Override
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII (AU)
Title: Override
Rating: R
All Chapters found here
The file was a small, silver disk no bigger than the width of Rufus' palm. He popped it into the projector and the lights dimmed instantly, a holograph flickering to life. It was a more or less a miniature 3-D blueprint of a building with a blinking green dot sitting in the top right portion of it. "This is the blueprint of the government research labs down in Junon. Three years ago my people," Rufus nodded at Tseng, "discovered something very interesting that was kept in there." He clicked the next button and the hologram panned in from its bird's eye view to zoom in on the green dot, hallways and doors appearing like ghosts as the building was entered.
"It seems our 'esteemed' government has managed to get their hands on a surviving robot from the Last War. If you go there you may be able to get some information either from the whatever notes the scientists have taken down or from the robot directly. Tseng will brief you on the building layout and such," Rufus concluded, standing up and smoothing out his suit before exiting the room.
"Security in this building is beyond lax," Tseng said, bringing up a larger image of the building on screen. "At one point this was probably a war bunker during the Last War which means there are more than a few hidden entrance ways and exits. The government managed to locate and block off most of them, but we've discovered one located on the south side of the facility. Its entrance is about five miles into the forest surrounding it, which is probably why it was never discovered. That tunnel will lead you from the forest to the back of the building, bypassing the wall they have surrounding it. There's also really only one giant long range shooter cannon as a defense weapon, also probably left over from the war. It's good for fending off large scale invasions but totally useless for stealth operations like yours."
"Huh," Reno tilted his head, studying the holograms, "that's awfully convenient."
Powering off the projector, Tseng took the disk back out, handing it to Reno. "That's about as convenient as it's going to get for you. This disk also contains the guards rotation shifts. Everything else is up to you."
"Great," Yuffie threw up her hands in exasperation, "and that's gonna get us so~ far," she said sarcastically.
"It'll get us far enough," Reno grinned, snapping up the disk with one hand and shoving his goggles, which had been slipping, further back with the other. "Ok, let's go! I have to stop by my place to pick up a few tools of the trade, but after that we can head on outta here, yo!"
Cloud shook his head, "We have to stop by the stables to pick up our chocobos and go back to Cid's first. Yuffie and I have to let Cid know what's going on. We can drop Sephiroth off there as well."
"I'm afraid I'll have to protest against that," Sephiroth interjected. "I am significantly faster than any of you, my body capabilities are of a higher degree, and I can run through calculations much more thoroughly and accurately than the human mind can."
Yuffie laughed, "I think that's his way of saying that he's smarter than all of us. That, and he's Superman. Hah! Super Seph!" She jumped into a pose, one fist on her hip and the other punching the air above her.
Sephiroth blinked, "I was merely stating a fact; if I have offended you be assured that was not my intention."
Cloud sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "No one is offended, Sephiroth, especially if what you've said proves too true for some of us," he glared at Yuffie and Reno, who had joined the girl in her ridiculous poses. "Come on, let's leave these two idiots behind." He grabbed Sephiroth by the hand and started out the door, trading similar looks of long suffering with Tseng as he passed by the TURK.
"Hey wait! Wait for us!"
_*_
After a quick stop at Reno's, the group headed towards the northern gate where the chocobo stables were located. "You're going to have to rent your own chocobo, Reno," Cloud told the red head. "We only brought three and you'll need a chocobo to cross the Wasteland." He was referring to the area that immediately surrounded Midgar.
While Midgar was an impressive city, it stood in the center of an even more impressive crater. The crater however, was barren of all life forms, centuries of pollution leaked from the city killing off everything and turning the dirt black. Most people never left the city, seeing as how it was one of the last few strongholds of civilization standing, but those that did soon learned that chocobos were the only things that could cross the crater. Vehicles such as hovercrafts could attempt but they simply weren't built to cross over such rough terrain since roads were never successfully built through the crater. Chocobos, however, could cross basically any terrain, depending on the breed. They were the fastest animals on the planet and didn't require any fuel besides the greens they ate.
"And how is he going to cross?" Reno asked, tilting his head in Sephiroth's direction, the AI's distinctive hair hidden beneath a hooded black cloak.
"Oh we brought three chocobos!" Yuffie answered. "Needed to bring the box he was in here somehow, and since it was just one thing we didn't bother hooking up a craft."
"Oh, so they brought him a chocobo, but not me. And who's gonna be paying for my chocobo, certainly not Rufus that cheap bastard. No~ it's gonna be me, yo," Reno grumbled, shoving his hands into his pockets and kicking a stray stone viciously.
"Hey Bill!" Yuffie called out cheerfully, interrupting Reno's little rant.
"Why 'ello there, Yuffie. Them birds yous brought this time sure are fine. I ain't never seen a gold one before! Had ta kick Billy more'en a few times to get 'im ta stop gapin." Bill was a short middle aged man with a heavy accent but cheerful disposition.
"You got a gold!?!" Reno rounded on Cloud, eyes wide with disbelief. "How the hell did you manage that!?!"
"Lots of breeding and a little luck," Cloud responded with pride.
"Do you have any idea how much a gold is worth!?! Rufus wouldn't hesitate to pay you an insane amount of money for it!"
"Nebele isn't up for sale," Cloud said firmly. "Besides, I doubt she'd let anyone but me ride her. Last time Cid even got within reaching distance she clawed him. I think he still has the scars from that."
"He does." Yuffie nodded, eyes twinkling. "You should have heard him, could have cursed up a sandstorm that time."
"Why does it matter if this chocobo is gold or not?" Sephiroth asked, his voice muffled by his cloak.
"Why gold 'ere are the rarest of them birds. Can travel anywhere, they can. Fastest of the lot too," Bill explained. "That and they're jus' darn pretty, they are. Feathers look like they're made o' real gold!" They entered the stable and were greeted by a young boy, obviously the son of Bill by the looks of it. "Show 'em to their chocobos Billy, they're the ones that came wi' the gold."
"Actually," Reno held up his hand, "I'm here to rent one."
"Ah!" Bill's eyes lit up. "Follow me then an' I'll get'cha set up!"
_*_
"Hey girl," Cloud crooned as he stepped into the stall. "Have they been taking good care of you?" He reached out to run a hand through Nebele's golden crest and ran the other across her backside, smoothing out the feathers.
"Wark!" Nebele replied, butting her head against Cloud's shoulder. "Wark!" Nebele cried again, rubbing her head along the underside of Cloud's jaw insistently.
Cloud laughed and obediently reached over to scratch right behind her crest. "You like that, don't you, girl? Well we're about to get going and I have a favor to ask, all right?"
"Wark!" Nebele looked at Cloud as if to say, 'Go on.'
"That's my girl," Cloud patted Nebele's wing fondly. "I know you love to run, but we're going to have to slow down a bit today. There are a few new riders and none of the other chocobos would be able to keep up with you anyhow." Nebele practically preened under the praise, warking happily. Cloud laughed and held out a handful of greens for her to munch on as he got the saddle and the rest of the riding gear settled.
"Cloud, I know you love your bird and all, but we should probably head out before the sun sets!" Yuffie's voice drifted into the stall.
"I'm almost ready!" Cloud called back as he finished clinching the last belt. Putting a foot in a stirrup, he easily hoisted himself up, swinging a leg over Nebele's back and settling in comfortably. Leaning over, Cloud undid the latch on the stall gate and nudged Nebele into a slow walk.
Yuffie was sitting on her own blue, aptly named Aoi from her native language. Next to her, Sephiroth looks a bit uncomfortable on his green chocobo, sitting a little too stiffly. "I told Seph he could name his since we never gave one," Yuffie said, indicating the young chocobo underneath the AI.
"I don't understand this whole naming process," Sephiroth admitted, looking at Cloud for help. "My...kind have always been the named, we were never programmed to give names."
"Why not?" Yuffie asked, pouting.
"I do not know," Sephiroth said apologetically.
'Probably because that would breed independence,' Cloud thought. Out loud he said, "Well you were programmed to learn, weren't you?" At Sephiroth's nod Cloud continued, "So you can learn how to name your chocobo."
"And how would I go about doing that?"
"Most people go by the characteristics of whatever they're going to name," Cloud explained. "Physical things such as color or size can be used, personality traits too. Usually it's something that's unique to whatever's going to be named."
Sephiroth peered down at the chocobo and was silent for a moment before saying softly, "Bercilak."
"Bercilak?" Both Cloud and Yuffie echoed.
Sephiroth nodded. "Yes, Bercilak. Bercilack was the Green Knight in Arthurian legend who tested knights on their chivalry-"
"Ah, very nice!" Yuffie cheered.
"-he could also replace his head if it was severed," Sephiroth continued, as if there had been no interruption at all.
"...err..." Yuffie trailed off, giving Sephiroth a strange look.
Cloud would have commented as well, if it weren't for the sudden "WARK!" at the far end of the stable followed by a similar "FUCK!"
As one, the group turned to see Reno atop a fire red chocobo, funnily enough, vainly trying to grasp at the reins as it barreled down the aisle. "Stay still you fucking bird!" The TURK was shouting in vain. He would have barreled right past them if Cloud hadn't nudged Nebele into the rough chocobo's path. She gave the red the chocobo equivalent of a glare, raising one of her taloned feed threateningly.
The chocobo, a young male as well, skidded to a stop, lowering his head and looking up at the gold female sheepishly. Nebele gave a wark as if to say 'Behave.'
"Stupid fucking bird!" Reno muttered angrily, shoving his goggles back yet again. Straightening himself up in his saddle he barked out, "What!?!" while glaring at the laughing group in front of him. Even Sephiroth had managed to quirk a smile.
"I'm so sorry, sir," Bill ran up, panting. "Don't know wut's got inta 'im. He's young 'an all but usually never this fiesty."
Cloud laughed, "It's probably Reno, he tends to rub people the wrong way, birds too, from the looks of it."
"Whatever," Reno growled. "Let's go. The sooner we go the sooner I can get off this blasted bird." As if he could understand his rider, Reno's chocobo gave an angry wark and rolled an eye back to glare at Reno.
"Yes, well first of all, how much do we owe you?" Cloud asked Bill.
"Lesse, 500 gil fo' each stall an' 200 gill fo' greens each so that comes out ta 2100 gil," Bill calculated quickly.
After paying Bill, Cloud led the group out of the stables, taking care to keep Nebele walking at a slow pace as to give Sephiroth time to get used to riding a chocobo. Reno wasn't having much luck with his red, the chocobo prancing around all over the place impatiently. Finally, Nebele seemed to loose her cool and struck out, lightening fast, to peck at the red viciously. With an outraged squawk, Reno's chocobo danced to the side just in time to prevent Nebele from drawing blood, but not fast enough to keep her from tearing a few feathers out. Following that, the red seemed to settle down and kept a healty distance from the irritated gold.
Title: Override
Rating: R
All Chapters found here
The file was a small, silver disk no bigger than the width of Rufus' palm. He popped it into the projector and the lights dimmed instantly, a holograph flickering to life. It was a more or less a miniature 3-D blueprint of a building with a blinking green dot sitting in the top right portion of it. "This is the blueprint of the government research labs down in Junon. Three years ago my people," Rufus nodded at Tseng, "discovered something very interesting that was kept in there." He clicked the next button and the hologram panned in from its bird's eye view to zoom in on the green dot, hallways and doors appearing like ghosts as the building was entered.
"It seems our 'esteemed' government has managed to get their hands on a surviving robot from the Last War. If you go there you may be able to get some information either from the whatever notes the scientists have taken down or from the robot directly. Tseng will brief you on the building layout and such," Rufus concluded, standing up and smoothing out his suit before exiting the room.
"Security in this building is beyond lax," Tseng said, bringing up a larger image of the building on screen. "At one point this was probably a war bunker during the Last War which means there are more than a few hidden entrance ways and exits. The government managed to locate and block off most of them, but we've discovered one located on the south side of the facility. Its entrance is about five miles into the forest surrounding it, which is probably why it was never discovered. That tunnel will lead you from the forest to the back of the building, bypassing the wall they have surrounding it. There's also really only one giant long range shooter cannon as a defense weapon, also probably left over from the war. It's good for fending off large scale invasions but totally useless for stealth operations like yours."
"Huh," Reno tilted his head, studying the holograms, "that's awfully convenient."
Powering off the projector, Tseng took the disk back out, handing it to Reno. "That's about as convenient as it's going to get for you. This disk also contains the guards rotation shifts. Everything else is up to you."
"Great," Yuffie threw up her hands in exasperation, "and that's gonna get us so~ far," she said sarcastically.
"It'll get us far enough," Reno grinned, snapping up the disk with one hand and shoving his goggles, which had been slipping, further back with the other. "Ok, let's go! I have to stop by my place to pick up a few tools of the trade, but after that we can head on outta here, yo!"
Cloud shook his head, "We have to stop by the stables to pick up our chocobos and go back to Cid's first. Yuffie and I have to let Cid know what's going on. We can drop Sephiroth off there as well."
"I'm afraid I'll have to protest against that," Sephiroth interjected. "I am significantly faster than any of you, my body capabilities are of a higher degree, and I can run through calculations much more thoroughly and accurately than the human mind can."
Yuffie laughed, "I think that's his way of saying that he's smarter than all of us. That, and he's Superman. Hah! Super Seph!" She jumped into a pose, one fist on her hip and the other punching the air above her.
Sephiroth blinked, "I was merely stating a fact; if I have offended you be assured that was not my intention."
Cloud sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "No one is offended, Sephiroth, especially if what you've said proves too true for some of us," he glared at Yuffie and Reno, who had joined the girl in her ridiculous poses. "Come on, let's leave these two idiots behind." He grabbed Sephiroth by the hand and started out the door, trading similar looks of long suffering with Tseng as he passed by the TURK.
"Hey wait! Wait for us!"
_*_
After a quick stop at Reno's, the group headed towards the northern gate where the chocobo stables were located. "You're going to have to rent your own chocobo, Reno," Cloud told the red head. "We only brought three and you'll need a chocobo to cross the Wasteland." He was referring to the area that immediately surrounded Midgar.
While Midgar was an impressive city, it stood in the center of an even more impressive crater. The crater however, was barren of all life forms, centuries of pollution leaked from the city killing off everything and turning the dirt black. Most people never left the city, seeing as how it was one of the last few strongholds of civilization standing, but those that did soon learned that chocobos were the only things that could cross the crater. Vehicles such as hovercrafts could attempt but they simply weren't built to cross over such rough terrain since roads were never successfully built through the crater. Chocobos, however, could cross basically any terrain, depending on the breed. They were the fastest animals on the planet and didn't require any fuel besides the greens they ate.
"And how is he going to cross?" Reno asked, tilting his head in Sephiroth's direction, the AI's distinctive hair hidden beneath a hooded black cloak.
"Oh we brought three chocobos!" Yuffie answered. "Needed to bring the box he was in here somehow, and since it was just one thing we didn't bother hooking up a craft."
"Oh, so they brought him a chocobo, but not me. And who's gonna be paying for my chocobo, certainly not Rufus that cheap bastard. No~ it's gonna be me, yo," Reno grumbled, shoving his hands into his pockets and kicking a stray stone viciously.
"Hey Bill!" Yuffie called out cheerfully, interrupting Reno's little rant.
"Why 'ello there, Yuffie. Them birds yous brought this time sure are fine. I ain't never seen a gold one before! Had ta kick Billy more'en a few times to get 'im ta stop gapin." Bill was a short middle aged man with a heavy accent but cheerful disposition.
"You got a gold!?!" Reno rounded on Cloud, eyes wide with disbelief. "How the hell did you manage that!?!"
"Lots of breeding and a little luck," Cloud responded with pride.
"Do you have any idea how much a gold is worth!?! Rufus wouldn't hesitate to pay you an insane amount of money for it!"
"Nebele isn't up for sale," Cloud said firmly. "Besides, I doubt she'd let anyone but me ride her. Last time Cid even got within reaching distance she clawed him. I think he still has the scars from that."
"He does." Yuffie nodded, eyes twinkling. "You should have heard him, could have cursed up a sandstorm that time."
"Why does it matter if this chocobo is gold or not?" Sephiroth asked, his voice muffled by his cloak.
"Why gold 'ere are the rarest of them birds. Can travel anywhere, they can. Fastest of the lot too," Bill explained. "That and they're jus' darn pretty, they are. Feathers look like they're made o' real gold!" They entered the stable and were greeted by a young boy, obviously the son of Bill by the looks of it. "Show 'em to their chocobos Billy, they're the ones that came wi' the gold."
"Actually," Reno held up his hand, "I'm here to rent one."
"Ah!" Bill's eyes lit up. "Follow me then an' I'll get'cha set up!"
_*_
"Hey girl," Cloud crooned as he stepped into the stall. "Have they been taking good care of you?" He reached out to run a hand through Nebele's golden crest and ran the other across her backside, smoothing out the feathers.
"Wark!" Nebele replied, butting her head against Cloud's shoulder. "Wark!" Nebele cried again, rubbing her head along the underside of Cloud's jaw insistently.
Cloud laughed and obediently reached over to scratch right behind her crest. "You like that, don't you, girl? Well we're about to get going and I have a favor to ask, all right?"
"Wark!" Nebele looked at Cloud as if to say, 'Go on.'
"That's my girl," Cloud patted Nebele's wing fondly. "I know you love to run, but we're going to have to slow down a bit today. There are a few new riders and none of the other chocobos would be able to keep up with you anyhow." Nebele practically preened under the praise, warking happily. Cloud laughed and held out a handful of greens for her to munch on as he got the saddle and the rest of the riding gear settled.
"Cloud, I know you love your bird and all, but we should probably head out before the sun sets!" Yuffie's voice drifted into the stall.
"I'm almost ready!" Cloud called back as he finished clinching the last belt. Putting a foot in a stirrup, he easily hoisted himself up, swinging a leg over Nebele's back and settling in comfortably. Leaning over, Cloud undid the latch on the stall gate and nudged Nebele into a slow walk.
Yuffie was sitting on her own blue, aptly named Aoi from her native language. Next to her, Sephiroth looks a bit uncomfortable on his green chocobo, sitting a little too stiffly. "I told Seph he could name his since we never gave one," Yuffie said, indicating the young chocobo underneath the AI.
"I don't understand this whole naming process," Sephiroth admitted, looking at Cloud for help. "My...kind have always been the named, we were never programmed to give names."
"Why not?" Yuffie asked, pouting.
"I do not know," Sephiroth said apologetically.
'Probably because that would breed independence,' Cloud thought. Out loud he said, "Well you were programmed to learn, weren't you?" At Sephiroth's nod Cloud continued, "So you can learn how to name your chocobo."
"And how would I go about doing that?"
"Most people go by the characteristics of whatever they're going to name," Cloud explained. "Physical things such as color or size can be used, personality traits too. Usually it's something that's unique to whatever's going to be named."
Sephiroth peered down at the chocobo and was silent for a moment before saying softly, "Bercilak."
"Bercilak?" Both Cloud and Yuffie echoed.
Sephiroth nodded. "Yes, Bercilak. Bercilack was the Green Knight in Arthurian legend who tested knights on their chivalry-"
"Ah, very nice!" Yuffie cheered.
"-he could also replace his head if it was severed," Sephiroth continued, as if there had been no interruption at all.
"...err..." Yuffie trailed off, giving Sephiroth a strange look.
Cloud would have commented as well, if it weren't for the sudden "WARK!" at the far end of the stable followed by a similar "FUCK!"
As one, the group turned to see Reno atop a fire red chocobo, funnily enough, vainly trying to grasp at the reins as it barreled down the aisle. "Stay still you fucking bird!" The TURK was shouting in vain. He would have barreled right past them if Cloud hadn't nudged Nebele into the rough chocobo's path. She gave the red the chocobo equivalent of a glare, raising one of her taloned feed threateningly.
The chocobo, a young male as well, skidded to a stop, lowering his head and looking up at the gold female sheepishly. Nebele gave a wark as if to say 'Behave.'
"Stupid fucking bird!" Reno muttered angrily, shoving his goggles back yet again. Straightening himself up in his saddle he barked out, "What!?!" while glaring at the laughing group in front of him. Even Sephiroth had managed to quirk a smile.
"I'm so sorry, sir," Bill ran up, panting. "Don't know wut's got inta 'im. He's young 'an all but usually never this fiesty."
Cloud laughed, "It's probably Reno, he tends to rub people the wrong way, birds too, from the looks of it."
"Whatever," Reno growled. "Let's go. The sooner we go the sooner I can get off this blasted bird." As if he could understand his rider, Reno's chocobo gave an angry wark and rolled an eye back to glare at Reno.
"Yes, well first of all, how much do we owe you?" Cloud asked Bill.
"Lesse, 500 gil fo' each stall an' 200 gill fo' greens each so that comes out ta 2100 gil," Bill calculated quickly.
After paying Bill, Cloud led the group out of the stables, taking care to keep Nebele walking at a slow pace as to give Sephiroth time to get used to riding a chocobo. Reno wasn't having much luck with his red, the chocobo prancing around all over the place impatiently. Finally, Nebele seemed to loose her cool and struck out, lightening fast, to peck at the red viciously. With an outraged squawk, Reno's chocobo danced to the side just in time to prevent Nebele from drawing blood, but not fast enough to keep her from tearing a few feathers out. Following that, the red seemed to settle down and kept a healty distance from the irritated gold.