It was indeed a slow day at the office today as Storm Kensho sat at his desk, thumbing through another interests magazine to pass the time. He always sat there, with his feet propped up on his desk these days. He was a mercenary, yes, but his underlings did his work. He had worked quite a few of his 22 years-of-age to build that business. Now it was the most famous mercenary business in Midgar, providing various services to numerous small corporations and individuals throughout the massive Floating City, and in a place like Midgar, business was good. Good enough to the point that Storm could provide food, shelter, and steady employment for any man willing to work for his business. He did have the prospects of bringing his business world-wide but he lacked the capital to do so. He had plans of opening such a branch somewhere in the great Fortress-city of Junon, or perhaps lending his aid to the dilapidated town of North Corel to try and get that place back on its feet. Everyday, Storm would find himself looking out the large window to the right of his desk, keeping a watch upon the various mishmash of men-at-arms milling about below him, taking calls and the like for the various clients of Professionals and Securities Incorporated, the rather no-nonsense name he'd chosen some five years ago when he came to Midgar after the War.
Ah, yes, the Great War: A pointless and brutal contest between the last two powerful nations here upon the Planet. Wutai, Storm's homeland, and the Shinra Power and Electric Company, the great super-conglomerate of arms manufacturers and Mako Power contractors, had come to blows when Shinra had elected build a Mako Reactor upon the great Western continent that was dominated by the materia-powerful Wutai. Shinra had wished a bloodless establishment of its dominance over the last nation on the Planet that could oppose it, only for the ploy to be flung back in their face when Godo Kisaragi, Lord and ruler of Wutai, marshaled his nation to defend itself when he declared war upon Shinra and its allies. At Godo's right hand was the Lord Protector of Wutai, Metsubi "Slayer" Kensho, the legendary tactician and swordmaster who served as Godo's general and his own personal protector. When the war began, Metsubi's son, Storm, was but two years old. When the war ended, he was seventeen and a good generation of men and women lay dead on either side.
He could remember it now: The war was drawing to its close with Wutai appearing to be the victor. Slayer, along with Storm, had won Wutai many battles, Slayer's skill with the blade and his deadly tactics had wiped out much of the Shinra army. In addition, massive sabotage efforts on the part of Kisaragi's deadly ninja units had helped cripple the Shinra's infrastructure, which at that point was entirely reliant on the massive production of its Mako reactors. The tide was then abruptly reversed when three men, who would go down in Wutai's history as the Shacklers of Leviathan, entered the war. Genesis Rhapsodos, Angeal Hewley, and Sephiroth were three warriors whose power the likes of which had never been seen in the long life of the Planet. They were like three great demons born straight from Hell, able to take an entire army of Wutai soldiers and samurai each, their great powers tearing apart the Western continent. In addition, Shinra introduced their counter to Wutai's legendary samurai and ninja task forces: the SOLDIER special operations division of the Peacekeepers, the official name of Shinra's army. Consisting of genetically-altered superwarriors, SOLDIER and the Shinra army began to beat back against the Wutai army, pushing them back across the sea all the way to the main continent. With the Shacklers commanding Shinra's army, they attacked and razed all cities upon the southern portion of the Western continent, sending great throngs of refugees fleeing north to Wutai's capital city along with a great many routed army units. As Shinra advanced from the great mountain ranges that made up the south, Slayer, Storm, and Godo elected to hatch a daring attack plan that involved taking out the Shacklers of Leviathan and removing Shinra's last hope for victory.
On a brisk Spring afternoon, Godo led the bulk of Wutai's main army against the Shinra army upon the Great Plains, who were being led by Genesis. Angeal and Sephiroth, however, had elected to lead this battle from the back, keeping in reserve the best of SOLDIER for a devastating right-flanking attack. Meanwhile, Storm and Slayer had led an elite cadre of samurai around the left flank of the battle, staying below notice and moving quickly so that they could catch Sephiroth and Angeal's unit unaware. When they caught up to the two, the samurai and their leaders struck without mercy and without fear, knowing that it was all or nothing with this battle. Then, as it had been prearranged, a couple of units of ninja joined the battle, springing from the main battle to attack the SOLDIER unit that was Slayer's target, having dressed themselves like common Wutai soldiers in order to avoid attracting attention. Angeal was Storm's target, while the great Slayer had elected to face Sephiroth on his own. As he battled Angeal, Storm was confronted by what seemed to be Angeal's apprentice, a black-haired SOLDIER who seemed like every other standard SOLDIER grunt. This fellow, who seemed about Storm's age, provided great difficulty for the young samurai, who wound up having to face a legendary warrior and his well-trained protege at the same time. Though Storm was a highly skilled and disciplined warrior, he was barely a match for the two, who were able to keep him on the defensive more often than Storm could mount the attack. As he battled Angeal and the youth, Storm kept as best an eye on his father as much as he could. When Sephiroth and Slayer met on the field, time seemed to freeze.
The two had eyed each other for what seemed an eternity until without warning they sprung into action. To this day, there is no accurate account to their swordfight. Some say that Slayer had the upper hand through the battle, his excellent form often times pushing Sephiroth back. Others say that the length of the Masamune, Sephiroth's legendary Wutai-forged blade, gave him the edge, as he could keep Metsubi at bay with his deft sword slashes. The outcome was certain, though. After their pitched battle, "Slayer", long hailed as Wutai's savior, slumped to the ground, the Masamune sheathed within his chest. This was a blow that Wutai wouldn't, and still hasn't, recover from.
Storm watched in horror as his father, the only parent he ever knew, lay splayed in a pool of blood of both his own and the men around him. Tears began to well-up within his eyes as a great rage overcame the young Storm Kensho. With his sword flying in front of him, Storm broke from his battle with Angeal and his apprentice and attacked Sephiroth in a suicidal bid to kill the man who slew his father. But it was all for naught, as Sephiroth, seemingly without thinking, subdued and killed Storm within three sword blows. The pain of his own brief death still echoed within Storm's mind when he was brought back from the grave.
The corpse of the sixteen-year-old samurai was brought to the laboratories of the one and only Professor Hojo, the unstable genius behind the SOLDIER project. After showering Storm's body with Mako, he experimented upon Storm, infusing his body with Jenova Cells, the strange substance that gave SOLDIERs their unbelievable strength. Through these experiments, Storm was restored to life when revived from his premature death. But even as he gasped his second first-breaths in a sort of grisly rebirth, Storm was now a pawn in a much greater game. Sephiroth, who had began to become aware of his great psychic abilities and learning how to bend Jenova-infused beings to his will, used Storm as his own test subject. The samurai's free will was stripped away, leaving him a mute mask of what he once was and became SOLDIER's newest First Class warrior.
The remainder of the war was a long and drawn-out struggle. Godo's main army had succeeded in routing the main Shinra army, though he was wounded during a personal duel with Genesis himself. Though Wutai was able to push Shinra back into the mountains, Shinra was quick on the recovery and prevented the Wutai from pushing against this momentary weakness. Godo Kisaragi, himself a respectable leader, was able to hold Shinra's armies at bay for a bitter and bloody year, wherein much of the Great War's casualties occured. The Shacklers of Leviathan, however, ended up breaking the stalemate and ended the war when Shinra's armies besieged and then captured Wutai's capital city. The once proud nation of the Western continent had fallen and was now under sway of the Shinra Power and Electric Company. And Storm Kensho, once a shining example of Wutai's pride and honor, had been forced to kill many of his own countrymen.
President Shinra took recognition in Storm's abilities and took him in as his step-son. However, Shinra's ulterior motives could be seen with a wave of a hand. Though the Kensho clan of Wutai was greatly disgraced by their premier heir's supposed "betrayal", they still wielded considerable influence in the court of Wutai. Storm was the tool necessary to give Shinra a connection into the powerful clan and allow him to keep an eye on the court of the defeated Wutai, who was down but definitely not forgotten.
After the war, Sephiroth found Storm no longer needing his control and released him. Storm, after awakening, found out the atrocities he had committed but couldn't walk away from his duty as a First Class SOLDIER, as was dictated by the Code of the Samurai, and the fact that he was a deadman if he ever set foot in Wutai ever again. Storm continued on, participating in missions and assignments. Then, after the Nibelheim incident, as he was ordered there along with the great Sephiroth himself, the repercussions of the destruction he had committed caught up with him. After feeling the immense remorse, he left SOLDIER and came to Midgar after a period of finding himself. He started his Mercenary business and it expanded and grew under his leadership.
But even to this day, he could never shake off his own trauma of what had happened and what he'd done. To this day, Storm Kensho was a marked man for the remainder of his life. To this day, he would still wake up, bathed in cold sweat as a great pain would wash over the scar the cut through his left eye.