Wedge 1: Lifestream By
Chris
Mikesell
(No Summary as of yet)
Chapter 1: The Death of Wedge
Chapter 2: Guardians of the
Lifestream
Chapter 3: Lone Wolf’s Tomorrow
Wedge 1: Lifestream By Chris Mikesell
Chapter 1: The Death of Wedge
“Listen up all you screwups!” Wedge sat up and paid attention to Barret’s
ranting. “We’ve just received word of Shinra activity in Sector 7!”
“What?” Wedge didn’t like this. “Why are they here? There’s nothing
to get here; Sector 7 is just a bunch of slums.”
“You moron!” Barret boomed. He could be very intimidating when he was
angry. It was impossible to ignore because of his sheer size and the gatling
gun grafted onto his right arm. “They’re probably onto us! If they are
here in Sector 7, they will probably show up at our door sooner or later.”
“Hold on, Barret,” called a strong, but feminine voice. “I don’t think
that they’re looking for us. Look at these readings.” She took Barret to
the monitor, and called up a map of Midgar. “See, we’re here,” she said,
pointing at a small green square that represented the bar. “These red dots
are Shinra MPs, and the bigger red circles are supposedly Turk forces,
we’re not sure.” At least forty red blips were on the move in a large group.
“Turks?!” Barret muttered curses to himself; the Turks were not good
news. If Shinra was sending their elite agents to a quiet slum under the
rotting pizza of Upper Midgar, they wanted something. “Where are they headed,
Jessie?”
“From this, it looks like they’re headed toward the Sector 7 support
pillar.”
“And from the number of troops they’re sending,” added Wedge, “it doesn’t
look like they’re here to do routine repairs.” Wedge realized what was
going on, almost suddenly after he said it. “They know where we are!”
“What?!” Barret was surprised by this. “What are you talking about,
Wedge? If Shinra knew where we were, they could have stormed us by now.”
“They don’t need to know our exact location! They already know what
sector our base is in because we bungled our fake IDs during the last mission!”
“Crap!! They traced our tickets!”
“Exactly! And now, instead of searching the whole sector...” The map
on the monitor showed the red cloud heading toward the center of the city.
“...they’re going to drop the plate!”
“The whole plate?!” shouted Jessie. “How?”
“By destroying that pillar! We have to stop them!” Wedge ran behind
the counter to get his pack, but almost stepped on a little girl crying
there.
“Uncle Wedge, I’m scared! I don’t want the plate to fall!”
“Marlene!” Wedge forgot that Barret’s daughter was playing behind the
bar. “Don’t worry, me and your daddy are going to stop the mean people
from making the plate fall. Jessie!” Picking Marlene up carefully but quickly,
he gave her to Jessie. “Now you be a good girl for Auntie Jessie, okay?
She’ll take you somewhere safe.”
“Got it, Wedge. I’m gone.” Wedge picked up his pack and raced out after
Jessie, followed by Barret.
“We need backup!” Wedge yelled as he burst through the slums. “Man,”
he thought to himself, “I’m getting too roly-poly for this job.” Taking
out his radio, he called up a frequency. “Biggs! Biggs! Are you there?”
“Yeah, Wedge. I’m at the train station.”
“Get over to the pillar fast! Shinra troops are going to drop the plate!
Hurry!”
“I’m on it!”
“And tell everyone to evacuate, NOW!” He turned it off with a click.
The two ran through the dingy slum, shouting warnings to everyone to evacuate
immediately. Barret was quickly overtaking Wedge, who was dressed almost
like a pirate in his red bandanna and ripped jeans. “This can’t be happening,”
Wedge thought to himself as he ran. “This wasn’t supposed to happen, not
to me. Not yet. If we can’t stop this, everyone above and below that plate
is going to die.”
They came upon the pillar just as Biggs stopped. “Biggs!” yelled Barret.
“What’s going on?”
“Shinra’s right on my tail! I almost got caught as they left the station.
They’re not sending many soldiers here, but Reno is personally bringing
them here by helicopter!” Reno, an elite member of the Turks, obviously
had top security clearance. “He has the self destruct codes for the Pillar
system!”
“We have to get up there and defend that terminal!” Barret concluded.
The trio stared up at the tallest landmark in the sector, looking at the
stairs which seemed to go on forever. “Let’s go!”
Barret and Wedge raced up the stairs. “Wedge!” called Biggs. “I got
your back! Just get up there to the terminal!” Looking back, Wedge saw
that the Shinra helicopter approaching like a black demon, gaining altitude.
While running, Wedge took his gun out of its holster and managed to get
a few shots to hit the helicopter, but didn’t cause any serious damage,
Biggs fought his best against it, dodging, rolling and shooting; downing
three passengers.
“Don’t look back, Wedge!” Barret warned him. “Just run!”
A second helicopter climbed, passing Wedge quickly. “Barret! Incoming!”
“Got it!” Barret charged his gun laser and ran to catch up to the helicopter.
Creating a large ball of light energy with his laser, he aimed and fired-”BIG
SHOT- NOW!” The shockwave from the launch of the energy ball knocked Wedge
over, sending him tumbling into the Shinra soldiers that were chasing him
and now grabbing him, just five flights from the terminal. Wedge kicked
a soldier away like a ball, but was overwhelmed by five more, pinning him
down and pressing his face into the grating.
“Hold it right there!” yelled the soldiers. “This is the end of the
line for you!”
“This is not the end of the line! No way!” He struggled with his captors,
but was held fast by their efforts. A Shinra helicopter floated down and
extended its walkway, and the soldiers holding him dragged him in. This
really was starting to look like the end of the line.
The soldier in charge looked impressed. “Good work boys. Did a good
job of arresting this rebel scum. Now go and get the guy on the roof! Reno
should be here any second now, and he doesn’t want to clean up after us.
Go!” All the soldiers except the pilot and their leader went back onto
the stairs. The soldier now addressed Wedge. “So, this is where you ended
up, going against Shinra, eh? Hmpf. What would your brother think?”
Wedge, while helpless, was not about to sit here and take this abuse.
“I don’t care about Horace! He’s too busy brown-nosing to see what Shinra
is really doing to the Planet!”
“Well, I will have to agree with you on that point, but you see, he
knew where his place was. Now,” said the soldier, taking out his blaster,
“your place is at the barrel of my gun.”
Wedge turned cold. He didn’t want to die, not here, not like this.
“Okay, I give. What do you want?”
The soldier pushed the end of the gun into Wedge’s chest. “Where is
Cloud?”
Sweat poured from his pores. He was sure Cloud was alive, but he knew
that he could get killed if he said the wrong thing to this man. “I don’t
know. I haven’t seen him since our last assault.”
Wedge winced in pain as the soldier pushed his gun in further. “Now,
now, Mr. Palmer, I see that you are getting soft in more ways than one,”
he told him, twisting his cheek. “You weren’t this big when you when went
to school in Junon, as I recall.”
Wedge knew he wasn’t going to live though this. He knew this man, and
now his face, an enemy of his from the beginning, was about to finish this.
“Well, since you are so determined to be uncooperative, I guess I should
be the one to inform Horace of your, ahem, untimely death.” He gave Wedge
another poke in the chest, charged the gun and-
-he was flying. He flew from the flaming craft, free of the man, free
from his torture. For a split second Wedge lost all his worries. He was
a bird, a light bird, a gliding bird, warm, toasty, hot, burning- and he
landed as a smoky pile on the groud below. He didn’t move-he couldn’t even
if he had wanted to, but he saw the fiery craft spin to the ground. At
first, Wedge did not recognize their faces, he gave up on trying to look,
but he could recognize their voices.
“Wedge! Wedge! Are you okay?”
“Cloud? Cloud! You...you remembered...my name..
“Hey, Cloud! You want to hear my story?”
“Sure, I guess.”
“Tifa always lets me taste her cooking. But look at me now, I’m all
roly-poly. Say, if you do need someone to talk to, I’m always here.”
“Never mind. Just buzz off, okay?”
“You’re cold. Really mean, Cloud.”
“Cloud? Go.. Help Barret..I guess I wasn’t much help.”
“Cloud, just go on ahead. I’ll help Wedge.”
“Tifa? Tifa...is that you?”
“Wedge, could you come over here for a minute?”
“Sure, Tifa. What do you need?”
“Tell me if this curry needs anything.”
“The curry’s fine, but..”
“What’s wrong, Wedge? Too hot?”
“Well... why do you say that?”
“Your eyes are watering.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Go ahead, its fine, I just wanted to say-”
“Yes?”
“Um, Never mind. Sorry I bothered you.”
“Tifa- Tifa- stay here, please.”
“Wedge, I would never abandon you. As your teammate and your friend,
I would never do that.”
“Just stay here, I won’t be around long after this..” Wedge could feel
himself getting very tired, but fought to stay awake. “Tifa, I-I need to
tell you...something....”
“Wedge! Don’t go on me now, okay? You’re not going to die, Wedge! After
we stop Shinra, we’ll get you to a hospital up on the top, and you’ll be
okay, I promise.”
“No, Tifa, don’t kid yourself...I can feel that there won’t be a tomorrow
for me...just let me say this.. Remember.. Two days ago, when you asked
me to taste your...curry...”
“Yes, I remember, Wedge. Just hold on.”
“Tifa...I ...wanted to give you this....” Wedge, in his weakened state,
had to make a tremendous effort to get the box out of his pocket. “This...was
for you...I wanted to give it to you earlier...”
“A box?” It was a blue box, that, even though it was burned, looked
like it came from Upper Midgar. It was smaller than her palm.
“Don’t....open it yet, just remember... keep this with you when you
want to remember me.”
“Okay, Wedge, I will. Just-”
“No, Tifa, There’s not much time left for....me...”
“I won’t let you go, Wedge!” Her heart was throbbing. He was not going
to die on her, as far as she was concerned. “Don’t die yet!”
“Tifa, I.... just wanted to....tell you..that....I lo-” He had to stop
in the middle of his word, but he was thoroughly able to finish his meaning;
Tifa had lowered her head to his, and they exchanged all of their breath,
life, and meaning together in that moment when Wedge was unable to speak.
Tifa broke their connection. “I know, Wedge. I know. I won’t leave.”
He had never felt anything so powerful in his life, but he knew he
couldn’t hold on to it forever. “Tifa..you must go...Help Barret, save
the sector. I know, .......I’m finished. Just, remember me.”
“I will.”
He tried to turn his head towards her to watch her leave, but then
his eyes crossed another face, a radiant face, a bright face. She wore
her hair back in a long braid, and she wore a somewhat dingy but pretty
pink dress that buttoned up in the middle. Where had she been all this
time? Not that it mattered anyway, Wedge knew his time was up.
She spoke. “Here, Tifa. You go on ahead. I’ll take care of Wedge.”
His eyes finally closed, and he could hear gunshots above him, but
that didn’t matter any more. He didn’t want to die as a prisoner, he wanted
to die as someone who was important to another human being...he wanted
to fall in...he wanted to join the Planet...that was what he wanted...
*****
A fanfare blasted out of the speakers at the training center, overshadowed
by an enormously long cannon facing the sea. It served as the alarm clock
for everyone on the night shift of the Underwater Mako Reactor, including
two groggy Palmers on their way to submarine training.
“Horace! Get up, you bum! The alarm just went off!”
“Come on, Wedge, just five more minutes, or hours..”
“I said ‘Get up!’ You do know what is going on today, don’t you?”
“I dunno, I’m too sleepy to think right now.”
“President Shinra is coming at one o’clock to inspect our sub! It won’t
look very good if one of us is missing tonight!”
“You go on ahead, I’ll catch up. It’s only 11:30.”
“Arrgh! Fine! Go on! Throw away your work!” Angry at himself for having
such a stupid brother, he took his clothes and towel to the dorm showers.
“Why did I have to get stuck with him anyway? I didn’t want to take him
along to Military School, but Mom and Dad made me anyway. This is stupid!”
A friendly voice interrupted him while he was washing. “I see your
brother isn’t helping you much, Wedge.”
“Hey Biggs. You doing the night shift today too?”
“Yeah, wanted to clean myself off a bit first, though. Pass the shampoo,
would you?”
“Here. This is such a bad assignment. Here I am, the keeper of my blockhead
older brother, who is about to be in a major inspection. I’ll probably
be held personally responsible for his screwups, too.”
“Oh, it won’t be that bad, Wedge. I heard that’s it’s only going to
take a couple of hours at most. Bring the President on board, cruise around
for two hours, collect wildlife samples, then come back. Not hard.”
Wedge turned his shower off and towel dried. “You don’t know my brother
that well, then. Most of the time he’s a total pain.” Wedge put on his
shorts and a shirt. “He’s not even up yet.”
“Really? I can’t sleep through that horn. Besides, it goes off every
six hours, waking everyone up ALL the time. How does he do it?”
“I don’t know,” Wedge told him, tying his red bandanna over his damp
black hair. “Maybe his skull has natural padding.”
Wedge felt a small pull, a tugging at him as he was floating through
his dreamy sea. Wedge opened his eyes, and saw a hand pulling him from
the darkness. Without thinking, he grabbed the hand, which was now pulling
him harder. It tugged, jerked, stretched, strained to pull Wedge toward
a warm light, a comforting light, a happy light...
“Tifa!” Wedge yelled himself awake. He stopped for a moment, disoriented.
He saw himself in a warm room with gray stone walls and an open door. He
sat up in his bed, wondering why he was in a bed. A wood-burning stove
roared away, heating a whistling kettle. Everything felt so soft and comfortable,
but he was starting to wonder how he got there and where ‘there’ was. He
almost didn’t notice the man who walked in, but he startled Wedge by speaking
loudly.
“Oh, my!” exclaimed the bearded old man in surprise. “We have another
visitor, Aeris!”
A heavenly chord struck the air. “Oh! I had no idea! Let me see!” Wedge
didn’t have to wait very long for her to come in. She had a pretty and
round face, emerald eyes, and almost liquid brown hair in one long braid.
Her voice washed over him again.
“Oh! It’s you! The guy from the pillar!”
It was the same girl he had seen right before he died. “You…You were
taking care of me… This is a dream. This has got to be a dream.”
“Whatever makes you happy. And what’s the big idea? You just went and
died on me!” She walked toward Wedge and poked at him. “Look at you! You’re
a big guy, aren’t you? But you look hungry. I’ll make you something. What
would you like?”
Wedge wasn’t sure whether to be comforted or insulted. He suddenly
remembered he had a strange curry taste in his mouth. “Tifa,” Wedge thought
to himself. “You left me my favorite taste..”
“Hmm. Aeris, he might not be fully awake yet.”
Wedge suddenly went back to reality. “I’m sorry, I was just thinking.
Do you have tea and curry?”
“I think I can whip some up for you,” Aeris answered. “But, how rude
of us. We haven’t even given you a proper introduction yet, have we?”
“Oh, I see. Ahem. My name,” said the old man, “is Banon.”
“I’m Aeris,” said the young woman, her pink dress flowing through the
room. “Banon and I live here in Lifestream, if you could call it that.”
“Lifestream? That means I’m..”
“Dead? Well, technically yes. We all are. I died a few weeks after
you did, Wedge.”
“Really? Then why were you here before I came?”
“Well, Lifestream is strange that way. Even I don’t know how it works.”
She stopped stirring long enough to take a good look at him. “Those are
the same clothes you were wearing before you died, aren’t they?”
Wedge was too busy trying to find out where he was to actually look
at himself, but he was relieved to find that he was still wearing his regular
pirate clothes. “Yeah, this was about what I was wearing, Aeris.”
“Well, I’d hate to be the one to tell you this, but…”
He didn’t feel comfortable asking this, but he had to: “What…? Did
Barret save the pillar? Did he even survive?”
“Barret is still alive as far as I know, but...”
“Oh, no...those poor people...dying for nothing...” Wedge tried to
fight back the tears, but he just couldn’t. He just let it out in small
sobs at first. “How many died? How many?”
“Well, it was reported to be around fifty-thousand.”
Wedge sat there, stupefied. “Fifty thousand people!” Wedge repeated.
He let the number roll over in his mind. Then, his grief came in torrents,
“Fifty thousand...and I was one of them. What about the rest of our group?
Jessie, Biggs, Marlene, Cloud..” Aeris looked away when Wedge mentioned
the last name. “What’s wrong, Aeris?”
“Marlene and...Cloud...are alive. Jessie and Biggs, however....died
right after you did.”
“They died too?” Wedge couldn’t take it. He didn’t believe her. There
must have been some mistake. But, she was sure that there was no mistake.
“I’m sorry, Wedge. Barret felt really bad about it when he went to
Cosmo Canyon.”
Wedge was sure now, but he thrust his wet face into his pillow, lying
down again. “So many people; me, Jessie, Biggs, all dead...” He let himself
go, but after a few minutes, realized that it was no use. He dried his
face on his bandanna, revealing his messy black hair. He again attempted
to make some sense of this situation, but found something was strange.
“Aeris, I never told you my name. How did you know who I was?”
Instantly, she looked guilty and embarrassed, if a woman like her could
do both at the same time.
“Tifa?”
“Yes, Aeris?”
“What is that?” she asked, looking at a box Tifa held in her hand.
“Nothing. Nothing, really.”
“If it didn’t mean anything, you wouldn’t be keeping it.”
“Aeris, you are almost right there.”
“Oh really? How?”
“This box used to belong to a man named Wedge.”
“Used to?”
“He died while we were trying to defend the pillar in Sector 7.”
“Oh. I see. What was he like?”
“He was a good man, better than most I’ve ever known, but, I’ve never
opened it.”
“Why not?”
“I can’t keep holding on to the past. I see that every day, especially
now that Cloud is around.”
“Cloud? He’s kind of a jerk, don’t you think?”
“I know, but, before I move on, I want to pass this on to you.”
“Can I open it?”
“We’ll open it together.”
“Oh! Look! There’s a ring inside!”
“He left a picture......and a letter, too.” She took out the picture
and propped it up on her hand.
“Shall I read the letter?”
“Go ahead.”
“Dear Tifa,
I know you do more than make curry and mix drinks all the time. A lot more. You’re sensitive to other people feelings but can stand your ground when trouble comes, and I really like that. I think you care about me and I know that I care about you, so what I am really trying to say is that I-”
“That’s enough, Aeris.”
“Are you sure? This sounds like a sweet guy to me.”
”I know, and that’s what makes him so hard to forget, Aeris. I need
to move on, but I am passing this on to you now.”
“Me? But I didn’t even know the guy!”
“You want to know something, Aeris? There are a lot of men out there
in the world, and most of them are pigs. You’ll run into most of them during
your life because you are a young, beautiful and innocent girl, and they
attract men who are total pigs. It’s just male nature. But never lose faith,
Aeris. Even if you run into every pig on the planet, just look at this
picture, wear this ring, and remember that there are good men like Wedge
out there, waiting for you to find them.”
“I see. Thank you, Tifa. I’m sure he was a great guy. Not like Cloud,
anyway.”
“Wedge was very different from Cloud. Cloud is basically a total pig.”
“Speaking of which, how is his night on the town with Barret going
so far? Ha, ha, ha!”
“Well, Tifa told me about you.”
“Tifa...she’s alive?”
“Yes, Wedge, she is alive.”
“Does she still...”
“I don’t know, Wedge. She didn’t tell me that much about you.”
“In any case, that’s the best news I’ve heard so far, Aeris.”
Banon called from the stove. “Aeris, the curry’s done cooking! I also
made a bit of rice!”
“Correction; that’s the best news I’ve heard so far. I’m hungry,” answered
Wedge, thinking about it for a minute. He then asked, “But, if I’m dead,
why am I so hungry?”