In the rough grassland just beyond the carrot-coloured peaks of Cosmo Canyon, a truck restlessly made its way across to the small town of Nibelheim in the pouring rain. The vehicle jolted as the wheels made their way across the uneven and soaking ground. A large logo representing the ShinRa power company was tattooed across the side of the truck.
The sound of windscreen wipers and the occasional jolt echoed throughout the insides of the truck. A man in an armoured blue uniform sat in the front driving the lorry. In the back of the truck, there were four men; one an ill looking man in a uniform sitting down to one side of the truck on a crate, a tall man with long silver hair sitting calmly opposite him on another wooden crate, a man with spiky black hair standing in-between the two, and the fourth; another uniformed man standing up further down the truck.
The silver haired man, in his thirties, carried an air of superiority around him, sitting calmly, quietly and not moving an inch. He wore a black leather cloak around him, tightly wrapped around his waist by a metal buckle, his chest was bared in a v-shape due to this. He had a harness covering his abdomen decorated with the symbol of SOLDIER, the ShinRa company's most elite armed force. The harness had thin straps in the shape of an x covering his chest. Large curved white shoulder pads covered his shoulders and metal bangles were worn around his wrists and large black boots.
The black haired man had his spiky hair slicked back except for one strand that dangled in front of his face. A purple sleeveless shirt covered his chest and he wore his purple trousers that bunched out around the knees in a baggy Samurai-like way, matching his fighting style. A tall belt bearing the same SOLDIER symbol as the harness worn by the silver haired man, was worn around his waist, connected to straps that held his silver shoulder pads on each arm. The man had a youthful aura about him and seemed very energetic.
The men in the uniform were wearing standard blue ShinRa attire, with two metal shoulder pads on and bandannas covering their necks. The top halves of their faces were covered with a strange visor, with three red eye-like dots in the shape of a upwards pointing triangle. Their faceless appearances made them look like clones of the driver, each other and any other ShinRa MP. The MP sitting down was suffering from motion sickness and seemed very uneasy.
The MP standing up leant into the driver's compartment. He spoke quietly to the driver.
"I can't believe we're on a mission with guys from SOLDIER!" He exclaimed. "I mean we get to meet Sephiroth, the legendary war hero!"
He turned back to the rear.
"It's sure raining hard." observed the young black haired man. He glanced over to the uncomfortable ShinRa MP.
"Hey, how are you doing?" he asked.
"I'm all right." answered the MP unsurely.
"I wouldn't know... I've never had motion sickness." The man pondered for a moment before turning back to the trooper.
"Hey Cloud. If you're feeling sick, why don't you take that mask off?" He asked. Although the man was his superior, he treated Cloud like his equal, even learning the faceless soldier's name.
"Yeah..." agreed, Cloud.
Cloud pulled his helmet off revealing a shock of blonde hair, spiked similar to the black haired man's, but upwards as opposed to back. He held his helmet in his lap and leaned back, somewhat comforted, letting out a breath of relief.
The black haired man turned to the other ShinRa MP.
"Everything okay?"
Before the troop could answer, the silver haired man named Sephiroth looked up and gazed at the black haired man with bright green eyes.
"Hey." The black haired man met his gaze.
"Settle down." Sephiroth told his fellow member of SOLDIER.
The impatient man sighed and began doing squats to prepare himself for the upcoming mission.
"They gave me new Materia. I can't wait to use it." He proclaimed excitedly, still doing his squatting exercises.
"...Just like a kid." muttered the motionless Sephiroth. The lively young man stopped his squats to consider what was just said, but then changed the subject.
"You going to brief us about this mission?"
"...This isn't a typical mission." began the mysterious war hero.
"Good…" Cloud muttered to himself, quiet enough so the two men from SOLDIER wouldn't hear.
The black cloaked man continued. "Our mission is to investigate an old Mako reactor. There have been reports of it malfunctioning, and producing brutal creatures. First, we will dispose of those creatures. Then, we'll locate the problem and neutralize it."
"Brutal creatures...Where?"
"The Mako Reactor at Nibelheim."
Cloud jolted and looked up when he heard this. The black haired man turned to him.
"Nibelheim? Hey, Cloud, isn't that where you're from?"
"Yeah." responded a bewildered Cloud.
Opposite Cloud, Sephiroth nodded and said to himself:
"Hmm... hometown..."
Before anymore could be said, a crash was heard and the entire truck rattled, coming to a stop. The driver swiftly turned back to his passengers in panic.
"Sir...s, something strange just crashed into our truck!"
Sephiroth quickly got to his feet. His fellow SOLDIER suddenly got serious and hastily gripped the hilt of the large sword strapped to his back.
"That would be our monster..." Sephiroth announced.
The double doors at the back of the truck were flung open as the two warriors leapt out onto the rocky grey terrain at the edge of Mt. Nibel and into the pouring rain.
In front of the truck was a twenty foot dragon, covered in green scales. It was on all fours facing the side of the truck, like a lion ready to pounce, baring its huge claws and purple underbelly. The great beast's tail extends like a scorpion ready to strike and its mouth opens and closes showing glimpses of charred flesh dangling off its monstrous fangs. Two undersized wings poke out of the creature's shoulders, with a dull yellow flesh where a bird's feathers would be. Two menacing horns poke out of the side of the creature's head, rings of blood encircling each one.
The SOLDIER in purple clothing ran to face the gigantic creature, drawing his large bastard sword from his back. He held the sword in a Samurai style, placing his left foot forward and pointing his right foot out to his right, holding the great sword at a diagonal angle with both hands on the hilt. His trademark sword was immense in size with one edge flat and the other the blade. The actual blade goes up to meet the other side of the sword in the shape of a 90 degree angle triangle. This was the Buster Sword.
Sephiroth walked over to face the monster side by side with his comrade. He placed his left hand on the hilt of his long sword: The Masamune. He drew it from his right side, it was shaped like traditional Japanese sword but was an incredibly long blade. Sephiroth held the blade up by his head and pointed the blade at his opponent from a horizontal angle. They stood together with rain dancing across their blades and splashing on their shoulder pads.
Cloud, the truck driver and the other ShinRa MP peered out from the back of the truck, impressed by the two SOLDIER's ability to wield such colossal weapons.
"Wow! How does Zack hold that sword! It's huge!" marvelled the MP.
The gargantuan monster let out a deafening roar.
Zack, the black haired SOLDIER ran at the creature, splashing on the rock floor with every stride, and tried to slash its chest with a large horizontal strike. The blade embedded into the creature's wet scales but didn't seem to cause it any real harm. Zack tried to speedily remove his blade but the dragon swung its head at him with full force. With amazing reflexes, the kind only those in SOLDIER have, Zack moved his right shoulder in the way of the blow. The horn hit his shoulder pad denting it and sending him into the air, sword and all. He flew back about three metres and landed on his feet. The second he did, the fiend went on the offence and began to shoot roasting flames out of its mouth. It swept its head from side to side pouring fire across the area. Sephiroth held his Masamune tightly and used the Materia slotted into it; the orb glowed with a shining green brightness. Two transparent pyramid shapes materialized before Sephiroth and Zack, blocking the flames from reaching either man.
As the creature finished its assault, the magic barriers dissipated into thin air. Sephiroth let a sly grin creep across his face. He leapt towards the dragon, travelling to it in less than a second, his feet hitting the ground only once. He sliced through the humongous dragon's neck in an instant, cutting through scales, nerves and bone in a fraction of a second.
The once great monster's head slid off of its neck and hit the ground with a mighty crash. The body followed straight after, its legs collapsing from the severing of its head.
Sephiroth flicked the blood from his Masamune with a diagonal swing and sheathed it to his right. Zack slowly put his own sword onto his back, taken aback by Sephiroth's strength and ability. The two began walking back towards the truck.
The ShinRa troops were in awe of what they had just seen.
As Sephiroth stepped in he told his subordinates:
"Head on. We're nearing Nibelheim."