Switched

To Look Beyond

Chapter 15

Once they were all back in the 'war room', as Reeve had started to dub it, he had Sephiroth go over the conversation in its entirety, so everyone would have a better understanding of what happened. Not even all the team that had been fighting had heard everything as most of them spent a good part of the fight grounded.

When Cloud heard the part of the conversation that was ended when he interrupted, he began to understand what the conversation between Vincent and Sephiroth had been about. That knowledge didn't serve any purpose other than to infuriate Cloud, causing him to give Vincent a heated glare. Logically, he knew he couldn't fault Vincent. That didn't stop him from feeling a certain amount of wariness creep in. he couldn't help but wonder if this would interfere with Vincent's ability to remain objective.

The glare did not go unnoticed by Vincent. He had a good idea what the blonde was glaring for too. He shook his head as he realized this might become a bigger problem than he had expected. He knew he would have to speak to Cloud at least. No matter his personal feelings on the issue he knew they would have to push this all aside for the time being. None of them could afford to have their attention split with the enemy they faced.

After the conversation was dissected in as many ways as the group's tired minds could process, Reeve turned back to the small monitor under the big screen. He typed a few things in before turning back to the group with a stern look. "I had the team at the observatory work with my team here to set up a direct link to their images. We now have a live feed of what is going on off planet." He turned to type a few more things before a split image was brought up. "The image on the right is the vessel that we encountered. It looks as if it has established an orbit around Gaia for now. The other image is another vessel that broke from the main ship shortly after the first one reached orbit."

He looked around at all the grim faces before continuing, "We have both vessels under constant observation. For now, the one in orbit has made no other moves. We have less than a day before the second ship reaches Gaia, so I would suggest that we all take a few hours to rest. If we are going to be faced with a group of aliens like the one that is in orbit, we will need to be in better shape than we are now. The rest of our team should be arriving sometime around midmorning. We can reconvene at that time to discuss what preparations need to be made to face whatever is coming."

The group that stood at Reeve's suggestion was a subdued one. No one said very much as they moved to leave. Reeve stopped Cloud and Tifa before they could follow the others out. "Cloud, I wanted to ask if you and Tifa could stay here? We may need to move quickly, and it would be best if we could all be together."

It was Tifa that answered, "The kids were sent to Kalm. Elmyra is watching them for now, so it shouldn't be a problem."

"Thank you. I have already asked Cid to stay. I have been sleeping in one of the dorms since this started and he will be staying with me. I will have one of the others set up for you both to share," Reeve motioned to one of the guards to give them instructions before turning back to them. "If you would follow Peter, he can take you."

They both turned to follow the guard Reeve had indicated but Tifa turned back once more. "Oh, I almost forgot. We sent Shelke to stay with Elmyra as well, but she seemed like she was thinking about trying to join us. I tried to explain to her that it might be best for her to stay with Marlene and Denzel with Sephiroth being here, but she could very well try to come to Edge on her own anyway. You may want to send someone for her. I doubt she will stay with Elmyra for long."

Reeve gave her a contemplative look before speaking, "That might be for the best anyway. If the alien can sense Jenova cells, then she won't be safe alone. I will send someone to pick her up right now."