Chapter 3: Shinra HQ in Gongaga

[lsr_boo]

The power is out, but Gongaga is far from dark and quiet. Too close for comfort, the fires consuming the power generator rage. A section of the burning building explodes, and those inside the Shinra HQ would have to be quite immensely focused to not take notice of rattling windows. Something must be done, and quickly. Fortunately, cell phones

Comments

[mydarknation]

Surprise would be the least description of what Rufus felt as the lights went out and flames from the nearby power plant became visible outside his window. He jumped up from his desk as Dark Nation growled futilely at the wall as it shook under the shock of an explosion. First things first, they needed to--

Beeeeeeep! Rufus immediately grabbed his phone out of his pocket to confirm a sinking suspicion. That was the sound that would be telling him to recharge the battery. Provided they had power. He fixed the phone with a look that should have been capable of melting it.

"Great," he muttered, a second explosion reminding him that he had been in the process of getting farther away from that window. He grabbed Dark Nation's collar and gave it a tug to wrest the animal's attention away from the wall. "Come on, we're getting out of here." With Dark Nation at his heels, he moved to the hallway (which seemed slightly more secure, if only for a lack of outside windows) and dialed Tseng's number. Thankfully, the Turk picked up

[turk_commander]

Tseng met him in the hallway a few moments later, giving Rufus and Dark Nation a brief appraising look before he moved to walk ahead of them through the building. "There a helicopter waiting. I've already contacted the pilot and we'll be in the air as soon as we board. I'll arrange for someone to come check on things here once the fire is gone."

[mydarknation]

"Good," he replied with a nod, and spoke as he followed Tseng. "I assume someone is working on evacuating whoever hasn't gotten themselves safely away from that mess already. If not," he paused briefly, thinking of his currently useless phone, "you'll have to get in contact with people, or lend me your phone. Mine is as good as dead." Passing a different window, he glanced back at the rather impressive inferno that was once a power plant.

"Do we have any idea what caused the fire?"

[turk_commander]

"The guards are dealing with the evacuation, the ones who aren't already dead, anyway. I'm going to arrange for someone to come look at whatever's left to determine a cause for the moment unless someone actually saw what or who was responsible. As soon as I have the information, I'll relay it to you, of course." Tseng didn't glance back, eyes sweeping their surroundings.

"As soon as we're in the air, I have a call to make but other than that, my phone is yours at least until we land."

[mydarknation]

"Alright." Another nod, and then Rufus was silent for a moment before a terrifying thought struck him.

"What's the state of the labs? Sephiroth?" He wondered at the fact that he hadn't thought of that sooner, though given the chaos it probably wasn't surprising. Even so, Sephiroth was likely to be a problem. If the labs were in danger, then he would need to be transported somewhere else, securely. With the way the Lifestream was behaving recently, Sephiroth dying was almost as much of a liability as him escaping.

[turk_commander]

"..My first priority was your safety. I did try to contact Dr. Laylee, but there was no answer. If the fire was set deliberately...there was likely a reason for it." Tseng gestured for Rufus to enter the helicopter before stepping up behind him and settling into one of the seats.

[mydarknation]

"That's what concerns me," Rufus replied grimly, taking a seat in the helicopter. "Make your call, then give me your phone. With any luck, the main lab phone is still working and I'll be able to get in contact with someone." As the helicopter took off, he took a look at the surroundings for anything noteworthy. If nothing else, people did indeed seem to be getting to safety and the labs didn't seem to have caught on fire yet. There wasn't much else to be said other than that; too much of the scene was obscured by smoke.

[turk_commander]

Tseng finished his call and handed the phone over, before his attention shifted to the scenery below. He was reminded of the last time he'd been in a similar situation and the outcome and cause of that particular night.

"At least there are survivors this time." The observation was brief and his attention shifted back to Rufus.

[mydarknation]

Rufus acknowledged Tseng's statement with little more than a vague noise of agreement. Not that he didn't appreciate the sentiment, but he couldn't afford to dwell on it for the moment. He tried Laylee again first. Upon likewise receiving no answer, he tried the main lab phone and was relieved to hear someone picking up the line on the other end.

"Who am I speaking to?" He gave a slight nod at the answer.

"What's the situation like there?" A brief pause, followed by a frustrated look. "This is the President." The mentally appended you idiot was conveyed only in tone. He listened as the other person replied.

"Is Dr. Laylee there?"

"What about Sephiroth? Has he been moved?"

"Stop telling me you don't know and find out"Good. Call me back when you know something." He gave the person on the other end the callback number and clicked the call off, then turned his attention back to Tseng

[turk_commander]

Tseng had been about to respond when his phone rang. After three conversations he sighed and leaned back. "Reeve wants details as soon as we have them and once we land, I've arranged for some old employees of the company to meet us."

[mydarknation]

Rufus nodded at the comment about Reeve, then blinked once at the mention of former employees. It wasn't difficult to assume that he meant former Turks, but... "Who?"

[turk_commander]

".So far, only three of them have responded to my request. Victoria, Aleksandra and Siira will be meeting us at the landing. If the situation is what I suspect, they'll be useful."

[mydarknation]

"Excellent." He was hardly going to argue with an offer of extra people, especially now, and if his memory served him well, those three were capable enough.

"And what do you suspect?" Rufus had his own theories, of course, but he was interested in hearing Tseng's take on the unfortunate events of the day. If only that guard would call back with a report, things would be clearer, but he supposed he would have to keep waiting on that for now.

[turk_commander]

"...The fire was suspect enough without having the laboratory out of touch. I think you already know what I suspect, not that I want to have to deal with it again. Luck only takes you so far." His voice was quiet and his gaze distant briefly before his attention returned to Rufus.

"When the guard reports back, we'll know one way or another."

[mydarknation]

"We had the same thought, then," he replied with a voice equally quiet and bleak, trailing off into silence for a moment before the phone rang again. He glanced at the ID, then picked it up.

"Hello? Yes, this is the President." If anything, his expression grew more grim as he listened.

"I... see."

"...thank you. Get anyone that's still there to safety, and find out if anyone saw what happened. Let me know whatever information turns up." He cut off the call and brought his hand to his face in a gesture of distress, closing his eyes. A couple seconds passed in silence before his hand dropped back to his lap and he turned to relay the news to Tseng.

"Sephiroth is missing. Laylee is dead."

[turk_commander]

Tseng had gathered the first part from his expression but he paused briefly at the second part. "..I'll contact Reeve and tell him." He said finally before turning his attention back to his phone. When the call had concluded, he sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"When we get to Junon, I'll send one of them to oversee the cleanup."