Hi, all. This is the first time posting on FF.N for me. So if there's any problems or such, I'll do my best to fix it. Also, any advice or comments are always welcome.
Disclaimer: Yes, of course I own FF7. I also live in the Sears Tower and have the King Kong as a guard dog, err ape. Plus, my Japanese consist of six words; nine if you count swear words. So yeah...
Warnings: There will be yaoi in this, sorta. More toward the end, not with Seph. Just so whoever's reading this knows.
"Sir!"
Sephiroth looked up at the saluting MP and motioned for the man to enter. Zack glanced over his shoulder to watch the aid as he crisply strode in, delivered a folder, saluted, turned and marched back out. Sephiroth's second in command snorted in amusement as the door slide shut.
"It's a wonder anyone gets anything done around here with all the saluting and standing attention they do when you're around. You'd think they never saw a General before."
Sephiroth arched an eyebrow as he opened the folder so boldly marked classified. "I am the only General, Zack. There are not many to see."
Zack just shrugged and adjusted his feet that were resting on the second chair situated in front of Sephiroth's desk. His second often took that posture when he was having meetings with him, or simply hiding from his own paperwork. Such as now.
"Being abroad with the troops doesn't help much either." Zack commented. Sephiroth made a soft noise in agreement. Glancing over the report in hand, he sighed.
"That bad, huh?"
"They struck again. This time a supply shipment from Junon to the front."
Zack whistled. "They're getting bold."
"Hmm, yes." Sephiroth scanned over the details skipping the general account. Once he was finished with one sheet he handed it to Zack. Zack didn't necessarily have the proper clearance for this report but Sephiroth could have cared less. The man was his second and needed to know what he knew, if not more in the case of troop movements and placements. Besides that, Zack Fair was his only friend – which as Zack told him made him his best friend – and Sephiroth trusted him.
Zack took his time reading. He shifted through the pages a few times, comparing accounts. Sephiroth could see the calculating mind behind the pair of soft glowing violet eyes as he mentally reconstructed the attack. The man might appear carefree and careless – an act he deliberately constructed – but he was good with tactics and seeing the enemy's side of working.
"Huh." Zack grunted. Sephiroth waited knowing the raven haired man would continue when he was ready. He didn't wait long. Gleaming eyes looked up to his. "This is damn well organized. The power cut, the no warning – both for airship and the landing crew. Someone was obviously onboard since port." He handed the report back to Sephiroth who neatly put it back in the folder. "Seems that Intel about the astronaut joining ranks was true."
"He's merely an airship pilot, Zack, not an astronaut. If it is indeed Highwind."
"Where else would they get an airship? They haven't used one before."
"They also haven't attacked anything this big or directly linked to the war before."
"Yeah, that would be the bold part."
"So." Sephiroth said it as a statement but Zack knew it was an opening to offer his evaluation.
Zack leaned back in the chair, arms crossed behind his head. "Well, if it wasn't for the account of the slash marks and lack of poison, I'd say there was a Wutai ninja involved. That's probably who snuck on board to cut the power at sea. The airship is new and opens up their strike range considerably. The Pres is definitely going to have to take them seriously now. It was well planned and executed, so either the rebels have finally gotten their shit together," Sephiroth snorted to show his opinion on that matter. Zack grinned in agreement. "Or they do have someone new in charge. Someone even that loud mouth Wallace would listen too. Or at least not mess with."
It was the same conclusion that Sephiroth came to. Someone no one outside of Avalanche had seen, or even knew the real name of. Someone who had taken a trivial group of rebels and formed a small cohesive guerilla unit. Someone who understood tactics almost as well as Zack, and if the reports were believed, fought as well as him. Not all things could be taken at face value though.
Zack grinned as he spoke the only name they had for this enigmatic someone.
"Strife."
So, that's it for now. As with everyone else, reviews are always welcomed.