towerofanimus | SOLDIER Intelligence

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SOLDIER Intelligence - sort of

Characters: Sephiroth, Zack Fair, Cloud Strife, Reno(AU),
Setting: Small study room furthest from the staircase in the Library: Floor 19
Format: I personally prefer prose, but am good with either; commenter's choice
Summary: The Boys of ShinRa are having a sit-down and "swapping stories".
Warnings: None I can think of; will edit if demolition/carnage occurs ;)
Notes: Posting order not required? Just jump in wherever.

Sephiroth sat silently at far end of the small table, interlaced gloved hands resting on its top. He waited, only the slight rise and fall of his chest testament to his breathing; otherwise, ShinRa's General might have been a statue cut from pale marble, so still was he. Zack was the fidgeter, he thought, casting a fond glance to the dark haired SOLDIER pacing the length of the room.

"Zack", he finally said, cutting through the eerie quiet, just the pup's name carrying both mild rebuke and understanding. Things were definitely out of sorts, that was certain. But worrying over it wasn't going to fix it any sooner. Once they sat down and heard the stories of the others, they'd be able to progress with an action plan, a direction.

For now, however, patience was required. Patience and a clear head. Sephiroth was determined to exercise both, regardless of the cost.

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Zack could keep a clear head. He could think and act and fight, both on orders or not, but when it came to waiting patiently, he just had no talent in that particular skillset and Sephiroth knew it.

"Sorry, sir. But I just can't sit still right now." It's said in a light tone, as if this just restless legs or something of the sort, but Sephiroth no doubt knows better, as will anyone else who knows Zack the second they walk in that door. For now, however, he does try to slow down and take a deep breath or two, glancing at his CO as he does.

"Besides, General, it's either this or squats, and I'm pretty sure I know which you'd prefer." If only because the squats left him talking in half-words and grunts which even Angeal and his infinite patience could barely stand. They couldn't afford that right now.

Cloud stepped into the room. The last time he entered a room for a meeting of minds, Reno and Rude jumped him as a test of skills that were half-borrowed and half his own. But this wasn't a kind of recruitment session of the Shinra President trying to weasel Cloud into a SOLDIER guard against the Remnants, this was a meeting of people that need to figure out what to do next.

He relaxed slightly when no attack happened, nodding to Sephiroth while holding back his inclination to either defend himself or hit Sephiroth first. He then looked over at Zack, smiling slightly. As always, his friend looked like he was either going to fidget out of his skin or jump the nearest person for some serious hugging. On second thought, Cloud had a good idea who Zack was going to jump and braced himself for it.

"No sign of the Turks?" They were going to have to come up with a way to tell them apart outside the collars.

Sephiroth indulged a brief smile and started to answer, but the opening of the door drew him off. He glanced up as Cloud Strife stepped inside, still taken a bit aback at the surreality of it. Contrary to Cloud's innate wariness, the General didn't betray any tension as the blond stepped within; he had no reason to be wary of the cadet, not even now.

Nodding acknowledgement, he tapped a long finger on the table and shook his head to the inquiry. "Not as of yet, no." But that wasn't surprising; Reno, regardless of which one, would have no qualms about being late for his own funeral, or so the anecdote ran.

"They know part of it."

He thought that they were from around the same time, though didn't the tanned Reno mention something about he was friends with Vincent and was filled in on the rest? Well, if that was the case, he wouldn't need to fill him in later. That would be a good thing. Cloud really didn't want to talk about this more than once.

Though, they probably would have a lot of questions. He wished he knew more, but he didn't. He barely remembered a lot of things. All he had to do was try his best.

"They could catch up later."

Sephiroth inclined his head again. "We can give them a few minutes more." Although them felt strange to say. He nodded to one of the chairs around the table. "Take a seat." Not a barked command, but more a polite invitation.

Glancing back at Zack, he quirked an eyebrow; sit down, Pup. There would be time for exercise later. Besides, Zack's pacing was becoming a bit irksome.

If asked about it later, Zack would later admit that though he had been tempted to jump Cloud in one of his patented puppy-hugs, he'd stomped on the instinct because now really just wasn't the time. Nope, now was the time to stop fidgeting and sit down before something could go wrong...even if that wrong would just be the General giving him a not-so-playful cuff over the head.

So he sat, careful to actually sit and not flop into the seat on Sephiroth's right with a quiet sigh to calm his nerves, and a smile up at Cloud. Man...he really had gotten big.

"I say we give 'em ten minutes. If they're not here by then, I can go looking or something."

Cloud nodded stiffly. This was something he just had to get use to here. Zack being younger than him and Sephiroth being sane and well... He was just going to have to get use to everything.

He tugged the switchblade sword free from his harness and set it down on the table before sitting down. He missed the weight of the Ken and all of his other swords. He missed also knowing that his friends were a call away.

"Ten minutes, huh? Alright."

Reno had actually pulled out one of the suits for this, a bit wrinkled and it didn't lay quite right but a Turk suit was a Turk suit no matter what. Wrestling with putting a tie on with the collar without making it look ridiculous had been what was keeping him. He'd managed to do it though, and after a few moment's deliberation had put Vincent's cloak in to his bag to bring along. Cloud at least would understand the meaning of him having it.

Sephioth at least, would also understand the implication behind him wearing the Director pin he'd gotten off of Tseng's body. He had one of the guns beneath his jacket as well; he wasn't fool enough to walk in to a room full of SOLDIERs without something to defend himself with.

"Good you're all here." He said, all seriousness as he walked in. It was probably a drastic difference from what any of the three were used to seeing from him.

Again, Sephiroth glanced up as the door opened. But wasn't entirely surprised to see Reno in such a...rumpled state; he barely kept his lip from twitching in cynical amusement. Ah, well. There were no points for aesthetics, at least not here.

"We are." A tight nod. "Close the door and take a seat." Let's get this over with.

Reno raised an eyebrow at Sephiroth in a very clearly 'you're not calling the shots here' look that would have been better suited to being on Veld's face. He closed the door quietly, a tired set to his shoulders as he crossed closer to the group and rather pointedly didn't sit down.

"Right. First things first, anyone tries to kill anyone else I'm slapping them in pyramid." He said, setting his bag on the table.

One of Sephiroth's eyebrows went up. Sharply. Then his brow lowered in turn.

"I'm not in the mood for threats, Turk," he snapped, piqued.

He'd woken up in a strange place, he couldn't immediately put hand on his sword, Hojo had somehow turned up in the same location, and there was no discernible way to return to Midgar. Sephiroth had thus far kept a tight leash on his temper, but having this Turk walk in and begin barking orders...no. ShinRa's General was no one's subordinate.

His return tone went cold, a distant memory of his former cordiality. "If you've information relevant to the current problem at hand, then disclose it. Otherwise, make good use of the door."

Edited 2012-05-12 23:31 (UTC)

"If you want to have a pissing contest General, I'll leave you to it and you'll be figuring this all out on your own. I don't have any loyalty to anyone in this room or ShinRa outside of the Turks." He deadpanned, "However, it's in all of our best interests to not be assholes to each other and put the whole company hierarchy bullshit behind us. Unless you really want to play that game, then by all means decide who you'd like to deal with. I'm sure Hojo would be happy to have people to order around."

He looked at Zack and Cloud in turn.

"Considering I'm the only one here who has any actual idea of what the hell's going on, I'm going to respectfully as you to stop waving your proverbial dick around."

That was not good. Not good at all. Tempers were already on edge and they hadn't been in the room together than ten minutes total before the sparks flew. If things escalated...he didn't want to think about it, so he stood from his chair, looking directly at Reno as he spoke. Sure, he barely recognized the guy, but this was Reno. He'd get logic, right?

"Whoa, guys, let's just all calm down, okay? We're just here to talk, right? Let's not turn this into a fight."

Because he knows that's what it will turn into if this continues, and he doesn't even have to look at Sephiroth to know he's about five seconds away from doing something to the former Turk himself.

"Reno, can you sit down? We're not going to attack you and you're making me kind of nervous standing over there."

Cloud just looked at Reno as if he had crawled out of an alternate dimension wearing a dress. Then shrugging, he looked over at Sephiroth, arching an eyebrow and saying rather drily, "Everyone has to have their opinions tossed in."

That was a bit weird, hearing a Turk claim that no one knows what was going on. Wasn't he with the longest timeline? If Reno wanted to talk about it the most, then that was okay with Cloud. He really did not like talking about it up to a point.

"It doesn't bother me if Reno wants to speak about what had happened. However -" He looked over at Reno, head tilting in old arrogance '- I will add what I think should be known."

Edited 2012-05-13 01:05 (UTC)

"There are more important things going on at the moment than Nibelhiem, Cloud." Reno sighed, "That paticular ball of problems can be addressed at a later time when we're not at each other's throats as Zack so tactfully pointed out."

He settled in to a chair, elbows on the table and fingers lacing together.

"I can tell you all for a fact that home is gone. I've fought the thing that did it alongside Vincent, Veld and yourself Sephiroth alongside a sundry list of people from various other worlds." He nodded in the silver haired man's direction. "We won, but there's probably very little left in the universe that's safe. This tower may be one of those safe spots, or it could be like the ship I recently left; a facility used to gather and ferry those who could be saved."

It was, as far as he was concerned, a decidedly logical conclusion.

"Now as far as what had happened back home... Sephioth; you've been considered dead for nearly a decade, reports differ greatly over the precise cause. Zack, you're dead as well, though for a shorter amount of time despite the efforts of the Turks otherwise at the time." He shot Cloud a look, silently requesting him not to spill the beans on the whole situation. It would cause too much madness they couldn't handle right now without death ending up in the cards.

"After that, the President was assassinated and Rufus took over the company. Not long after that, Meteor was summoned and destroyed Midgar and nearly the rest of the planet. ShinRa fell as a direct result and a disease called Geostigma began infecting people. I believe Cloud has a better account of events after this point concerning a trio calling themselves Remnants and hunting for the remains of Jenova."

He paused, blinking at Sephiroth for a moment. "Who is not your mother by the way, but we can discuss that at a later point in time."

Sephiroth sat silently, arms crossed over his chest as he leaned back in the chair, listening to the Turk's tale. Which grew more incredulous the longer it became. As evidenced by the sloe-eyed slant of MAKO green eyes. He finally propped his head on his right hand, finger idly tapping at his temple.

Listening to all of this, Sephiroth could well believe the fall of ShinRa; it was inevitable really, but the rest? He'd need more proof than Reno's word that such was fact, particularly when the Turk had swaggered in boasting threats and belligerence enough to choke a Zolom. As to the matter of his parentage...

"We won't discuss it at all," he stated firmly. He fixed the Turk with a flat, level gaze. "Not that I need explain the reasoning to you, but for two reasons. One, and probably the most relevant: it's none of your damned business. Two: it holds no bearing on our present situation." And that was final.

The General turned from the Turk, dismissing him visually for the moment, and his eyes settled on Cloud. One of his "former" men. And he nodded, tone returning to its quiet timbre. "If you will, Cloud Strife."

That was a lot of stuff compressed into a little bit of nothing. Cloud was just a little glad that Reno didn't go into details. He didn't want to end up reliving the events, especially the ones that made him what he was. Of course, some of it might had been better if explained - Because he had already mentioned Hojo to Zack - but maybe later on when Reno wasn't being the Head Turk.

Maybe over beer if there was any in the tower.

He still didn't believe that the Planet was gone. That Reno had seen what was left, followed by fighting something, he didn't doubt it, but it seemed too neat. Too tidy.

"The stigma was caused by J-cells attacking the host body and the host body trying to fight it off. It had been triggered by the Remnants - Kadaj, Loz and Yazoo. All three were brothers and bear a close resemblance to you, Sephiroth. Kadaj was the youngest and the smartest, Loz the oldest and plain brute strength and Yazoo was the fastest."

He fought them all several times over including up to when Loz and Yazoo blew themselves up.

"They needed JENOVA's head, which Shinra had managed to find. During the process, they caught Tseng and Elena and started torturing them. They also gathered up all the children affected by the stigma and brought them together in the Forgotten City. Kadaj used them as puppets to secure a couple of key points in the city before he went to confront Rufus to get JENOVA's head back."

He shrugged and pulled up the black sleeve, showing the scarring from the stigma, faded but still there. "I was sick with the stigma too, so I couldn't fight them all off. Luckily everyone I knew showed up and we managed to beat them all back. I ended up facing Kadaj alone in what remained of ShinRa's building, where he used JENOVA's head to gain your strength, Sephiroth."

It sounded weird. He knew it did. Cloud sighed and shook his head slowly because he doubt that Sephiroth would believe anything he said. "I managed to stop him and after that, the stigma disappeared."

Sephiroth's reaction is leagues better than Zack's, if only for the fact that he actually has a reaction. Zack is just staring, eyes wide, while his brain tries to process all that's been said in such a short period. ShinRa destroyed, Midgar probably little more than rubble, Geostigma, remnants, the fact they're both dead...Gods it's a lot to take in so suddenly. Is it any wonder that he shakes his head as if coming up from deep water after a moment, clamping his jaw shut before he speaks.

"Guys....if this is a joke, it's not funny." He looks between Reno and Cloud, face drawn as he crosses his arms over his chest. Sure, they're probably not joking, but with the amount of sense this is all making, he's doubting that.

"So how about you tell us the truth, okay? Something that actually makes sense, too."

"Do I look like I'm joking Zack?" Reno asked, raising an eyebrow. "I know it's all pretty much insane but it's what's going on and what happened back home. The most important thing is to avoid getting yourselves killed, which I think brings us to the problem of a lack of weapons. I have a nailbat, some materia, two guns and my EMR. I can put together some more nailbats for you, the one I have currently has a pressing need to be applied repeatedly to Hojo's skull if he so much as sneezes funny."

"That is the truth."

Flat and no nonsense, with a slight lift to his head. Cloud looked at Zack and frowned. It sounded weird, but it was the truth, barring things that had happened in Nibelhiem.

"Shinra wanted the Promise Land of the Cetra in order to drain it of it's power and Hojo went nuts with his own research including trying to clone Sephiroth out of whatever and whoever he could. The J-cells were part of that, and I'm part of that since he tried using me to bring Sephiroth back. JENOVA was just a quicker route to trigger it, which the Remnants knew and tried to use."

He shifted in his seat and tapped his switchblade sword. "I've got the smallest pieces to my sword here and the blue prints to build the whole sword. I know it's similar enough to the Buster Sword that if I can find someone to make weapons could simplify the plans. I don't know what they can do about the Masamune."

Tap, tap, tap. The sound of his finger hitting his temple was clearly audible in the sudden silence after Strife finished speaking. Sephiroth finally straightened in his chair, reevaluated his words carefully and then spoke evenly.

"Professor Hojo will be left to me." And it wasn't even a command; it was more a point of fact. "He's more than well aware of what retaliation he'll gain if he attempts experimentation here."

The rest of the...well, story, he'd have to ruminate over a bit further to garner any sense out of it, and at present, events back home had little bearing on their situation now. "As for the present, the Turk has a point; we'll need to procure whatever weapons we can." The question of his own beloved Masamune hung heavy in the back of his mind.

Sephiroth looked at Zack. "Take Strife and see to it. I'd prefer to have you both with blades as soon as possible." An eyebrow quirked, as well as a corner of his mouth. "Without stirring up any trouble, if you please."

It was still too much to take in, and it hadn't been said in the best of ways for Zack to make sense of it all. So he was glad to have that order to go off of, and he stood with a nod.

"I'll see what I can do, General. No promises." The corner of Zack's mouth quirked as he said it, but it wasn't his normal "on-the-job" teasing. If Cloud was right and everything they'd just said was the truth...Gods, he couldn't deal with this now. No, now he had to deal with them getting their weapons back. So for now he'd just walk around the table, going over and putting a hand on Cloud's shoulder before gesturing to the door. Best they get a move on, really; nothing else they can actually do here.

That was just like the old Sephiroth, although he did not like the tapping he was doing. How close was he to breaking? How much would this place push the General before the other showed up? Cloud glanced up at Zack, wishing he could tell him more, but not sure if he should. There was too much going on to really know how to think, but one thing Cloud was sure of: Sephiroth doesn't need a reason to fall apart here.

"From what I've been hearing, this tower likes to mess with everyone," he said, standing up. The sword he slid back into place and shrugged his shoulders. "When I got here, they were taking people and putting them into a maze and making them fight to the death. I've been thinking that this place will try other ways to mess us up, so... Be careful."

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SOLDIER Intelligence - sort of

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LATE TO THE PARTY

BUT IT'S FASHIONABLE, SO.

Actually, Turks are never late. Everyone else is just early.

Re: Actually, Turks are never late. Everyone else is just early.

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