Warfront
Ace knew he really should not be in this area, really he should not but he was curious about the war. The many wars he had been in the middle of had been because of him or rather his old body. They wanted to claim him so they could control the world and become ultimate leader or something stupid.
Ace, 'Hmm... Something is wrong here.'
Sephiroth who had been preparing to leave the battlefield was surprised to see the dragon rider. The other SOLDIERs were watching the newcomer warily and the silver haired general waved at the rider. Ace saw him and went down greeting him and asked him why the camp was looking like it was barely holding together. Sephiroth winced and muttered the supplies were destroyed a few days ago.
"Who is this young lad?"
Sephiroth, "Mr Heidegger."
Heidegger looked at Ace, "Are you here to supply things, pretty boy?"
Ace raised his eyebrow and released a bit of killing intent making Heidegger sweat a bit, "Yes, in fact, I brought food for everyone."
Sephiroth, "That's a relief, Genesis was getting short tempered over the rations."
Genesis, "Sephiroth, you are still here? Ace?"
Ace, "Yo! I brought you food, Nibelheim specials."
Genesis perked up, "The soldiers will love it."
Sephiroth, "I'll leave you in Genesis's hands. I need to return to Shinra and give my report. Take care my friend."
Ace handed Sephiroth a small tiffin, "Of course, Sephiroth. Here, something for the journey."
Ace requested some of the soldiers help him unpack, saying it was all food. After the distribution he went looking for Zack and gave him the letter from Cloud then the letter containing photos of Cloud cross dressing. That had Zack turning red in the face much to Ace's amusement and then he started to snoop around. Zack was a bit hesitant but the idea of learning secrets had him joining Ace.
Ace, "Well, well."
Zack, "Are you hacking the equipment here? Seriously?"
Ace started to call, "I have my reasons. Hello Tseng? Ace here, remember what I said before about helping you figure out where half the Turks resources was going. I have a solid lead now but I need you to build the trap in Shinra."
Tseng, "Ho? I'm listening."
Ace told him how he had hacked into the equipment and found a surprising lack or rather a lot of dissent in the list. Most of them had Heidegger signing off on it and Ace had a feeling he was not the only one. Tseng listened to the reasoning carefully without getting angry though it couldn't be said the same for the other Turks listening in. Almost all of them had lost one partner or another during their missions because of either lack of equipment or back up.
None of the were happy to hear it was happening all over Shinra. To make it worse it was set up in a way that the Turks would blame the SOLDIERs and the SOLDIERs would blame the Turks. They were not happy to learn they were being used as a scapegoat especially by someone as irritating as Heidegger. Yeah, they would not be letting this rest and turning everything over Heidegger's head. They may not be able to touch Heidegger directly but Mr Shinra can, especially when it came to money.
Heidegger felt a shiver go down his spine, 'What was that?'
Tseng, "Boys! Girls! Time to hunt."
"Sir, yes sir!"
Reno was particularly feeling very vindictive, he had lost two people before meeting Rude. They were both younger than him and he had adored them both in his own crazy way. He would get revenge for them one way or another, even though he would not be able to touch anyone personally yet. By the time Ace was done at the war front he had gathered enough evidence of the essentials being tempered by Heidegger. Tseng would take care of things at Shinra and then Ace gave those papers and proof he gathered to Genesis.
To say Genesis was pissed off was an understatement, the red haired gathered his most trusted and planned. He would be exposing that fatso to everyone in the camp and do it in a way it was completely irrefutable. Ace on the other hand had made himself look like a professional chef and made delicious Nibelheim food for the fighters. The army had become very fond of the dark haired young man and were very friendly with him.
After a few days Ace sat back as he enjoyed the dramatic reveal Genesis did. The red head first mentioned he had been observing everything and had a few trusted people watch them. Second he thanked the soldiers for the hard work they had been doing despite all of the problems they faced. Third he told them to look at the papers he had photocopied and distributed. Even though most of the soldiers were not highly educated like others they knew when they had been stolen from. Heidegger who did not realize the zig was up was happily talking to Genesis.
Genesis, "Arrest him!"
Heidegger froze, "What?"
Genesis, "You are under arrest. You betrayed your soldiers. You betrayed Shinra. You stole from your soldiers. You stole from Shinra. You have been illegally taking money, money that belonged to the soldiers here. Need I go on?"
Heidegger spluttered, "Y.. You are making a mistake."
Genesis, "What are you waiting for? Lock him up! Do not think about helping him or you will face my wrath. I have no qualms against hunting you down if you betray me."
Lucas one of Genesis trusted men spoke, "Don't worry boss! You can trust us. My friends are dead due to lack of equipment which happened because of him. He is not getting away."
The other soldiers nodded in agreement and dragged the screaming man away. Not before Ace used sleep on the man which had a few soldiers raising an eyebrow. Ace said during travels, it was easier to put monsters to sleep rather than fighting them, especially, if you travel alone. One of the soldiers was about to comment before he thought about it and realized it made a lot of sense as Ace was a cook not a fighter. Genesis snorted, he knew better than anyone how efficient Ace was with Materia but decided not to say anything. It was his friend's choice.
Zack found Ace later, "Ace! That was awesome."
Ace, "That was all Genesis."
Zack, "Still without you figuring the stuff that you did. It would have been harder for us. Cloud mentioned you were working on a case and he was involved?"
Ace, "Yup, we found the missing girls and a few of the missing kids. The Turks had a fun time."
After that Ace had to leave as he had other requests to fulfill for his family and friends. He told Zack to be careful as he left him a fully mastered Heal materia that had Genesis whistling at the size. Natural formed materia was hard to come by and that was a natural one in Zack's hand. Genesis had found good natural formed materia and mastered a couple himself. He knew it was not easy unlike the synthesised ones and respected Ace for having the patience to do it.
Zack shrugged when his fellow soldiers asked him questions about the materia. Zack simply answered how Ace was sort of the Jack of all trades and tended to go different places. Ace could have found the materia in any of the places and spent time mastering it. The soldiers then joked about how Zack was now the healer of the group and should be protected. Zack laughed saying he would be depending on them for his protection.
Ace left towards the Wutai Kingdom, a magnificent Kingdom the looked like it was from an Asian descent, though he couldn't pinpoint which one. The clothes were a mix of Japanese, Chinese and Korean styles with a bit of Indian style added. It was a lovely Kingdom and Ace happily looked around getting curious looks from the locals. He didn't look anything like the Shinra bastards but it was obvious he was an outsider. As he was about to sit at one of the stalls to eat a cute little girl walked up to him and spoke in Wutai.
Ace, 'That sounds like a mix between Korean, and Japanese. How fascinating!'
Ace, "My name is Ace and I'm a traveller from Nibelheim."
The little girl puffed up, "My name is Yuffie and I'm eight years old."
Ace, "Oh! Nice to meet you little Yuffie. Would you like to join me for lunch? The food here smells delicious."
Yuffie, "Hey hey, Mister Ace! How do you know our language? I mean, you are not from here."
Ace's eyes twinkled, "One of my friends teacher's name is Zangan. He is from Wutai. He taught us how to speak."
Yuffie gave an oooh sound as the server gave them their food. The poor server was flustered on seeing the Princess of Wutai sit at her restaurant. She had been happy welcoming the handsome visitor and then the little Princess came. Who had not heard of the Princess sneaking out of the Palace all the time. The poor server could only hope she didn't get into any trouble because of the child. The two happy customers chat together with Ace indulging the Princess as she told him of her many adventures.
Ace, 'So cute! I wonder if this is how Tifa would have turned out if Desmond and I had not been there.'
Yuffie, "And I saw a giant Dragon today in the forest."
Ace, "I see. Was the Dragon beautiful?"
Yuffie sighed, "The most beautiful blue Dragon... "
Yuffie pouted, "I don't think she likes me though. She snorted smoke on my face and flew away."
Ace sweat dropped, 'Sounds like Solaris alright.'
Ace wiggled his eyebrows, "Maybe she had to meet with another Dragon, you know?"
Yuffie giggled, "Maybe!"
A guard approached them when they had almost finished all of their dinner, "Princess, your father is waiting for you."
Yuffie, "Yangyang! Can't I stay a little longer?"
Ace, "Actually it is getting really late. Little kids should sleep early and I need to find an inn."
Yuffie latched on to him, "You can stay with me. Please stay. I'll tell my Dad to let you stay. You are really nice and no Shinra attacked today."
Ace raised his eyebrow, "Does Shinra attack everyday?"
Yuffie, "Yes, there is always someone or another attacking us. But today they didn't, so stay please!"
Ace, "Huh! That's interesting I guess? Maybe they have other problems or plans, you should not let your guard down easily."
Yangyang, "Sir, I am sure the Lord won't mind if you join us. The Princess really likes you too."
Ace, 'That's not a great reason. What if I was a child kidnapper? I will need to give them a lecture if it comes down to it.'
Ace decided to go along and got to know Yangyang a little bit more. He was partnered with a man called Gu Feng and they took care of the safety of the Princess together, though sometimes it was a bit difficult. Yuffie could be a handful with how active she was and her inability to stay still for more than five minutes. Ace hummed and asked Yuffie a few questions about her studies which made her scowl. Then, he asked about the people in her life and how she interacted with all of them. Ace was pretty sure Yuffie had ADHD, he still remembers learning about it online back in the old world.
A few days later Ace met the current Emperor of Wutai, Yuffie's father and the two of them talked. The Emperor was suspicious of the man who had become so close to his daughter in a matter of few days. Ace however didn't mind, if anything he was happy to note that the Lord loved his daughter. Yuffie turned red in her hiding place when Ace said it out loud for everyone listening in to hear. Yuffie's two guards simply smiled at the blushing girl and took her to her classes. Ace then told the Emperor about how he had been snooping around the Shinra camp and the latest gossip about Heidegger.
To say the Emperor was unimpressed by that man was an understatement. Shinra might have been an enemy but the Emperor hated traitors more, having dealt with many traitors himself as the Emperor. Ace informed him, now that Heidegger was getting dealt with there many not be any more attacks coming like before. Most of the attacks were sanctioned by that greedy pig of a man who sent people to do the dirty work while he sat back and ate. That had the Emperor in a deep thought and Ace left him be.
Ace, "Just think about what you want for your people Lord Godo."
Gode, "I always do."
Ace smiled, "When Genesis comes to offer a peace treaty make your requirements loud and clear. I am sure both sides will be able to come to an agreement."
Godo, "I certainly hope so, young Cetra."
Ace, "Oh, you found out?"
Godo, "I am the Emperor, of course I will find out."
It was the next week when Genesis, Zack, Lucas and a few other SOLDIERs came to the City. They wanted to talk to the Lord of Wutai and try for peaceful negotiations again. According to Zack who went in search of Ace, when Genesis had taken a look at the contract that Heidegger had come up with he almost murdered the man. Ace raised an eyebrow at that, somehow not surprised that corrupt man messed things up so bad for them.