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Zack was a hero, a friend, and an elite officer in Shinra. This is a tale about the untold adventures of this brave hero in SOLDIER who gave up his life for the sake of friendship.
Disclaimer: All character's, places, items etc are the rightful property of Squaresoft and other involved companys. I own none of it. This is simply for fun. I am making no profit from this.
TALES OF THE FORGOTTEN HERO
SHINRA MISSION: PART ONE
PROLOGUE
"CLOUD MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!" Zack yelled.
Cloud jumped to the side, then Zack rushed forward digging his huge Buster Sword deep into the flesh of the Worm Monster that was previously pursuing them.
Cloud was breathing heavily. "Damnit Zack! Didn't I tell you we should have left that phoenix down alone! We could have been killed just now!"
"Yeah, that's true but you gotta admit, that was quite a rush huh?"
"Is everything about adventure with you? Do you have a death wish or something?"
Zack looked shocked at this. "Wha!?! Me? Death? Ha ha ha I'm sorry Cloud but me and death have no relation to each other. I'm too damn good to be beaten by death! Ha ha ha ha"
Cloud groaned visibly as he watched his best friend's ego start to grow again. "Oh yeah?" Cloud challenged, a new thought coming to mind. "So then are you saying you are greater then the great Sephiroth?"
"HELL NO!" Zack yelled. They both broke out laughing at this.
They were in a forest not too far from Junon. They where stationed there on a special mission by Shinra. However, the mission didn't start until the next day, so they decided to do a little sightseeing to kill off some time. Unfortunately for Cloud, Zack's idea of sightseeing always led to a battle for life and death at some point or another.
"Well… I guess its time we head back to the base. Nothing more to see here." Zack said gloomily.
Cloud was all for this idea. "Yeah let's get out of these damn woods."
Zack pulled his self up off the ground using the handle of his sword as support while the blade was still dug in the ground. He then turned to help Cloud to his feet next.
"One thing I gotta say for you though Zack. You sure do know how to make a guy's day exciting."
Zack chuckled at this. "Hey if we don't get the fighting experience now, how will we ever advance to SOLDIER huh?"
Cloud nodded at this and suddenly became very quiet. "Should we investigate some more before we head back to Junon." He asked, now totally serious.
"Naa we've seen enough for one day. Hey lighten up man."
Cloud always became deafly serious whenever mention of SOLDIER was made. Zack knew cloud wanted to become a SOLDIER more than anything else in the world and he prayed day and night that his friend would get that position one day. He could see that it was all Cloud looked forward to after relentless days of boot training as Shinra cadets.
They finally returned to town at about noon of that day. The town was restless. There would be a huge parade tomorrow celebrating Shinra's victory over Wutai.
Once Zack and Cloud got to their room, they immediately crashed on their beds. It had been a long walk from the woods to Junon and they had to rush back in order to get enough rest to be up early for their debriefing tomorrow.
"Hey Zack?"
"Yeah?"
"What do you think we'll be doing tomorrow? I mean they said its classified information that we will only receive on the day of the actual mission… but what do you think they will have us do?"
"Who knows? Personally I hope we get a chance to fight something challenging. Like a huge big snake. Or maybe a big huge Behemoth."
"Ya know, sometimes your just too much Zack"
"Why? What do you think we will do tomorrow?"
Cloud was quiet for a moment. "I don't know. I just hope we don't have to do anything bad."
"Zack thought solemnly for a few moments. He knew what Cloud meant. He knew how crooked military corporations could be at times and he knew the choices he and Cloud would make if it came to anything like that. Finally, Zack put on that cheery smile of his again. "Ah you worry too much Cloud! Don't worry. I'm sure we won't have to deal with anything like that tomorrow! I betcha we'll be fighting some big huge beast! Then Ill get a chance to clobber it with my Buster Sword and you'll be able to pump it full of lead with your automatic."
Cloud smiled at this. Ever since he joined the Shinra Academy, he and Zack have been like glue. They stuck together through thick and thin no matter what and they always fought together merging bullets and steel. They fought so well together many of the cadets at Shinra called them a force to be reckoned with. That's also why Shinra specifically chose them to go on this mission along with a few other Shinra cadets. They were the best of the best and Shinra was probably testing their skills to see if they were worthy enough to be in SOLDIER. 'I can hardly wait' Cloud thought as he finally drifted off into sleep.
CHAPTER 1
Zack and Cloud ran wildly down the quiet streets of Junon. It was still very early in the day but for Zack and Cloud, it was not early enough.
"I can't believe we're gonna be late on our first mission!"
"Shut up!" Zack growled as they raced down the cobble stone ally way. "We won't be late if we hurry!"
Suddenly Zack began to pick up the pace at an impossible speed. "H hey! Wait up Zack!"
"Sorry, no time to run slow! Just pick up the pace Strife!"
Cloud did just that, although he was still quite a ways behind Zack.
Ten minutes later, they come barging into the Shinra office, exhausted and sweaty. "Cadet Strife! Cadet Gildstand! You are both late! If you two keep this up you will never make it in Shinra much less the SOLDIER program!"
Cloud flinched visibly at this.
"I'm sorry sir. It won't happen again sir" They both said in unison.
"It better not. Now, as I was saying before these lazzy sacs of worthlessness entered my sights, here's your mission briefing. You are to Investigate the old underwater shinra facility located in the north west ridge in the Junon sea. Once you have recorded the condition of this underground facility, you are to retrieve a valuable canister located in the science wing. The series number is XO497JP. It is essential that you accomplish this mission. The name of this assignment is Operation J. Keep your minds focused and get the job done. If your lucky enough, you might even make it into Shinra… if you're competent enough to survive that is. That is all."
All the Shinra Cadets then saluted their commending officer and began to file out of the room. "OH YES! One more thing I nearly forgot to mention" The instructor said with a sly grin on his lips. The cadets stood there in their tracks, afraid their insturctor would run them through more last minute drills. "Cadet Gildstand, you and Cadet Strife will be in command for this mission. Try not to fall asleep on the job will you?"
With that, the Commanding Officer gave them a crisp salute. Cloud and Zack returned their salutes. Zack saw that Cloud could barley contain the smile on his face. Their C.O. then turned smartly and exited the room.
Zack became slightly embarrassed when he realized that some of the cadets where congratulating them and waiting on him and Cloud to give them orders. "Uhh…. O- ok listen up troops!" He stammered, trying to sound as formal as he could. "Even though Cloud and I are your commanding officers, don't let that stop you from offering your input in any sticky situations that we may run into. You're all valuable to me. No one is expendable under my command. If we work together, we can all make it through this mission without a hitch."
"T- that's right!" Cloud stammered. Zack's words had impressed him. He didn't know Zack had it in him. "We will all make it through this mission. Lets just stick to our guns and follow orders."
All the cadets regarded Zack and Cloud with glowing admiration. Apparently their little pep talk had quickly earned them even more respect from their fellow troops.
"Well then", Zack said, clearing the knot out of his throat. We leave in four hours. I suggest we all just kick back and relax until then."
A few hours later, they were all situated in a Shinra sub being taken deep down into the sea. Many of the troops were nervous and shaking. One of them, a short plump man, was relentlessly chewing on his nails. Cloud was seated on his end wearing a mask of seriousness and resolve. He was determined to do well on his first mission and gain acceptance into the SOLDIER program. Zack, seated comfortably across from him, was dozing peacefully in his seat, occasionally tilting his head from side to side along with the sway of the sub.
However cloud noticed that one of the Shinra cadets didn't seem nervous at all. Only bored and impatient. Although it was clear this man tried to hide these emotions. Cloud had barley noticed his slip up. This cadet was slightly taller then the rest and had dark curly hair. He seemed moody and never really talked to anybody. Cloud simply shrugged and returned to his attention to his own grueling thoughts. He had to stay focused or he wouldn't make it into SOLDIER. This was constantly on his mind throughout the entire trip.
Finally the sub came to a stop, signaling that they had finally reached the underground research facility. Zack snapped awake immediately upon impact. He let out a rejuvenated yawn before unbuckling his straps and rising to his feet.
"Ok guys, this is it! Lets get this show on the road and make it back in time for dinner." With that said he hopped up out of the opening and stood to the side waiting for everyone else to follow suit.
The Shina Underwater Facility was quite big. The hatched opened up in the floor and gave them passage right in the main airlock of the base. A few feet away was the main room housing the terminal for the facility. The room was fairly big and had two access halls on either side. Other then that, it was quite plain. Clean walls and a glossy floor, typical standard Shinra Facility appearance.
The troops all eventually clambered out of the sub and assembled themselves in front of Zack, military fashion. Cloud, the last to exit the sub, took his post next to Zack. Once they were all out, the safety locks for the opening snapped, the door shut, and the submarine took off back to Junon.
"Ok, our transport is scheduled on request from either Cloud or myself in case of a severe emergency. However, we have orders to complete this mission in under six hours. We have that much time to find our canister and clear out of here. Remember, monsters do inhabit this facility so I want everyone to be on their guard."
"And no wondering off! If you do, we won't have time to look for you afterwards", Cloud added.
Zack walked over to the computer terminal and began punching in a sequence of keys. Suddenly a map of the facility was displayed on the main monitor. Cloud walked over and studied the map with him.
"Wait, there are two different science wings!" Cloud exclaimed.
"Yeah you didn't noticed that in the mission briefing's?"
Cloud silently berated himself for overlooking such a thing. "No I didn't."
"Ok Cloud how's this? I'll take the science wing A with a squad of six cadets while you take Science wing B with the other six cadets. That way we can cut the time in half."
"Sounds good. We can keep in touch with our radios. And if there's trouble we can get to each other through the interlock shortcuts here and here." Cloud pointed to two separate passageways, which joined the two science wings.
Behind them, the cadets began to get edgy. They were nervous and wanted to get the mission over with as soon as possible. As Zack saw this, he turned off the monitor and returned to the troops with Cloud. "Ok guys, here's the plan. Cloud will take half of you to Science wing B while I take the other half with me to Science wing A. Once their, one of our groups will retrieve the canister and that will be all there is to it."
"Lets get moving" said Cloud, as he pulled his automatic from his shoulder and took on a serious expression. Stay on your guard men. Jinkens, Parther, Rodis, Merdock, Faldo, and Simerron. You're all with me. The rest of you are with Zack. Lets move people." Cloud and his squad immediately took off towards Wing B.
Zack watched his friend go down the hall, then his drew his own automatic. Zack never liked guns. He preferred cold steel over automatics any day. However it was standard procedure for all Shinra cadets to arm themselves with automatics. Zell was forced use this gun, however at the same time, he kept his sword tightly strapped to his back. 'protection' is what he called it when his Commanding Officer asked him why he had it with him. His C.O. simply laughed at this and said that it would only give him an early grave since it would weigh him down in the heat of battle. However, Zack was not distraught by this and continued to wear his sword to prove his C.O. wrong.
The men followed Zack as he walked cautiously down the hallway towards Wing B. It soon became more and more boring for Zack. They had been walking down the corridor for 5 minutes now and still nothing had attacked them. Slowly those minutes became an hour and still there was nothing. At this point Zack had assumed an easy pace, however at the same time, he was still on his guard. "Where the hell are they?" Zack growled silently to himself.
He was finally beginning to get nervous. Something was very wrong. With every step he took, he had an ominous feeling that they were walking deeper and deeper into a trap. He had radioed to Cloud about his suspicions and asked if things were ok on his end. Cloud had replied that things were normal on his end and that Zack should be ready for anything. That transmission was a half an hour ago however and Zack was really beginning to get tense now. He wrestled with the idea of contacting Cloud again, but finally decided against it. If Cloud was in trouble he'd radio in to him.
After 15 more minutes of nervous anticipation, Zack and his group finally reached their destination. The door was reinforced with titanium alloy. It was pretty evident already that whatever kinds of research the Shinra scientists where involved in, had to be dangerous and this door was quite possibly a last line safety measure.
As Zack approached the door he noticed that their were dents lining the sides. 'What the hell could have done this?' He thought to himself. He immediately broke his attention away from this and concentrated on entering the command code that would open the door. He meticulously punched in four different codes. The door popped open and was immediately followed by a thick cloud of white smoke.
"Cloud do you copy? This is Squad 1. We have successfully reached Wing A and are now proceeding to advance. What's your position, over."
"I copy you loud and clear Squad leader 1. We are still in route to our destination. I estimate contact in about 10 to 20 minutes. Listen Zack…. I still have a pretty bad feeling about all of this." This last comment clearly revealed Cloud's distress and carried a small amount of fear. "Proceed with extreme caution."
"Roger that" Zack replied into his radio. Just then, Zack felt an ominous sense of dread and foreboding wash over him. He forcefully shrugged this emotion away. 'I've got to focus on the mission!' He thought to himself. 'Come on Zack, don't lose it now!' With that, Zack readied his M16 automatic and proceeded into the dark abandoned corridor of Science Wing A, signaling for his group to do the same.
CHAPTER 2
Zack's eyes widened in shock at the scene before him. The lab of the Science Wing A was a total mess. Shards of glass littered the floor everywhere. Test tubes lay splayed across the tables. The tables themselves were covered with shredded papers and blood of all colors. The research testing tanks where all broken and shattered. Some even had bullet wholes in them. However what truly appalled Zack was the number of dead bodies that cluttered the floor. Besides the endless pool of glass scattered about, the floor was littered with empty bullet shells and the bodies of dead scientist and a few organisms he couldn't distinguish. 'Those must be some of the experiments the Shinra scientists were testing on but what the hell were they doing?'
"What the hell is that!?!" One of the cadets shrieked in shock and disgust ripping Zack away from his thoughts. Zack spun around to see what the cadet was talking about. To his utter horror, Zack saw the body of a scientist slowly being devoured by some creature. Without another word Zack whipped out his automatic and opened fire on it. At the last minute the creature scurried away avoiding the sting of his bullets. Another one of the cadets opened fire this time but only managed to pelt the body of the dead scientist and cause the thing to scurry away into the shadows.
"Shit!" yelled the cadet who had fired. Upon hearing his angry cry, Zack now regarded this man with mild sympathy in his eyes. The man wore a mask of anger and rage but Zack could see that, behind that mask, the cadet was deathly afraid and feared for his life. At this point Zack collected his own fear and pushed it to the bottom of his being, taking on a temperance of courage and control.
"At ease guys. Stay sharp but don't jump the gun." That said Zack, once again scanned his surroundings. The layout of the lab consisted of seven columns. Each row was lined with testing tubes which, by now, where all either shattered, riddled with bullets, or both. The walls of the room were falling apart in some areas. Huge jagged pieces of technology were hanging form the openings. Zack surveyed the amount of destruction in pure astonishment. Whatever did this had to have been very strong. The walls and floors of the lab where all reinforced with titanium alloy similar to the material used on the door. How could any creature tear through that kind of metal with just its bare hands? Finally, as Zack scanned the lab more closely his eyes rested on a computer terminal. Zack had found what he had been searching for.
"Ok troops, I'm gonna go see what I can pull up off this terminal. It may help us locate the canister. I want all of you locked and loaded."
The men all nodded at this order and obediently released the safety locks of their firearms. Satisfied, Zack walked over to the terminal and began punching in a series of keys accessing the main data base of Science Wing A. He let out an irritated sigh as he had to scroll through piles of useless material. Zack almost gave up the search of ever finding anything useful on the terminal when he suddenly spotted a log entry by a certain professor Gast. The name sounded familiar to Zack but he couldn't quite remember exactly where he had heard it before. Dismissing this thought, Zack called up the file and began to read its contents.
May 4
'The experiments are running along smoothly. We have finally established some link as to utilizing the abilities of the Jenova organism. It was discovered that, Once merged with mako energy, creatures injected with the Jenova cells, (which we will label as jeno-cells), have been experiencing sudden occurrences of erratic behavior exhibiting astounding amounts of strength and ability. Truly, this is an observation that must be explored more closely'.
May 10
'It has been several days since we began the experiments. It appears that my original ambitions for this project have been greatly overestimated. Several hours after injection of the jeno-cells the creatures become totally insane and lose all sense of will and reason. I have no other choice but to label this as a failed experiment and scrap the whole project. Professor Hojo, my colleague, does not seem to share my opinion however. He seams obsessed with the continuation of this project. The man is insane if he thinks I will continue after what just happened.
May 20
I had thought we had been rid of that accursed monstrosity. But apparently someone has conducted further research and our original test specimen for the jeno-cell insertion has grown immensely in size and proportion. It has killed a staff member earlier today. What the hell? I gave no one permission to conduct further research on that thing. I bet it was him! That bastard. I will be sending him back to Midgar in a few weeks. Then finally I will be done with him. (To use unscientific terms) the man is a wacko.
June 1
Things have been getting totally out of hand. There has been a viral outbrake in Science wing A, a couple days ago. Thus Shinra has saw fit to leave us down here to 'prevent' contamination. I'm sure there is a conspiracy. But what could it be? Suffice to say, Science wing A was totally lost to us. The creatures have over run the lab and have killed many researchers and guards. That bastard Hojo! All he does is laughs and mutters to himself about how perfect that 'thing' is. What the hell could he be thinking? We have moved our research to Science Wing B. we have taken the Jenova organism with us to prevent further exposure to the jeno cells. For some strange reason the creatures seem to be attracted to it. If I wasn't mistaken it could almost be compared to the relationship of a child wanting to be reunited with a long lost parent.
June 12
The creatures have overrun our defenses in Science Wing B. we have been forced to abandon our final lab as well as the Jenova organism. I am pleased to say Hojo was quite upset about this. Good riddance I say.
June 20
Good news. I have finally been able to persuade Shinra to get us out of this hell whole. It's about damn time. We will be leaving in the next half hour. Hojo seems compelled to stay for some reason. I have no problem with that. Let the bastard rot for all his evil scheming. Unfortunately the company wants him alive for some reason so we have to take him with us. Well all is almost complete now. My only worry is exactly what are those creatures going to do now that they are reunited with the Jenova organism. Ever since they had invaded the Science Wing B, they have been multiplying at an alarming rate. Not only that, but they seem to be developing viral toxins which have killed many scientists in less then minutes. And there is also the dread of that horrid beast. The original experiment from the byproducts of the jeno-cells. It has increased in size tremendously, and is now a walking killing machine inside that lab. Oh well. My hope is that Shinra will be smart about the whole thing and destroy the research facility as soon as possible. This is a very bad stain on Shinra that needs to be scrubbed out with great haste.
As Zack finished reading the last entry, a pool of dread washed over his entire being. 'Science Wing B… Cloud is in Science wing B!' A million thoughts ran through Zack's head as those words reverberated on his conscience. 'We chose the wrong wing!' Zack thought in frustration. Cloud was in Wing B. That's were the canister was. That was also were all of the mutated monsters were. And Cloud was left alone with six other soldiers to face them off. Zack broke out of his trance and pulled out his automatic. He had made his decision.
"Ok troops listen up! We are going to head towards Wing B. There's nothing of value in this room. Now, we will proceed to-"
"AAAGHHHH!!!!!"
Zack's words were cut off by the screams of one of the Cadets as a huge monster jumped from out of one of the wholes in the ceiling and landed on him. The poor soldier died instantly as the monster locked its teeth around his neck and ripped it from his shoulders. It stared menacingly at the other soldiers as it slowly chewed the remains of its latest victim.
The whole area broke out into chaos as the troops began firing at this monster. They were all scared, however Zack took charge and rushed forward towards the beast. He pummeled it with bullets as he closed the distance. Once close enough, he discarded his M16 and drew his Buster sword! He sliced down hard, separating the creature's upper torso from its lower body killing it instantly. Without looking back, Zack stood up and wiped the blood from his blade.
"Come on. We have to keep moving and make it to Wing B. Once we acquire the canister, we'll get the hell out of here."
The troops complied and thus, Zack led them down the corridor towards Science Wing B.
:::::::::To Be Continued:::::::::::
Author's Note: Thanks for reading. I hope you all enjoyed it. Please stay tuned for part 2 of this fic.
-Cordis