DISCLAIMER: I do not own the plotline or any of the characters in this story. I do not claim any form of copywrite etc on this piece of work.
Chapter 1: It begins…
The train spiralled down the tracks leading to the Sector One rail station. All was silent within, each contemplating what was about to happen. Shuddering to a stop, the train neatly pulled into the station.
It was time.
Swiftly, the group sprung into action. Leaping from the compartment they were in, they took down the guards that stood outside.
"Take that Shin-Ra bastard" one said as his foot connected with the guards head. The other was taken down by the only girl in the team at that time. A swift blow to the stomach and he was down. Following the lead of these two another three followed. A stout young man, a large well built coloured man and a smaller, yet nonetheless well built, blond haired man. The others ran ahead leaving the blond man behind.
"Come on!" the coloured guy shouted as he disappeared through the exit of the station. He began running after the group, the sound of his heavy boots just audible above the hissing noises of the train. Two more soldiers ran out to meet him with hopes of destroying and putting down any resistance. Quicker than what the guards could see the young man had drawn his sword. The large blade glimmered in the artificial lighting as it was swung down splitting the soft skin and bone of the guards. They fell and lay in a pool of their own blood. He looked down at what he had done. The blood still dripping off of the blade. Slowly he walked past the now cooling bodies. Trailing blood up the stairs, and slowly made his way up and up. The sounds of his foot steps echoing off of the walls surrounding him. His mind was focused completely on the task at hand, more and more soldiers came but all succumbed to the same fate as those before. By a gate at the end of the winding street the rest of the team waited:
"Yo!" one shouted. He was one of the younger men. Tall with dark hair and eyes. His name was Biggs. He was grinning smugly.
"Never woulda thought that an ex-SOLDIER would be here with a group like AVALANCHE" his drawl annoyed the blond man
"SOLDIER! Aren't they the enemy?" the girl asked, a small amount of fear lining her words.
"He was one of them, but he's one of us now" Biggs said, matter of factly. This appeared to calm Jessie down, even if it was just a little.
"Never caught your name" he looked straight at the blond haired man, eagerly awaiting a response. The blond man stared a while, his icy blue eyes seemed to be piercing the man's very soul.
"Cloud" the blond man said coolly.
"Ah, cool, I'm-"
"I don't give a damn what any of your names are." Cloud said coldly "Once I've finished here and get my money I'm outta here!" with that he faced the gate once again. The girl was working hard on getting the gate open. She was kneeling next to a box filled with electrical wiring.
"Hey! I told you guys never to travel in a group!" the gruff voice came from the right of the group. The coloured man was walking quickly towards them, his annoyance evident on his face. Upon his arrival the gate pulled itself slowly open. The team ran through. Stopping before Cloud, the coloured man turned to face him his brown eyes fixed on Cloud's blue ones.
"Ex-SOLDIER huh? The names Barret. Don't mean trust ya though!" with that he turned and ran after the rest of the team. Cloud looked slowly around him, looking up at the buildings around about him emitting a low annoyed sigh. Slowly he followed after them, and walked through the gate. He trekked through the grime and waste of the slums until he reached his destination: the Mako reactor. Slowly he walked across the metal walkway leading towards the entrance. His heavy boots once again resonating in the silence.
The entrance hallway was as cold and unyielding as was expected. Pale coloured walls and flooring surrounded them. He walked through the hallway:
"Well, hurry up." Barret growled, standing on the stairs, waiting, tapping his foot at an even pace on the cold hard flooring. The others had ran ahead, unlocking any doors that lay ahead.
"This your first time in a reactor?!" Barret asked, a little louder than was necessary, his expression smug.
"Well no" Cloud said coldly "I have been in reactors before. I did work with Shin-Ra after all" he shot a superior yet nonetheless cold look at Barret. Barret's face fell, he snapped
"That's it! Your comin' with me!" shrugging Cloud followed Barret up the remainder of the stairs. They walked through a few corridors before arriving at an elevator. Cloud hit the down button. Slowly the elevator made its way down. As well as both Cloud and Barret, Jessie was also in the elevator. Her long brown hair was tied back into a tidy ponytail and her brown eyes shone as she looked at the electrical workings of the elevator.
"…These damn reactors are suckin' all of the planets life, all the Mako, and those damn Shin-Ra don't give a damn!" Barret had been ranting for a while now, but Cloud hadn't been listening. He was leaning up against the wall of the elevator, his arms folded in front of him. He sighed. He really couldn't be bothered with Barret's eco-rant.
"Am I meant to care?" he stared coldly at Barret once again
"It's the planet I'm talkin' about here Cloud!, no lifeblood; no planet!" Cloud just looked at him. His stare reiterating what he had said before.
"I'm telling you what I told the others. Once I get my money, I'm outta here." it was obvious that what Cloud had said had affected him, but Barret controlled himself… just controlled himself.
Slowly the elevator made its way to the bottom. It was here where everything started to get difficult, interesting even. Shin-Ra grunts and all forms of machines and monsters; no doubt made in the labs at the headquarters themselves; designed specifically for guard duty plagued the hallways. Loitering, floating or just still it made no difference. They were living; one way or another; and they could be potentially dangerous.
Cloud had no doubt about his capabilities, but he knew nothing of Barret's. Barret's weapon was a gun. He had no left hand, it had been substituted for the gun. Cloud didn't know the exact reason why, neither did he care all that much, he just hoped that it was stronger than it looked. They stepped out of the elevator.
Jessie ran ahead once again. 'She's either brave or stupid' Cloud thought to himself. Picking the pace up slightly, both Cloud and Barret followed after her. It wasn't long before they found themselves confronted by a group of 'Guards' if that was what you would call them. Even the grunts themselves looked as though they had been subjected to numerous weird and potentially life threatening experiments. The full body suits they wore actually looked like it was their skin. The way in which they walked and ran was unnatural, their legs wide apart and infinitely bent at the knees. The creatures around about looked like small floating jellyfish. Their blue bodies twisting and turning whilst a set of small veins in their heads flashed, on occasion, a bright red. Cloud was the first to spring into action. Swinging his large heavy blade, he took down the grunt closest to him. He split through the skin, the creature was instantly dead. He pushed the offending victim off of his sword with his large boot clad foot. To his left Barret had started his barrage on the smaller jellyfish type creatures. Each one that took a bullet seemed to explode. It was like watching someone shoot a pellet through a water balloon. As the bullet pierced the outer shell of the creature a liquid started oozing and dripped out onto the floor. Afterwards, once the small piece of offending metal had made its way far enough through, the small creature's body blew up, sending a clear kind of gloop, veins and membrane along with it.
Swivelling around, he lifted his sword once again. Another grunt ran awkwardly towards him. Again he swung his sword down atop the creature. The size and weight of the sword was cumbersome. That meant that the speed of the one wielding the sword was somewhat impaired and the speed at which the blade flew was also slower. Because of this he narrowly missed his target and struck the floor instead. A dull ringing came from the blade whilst the initial 'clunk' sound from the blade hitting the floor echoed off of the high ceilings.
"Shit" Cloud said to himself. As quickly as the sword would allow he pulled it up off of the floor. By this time the creature has begun its awkward advance once again. Raising its arm it started adjusting its skin like blue suit, hitting a few buttons, readying its attack. A blue ray blasted from the end of the creature's arm. Cloud dodged and another of the small jellyfish type creatures took the hit instead. He swung his sword up, catching the grunt in the side. He pulled the sword through. This time the creature fell away easily. It slid down the blade and landed in a heap on the floor. By now the constant ringing of Barret's gun had stopped. Good, there were no more. Turning Cloud looked upon the other man. He was breathing heavily and had a few small scratches but was otherwise fine.
"Haha, ain't got nothin' on me!" he said happily as he patted his gun hand. Cloud rolled his eyes and once again proceeded down the stairs. They met very little resistance. Anything that did come their way was dealt with quickly and without hesitation.
Before they even reached the bottom of the stairs, they met a different kind of enemy. A machine. There were two. They were waiting just before the door that Cloud and Barret needed to go through. The outer bodies of these mechanical monstrosities were a highly polished green metal. They had two large metal legs similar in shape to a duck, only without the webbed feet. The front of these machines was an uncovered quad-rocket launcher. These large metal guards began their advance before both men had reached the bottom. The machines simultaneously fired. Bursting through the smoke two missiles came rapidly in the men's direction. They couldn't dodge it in such a small space. Barret instinctively began firing at the machines. It was clear that his attacks were doing nothing; they were made of metal after all. 'Idiot' Cloud thought and; as he jumped over the stairs banister ; he grabbed Barret by the collar of his jacket dragging him with him.