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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
- 17
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- 19
"Darkened Skies"
Chapter eighteen: Subterfuge
A Final Fantasy 7 AU fanfiction
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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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            Sixteen days after the evacuation, a team composed of excavators and a cleanup crew went missing while on assignment in Midgar. They were meant to go in and begin clearing the rubble, before seeking out the entrance to President Shinra's hidden Sector 0. Rufus sent a regiment of ShinRa MP's with them as guards just in case, but seeing as all scans of the area produced no human life forms, he didn't believe it was necessary to employ any elite SOLDIER operatives to the scene.
            Now, as he went over the reports, he wished he had. Ash-blond brows were drawn together over narrowed gray eyes as the new president of ShinRa Inc read the information on his screen. The annoyingly cheerful tone of his office phone going off only served to irritate him further. He picked it up and kept his eyes on the report.
            "Yes?"
            "President," Reeve's voice answered. The older man's tone was tense. "Have you received the reports from Midgar?"
            "I have," confirmed Rufus, keeping his tone cool despite his inner tension. "I would like to know how this happened. One might get the impression that our people were attacked on the job, but how could that be, if there were no other life forms present?"
            "That's what we're trying to figure out, sir," Reeve assured him. "I'm asking for a conference to discuss how best to deal with this. We obviously can't send in another team without a heavily armed escort, if there's a chance the communications cut-off was due to an attack. I'd like to hear what Highwind and Deusericus think, as well as our elite SOLDIER operatives."
            "I don't think it's necessary to include all of the SOLDIER officers in this meeting," objected Rufus. "We are the governing bodies of this corporation, Reeve. We can't come to depend too heavily on the opinions of our military operatives. Soldiers are trained to take orders and fight, not debate the finer points of politics, urban development and the economy."
            "But they're also trained for strategic warfare," reminded the older man. "I understand your reluctance to include the others, but I think it would be a mistake to leave the general out of this. If we are looking at an attack, odds are Sephiroth is going to be leading the retaliation. He could have some valuable insight on how to handle this situation."
            Rufus sighed, unable to refute the hard, practical logic of his point. "Then we include General Sephiroth in the meeting, as well as Tseng. Their subordinates needn't be involved."
            "I think that's both reasonable and wise, President Rufus. I'll arrange it all now."
            "Good." Rufus looked at his screen again, scowling with displeasure. "The sooner we deal with this, the better."
~*******************************~

            "And there's been no communication from the area since," finished Reeve some forty-five minutes later in the conference room. He had a satellite image of Midgar on the big screen behind him. "As you can see, satellite imagery showed some form of micro bursts within the city earlier today, but we can't get a closer image of the city to see any details. We have people working on enhancing it but there's been a lot of interference."
            "We need to find out what's happening there," Rufus said when Reeve finished. He looked around the room with a frown. "However, I'm not willing to risk another large party of personnel to find out."
            "Then you need a covert reconnaissance," suggested Sephiroth.
            "I'm afraid so," agreed Reeve.
            Rufus immediately looked to the leader of the Turks. "Tseng, if you have any agents in mind for this task, feel free to speak up."
            The Wutaian man appeared somewhat distracted and he looked up from the pen he was tapping on the polished lacquer surface of the table, blinking dark eyes at his superior. "The Turks are at your disposal as always, sir, if you think we would be best suited for the job."
            "Now hold up a minute," interjected Cid Highwind—who obviously wasn't happy being a cog in the corporate wheel, "If you need someone to sneak in there quiet-like, maybe a noisy chopper isn't the way you want to go. I'm sure your Turks are quiet as cats on their feet, but those choppers they fly can be heard for miles. If this is ain't a result of interference keeping your people off-line, then you don't want your scouts to be seen or heard when they move in."
            He stuck his unlit cigar into the corner of his mouth and crossed his arms over his chest, practically daring them to argue his point. Nobody did. Lazard turned to Sephiroth and before he could even part his lips to speak, the general guessed what was on his mind.
            "I'll take the reconnaissance mission."
            Rufus didn't seem overly pleased. "Alone?"
            "Captain Highwind is correct," answered Sephiroth with a nod Cid's way. "If there are hostile forces in Midgar, we don't need to risk drawing their attention. I won't show up on standard radar and even if there are hostiles with some ability to scan bio signatures, a single blip won't be enough to cause great alarm. I'll go in, scan the area and investigate. Chances are that if the lack of communication is due to some form of interference, I can fly back out of range of the city to contact you and report. Otherwise, I'll gather information and come back."
            The corporate heads looked around at one another and began to discuss it. "His idea has merit," announced Tseng. "Better a single operative fly in silently and survey the area, than a noisy aircraft."
            "But he shouldn't go alone," argued Reeve with a frown at Sephiroth. "In fact, I'm not comfortable sending our General in for this mission at all. Maybe we should consider sending in Lt. Rhapsodos, instead. He's arguably the fastest of the three of you winged Soldiers, am I right?"
            "Granted, his speed and maneuverability in the air hasn't been matched by myself or Hewley," admitted Sephiroth with a dry smirk, "but he's the wrong man for this job. You want subtlety, Commissioner, not flair. If you send Rhapsodos in to scout and he finds hostiles, he's more likely to take them on himself than return for backup."
            Lazard nodded. "I agree with General Sephiroth's reasoning. There's no doubt that he's one of our best, but we all know Genesis Rhapsodos is notoriously impulsive. He's the man you want to send in to stir up the hornet's nest...not observe it and get a head count."
            "Good point," sighed Reeve. He snapped his fingers, inadvertently producing a small spark when the circuits grafted into the tips rubbed together. "What about Lt. Hewley, then? He's level-headed and dependable."
            "That would be a good choice," answered Sephiroth, "except for one thing. Angeal follows orders flawlessly, when they don't compromise his honor or betray Genesis."
            The others looked at each other and Rufus spoke up, raising a brow. "I fail to see the problem with that."
            "The problem is that if he sees civilians in danger, he's going to intervene," answered Sephiroth in his maddeningly indifferent voice. "If this is a hostage situation rather than communication failure, Angeal may not be able to turn his back on it long enough to report, before he takes action."
            Lazard rubbed the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger, sighing heavily. "So we have a hot-headed anarchist or an excessively noble martyr to choose from, if we don't want to send Sephiroth in."
            "Then we send the general," decided Rufus. "There are too many risk factors, otherwise. However, I won't send him in alone. Tseng, arrange transport to the edge of Midgar airspace. Your people will accompany General Sephiroth and wait for him outside the territory while he scouts."
            "I could take him in the Highwind," offered Cid. "If something goes down, my ship has the firepower to blow half an army to hell before they even know what hit 'em."
            "Save it for when we've confirmed hostiles in the area," ordered Sephiroth. "A single, small aircraft with an armed escort inside will suffice for this mission. We'll touch down between Midgar and Kalm, and I'll go alone from there to review the situation."
            "I suppose you'll want your SOLDIER officers accompanying you?" guessed Rufus.
            Sephiroth shook his head. "No. If the situation warrants it, I'll request their assistance. I leave it to Director Tseng to decide which of his personnel he sends with me. There won't be any fighting on this mission, unless there's no other choice."
            Cid bit down hard on his cigar, his jaw clenching visibly before he responded. "Why the hell you people even want me at this table doesn't make the sense Gaia gave a mule. You froze the space program and you won't let me fly missions! What the hell am I doing here, anyhow?"
            "Because one day we may have the resources to put back into the Space Program," answered Rufus calmly, "and you and your wife know more about rockets than anyone alive. As for the rest, your expertise in airship operation makes you a valuable asset to national security. I've explained this all to you before, Captain. For now, I think we'd best trust the general's judgment and keep you and the rest of our forces on standby."
            Cid grumbled into silence and puffed on his unlit cigar. Being unable to actually smoke it inside the conference room was yet another insult, to him.
~****************************~


            As Sephiroth prepared to leave, his companions discussed the situation in his quarters. Genesis was predictably put out by the decision to exclude him from the mission.
            "So they're sending you in blind, by yourself? Whose brilliant idea was that?"
            Sephiroth paused in the act of stuffing his bound hair into his uniform jacket, and he glanced at Genesis. "Mine."
            Genesis visibly struggled for words for about 1.2 seconds, before finding his tongue. "It figures you would find yet another way to show off."
            "I don't know why everyone's so worried," Zack reasoned. "I mean sure, they need to send someone to check in on the cleanup crew but they've already gone over the place with scanners and they didn't find anything. We got all the survivors out already, and none of them looked superhuman to me. It's probably just interference, like Reeve said."
            "Your boundless optimism doesn't negate the fact that President Shinra blew up his own city to stop the monster army he bred beneath it from rising to the surface," reminded Genesis cryptically. "I'd say that warrants some concern."
            "And I doubt whoever killed him was human," added Sephiroth, his emerald gaze thoughtful. "That means that at least one of the Deepground operatives had already escaped the facility when the president activated the self-destruct. It stands to reason that if we were able to evacuate, then some of the Deepground operatives might have gotten out, as well. Just because scanners didn't pick them up initially doesn't mean they couldn't have returned to Midgar afterwards. Hojo's ranting shouldn't be dismissed, no matter how insane it sounds."
            Zack shivered a little and he rubbed his bare arms. "So there's really no telling how many of them got out or where they went before the explosion went off."
            Sephiroth nodded. "Someone in the crew would have tried to move outside of the dead zone to contact us by now, if it were a localized interference issue. The fact that they haven't done so yet could mean that radiation in the area caused damage to the equipment itself, or they came under attack. It's unconfirmed whether the micro bursts seen on the satellite imagery were from artillery explosions or the Mako reactors losing stability."
            They stopped debating, each of them caught up in personal thoughts as Sephiroth finished getting ready. He slipped a black beanie cap over his head to hide the shine of his silver hair. The rest was tucked into his uniform.
            "You look...ridiculous," Genesis commented when Sephiroth shouldered his backpack and retrieved his masamune. "The beanie look doesn't suit you at all."
            "I'm not going down a fashion runway," countered Sephiroth, "I'm conducting a mission that requires me to avoid attracting attention to myself; a concept you still fail to grasp."
            "My methods haven't failed me yet," shrugged Genesis without apology.
            Angeal was more sober about it. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather me go in your stead? If there really is something to worry about, your leadership might be needed here."
            Genesis gave a grudging nod of agreement. "You're the only one that seems to be able to cut through all the bullshit that goes on around here, Sephiroth. They actually listen to you."
            "That's because they're terrified of him," snorted Zack.
            A brief, quite smile flitted over the general's face; so subtle it was nearly a phantasm. "I trust the three of you to hold things together while I'm gone." He looked at Angeal. "Between your patience, Genesis' cunning and Zackary's creativity, you'll find a way to deal with any trouble you run into."
            Zack couldn't resist a parting quip. "Or Gen will just kill them all...whichever comes first."
            "Don't tempt me," muttered Genesis.
~*******************************~

            It was well into night by the time they reached the designated drop-off point. Reno piloted the aircraft that carried Sephiroth, three regular MP's and two SOLDIER 3rd's. Naturally, his partner Rude was his copilot. They landed outside a run-down farm, and Reno powered down the engine while Sephiroth prepared to exit the craft. The general checked his equipment before looking over his shoulder to give parting instructions to the Turks.
            "I'll contact you before I reach the red zone, and again once I've surveyed the area. If you don't hear from me within two hours, return to Junon and report in."
            Reno and Rude glanced at each other, before the redhead responded. "Without even looking for ya?"
            "Correct," answered Sephiroth. "Should I fail to liaison, it means we're up against something more powerful than you can hope to take on yourselves."
            Reno snorted. "Hey, I know you're good, but don't you think you're laying it on a little thick? We've got a lot of firepower on this bird, General."
            "If I don't return or contact you, it means that whatever overpowered me also overpowered a full crew of personnel, including the MP's sent with them," reminded Sephiroth grimly. "One helicopter won't be enough to handle the situation, regardless of how many weapons you have at your disposal. Don't assume we could be going up against armed enemies. It's possible that a chemical reaction occurred during the crew's mission, and if that is the case, we may be looking at a radiation hotzone strong enough to penetrate hazmat gear."
            Evidently, none of them had considered that possibility. Rude raised his eyebrows and looked pointedly at the SOLDIER operative through his shades. "Then shouldn't you be wearing some kind of protective gear?"
            Sephiroth smirked without humor. "If it didn't help the crew, it won't help me. Just wait here for my report, and be ready to act, no matter the outcome."
            Rude and Reno nodded, and Sephiroth was satisfied that they would follow the protocol he'd laid down for them. He disembarked from the aircraft and he checked his gear once more, before spreading his wing and taking off into the night sky.
~******************************~

            Sephiroth practiced caution as he flew into Midgar airspace. His dark clothing and wing would make it hard for anyone not specifically searching for him to spot him against the night sky, but he kept a sharp eye out, regardless. He spotted several abandoned hover transports just outside the main gate to the city and he flew down to investigate, keeping his masamune ready. He cautiously checked each vehicle, refraining from calling out so as not to alert possible enemies of his presence. There didn't appear to be any signs of struggle and each vehicle was completely intact. By all appearances, the occupants simply abandoned them. The tracks leading to the city gate told Sephiroth that they'd gone inside without any opposition.
Wary of staying out in the open for too long, he made haste to the outer edge of the broken city and he landed on the wall near Mako Reactor 5. He remained there for several moments, focusing all of his senses to detect any danger. He felt no impending symptoms of Mako or radiation poisoning, but then his unique biology could be fettering it. There was no point in waiting for signs of weakness or sickness. If he was exposed, he had limited time to do his job before he began to feel the effects.
            The first thing he did was to retrieve the pair of small binoculars from his jacket and peer through them at the sector below. He saw no signs of activity, so he replaced the visual aid and activated the scanner attached to his wrist. He didn't pick up any life signs within the sector, so he prepared to move on and he attempted to contact his companions back on the chopper. Sephiroth wasn't terribly surprised when his transmitter failed to connect. He winced against the high-pitched whine of feedback, followed by static. He tried once more and gave up. He could move out of range of the city and try again, once he completed his circuit around the city.
            After scanning the outer sectors and finding nothing of interest, Sephiroth glided closer to the center of the city, where the upper plate had fallen and buried whole neighborhoods beneath it. Here, he could recognize some of the structural remains of the ShinRa tower. The upper part was still somewhat intact, pointing up at a slight angle like an obscene finger gesture. He cocked his head and stared, finding it oddly and ironically appropriate. He could make out office cubicles through the shattered windows, some still sitting properly upright despite the violent collapse of the building.
Shaking his head, the Soldier began to search for evidence that the cleanup personnel had come near there. He stopped when his booted foot trod on something the beeped, and his first thought was that he'd just stepped on a landmine. Reminding himself that he wasn't in Wutai fighting rebels, he clenched his jaw and suppressed his initial reaction. He looked down and slowly moved his foot, keeping pressure on the object as he did so, just in case. When he saw that it was a cellular phone, he breathed easier and squatted down to retrieve it.
Sephiroth lifted the object up and frowned at it. The camera application was beeping, advising that its maximum recording capacity had been reached. Sephiroth removed a glove so that he could interact with the touch screen and he replayed the captured video from the beginning. It showed the entrance to the city during daytime, and the phone's owner was commentating on the activity surrounding her.
"We're heading through what's left of Sector 7 now," said the young woman's voice. "We've got to move in close to the pillar first and make sure there aren't any gas or chem leaks around the main cleanup site. Once we do that, we can send people in to the ShinRa building to look for any evidence that might lead to more answers."
The scene changed to workers moving rubble out of the way, and the tour guide explained that they had to move slowly, to avoid contact with live wires or broken gas valves. When they called out that it was clear to move in, the picture wobbled as the owner of the phone moved in with the rest of the staff. As they got close to the remains of the ShinRa tower, one of the MP's came up to the camera holder, his upper face partially hidden under his helmet.
"Do you have authorization to be documenting this?"
"Er, no sir. I'm on the environmental cleanup crew and—"
"Miss, I'm going to have to ask you to stop recording and relinquish your phone," interrupted the trooper. "Only authorized parties are permitted to document this situation."
"What do you mean, 'authorized'," demanded the woman. "I'm part of this crew!"
"All the same, you can't be recording—"
A sudden explosion and the sound of screams behind him distracted the MP, and he turned around. "What the hell's going on?"
One of the other MP's went flying through the air with a cry, like a doll tossed by an angry, petulant child. Something roared in the background and people started to run away from the ruined HQ building, while the military tried to close ranks and form defensive lines.
"Shut that thing off!" Warned the MP before joining his fellows.
The owner of the phone did not comply, of course. She was jostled as other workers pushed by her in a panic, and she stubbornly kept moving forward.
"Something's happening," she announced in a breathless, tense voice. "I don't know what, but…oh my god!"
Another MP went flying over the heads of his fellows—in two pieces. One half of his body hurled past the woman recording the event and Sephiroth saw her lift a shaking hand to protect her face as blood splattered her. A young man in a lab coat ran up to her, his brown eyes wide in a pale face.
"Elly, drop the phone and run," he urged, his voice almost as high-pitched as the woman running past, screaming. "We're under attack!"
Behind him, Sephiroth caught a glimpse of a hulking form of a man and the flash of yellow eyes, before the owner of the phone was knocked over completely in the rush. She must have dropped the device in the fall and it apparently lay on its side as she and the other personnel started to run away. The sound of gunfire blended in with the terrified yells of the cleanup teams as they tried to escape. Sephiroth tilted the phone sideways to get a better look at the chaos that was happening. The man—if he could be called such—who was evidently responsible for hurling MP's through the air had grabbed another by the throat and he gave a broad-toothed grin as the hapless, small human kicked feebly in his grasp. He had blue-gray, disheveled hair, pointed ears and roughly chiseled features.
A woman with slicked-back auburn hair came up beside the huge man. She wore an outfit composed of red and black leather, which revealed her stomach and upper thighs to view. She spoke with a heavy accent that Sephiroth couldn't place as she examined the dying captive with cold amusement.
"Don't kill all of them, Azule. Weiss wants live captives for the cause."
The man-beast grumbled and tossed the MP to the ground. More of their allies must have intercepted the ShinRa employees trying to escape and cut off their exit, because some of them began to back up into range of the video again. A woman whimpered with fear and a man called out a demand, asking their attackers what they wanted. Their answer came in the form of clicking weapons, and Sephiroth saw the nearest crew raise their hands in surrender. The woman looked at someone out of view and she nodded.
"Bring them. All of them."
Nobody seemed to notice the phone that lay forgotten in the rubble as the men and women on the cleanup crew were rounded up and herded away, toward what remained of the ShinRa building. Sephiroth strained his eyes trying to get details, but the vantage point of the phone didn't allow him to see where they were being taken. The phone kept recording long after the last captive was out of sight and the sobs and cries died away. Sephiroth scanned to the end of the feed and then he looked up at the ruined tower.
Sector 0. He didn't need to see the prisoners enter it to know that was where they were taken. The attackers all wore matching uniforms, with the same Mako-bright stripes running along the seams. The two that gave orders in the clip must be the Tsviets mentioned in both Scarlet's files and the ones recovered by Reeve—officers of Deepground. The markings and style of their uniforms were slightly different from the others. He guessed that the one named 'Weiss' must be their leader, going by the woman's reference to him.
Sephiroth moved quietly amongst the rubble as he put the phone away. He activated his scanner, not expecting much since the interference in the area made communications impossible. The device worked and he remembered that it didn't rely on satellite or radio frequency to operate. As the screen lit up, he was treated to another surprise; he was finally getting readings. Just as he suspected, the life forms were all around him. He wondered how large the hidden facility must be and how the Deepground operatives managed to survive the explosion. Maybe they moved the source before it went off, or maybe they got out of the city and later returned.
Whatever the answer to that question was, Sephiroth now understood why he hadn't found any readings in the outer sectors. They were all in the center of the city, under ground. He debated the matter inwardly as he walked toward the central structure. He could seek out the entrance and attempt to infiltrate it to see what they were up against, but considering what he saw on that video feed, he'd be in for a mighty challenge if he were discovered. He had no idea how many Tsviets there were.
Reminding himself that this was a scouting mission, not a rescue attempt, Sephiroth decided to at least try and locate the entrance to the hidden sector before returning to his comrades and heading back to Junon. He only got a few steps when he heard the sound of a panel sliding open with a wretched screeching sound. He immediately took to the air and flew up to the top of the ShinRa tower. He found a spot to sprawl over and he tucked his wing in as he peered over the side of the structure.
People began to emerge from a tunnel that had been covered with slabs of large shrapnel—lots of people. They all wore the form-fitting Deepground uniforms and as Sephiroth watched, they filed out of the secret entrance and into the city. He counted fifty of them, before they stopped coming out. They separated into five groups of ten and they seemed to be going out to patrol the city. He watched silently as they left, and when they were gone the big man closed up the tunnel again. Sephiroth counted silently in his head as he activated his scanner. There were so many blips, he found it impossible to get an accurate count. He estimated over a thousand, and he knew that only about a hundred accounted for the cleanup team. That meant there were several hundred Deepground soldiers beneath the ruins.
~And we have no way of knowing how many more there could be out there, somewhere nearby.~
With that cryptic thought in mind, Sephiroth decided it was time to go. If he lingered much longer, Reno would assume something happened to him and return to Junon without him. The brief contact he'd had with him just before flying into the dead zone had occurred almost an hour ago. There was nothing more he could do here for the captives, but he intended to organize a rescue operation the moment he touched back down in Junon.
He got to his feet and spread his wing, preparing to take off. Just as he started to flap, a sound reached his ears that made a chill race up his spine. Sephiroth stop and frowned, listening intently to identify it. It wasn't the wind, and it wasn't the screech of metal. The noise coming from somewhere below the city was screams—or rather, a collective scream issued from hundreds of human throats. It seemed to go on and on and Sephiroth hastily checked the scanner on his wrist as a horrible feeling overcame him. Sure enough, the blots representing human life were disappearing at a steady, alarming rate.
The general compressed his lips and glanced at the blocked tunnel entrance, unable to even imagine what could be happening in there. His left hand reflexively tightened over the hilt of his sword and he damned near threw caution into the wind and went to investigate, but the screaming finally died off into blessed, morbid silence. Sephiroth looked at the scanner again and his frown returned. Not a single blip remained…but that didn't make any sense to him. His bio signature should at least be showing up, even if everyone inside Sector 0 was now dead.
He heard the march of booted feet approaching below and he again had to fight off his impulses. Sephiroth was confident that he could handle one group of standard Deepground operatives on his own. He couldn't risk being proven wrong, however…not when he had such vital information to share. One last look at his scanner revealed that these operatives weren't registering on the device either, and he presumed it was malfunctioning.
He couldn't worry about such a thing right now. Evidently, over a thousand people were dead and he had no explanation for how it happened. The operatives returning to the tunnel didn't appear to be the least bit concerned, and that just brought up more questions. Putting his desire to see those questions answered on the back burner for now, the general left the scene and he contacted Reno as soon as he was out of the dead zone.
~*******************************~

            Sephiroth immediately organized a debriefing with the corporate heads when he returned, and he insisted that they allow his fellow officers to participate in it. After a brief stop in the science lab for a radiation scan, he continued on to the head office wing. Once everyone was inside the boardroom and the door was shut and locked, Sephiroth didn't beat around the bush.
            "They're all dead."
            Rufus looked up from the paperwork on the table before him, as did everyone else present at the meeting. "You're certain, General?"
            Sephiroth nodded. "I watched their life signs blink out myself, and I heard their screams."
            "What the hell killed them?" Cid asked.
            "I don't know," admitted Sephiroth. He retrieved the cell phone he'd found on the scene from a pocket and he placed it on the table before sliding it over to Rufus. "But I'm assuming their captors slaughtered them. This belonged to one of the workers. It contains video footage of the attack."
            "Wait…who attacked them?" Zack demanded.
            "Deepground, of course," answered Genesis for Sephiroth, his aqua gaze shrewd on the silver-haired fighter. "We've already agreed there was a chance some of them may have survived the explosion."
            "And we were right about that," confirmed Sephiroth. By the time the screams stopped, there wasn't a single life reading left."
            Reeve's brows hedged over puzzled, dark eyes. "Not a single reading? What about the operatives themselves, then? Unless they committed mass suicide after killing their victims, their readings should have remained."
            "The scanner seemed to stop functioning properly after those people were killed," explained Sephiroth. "I'm assuming that whatever killed them must have scrambled the scanner—which is why I had to stop by the lab on the way in to be scanned for radiation."
            "A wise decision," approved Lazard, unsmiling. "So your report is that the remaining Deepground forces in Midgar are now dead?"
            "No," answered Sephiroth. "I'm saying they killed all of the hostages they took, but the troops they sent out into the city were perfectly fine, and none of them seemed particularly alarmed when they returned—though they must have heard the screams. I believe the Deepground troops must have died with them, however, because there were well over a thousand life signs on the scanner before the cries began."
            "Maybe Reeve's comment about the Deepground operatives killing themselves isn't far from the mark," suggested Angeal thoughtfully.
            "I was being sarcastic," answered Reeve. He winced at the sounds of the screams coming from the phone Rufus held in his hands.
            Rufus finished watching the recorded video and he passed the phone over to Reeve. "I don't know about that. The two operatives visible in this feed were obviously rounding up captives for a purpose. The woman mentions a 'cause'."
            "What 'cause' might that be?" Lazard asked, watching his half-brother's face with interest. "Is there something you know that you haven't shared?"
            Rufus hesitated and Reeve paused the recording to stare at him with the others. "President Shinra, I think it's time we told them."
            Sephiroth frowned at Reeve, then at the president. "Tell us what, exactly?"
            Rufus gave Reeve an annoyed look, and then he got out of his chair and clasped his hands behind his back. The Turks exchanged curious looks—except for Tseng, who watched Rufus with the gaze of one who knew what was on his mind. The Turk director added his low encouragement to Reeve's.
            "Sir, I think Tuesti is right. It would be in everyone's best interest if they knew."
            Cid scowled. "What the hell are they talking about? I thought I made it pretty damned clear when I agreed to sign on that I expect you people to be straight with me…or at least, as much as you're capable."
            "I'd like to know what they're talking about too," Angeal said sternly, his eyes darkening with mistrust. "I hoped this company would learn from these recent events, instead of covering up more secrets."
            "Nothing has been said because we had no details to give," explained Rufus.
            "Nothing's been said about what, sir?" Zack demanded, his scowl almost matching Angeal's. Even Zack had his limits and it appeared they were being tested now. "What kind of details were you after?"
            Rufus sighed and gave a nod to Tseng, who took his cue and stood up to explain. "Over the past week, several people in Junon have gone missing. We at first assumed they simply left the city in a hurry, perhaps seeking somewhere quiet to live out of the fear that our administration might bring about another disaster. Reeve and I have been investigating the matter quietly, in the hopes that we could correct the situation or at least discover the cause before it became an issue."
            "How many people?" Lazard asked.
            Reeve grimaced and lowered his gaze. "Nearly twelve hundred people confirmed."
            Zack's eyes bugged out. "Twelve hundred? How the hell do that many people come up missing without it making the news?"
            Rufus looked out the window. "I made arrangements to keep the press quiet about it."
            Angeal shook his head in disgust, his jaw tense.
Beside him, Genesis made an observation that was both elegantly worded and brutal at once. "You seem to be skipping merrily down the path your father once trod, President. Is it vanity or stupidity that drives you to make the same mistakes he did?"
"I'm not making his mistakes," insisted Rufus with a scowl.
"Nah, you're just making brand new ones of your own," countered Zack.
Angeal looked at Reeve with an unhappy frown. "What's your excuse for not taking action when you realized over a thousand civilians had gone missing in such a short time? Didn't something similar happen before the old president died?"
"Yes," agreed Reeve, "and Tseng admitted to me that a lot of those missing people were gathered by the Turks, at President Shinra's orders."
"For what purpose?" asked Sephiroth.
"We didn't know," confessed Tseng. "We were ordered to bring in certain kinds of people for 'rehabilitation'. Most of the targets had criminal records of some sort. We weren't told what sort of program they were to be a part of and Turks never ask questions."
Reno eyed Tseng suspiciously. "Do you know what all that was about now?"
Tseng nodded, his sculpted face solemn. "I believe we were bringing in fresh, unwilling Deepground recruits. We were just never told."
"So they used you guys as 'people mules' for their sick project," Cid announced bluntly.
"So it would seem," agreed Tseng. "But this is different. We had nothing to do with the recent rash of disappearances, and everyone responsible for the Deepground project is in custody or dead. Something else is behind it."
"There have been reports coming in since the disappearances started," Rufus explained. "Reports of 'devouring darkness'. Ordinarily I would put such accounts off as the ramblings of drunk people, but there have been too many of them and I've seen too much to brush it off as impossible."
"So people are saying some kind of darkness snatched these folks away?" Cid looked dubious.
"Can you really say it isn't possible?" Reeve challenged. He looked around the room, his eyes lingering pointedly on the three winged Soldiers. "We know mutations are possible, and we know that the experiments Hojo and the others conducted resulted in some extraordinary abilities, in some of the recipients."
"Good point, yo," Reno agreed. He gestured at the Soldiers. "After seeing some of the shit these guys can do in a fight, I'm willing to believe almost anything."
"But where is this 'darkness' taking the people it abducts?" questioned Lazard with a troubled look at his half-brother.
"We don't know," answered Rufus, "and that's part of the reason we've been trying to keep it quiet. If the public finds out about this, there will be anarchy. We've just established order again, and we can't jeopardize that now…not until we at least have something to tell the press about these disappearances."
Zack raised his hand, evidently settled enough to remember his place again.
"Yes, Zack?" Reeve looked at him with some amusement.
"How do we know all those life signs Sephiroth detected in Midgar weren't those missing people?" He asked. "You said there was over a thousand, and Sephiroth said he guessed there was around the same number of blips on the scanner, before they all went 'poof'."
Sephiroth's brows lowered with the possibility. "I wonder. The scanner detected life forms beneath the ShinRa tower, until the screams ended. After that, it stopped detecting anything at all; including myself and the Deepground troops that passed by below me."
Reeve scratched his short-trimmed beard. "Do you have the scanner on you, General?"
Sephiroth nodded and removed the device from his wrist before handing it over. "As I said, I presumed that whatever killed those people must have shorted it out."
Reeve activated the scanner and stood up with a frown. "Hmm…it seems to be working now. Oh, wait. This is odd." He made some adjustments and he looked around the room at everyone in turn. He started gesturing at each of them, as if doing a head count.
"What are you doing?" Demanded Rufus when the engineer approached him and swept the scanner over him.
Reeve didn't answer. Instead, he walked over to Genesis and Angeal, and he did the same thing to both of them.
"Well, now I know how grocery store cashiers feel when the merchandise doesn't scan."
Genesis' eyes flashed dangerously. "Excuse me, but did you just refer to us as 'merchandise'?"
"More importantly," Angeal said tactfully, before his lover could go off on a tangent, "are you saying we aren't showing up on the scanner?"
"That's right," confirmed Reeve, scratching his head with his free hand. "I've never noticed that before. The scanner is picking up everyone in this room except for you three."
Sephiroth understood the implications. "What about Zackary?"
Reeve checked and he shrugged. "He's showing up, too. It's only blind to you, Genesis and Angeal. My guess is your bio signatures are pitched differently than humans, now."
"But Zack has been augmented too," reminded Angeal.
"Not as severely as you three have," explained Reeve. He lowered the scanner and regarded them with dawning comprehension. "And it seems reasonable to me that if the scanner can't detect the three of you, then members of Deepground are invisible to it as well."
"All of them?" asked Lazard, "Or just the Tsviets?"
"My guess is all of them," answered Reeve, studying the scanner with renewed interest.

"Even the Deepground 'regulars' were put through more rigorous Mako enhancements than our SOLDIER operatives. Our winged officers are the only exception, since Hojo's attempts to screw with Zack's DNA didn't take the way he wanted it to."
"Huh…so I'm a freak because he couldn't make me a freak," reasoned Zack. When his companions glared at him, he winced. "Sorry. I just meant I'm a bigger freak than you guys because—"
            "Quit while you're ahead, Zack," advised Angeal. "We know what you meant."
            "Let's not worry about that right now," insisted Rufus. "By the sounds of it, Reeve has just pinpointed the reason why we never detected any survivors, when we had people scan after the explosion. Those Deepground soldiers were right under our feet and we never knew it. Reeve, do you think you can adjust our scanners to detect humans that are heavily Mako enhanced?"
            "How come nobody noticed this before?" Cid asked.
            "Because we've never needed to scan for people with enhanced bio signatures before," answered Reeve. "Up until now, these men were the only ones invisible to the scanners, so we had no idea. To answer your question President; yes, I can recalibrate the scanners, with the cooperation of these men. I can't guarantee it will work with Deepground operatives, though. Their bio signatures could be even more complex."
            Genesis raised a brow. "What if you had a captive to test it with?"
            "That would prove helpful, but someone needs to bring me a live Deepground captive first, and those Tsviets don't strike me as pushovers."
            "Maybe you don't need a captive," suggested Zack. "Hojo helped make these guys, right? Couldn't you make him show you how to redo the whatchamajiggers?"
            The room went silent for a moment. Finally, Reeve looked at Sephiroth and shrugged. "Well, it's worth a shot. What do you think, General? Should we try? He might cooperate with you, if he's lucid enough to give a coherent response."
            "I wouldn't count on it," replied Sephiroth, "but if we're going to retake Midgar, we could use any tactical advantages we can get."
            "Then it's settled," said Reeve. "Let's not waste any time."
~*******************************~

            Rufus stopped Tseng from leaving right away, after the others had gone. The Wutaian complied with his request and he addressed him respectfully once the others had gone. "What can I do for you, sir?"
            "I know it's late, so I won't keep you," Rufus said as he walked around the table to stand before Tseng. "I've just noticed your detachment lately, and I think I know the reason. How are things in Wutai?"
            Tseng lowered his gaze. "Godo's condition is getting worse. He wants to push the wedding date forward, before he gets too ill to attend."
            "I see. I didn't expect the cancer to spread that fast." Rufus watched him with sharp, blue-gray eyes. "And his daughter? Is she still reluctant?"
            "Of course," answered Tseng tiredly, "but she will honor his request, regardless."
            "You sound certain of that."
            "I am." Tseng nodded. "She's immature, impulsive and quite selfish at times, but Yuffie Kisaragi loves her father and her people. I see it in her eyes."
            "And you?" pressed the president. "Are you still resolved to do this?"
            "We agreed it was best to ensure peace between ShinRa and Wutai," answered Tseng without hesitation. "And we may need their cooperation sooner than we'd like, if things continue to worsen with this Deepground situation, sir."
            "I agree." Rufus laid a hand on Tseng's shoulder. "I can always count on you to use sound judgment, Tseng. That's why I wanted to seek your opinion on another matter."
            "What matter is that, sir?"
            "The matter of my chosen military advisor," answered Rufus. "And I know my decision isn't going to go well with most of our departments. I need the Turks on my side."
            Tseng lifted an intrigued brow.
~********************************~

            Meanwhile, Sephiroth and Reeve were trying to reason with Hojo. Unfortunately, the man was still mired in his own ego, cackling like a madman and congratulating himself for his brilliance. Reeve sighed and rubbed his eyes, prepared to give up…but Sephiroth calmly waited for Hojo's latest babbling to die down and his cold gaze didn't waver as he asked him again.
            "Do you know how to calibrate our scanners to detect Deepground bio signatures, or not? This is the last time I'm going to ask, Hojo."
            The frazzled professor nodded, making loose strands of oily black hair that had come free of his ponytail straggle over his eyes. "Yes, of course! I helped to create them, after all. It won't help you, however. Once they find what they need, it can't be stopped!"
            "What the hell is he talking about now?" Reeve sighed.
            "Jenova," said Hojo, his voice lowering and his black gaze snapping intensely to Sephiroth. He reached out and boldly grasped the general's leather coat, staring up at his fine-boned face with a worshipful expression. "I see her in you, boy, even if you try to ignore her! She is a part of you and I'll see her will be done! What I've set into motion will change everything!"
            Sephiroth shoved him away, none too gently. "I've heard this all before. The bio signatures, Professor. That's all you need concern yourself with."
            Hojo picked himself up off the prison floor with a grunt. "Ah, bio signatures. Yes…they are very important. Your mother knew that, Sephiroth. She even wrote a thesis on the key. Brilliant woman…such a shame she had to go."
            The color drained from Sephiroth's face as he realized that Hojo was speaking of his birth mother now. His eyes went flat and dead and he started to reach for the scientist, but Reeve hastily intervened.
            "What 'key' are you talking about, Hojo?" The engineer put a placating hand on Sephiroth's arm, silently reminding him that they still needed his deranged father, if they were going to learn all the secrets of Deepground.
            "The catalyst to everything," obliged Hojo with glee. His eyes were wild behind the smudged glasses, and he stared up at Sephiroth as he spoke—though he didn't seem to actually see him. "The reaper…the harvester! Set him loose, and unleash Omega! This world will be yours, Jenova! Lucrecia hid it inside of that Turk, but they'll find it! They'll take it, and they'll wake the planet's guardian. Jenova, do you hear me? I am doing your will!"
            He tried to clutch at Sephiroth again, but the general shoved him away in disgust. Beside him, Reeve had a pallor to match Sephiroth's and the taller man frowned at him when he noticed. Reeve started for the door and he clicked on the call button to bring the guards.
            "Where are you going?" demanded Sephiroth.
            "I have to make a call," Reeve answered. "Keep pressing him for information, Sephiroth."
            The Soldier sighed and glared at the prisoner. "For what it's worth, I will."
            The door was opened from the outside and Reeve started to step out. He paused and poked his head in again before completely exiting. "And don't kill him."
            Sephiroth gave him a bare, sardonic smirk.
~********************************~


-To be continued
- 17
- 18
- 19
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Darkened Skies