Reeve paced around the room, fuming over the electronic message he had received that afternoon, roughly a week after his escape from Wutai. Only a few days ago, Rude and Cait Sith had been refused entry into Cosmo Canyon until Nanaki and the BlueJay Nexus had secured the Huge Materia, and now, he had gotten this latest missive from the elusive Nexus, stating that they had aquired intact samples of his proprietary Scarlett Nanobots. He appreciated what the Nexus was trying to do for the well-being of the Planet, but must they be so brash and at the same time, so clandestine? Did BlueJay and his agents want the suspicion and the animosity of well-meaning governmental corporations like his own? What were the true goals of the Nexus?
       His train of thought was interrupted by the arrival of his Messenger Moogle, a highly advanced automaton that could be run on autopilot, as it was now. The Moogle had just returned from Junon, bearing mining contracts and other missives from Blue Shinra's new business partner, the Shinra Electric Power Company. Reeve picked up a remote from his desk and clicked a button; the Moogle shut down, its large wings drooping over its round body. After taking the envelope from the Moogle's paw, Reeve left the basement office and made the long climb up the stairs to the second floor of the Mansion. Upon entering the central hallway, he was startled to see Elder Hargo come through the front door, with Rude following from behind. Reeve started down the staircase to greet the Cosmo elder. Rude turned to the President and said, "Sir, Elder Hargo has some news on the condition of the Huge Materia."
       Before Reeve could reply, Hargo added, "Yes, I was sent here by Nanaki. Apparently, he thinks that something is wrong with the Materias. He would like you to come to Cosmo Canyon, bringing a mastered Break Materia that he believes you have."
       Reeve nodded, then asked, "So the Nexus won't give us any trouble if we go to see the Huge Materia?"
       "Nanaki's word is all you need."
       "I see… Rude, have the stable crew ready some Chocobos for our departure tomorrow morning."

*****

       The sand of the Corel Desert proved to be quite treacherous as Saber attempted to bike his way across it. Of course, the hordes of monsters that proliferated the barren land didn't help much either. Finally, after what seemed like endless days of hard trekking, he made it across and headed for the mountains, eventually setting up camp in a small cave at the foot of the craggy peaks. Shortly before sundown, he watched from the edge of the desert as the seaplane landed in the sandy badlands, only to take off again not long after, this time toward the Northern Desert. Saber sighed, then reentered the cave as the night sky swiftly rolled in from the east.
       Saber slept heavily that night, so much so that he didn't hear the loud explosion echoing from over the mountains, a couple of hours after midnight.

       The sun was high over the Canyon as Reeve and Rude stood in the yard that surrounded Bugenhagen's observatory. Nanaki paced back and forth before the building's entrance, explaining the situation to them.
       "The Nexus say they tested the Huge Materias with their equipment… I neglected to ask them the nature of the tests when they left them back in my care. It was not until after their departure, when I was alone in the study, that I noticed that something was wrong with the reflections bouncing off of the ceiling. They didn't seem to radiate the same warmth…"
       Reeve looked at Rude, who's face, as usual, lacked expression, before turning back to Nanaki. "We understand. By the way, I brought that Break Materia you requested. What do you need it for?"
       "That will be revealed soon", Nanaki answered. "First we must await the arrival of another guest… Ah, I believe that's him now."
       A head of dirty blond hair popped through the hatch in the yard, followed by flight goggles and a pair of tough blue eyes. Cid climbed out and stood before the others, lighting a cigarette as he asked them, "So, are we ready to check out these &%*# crystals?"
       Nanaki nodded. "We're ready. Did you bring the Materias?"
       Cid rolled up his sleeve, revealing mastered Ice and Exit Materias on his armlet. He dug in his pocket and pulled out two more orbs, mastered Seal and Comet Materias that had been obtained from Barret and Zack.
       Opening the door, Nanaki beckoned them all to come inside. The three men followed the red beast into the main room, then the study, where the quartet of Huge Materias floated above their heads amidst models of the Planets. Nanaki and his guests boarded the platform in the center of the room and rose to the top, where they could observe the Materias up close. Staring at the crystals for a moment, Cid was the first to speak. "You're right, Red", he said, addressing Nanaki by his nickname. "Something's *@#& about those Huge Materias."
       A small pouch hung from Nanaki's Seraph Comb, which the red beast now pulled loose, emptying its contents onto the platform. Reeve and Cid looked down at the small pile of glistening green Materia, and understood at once. They contributed their own mastered Materias to the pile, but nothing happened. Nanaki scratched behind his ear for a moment, then exclaimed, "Oh! I forgot one more…"
       He carefully removed a mastered Shield Materia from its slot on his Seraph Comb and tossed it to the top of the pile. They all watched as the complete set of Spell Materias let off a quiet glow… and did nothing else. Turning their attentions to the green Huge Materia, the first thing they noticed was that it didn't glow at all.
       Cid cursed under his breath and took a deep drag from his cigarette. Reeve rubbed the brown hairs on his chin, his eyes narrowed in thought. Rude crossed his arms and stared back down at the pile of mastered Materia.
       Nanaki shook his head and muttered, "So it's confirmed…"
       Rude said, "There's still the yellow and red Huge Materias… we can try to test them…"
       Cid looked doubtful. "I think we'll get the same &*$% result though… I guess we could try, but if the green one's fake, then I'd bet the Bronco that the others are as well."

       Reeve had a camera crew come up to Bugenhagen's study where he broadcast the announcement that the Huge Materias, recently retrieved by the BlueJay Nexus, were determined to be fakes.
       "Wutai ninja are still suspected", continued the Blue Shinra president, "But we also have some new suspects to add to our list. Hiroshi Tseng, formerly of the Shinra Turks, was believed to have kidnapped a female Wutai ninja, forcing her to steal the Huge Materias for him. The BlueJay Nexus is also under suspicion since they were the ones who 'recovered' these false Huge Materias. Therefore, Blue Shinra will discontinue any affiliation with the Nexus until a full investigation can be made. Again, any information concerning the whereabouts of any of the real Huge Materias should be directed to the Blue Shinra headquarters in Nibelheim. Thank you."
       Saber heard this broadcast on his portable radio as he crossed the Corel Mountains on foot, having left his motorcycle in the small cave he had camped in the night before. He shook his head and idly wondered if the Huge Materias would ever be found. An hour later, he finally reached the mountain pass that led to the Northern Desert. Looking through his binoculars from this great height, he could see the wreckage of a small plane and about a half-dozen figures surrounding it. Saber started the long descent from the side of the mountain, silently wishing that he had a black or green Chocobo to help him down the steep cliffsides. A few hours later, he was walking in the desert toward the plane, which had crashed not far from the base of the mountains. When he arrived at the crash site, the figures were gone, and not a trace of cargo could be found. As he turned to leave, a single long strand of black hair captured Saber's attention. It was hanging from the back of the pilot's seat, caught by a crack in the upholstery. Saber carefully removed the strand and folded it into a piece of paper he found in his pocket. He then turned away from the wreckage and started the long trek back to his motorcycle on the other side of the mountains.

*****

       A small brown Chocobo, looking very much like the legendary Wood Chocobo, sat perched among the branches of a cherry tree in a grove near Wutai village. Her coat of feathers was brown enough to serve passably as camouflage in the grove, and she went unseen as she alighted to the branch of another tree; one which stood closer to the village. In the center of town, a large group of soldiers gathered; standing before them was a man in black armor, who unlike the others, wasn't Wutaiese at all. This man gave a rousing speech, at the end of which a loud battle cry could be heard from the soldiers. The troops scattered, and the black-clad man and a small group of assassins stole their way toward the Pagoda of the Five Gods, where Godo and his top monks practiced their daily meditation.
       Two of the troops, ninja clothed in red and black, stole toward the grove where the Chocobo was perched. The Chocobo was soon spotted by one of the ninja, a girl who's bluish-grey eyes peeked out from the top of her mask. She whispered to the bird, "Don't worry, friend, we won't hurt you. Not as far as the bluejay flies."
       Under other circumstances, the Chocobo might have acted differently, but instead, she gave out a shrill "WAARK!" and flew out of the trees and up into the Da-Chao Mountains. From up here, she watched as the two ninja shrugged their shoulders and took off toward the Pagoda to the northeast. Then the Chocobo flew into a narrow crack in the side of the mountain and closely observed the chaotic happenings in the village below.

*****

       The response from the Nexus was almost immediate. Reeve heard his PHS ring as he, Rude, Cid, and Nanaki entered the Canyon's Starlet Pub. He picked it up, already knowing who would be on the other end of the line. "Hello BlueJay," Reeve said with all the calmness he could muster. "Care to explain yourself?"
       "Reeve, my finest scientists examined the Huge Materias before I turned them over to Nanaki!" replied BlueJay. "They were made of highly concentrated Lifestream fluids, the very stuff of Materia."
       "That may be true, but the green Huge Materia did not pass the true test of its authenticity. We tried to make a Master Materia with it, but failed spectacularly."
       "Did you test the others?"
       "Not yet, but that's beside the point. The green one is obviously false, and therefore, the real green Huge Materia is still missing. That in itself is reason for alarm, and that's not even getting into the very real possibility that the others are fakes as well."
       "Listen. My organization, the BlueJay Nexus, is allied with the Planet. We would never do such a thing as to steal any of the Huge Materias ourselves--"
       "Is that an admission of an accomplice?"
       "That's not what I--"
       "BlueJay, I have to go. Perhaps we'll continue this conversation some other time."
       "But--"
       Reeve turned off the phone and put it away as he joined the others at the back table.

       The following day, when Reeve and Rude were back in Nibelheim, the BlueJay Nexus reported on a plane crash in the Northern Desert, stating that no cargo or any other sort of evidence was found. The Nexus was still sending their daily missives to Reeve, depite his waning trust in the organization. The Blue Shinra President scratched his chin and, from his laptop, tapped into a video feed he had set up with a black Choco Sith in the Corel Mountains. After guiding the bird to the northern side of the mountain range, he scanned the desert below, and soon found a small dark spot against the light brown wasteland. Focusing in on it, he could see that it was, indeed, the wreckage of a small seaplane. He sat for a while staring at the image on the screen, then closed the feed to check in with a few other Choco Siths. As he was doing so, his military commander Baker entered the basement office.
       "Sir," Baker said. "So sorry to interrupt, but you must have heard about the situation brewing in Wutai."
       Reeve smirked. "Seen and heard. Apparently Lord Godo and his men are holed up inside the Pagoda of the Five Gods. Cosmos turned Godo's own army against him."
          Baker was a little bit taken aback by the extent of Reeve's knowledge. He knew that the President was an intelligence expert, but Reeve's exact methods were largely a mystery to most of Blue Shinra's employees. "Yes, well, if that's the case… don't you think we should do anything? Obviously this Cosmos character is a bit of a megalomaniac… I fear that he won't stop with Wutai. Threatening missives have been sent to the top commanders of all other existing factions."
       Now it was Reeve's turn to be startled. "Funny… I never received such a message… just the military commanders, eh?"
       Baker nodded.
       "Well, what does the missive say?"
       Baker handed a folded sheet of rice paper to Reeve,
       "Basically it says that everyone should stay out of Wutai. They asked Blue Shinra to abandon their base there, which is absurd, since we haven't had any such base in months."
       Reeve opened the missive and scanned it with his eyes. A disturbed expression formed on his face.
       "There's something… not quite right… about his manner of wording…"
       "You see what I mean then?"
       "Yes… and if I am correct, you are here to ask me for permission to take troops into Wutai…"
       "Yes sir," Baker replied.
       Reeve leaned back in his chair. "It's already being taken care of. We don't need to be there…"
       "What?! Why?"
       "The Nexus is in Wutai, assisting Godo… Listen, I don't want to get embroiled in anything only to find out that I was supporting the wrong side. Or finding out that all of them are the wrong side…"
       Baker stood there for a moment, digesting Reeve's words. "Ahh… your distrust of the Nexus…"
       Reeve nodded. "For the time being, I would much rather wait and see who comes out the victor in this Wutai skirmish than to rush out now and find out that I made a terrible mistake."
       "Yes sir."
       "Thank you for discussing this with me. Dismissed."
       Baker hastily saluted and left the basement.

*****

       As the week wore on, the situation in Wutai blossomed into a full-fledged conflict. The Nexus was on hand, helping Godo and his followers to escape from the Pagoda and regroup in the Da-Chao Mountains. Cosmos and his army of rogue ninja began to fight with even more zeal as Godo's forces once again grew in strength. During that time, both sides were so preoccupied with the conflict that hardly anyone seemed to take more than a passing notice of the wild Chocobos that would occasionally stray close to their camps.
       By this time, Saber had finally left the Corel region and reached Gongaga. The small amount of news he had picked up from the local papers said little about the Wutai conflict. Gongaga was still independent of any of the large governments; the locals having rid the town of the last Shinra troops not long ago, and being a little wary of Blue Shinra. As such, most of the news came from travelers, like Saber, who happened to be passing though town. One of the other travelers that Saber encountered during his stopover in Gongaga was a Blue Shinra MP.
       "I just left the Corel Desert," Saber told the MP at the local bar, when asked where he came from. "Grew up in Corel and worked security at the Gold Saucer until recently."
       The MP shook his head. "Corel, eh? Shame what happened to that town…"
       Saber brushed off this last comment with a flick of his wrist, as though he'd heard it all before. "Yeah, yeah. If you haven't noticed, this town hasn't exactly had its share of good times either."
       "That's true… so what are you gonna do next?"
       "I'm not sure… I was thinking of checking out Cosmo Canyon…"
       "Security's been pretty tight there lately… Nanaki and the Elders have the place pretty much locked up. You can't get in there unless you're a political bigwig, or have some sort of official clearance."
       "Guess that's out then," Saber muttered. He stared into his glass for a moment, then asked the MP, "Hey, you work for Blue Shinra, right? What's that like?"
       "Ahh, it's not bad I guess. Helluva lot better than working for the original Shinra, that's for sure," the MP answered. "You really get the impression that Reeve actually believes in his company. It's kind of infectious, the whole idea that work can be truly rewarding. Why'd you ask? You looking for a new job?"
       "Maybe. I think that I should get back to work soon. I was going nowhere fast at the Gold Saucer. I love the place to death, but…"
       "I hear ya. You want to do something more worthwhile, right?"
       Saber took a sip of his beer and pondered the other man's words. "Yeah… I guess I do…"
       At that moment, Elena walked into the bar. The MP immediately stood straight up, awaiting her orders. Elena shook her head and smiled. "At ease… I just wanted to let you know that we're heading out first thing tomorrow. You know the drill."
       The MP nodded and sat back at the bar as Elena turned to leave. Saber watched the young woman as she left the bar, then got up from his stool. "I should get going myself… I want to explore those reactor ruins before the sun sets."
       The MP shrugged. "Suit yourself. Just be careful out there… I've heard the monsters in that old reactor can be quite vicious."
       Saber left some Gil coins on the bar and headed for the door. "Those monsters don't know me."

       In Gongaga's small inn, Elena sat up on her bed, reading the printout of the Nexus EFA that Reeve had received only the day before:

       Welcome to the Electronic Field Agent system.
       Brought to you by the Bluejay Nexus.

       Connecting to Nexus.............. .... ........ link made.

       1 item uploaded.

       AGENT REPORT: We have successfully hacked into Tseng's private files located in an old Shinra database, although without your orders. Expense reports indicate that he has purchased large amounts of Materia and Lifestream fluids from Mako fountains throughout the world. They also show that he was using an artificial Materia compressor at around the same time. This may indicate that he has been creating fake Huge Materia, with near-identical properties to the real ones, for some time now. We would need to conduct further investigations to prove it. It is currently unknown how many of these replicas are circulating. We have also found records and blueprints of many of Shinra Weapons Development projects in Tseng's files. This includes plans for the Materia Bomb. His private accounts show that he has safehouses in Costa del Sol, Wutai, and Bone Village. It is likely that the real Huge Materia and/or the kidnapped Wutaiese Materia thief are being held in one of these locations.

       Link terminated.

       By this time, Reno would be in Rocket Town, getting ready to sneak into Wutai. Having taken the one available Gelnika to the AVALANCHE base near Icicle Inn, Rude would be preparing for the trip into Bone Village. And she would be heading for Costa del Sol the next day, carrying out the same mission as her fellow Turks: to break into Tseng's storehouses and find any evidence that would incriminate him. The legality of the searches wouldn't be an issue; in Bone Village, AVALANCHE's authority would override any conflicts. Wutai currently had other concerns to deal with. In Costa del Sol, the city council had already approved it. Yet even with the legalities out of the way, Elena's stomach still turned at the prospect of the mission. Tomorrow, she would break into the private storage space of a man she once admired, in search of evidence that would potentially incriminate him. She flopped down onto the bed and closed her eyes, the printout lying across her face. She lay there for what seemed like hours, thinking.
       Just as Elena was about to drift off to sleep, her PHS rang. It was Reeve, checking on the status of the mission. She gave a dry, businesslike report, and was about to sign off when Reeve asked what was wrong.
       "Huh? What do you mean? Nothing's wrong," Elena said defensively.
       "You're lying," the President bluntly replied. "It's about Tseng, isn't it?"
       Elena said nothing.
       "I must admit, I was kind of wary about sending you on this mission, but I feel that this is the kind of job tailor-made for the Turks." After a pause, he added, "After we left Wutai that last time, Reno… told me what he knew about you and Tseng."
       Fighting back the urge to cry, Elena replied, "Did he."
       "Yes. I'm sorry about that… I mean, with Tseng--"
       "It's nothing… really."
       "Are you sure? I could always send Cait to Costa Del Sol--"
       "I'll be all right," she said with a sharp finality.
       There was a pause on the other end of the line. Then, Reeve spoke again. "I'll take your word for it. At any rate, you know your mission objectives. Please report back to me from Costa Del Sol as soon as you find anything."
       "Yes sir. I should get going now… it's getting late."
       "Very well. Take care."
       "I will," Elena said. She turned off the phone and stuffed both it and the printout into her bags. Looking out the window as she drew the blankets over her, she could make out the light from the candles in the cemetery, candles left burning every night by family members of the victims of the reactor explosion that happened a few years ago. For some reason, the sight of the small yellow flames soothed her, and after closing the curtains and settling into bed, she soon fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

*****

       "Is the camera rolling? Good."
       The MP with the video camera, the same one Saber had talked to the previous day in Gongaga, turned the lens toward Elena, a line of palm trees behind her. Elena nodded to another MP, who carried a heavy pair of industrial wire cutters, and the three of them started toward a small building on the outskirts of Costa Del Sol. This building looked like some sort of garage, complete with a metal rolldown door. The place looked like it needed some fixing up; a few shingles on the roof were missing and the paint on the walls was starting to crack. The MP with the wire cutters stared at the shabby-looking building for a moment before kneeling in front of the heavy lock that kept the door shut. With a snap, the lock was off, and as the MP rolled up the door, he heard some sort of sound come from within the dark building, like a muffled human voice.
       Elena shined a flashlight into the building. Inside, there were numerous mechanical and electrical parts, some military uniforms, black dress suits, and assorted weaponry; but there was one object inside the garage that caught her eye. It was a large canvas bag, and it was moving.With the camera-wielding MP watching from over her shoulder, Elena knelt down in front of the bag, pulling out her gun with one hand and loosening the knot on the bag's drawstring with the other. As the bag opened, she drew back, startled as a head of short brown hair forced it's way out.
       "Yuffie!" exclaimed the Turk as the brown hair parted to reveal a tear-stained face. Elena immediately helped the ninja out of the sack and undid the gag on her mouth. As Elena started working on the bindings on Yuffie's wrists and ankles, the former captive mumbled something inaudible.
       "What was that?" Elena asked.
       Yuffie, her mouth sore from the gag, and her body weary from many hours without food, water, or fresh air, mustered what little strength she had to whisper, "He… he's got… Huge Materia…"
       Elena paused in her work and closed her eyes. After taking a deep breath, she replied. "We know."
       Her voice becoming more urgent, Yuffie said, "He's going to kill--"
       "Relax!" said the Turk, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Please, save your strength. You've been through a lot lately…"
       Yuffie moaned and closed her eyes, just as Elena undid the last of the bindings. The MP with the wirecutters, who had been looking around the rest of the garage, came up to Elena to report.
       "From what I can tell, Tseng hasn't been here in at least a couple days. No sign of the Huge Materia either. I did find these, though." The MP held out a small leather bag, which was filled with regular-sized Materia.
       Elena nodded and turned to face the camera. "I think we have enough. Let's get Yuffie some help."
       The MP with the camera nodded and turned it off. A medical unit was called, and soon, Yuffie was resting up in a vacant room in Cloud's old villa.

       The next day, Reeve announced that Yuffie had been found and was under the care of a physician in Costa Del Sol. She hadn't said much about her ordeal beyond what she whispered to Elena in the garage, but even just that was enough to convince Reeve to name Tseng the primary suspect in the Huge Materia theft. He also announced that a great deal of AVALANCHE's Materia, which was on Yuffie's person at the time of her abduction, was found in Costa Del Sol as well, and would be redistributed to the known surviving members of the group. Finally, he finished off his message with the following:
       "We of Blue Shinra would like to extend a formal apology to the BlueJay Nexus, in relation to our suspicions regarding the theft of the Huge Materias. With Nexus agents freely accessing our proprietary technology without our consent, not to mention their strict request regarding the Materias' transport, we had reason to believe that our working relationship with the Nexus was being severely tested. BlueJay, if you're watching, I have no hard feelings toward either you or the Nexus itself. However, the incident with the Scarlett Nanos, not to mention your own distrust of others led me to point you out as a potential suspect. Again, I hope that our relationship with each other can be salvaged, and if it is, I wish it to be harmonious."
       The broadcast ended and soon, the video crew had once again left Reeve alone in his basement office. A wan smile crossed his face as he reflected on his latest performance; he knew that the first rule of spying was not to trust anyone. Well aware that BlueJay knew this as well, he wondered if the Nexus and Blue Shinra would ever truly be allies. He leaned back in his chair, taking in the silence of the office. Reno was already back from Wutai, and was spending the day working with engineers in the Nibel Mountains. Rude and Elena would return from their own missions within the week. Turning his attention back to his desk, Reeve pressed a key on his laptop and closed his eyes.

       The brown Chocobo sat perched on the rooftop of the Pagoda of the Five Gods as other, larger Chocobos emerged from the forest and attacked Cosmos' ninja, who were scattered throughout the courtyard, vigilantly on the lookout for any of Godo's men. The Chocobos, though they were few in number, completely overwhelmed the ninja, killing or chasing away many of them. Over the next few weeks, similar incidents occurred; incidents that helped lead to Cosmos' exile and Lord Godo's return to the throne of Wutai.

---

Completed June 2002 | Revised January 2003 | Copyright 2002-2003, The Blue Shinra Project.

This chapter would not exist without the efforts of BlueJay (who put up a good defense for the Nexus), and Darwin (who, in his own little way, guided both the Nexus and Blue Shinra toward Yuffie), and is therefore dedicated to both of them.

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