"Nothing, except a battle lost,
can be half so melancholy as a battle won."
—Arthur Wellesley
"Old sins cast long shadows."
—Traditional
Final Fantasy VII
Daedalus Core
Part 1
'From the Ashes'
Outskirts of Midgar / January 21 / 1:07 am
Meteorfall
Another blast wave struck the Highwind's bow, sending the airship reeling, leaving its fuselage shuddering and threatening to tear apart from the sheer strain, while its crew members clung to whatever surface was closest at hand to keep from stumbling and falling. In the distance, the unthinking monstrosity that was Meteor pressed ever downwards, slowly tearing through the planet's atmosphere as it descended towards Midgar. The Highwind, recovering its balance, slowly circled the chaotic scene, staying just outside the city's perimeter to avoid being caught up in the unnatural storms raging throughout the vast metropolis. Inside, Avalanche and the ship's crew members watched the spectacle unfold in disbelief, powerless to intervene as the preternatural celestial object hovered over the city, ever closer to destabilizing the very planet as it came crashing down. They looked on, seized by a quiet despair, knowing that all of their efforts had been for nothing as the accursed thing continued to wreak havoc unchecked; that they were witnessing the end of their world. The halo of light, too, had failed. The counter-spell known as 'Holy' had been released from its constraints as they had hoped, but it was too late, too weak to halt Meteor's blind onslaught. Within the next few moments, it would render their planet uninhabitable, or destroy it outright.
A mad, dead, would-be-god's legacy of ruin.
Then, they witnessed something truly miraculous as the Lifestream itself began to swell up from the earth, pale azure tendrils snaking from the ground, converging on the malignant asteroid, enveloping it and the residual energy from the contravening magic, amplifying its light, drowning out everything in its surroundings, making it impossible to see as the two gargantuan forces of nature strove against one another. The overwhelming cacophony and blinding arcs of light overloaded their senses as the conflict between the two forces reached its crescendo. Just as the light began to blind them, another powerful shock wave came bursting through the air, sending the Highwind careening once again, knocking them to their feet.
The light slowly faded from the sky, leaving only a vast, empty space where the baleful object had towered over the city of Midgar. Everyone aboard the Highwind slowly raised themselves back to their feet, their minds still acclimating to the sudden, shocking stillness in the air. For a moment, they simply stared at the empty sky, dumbfounded, still too shaken to say anything. Meteor was gone, and not even the echoes of the pandemonium that had filled the sky mere seconds earlier remained.
Tifa was the first to speak up, breaking the eerie silence. "It's gone," she said with a nervous half-laugh of relief. "It's over."
Her words elicited an immediate rejoicing from all. Her comrades-in-arms shook hands, hugged, patted each other on the back. A few even leapt in the air, fists pumping, or took to some semblance of a victory dance. Their long struggle had come to an end. Sephiroth had been defeated. Shinra was no more, and Meteor was gone. They could afford to let their guard down at last.
"...It's not over," Cloud said.
Though he spoke quietly, his abrupt contradiction caused the others to cease their celebrations. They observed the grave look on his face, so perfectly out of joint with their elated mood, and wondered what was troubling his mind. He did not look up at them, however, instead keeping his eyes fixed on the horizon.
"He's right," Vincent said. "Look, down there."
The others moved closer to the observation windows to see what the two of them were looking at. And then it dawned on them. The city below, they realized in horror, was falling apart. Only now that Meteor had vanished could they see the full extent of the devastation wrought by the unnatural phenomenon. Lingering storms still ravaged the city, the pillars supporting the upper plates slowly gliding apart, unable to resist the strain, whisper-close to collapsing altogether. Everywhere, structural damage and raging fires conspired to turn the overwhelmed metropolis into a death trap.
Down below, first responders would be scrambling to conduct rescue operations, but untold civilians, they knew, had likely already perished in the chaos. Thousands more would join them unless they intervened, and quickly. To make matters worse, Midgar's artificial perimeter was failing. As a result, monsters from the outskirts of the city, no longer held at bay by its protective walls, had begun swarming into the slums, terrorizing the defenseless population.
"The whole damn city's overrun," Barret said.
"We have to get down there," Yuffie urged.
"Cid, take us down," Cloud said, turning to the Highwind's captain.
"Yeah, good call," Cid replied, gesturing for the crew to make preparations for landing. "Gotta put this thing on the ground, anyway. She's taken a hell of a beating."
Cloud and the others wasted no time assembling in the airship's loading bay, gathering their weapons and equipment as the ship rapidly descended. Bright artificial light from the city flooded the cold compartment as the loading ramp slowly opened. The Highwind nearly slammed into the ground, its crew making no attempt at a subtle landing, causing the whole airship to shudder violently as it touched down just outside the city limits, forcing several of them to catch hold of something for balance, waiting until the reverberations had ceased.
The disparate members of Avalanche each looked to one another, exchanging quick glances with their allies, as they regarded the nightmare that awaited them below. Outside, the megastructure that was Midgar continued to fall apart, with buildings collapsing, fires burning, and civilians fleeing for their lives, while eerie monstrosities preyed on anything that moved.
"All right," Cloud said, "Let's go."
"Godspeed, everyone," Vincent added, before they charged, arms drawn, down the Highwind's loading ramp, descending into the maelstrom.
Shinra Headquarters / January 24 / 3:19 am
Three nights after Meteorfall
Two black helicopters honed in on the shattered ruins of the Shinra headquarters' tower, approaching the abandoned monolith under a fulminating sky, hard rain and wind battering their windshields as they drew nearer their target.
"Groundside entry is a no-go," the first helicopter's pilot said. "LZ's too unstable. Recommend you take the rooftop instead."
"We'll infiltrate via the elevator tunnels," Archer, the team's leader, responded via the second helicopter's radio. "Watch our six."
"Copy that," the first helicopter's pilot responded. "Will maintain a patrol pattern. Good luck down there."
The second helicopter came to a stop above the tower, and three figures quickly descended from it, rappelling down to the ceiling, while the other helicopter circled the perimeter. The three soldiers wasted no time forcing open one of the elevator entrances leading inside the main building, breaking the damaged, inoperable doors down with a battering ram after a futile attempt to activate the locking mechanism with key cards. They moved further down, abseiling through the empty tunnels leading from the top floor down to just below their intended destination.
They swept like shadows through the derelict building, the flashlights on their rifles piercing the dark as they stalked onward, keeping a lookout for hidden threats as they proceeded to their target. As they did, the twisted metal floor underneath their feet groaned with nearly every step they took, ready to break apart at the slightest application of pressure. Everywhere, the inside of the Shinra tower showed signs of extreme structural damage, with walls and floor alike shredded and torn, and in some places missing entirely. Malfunctioning computer equipment occasionally flickered into life somewhere in the gloom, before slowly dying out again.
The building was devoid of all life, or so it appeared. A low, ghostly howl came emanating from the cracks in the walls through which the howling wind found ingress, causing the tattered banners bearing the Shinra corporation's insignia to billow and fluctuate, while the torrential rain slipped inside from every rent and crack, wetting the edges of the floor. Sparks flew from loose electrical cables hanging from the ceiling, while thin wisps of smoke poured in from below.
"Man, this place is falling apart," Watts, one of the soldiers, remarked.
"No shit," Riley, the second one, replied. "It's a damn miracle it hasn't collapsed on our heads already."
"Where's that smoke coming from?" Watts asked.
"Chemical fires must still be burning down below," Riley said.
"Great," Watts replied. "What the hell happened here, anyway?"
"Place got scored by that giant mech, is what I heard."
"For real?"
"Yeah," Riley said. "Tore through this place like a goddamn jackhammer. Apparently a couple of glancing hits were enough to wreck the whole building. If it'd been head on, HQ would be a smoking crater right now."
"Stay focused," Archer reprimanded them, taking the lead.
"Captain Archer. Status report?" a voice came over the radio, its tone level and authoritative.
"The structural integrity of this place has been severely compromised," Archer replied. "I'd rather we not stay here any longer than necessary."
"Any problems with the civilian population?" the voice on the other end of the line inquired.
"Civvies don't know a thing," Archer replied. "As far as they're concerned, our presence here is just part of the rescue operations."
"Good. Proximity to objective?" the other voice pursued.
"Approaching the President's office now," Archer said.
"What's left of it, anyway," Watts added under his breath. Archer shot him a look, but said nothing.
They moved swiftly up the semi-circular stairs leading to the President's office, finding it as lifeless as the rest of the building. Archer set his rifle on the desk and removed his gas mask, while his subordinates swept the surrounding area.
"Looks clear, sir," Riley reported.
"All right. Let's wrap this up quick," Archer said. "Riley, get on the mainframe."
Riley walked over behind the desk, removing a laptop and a set of cables from his backpack, plugging them into the President's terminal. The terminal blinked into life, being one of the few pieces of electrical equipment still kept running by what little remained of the building's emergency power. The soldier quickly tapped in a few commands with his keyboard, assessing the status of the building's network.
"Looks like someone's been trying to access the mainframe from outside."
"We got anything to worry about?" Archer asked.
"No, sir," Riley replied. "Fail-safes are all in place. They might have scratched the surface, but nothing critical has been compromised. Hidden database integrity is intact."
"Good," Archer said. "Grab the data we need, then wipe everything."
"On it, sir," Riley said.
"Sir, got a body over here," Watts called, waving the captain over.
Archer walked over to the second soldier, who was kneeling down over a charred body located in the corner of the room, wearing what would have been a white suit and coat, now scorched to grey and black.
"It's him," Watts said. "It's gotta be."
"Turn him around," Archer said.
The soldier complied, rolling the body over into a supine position. He and Archer both resisted the urge to recoil at the sight of the dead man's face, all crackled and burnt, disfigured beyond all recognition.
"Confirm," the voice on the radio said.
Watts shook his head. "This guy's been burnt to a crisp. No way to ID the body from a visual."
"Riley, bring the kit," Archer said.
"Sir," the first soldier replied, leaving his position at the mainframe, pausing to retrieve a small electronic device from his backpack before joining them. He set the device down next to the body, then drew a pair of thin cables fitted with small needles from its side, pushing them underneath the skin on the body's right arm. As he did, the device's monitor flashed into life:
"Beginning genetic matching."
A burst of information raced across the monochrome black-and-green monitor, too fast for any human eye to read, as the device ran through its calculations, before halting abruptly on its final output:
"100% match," the message read, blinking and fading in slow rhythm for a few seconds, before the device switched itself off again.
"It's him," Riley said, removing the device.
"Captain Archer, confirm," the voice on the radio insisted.
"...Rufus Shinra is dead, sir," Archer announced.
There was a brief silence on the other end. Finally, the reply came. "The chain of command is clear," the voice said. "As the last remaining member of the board, I am hereby assuming control of Shinra. All its assets, including its military, now fall under my control. How copy, Captain?"
"Solid copy, sir," Archer replied. "Orders?"
Another pause, longer this time, as whoever was on the other end of the line carefully weighed their next decision.
"Activate Daedalus Protocol."
"Understood, sir," Archer said, looking to his fellow soldiers. He could see from the way they subtly tensed up that the severity of this directive was not lost upon them. "Permission to deploy Deepground?"
"...Granted."
"Thank you, Mr. Blackwood," Archer said. He picked his rifle up from the desk and cocked it, grinning, before gesturing for his subordinates to pack up their gear. Bright light flooded the demolished office as one of the helicopters outside descended, hovering just above the balcony, ready for extraction.
"All right, boys," he said. "Looks like we're off the leash. It's time to raise some hell."
Eagle's Nest, South Midgar / February 28 / 8:56 am
38 days after Meteorfall
Barret heaved himself on upwards through the grimy, uneven stairwell of the apartment complex, finally reaching the uppermost floor after what felt like an eternity of scaling creaky, cheaply made steps. He approached the last door on the left side of the corridor, banging loudly on the door of apartment #803.
"Who is it?" a familiar voice came from inside.
"It's me," Barret said. "Open up."
He could hear a lock sliding open before the door opened just a crack, a second chain lock going taut as it did. Cloud Strife, looking strangely dishevelled and worn-out, regarded his unexpected visitor warily from the other side of the door. He struck Barret as tired, haggard, and quite possibly not all there.
Barret did not bother with putting a fine point on it. "Damn, boy. You look like you've been run over by a train."
Cloud rolled his eyes. "Good to see you too, Barret."
He shut the door again momentarily, undoing the other lock before swinging the door open again, letting his visitor inside. It was strange, Barret thought, seeing his old comrade-in-arms in civilian attire, a simple set of t-shirt and jeans. Still, he supposed, it was perhaps not so surprising that he had ditched his stolen SOLDIER uniform, given its history and connotations. He certainly couldn't blame his friend for wanting to cut ties with the past.
He looked over the small, shabby apartment, which looked as though it had gone unattended for weeks. The blinds before the windows appeared to be permanently drawn, dirty plates lay piled up in the sink, and everything save for the living room floor seemed to be gathering dust. He spotted some exercise equipment in one corner, just starting to show signs of falling into disuse. Bottles of beer and hard liquor were strewn all over the place, including the floor. A small, battered TV tuned to a local news channel sat on the table opposite the couch, the anchor droning on endlessly as she moved from one news item to another.
"...the large-scale dismantling of Mako reactors continues world-wide, following the ratification of the 'Gaia Protection Act', effectively outlawing the use of Mako energy. Midgar's interim government is expected to finalize..."
"So, this is where you've been holed up this whole time, huh?" Barret asked.
"More or less," Cloud replied, drifting off into the kitchen corner.
"No offense, but... you're lookin' kinda wiry, Spikes," Barret said. "The hell happened to you?"
"Just taking some time off," Cloud replied, digging through the refrigerator.
Barret scoffed. "From what? Basic hygiene?"
If Cloud had heard his remark, he made little indication of it. He rose up again slowly, with two bottles of beer in hand. "Want one?"
Barret looked at him sideways. "It's like nine in the morning."
Cloud glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall. "Hmmh. Looks like I'm starting late today."
Barret shook his head. He couldn't decide if Cloud was trying to be funny, or simply dismissing his concern with glib remarks.
"Last chance," Cloud said, offering once more.
"I'll pass, thanks," Barret replied, trying not to sound too sarcastic.
"Suit yourself." Cloud shrugged, then walked past him, using one bottle to crack the other one open before taking a swig. He sat down on the couch, continuing to drink and watch the news roll by, acting as though he didn't have company. Barret exhaled loudly and shook his head again. The war with Shinra had been one thing, but it was clear that peace-time was really doing a number on his friend. Whatever it was that had kept him going throughout the last days of Meteorfall had begun to fade, leaving him dulled by inaction and a lack of purpose. Unlike the sharp, intense leader of Avalanche that he had been mere weeks before, he now simply looked burnt out and indifferent.
"...Reports of another random attack on a small settlement outside of Edge, with the greater part of the village burned down to the ground. Civilian casualties are estimated to be in the hundreds. As of yet, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but authorities suspect that the Wutaian terrorist organization known as 'Tempest' may be responsible for committing this atrocity. Local police are on high alert, and there are talks underway about calling in the Continental Guard to prevent further attacks from extremist groups such as..."
"You seeing this?" Barret asked. "The fuck is wrong with people?"
Cloud shrugged again. "Hell if I know."
Neither of them said anything for a moment, as they watched the grainy footage of the destroyed village roll on. What must have been an ordinary, peaceful village at the edge of the countryside had been reduced to cinders, with scarcely a single building left standing, or any survivors to pick up the pieces. For what purpose, if any, neither of them could say. "That's the problem, isn't it?" he added quietly. "You can save the planet, Barret, but you can't fix humanity."
"..."Seismic activity is still on the rise in the greater Midgar area, with tremors expected to increase in volume and intensity throughout the next weeks. Thus far, no scientific consensus has been reached as to what might be causing this recent development, with theories ranging from volcanic activity to accidental terraformation due to the sudden removal of active Mako reactors in this region..."
"...So, what's with the courtesy call?" Cloud asked, after a moment of silence.
"Jes' came to check up on you is all," Barret said. "You pretty much dropped off the grid after... well, after everything."
He looked over at Cloud. No reaction.
"Teef's been callin'. She's worried about you."
Cloud gave a small nod at this, staring vacantly at the wall in front of him, avoiding eye contact. He seemed reluctant to ask about her, for some reason. Barret knew that, as much as they cherished one another, their relationship could be strained at times, and that they'd had little to no contact after Avalanche disbanded. And so he had decided to check up on his friend before letting Tifa know of his whereabouts. Given Cloud's current state, it struck him as the wiser choice.
"How is she?" Cloud finally asked.
"She's doing all right," Barret said. "Still piecing together that new place downtown. Seems like bad karma, if you ask me, naming it '7th Heaven' all over again."
"...The new government has declared the north-west section of Midgar off-limits to all civilian traffic until further notice, citing extreme infrastructure damage..."
"How'd you find me, anyway?" Cloud asked.
"Asked around," Barret replied. "Reeve's been keepin' tabs on everyone."
"That so?" Cloud said. "You should tell him to stop spying on people. His Shinra days are over." He paused, adding, "you would think."
At least he was no less caustic and dismissive than usual, Barret thought. That was something. Most of that vim, however, seemed to be festering in this hell hole, slowly turning inward. "Man, you really need to get outta this place," he said. "This shit ain't good for you."
"Sure," Cloud replied. "Let me just clear my schedule."
Barret's hands tightened into fists. He was about one smart-ass remark away from losing his patience. He held his tongue for the moment, however, and instead wandered about the untidy apartment. He noticed something, a small table lined with old photographs of Avalanche, which were kept in pristine condition, in stark contrast with their surroundings. One stood out to Barret in particular, a group photo taken at the Gold Saucer just before their visit to the Temple of the Ancients. He picked up the photo and examined it in detail.
In it, the group was gathered in the amusement park's brightly-lit central hub, thronged together as they all did their best to fit into the camera's narrow frame. Tifa and Aerith held up Cait Sith between the two of them, playfully cuddling the animatronic cat despite its protests. Cid, meanwhile, could be seen at the edge of the frame, sneaking a sip from his flask while sneering at the scene, while Vincent stood to one side, looking off into the distance. Barret recalled how moments earlier Yuffie had been horsing around, trying to elicit a ride from a taciturn Nanaki, before falling over, nearly knocking the girls in front of her down to the floor, evoking surprised laughter from the others. Even Cloud seemed amused by the young girl's antics, a smile threatening to appear on his face as she accidentally photo-bombed Tifa and Aerith, a huge grin plastered on her face. The photo had not been taken so long ago, and yet it struck him as a remnant of a more innocent time. A fragment of better days, frozen in time.
He looked up at the TV again. The news ticker read: "The End of Shinra?"
"...The body of Rufus Shinra will be laid to rest this afternoon at Crescent Hill Park outside of Kalm. Few are expected to attend the service. With no known surviving family members, his death marks the end of the Shinra bloodline, as well as the dissolution of the once-great corporate empire..."
He noted the blank look on Cloud's face. Their victory must have seemed a sad joke to him, given how much they'd sacrificed to achieve it. The promise he had made, then broken, back when they were still nine, not eight. He heaved a deep sigh, briefly pondering the other losses Avalanche had suffered throughout the years, before reforming in Midgar, then set the photograph back on the table. "Look, man, I sympathize. I do. But you can't shut the world out forever."
Cloud took another swig from his bottle and continued to stare out into nothingness. "Watch me."
"I'm serious, boy," Barret said. "You need to drop this 'world-weary' horseshit and get your head back in the game."
For the first time, Cloud responded to his friend's incessant prodding with something resembling real emotion. Unfortunately, that emotion happened to be anger. He put the bottle down and rose to his feet, glowering at him, clearly growing impatient with his constant provocations. "What do you want from me, Barret?" he asked wearily. "The rescue operations are over. There's nothing more for me to do."
"There's always somethin'," Barret said. "The world ain't gonna rebuild itself, y'know."
"Then go talk to someone who knows how to build things," Cloud said, slowly shaking his head. "I'm done."
Barret gave him a disdainful scowl, looking over the grimy apartment one last time. "Yeah, no shit."
He turned and headed for the door, disgusted with his friend's strange and uncharacteristic passivity, then stopped in the doorway, pausing for a moment to dig something out of his pocket. "Believe it or not, there's still people out there that care about your spiky ass," he said, thrusting a small, folded piece of paper into Cloud's hands, glaring at him all the while. "Call."
He turned away again, slamming the door as he left.
Cloud examined the slip of paper in his hands. A number was written on the inside in small, neat handwriting. Tifa's new number, he assumed. They'd all discarded their old phones not long after the rescue operations in Midgar concluded, on the assumption that the authorities would want to have a few words with them. They were still fugitives from the law, after all, thanks to Shinra's propaganda, never having had a chance to tell their side of the story.
"...Adrian Blackwood, the newly-minted CEO of Novus Vita Medical Research Incorporated, is expected to give a public address, followed by an exclusive interview on our network regarding the company's controversial decision to deploy what they are calling a 'peacekeeping force', in addition to outlining their expansion into various new enterprises ranging from..."
He walked back over to the couch and sat down, holding the piece of paper in his hands, staring at it for a long while. Calling her would be the sensible thing to do. The rational thing. He looked up, glancing at his phone, lying on the table at the far side of the room. His eyes wandered to the set of photos next to it, and he felt old regrets welling up as he looked at them. No, he thought, the last thing she needed was to see him like this. He crumpled up the piece of paper and threw behind his shoulder, down onto the dirty floor below.
"...In other news, the citizens of Edge plan to unveil a new statue in the city centre, to commemorate the end of the Meteor Crisis, which threatened to..."
He snatched up the second beer bottle and took a long swig, emptying it in one gulp, before moving on to the half-empty bottle of rye next to it. It tasted like paint thinner, but at least it numbed the pain. He turned turned over on his side, lying down on the couch, facing away from the TV, letting the inebriation roll over him, consciousness fading to static as the unceasing flood of news droned on.
"...Fortunately, the loss of life was minimized by timely rescue efforts, when..."
[Author's Notes]
This is something of an experiment. As such, it is bound to be in a perpetual state of "first draft" quality (being that the perfect is, as they say, the enemy of the good). Here, I can only ask the reader's patience as I proceed. There will likely be a large set of author's notes at the outset of the story, updated from time to time, in order to keep such clutter at a minimum from here on. Questions, comments, and constructive criticism are welcome, and I would be indebted to any eagle-eyed readers catching spelling errors, typos, odd or awkward sentence structures, dangling participles, &c. I will do my level best to update and fix the story accordingly.
[Timeline]
In order to clear up any potential confusion regarding this story's timeline, I thought I should write a few words regarding the time frame in which it is meant to take place. This is not, technically speaking, an AU. Rather, I am resetting the clock back to just after the original story's ending. In this continuity, 'Advent Children' and 'Dirge of Cerberus' don't take place. Although it is technically compatible with the events of 'Crisis Core', I won't be making any explicit references to it. Should contradictions arise from this (whether in terms of story logic or aesthetics), any and all events taking place in the extended canon will be overruled by the ones from the original story.
[DC Deepground]
Although the story will use the term "Deepground" extensively, this is not intended to be the Deepground / Tsviets from 'Dirge of Cerberus'. I am merely borrowing the title. In this case, "Deepground" is intended to be the special unit itself, and will be referred to in future author's notes as "DC Deepground", to avoid ambiguity. All characters involved will be original creations.
[Additional media]
I may add other kinds of media to chapters from time to time, including game and film scores to help set the mood. ( tends to remove any external links, however, so these may only be available in the AO3 version.)
A playlist for chapter 1 may be found here:
playlist?list=PLh0EE1-PgZldxVqvrdtjbzdLsF3bsQxFV
[Updates]
Unfortunately, given my busy schedule, I cannot guarantee any regular updates. The next update will most likely surface this summer, and I am hoping to make regular updates at a rate of one new chapter per month thereafter, if able.
Thank you for reading.
[Addendum]
A more media-rich version of this story can be found at AO3.