Cait Sith laughed and gently patted Yuffie on the shoulder once the Highwind broke through the dense layer of clouds, finally rendering Junon completely out of sight.
         "Good thinkin' back there, Yuffie!" the cat said. "I was afraid for a minute that they'd catch us."
         Vincent wore a small smile on his own face. "Indeed. You were able to overcome your airsickness at a good time."
         No acknowledgement came from Yuffie other than a nod, after which she resumed her vomiting. Along with Cait Sith and Vincent, she was on the outer deck of the Highwind; the three of them were taking a breather after their unexpected escape from Junon. Cid had entered the body of the airship to find out what exactly had gone on, and a curious Nanaki—also known to the group of friends as Red XIII—had followed him. Now, not long after their escape, Nanaki came to the door and asked everyone on the outer deck to come inside, Yuffie included.
         "What's goin' on?" asked Cait.
         Nanaki explained, "It appears that the airship crew are Cid's longtime admirers. On top of that, they were fed up with the abuse they were receiving from Heidegger, so they decided to steal the airship and help us out on our quest."
         "God, is that all? You think they could give us more warning next time?" Yuffie dryly remarked as Cait and Vincent helped her to her feet.
         "You must understand the circumstances they were under," Nanaki replied as he led the others inside. "Surrounded by Shinra's top people, having to deal with their constant presence. This might've been their only opportunity, and ours."
         Yuffie shrugged as they made their way to the bridge. When they got there, the two crewmen manning the flight and navigation consoles briefly turned their heads and saluted their guests, friendly smiles on their faces. Standing before of the large window at the front of the bridge was Cid, facing a sky full of streaming clouds, hands clasped behind his back. As they approached, he turned and took a long drag from his cigarette, the end of which glowed a bright orange.
         "First things first. We've gotta free 'em," he said simply. Cait, Vincent, Yuffie, and Nanaki all nodded. Cid continued, "Thing is, we need a plan. Junon's a fortress—not the kind of place that's easy to sneak into, never mind get out of."
         "But we escaped," Yuffie piped up.
         "We had unexpected help," Vincent countered. "That type of assistance is hard to come by."
         Nanaki asked, "Are you saying that we're going to need similar help again; say, from someone who won't draw any suspicion from the Shinra?"
         The room fell silent. One by one, each member of the severely-reduced party laid their eyes upon the Shinra spy in their midst. Cait Sith sighed, but wore a smile as he did so. "Somehow, I knew this was gonna happen. Deal is, whatever we do, it's gonna be risky."
         "What're ya talking about?" Cid asked, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes at the robot. "You ran away with us, didn't ya? If I was the Shinra, I'd be thinking that you were a traitor anyway."
         Vincent shook his head. "I'm not so sure about that. The Shinra would expect Cait to join us in our escape, to keep up appearances, as well as to continue spying on us. After all, they don't know that we know he's a spy."
         "That's right!" Cait agreed. "Besides, the Turks've been investigatin' to find out who I really am ever since I took on this new body."
         "You mean they don't know?" Vincent asked.
         Cait paused, carefully thinking over how to reply to this, or even if he should reply at all. Finally, he decided that there would be no harm in them knowing. "Only one other person at Shinra did, and he took the secret to his grave. Can't tell ya any more than that."
         "So you should be safe, right?" Cid asked. "The rest of 'em don't know who you are."
         "Yet," cautioned Cait. "If the Shinra find out that I've joined your side, they'll order the Turks to speed up their investigation. No doubt about that."
         "Are you willing to take that risk?"
         "I thought I already said I would! Just keep in mind that this won't be an easy mission—we gotta be careful every step of the way. Now, we need a plan…"

*****

         Elena went to work that morning in a particularly gloomy mood. It was the dire news she had heard on the radio the previous day that initially made her feel this way; later, the blaring headlines of the local papers and the nervous gravity of the television coverage only caused her despair to worsen. Doubtless, she thought, everyone else in the city—heck, the entire world—must be feeling the same way I am. Trying to appear as collected as possible as she walked, she thought of her one saving grace: the blanket of clouds that formed a barrier between Midgar and this alleged Meteor. Seeing is believing, after all, and the less she saw for herself, the better.
         The city streets had a somber atmosphere to them, as did the Shinra Building. However, upon reaching her floor, she could faintly hear an upbeat conversation coming from the general direction of the Turks' office; as she approached, she even heard laughter. A little perturbed by this, she walked to the office and opened the door, only to find herself completely unprepared for the sight that met her eyes.
         Sitting at what used to be Tseng's desk was Reno, reclining in a leather swivel chair with a coffee mug in his hands. Nearby, Rude was at Reno's old desk. These sights she had expected, as she and Reno had been rearranging the office over the past couple of days. However, there was also someone sitting at her desk, which was formerly Rude's—a large man with a broad chin and brown hair flecked with strands of gray, dressed casually in a short-sleeved shirt and khakis.
         Not bothering to return the brief greetings that Reno and Rude had given her, she slowly walked up to her desk. "G—Garamonde?" she exclaimed.
         The man nodded. "'Morning, kid. Long time no see. Glad to see you made it in."
         "Huh? Oh…" She stared down at her dark blue suit, and felt her cheeks grow warm. "Well, if it wasn't for you…"
         Garamonde chuckled. "Don't be ridiculous. I only showed you the path. You were the one who chose to make the journey."
         "What are you doing here?"
         "I came to visit you, Elena. Like I said, it's been a long time, and now with that Meteor heading toward us, I might not get another chance. Is that all right?"
         She nodded. From behind her, she heard Reno say, "You never told us that one of your friends is an ex-Turk."
         Turning around, she said, "It never came up."
         "That's all right," Reno replied, getting up from his chair. "He told us how you two met, during the Wutai War. And how he was so impressed with you that he sent you an application for the Turk training program."
         "Was that what you were all talking about just before I got here?"
         "Nah, we were just trading Turk stories."
         Remembering the laughter she had heard earlier, Elena muttered, "Nothing too embarrassing, I hope."
         "Not really," Garamonde replied with a smile, "though the tale Reno told me about the vacation you three recently took was pretty amusing."
         Mortified, Elena turned away, not wanting to face the three men in the room.
         "Elena," she heard Garamonde say, "I should let you and your partners get back to work." Turning around, she could see the former Turk stand up, with the aid of a cane. Oh yeah, she remembered. He has a prosthetic leg, since he lost his real one in the war…
         He came before her and gave her a tight hug, which she returned. "Listen," he told her, "I left my card on your desk. Give me a call and we'll get together. I'll be in Midgar for a couple of days."
         Elena mumbled an affirmative and let go of Garamonde. "I guess I'll see you later, then."
         Garamonde nodded, then glanced up. "Reno, Rude, it was good to meet you two. Glad to see that the Turks are in good hands." With that, he left the room, shutting the door behind him.
         Elena promptly made her way to her desk, where she found Garamonde's card. After taking off her jacket, she picked up the card and tucked it in her trouser pocket, while Reno and Rude stared at her.
         "What are you guys looking at me like that for?" she asked irritably. "Don't get the wrong idea—Garamonde's an old friend, nothing more."
         Rude, who had said nothing this entire time, simply remained silent, while Reno replied, "You should know us better than that by now."
         Elena examined Reno's face; it was serious, but she could tell that he believed her. Likewise when she looked at Rude, but knowing what she had recently found out about him, she couldn't keep her eyes on him for very long.
         Reno turned to face Rude. "Well now that Elena's here, you can present your report. Tell us everything you saw during your mission."

         She learned a lot that morning: about Cloud being a failed test subject of Hojo's, how Meteor came to be summoned, the Weapon monsters, and much more. Rude also reported on the Ancient's death, to which Reno flatly replied, "Yeah, I knew about that already. Elena got the news from Cait Sith in Icicle Inn; she told me about their meeting in her post-mission report. I would've filled you in, but by that time, you were already on your way to the Northern Crater."
         This was true; upon her return to Midgar, she reported in to Reno and told him of her exchange with the robotic spy. When she got to the bit about the Ancient being killed by Sephiroth, Reno's eyes widened for a moment, then he averted them and asked her to continue. At the time, she sensed something odd about this action on his part. However, this morning, he was his usual self. Elena shrugged it off, figuring that perhaps Reno was just stunned that the Ancient had been killed so suddenly, especially after the Turks had pursued her for so many years.
         The rest of the day's work consisted mainly of reviewing SOLDIER applications, of which there were only a few these days. Some hours later, Reno told his two comrades that they could leave early if they wished. Taking him up on his offer, Elena and Rude left the office together and boarded an elevator, while Reno stayed behind to finish up a few things he insisted had to get done.
         "What are you gonna do with your extra time?" Elena asked as she pulled out her PHS.
         "I haven't really thought about it… Go home and get some rest, maybe."
         "Yeah?"
         "Yeah. I still haven't fully recovered from my last mission. What about you?"
         "Get in touch with Garamonde, see what he's up to."
         Rude nodded, and Elena placed the call. It turned out that Garamonde had a few other people to see in Midgar, so the earliest he would be able to meet up with her was nine that night. Fortunately, she had no problem with that, and they settled on a meeting place before ending the call. By that time, the elevator was only a few flights away from the lobby. She glanced over at Rude, who was staring out at the city. Quiet, mysterious Rude… what exactly did he see in her? Just then, Rude turned his head toward her, and she quickly darted her own away.
         "Were you able to arrange a meeting with your friend?"
         "Y-yeah. It won't be for a while, though."
         "What are you going to do in the meantime?"
         Elena shrugged. "Not sure."
         There was a brief silence, then Rude said, "Reno and I were discussing something earlier this afternoon, while you were out on that errand at the Peace Preservation library."
         "What were you discussing?"
         "A… secret about Tseng, about the Turks. We agreed that its probably something you should be aware of. Reno asked me to tell you about it, time permitting."
         Elena pondered this for a moment. What sort of secret could he be talking about? "Well, it looks like I have some spare time now. Let's go hit a coffee shop so we can talk."
         Shaking his head, Rude replied, "No good. We need to go somewhere else. Somewhere a bit more… isolated."
         "You have a place in mind?"
         "Yeah. Come with me."

         Elena did so, following Rude toward some unknown destination. She was surprised when they took a train into the Sector Five slums, and even moreso when Rude came to a stop before a dilapidated old church.
         "Is this the place?" she asked.
         Rude nodded. "Let's go inside."
         Carefully, they slipped between the partially open doors and stepped across worn wooden floorboards. Streams of bright sunlight shone down through a set of holes in the ceiling, the largest of which landed on a bed of flowers, growing out of a big hole in the floor where the pulpit must've once been.
         As Rude stood silently behind her, Elena bent down to examine the flowers. They were real. She turned back to him, shaking her head in disbelief.
         "This is impossible, isn't it? Reno once told me that nothing can grow in Midgar, not even weeds. And why is there sunlight coming down from those holes in the roof? There's clouds blanketing most of the Upper City, but even if they weren't there, the plates should block out the sun."
         "Yes. You're right about both things."
         Elena looked at the flowers again. She reached out and stroked one of the plants' petals; it was soft and velvety. "Rude, where are we?"
         In hushed tones, he replied, "Aeris' favorite place. She used to come here for many years, tending to these flowers. If it weren't for her, they probably wouldn't be here."
         "Was… was that one of her powers?"
         "Seems so. She was a strange girl."
         Elena stood up. She was starting to get some idea of why Rude chose this place to come to. "Rude, this… secret of yours. It has to do with Aeris, right?"
         He nodded.
         She felt a lump form in her throat; this was going to be harder than she thought. "And… Tseng?"
         "Please, sit down."
         Elena did as he requested, then he joined her. He took off his shades and propped his arms against his upper legs, his stark blue eyes focused on the flowers. She quietly waited for him to speak again, not wanting to rush him. Finally, her patience was rewarded as he turned his head toward her.
         "Yoshiro and Aeris were close friends since childhood… best friends, actually. He was the one who helped her escape whenever his father—who was a Turk himself—was sent to capture her. Even though he followed in his father's footsteps and became a Turk, he continued to protect her. Reno and I were asked to do the same, so we did."
         Elena stared at Rude, processing the words in her mind. She couldn't believe what she was hearing, and tried to tell him just that, but found herself so stunned that the words weren't able to leave her mouth. Rude's eyes turned away from her, and once more, his gaze fell upon the flower patch. An empty silence filled the church.
         "But why?" she finally managed to whisper. "She was the enemy."
         "Tseng once told me that her only crime was being the last member of an ancient race. And he was right."
         "But you said his father was after her. So he must've known the whole time that she was…"
         "Yeah, but… he couldn't help caring about her."
         "I don't get it. Why couldn't he?"
         Rude looked over at Elena once more. "He had no choice."
         Staring into Rude's eyes, she thought she could see, just for a moment, where he was coming from. "I think I understand now," she replied, quickly averting from his gaze, "but why is it that the Shinra never found out?"
         "You mean about their friendship? I don't know. Yoshiro was always very careful, but…"
         Silence fell between them yet again.
         "Rude," Elena suddenly asked, "how loyal are you to Shinra?"
         "As loyal as I have to be to get by. Since the Nibelheim incident, my feelings toward the Company have been kind of… mixed."
         "What about Reno?"
         Rude leaned back and rested his hands in his lap, staring out ahead of him. "Reno's an odd case. From what I know of him, he's very devoted to the Company, but I'm not sure that he's really happy in his current position."
         "You mean, as the leader of the Turks?"
         "No. As a Turk at all."
         Elena found herself slightly surprised by Rude's statement, but decided not to press the matter further, as other concerns were weighing heavier on her mind. "But why did he protect Aeris for Tseng?"
         "Tseng saved him some years ago. I'm not sure how, but that's what Reno once told me. Because of that, Reno felt deeply indebted to him. He also said he would do just about anything for him."
         Elena nodded to herself. "I see."
         "What about you? Where do your loyalties lie?"
         She thought this over. Of course, she had to be loyal to Shinra, but there were a few things about the Company that bothered her. If there was anything that her recent travels had taught her, it was that there was much she hadn't known about Shinra—and her gut feeling told her that a lot remained that she wouldn't want to know. No, there was only one right answer to this question.
         "With the Turks, whoever they are, and whatever they stand for."

         They departed from the church not long afterward and went their separate ways. Some hours later, she left her apartment building, simply dressed in a blouse, jeans, and sneakers, and caught a cab to the edge of Sector Four, where a partially-constructed highway extended to the very outskirts of the city. Garamonde was already there waiting for her, seated atop a large white chocobo.
         "This is Umaro," Garamonde said as he dismounted from the bird. "He's my mode of transportation for this trip."
         With Garamonde leading Umaro by his bridle, the three of them began walking down the lonely stretch of highway, away from the gleaming metropolis. "Where are you headed after you leave here?" Elena asked.
         "Bone Village—my brother works there as a paleontologist. After that, I'll head to Icicle Inn to see my daughter and her husband, swing by Cosmo Canyon and Rocket Town to check up on some more friends and family, then it's back home to Mideel."
         "Sounds like quite a trip. Do you think you can do it all in time?"
         "The papers say it'll be about a month until that rock falls on us."
         Elena nodded solemnly. In silence, they continued walking until they got to the unfinished end of the highway. Garamonde put his cane away and untied a baseball bat from Umaro's saddle. He then began fishing around in one of the saddlebags.
         "So, Reno told me that you were hired as the 'fourth Turk'."
         Elena trudged over to one of the concrete guardrails and leaned against it. "I don't want to talk about it."
         "Why not?"
         "You should know. In fact, I first heard about it from your cousin Shera, in Rocket Town. 'Fourth Turks' are unlucky."
         Drawing a sonic grenade out of the saddlebag, Garamonde turned it over in his hand and shrugged. "It's just a superstition."
         "I'm not so sure about that…"
         He shot her a glance; his expression seemed to be heavy with concern. "What do you mean?"
         Elena wanted to say something about Tseng, but wasn't sure where to start. "Well, the previous leader of the Turks… he…"
         Nodding solemnly, Garamonde replied, "I heard. Listen Elena. I know what you're thinking, but what happened to Yoshiro isn't your fault. Unfortunately, these are deadly times we live in."
         These words struck her as very true, yet even so, death still seemed like such an unusual occurrence in her life. Steering the conversation in a slightly different direction, she asked, "How did the whole thing about 'fourth Turks' come about?"
         "I'm really not sure. The Turks are sort of like a cult, in a way—steeped in all kinds of little traditions and beliefs. You shouldn't take any of it too seriously. Well, with maybe one or two exceptions."
         "Like what? The initiation ceremony?"
         "Yeah, that's definitely one. By the way, is it true that your scars are on the small of your back?"
         Recalling the time Reno had asked to see her scars, Elena irritably retorted, "What about it?"
         Garamonde smiled warmly, and tossed the grenade into the air a few times. "Mine are in the same place. Ironic, huh?"
         "Yeah…"
         "Anyway, have you seen Meteor yet? You haven't left Midgar since before it was summoned, right? I'm sure all this cloud cover has blocked your view of it."
         "Nope, haven't seen it," Elena replied, peeling herself away from the guardrail to come up beside Garamonde. "Actually, I'm not sure I want to."
         He laughed, catching Elena off guard, then replied, "I understand. No one wants to stare death in the eye. Still, I think you should see it. There's no point in living the rest of your life in ignorance, and you'll only be caught unprepared if you don't know anything about what may destroy you. Yoshiro worked directly under Sephiroth during the war. He knew damn well what he was getting into when he took the mission that sealed his fate, which is another reason why you shouldn't feel guilty." He pulled the pin from the grenade and tossed it high into the air, then gripped his bat with both hands.
         "Garamonde, what—"
         "This is for your own good, kid. You're a Turk now, damn you; death's just another on-the-job hazard."
         The grenade sailed back down to the highway, but not before Garamonde let loose a powerful upward swing which struck the projectile, sending it higher than anyone could ever throw. Elena stared at the grenade until it vanished from sight. A few seconds later, a loud boom sounded, and the clouds parted from the spot where the grenade had gone. Past them, a few stars twinkled faintly, straining to upstage Midgar's bright artificial lights. Also present in that hole in the clouds were two large round objects. The first one Elena recognized as the moon, but the second was new to her. It was slightly smaller than the moon, and its edges glowed a faint orange-red. Breathless, with her eyes fixed on the Meteor, she subconsciously began backing away, only to bump into Garamonde. He laid a hand on her shoulder.
         "You… you still have a really great swing," she murmured.
         "I still practice every now and then—at least, when this piece of junk isn't acting up," Garamonde replied, tapping his lower left leg with the end of the bat, which caused a metallic clang to ring in the calm night air. "What about you? Still into the game?"
         "I haven't played in over a year, and ever since I joined the Turks, I haven't had time to even think about it."
         Garamonde encircled his arms across her shoulders. "I bet. The Shinra's probably going to be working you guys even harder now with that Meteor headed towards us."
         "Do you think somebody will come up with a way to stop it?"
         "I don't know, but I hope someone does. Just know this: right now, the Company is in the best position to be that someone."
         They said nothing else after that, and just watched as the clouds swirled back into place, blanketing the sky once again.

*****

         Rufus folded his hands to rest on top of the oblong table in the small, cramped conference room within Junon's central tower. This space, one level higher than the war room, hadn't been used since the Wutai War, and the musty smell that permeated the air was evidence of that. Before him, his executives had all been gathered—save for Hojo, who was technically no longer a Shinra employee anyway. Scattered over the table's surface were copies of the previous morning's reports, along with notepads, local newspapers, laptops, and several cups of coffee. They had all been there for two hours already, and the stifling atmosphere of the room—courtesy of the dodgy air conditioning—was obviously getting to them all. As Rufus tugged at his turtleneck collar, he glanced around the table at the others: Reeve with his tie and top shirt button undone, Scarlet fanning herself with a smuggled copy of the Fort Condor Independent, Heidegger and the recently-arrived Palmer sweating profusely.
         "Gentlemen, and Scarlet," Rufus started, "we have been here longer than any of us ever intended to be. We need to clear our minds and come up with a viable solution to our current crisis."
         "Easier said than done," grumbled Heidegger. "We've never dealt with a problem of this magnitude before."
         "That's why I called all of you together!" Rufus barked. " I gave you all a whole day yesterday to brainstorm with your departments' staffs! I know it's not much, but time is of the essence! Can't we at least come up with solutions that aren't completely beyond our reach?"
         "We're doing the best we can, sir," Scarlet replied through gritted teeth.
         "And that would be some ludicrous scheme to aim the mako cannon up into the sky? People, we must do better than this!"
         "Do we know if the Meteor can even be destroyed?" Reeve asked, idly rolling a blue materia between his fingers. "It was called forth by magic, after all."
         Heidegger asked, "Where are you going with this, Reeve? Are you saying that we can't stop it?"
         Reeve lowered his eyes and sighed. "Sephiroth summoned the damned thing. Perhaps if we could reach him…" He trailed off.
         "Do you think that by dealing with Sephiroth directly—that is, if we can even get to him—we can stop Meteor?" Palmer asked.
         "I'm not sure, but it might be worth a shot."
         "A shot…" Scarlet mused. Suddenly, she burst out laughing. "Kya ha ha! I have it! We'll use the mako cannon to destroy the barrier over the Northern Crater! That'll give us access to Sephiroth!"
         "Can we aim the cannon at the Northern Crater from here?" Rufus asked skeptically.
         "If not, we can simply move it to Midgar and shoot from there."
         "Midgar should have more than enough fuel to power the mako cannon, and it's closer to the target than Junon is," Reeve added, "but moving the cannon should be a last resort. Still, I must admit that the basic idea has some potential."
         Rufus nodded. It was indeed a worthy proposal, but there were no guarantees that such a plan would work. And even if it did, they still had Sephiroth himself to deal with and a Meteor to stop, not to mention less pressing matters to attend to, such as the stolen airship and their two remaining prisoners from AVALANCHE. No, they had to have more than one weapon in their arsenal; but even so, this idea that his executives had just come up with was a very promising start.
         "All right. Let's say that a shot from the cannon does penetrate the barrier. What about Sephiroth himself? Who—or what—should we send into the crater to dispose of him?"
         Heidegger replied, "Sending SOLDIERs would be risky. Sephiroth had always been the strongest among them."
         "What about the Turks?" Palmer asked.
         "After what happened to Tseng, who served as Sephiroth's assistant before becoming a Turk, I don't know if that's such a good idea." Heidegger turned to Rufus. "Perhaps Scarlet or even Hojo could come up with something."
         Scarlet smiled thinly. "It would be just as risky to send mecha down there as it would SOLDIERs, but I'll see what my staff and I can do. Mr. President?"
         Rufus pondered over all these possibilities, all this firepower at his disposal. Custom-made monsters sounded like an excellent option, but he didn't entirely trust Hojo, so he wasn't sure if was such a wise idea. Mecha and SOLDIERs were good alternatives, but they wouldn't be enough. As for the Turks…
         "I'd like to return to Palmer's suggestion for a moment," Rufus said. The gathered executives all focused on their President as he continued; "Do any of you remember who had the second-highest kill ratio, after Sephiroth, during the Wutai War?"
         Heidegger replied, "Reno, during the Battle of Leviathan, but that was a special case."
         "Yes, I know. After experimenting on himself, he transformed, and to the best of anyone's knowledge, he hasn't done so since." Rufus glanced around the room, lingering on Reeve for a moment; the Urban Dev Chairman had been silent for some time. Then, Reeve's eyes met Rufus', catching the latter off-guard; they were serious, businesslike.
         "So what you're saying, sir, is that Bahamut-ZERO might still be dormant within Reno."
         "Yes," Rufus replied. "He just may be the greatest weapon we have at our disposal."
         Heidegger leaned back in his chair. "That is, if he agrees to be used as one."
         Rufus nodded; that was going to be the tricky part. "We'll deal with that when the time comes. Let's take things one step at a time, shall we? Right now, our priority is to destroy—"
         At that moment, a deafening explosion thundered from outside, catching everyone in the conference room off-guard. Rufus bolted up from his chair and flung open the curtains. Outside the windows, which faced the Airport Path, he saw a gigantic beast with a dark purple exoskeleton and six limbs. It was standing in the middle of the path, while dozens of Shinra MPs and SOLDIERs scrambled at its feet, attacking it with bullets, swords, and magic, but to little effect. A large black scorch mark was on the asphalt in front of the beast.
         "Weapon," Rufus whispered under his breath. He whirled around to face the others, who were also on their feet and just as startled by this sudden attack as he was. Heidegger saluted.
         "Your orders, sir?"
         "Roll up the barricades, get more men and cannons out there, and take that thing out."
         "Yes sir!"
         Heidegger immediately left the room to find his subordinates, who were doubtless already on their way to see him. The remaining executives eyed Rufus questioningly.
         "As for the rest of you, make sure not to leave this building until all is clear. We'll schedule another meeting for tomorrow. Until then, you are all dismissed."
         Palmer and Scarlet left, but Reeve lingered by the door and asked, "Aren't you coming as well?"
         "I want to watch the battle from here."
         "Suit yourself," Reeve replied, before closing the door behind him.
         With the others gone, Rufus continued standing by the window, arms flat at his sides, watching his loyal troops fight off this latest threat. Yet even should they defeat this monster, he knew that it would be far from over; the airship's crew had counted five of these Weapons when they first emerged from the Northern Crater. Ever since he had returned from that trip, these planetary guardians had kept to themselves, staying out of sight, and up until now he wondered if it would stay that way. Yet with this attack, he realized that it was foolish to think that Hojo might've been wrong about these creatures as unfortunately, such was not the case. The Weapons were here to destroy everything, starting with Junon—but not if Rufus had anything to say about it.