Switched

Is Pain Universal?

Chapter 16

The uproar caused by Reeve's announcement took several minutes to die down. He had to try several times before he was able to calm the room enough for him to speak again. When he did, he first turned to Tifa. "I know you want to go and try to retrieve her right away, but we have already seen that it will take more than a handful of people to face this new threat. I have already sent a group of scouts to see if they can find anything at the North Crater. They have been instructed to fall back if they do find something. For now, our first plan of action should be to figure out how to best deal with the other ship that will be here soon."

He shook his head at all the glares being directed at him before continuing. "I know none of us like the thought that Shelke might be held by our enemy. It will not do her any good for us to run up there with no plan. We have already seen that this threat has the potential to be much greater than anything any of us has faced to date. If we aren't prepared, we will fail, and she will be in a much worse position. I have to ask that no one leave until we figure out a solution." He hated having to ask them to hold back. He knew there were several in the group that understood but none of them liked it any more than he did, not even two of their new additions, if their glares were anything to go by.

Finally, Sephiroth stood and, thankfully, changed the subject. "It is my opinion that the landing location for the second ship will depend on their motive. We have already discerned that their social structure is not completely foreign, so we can at least make tentative plans. If they head straight to the North Crater, then we can almost be assured we will be facing the combined forces of all that are in the main ship. However, if their goal is to investigate further, then there is a better than zero chance they will use the same location we set up previously. With as close as it is to Midgar, we can preemptively head there and not be slowed significantly if they end up going elsewhere. That would be my suggestion."

All the glares that had been pointed to Reeve were now facing Sephiroth with a greater intensity. She did not seem to be perturbed by them, though. Her gaze was steady on Reeve. He looked across at all the faces in front of him before turning back to her. "That sounds like a solid plan. We can discuss our next steps while we are gathering everything." He turned to Cid at this point. "Cid, I already have a group working on gathering supplies for an extended trip for all of us. Could you please bring the Shera II here to get it loaded and then meet us at the spot we were last night?"

The pilot grumbled under his breath before he stood. "Me an' my boys'll get it loaded in no time. I got a few additions that ought to come in handy too. This'll be a great chance to try 'em out." The rest of the team had finally stopped scowling, but their looks were still grim. They barely took time to acknowledge Cid as he left to take care of his assigned task.

Once he left, Reeve turned back to the rest of the group. "We won't have much time before we need to head out, so it would be best if everyone headed to the special armory to pick up anything you think you might need. We can reconvene in the parking garage. I have something I need to get so I will meet you all there." There was a lot of grumbling after Reeve finished speaking, but everyone finally moved to stand. Both Cloud and Vincent knew the specific armory that Reeve was talking about, so they led the group down. Reeve headed to his office instead.

By this point everyone was already armed, Weiss had kept the twin katana from his bout with Sephiroth, so the only things they needed were accessories and materia. Surprisingly there was a better selection than everyone expected, everyone but Cloud that was. After their last adventures, Cloud turned over most of his excess items to Reeve, both for storage, and because he knew that was where they would go to the best use. Everyone except for Genesis grabbed the things that made the most sense to their individual styles. Genesis already had his own equipment and had no need for any others. Once everyone had their items equipped, the group made their way to the parking garage.