Part 2: A Falling Star
"You said what happened at Cosmo Candle?" Marlene asked for what seemed the millionth time.
"I told you" her exasperated father said. "It flared up in this huge fireball and then disappeared."
They were at Marlene's office in the new building set up for the heads of the numerous departments of government. The walls were whitewashed and she had a plain desk with a little black laptop sitting on it. Besides that, there was her phone and a picture of her and Barret on a fishing trip.
"Pretty dull place you've got here." Reeve said. He had abandoned his Cait Sith form in light of these strange events. Reeve had been living a normal life. After the fall of Shinra he had nothing to do, so he took all his money and is now the co-owner of the Gold Saucer. (Go fig huh?)
"Well, when exactly did this happen?" Marlene said, completely ignoring Reeve.
"You know I don't wear a watch." Barret said, tired of the endless questions his daughter shot at him.
"It was approximately 6:15 P.M." RedXIII said matter of factly.
"How the hell do you know?" Barret asked "Some kind of animal sense or sumtin?"
"No I looked at the clock before we left." Red stated.
"Oh." Barret replied.
"Look Marlene," Cloud said, seeing that this was getting them nowhere fast. "can you give us any information about this?"
"Well..." Marlene said, racking her brain for clues. " I think there was a lifestream surge detected yesterday by the geology department of our underground energy sources division, about that time. But those happen all the time since Meteor hit."
"The best way to determine if it had anything to do with our little encounter is to find the exact location of the surge." Vincent stated with his usual coolness.
"Well, then it's settled" Tifa said, almost daring anyone to challenge her. "To the geology department!"
Everyone looked at her oddly.
"What?" she asked.
As they approached the alternate energy sources compound (one of the most highly funded divisions in the new government) they pondered what all of this could mean. Lifestream surges, the Cosmo Candle going out for the first time in hundreds of years, it was just too odd...
"Hey Sylvia," Marlene called out to one of the staff members, "I need the reports of yesterday's lifestream activity on my desk ASAP."
"Yes Ms. Wallace." she called back. She was staring at the strange group of people following her boss. They looked vaguely familiar...
As Marlene approached her office in the geological building, one of the other staff members called out. "Uh, ma'am, we've got some strange readings on the satellite feed. I think you should check them out."
"I'll be with you in a minute!" she called back.
As they proceeded into another one of her many offices, Cloud noticed some script rolling down the monitor of Marlene's computer.
"Ah, here we go." she said " Hmmmmmmm" she hummed. "Well, it seems that there was a huge lifestream surge directly under Cosmo Canyon at exactly 6:16:53. Looks like you need to adjust the clocks at Cosmo Canyon Red."
RedXIII merely grumbled.
"But whyyyyyyyyyy?" Yuffie said in a whiny voice, very much reminding them of the 16 year old thief they once knew.
"Be damned if I know why." Marlene replied "These readings are off the charts."
The man with the satellite info opened the door. "Uh, sir the satellite feeds..."
"Be out in a minute!" she replied without looking up from the computer.
"Thanks for checking, Marlene." Cloud told her. "I guess we'll still have to do our own investigation."
"Sorry, I can't be of any more help right now, guys." she replied.
"It's okay kid." Cid reassured her "Hey, are there any chairs around here?"
"Here, use mine." she offered. "I've got some business to take care of."
"Thanks kid." Cid replied, while sinking in to the oversized leather executive chair. "I tell ya Barret, your kid sure knows how to live."
"We should be worrying about the disturbance in the lifestream guys." Cloud said bringing them back to the subject. "I sure hope Sephiroth still isn't al..."
He was interrupted by an incredibly loud "WHAT?!!!!"
"That was Marlene!" Barret said stating the obvious.
They all rushed out the door, except for Cid who was still reluctant to get out of the chair.
"What happened?" Reeve asked, since he was the first one out the door.
"Yeah, what's all the hullabaloo?" Cid asked, he had just strolled up to the group.
"Hullabaloo?" Vincent asked, with an odd look on his face.
"Our satellites have picked up something big, REAL big." Marlene said with a little stress in her voice.
"Wait, wait, wait," Cloud said. "What do you guys use satellites for?"
"To detect possible mining sites on asteroids, and possibly another meteor." she said in a grim tone of voice.
"Do ya think it's another meteor?" Barret asked her, with a tone that said: "Oh, dear god it better not be!"
"No," the assistant who had been so persistant in trying to show her the findings said. "First of all, it's only about one quarter the size of meteor. And second..."
"Second?" Tifa said, dreading whatever the second might be.
"...It's sending us signals." he finished.
Everyone just stood there, silent, for several several heartbeats. The staff was listening in on their conversation after their boss had yelled so loudly. They were equally silent.
It was Marlene who finally permeated the silence. "Strangely enough..." she paused to see if anyone had anything to say. "It isn't on a direct course to the planet, like meteor was. It will intercept us at the planet's vernal equinox. That is, if it keeps it's course and heading."
Cid finally found his voice. "So what're we going to do about it?"
"I don't know." Marlene said "It has yet to be determined if it is a manned or unmanned craft. Or, it could be nothing at all."
"Yeah, maybe it's nothing." Barret said hopefully.
"Doubtfully," the assistant said. " There are three large thrusts at the back end of the craft displayed here."
He proceeded to show them a display of the craft on the computer.
"I know it's very blurry," he said, "but you can make out three large structures on the craft, as seen here."
They saw the "structures" as he put it. The center one had a sort of a neck towards the front, with a stretched out, oval-looking head in the front. The other two were rectangular, but it looked like someone had cut out a large semicircle in the back of each of them. All-in-all it was a very strange looking craft.
"Now, I'll overlay it with infrared." he stated.
Then they saw three huge red dots. Two large ones to the side and a larger one in the middle.
"You were right." Cloud said, but there was no doubt anyway.
"Now that we've determined that," Marlene said "we have to establish if they're friendly or hostile."
"Well they wouldn't fly all this way just to pick a fight would they?" her father asked hopefully.
"Who knows?" she replied. "But one thing's for certain, we can't have people knowing about this. A panic is the last thing we need. I'll report this to the president and he'll take the necessary precautions."
"When did you say this thing was going to hit?" RedXIII asked.
"As far as our scanners can tell," the assistant said, "one month, sixteen days, two hours..."
"A month and a half will do just fine." Vincent told him.
"Oh, and guys..." Marlene said as they were walking out the door.
"Yeah?" her dad replied.
"Get your weapons ready and... stay frosty." she said, giving them both a very serious look and a grin.
"What was that all about?" Reeve asked.
"I dunno." Barret said.
At the president's office
"Sir?" the secretary asked.
"I'm busy." the president replied. He was chatting with Lord Godo about Wutai coming under the juristicion of the new government. It was very stressful to have only one city resist like this...
"It's Marlene Wallace," she said. "The head of the alternate resources department. She says it's urgent."
"Tell her to wait a little while longer." He said, almost completely missing the tone in her voice that said, "you'd better see her NOW!"
But, getting the hint, he shook Godo's hand and bid him good day.
"Bring her right in." he said.
"Hello Ms. Wallace, how are you today?" He said in his most PC voice.
"Sir," she replied in a gruff voice "we're going to have to skip the pleasantries. I have some very bad news..."
At Rocket Town
"Hi darlings!" Tifa said to greet her children. They had been staying at Cid's place with Shera while the former members of AVALANCHE were investigating the disturbance at Cosmo Candle.
"Mommy!" they both called out in unison.
"How's my favorite little girl!" Cid called out to his daughter.
"Hi daddy! I drew you a picture." She showed him a crudely drawn picture of him holding his foot. There was a cigarette in his mouth and a monkey wrench on the ground. And above him was a word bubble displaying one simple word... DAMN!
"Cid..." Shera's threatening voice could be heard.
"Yes sweetie..." he said in a desperate voice.
"We need to have a talk... now." Right now was one of the times when you absolutely did not contradict that voice.
"Looks like trouble in paradise." Reeve said mockingly.
Back at the Presidents office
"So that's all of it." Marlene finished.
"You're absolutely sure?" the president said.
"Absolutely." she echoed.
"Then, what're we going to do if they're hostile?" The president said, racking his brains for ideas.
"I don't know." she said. "AVALANCHE is willing to fight, but they're only eight against what could be an army of thousands."
"Then, we're left with only one choice." he said with a sigh. " I hoped I'd never have to do this, but we're left with no other alternatives."
"You mean..." Marlene said.
"Yes, I'm initiating emergency plan Delta 7. The reinstallation of the Shinra army under the authority of marshal law. And the reactivation of..." he trailed off.
"...Special Forces Unit: TURKS." Marlene finished for him.
"The SOLDIER group will also be reactivated, and put under direct control of the Turks." he continued."I thought it would never come to this." he said with a sigh.
"You know... AVALANCHE isn't going to like this." Marlene warned him.
"They'll just have to deal with it." he said. "It's necessary to the survival of our species, and the planet for that matter."
"That's only if they're hostile." Marlene reminded him.
"Well, I'm not taking any chances." he said, with a tone of finality in his voice.
"I'll get back to work and collect whatever data I can on that ship." she told him.
"Good, good..." he said. He then pressed the intercom button on his desk. "Sherry?" he asked.
"Sir?" she replied.
"Get some coffee. We're going to be working late tonight." he said with another sigh.
"Yes, sir." she replied with a sigh of her own.
Part 3: An Enemy Resurrected
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