.
~********************************~

-To be continued
- 14
- 15
- 16
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Darkened Skies