Standard disclaimers apply.
Chapter I
-Ties that Bind-
Neo-SOLDIER Training Grounds
New Midgar, Sector 1
Two months before the Fury
The huge dragon roared.
I feinted left, drew my broadsword–I'd nicknamed it 'the Equalizer', for obvious reasons, though that wasn't its true name–and lunged. The dragon saw through my fake-out, and brought its spiked tail to bear. I brought my sword up into a guard position, and waited for its attack. But it never came–not from the front, at least. Something slammed into me from the side. Snarling, I picked myself up and looked around. I was surrounded. By four dragons. "All right, if you wanna play like that," I said with a smirk, "we can play like that." I sheathed my sword at my side, and lightly touched the glove on my right hand. Embedded in the glove were elemental Materia–fire, ice, and lightning. I decided on a level-three Ice spell. The air quickly dropped to freezing as the power of the Cetra manifested itself into a miniature blizzard. The dragons squinted through the blinding snow, trying to catch sight of me. Bringing my sword to bear again, I slashed through the first two as if they were butter. Sheathing my sword again, I slowly balled my left hand into a fist, feeling a tingle as the standard plasma cannon emerged from its assembly. Leaping back, I charged the powerful weapon, then fired. The ice spell faded, to reveal four dead dragons. A loud voice boomed, "End simulation!" I looked up to see my older brother and superior officer grinning at me.
But maybe I'm getting ahead of myself just a little bit. Allow me to introduce myself. Name's Soren Kaelar. I'm a second-class officer in the Neo-SOLDIER paramilitary group, based out of New Midgar. I've been with them for four years now, since I was nineteen. It's not too bad; my older brother, Scott, is a first-class officer. He's thirty now, and he usually gives me pretty decent assignments. I've been all over the world–Nibelheim, Cosmo Canyon, Mideel(which is our hometown), Wutai–you name it, I've probably been there. Speaking of Wutai, I hate that damned place. I lost my left arm there two years ago, during what had then seemed like a normal mission…but that's another story, for another time. Since then, though, I've been fitted with a cybernetic replacement, developed by our R&D guys. Cost seven and a half million Gil, and it has a lot of different weapons built in. And with newer and newer weapons tech coming out, I'm always getting some kind of upgrade. I still miss my old, organic arm, though. Until the Geostigma incident, I really didn't care about much. Then, my best friend Misa died. That might be why I joined Neo-S in the first place, to fill the void she left behind. I should know by now that no matter how many missions I run through, it'll never bring her back. But anyways….
"Not bad, little brother," Scott said, giving my shoulder a light punch. "Your reaction time's gone up quite a bit since last month." "Thanks," I replied. "But I wish I'd have had some kinda warning before I got jumped." "Well, you know that when you're running a mission, shit like that could happen. Better to be prepared for something like that, 'cause you know as well as I do just how dangerous it can be," he chided. "By the way, I've got another assignment for you. I need you to go to Junon." "Oh really? What for this time?" I asked. "Seems like Godo and Yuffie are planning another raid–this time on the harbor itself. They need people over there who can stop their shinobi." "Oh boy, sounds like fun," I said dryly. "Yeah, guard duty again. But it pays pretty well. By the way, Reno wants you to stop by his office later. Says there's someone he wants you to meet," Scott replied. "Well, tell our esteemed Director I'll be there. Anyways, I'm starving. Wanna go eat?" I asked. "I'd love to, bro, but…duty calls. Gotta write up your paperwork for Junon trip the day after tomorrow. But tell everyone I said hey," he answered.
As I headed towards the mess hall, I heard a high, melodic voice. "Soren!" "Oh, hell," I muttered. "Gotta hide." I really didn't feel like dealing with Rebecca right now. Not that her all-too-obvious crush on me bothered me too much, it was just that… I wanted to be alone. I needed time, time to think about Misa. About how Jenova's cells had affected both our lives in such different ways. I ducked between two buildings to avoid Becky. Flattening myself against a wall, I watched as her red hair flashed by, her attention already diverted away from me. I wonder how she even keeps her R&D job sometimes, I thought. Sighing, I climbed a ladder, to the roof of a building.
I watched the sun set over New Midgar, then checked the interface on my left arm for the time. 6:39 P.M. I still had a little over an hour before I had to go meet up with Reno. My mind started to wander…
/FLASH/
"Rennie?"
"Yeah, Meese?"
"Think we'll be friends forever?"
"I don't see why not…"
"That's good. Rennie…"
"Yeah, Meese?"
"There's something I want to tell you."
"…What's on your mind?"
"…Soren. I…"
/FLASH/
An explosion. "What the hell?" I said. I climbed down the ladder, jumping the last few feet. The scene was chaos as I emerged from the narrow alley. Squads of noncoms were forming up, orders were being barked as I headed to my private apartment.(One of the perks of having your older brother as your commanding officer.) "What's going on?" I asked a noncom who looked as confused as I felt. "There was an explosion near the HQ building, sir…we don't know what caused it," he replied. Fuck, I thought. That's near Scott's office! Seeing a truck not far away, I ran over to it, climbed in, and started it.
Debris was scattered all around the HQ building. Several more squads were forming up, waiting for direction. "Your orders, sir?" a fourth-class officer called as I ran by. "Look for survivors! We don't know how many are injured!" I called. Without waiting for his answer, I raced to the doors of the building.
"Soren! You okay?" My brother's voice came from the darkness of the lobby. "Yeah! Holy hell, I thought you were dead!" I said. "Ha! Not yet, little bro!" he shot back. "How'd you know I was coming?" I asked as he walked towards me. "The video feed. Cameras outside are still working," he told me. "Cool. Any idea who attacked us?" I asked. "Might have been Yuffie, trying to stop us before I could send you to Junon…but it could have been anyone," Scott replied. "I'd put my money on Yuffie, though." "Me too," I agreed. "Oh, will you two just shut up so I can kill you?!" a woman's voice raged from the darkness. "Just like we thought," I said. "Shoulda just stuck to stealing Materia, Yuffie…you're better at that than anything else." "Enough of this, just die," she retorted. I drew my sword while Scott brought his morning star to bear. It was specially made, with poison flowing from the spikes in it. Yuffie held her Conformer at the ready. Scott charged in first, swinging his 'star recklessly. With catlike reflexes born of a shinobi, Yuffie leapt out of the way, aiming a vicious kick at my brother's head…but I don't think she counted on my being there to stop her. I activated my Lightning material, sending a level-one Bolt spell her way–a warning shot, but it was just enough to send her flying into a wall; she wasn't quite fast enough to dodge the magic. "Not bad, but not good enough," she sneered as she activated her own (probably stolen) Comet material. I barely had enough time to block the spell before it slammed into me. Damn, that hurt! I thought as I counterattacked with a flurry of slashes and jabs. While I had her attention, Scott had crept up behind her. I mistakenly looked in his direction when I noticed this. She tried to turn around, but it was too late; Scott's 'star tore into her full force. She screamed in pain and dropped to one knee. "That's what you get for fucking with the best," Scott sneered. "I'm…not…done yet!" Yuffie screamed, her eyes glowing. "Oh, hell, that's….Soren, watch out!" Scott cried, while at the same time, Yuffie screamed, "ALL CREATION!" "Soren, MOVE!" Scott yelled, shoving me out of the way. The powerful energy wave struck him dead center; he screamed in agony. "SCOTT!" I screamed, rushing to my brother's side. "'Til next time, Rennie," Yuffie mocked as she disappeared. "Hey, wait! That's…Scott! Oh, man, talk to me, bro…"I sputtered. He was badly burned and slashed. Barely breathing. And not waking up. "Don't you even think about dying on me, you asshole!" I yelled. As fires burned around us, I prayed for whatever protectors the Planet had to keep my only brother alive.