A/N: Hi huns - meet number two in my list of fics that are being rewritten, I was reading back over this lately, and decided that I had to much going on in the plot for one fic, so Sephiroth and The Remnants have been taken out, and I've left DGS as the main antagonists. I hope you like the rewrite!
"Hey - come back here you two!"
As soon as the words had left the middle-aged male's mouth - two youths had turned on their heels and legged it…albeit; neither one wasting their time in stuffing additional shop merchandise into their already loaded rucksacks… … …for a few weeks now; Edge, as city that had seen no crime or greed since it's construction…all who inhabited the city had seen enough of what such attributes ultimately gave way to - six long years had passed since Gaia had, once again, been threatened by it's past…DGS had risen from their entrapment below the levels of Midgar…and had wreaked utter havoc upon the planet and its' people who had, in a sense; unwillingly abandoned them. Too much heartache and destruction had been brought about due to the greed and power that had been given birth to in Midgar…so it was no wonder that such hindering aspects were not heard of in Edge, the people of the city had already bore witness to the destruction, they themselves created, and were not willing to make the same mistake twice in a lifetime.
Nineteen-year-old Cara Ryan and twenty-three-old Rick Foley ran hell for leather upon hearing the shout, knowing, without even looking around, what had happened; they'd been spotted… … …Over the last two weeks or so, the people of Edge had become aware of the sudden materialization of shoplifting and petty theft, odd thing being; none of this had ever happened within Edge before this, the greed had long since died along with Midgar, and now it was capable for the smallest of children to roam the new city and not have to worry about abduction or the likes; the people of Edge asked for nothing in return but a friendly smile and the reassurance that if they needed it; someone would willingly lend a hand. But now the euphonious city had been unsettled by the sudden robberies, and the appearance of the two youngsters…
"Someone catch them!"
Upon hearing the shout; Cloud, Rufus and the Turks, looked towards its' source, from where they had been stood - deep in conversation…it seemed that all good things must come to an end - reports had been received by The WRO regarding uniformed troops attacking several small towns and villages…but what the chilling detail was; these troops were told to be wearing a navy uniform, with a neon blue streak down the sides… … …though six years had elapsed since the last sighting of such uniforms - all remembered those who had worn such a garment; DeepGround Soldiers… … …but things were different this time around - back then; they had fought so as to protect the planet, regardless of their own safety, but things had complicated themselves since back then…and it was a frightening thought that such enemies could have returned… … …and these two brats weren't making matters any easier, a lot of the civilians were starting to get, somewhat, angered and worried, by their appearance and utter cheek…to just walk into a city, with no apparent connections or relations, and take what they want from hard working civilians… … …
Rick ground to a sharp halt as he spotted the gang standing in his, and Cara's path, with a split-second decision, the young man twisted on his heels and headed for the nearest alley-way, grabbing his female counter-part by the wrist, yanking her his direction as he made the sudden detour…
"This way!"
"I'll head them off at the end - you cover front and sides - they've caused enough hassle already…"
Without so much as a further note of explanation, Cloud mounted Fenrir and made for the end of the alley - it was foolish in a sense, for the two troublesome youths to choose escape through an alley - thanks to The Strife Delivery Service, Cloud knew every single short-cut that Edge held within it's maze-like structure… … …
"Hold it yo!"
Cara hastily skidded to a rushed halt as she made to make a dag through one of the side exits leading from the alley, only to come within inches of a redheaded Turk, Reno - that was his name, second in command of the Turks, and a top-rate assassin…skilled with hand-to-hand combat and beyond most in regards with agility and speed…she could probably out run him, but just in case - it would be easier just to get back to base without having to deal with ShinRa…yet… … …
"Rick - head to end, and get back to the base…I'll double back and make my own way back!"
The tall youth nodded his head slightly, whilst shifting the loaded rucksack up on his shoulder - for truth to be told, he didn't like the idea of separating, but it reduced their chances of being cornered as opposed to the two of them going the same way - and Cara was more than capable of taking care of herself…he just had to trust she knew what she was up to, the last thing they all needed was her getting roped in by ShinRa… … …without another thought on the subject; the young man did as instructed and turned on his heels, heading straight on, towards the end of the alley…only to halt slightly as the screeching of tyres reverberated throughout the narrow alley, highlighting the fact that Rick's only exit had been blocked, the twenty-three-year-old glanced up to see a black motorcycle having blocked his exit route, he knew the blonde sitting on it - Cloud Strife…he had been the one to defeat the Remnants and Sephiroth seven years ago…according to the recon team anyhow - but that was that, right then; he needed to get back to the base before the twins ran riot - Cara would kill them two idiots soon… … …Cloud watched on, in slight surprise, as the young man barely hesitated in using one of the near-by trash cans as leverage to leap clear over his blockade… … …but not before the blonde had caught a glimpse of the youth's face - it was unnerving…eerie even.
Cara sped around a sharp corner, only to collide with someone's solid figure, and find herself landing heavily upon her butt, with a painful jolt up her back… … …before the nineteen-year-old had time enough to register whom she had ran into - a strong, unrelenting, grip closed around her upper arm, dragging her back to her feet… … …As Rude looked to the strange youth, he became aware of several unusual aspects to her features, mainly her eyes…both of them were grey, a rare enough hue to start with, but what chilled him about them; was the hollowness and emptiness that seemed to be present in them, despite the, more than evident, glow of Mako that seemed to draw ones' attention to the hollow orbs…her skin was pale, paler than any he had seen before, as white as milk, and even though she had a small frame, the force, with which she had collided with him, was totally out of proportion to the basic laws of physics; meaning that much force shouldn't of come out of such a small build. But what caught his attention above all these; was the tattoo beneath her left eye, two small block capitals; LF… … …
"Let go!"
Cara wrenched her elbow back sharply, in an attempt to unset the tight, vice-like, grip holding her wrist, but failed, so instead; aimed a kick for a male's truest weakest spot, situated just below the belt… … …
"Reno - grab her!"
Rufus let shout as he watched the teen take off once more, knowing that if any person there could hold a chance of catching her, it would be the most speed-gifted of the Turks…Reno did as instructed by his superior, taking off after the youth as she turned heels and legged it, though even he had to admit, she was fast, extraordinarily so, but he was faster, if only a little bit! But just as the Turk made a grab for the hood of her dark red hoody, she turned and outstretched one of her hands his way - the vividly-haired Turk was knocked clean off his feet, as an invisible force struck him hard into the chest…serving to wind the Turk also… … …by the time the rest caught up, the teenager was long gone from view.
"You alright?"
Reno nodded lightly to Cloud's query, as he reclaimed his footing, albeit wincing slightly as he rubbed his chest, it evidently having taken the brunt of whatever had thrown him back…still fighting to overcome the painful winding also…
"What…the hell…hit me yo?!"
Cloud shook his head unknowingly, he had just been asking himself the same question - things were getting far too weird for his liking at this stage, between what had just transpired with Reno, and the glimpse he had obtained of the male's face - these were far from ordinary youths…
"What was the tattoo about?"
Again - several shaking heads met the blonde's query - most were still, somewhat, confused as to what had just happened… … …Rufus shook his head, it was bothering him greatly, those two kids weren't normal, that much was more than obviously true, but there was something about them that seemed to set alarm bells ringing in the back of his mind all of a shot - their eyes, the Mako gleam…
"I'm not sure…I'm going to contact Reeve, he has some of Scarlet's old reports and files…"
"What makes you think they have a connection to ShinRa?"
Even Cloud seemed surprised by the question that had, seemingly, rolled from his tongue, without his volition…but it seemed the correct question to pose at that moment in time, the last thing that had come of Scarlet's files had been DeepGround, and it seemed even they were on the move once more, though how, none were capable of saying… … …Rufus merely shrugged as he turned;
"A feeling I have…that and their eyes, Mako-gleam isn't that common, only; Reno, you, and your daughter have it…"
"Bout time Cara! We were about to send some troops looking for you!"
Cara looked up as she entered the expansive, sub-terrain building that had become their base as of late, they had needed to escape that hellhole they had all been held captive to for years, but when the opportunity had arisen to do so, shock had almost knocked them from their feet - Midgar, the metropolis, the floating city…was nothing more than ruins… … …they had been lucky to find this place; it must have been an office of sorts at some stage, rulers, paper, rubber bands, and other office supplies still littered the place, but it was large, and that was all that mattered, though even with the expansive area, it was still tight quarters for the hundreds of people there… … …but it was the only place capable of holding the hundreds of troops, along with the six key SOLDIERs…all of which made up the fabled SOLDIER unit; Lost Force.
"Oh ha-ha Nick! Keep it up and I'll walk straight back out that door, and bring whatever I managed to get with me, fuck you - you can starve!"
Nick Tierney only seemed to grin as the youngest member of Lost Force, and the only female amongst the SOLDIERs - The Forgotten, as the elite squad had always been referred to as. The key members comprised of six youths; nineteen-year-old Cara Ryan, twenty-three-year-old Nick Tierney, twenty-one-year-old twins; Ritchie and Declan Cassen, twenty-four-year-old Nathan Hollows, and twenty-three-year-old Rick Foley. Even though everyone else seemed to outrank her in age, Cara had always been the head of the large force, despite her lack of years, Cara acted far above the level of maturity that usually came with such an age, she was capable of making competent, split-second decisions on something major…and skilled when it came to battle strategy and assertiveness… … …Up until a mere few weeks ago, none had ever even bore witness to the sky…a sister force to DGS, they had been shut away during the collapse of Midgar, caused by MeteorFall, or so they had come to learn…the feet of rubble they had been trapped beneath, only seemed to bear as a support to that assumption…
"Hey babe…"
Cara smiled to herself, as strong arms closed around her waist…delighting in the sensation of her boyfriend's kiss upon her cheek as he let her know, in his own way, that he was grateful for her safe return to the base…as much as she would have preferred to stay there in his arms, she didn't have time for any lovey-dovey shit, there was a force to run and command, and rumours to find truth to… … …
"Where's Intel?!"
Several troops stepped forward almost immediately upon the teen's words, all clad in identical clothing, similar to that of the DGS uniform, but differing in colours; as opposed to the navy and neon blue stripe, this version comprised of black and steel grey stripes…Cara nodded as she looked to eldest of the males, whom had stood forward, he was in his early thirties, with a tanned complexion and dull blonde hair - Jay was in direct power beneath the members of The Forgotten, and head of the troops…
"From what we could gather, via rumours and unofficial reports; DGS have been the ones responsible for the recent upstart of violence…they have sided against the planet, just as they did so six years ago, that rumour has been confirmed regarding Omega…all of them have turned, with the exception of Shelke, she is currently working for, and lending her skills to, The WRO… … …another Intel unit has been deployed to Edge, and is due to return in the early morning."
"Okay…notify me as soon as they return, I want to try and track their movements if poss- Oww! You fucker Ritchie!"
Cara bit her tongue, as to prevent any further backlash of curses from rolling off her tongue, whilst rubbing her left cheek, of which a rubber band had just made forceful contact - a small, angry, red mark had already made itself visible upon her pale skin… … …the youthful leader spun on one of the twins, both of whom were identical in looks, whilst sporting all the trademark features of The Forgotten, the two were donned with extremely blonde hair, bordering on white/blonde…the two of them had to be the most annoying lads around…
"I'm Declan-"
"No you fucking aren't! I know the difference between the two of you, idiot! I'm the only one who does - Owww!"
While Cara had been giving out to his counter-part, Declan had seen fit to create his own fun, sneaking behind the youngest of them, and utilising a metallic ruler, of which he had come across earlier whilst scouting the remains of the expansive building they had been using as a base with the last several weeks, no points for guessing where he had struck the female with the implement…
"Start running Cassen! Coz if I catch ya - you're dead!"
Jay watched on in amusement as Cara took off after the latter of the duo, he hadn't a clue which one to be honest, she hadn't been joking when she had stated that she was pretty much the only person who was capable of differentiating between them, to everyone else, they were the mirror image of each other, looks wise, and also where personalities stood, the two of them were immature, joking, annoying - and cheeky - but competent fighters when the need arose… … …
"Cara - that hurt!"
Several troops laughed lightly as they looked to where one of the twins stood, tenderly rubbing the back of his head, where a stone had made contact, Cara may have been their leader, but she was also a teenager, and deserved to act like one every blue moon…nine times out of ten, the nineteen-year-old lay aside her personal feelings and safety in order to ensure the safety of the whole force, making decisions that usually, such choices that most of them would falter slightly upon having to make them - but yet the youth did so without a second thought…
"Don't even attempt it Ritchie!"
The second of the troublesome pair halted abruptly, upon being located by Cara - standing behind her, metallic ruler in hand, having retrieved it from where his brother had dropped it only minutes before…still though; they'd all gotten a laugh out of it, too long had they been forced to take everything seriously…too long had they been down there, in the bowels of the collapsed empire, they'd lost numerous friends from the deadly Mako radiation, leading to Mako-poisoning…most that had succumbed to that fate had done so through illness and exhaustion, even comatose for weeks…months even - but a few had not been so lucky… … …some of their closest friends had been turned by the Mako-poisoning, into horrid, putrid monsters…rabid for the taste of only one thing; and that one thing had been blood… … …they hadn't had a choice in the matter - it had been kinder to give them death, they had been close allies and true friends - they wouldn't have wanted to exist in such a state - well; at least that's what he told himself in order to sleep at night… … …but that was down there - Lost Force had finally escaped their entrapment, and now they faced another hurdle…DGS had been their sister force, The Tsviets had been a sister squad to The Forgotten - trained together, went through Hojo's experiments together, forged friendships together - and now they would have to confront them, both standing on the opposite side of a line… … …eventually; Lost Force would have to chose a side also.
A/N: Reviews would be highly appreciated huns, I really want to do this properly this time around, btw; it will come to light that Shalua Rui is still alive in the next chapter, I do realise that she died in Dirge of Cerberus, but in this fic, she didn't(:P), the main reason is because i'm using one of my sis's (Kisara Strife) characters, of which she is a parent to. Thanks for reading huns!