[LOG] Avenue J(E-N-O-V-A) - A Routine Mission?

[makoknight]

WHO: Squall Leonhart, Makoto Kino, Shane Fitzgerald, Gwen Meynolt, SOLDIER 1st Class Zack Fair (NPCed by Zack Fair), ShinSec Rookie Cloud Strife (NPCed by Cloud Strife)
WHEN: 14th of June, 2008
WHERE: The Outskirts of Midgar, Sephiroth's Plane
WHAT: Sent out on a mission to reclaim a stolen convoy (with the help of our special back in time guest stars!), the group sent out find something they weren't expecting.
WATCH FOR: The Adventures Of Young Zack Fair and Young Cloud Strife



The rendezvous point is just outside Midgar, their transport vehicle parked by the highway. Standing outside is a lone officer in helmet and blue uniform, checking his watch.

Unlike experiences of previous missions with more lively ShinSec officers or SOLDIER elite, the ShinSec officer given the task of briefing the IPA agents gathered here is... rather uninclined to do much chit-chatting.

Once it seems everyone has arrived, he salutes, and reaches into a pocket for a folded-up piece of paper. Instructions, it seems. "(It looks like that's all of them.)" He quietly folds up the paper, "(...Is it really alright to start without him?)" whispers the ShinSec officer to himself. "(Here goes.)" The ShinSec clears his throat.

"Yesterday, a supply convoy leaving Midgar was attacked. They believe wutai spies may be responsible. Our assignment is to apprehend the spies and return with the convoy."

"We're going to have a SOLDIER with us, he should arrive any minute."

At least dressed like this, with the overlarge trousers, high boots and strange vest, Gwen probably doesn't stand out too much. Well, aside from the ears. And the salt. Having missed out on a previous venture due to a competition of all things, her presence here is one of somewhat guilt-induced duty.
The diviner's still nursing a few wounds from her expedition into Silent Hill, but it's no worse than anything she had to endure in her planewalking days. As long as she doesn't push herself, she should be fine. Earlier forays into conversation with the ShinSec officer hadn't gone well, so she'd ended up spending the ride mostly quiet, scribbling some notes into a small notepad she'd retrieved from a supply closet somewhere.
"I see, so non-violent means of apprehending these people is to be prefered?" Gwen's question is a valid one; she does have non- violent spells at her disposal today.

That means the ShinSec officer is right up Squall's alley socialization wise. There was probably one of those long awkward silences.

The SeeD assigned to this mission listens to the briefing. And the last mission involving Wutai spies went so well, too. Squall is in his usual gear, his gunblade resting at his side. "Is that all the information we have?" He says, after the explanation is given. "Nothing on what defenses they might have?"

(....Such as dragons, perhaps?)

Shane's gotten used to having transport provided for him on these ShinRa missions, so he arrives on foot. Despite having not slept all night, as he was staying up to care for Zack, the Scion looks like he's in top shape. Being a godblood does impart little benefits like that though.

He's got his rifle slung over his shoulder and salutes the ShinSec officer first then smiles at Gwen and Squall. "Miss Meynolt, Mr. Leonhart. Glad ta be workin' with yeh again." The officer sounds vaguely familiar but he can't quite place it. So he just brushes it off as one of those things and moves on with his life.

"So we're just here ta apprehend a couple spies right? No problem!" He probably won't ben need his rifle for that! "Who's the SOLDIER?"

So, wait, this was a military mission? Sure, General Sephiroth was asking for volunteers to help out on his missions, but he did know this was the IPA, right? Now that she thinks it over, as she stands at attention during the order reading, Sailor Jupiter realizes should've mentioned something about being a magical girl in her application. Apparently, 'shoots lightning' is more of a common power than she thought.

Meanwhile, she does her best to try to fit in, even as she can feel a flush of embarassment rising to her cheeks. Everybody else is dressed for what looks to be a militar mission. Which makes the one wearing a green and white fuku, miniskirt, and heeled boots stick out all the worse. And they're supposed to catch spies? "I guess if I hit them hard enough, it'll knock them out," she answers the other woman of the group. The one she tries not to stare at, what with her problem with flakes and smell of the ocean. She's not a youma, right? Right?

Shane is also carrying a satchel over his other shoulder. Within it are a few things that Sephiroth had requested he bring.

Ohhhh, man, Squall, if only you knew. That stretch of silence is performed between the ShinSec officer and the SeeD like a couple of /professionals/. Of course, in the officer's case, he was just stunned at the weirdos the IPA sent. Some of them seemed okay, but that salty girl with the ears and the other girl in that revealing outfit...

"We're still at war with Wutai," explains the ShinSec officer, "Expect them to use lethal force. But don't worry," assures the young man, "That's why we have SOLDIER with us." Like anyone employed by ShinRa, he seems to have a lot of confidence in the Company's elite combat force.

The ShinSec shakes his head. "They wouldn't tell me, but I overheard--"

Uwa--!! Oh crap he wasn't supposed to say! The officer puts up both gloved hands in a warding gesture, then puts a finger near his mouth, "Oh no, uh, don't tell anyone! I wasn't supposed to..."

He winces silently, slumping. "....In any case, he's late." Man, they're gonna get in /trouble/!

Shane and Squall both get a smile from Gwen. "I am also pleased to be working with the two of you once again," she says. Sailor Jupiter, on the other hand... the diviner believes she's seen or heard the girl before, although she can't place it. She does raise an eyebrow at both the outfit and the young woman's mannerisms, but... it's still not any worse than some of what she's seen and dealt with in Sigil.
The ShinSec officer's explanation causes Gwen's brow to furrow slightly. "I see... but it would be welcome if we attempted to subdue them peaceably, correct?" She'll match lethal for lethal if it comes down to protecting her team or herself, but without orders, the genasi much prefers mercy. Her opinion of the young man plummets, however; low-ranking guard or not, he should demonstrate more tact and control. Basically, the ShinSec officer will find himself on the receiving end of a disproving frown.

"Heeeey yoooouu guuuuuuys!"

The voice comes from some distance away, towards the city. A figure is rapidly approaching, running at a good pace towards the group, waving his hands in the air. It's not hard to recognize that it's a SOLDIER-- the dark clothes, pauldron, and standard-issue sword that's nearly five feet long telling indications. From the uniform color (black), it's obviously a First Class-- the one the ShinSec had mentioned, then?

He draws close in record time, stumbling to a halt in front of the vehicle, bending halfway over to catch his breath. He seems young -- tall, well built, but perhaps it's just the way he carries himself, or his wild, spunky haircut. "S-sorry I'm late!" he huffs, leaning against the transport for support, "I kept forgetting stuff!"

He takes in a deep breath, and then lets it out, straightening fully to see the assembled group, and then reaching to scratch at the back of his neck in embarassment. "It's a bad habit of mine, ha ha!"

It's... Zack Fair? Well, it sure looks like him, with a few notable differences. For one thing, his hair is shorter, spiked upwards in the back, with his bangs split in the middle and falling down to frame his cheeks. The cross-shaped scar on his left cheek is no longer present, and he /definitely/ has a more youthful appearance, though perhaps not by too much.

He doesn't have the Buster Sword, either.

"So you guys are working with ShinRa this time around, huh?" he asks, grinning, "Awesome, great to meet you! My name's Zack Fair-- SOLDIER First Class! My job is to make sure you guys are safe doing... uh, whatever you guys do! So, we ready to go?" He claps his gloved hands together, rubbing them excitedly.

Squall nods in response to Gwen's smile. He's not very good at this greetings things. "Who will be commanding the miss-" There is an interruption, and Squall looks in Zack's direction. And is just.... stopped. It's.... it's Selphie all over again. It's as though every organization has someone like that. But the name sounds familiar. He's heard that name before. He didn't pay that much attention to him, though. Still, Squall is somewhat dumbstruck, staring at the incoming Zack.

(....please don't tell me...)

Hearing Jupiter approach, Shane turns around to greet the Sailor Senshi with a wide grin. Her 'uniform' gets a curious look but if she's here that means Sephiroth thinks that she has the skill to deal with the situation. "Hello there miss!" He calls out cheerfully, "Shane Fitzgerald!" She DOES look awfully young though... but maybe not younger than Squall himself? Curious.

He laughs at the ShinSec. "Hah hah. Don't worry. Yer secret's safe with us lad." At least with him! "Nah. We'll take good care of 'em. But the warnin' is appreciated." The Scion looks like he's about to say something else when another familiar voice punctuates the air. Whaaa?

"Zack? But I tho-" Wait. Zack doesn't recognize him and plus he looks -younger-. What the hell kind of mission did Sephiroth send them on? Laughing loudly, the Irishman crosses over and give the SOLDIER a hearty clap on the back. "We just all get here ourselves! So don't worry too much about it." Glancing at the other IPA members, the scion gives them a thumbs up. "We ready ta roll?"

Oops! Sailor Jupiter smiles weakly at Gwen and rubs the back of her head in further embarassment, "Sorry! I- uh-" Must. Find. Escape. Route. "So what do you think of all the hot guys we're with, huh?" Excellent choice of escape route, Makoto, not that you weren't trying to stare at Shane or Squall or that nice ShinSec guy you're with and compare them with your sempai. Very well done. At Shane's welcome, she turns to greet him while trying not to fall into the trap of meeting his eyes with hers...

But then a distraction! Zack arrives to save the day and drag everyone's attention his way - including Jupiter's. Which is fine at first, up until he comes into full view and then come the sparkly eyes, the blushed cheeks, the vacant smile, and the inevitable, "... He's a dork just like my sempai~" Nevermind that she /knows/ that name from somewhere, but she's too twitterpated to pay her memories much mind right now.

The helmeted ShinSec officer flinches beneath the WEIGHT OF GWEN'S DISAPPROVAL--no, really, he does. Turning around, he again checks his watch. "...Come on," sighs the officer, "Where--?" At the call of the approaching SOLDIER, the officer lifts his head. The difference in his suddenly improved mood is stark.

Makoto calls him a dork?!--which causes the ShinSec officer to suddenly turn his head, stifling a small snicker behind his hand.

Zack introduces himself, and the ShinSec carefully pulls off his helmet, giving his head a shake, stirring golden spikes. "Looks like we get to work together again." says the officer mildly, "Did you forget the mission objective? I have it right here." Folded piece of paper is offered to Zack.

"Um," the officer -- who seems to be in his mid-teens -- darts a glance away, plucking at that scarf-like collar. "We better get going, or we'll lose their trail." And he bolts for the transport, "--I'll get the truck started!" Because, oh damn, if someone else drives he will be a moaning wreck in the back seat for HOURS.

Given that Jupiter is the one person she doesn't know the identity of, Gwen's about to approach the young woman, but the sailor soldier beats her to it first. "..." the Guvner replies at first, glancing over at Squall, Shane and the ShinSec. "...I believe they are a bit young for me."
Shane probably isn't as young as the others, but, even so... Looking a like she's trying to avoid something unpleasant, Gwen diverts the subject with introduction time! "I am Factotum Gwen Meynolt, but for the duration of this mission, you may refer to me as Miss Meynolt. May I have the favor of knowing your name, miss?"
Incoming! Gwen doesn't immediately place the voice of the approaching SOLDIER, but once he's close... "--Mr. Fair?!" she can't help but utter. She doesn't know Zack well enough to place exactly what's different about him, but he doesn't exactly look like the Zack she's met before, either. "Understood!" she calls back, at the ShinSec's words. Maybe he's not so hopeless.

Alright, let's take into account this group! Squall? Looks like a tightass, though his uniform is pretty slick. But they're about the same age, so he /should/ have some enthusiasm somewhere, right? Shane? Laughing and a lack of intimidation despite his First-Classiness? Awesome. He earns a broad grin. Jupiter? .....wow, legs--

Wait, focus, Zack, focus! It's just, that's.. that's a lot of leg. Still, she looks too young. Too bad! Perhaps he's lucky that he was too distracted to hear what she said... The other lady is... strange looking. Gwen gets a very long look, Zack not even trying to disguise his study of her appearance. Wisely, perhaps, he doesn't say anything.

On to business! As Cloud removes his helmet Zack glances at him-- and then takes a step backwards in surprise. "Oh, hey, Cloud! Ha ha, what do you know! Good to see you!" He grins, patting the ShinSec officer on the back. "And of course I didn't forget!" he says, though he... takes the paper anyway, because he did, in fact, forget.

"Alright, guys," Zack says, grinning at all of them, "Load up, and let's head out! And, if you have /any/ questions, just ask me!" His grin takes on a brilliant quality, the SOLDIER giving an expert thumbs-up before he turns to hop into the front passenger seat, setting his sword aside and kicking his feet up on the dashboard.

"Sooooo...." he asks once they start moving, "Where's everybody from?"

The ShinSec officer taking off his helmet is finally enough to throw Squall. CLOUD he knows. Sort of. He knows A spikey headed Cloud at least. But the one he knows is an overly well armed delivery person with annoying habits. He's also seven years Squall's Senior. This Cloud... seems YOUNGER than Squall is.

Inside the truck, Squall observes his team mates. Gwen and Shane he knows. And they're effective. Shane gets a nod of acknowledgement from Squall, after a little while. Jupiter, on the other hand.... He's seen outfits less suited for Stealth, but usually their mascot suits covered in neon lights. That said, they probably won't be sneaking up on anyone in particular. But Squall's not in charge this time. And then there's Zack. Somehow, Squall has a bad feeling about what's going to happen next.

"...Squall Leonhart. SeeD Rank 12, from Balamb Garden." From previous experience, at least with a Zack, he knows he won't stop until someone pays attention.

(Now hopefully I can focus on the mission.)

And to make this event even -more- surreal, it's a -very- young Cloud who appears to lack a lot of the melancholy nature of the older Cloud that he knows. Curious. Is this what Sephiroth wanted? "Hold on a sec!" He calls out and reaches into his satchel. Pulling out a small handheld digital camcorder, he flicks the thing on and hits the record button.

"Right! Today's June 13th by the Central Hub Calendar." Pointing the camcorder, he slowly pans from Squall to Jupiter to Gwen and finally to Zack and Cloud. "Members of this party are Squall Leonhart, Gwen Meynolt, Sailor Jupiter, Zack Fair and Cloud." The camera is turned to the Irishman and he grins, "And myself! Shane Fitzgerald."

He turns the camera back now to the party as they begin loading up the vehicle. "We're just here ta stop some Wutai rebels and recover some goods they stole right?" This is all for the record. Squall's full title to Zack gets recorded as well. "I'm from a country called Ireland. What about yeh Zack?"

Right, the mission! Sailor Jupiter shakes the last of the sparkles from her head and remembers she's a spoken for girl now. "Right. Zack! Glad you could make it!" Of course, /then/ the ShinSec guy pipes up again and she turns around...

"He has spiky hair just like my... Eh... No. Eh-heh."

This is so totally embarassing. Rather than waste any more time, she hops up into the truck bed and pops a squat in the corner with her legs pulled up. "Oh! That's right," Jupiter is reminded as they're asked of their origins. "I'm Sailor Jupiter, and I'm from Tokyo." A pause. "One of the Tokyos, and not the one with all the giant monsters."

It DOES strike the young officer as -very- strange that these IPA agents seem to know Zack, but then... maybe he's so famous, even people outside the Gate know who he is. Must be nice, being that popular. Wow~, it's really something, being 1st Class!

"(Is that a -standard- uniform?)" Cloud whispers aside to Zack, after a glance over his shoulder at Sailor Jupiter again. He ducks his head a little once he spies the camera, after giving it a briefly wide-eyed, deer-in-headlights look - probably because he's blushing - and just turns the engine, gets the transport into gear.

"--Huh? How did you know my n--" EYES ON THE ROAD EYES ON THE ROAD. Oh, right, Zack just said it. Cloud's wince advertises his train of thought quite clearly: /Stupid, stupid, stupid./

The transport is a bit bumpy as it traverses the rough terrain outside Midgar, veering off the highway to follow the direction the convoy was seen last. "Intelligence said the convoy was damaged, so we should catch up before they get too far..."

He sends a sidelong and uneasy look up at Zack, brows arching, "They... they said I should just drop you guys off and stay out of the way. Is it gonna be that tough?" Focusing on driving again, he adds with a slump of shoulders, "I guess it must be, to send you."

"N-Not that I mind!"

Cloud? The ShinSec gets another look at that. By the Binder, it is Cloud! ...A rather much younger Cloud. It's pretty obvious they're from a different timeframe by now.
Gwen moves along, though, getting into the truck with the others. Obviously, she has to shuffle her backpack from her back to sit and buckle up. Zack is at least more talkative than the young Cloud, although his question causes the genasi to pause for a while. It's hard to answer that when you've lived in at least three different places for significant portions of your life. At length, however, she answers with, "I am Factotum Gwen Meynolt of the Fraternity of Order. I hail from Sigil, the City of Doors."
The driving's a bit rough, but it's better than Injue's was. Thank all the gods. "Ah, so we shall be ambushing them shortly..." Gwen takes the moment to get some quick components ready, fumbling through her pack for what she needs and slipping the objects into her beltpouches.

Shane's camera will get a large grin and another thumbs up from Zack. Aw yeah, he's on TV! Or will be, later. "(Dunno,)" is his reply to Cloud's nervous question, "(Just hope they don't make guys wear that too.)"

"A seed? From a garden?" Zack shifts a little in his seat, to grin over his shoulder at Squall. "Do you eventually get promoted to be a flower or something? Like..." He tries to think of a flower name that isn't outwardly insulting. "... snapdragon, maybe? Those are pretty cool. I heard they eat bees." Wait, what?!

To Shane, Zack grins and.. for a moment looks a little unsure. "Uhh... yeah, that's right!" That sounds familiar, anyway! In an attempt to be subtle, the SOLDIER opens the folded paper that Cloud gave him, turning to face the front again as he glances over the mission summary. "Ireland.." he repeats distractedly, "Never heard of it." He obviously missed the part where you said 'country'. "I'm from Gongaga, myself! Wouldn't be surprised if you hadn't heard of it either. Cloud know's what it's like, right?" He grins over at the blond. "We're backwater boys, making it big in the big city! Or, well, something like that, anyway." He sighs, shaking his head with a sheepish grin. "I could use a bit more money before I'd say I've made it big."

Jupiter earns a glance and a smile before he looks back to the paper. "Tokyo. Sounds li-- wait, huh?" 'One of the'? Folding the document again, Zack turns around again, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Gwen's own answer earns an expression of absolute confusion. "Now wait, I haven't been everywhere on the Planet yet, but I haven't heard of any of those places." Gwen's he might be able to understand, as it must be somewhere really remote. She looks funny, after all!

Poor Zack must not have gotten the memo that there are other worlds than this one.

Cloud earns himself another look, and a reassuring grin. "Tough or not, it's no problem! Besides, I could use the exercise. Heh, grunts or captains, I'll take 'em all down! Yeah!" He pumps his fist, grinning wildly.

(Here we go again.)

"...Whatever." Squall places a hand on his forehead. Where are attacking Wutai spies when you need them. "...Fair, you're taking command on this mission?" Squall says, wanting to clarify officially. And also to work out the groups survival rate in such a situation.
Cid Highwind hands over a maid outfit. "By the way, here's your new uniform." :|

That's the spirit Zack! Shane does his best to hold the camera steady during the bumpy ride but he makes sure to give everyone some good camera time. Especially the nervous looking Cloud. "Zack could yeh Cloud didn't he?" The scion asks and tsks lightly. "NOthin' wrong with the countryside! It's a good place ta grow up!" Not that Shane would know anything about that. Really.

He does get a somewhat perplexed expression when Zack looks confused. "Yeh don't know about the Gate? Thought the General would have told yeh about it..." Stranger and stranger. He shrugs then and laughs before turning the camera onto Squall. "Hey. Say somethin' fer the camera. Somethin' interesting at least."

Sailor Jupiter scratches her head at the SOLDIER's confusion, "You see, I've found out there a lot of Tokyos out in the Hub. Our Tokyo, the giant monster Tokyo, Hikaru's Tokyo, Sakura's Tokyo, Shinji's post-apocalypse Tokyo..." She runs out of fingers to count on. "A lot of them- oops!" That last bump was a little much and now the senshi's ponytail is flopped over her face. "Don't you have shocks or something on this thing?" What was the driver's name again... Cloud?

Isn't there a Cloud in the IPA? Now that she remembers it, while mugging a smile and a v-sign for Shane's camera, there is one. Only he sounds older. Odd, that.

Shocks? "...I'm sorry," mumbles the ShinSec officer, a little shyly. "The other truck's in the shop..."

"Fruit or vegetable?" asks the ShinSec rookie, looking blankly at the rear-view mirror. Poor, poor Squall. "Yeah, I'm from Nibelheim," says Cloud, "Though it's not much..."

Cloud sort of has a ... tiny little smile on again, though he's trying to hide it. There are other worlds!! But--man, he still hasn't had a chance to tell Zack the news! That he saw him - older! - and he works for the IPA, that Sephiroth - THE Sephiroth - had brought him specifically (GODDESS HE THOUGHT HE WAS IN TROUBLE OR SOMETHING) and and and...!

He sighs. He'll just have to wait for a better time. It'd be really embarrassing to gush like... like some kind of fanboy in front of all these people. And they have a /camera/ and-- (Oh man it's -so great- that he's been somewhere Zack hasn't! He can tell -him- cool stories!)

Wh--what's THAT?!

Squall, you're about to get your rescue.

His foot comes down hard on the brake pedal, "Sorry!" Dust is thrown up around the vehicle. As it settles, Cloud leans forward, gawking a little. "...What...?"

It's the convoy. It's surrounded by corpses, all of them wearing black cloaks. "Did someone get to them first?"

Er. Gwen blinks, before taking a deep breath. At least Shane brings up the subject first. "Yes, that's correct. Many of us are from a different world than you, Mr. Fair. There is a large permanent portal known as a Gate... many worlds are connected through them. I am admittedly surprised you have not heard of such before..." Hopefully this won't make Zack's head explode.
The breaks are hit hard and suddenly; Gwen's seatbelt keeps her from faceplanting into the back of someone's seat, but it's still a bit of a jolt. Fortunately, she doesn't have to worry about losing her glasses or having them slip off, due to the strap, so she's able to peer over and out at the scene about the convoy. "..." she breathes, recalling a similar episode. Then, she turns her attention to the team leaders. "Mr. Leonhart, Mr. Fair! Permission to investigate the scene?"

Zack's blank expression should be all the answer Shane needs. "The Gate?" he repeats, looking just as confused as before. Jupiter's list of Tokyos doesn't help either, the SOLDIER looking blankly at the lot of them. And Gwen...

".... uhh..." At least she tried to explain, but... The SOLDIER shakes his head, grinning. "Whatever you guys say, I'll believe it when I see it!" -- But, go go Distracto-Squall! "That's right," Zack confirms for Squall, offering him another thumbs up (he seems to have a lot of those), "But don't let me intimidate you or anything! If you were recommended for this mission then I trust you know what you're doing!" 'Intimidated', huh?

He's nearly thrown over as Cloud slams on the breaks, the SOLDIER bracing himself with his feet against the dashboard, eyes wide as he tries to see what the problem is.

... Oh, that'd be the problem, now wouldn't it? "What the hell?" Zack says, already opening the passenger side door and grabbing his sword. Gwen gets a quick glance. "Permission granted, as soon as Squall and I make sure it's safe." The SeeD gets a serious look and a nod towards the convoy before Zack approaches it slowly. "Everybody out of the vehicle. Cloud, stay here, but have your weapon ready in case we need cover fire." A pause. "Doubt we will, but eh! Counting on you!" First thing's first.. he wants to make sure these guys are really /dead/.

Awww... but Cloud, catching your fanboy moments on tape would be the -best- thing to cheer Sephiroth up with!

He's slowly moving the camera about the cramped quarters when the ShinSec officer suddenly slams on the breaks. There's a heavy rattling sound and the scion falls back heavily. "Ow," He mutters a little, the camera is nearly jolted out of his hand.

When Cloud brings the focus over to the convoy, he immediately brings the camera around to focus on the corpses. Zooming in, the scion frowns. "Christ..." He unbuckles himself and with a quick jerk opens the truck door and gets out of the vehicle as ordered. The rifle is then grabbed.

With one hand on the rifle and the other holding the camera steady, Shane pulls back the bolt with his teeth to load it. "Lead the way Zack, Mr. Leonhart."

When the camera is on him, Squall just stares at both it and it's handler. Staaaaaaaaaare. And then suddenly, something happens!

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is why you were seatbelts. Waiting for the vehicle to finish screeching to a halt, Squall unbuckles his seatbelt, and stands up. "Understood."

The SeeD follows Zack out of the truck, drawing his gunblade, and looking around. It could be a trap. They could be people the spies already dealt with. It could be the spies. There are far too many possibilities. "Stay alert. We'll signal when to follow." Squall keeps a small distance from Zack, but not far enough that he can't be in assistance range immediately. "Do any of you see anything?"
There are no unread postings on the Global Bulletin Board.

You're forgiven for bringing the rickety old truck, Cloud, by the benefit of being so adorable. Sailor Jupiter holds back a squee with a grin, "It's OK~" Yeah, there's definitely something different about this one, and this Zack too. Wouldn't they know of all the Tokyos and different worlds? Just what's going on here?

There's no warning of the abrupt stop, so the seatbeltless sailor soldier skids along the truck bed before nearly landing in Shane's lap. That was close! She hops out with the others, and visibly pales at what she sees. "Oh- Oh no." Correction: Just what the @#$* is going on here? Squall's voice is somewhat calming, or at least re-directs her growing anxiety to something more productive. Spinning away to face towards the path they came up, she says, "N- No, I don't see anything."

"Sir!" is the rookie's immediate response. Hey, when he's not being awkward or full of fail, it seems he actually -did- go through proper training! There's a clatter as he pulls the standard-issue ShinSec rifle from behind him on a rack overhead, popping open his door and crouching, at the ready.

It might just be standard practice to leave the engine running when doing something like this, seeing as Cloud doesn't shut it off. Besides, it runs on mako power. It comes from the Company, they get it for a good deal and it's not like they're running out anytime soon.

The black-cloaked corpses appear to be quite dead, emaciated, some showing signs of malnutrition and scurvy, injuries that went on ignored. These people disregarded their own health, even completely passed over on the food supplies in the convoy...

Apparently in favor of breaking open the Materia crates and scatter their contents on the ground.

All of them have numbers tattooed to the backs of their right hands. One of them, long since stiffened by rigor mortis, clutches an envelope in one hand.

Cloud stares at Shane as he pulls back the bolt of his rifle with his /teeth/. Oh man. ...These IPA guys are so cool. OH RIGHT FOCUS.

"Ugh," Zack says, getting a good look at one of the corpses, "Gross. Really, what the hell.." He's not really interested in what they do or don't have-- once the SOLDIER has made sure all of the black cloaked people are actually dead, he's going to inspect the convoy itself, checking for hidden spies or monsters, perhaps. He isn't sure he can believe a bunch of guys just.. died on their own like this, all at the same time. Even if, well, that's what it looks like.

Once he's done a quick circle around it, he waves the others over. "Alright guys, see what you can find. And don't worry, it doesn't smell yet, thankfully." As for him, he's going to stand around and keep an eye on things, making sure nothing /does/ try to ambush them.

"Gotcha Mr. Leonhart!" Shane replies cheerfully, but he keeps his distance at the truck and hanging out with the two women. The rifle is held at the steady with his left hand as the camera stays raised with his right. If there's going to be fighting though, the camera will definitely go away.

He zooms in a bit on the corpses, using the electronic magnification on the camera to catch some details. "I think that one's holdlin' something." He says quietly, using his rifle to point out the dead one with the envelope. The tattoos catch his attention too, but he doesn't pay then any mind at the moment other than the record down their number. But he won't step forward either. Not quite.

"Tch. More beasts. Whatever killed 'em might still be around if the bodies haven't started ta rot yet. Cloud, yer with me. Keep an eye out fer whatever killed 'em." And Shane does the same. While he may be 'actively' searching for the things that killed these guys, he's also got his camera focused on the entire crime scene. Multitasking is great that way.

And, at the moment, Zack and Squall have the same idea. That's terrifying. "Meynolt, Fitzgerald, if you think you can find out what did this to them, let us know as soon as possible. I don't want to get caught off guard again." Moving to the opposite side of the Convoy to Zack, Squall seems rather interested in getting inside to see it, avoiding the scattered magic as he can, taking occaisional note of the energies flowing through them. It's good to know what resources they have at hand.

"Permission to investigate inside?" He asks of the SOLDIER 1st Class.

"Understood." Gwen's quick to exit the vehicle, slinging her pack back on as she departs. She lingers by the truck, waiting for the others to certify that it's safe to approach the bodies. She's not quite as good at spotting trouble in the wilderness like this, so she's going to defer to others. Who or whatever did this may still be in the area.
She finally approachs when the all-clear is given. While not an expert on death... the Guvner does know some basics of scene analysis. It's quite clear, as she kneels by one of the bodies, turning it so she can look at the face, that this one was in poor health. Perhaps, they might even be termed gaunt. Starving.
Standing again, she takes a look at another body more closely. Similar to the first. Starving, ill perhaps. All dressed the same. Something else catches her eye, a tattoo on a hand. It's when she's looking at a third body that the pattern falls into place. A number of individuals, with tattoos of numbers. They were starving and in bad condition, some of them hurt by animals, but they don't seem to have tried to take care of their various problems.
One more body is investigated, the one holding the envelope. Carefully, Gwen tries to tease it free from the deathgrip the corpse has on it.

If everybody else is investigating, then they won't mind if Sailor Jupiter just stays over here and keeps an eye out for danger. You know, over here on the other side of the truck where she can't see the Dead Bodies. One would think that someone who's actually died herself would be a little more comfortable around corpses, but she's still something of an innocent teenager. Mustadio still has yet to bring her to the fun parts of Ivalice yet! "Still seeing nothing here."

Cloud startles visibly, widening his eyes at Shane. A brown-gloved hand lifts off from his rifle to point at himself. "M-me?" The ShinSec rookie falls into step behind the rifle- and camera-toting Scion, turning back only to scramble into the truck to retrieve his helmet, jamming it onto his head. OKAY HE'S READY!!

Fortunately, being paper, it isn't too hard for Gwen to get it free of the corpse's grip. There is only one name on the envelope:

Sephiroth.

The materia varies. Restorative magic, but for the most part, your standard Blizzard, Thunder, Fire materia, the occasional Libra/Scan. Inside one vehicle is a mangled, half-eaten corpse.

Taking a sweeping glance at his surroundings, he calls out over his shoulder, "Nothing! ..." Then more quietly, "...Just rocks." Glancing down at a black-clad cadaver, Cloud shudders, looking away sharply. It would look really bad if someone saw him on video puking because he saw a dead guy.

"...Did you find something?"

Sephiroth DIDN'T DO IT OH GOD DON'T BLAME HIM

"Permission granted," Zack nods to Squall, though he seems a little surprised the other boy even asked. That's part of investigating, isn't it? Investigating the insides as well as outsides? Besides, he gave it a quick once-over. If there's something REALLY hidden in there, well, this guy has a sword..thing, and seems to know what he's doing. And, even if he doesn't, the SOLDIER is right here! He'd be over there in a flash to save the day!

... right now, though, nobody needs saving, and though he's keeping an ear out and listening halfway to what they're seeing and saying, it... doesn't really concern him that much. And so he just sighs, sheathing his sword behind him and...

... starts doing squats.

"Why not?" Shane replies with a grin. "Yeh've got a gun, so I take it yeh know how ta fire it right?" The camera is turned into the ShinSec officer as he scrambles for his helmet. As he passes by Makoto, he offers her a reassuring grin. "Yeh're doin' a great job Miss Jupiter!" He states, cheering the girl on. The camera -does- do a brief sweep of her body though, lingering a little perhaps at the legs before raising back up.

He looks on the ground for unusual tracks then before sweeping back around on the patrol to stop by Gwen's side. The camera zooms over to Zack doing squats before it's brought down to focus on the paper that the Gensai is holding. "Eh? What did yeh find?" Fortunately for Cloud, the camera is not focused on him and Squall missed it completely.

For a moment, Gwen stares at the envelope. Then, gesturing towards Squall and Zack, indicates they should come and see what she's got. Admittedly, she stares at Zack for a very long moment when he starts doing squats. Once they approach, along with Shane, she'll hand it over to one of them; she's not going to open someone else's mail without a good reason.
The Guvner also reports on her observations. "Mr. Leonhart, Mr. Fair, I observed the following. All of the deceased individuals have several traits in common. Obviously, you can see their garb is identical. Secondly, all of them appear to have been ill, malnourished, wounded, or all of the preceeding. Thirdly, they all possess tattoos with numbers," she states, rattling it off. She /could/ go more in depth, too!

And, as soon as permission is granted, Squall moves. He slams the door open, and steps in quickly, brandishing his gunblade. Shock tactics.

But all that's in there is an eaten corpse. Fantastic. Squall looks around briefly, making sure that's the only thing. He steps out of the vehicle.

(I'm not even sure I want to find out what did that.)

"Meynolt! Fitzgerald! We have another one in here. And it looks half eaten." He says this relatively calmly, but he can deal with any potential trauma that may come from sights like this in his own time.

Even the Sailor Soldier of Thunder and Courage can use a little positive reinforcement now and then. Just as long as that camera doesn't linger too long on her legs or her talent. "Thanks, Shane!", Sailor Jupiter answers with a thumbs-up. Its actually Sailor Jupiter, or even Princess Jupiter, but she'll accept Miss Jupiter since you're a nice guy. Sucking in a deep breath, she follows him back towards the rest of the group. Everything will be fine, really!

Except that Zack is doing... /something/. "Um," she gestures at the SOLDIER with a puzzled frown, "Just what are you doing around the dead people, Zack?" Even worse is Squall reporting matter of factly that someone's lunch is still inside the truck. The girl's gills quickly return to green, and she finds her breakfast surging back up her throat. "That- That's horrible."

Sephiroth's going to have a ... very interesting video when this is done. If Cloud had -any- idea the General was going to receive this, he'd just /die/ of embarrassment. He can't think of anything worse, really, than doing something stupid in the presence of one's childhood hero. Except, maybe, being forced to look ridiculous - like wear girl's clothing - on public television or something. Thank the Goddess he'll never have to do that!

Ha ha...

Somewhere in Edge, an older Cloud feels inexplicably apprehensive?! ...Just kidding.

"Huh?" Everyone else - okay a lot of them - are headed to Gwen to see what she's learned, so Cloud too follows along. "Does that--" The ShinSec gasps aloud, reaching out to point at the envelope. "That's for the General!" Then that must mean... Cloud glances around at the corpses, then at Gwen.

And backs away a step, looking leery. "...Don't tell me..."

"F-Fan mail?"

...........................

Cloud rubs the back of his neck. "Um, no?" Was his guess wrong? ._.

The report Gwen gives.. more or less just flies over Zack's head. "Uh... alright, can we write that down?" He hopes someone else remembers, that's too many details! None of them seem that important to him, anyway. Maybe they were all members of some kind of cult?

"Squats!" is Zack's simple answer to Jupiter's inquiry, his expression showing clearly that he has no idea why you'd think it was strange at all! He stops regardless, at Squall's announcement. "Geez," he says, rubbing at the back of his head, "Wonder what the hell happened." There's another glance at Jupiter, and catching her ill expression, the SOLDIER reaches out to place a gloved hand on her shoulder. "Hey, don't sweat it," he says encouragingly, "If you need to, you can go hang out in the truck, but..." There's a smile, and he gives her shoulder a squeeze as he says, "You're here on a mission, right? You can do this."

He lets go, then, and approaches Gwen, reaching for the letter-- though he stops at Cloud's guess as to what the letter is. There's a frown. You're such a fanboy, Cloud! "Maybe they /are/ some kind of freaky cult," he says, flipping it over in his hands and, for a moment, it looks like he might well want to open it. He certainly looks like he's considering it.

"Noticed that too," Shane responds seriously to Gwen. Once again, the camera sweeps around the field before he looks up as Squall calls them over. "Huh?" He strides over to where the SeeD member is standing and points the camera inwards. There's a sharp whistle, "From -inside-? What were they transporting? Beasts?" It would explain why they all looked partially eaten but why would a bunch of Wutai Rebels steal ShinRa test beasts?

The scion records the scene for a few more moments, carefully sweeping it around to catch as many details as he can before turning his back to record the rest of the group. "... .. Fan mail?" He pauses and then snickers. "Well, I suppose the general's popular enough ta get fan mail, but I don't think a bunch o' guys in black robes would be the kind ta send him stuff like that right? Don't worry about writin' it down Zack! I've got it all on tape!" He taps the side of the camera lightly but when they get back to the office, he might have to do a little bit of editing.

"Come on Zack! Don't leave us hangin', open it!" He walks over and puts the camera right behind the SOLDIER's shoulder with the zoom focused in on the envelope to get every last word.

"Half-eaten?" Gwen shakes her head sadly at that news. That's never a pretty sight. Whoever these people were... the poor things. At Zack's request, she takes off her pack to retrieve her notepad again. She'll be scribbling down rather copious notes for a while; unfortunately for everyone else, she's using Halruuan shorthand.
Thankfully, she misunderstands who Cloud thinks the 'fanmail' is from. "No, I'm afraid not," she replies, a touch coldly all the same. "I... do not know if these people were fond of General Sephiroth, but..." She trails off as Shane answers the question with more finality. No, it would be utterly bizarre if it were fan mail...
She heads over, along with Shane, to look into the truck. Sure enough, the way the scene looks... while she's no Mercade, it does look like the monsters might have come from inside the convoy. She does glance over at the Scion, though, at his prompting. "Is it really alright for him to open that letter?" she asks, then shakes her head. "I suppose it might be suitable in this circumstance."

The SeeD just...facepalms at Zack's actions. And then there's the letter. "If you're going to open it, be careful. For all we know it could be loaded with poison meant for the general." What? Squall has to think about these things. "I'd recommend waiting until we can get it somewhere contained. I'm going to check the other vehicles."

(Besides, the letter will keep them busy for the moment.)

And then there's Jupiter, who seems to be having issues. On the one hand, she's squeamish, Squall can get that. On the other hand, they're on the job here. "Jupiter, with me. I want someone to watch my back if something shows up."

She really doesn't want all the attention, she's supposed to be the brave sailor soldier, after all! Jupiter casts her eyes downward and raises a hand to pat the one Zack put on her shoulder. "Thank you," she says, the anxiety leaving her voice. "Sorry about that. Where we're from, the monsters we deal with are much cleaner. Its my first time, you know?"

Just to make sure nobody doubts her, the scout nods to Squall and races over to join him. "Got it," she nods firmly. "You lead the way, I'll cover you." Without a gun? You'll find out soon enough, dear Mr. Leonhart. "Let's go!"

Poor Sailor Jupiter. It could be Cloud had given her a sympathetic sideways glance, but with that visor covering his eyes, it's hard to tell. Boy, he knows -exactly- how you feel. This kind of work, it's like he never really will get used to seeing dead things.

The helmeted ShinSec rookie looks at Zack. Then at Shane. "W-we can't open another person's mail!" protests the young man, quietly scandalized. "What if it's top secret information?" He would have said more, perhaps, to try to convince them that it's not nice to open other people's letters, but right then, the convoy explodes.

...Well, it doesn't explode, but there's a sudden eruption of rock and sand, and a truck falls in two halves to the ground with a huge crash.

It's a huge monster with a chitinous exoskeleton bristling with sick thorny spikes, and it's eyeing -them- like lunch.

"Zack!!" yells Cloud, who begins opening fire. Bullets start ricocheting off its armored shell. One even clips his helmet on the kickback and the ShinSec rookie staggers, immediately ceasing fire.

(I am never trusting the words 'Routine Mission' again.)

"EVERYBODY! BACK TO THE VEHICLE! NOW!"

Squall has already turned and started running from the massive creature as he barks the order. Unfortunately, he's the one closest to the creature, he's already casting Haste on himself. He needs to get to the damn car before it grabs him.

And he's headed straight for the driver's seat before anyone can get in the way. Sorry, Motion-Sickness Lad, but we need someone who can drive! With any luck, though, everyone else will be in the back of the truck by the time he's in. "AND MAKE SURE YOU'VE GOT SEATBELTS!"

The moment the convoy explodes with the entrance of huge chitinous monster, Gwen's off and running towards the truck, even before Squall's command. She might have some combat spells at hand, but, judging from the size of the beast... Yes, retreat is a valid option here.
She lingers a moment at the truck, making sure that everyone's free of the monster, before piling in and buckling up. Oh dear, this'll be interesting...

Poor Jupiter. Zack could wish that monsters around here were cleaner, but really, it's usually a messy job.

There's a glance to Squall, Zack's hand poised to try to remove the flap of the envelope carefully. He pauses, though, and suddenly... reconsiders. "....." Sure, he's wearing gloves, so he /should/ be safe... But now he's not sure! Squall seemed pretty serious.

... nah, he just can't hold back on his curiosity! He bites his lower lip, grabbing a corner as if to tear it open--

And then the convoy explodes. Or, well, close enough. "Whoa!" Zack yelps, nearly dropping the envelope. He grimaces instead, stuffing the letter in his back pocket and drawing his sword. "Cloud, hold your gro-- OKAY, maybe not!" Poor kid! The SOLDIER turns, grabbing him by the upper arm and pulling him towards the transport. "Let's get a move on, sport," he says, "EVERYBO-- aw man!" Squall beat him to it!? Hey, isn't he in charge here?!

Well, no time to waste being offended! He'll just lecture him later or something! Zack lets go of the ShinSec's arm and instead shoves him from behind, aiming him towards the back of the truck. "Get in!" Here, he'll help you! Which he does by grabbing him under the arms and tossing him into the back.

Digging in his back pocket, the SOLDIER grabs the (now crumpled) letter, handing it to Gwen. "Make sure this gets to Sephiroth," he says, making sure she acknowledges before he steps back, closing the back of the truck and backing up out of the way.

He moves quickly to the driver's side. "Squall, I'll take care of it. Get everyone back in one piece, got it?" He doesn't wait for acknowledgement. He just pats the side of the transport and steps back, drawing his sword and turning to face the wormlike monster with an eager grin. About time something showed up to make it interesting!

"I don't see why he shouldn't," Shane replies evenly. "It may hold an important clue as to just what these guys were after." But Squall beats hi on the precautions and he salutes to the SeeD, "Sounds like a sound plan. I'm sure IPA HQ has a safe room fer that." Unless Zack decides to go ahead and just rip it open anyway! The camera is still focused on the envelope though.

He grins at Cloud then as he attempts to protest this invasion of privacy. "Why not? Yer not the least bit curious why these terrorists would write a letter ta the General? I sure as hell am. Besides, if it's important, we can just say we thought it might be a trap or somethin' and rather than risk exposing him to the mess, we took the chance ourselves." That's a good excuse right?

Before he can say more, the eruption at his back has him turning and he's staring face to face with a big ugly spider like thingy. Just as Cloud opens fire, Shane whips up the camera to focus on it while firing a lone shot with his own rife. "I'll cover yeh!" He steps in front of Gwen to act as a shield for her as he brings the rifle back up to his teeth and pulls the bolt back, only to fire a second time. He will continue to repeat this motion while slowly backing away. Yeah. That gun doesn't have automatic reload. Shut up.

He continues to back towards the car just as Zack hauls people in. He climbs in then, fully expecting Zack to come along but when he shoves the letter towards Gwen, the Scion looks alarmed. "Zack! What are yeh!" The door is slammed on him before he can do anything else. Camera's still rolling kids.

"Zack yeh eejit!" He's got half a mind to jump out of that truck and help fight off that thing.
Eithne Sullivan has arrived.

That's that, Jupiter thinks. Dead bodies and one note left for the General. "Some mission this turned out to be," she sighs quietly to herself. "Eh, I guess I had to start somewhere." Note to self: Ask for the slightly less gross missions. She's a Sailor Soldier of Love and Justice, not Blood and Guts.

The tranquility of the moment is abruptly broken by an explosion of dirt, rock, and hellbeast. When the gasp passes and the shock wears off, however, the fuku-clad girl isn't running for cover. She /is/ running, mainly to avoid getting hit by a ricochet bullet. "Watch where you're firing that thing!" She doesn't get to Cloud first, but runs alongside him and Zack to the truck...

... only she too doesn't hop in. The SOLDIER will find himself with a very pretty and very determined young girl at his side. Her legs spread, her arms stick out, and she glances at him much like Butch to Sundance. "Like I'm going to let you have all the fun? C'mon, let's fry this bad guy!"

Half-eaten corpses: Scawyscawy.
Giant otherworldly creature of death: BRING IT ON!!!

...They're terrorists? They look like a bunch of starved cultists... maybe they are.

"Ah..?!" With an 'oof!' the rookie lands in the carrier bed of the transport. He can't see too well out of his helmet, thanks to the dent it's sporting due to his ricocheted bullet, so Cloud tugs it off, trying to stand up. "Zack! Za--" The door slams shut in front of both he and Shane, and Cloud drops back onto his ass when the whole transport suddenly rocks.

Because a second, similar to the first, chitinous monster comes bursting out of the ground right next to it, screeching.

"That other girl too?!" This is a bad place to loiter, Squall!!

There was one. Now there is two. Sailor Jupiter assesses the situation, nods to herself, and...

... hoists Zack /bodily/ over her shoulder and chases after the van. "On second thought, let's get the hell out of here!"

Wait, what the-- "Hey!" Zack shouts as he suddenly realizes Jupiter is not in the transport where she /should/ be, "It's not about fun, this is serious!" That's an absolute lie and he /knows/ it, but he doesn't want this girl to get hurt, no matter how confident she seems! Come on, she couldn't even stand the sight of corpses! "Come on, get back in the--WHOA!" Holy crap, another one?! "Seriously, you need go g--HEY!!"

Did she just-- YES SHE JUST-- "P-put me-- HOW ARE YOU EVEN CARRYING ME?!" he demands, flailing his arm and his sword.

"Training!", Jupiter winks.

Gwen accepts the letter. For now, she's got no place to put it but in one of her hands; things are a bit too chaotic to try and shuffle her pack around to put it somewhere safer. It's going to be a rough ride, since her pack's still on when she (just barely manages to) buckles in. Squall, please don't drive like a moron...
Zack, though, causes the Guvner some concern. "Hold, Mr. Fair, surely you don't intend on--" she begins, right before Zack /does/ head off towards the creature. "Don't be barmy! Mr. Fair! There's no way--" she yells from the truck in vain. Thankfully, Sailor Jupiter is on the case! Zack is summarily retrieved and brought to safety before he can walk into the Lady's shadow, so to speak.
This does mean, though, that Zack, team leader or not, will get /such a scolding/. But we'll skip it for now~

the SeeD had started the vehicle moving as ordered. And then not one but two people jump out. This changes things. "Hold on."

Squall puts the vehicle into reverse. Not the smartest thing to do when being chased by GIANT MONSTERS, but hey. "Fitzgerald. Get ready to get the door. I'm going to trust your judgement."

And then, at full speed, the ShinRa truck is headed straight for Zack and Jupiter. At a wholly dangerous speed.

God help anyone not wearing seatbelts.

Jupiter's carrying you because she's simply that strong! But Shane's not going to let her do -all- the hard work. He shoves his rifle into Cloud's hand and then the camera towards Gwen. "Keep 'er rollin'!" He shouts at as Squall floors the gas. In reverse. "Gotcha Mr. Leonhart!"

He clambers over to the rear of the truck and throws open the rear door. "COME ON!" He shouts to Zack and Jupiter. Okay. Two things need to happen and with the mad mad grin of a man brimming with confidence, he leaps OUT of the vehicle and the second his feet touch the ground, he leaps up again. Legend wraps around his fist as he falls. "HAH!" His fist collides with the ground and for a second, there's only stillness before a shockwave ripples out in a circular pattern around him. It'll knock the incoming monsters high up into the air and also hopefully knock Jupiter and Zack up as well.

There's not even a moment's pause as the scion then leaps forward after the pair and slams the palm of his hand into Zack. The force of the blow should be enough to simply propel then straight -into- the rear of the truck but strangely it does not hurt. As he lands in a parabolic arc, the scion begins chasing after the van and hopes to leap back into it before the critters behind him can get their balance.

Hey, she can't throw that excuse back at him!! And it's a good thing he's facing the other way, as the sight of the transport rushing towards him would have been, um, a little intimidating! As it is, he can hear it, and he strains to look over his shoulder to see-- "HEY WHOA WAIT WE'RE RIGHT HE--wagh!" Disoriented, the SOLDIER reels, trying to push away from Jupiter and get some bearing on the situat--OKAY WAIT WHAT now he's tumbling into the back of the vehicle, grunting as he hits the floor with his shoulder. This is /not/ comfortable.

And he'll, uh, try not to notice his sudden close proximity to this nice young lady he's tangled up with, here.

As for the pair of monsters, they have no idea what just hit them. The closest one is torn from its hole and thrown into the air, screeching at both the indignity and possibly some amount of pain. The other attempts to duck back into its burrow, perhaps to pursue them from underground.

One minute she's running as fast as her little green boots are taking her, hoping that - even laden with a SOLDIER on her shoulder - she's faster than the creatures...

... and the next she's in the back of the truck, flat on the bottom of the moving vehicle with that same SOLDIER now lying on top of her in what must resemble a most revealing pose. Her rear may or may not be high in the air with her panties revealed. In full view of the camera. "Ow..." This isn't going to be shown to anyone else, right? Right? "Zack, can you move your hand, it doesn't go there."

There's not much time to protest as Shane shoves the camera in her hands. Gwen's... very much not used to using a video camera, so the next few minutes of recording are going to be quite shaky. There is a cry of, "Shane!" as the Scion leaps out of the truck--but she doesn't yell after him the way that she did at Zack. It might just be because she knows what he is. It also might be because he's not intent on fighting the things, although she looks distinctly worried as he chases after the trunk.
She's still filming when Jupiter and Zack come piling in, and, yes, Gwen gets a rather unfortunate pantyshot of the sailor soldier. "..." is her only comment; Sigil might have rather outrageous fashion, but an upskirt view of a lady is still...
She does call back to Squall, "Mr. Leonhart! Mr. Fitzgerald is in pursuit of this vehicle; would it be possible to rendezvous with him?"

"Understood."

Squall doesn't so much rendezvous with Shane as he does pull the donut from hell, hitting the car into reverse and and swinging round to catch Shane in the transport and, hopefully, close the door with momentum. He's going to trust the scion's judgement on when to jump.

But as soon as Shane is in the truck, Squall is taking the most direct route to midgar. He doesn't intend on getting caught by these monsters. Even if it involves taking some dangerous choices on the route to take.

And this is when having good timing and quick reflexes kick in. Shane is able to see Zack and Makoto fly into the truck 'safely' and he grins as he keeps running. He doesn't even bother to spare a glance behind but when the vehicle comes straight for him, the scion makes a leap and manages to not only dive inside but land in a perfect crouch on his feet. Once again, there was a massive abuse of physics right there.

In a three point crouch as the door slams behind him, the scion admits a low whistle and comments about the position the SOLDIER and the senshi are in. "Hah hah! Yeh move quick Zack!" He doesn't climb back into a seat though, rather just slumps up against the door and holds on as best he can as Squall guns it towards Midgar. But he does give Gwen and the camera a grin and a V sign.

Zack groans a little, pauses.. and then IMMEDIATELY rolls off of Jupiter, crab-walking his way to the OTHER SIDE of the transport with wide eyes. "R-right!" he says, clearing his throat and looking towards Shane. "Hey, don't show that video to anyone, I've got a girlfriend!" he insists, shaking a fist at the Irishman, "Man..."

He slumps back against the side, casting a glance towards Cloud who... seems to have passed out. Oof. Poor guy. "Alright, well... Good job, men. And, uh, ladies, of course." He'll save any closing statements for when there's no more sign of those monsters.

Thankfully, with Squall's extremely hazardous driving skills and speed, they should make it clear and back to Midgar without too much trouble. One might want to follow the speed limit once they hit the actual highway, though.

Black cloaks, tattoos, and a mysterious letter to Sephiroth... What could it mean?