Toying with ideas
Jun. 22nd, 2013 05:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
twilight_lamentOne Step Closer to the Edge
“You’ve found him.” Angeal joins him atop of the building where Sephiroth stands right on the edge, looking out over the city and beyond. Midgar from high up is almost beautiful at night; the scars are hidden and the glow from the Mako reactors casts the city in an ethereal green light. However nighttime cannot erase the shadows of the ShinRa building.
“Perhaps, and getting him won’t be cheap.” Sephiroth doesn’t doubt Fair’s abilities, but time has taught him that nothing is absolute until it occurs. There’s also the little matter of completing his end of their arrangement and if Rufus wishes to difficult then it will get messy. He sees Angeal’s look from the corner of his eye and knows the other man waits for him to explain. “Mako, more than a month’s worth.”
“No, that isn’t cheap, and you wouldn’t agree to it if you weren’t pretty sure that you’ll get him.” Sephiroth nods because there’s no need to confirm what they both already know. Instead his eyes close and he tilts his face into the chill wind that still blows. High up a man can feel it better where the heat from the reactors and the plates aren’t as strong. “You know, we could all still go get lost in the mountains.”
“No we can’t.” Not since the signs of this strange degradation started showing up in this SOLDIER and that SOLDIER. Some fell into a chaotic state, some fell into madness, and all of them wasted away. They have no answers and the only people who might are the very people they do not want to give a hold over them. His spine stiffens, lips curling back at the thought of being back in that lab again. He’d choose a quick death before he’d allow that maniacal cretin to ever get that close. Although Sephiroth would prefer Hojo’s death instead. But none of this is solely about him; his men are at risk and getting Genesis back is the first step in securing their safety.
“You’ve always been too practical for my tastes.” Angeal smiles and the quiet, almost snarl leaves Sephiroth’s face in slow degrees.
“Someone has to be.” A faint grin forms but his eyes don’t move as he looks past the lights and Mako glow into the darkness beyond. “Otherwise we would either be living in reflective solitude or orchestrating the grandest production of Loveless that the world has ever seen.”
“Gaia forbid.” The two men share a chuckle but the sound comes out so very quiet and tinted with very dark things. Sephiroth dwells on the night they’d escaped and the tear they’d ripped through the ShinRa building before anyone was the wiser to what was happening. Some days he thinks they should have just burned the place to the ground. It would have been easier, but he knows Angeal never would have allowed, citing that Sephiroth was too practical sometimes.
“Can we save him?” Angeal speaks into the silence that has stretched long but comfortable between them.
“I don’t know.” They have no scientists and the only ones well versed in what they are much less to have a clue on what to do are the very ones they’d left behind. “But we’ll figure out something.”
Sephiroth remembers that day when, because he’d left something in the lab, he’d seen the body of a SOLDIER spread out on exam table, cut neck to groin and split in half. Oh the body didn’t bother him, he’s seen and created more than enough of the dead. No, it was the fact that the man in question was supposed to have been discharged from service and honorably so. He wasn’t supposed to be dead on an exam table. Keen ears had picked up the conversation of the lab techs. Death by lethal injection. Subject to be studied. A project designation number. All of it approved by Hojo and President. He’d grown up in the labs and had known that he was different, that SOLDIER was an experiment in and of itself. However Garrison was also one of his men, and that had shown him that to ShinRa they were all expendable no matter their performance or what they gave.
Sephiroth wouldn’t let it happen again.
And I'm About To Break
Sephiroth knew the moment Zack Fair asked for Mako in exchange for Genesis that he would have to seek out Rufus Shinra and that he would end up doing the kid’s dirty work. Rufus has plans that don’t include his Father and Rufus thinks that everyone except for his Turks remains ignorant of it. The blonde man believes that everyone outside of his circle just thinks him a spoiled rich kid lashing out at Daddy and the trust fund. Sephiroth isn’t everyone. He knew the first time he looked Rufus in the eyes when they’d brought the boy for Sephiroth to train who was just a six years younger than himself.
Rufus couldn’t handle a sword for shit, or hadn’t wanted it otherwise just to spite the President. Sephiroth still remembers the steel glint in the kid’s eyes; something much harsher and sharper than his Father had ever possessed. What Sephiroth also saw in him was a practicality that his Father lacked as well. Rufus wouldn’t search for the Promised Land or try to resurrect Ancients. He would rule the world with his foot on the back of the population’s neck and make them thankful for the privilege. Sephiroth didn’t like Rufus Shinra, but liking someone in this business carries all the weight of smoke and air. All Sephiroth needs is to understand Rufus and deal carefully with him.
Rufus knows who Sephiroth is as well as the men backing the silver haired crime boss. He knows them to be SOLDIER and could turn them in pretty damn fast. That didn’t inspire fear, but it would prove a colossal annoyance. As long as he and Rufus remain on good terms, the Turks would continue to have only rumors and near misses where the escaped SOLDIERs were concerned. A win-win most of the time. Sephiroth’s men make excellent guards for Rufus’ more sensitive packages; they won’t betray him because none of them would ever betray Sephiroth.
Not this time. The amount of Mako Sephiroth wants is large and Rufus knew the moment the discussion began that he had the upper hand. Sephiroth knew it as well. He knew that whatever task Rufus sat in front of him he would take and that it would potentially expose them far more than anything they’d done. He didn’t like it but Zack could get Genesis and Sephiroth wanted Genesis back.
(Of course that isn’t all he got out of that deal, but he can’t think about that now.)
Sephiroth stands on the platform with Angeal and two others – a Second and a Third. The mission sounds simple enough – board the train, destroy the cargo – but it isn’t. It will be heavily guarded and they have a very narrow window between checkpoints. If they get caught in the checkpoint, that won’t be something even Rufus can hide. If any guard sees them and escapes, that won’t be something Rufus can hide. They all know what it means and what they have to do. None of them particularly like it. ShinRa experiment or not they are SOLDIER and in that is a pride that maybe they were never meant to have, but possess anyway. They aren’t assassins and they aren’t thugs. This feels far too much like both. The Shinra troops on that train don’t stand a chance. It’s why they all carry both a mystify and a seal material with them. Better to knock them out then engage in wholesale slaughter. Some will have to die, but not all of them.
Sephiroth doesn’t repeat the plan. They all know it by heart. All that remains now is the execution and to collect the Mako from Rufus. In the distance he hears the hard, grinding pound of the train on the tracks. It whirs along the upward spiral that will take it into Midgar proper – or would if it wasn’t for them. Smoke reaches their noses and all of them crouch down. Stupid really to try and jump onto a moving train unless you’re an enhanced being meant to do even greater feats than hop onto a train screaming along the tracks at full speed.
The main light of the engine white washes the area but doesn’t quite catch the four dark clothed figures perched up high. One by one and in complete silence they leap and land.
“Get him tied down!” Angeal’s voice breaks the chaos. SOLDIERs move in and out of the space while Sephiroth holds down Gorvish. The young second sustained one minor injury, but he’d gone into convulsions almost immediately. Luck was on their side; they’d completed the mission and gotten out before the checkpoint though just barely.
Sephiroth looks down at the man thrashing against both him and Angeal. White streaks in his hair and a wild look in his eyes. It’s the degradation.
They’re running out of time.
“You’ve found him.” Angeal joins him atop of the building where Sephiroth stands right on the edge, looking out over the city and beyond. Midgar from high up is almost beautiful at night; the scars are hidden and the glow from the Mako reactors casts the city in an ethereal green light. However nighttime cannot erase the shadows of the ShinRa building.
“Perhaps, and getting him won’t be cheap.” Sephiroth doesn’t doubt Fair’s abilities, but time has taught him that nothing is absolute until it occurs. There’s also the little matter of completing his end of their arrangement and if Rufus wishes to difficult then it will get messy. He sees Angeal’s look from the corner of his eye and knows the other man waits for him to explain. “Mako, more than a month’s worth.”
“No, that isn’t cheap, and you wouldn’t agree to it if you weren’t pretty sure that you’ll get him.” Sephiroth nods because there’s no need to confirm what they both already know. Instead his eyes close and he tilts his face into the chill wind that still blows. High up a man can feel it better where the heat from the reactors and the plates aren’t as strong. “You know, we could all still go get lost in the mountains.”
“No we can’t.” Not since the signs of this strange degradation started showing up in this SOLDIER and that SOLDIER. Some fell into a chaotic state, some fell into madness, and all of them wasted away. They have no answers and the only people who might are the very people they do not want to give a hold over them. His spine stiffens, lips curling back at the thought of being back in that lab again. He’d choose a quick death before he’d allow that maniacal cretin to ever get that close. Although Sephiroth would prefer Hojo’s death instead. But none of this is solely about him; his men are at risk and getting Genesis back is the first step in securing their safety.
“You’ve always been too practical for my tastes.” Angeal smiles and the quiet, almost snarl leaves Sephiroth’s face in slow degrees.
“Someone has to be.” A faint grin forms but his eyes don’t move as he looks past the lights and Mako glow into the darkness beyond. “Otherwise we would either be living in reflective solitude or orchestrating the grandest production of Loveless that the world has ever seen.”
“Gaia forbid.” The two men share a chuckle but the sound comes out so very quiet and tinted with very dark things. Sephiroth dwells on the night they’d escaped and the tear they’d ripped through the ShinRa building before anyone was the wiser to what was happening. Some days he thinks they should have just burned the place to the ground. It would have been easier, but he knows Angeal never would have allowed, citing that Sephiroth was too practical sometimes.
“Can we save him?” Angeal speaks into the silence that has stretched long but comfortable between them.
“I don’t know.” They have no scientists and the only ones well versed in what they are much less to have a clue on what to do are the very ones they’d left behind. “But we’ll figure out something.”
Sephiroth remembers that day when, because he’d left something in the lab, he’d seen the body of a SOLDIER spread out on exam table, cut neck to groin and split in half. Oh the body didn’t bother him, he’s seen and created more than enough of the dead. No, it was the fact that the man in question was supposed to have been discharged from service and honorably so. He wasn’t supposed to be dead on an exam table. Keen ears had picked up the conversation of the lab techs. Death by lethal injection. Subject to be studied. A project designation number. All of it approved by Hojo and President. He’d grown up in the labs and had known that he was different, that SOLDIER was an experiment in and of itself. However Garrison was also one of his men, and that had shown him that to ShinRa they were all expendable no matter their performance or what they gave.
Sephiroth wouldn’t let it happen again.
And I'm About To Break
Sephiroth knew the moment Zack Fair asked for Mako in exchange for Genesis that he would have to seek out Rufus Shinra and that he would end up doing the kid’s dirty work. Rufus has plans that don’t include his Father and Rufus thinks that everyone except for his Turks remains ignorant of it. The blonde man believes that everyone outside of his circle just thinks him a spoiled rich kid lashing out at Daddy and the trust fund. Sephiroth isn’t everyone. He knew the first time he looked Rufus in the eyes when they’d brought the boy for Sephiroth to train who was just a six years younger than himself.
Rufus couldn’t handle a sword for shit, or hadn’t wanted it otherwise just to spite the President. Sephiroth still remembers the steel glint in the kid’s eyes; something much harsher and sharper than his Father had ever possessed. What Sephiroth also saw in him was a practicality that his Father lacked as well. Rufus wouldn’t search for the Promised Land or try to resurrect Ancients. He would rule the world with his foot on the back of the population’s neck and make them thankful for the privilege. Sephiroth didn’t like Rufus Shinra, but liking someone in this business carries all the weight of smoke and air. All Sephiroth needs is to understand Rufus and deal carefully with him.
Rufus knows who Sephiroth is as well as the men backing the silver haired crime boss. He knows them to be SOLDIER and could turn them in pretty damn fast. That didn’t inspire fear, but it would prove a colossal annoyance. As long as he and Rufus remain on good terms, the Turks would continue to have only rumors and near misses where the escaped SOLDIERs were concerned. A win-win most of the time. Sephiroth’s men make excellent guards for Rufus’ more sensitive packages; they won’t betray him because none of them would ever betray Sephiroth.
Not this time. The amount of Mako Sephiroth wants is large and Rufus knew the moment the discussion began that he had the upper hand. Sephiroth knew it as well. He knew that whatever task Rufus sat in front of him he would take and that it would potentially expose them far more than anything they’d done. He didn’t like it but Zack could get Genesis and Sephiroth wanted Genesis back.
(Of course that isn’t all he got out of that deal, but he can’t think about that now.)
Sephiroth stands on the platform with Angeal and two others – a Second and a Third. The mission sounds simple enough – board the train, destroy the cargo – but it isn’t. It will be heavily guarded and they have a very narrow window between checkpoints. If they get caught in the checkpoint, that won’t be something even Rufus can hide. If any guard sees them and escapes, that won’t be something Rufus can hide. They all know what it means and what they have to do. None of them particularly like it. ShinRa experiment or not they are SOLDIER and in that is a pride that maybe they were never meant to have, but possess anyway. They aren’t assassins and they aren’t thugs. This feels far too much like both. The Shinra troops on that train don’t stand a chance. It’s why they all carry both a mystify and a seal material with them. Better to knock them out then engage in wholesale slaughter. Some will have to die, but not all of them.
Sephiroth doesn’t repeat the plan. They all know it by heart. All that remains now is the execution and to collect the Mako from Rufus. In the distance he hears the hard, grinding pound of the train on the tracks. It whirs along the upward spiral that will take it into Midgar proper – or would if it wasn’t for them. Smoke reaches their noses and all of them crouch down. Stupid really to try and jump onto a moving train unless you’re an enhanced being meant to do even greater feats than hop onto a train screaming along the tracks at full speed.
The main light of the engine white washes the area but doesn’t quite catch the four dark clothed figures perched up high. One by one and in complete silence they leap and land.
“Get him tied down!” Angeal’s voice breaks the chaos. SOLDIERs move in and out of the space while Sephiroth holds down Gorvish. The young second sustained one minor injury, but he’d gone into convulsions almost immediately. Luck was on their side; they’d completed the mission and gotten out before the checkpoint though just barely.
Sephiroth looks down at the man thrashing against both him and Angeal. White streaks in his hair and a wild look in his eyes. It’s the degradation.
They’re running out of time.