FINAL FANTASY VII
CURSE OF JENOVA
A crisis is when someone or something causes great distress which can lead to a dangerous situation. A crisis can come in all kind of forms, including the form of threatening the very existence of the planet itself. Such a crisis happened when an entity known as Jenova fell from the skies. The Shin-Ra corporation used the cells of Jenova to create their elite force known as S.O.L.D.I.E.R. One of these S.O.L.D.I.E.R.S. was called Sephiroth, the best there ever was in Shin-Ra. However, he learned he was one of these creations and suddenly became so evil that he himself was a crisis to the planet. He intended to summon an ancient Meteor to destroy the planet and recreate a new one of his own design. There were some who fought to save the planet though. Cloud Strife, an EX-S.O.L.D.I.E.R., mustered the strength to face up to Sephiroth and defeat him and Meteor was destroyed by his friend, Aeris, who Sephiroth had killed. She summoned holy power and the planet gathered the Lifestream, using it as a weapon to save the planet.
300 years later, the world had changed for the good. The city of Midgar was now a clean and flourishing place to live with no poverty and disease, Shin-Ra was now a company intent not on making money, but making the world a better place. With their advanced technology, they formed the Shin-Ra police, an effective force capable of handling any situation in any condition. The Shin-Ra police operated worldwide.
Midgar-the city of life, peace and purity, business was as usual today again. Dentist surgeries were empty, hospitals were cheerful, even the dark alleyways looked peaceful. Illness wasn't a problem because of Shin-Ra's huge investment in medical technology and no one would dare commit a crime because they would have to answer to the Shin-Ra police, and no one was brave enough to answer to the Shin-Ra police.
Midgar was special because there was no names for each part of the city, instead they were numbered sectors from Sector 1 to Sector 8. In Sector 4, in a solitary house, a young man had emerged from the shower. He walked over to his phone, he had a call waiting. He answered the call to begin the conversation.
"Good evening" Said the voice on the other end of the line. "I'm entrusting this mission with you because of your performances in the Cosmo Canyon and your handling of that incident in Wutai. As you know, the ambassador of Corel is visiting Midgar to negotiate a truce with the president of Shin-Ra. It is in our best interests that this doesn't happen. I believe you received our package?"
The man looked at his bed and at the sniper rifle sitting there ready for battle.
"The ambassador will be…"
"How much is this worth and how do I get my money?" The man spoke with a dark cold voice.
"20,000 Gil and you get the money when you complete the mission"
"have the cash ready and meet me at the Train Graveyard in Sector 7, I'll do the rest"
With that, he ended the call and continued to get ready for his mission. He took a pair of gauntlets out of a cupboard and equipped them, dissembled the sniper rifle and put the parts in a bag, slung it over his shoulder and left for the Shin-Ra headquarters in the centre of Midgar.
The city had a certain buzz about it tonight, everyone was looking forward to see President Shin-Ra and Corel's ambassador put their differences aside to avoid an unnecessary war between the two proud cities. Corel was once burned to the ground by the Shin-Ra of old. Even though it was eventually rebuilt into a city as visually impressive as Midgar, the people of Corel never did forgive Shin-Ra for that black day in their history. Tonight was to mark the friendship between Shin-Ra and the rest of the world, to further prove that the company means good for the planet. The time was here, the ambassador had arrived at Shin-Ra headquarters and ready to give out a speech with his new ally. Both men received a standing ovation from the restless and passionate crowd. The speech had already started, the only person who wasn't listening was the assassin who was in position and had a good clear shot of the ambassador. He waited until the time was perfect, when the speeches had finished and the two men were posing for the media. This was the moment, he pulled the trigger. In a split-second the smile was wiped from the ambassador's face as he was dead before he hit the ground. The cheers of joy were replaced with screams of terror. Panic incurred in the streets below. The assassin stood up, left the sniper rifle on the rooftop and walked towards the stairway. Before he could open the door into the building, it was smashed down and around a dozen armed men poured out.
"Shin-Ra police! Don't move!"
The assassin looked and grinned.
"Hah, are you gonna shoot me?"
He took a defensive stance, exposing his gauntlets.
"Take your best shot"
One of the officers fired twice, both bullets were deflected by the gauntlets. He fired again and the gauntlets protected the assassin again.
"My turn"
He ran at the officers and attacked strategically, disarming them all first with ferocious kicks and then moving quick to stun them and knock them out. It couldn't have been easier and this fight was over quickly. He noticed in the corner of his eye one of them crawling towards a gun, he ran and grabbed the officer by the collar and threw him away. He then picked him up and looked into his eyes.
"So this is the mighty Shin-Ra police? What a disappointment"
"W-Who are you?" the officer grunted
"My name… is Kaiser"
Kaiser threw the officer aside and carried on down the stairwell.
Amidst the chaos that ruled supreme amongst the riots and violence, Kaiser made his way to the train station. The Midgar railway ran throughout city 24 hours a day and was automated. When he boarded, he bought a ticket to Sector 7.
Half an hour passed before he reached Sector 7. He wasn't too bothered anyway, the train graveyard was only a stone's throw away from the station. The train graveyard was one of the very few eerie parts of Midgar. It's name was self-explanatory, literally hundreds of old, wrecked trains were left in ruins piled up to make a landmark in the city. Kaiser was all alone here, in a clearing he saw a briefcase. Taking caution, he walked towards it, examined it, then opened it. 20,000 Gil as promised. Grinning slightly, he closed the briefcase and started to walk back towards the station when a dark figure caught his eye. The figure waved to him, Kaiser smiled and waved back and then the figure was gone. Kaiser got on the next train to Sector 4.
Last night was a late night for Kaiser, while coming home he was caught up in the riots and had to force his way home. He never even slept until the Shin-Ra police had completed their successful efforts to restore peace to Midgar. His eyes opened slightly, still a bit drowsy, and simply lay his head back down onto the pillow. He was ready to fall back asleep when his bedroom window smashed and in came a small cylindrical shape which started emitting tear gas. Kaiser wasted no time in hurrying out the room and downstairs, his immediate thought was that the Shin-Ra police had managed to follow him and plan a course of action. This wasn't too much of a problem, he was ready for any situation in any condition. He opened the front door and he saw the barrel of a handgun staring back at him, the gunner pulled the trigger. The water woke him up proper and the woman behind the gun burst into a fit of laughter.
"Gotcha!"
Kaiser also started laughing.
"You dirty little runt. Ha, ha, ha"
Kaiser reached out grab her, but she ducked and ran into the house giggling. He ran after her all around the house, upstairs then back downstairs, he then leapt over the dining table and landed on top of her, causing them both to fall. They both erupted into a fit of laughter.
"Good morning, mister Kaiser"
"Ha, ha. Good morning Mrs Kaiser"
She looked at him and smiled.
"Two more weeks, babe"
"Yeah, can't wait sweets"
The woman got up to her feet when she dropped an ID card, Kaiser picked it up and looked at it briefly. Her name is Serene, and she's the only thing in the world that makes Kaiser truly happy in life and she's his fiancée.
"You dropped this" He handed it back to her
"Thanks. You hear the news?"
"What news?" Kaiser let it slip his mind
"Stupid. The assassination is all over the news, a war is imminent between Midgar and Corel"
Kaiser looked as though he didn't really care
"I would've wanted more money for a harder job"
"A harder job? Kaiser, you could've easily been killed last night"
Kaiser suddenly had a mix of cockiness and arrogance about him
"But I wasn't, piece of cake"
"Kaiser, listen for a second. Every time you take on a mission like this, I always have a gut feeling that you're not coming back to me. And it scares me, it really does"
Kaiser put his arms round Serene.
"Hey don't worry your pretty little head, I'm the best fighter on this earth. I'm not gonna let anything happen to me or you for that matter. I'd do anything for you, just to keep you happy"
"Then give it up, you have more than enough Gil to keep both of us going for the rest of our lives"
"And do what? Stack shelves?"
"I can get you a job in Shin-Ra. In case you forgot I'm the head of the science department. Please, for me"
Serene had him in a corner here, he always manages to shoot himself in the foot when it comes to an argument with her.
He sighed "OK, you win. Again"
Serene laughed and gave him a kiss
"Thank you"
"There's another job I've already said yes to. It's a big one, a REALLY big one. But after this, it's over"
"Promise?"
Kaiser looked at her long and hard, then smiled
"Promise"
A few days later, Kaiser made a trip to Sector 6's very own Wall Market. This was another famous landmark in Midgar. There was always a lot of business here, commercial and underground business. It was the latter that Kaiser was obviously interested in as he entered a high class restaurant. He was stopped at the entrance by a large, muscular man in a suit
"Can I help you?"
"I'm here to see Lord Cid"
"And you are?"
"Kaiser"
The man looked behind him then back to Kaiser
"You're expected, sir"
Kaiser followed him to a table where a short fat man was stuffing his face
"It's my favourite cleaner! Sit down and help yourself"
"What's this job about"
Cid laughed "This is what I like about you! No nonsense and straight to the point. Well anyway there's a mako reactor set up underground"
"Obviously you want this taken out since they're highly illegal"
"Exactly, however, that is only half of it"
"Half? Go on" Kaiser sat up to pay extra attention
"There's an ancient artefact that has been discovered in the extraction process, we want you to retrieve this and then destroy the reactor"
"How much you offering?"
"90,000"
Kaiser grunted "That's it?"
"Something wrong?"
"Well this is the last time you'll have my services and this is a little more high risk than the last one. Also, you pay crap you get crap"
"I see. Well since you have been both loyal and efficient for us, I guess you deserve more. 180,000 Gil"
Kaiser's eyes nearly popped out but kept his composure.
"Deal"
Cid laughed and shook Kaiser's hand
"Now go out there and have the time of your life one last time!"
Kaiser smiled and left to prepare for his last mission...