Last Exit for the Lost Chapter 22
Over Nibel
By Damodred
Tifa shivered, looking around uneasily, "I do not want to spend the night
here. Let's move on as far as we can tonight." There were no dissenting voices;
everyone was on edge in this ghost town. Reno had been busy as well; he'd
found a ShinRa transport helicopter behind the mansion, hidden in a nearby
hangar. Once he was reasonably certain that it was functional, he began moving
their gear to it, and was almost through. They didn't have that much, but
it was a bit away, and there was no easy access from the road. They weren't
sure why it was there at all, but Tifa explained. One of the reports stated
that Nibelheim was rebuilt and staffed with ShinRa actors, pretending that
the accident never happened. If anyone passed by, they'd be fooled and leave
eventually, and ShinRa was free to run its experiments unobserved. In fact,
it was possible that this research complex was secret from even President
ShinRa himself. She wasn't sure who was behind the whole thing. They repaired
the reactor, and put more humans into the Mako tanks. This time their plans
were to create SOLDIERs that would be clones of Chaos. Since a single one
could destroy an entire town, having a whole legion of them would make ShinRa
nearly invincible. Tifa continued grimly, "That's what those black-robed
things were. Incomplete clones." Apparently the ShinRa had a lot of failures,
and a lot of traffic occurred between the reactor, Nibelheim, and the relay
station in Costa del Sol. That traffic accounted for the helicopter. Aerith
nodded and moved towards it, eyeing it critically. She said over her shoulder,
"It's short range, but it'll get us to Rocket Town." She began to walk up
to the cockpit, but then changed her mind. Looking down at her robes, she
said ruefully "Can't fly with these on." She looked back up, and said "I'm
going back to town to see if there's anything more utilitiarian I can wear.
Anyone want anything?" Tifa nodded, walking forwards, "I'll go with you."
Everyone else seemed content with their garb, worn as it was by the weeks
of hard travel.
They walked slowly back into town, heading for the small store by the inn
and hoping there were no corpses there. Tifa had just washed her clothes
back in Gongaga during their enforced stay, as did everyone else, but her
shirt was getting frayed from the fights and she needed a new one. Her jacket
was holding up well, but she was considering getting a thicker one, as it
was getting chilly up here in the mountains. She considered the others; Yuffie's
ninja outfit was surprisingly warm, Reno's outfit, similar to Tifa's was
still undamaged and he seemed to not mind the cold, and Sephiroth was...well,
he was Sephiroth. She made a mental note to ask Aerith about the way his
cloak never seemed to pick up dirt, but was content to maintain the companionable
silence for now.
The store's meager supply of clothing made for quick browsing and decisions.
Aerith picked up one of her choices and held it up to Tifa, smirking. Tifa
took in the grey tanktop and the miniskirt and grimaced comically, saying
"That is *exactly* what I wanted to fight in!" Aerith snickered, dropping
the outfit. In the end, they settled on ShinRa issue SOLDIER pants, loose
enough for a fight but tight enough not to get caught on machinery, a matching
shirt and a tunic to go on top. Tifa chose another black leather jacket,
this one lined with foxfur for warmth, and Aerith picked out a dark green
cloak. They stood in front of the mirror, considering. Tifa considered Aerith's
slim form garbed in dark green pants, green longsleeve shirt under a white,
sleeveless tunic and the forest green cloak, raised an eyebrow and asked,
"Are you sure you're not an elf?" Aerith looked at Tifa's black and white
ensemble and said nothing at all, smirking. They walked back, taking some
bodysuits in case the climate turned for the worse.
As the helicopter rose into the air under Aerith's capable guidance, Tifa
took a long look at Nibelheim, so similar to the Nibelheim of her dreams
and nightmares, but so different. She sighed heavily, gazing into the mountains.
She was brought out of her reverie as Sephiroth turned back fromt he copilot's
chair, remarking "I like your taste in clothes." She opened her mouth to
reply, then slowly turned red, finally realizing where her inspiration came
from. He turned back, corner of his mouth twitching slightly as Aerith laughed
merrily, a happy, crystal sound. Speechless, Tifa could only stare at the
scenery in embarassment, her sadness forgotten. Yuffie and Reno wisely remained
silent.
They decided to make a brief investigative stop at the Nibel reactor. If
there were any monsters, or humans trapped in the tanks then they needed
to be released, one way or another. Yuffie and Reno looked a little pale
at the cold slaughter under discussion, but everyone else had seen what ShinRa
could do and had no qualms whatsoever about doing what must be done. Aerith
doubted that the experiments were being conducted in the reactor, but it
was worth checking. Aerith landed them on the helipad, within a hundred yards
of the entrance, as everything seemed quiet. Sephiroth leaped out and strode
towards the entrance. After a few tense minutes inside he walked back out,
shaking his head. He got back in and they flew on, through the mountains.
The flight over the mountains took longer than they expected, and their fuel
reserves were running low; after all, the chopper was only there to service
the scientists to the reactor, and once the studies moved back to Nibelheim
it had fallen into disuse and no one bothered to reorder fuel. Aerith wondered
about that as she piloted the machine over the Nibel range. Had the research
stagnated lately? Did the reactor get only partially rebuilt, to accommodate
the scientists? Or perhaps they all got recalled recently due to President
ShinRa's death? That had to be it, she decided. The research must have been
put on hold until Rufus decided what to do with this secret lab that has
suddenly become his. Her eyes narrowed. Unless of course they were still
working in secret for someone else. She shrugged, eyeing the falling fuel
level. It didn't really matter; they had as much fuel as they had, and if
they didn't reach Rocket Town within an hour, they'd be in trouble.
The helicopter's radio crackled and suddenly came to life, "...to ShinRa
helicopter, identify yourselves please..." The voice was female, and didn't
sound particularly alarmed, nor threatening. Aerith grabbed the radio microphone
and thumbed the button. "Chartered ShinRa helicopter, by private users, out
of Nibelheim to Rocket Town. Who's this?" She let go of the TRANSMIT button,
waiting intently for the reply. Tifa realized that Aerith's reply was extremely
diplomatic, not letting the other person know anything. Whether they were
ShinRa friendly or hostile, they would find no reason to attack. She also
knew they were easy prey for virtually anyone; this was a simple transit
chopper, possesing no radar, no countermeasures and no weapons. The other
voice came back on, sounding dryly amused, "No need for secrecy, I'm just
curious. Private pilot Shera Preston, flying the Preston Pride, off to your
right." The voice clicked off as they turned their heads. A large, sleek
shape became illumined briefly in the helicopter's weak lights, and zoomed
past them with a roar. They looked at each other in the darkness; this HAD
to be that other pilot Yuffie was talking about. Only someone who really
loved to fly could stay aloft in full darkness simply for enjoyment's sake.
Shera's voice came back on, crackling with static, "You're about fifteen
minutes out of Rocket Town, at your pace. I'll see you there!" There was
no mistaking the joy in her voice. They saw the form of the plane glint in
the moonlight as it performed some wild aerobatics better left to the
imagination.
"Hold on!" shouted Aerith as the engine stuttered for the first time. Tifa
groaned. Just a few more minutes and they would have been able to land within
walking distance to Rocket Town. She held on as Aerith put the machine into
a deep dive, cutting the throttle to conserve fuel. As the machine approached
the ground, her knuckles whitened on the controls as the rotor spun freely,
set for minimum lift. Entirely too close by Tifa's judgment, she slammed
the throttle into high gear, tilting the rotors for maximum lift. Their descent
continued for a moment, and then began to slow more and more rapidly. The
heavy blades whupped the air as the engine stuttered even more, running on
fumes. Finally, their descent almost halted ten feet above the ground, the
engine gave its last stutter and seized, the blades spinning freely again.
The machine slowly fell to the ground, jarring the passengers somewhat, but
leaving them essentially unharmed. Aerith sat back, exhaling. She turned
back, smiling weakly and said "That was fun, wasn't it?" Tifa grimaced painfully,
dabbing her bleeding lip; she had bit it when they hit the ground. Aerith
reached out towards Tifa, cupping her face in her hand. Tifa flinched, but
only a little as Aerith's eyes flashed briefly and the pain in her lip eased.
Aerith pulled back and hopped lightly out of the helicopter, looking around.
Yuffie and Reno stepped out of the machine, rubbing their bruises, followed
by Tifa, who was still touching the healed lip with her tongue in disbelief.
Sometimes, it was the small things that awed.
Sephiroth turned back towards them, dispelling the vision in front of him
with a wave of his hand. "We should get there within an hour," his soft voice
carried easily through the quiet night. Aerith reached back into the helicopter,
using the radio to inform Shera of their predicament. The pilot offered to
refuel their machine and help them bring it back to town in the morning,
and they accepted gratefully. Sephiroth and Aerith set a steady, ground-covering
pace, gliding through the darkness silently, like a pair of wraiths. Tifa
followed closely behind, luxuriating in the brisk walk and the clean, crisp
night air. She felt she could walk like this forever, and briefly remembered
her jaunt through the Gongaga forest. This felt quite similar. She was aware
of Aerith and Sephiroth in front of her, and of Yuffie and Reno behind. Yuffie's
stealth was very admirable; she made no noise at all, but could not hide
from Tifa's newly enhanced senses. Reno on the other hand, made enough noise
for an entire stampede of enraged chocobo. He kept up easily though; Tifa
could not discern any distress from him. She frowned, wondering if he made
himself clumsy on purpose. The night was too beautiful for such suspicions
however, and she soon forgot them, contemplating her quick release of the
horrors of Nibelheim. Perhaps Sephiroth's unveiling of his past, part of
which she shared through the tragedy at Nibelheim, was a cathartic experience
for both of them. Plus, she thought grimly, they now knew their enemy's name.
.