A New Crisis ~~ Erotica Maxima and SV

[Sapphic Valentine]

Public Service Announcement: The story takes place in the world of Final Fantasy 7 roughly two hundred and fifty years following the events of the canon franchise. Enjoy.

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Costa Del Sol, coastal resort paradise, vacation home of Gaia's super-rich, primary harbor of the Western Continent, soft production capital of the world, and the hometown of SOLDIER First Class, Riven, had long ago filed several complaints with the Shinra Corporation station in the far-off city of Midgar. The complaints centered around the Mako Reactor in the nearby Mount Corel and the strange creatures that had been sighted in the area around it. Shinra had brushed the complaints off, at first, feeling that their new style of Mako reactors were one-hundred percent safe and planet-friendly, but as more complaints flooded their headquarters from reactors across the globe, the higher ups eventually had to take notice.

Since the emergence of the creatures, tourism in the growing resort town had died down and the beach was nearly empty. There was one lone figure laying out in a foldable lounge chair. That figure was none other than Riven, herself. Dressed in a white string-bikini with an large orange flower tucked into her hair and a matching laurel of smaller flowers around her neck. She certainly looked the part of a tourist as she laid on the beach recollecting the mistakes that she had made on her previous mission before she was sent here.

She had been forced to use her unique gifts in excess, which had threatened her life. She had been forced to disclose her secrets to the medical technician which Shinra had ordered to accompany her on that mission. Once the technician had saved her life, Riven was then forced to end that of the technician to protect the company's secrets. It was a terrible burden, her special power. The product of one of Shinra's more recent attempts at empowering their SOLDIER forces, Riven was one of only a handful to survive the process of an experiment that was not public knowledge. Even much of the Shinra Corporation itself was unaware that this project had taken place, or that it was still ongoing. Due to the volatile nature f the results, the surviving SOLDIERs were never permitted to take on missions without the presence of a company-appointed medical technician who was, the vast majority of the time, not privy to the information of the project. If their assistance was needed, it was always the SOLDIER's duty to protect the project's secrets at all. In Shinra terminology, meant elimination. It was a heavy burden to have to kill someone who had just saved your life and it was the one part of her job that Riven hated with a passion. With any luck, her new technician would have the security clearance to have access to the information, but Riven doubted it. It wasn't like her to get that lucky. Her new medic would probably be another mid-tier scientist with big hopes and dreams, just like the last ten or more had been - another promising life that Riven would have to eventually end.

"That would be just my luck," Riven mused to herself as she watched a Shinra airship fly overhead. "You're probably on that ship aren't you, you poor bastard. I bet you think that you're moving up - that you're lucky to get a chance to work personally with a SOLDIER. I bet you think this is your big break. Do yourself a favor and don't get off of that ship. Go home to your family. They need you more than I do."

Despite watching the ship fly overhead that surely carried her new technician, Riven did not move. She wasn't ready to end her relaxing three-day vacation that she had been granted while Shinra arranged for a replacement medic. Well, perhaps granted was't the right word. In truth, Riven had completely denied the order that she had been given to return to Midgar. Her last mission had been in the slums surrounding the Golden Saucer, so Riven had decided to visit home for three days rather than return to Midgar only to have to fly back. She hated flying anyway. Riven far preferred to travel my boat when the opportunity arose, but most of Shinra's personnel transport these days was by airship.

It wouldn't have surprised Riven if another SOLDIER had been sent with her technician - a higher-ranking one to keep the silver-haired weapon in line. This wasn't the first time that Riven had ignored a direct order and it probably would not be the last.

"Bite me," Riven whispered aloud to herself at the thought.

The bikini-clad SOLDIER closed her blue-green, Mako-infused eyes. She wasn't moving until she had to. It had been too long since she was last able to relax or even get a full night's sleep. She was going to enjoy these last couple of minutes of peace and solitude while she had the chance. She would eventually be found and she would eventually have to ready herself for her mission, but that time didn't have to be right that second. She could not leave town without her poor, unsuspecting medic.

 

[Erotica Maxima]

SOLDIER. Such a bothersome project... Really, making super-human operatives, living weapons, to take on the jobs that the Company didn't want the world to know about. To the public they were the line that kept them safe, the benevolent knights in shining armour, that kept the monsters-in-the-dark at bay. Heh... What they'd say if they knew that the ones keeping them safe from monsters, were hardly better than monsters themselves? But, the general public could never know... the Company had too much at stake, too much invested to allow that kind of information to be released. No... They'd rather throw away personnel and resources than do that. Life was a quantifiable number to the higher-ups in the Company, and quite often, that number was rather low. There were only a few rare cases where an employee's life was weighed heavily to the Company, and usually that was the life of an Executive.

Gracelyn Hawthorne was not an Executive, but she guessed that her life was worth something to them. She smiled to herself, knowing that she was kidding herself. She knew that if they had to get rid of her, they wouldn't blink... Though she was privy to more information than most in the Medical Department, that was more or less on account of the fact that she was floater, transferring between the Medical Department and the Science Department, her experience as a Bio-Engineer being valuable to both. She knew some of the details about quite a few projects that the Company had been running, but never too much, never enough to be a liability. She was always careful to only glance details, and never delve too deep. She'd seen what had happened to too many of her colleagues who'd asked too many questions... People that knew too much had a nasty habit of turning up dead. Unless she worked in a board room, she knew she didn't have enough value to the company to let live if they thought their secrets might leak from her.

She guessed that was one of the reasons they were sending her out to the field. She'd read the report, or at least the actual report, not the garbage they generally give to the Rooks. This wouldn't be the first time she'd been put out on field work, she'd done her fair share of work with SOLDIER before, though usually it was with Second or Third Class operatives. She was honestly curious to see what a SOLDIER First Class was capable of... She'd read the high-level overview of what had been done to them, and the theory to it all was reasonably sound, though highly risky. She knew that there was a high percentage chance for rejection of Human-Materia integration, so those that manage to survive were generally considered highly valuable to the Company. She guessed much more so than she was... She guessed that if push came to shove, the Company would want to make sure their little 'investment' was protected, long before they would consider the life of their Med-Tech.

As the announcement came in from the PA, telling her that they'd be arriving in Costa Del Sol in five minutes, Gracelyn rose to her feet. It was probably a good idea to get outside, maybe feel the sun... Well, not that she couldn't use it, really. Most of her time was spent inside labs, pouring over microscopes, waiting for results from DNA analysis, running test after test after test... It wasn't a life she objected to. It was comfortable, it was reasonably easy... But if she had to admit, she did often miss the thrill of field work. What she didn't miss, was being outside, getting dirty, and all the running... There always seemed to be so much running. And trying to keep up with a SOLDIER, regardless of their class, was always a serious pain. She sighed as she made her way up to the deck, and felt the hot sun shine down on her raven hair, her hand coming up to cover her face, as she drew her sunglasses out of her shirt, slipping them over her eyes.

The coastal city of Costa Del Sol was a giant party zone for the rich and influential. The beach was picturesque, the weather was almost constantly hot and clear, from what she'd heard, surfing here was some of the best in the world. There were more bars and hotels in Costa Del Sol than there were just about anything else, the entire city practically designed to cater to just about any number of tourists and parties. As Gracelyn looked though, she had to admit that it seemed rather... Dead. She couldn't really see anyone on the beach, the streets she could see looked empty, even the harbour looked forlorn and lonely. The ShinRa ship pulling in was about the only one there, aside from a few smaller boats, probably owned by locals. She shook her head as she turned to retrieve her things.

Working as a field operative meant that she didn't really have the luxury of travelling with luggage. All she had with her was what she was wearing and a satchel that she had slung over her shoulder, which held her tools and a few medicines that she thought she might need. Anything else that was required for the mission, she knew the SOP was procure on site. Not that she minded, she did get a reasonably well funded account for any purchases made during a mission, which was definitely nice. She just knew that if she was going to buy something, she'd just have to think of a good excuse for it first... Accounting were meticulous, if nothing else...

Coming down the pier, Gracelyn let out a long breath, she'd only been in this place for no more than a handful of minutes, and already she was getting tired of the heat. She was fair-skinned girl, and didn't tan too well... That didn't mean she didn't enjoy the surf or the beach, but she did so in moderation, or at least with a fair amount of sunblock and a big umbrella. She knew that she was supposed to be meeting her SOLDIER at a local hotel on the beach. All she had was a heavily redacted file, about the only information left after all the heavy black lines was a name, a picture and her body measurements. Gracelyn had to say, her mental image of the woman she'd be working with was delicious, but she had to keep in mind that she'd probably have to be careful... After all, she'd probably be able to snap her in half if her hands wandered too far... Still, risks were meant to be taken!

Walking into the hotel, she thanked whatever higher powers were out there for the advent of shade. She made her way over to the counter, the gentleman on the other side looking reasonably bored, standing at attention when he saw a potential customer, all smiles and welcomes. "Sorry to disappoint, but I'm here for Riven." She said, pulling a small photograph from her pocket and holding it up. "This woman. She should be staying here, and I'm supposed to meet her. Could you tell me where she is?" The man looked heavily disappointed, but told her that she was usually down at the beach around this time of day. Gracelyn thanked the man and sighed as she turned, heading out the door and into the sun again. She guessed that if she burned up too much, she could always dive into the water to cool off... Not that she really had anything to swim in... She looked down at her figure and wondered if there was a nudist policy on the beach... Not that there was anyone to see anything, from what she saw.

Down on the beach, it wasn't all that hard to spot her target. Her previous assessment was pretty accurate...The beach was mostly deserted, and the only person in sight was a pale-haired woman lounging in the sun, in quite an appetising looking bikini. Gracelyn raised an eyebrow, and the corner of her mouth turned up into a tightly controlled grin, as she made her way down onto the sand, wishing that she thought to bring sandals or something. "SOLDIER First-Class, Riven, I presume?" She called, as she made her way over, the sand making her progress a little slower than she'd like. She stopped as she stood over the woman, her shadow cast over her body, her eyes, behind her shades taking in her figure with the kind of hunger you'd see from a starved hound. She gave herself a mental shake and smiled. "Professor Gracelyn Hawthorne. I'll be your Med-Tech for the time being." She took her shades off and grinned, holding her hand down for Riven, "The pleasure is all mine, by the way." She said, her grin widening a little more.

 

[Sapphic Valentine]

By the time that the airship had landed and the raven-haired medical-technician had tracked down her SOLDIER ward, Riven had about halfway nodded off to sleep. She didn't even hear the footsteps shifting in the coarse sand as the other woman approached her, something that normally would have never escaped the alert senses of the Shinra-made killing machine. It wasn't until Gracelyn called out that Riven was pulled from her dreamless state of near-slumber and her mako-infused eyes fluttered open.

Immediately, Riven's gave ran along the length of the other woman's form. She certainly didn't look like she belonged in the field. They never did, of course - look like or actually belong, that is. Riven's first impression was that this was another throw-away sent to follow at her heels and bitch and moan about ever spec of dust and dirt that got on her pretty little face. At least there was that, Riven inwardly admitted to herself. If she was going to be babysitting a damn lad-jockey then at least this time they had sent her one that was pleasing to look at. Of course, when the time came to silence her, that would make doing so a little more regrettable. That's right - when, not if. Riven was normally pretty happy and playful outside of her duties to Shinra, but killing her medical techs was one aspect of her life that she had become quite cynical and bitter about. It would happen, eventually. Riven would need to push herself and this woman would have to save her. Maybe not today or tomorrow. Maybe not this month or this quarter. Eventually, though, the time would come. It always did. If there were two things that Riven was known for, it was her disobedience and the way that she looses herself in a real fight.

Once Riven was finished inspecting her new companion, shameless so, it should be stated, she looked back to the sky and closed her eyes again. "SOLDIER First Class, Riven," the pale-haired woman stated in an official tone that she might use to address herself to President Shinra himself. "SOLDIER ID number seven, one, three, one, seven, two, five, three, eight, one, six, nine. SOLDIER Project: Classified - S-Class security clearance needed. Previous assignment history: sealed - S-Class security clearance needed."

It all sounded so official practiced. If Gracelyn would be to check her file again, she'd find that it was all true - even down to the machine-like memorization of the pale-haired woman's twelve-digit SOLDIER identification number. Of course, this was Riven we were dealing with. If Gracelyn hadn't been briefed about this woman's attitude and lack of respect for the autonomy of the Shinra corporation, she was about to find out.

Riven didn't just let things be at her standard, SOLDIER-approved introductory greeting for her new technician. Her voice took on a notably mocking tone as she continued to ramble. "Favorite color: Purple. Favorite food: All of it. Favorite mode of transportation: Motorbike. Home town: You're standing in it. Hopes and dreams: To live long enough to see the sun come up tomorrow."

It wasn't until then that Riven paused. She hadn't even taken a breath since she had started talking! After a quick breath of fresh air, however, she continued. "Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, have a seat. I don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon." With that, Riven stretched her arms up toward the sky, laced her fingers together, and tucked her hands behind her head. It would be dark in a couple of hours and Riven did not want to be reaching the reactor just as the sun was falling.

 

[Erotica Maxima]

Gracelyn was beginning to get the distinct impression that this woman wasn't all that fond of her. She raised an eyebrow at the robotic introduction, that seemed to continue on into facetious rambling. She nodded, as she listened, taking note of it all, and sighed at the end of it all. Well, she supposed if the girl wasn't all that impressed with her, that'd have to be rectified, she couldn't really expect her to want to get all that chummy with her right off the bat. After all, from what she'd heard, the whole reason she got called in on this project was because her last Med-Tech got themselves killed in Riven's last mission. Something that immediately sparked Gracelyn as intriguing, considering the fact that all Med-Techs were advised from the beginning of a mission to stay as far back from combat as possible. There were a number of theories as to what actually happened, the highest probability being that they had to be disposed of for becoming a liability.

She sighed and withdrew her hand running it through her hair and scratching the back of her head. "Well, I didn't know we were going to be doing a full introduction... Suppose I should start over then, huh? So... Professor Gracylen Hawthorne, Bio-Engineer, trained medic, employee number two-zero-four-zero-three-three-one-two-zero-two-zero-five. Lets see... Projects I've been involved in... Classified... Classified... That's one's DEFINITELY classified. Hm... Moving on, previous assignment history; Research, R&D, attached to SOLDIER Second-Class, attached to SOLDIER Third-Class, attached to Turk Unit..." She said, listing them all off on fingers, switching to her other hand when she had to. She blinked and looked down at the girl with a slight frown. "This is where we get to the personal stuff, right? Lets see... Favourite colour; red, favourite food; Chocobo, favourite mode of transportation; personal airship, home town; Junon. Hopes and dreams?" Her eyes roamed up and down Riven's figure and the corner of her lip turned up. "Well, at the moment, I'm lookin' at it. But enough of that." She said.

She turned around and lowered herself down, till she was sitting in Riven's lap, and smiled at her. "You can be every bit a smart-ass as you like, I'm completely fine with that. I'd prefer to have a less than formal relationship..." Her fingers idly walked up Riven's stomach and she grinned. "Much less than formal... BUT! My job is to keep you in one piece. Barring that, put you back into one piece, if the need arises. I'm pretty damn good at my job, as I've heard, are you." She went on, turning to the beach and the sound of the waves. "I've also got no problem at all with spending the rest of the day out here, but I've got no bathing suit, and there's not enough shade. So, what are we going to do about that?" She asked.

Riven was not exactly a 'by-the-book' girl. No problem, Gracelyn could deal. She was a hottie, that much was more than apparent. She could eat up the sight of her there all day... But then she'd burn like a lobster. She wasn't in any real rush to get on with the mission, honestly. If the Company complained about them taking too long to complete their mission, she could always just blame Riven. After all, it wasn't her job to be the girl's nanny, just her nurse.