Vincent leaned against an interior wooden doorway, catching his breath. Outside, a damaged helicopter chopped the air into angry pulses, trying to level itself. Cerberus was hot in Vincent's hand, having done its job protecting him from the sudden influx of faceless enemies. Taking a quick survey of the room, he realized it was an abandoned Shinra building and almost let his shoulders fall in relief. The few steps further into the building kept him tense.
In the next room, an interior wall had been blown out, and the otherwise empty chamber had been half covered in rubble and dust. His head throbbed dully for a moment, but the pain subsided to adrenaline at the sound of heavy footsteps. He readied his weapon, but kept it lowered, half in perceived futility, half in shock.
A giant of a man in a blue and gray uniform stepped through the broken wall, followed by a small girl in similar glowing clothes.
"The Protomateria," the girl started in a cryptically monotonous voice. "Tell us where it is."
The term was unfamiliar, and a cloud of questions filled Vincent's mind. Before he could ask any of them, the giant spoke.
"Hail Weiss."
Only then did Vincent notice the three soldiers that had entered the doorway behind him, as they repeated the words with a flourish. Evaluating the threat, Vincent knew to remain silent. The wrong words could easily mean a fight for which he was not prepared.
Just as he contemplated an escape, the girl faltered, her eyes flashing panic as she fell to the floor.
One down.
From beyond the wrecked wall, he heard a familiar voice call, "This way!"
The giant turned, clearly frustrated, and picked up his partner's small body with one hand.
"Luck is on your side," he said lowly as he departed. Vincent could not argue. He continued as he ducked through the hole in the wall, "I am Azul. We will meet again."
Had Aria been in the room, he was sure the phrase, "Looking forward to it," would have been shot back. As it was, he remained quiet.
Soon after, Reeve entered with a WRO soldier in tow. The sight of a familiar face soothed Vincent's nerves more than he expected. Reeve greeted him warmly and started filling him in on the evacuation efforts. He had just enough time to mention the name Tsviets before a lone attacker approached and shot him through the back. Instinctively, Vincent shot the glowing enemy soldier, a new rush of adrenaline coursing through him. He kneeled beside Reeve's body, breath caught in his throat, preparing a cursory Cure. As he lifted the fallen man's shoulders, the body fell to pieces, and all-too-familiar feline came rolling out.
The building had already been badly damaged by the time Aria and Reno approached it. She glanced at Reno to guess his feelings about what was inside. They stopped and stared at the destruction for a moment.
"Only one way in," Reno noted, nodding up toward a second-floor window. The ground level entrances were blocked with rubble. Aria exhaled, approached a pile of bricks, and started climbing. Halfway up, she heard familiar voice and sighed with relief.
"They're here. Both of them," she told Reno, who had climbed up right behind her.
"Lucky guess on my par-" Reno started, but was interrupted by gunfire within the building. Aria shot forward, clawing her way toward the wall.
"Vincent!"
Moving just as quickly, Reno caught up to her, grabbing her from behind and covering her mouth. She struggled for only a second before he forced her to look down the sidewalk. Two glowing soldiers exited an alley a block away. They scanned the street quickly, then turned their backs to the pair and marched away. Silently, Reno and Aria scaled the rubble to the open window and listened. They both sighed heavily at the sound of a little feline voice giving orders to Vincent. Reno held back a laugh.
"I need to invest in one of those…I'd never go in the field again," he said lowly, motioning for Aria to climb through and into the building.
Vincent turned and notably relaxed. Without speaking, they met halfway and wrapped their arms tightly around one another. He buried his hand in her hair, holding her protectively against him.
"Are you alright?" he asked quietly into her ear. She nodded.
"I heard the helicopters, and saw the inn. I thought…I didn't know if…" she rambled into his shoulder. He pulled Aria tighter before releasing her and looking down into her clearly concerned face.
"I am fine. And Reeve is fine. He sent his proxy."
"We heard," she said, smiling softly. "Reno is on watch outside."
"I have to try clear the area. There will be transport out at the East church. You should work your way there," he suggested.
"What's going on? Who are these people?"
"I don't know. Reeve mentioned the Tsviets, but...I don't know what that means."
Aria's face was equally blank. She shook it off and straightened her shoulders. "Alright. The East church. We're going with you."
He did not bother to protest. "The soldier I just saw was...much bigger. I don't know where he was going, but should we run into him…"
Aria slipped her backpack off and unzipped it, revealing a miniature arsenal. She pulled out a multi-slotted holster, two knives, and two pistols.
"I'll stick to the shadows, be your left hand. Reno will be your right. You won't even know we're there," she said, winking just before turning back toward the window. He exhaled, reloaded his gun, and took off.
Progress to the church was quick with the support of several WRO soldiers. Aria worked to clear an access route for the transport, taking advantage of her invisibility to the enemy soldier's gear. Her legs burned from climbing and jumping through rubble and low rooftops by the time they arrived at the church square. A quick glance to her right found Reno lurking in the shadow of a tall brick building while Vincent approached the empty ground. A final aircraft dropped soldiers that, despite their obvious preparation, fell quickly at the hands of the trio and Reeve's last-minute arrival.
The full team regrouped behind the church. Vincent perched on a crate while Reno and Aria leaned against the opposing wall, checking for unfelt wounds. Reeve looked them over once before approaching Vincent to congratulate his success.
"It seems the enemy is retreating from Kalm. But," he paused. Aria kept her eyes down, but her ears heard only his voice. "We still require your assistance. Reports are Edge is under attack." At this, the violet eyes lifted and met red.
"The ruins," she interjected, stepping forward. Vincent dropped his gaze. "You know it's connected," she argued, turning on Reeve. "You know it is. Whatever was in there…"
"Yes," Reeve finally agreed. With a heavy sigh, he nodded toward his vehicle. "Come with me."
Sensing Reeve's interest in Vincent, Aria and Reno sat at the back of the truck, listening quietly to his explanation of the blue soldiers.
"Deepground. The shadow of the Shinra company, constructed by the former president, and completely hidden from the rest of the world."
Vincent arched an eyebrow. "Constructed?"
"An army of superhuman soldiers. The man you met earlier, Azul, is also a member of Deepground, but he belongs to an elite unit known as the Tsviets. Other than the president himself, the only people who knew about Deepground were most likely Heidegger, Scarlet, and the head of biochemical research..."
Aria finished the sentence with him. "Hojo." She shook her head, pushing down the disbelief that she was about to stand up for Rufus Shinra. "Reeve...I have a hard time believing that Rufus was involved in this. He couldn't have wanted a shadow organization…"
"After the President's death, the transfer of power happened so quickly, it's likely Rufus was never informed," Reeve replied. "It seems as though Deepground operations had gone quiet for quite some time. Until…"
"Until all this shit hit the fan," Reno grumbled.
Vincent could not help but give the redhead a skeptical glance. Reno noticed.
"No, I didn't know a goddamn thing about this."
"I believe you," Reeve said, quickly easing any tension. "Aria, you mentioned the disappearances in the ruins...Have you heard about those in Junon?"
Vincent answered, "I heard twenty or so went missing."
"The actual number of people that went missing that day...was twelve-hundred." Vincent and Aria simultaneously sat straight up. "The WRO conducted a private investigation, but we came up empty-handed. ...Except for the rumors."
"The howls," Reno interjected cryptically, his eyes on his shoes.
"People in Edge say that night after night they can hear screams coming from the direction of Midgar," Reeve concluded.
In silence, the group listened to the howling wind outside the vehicle until the driver announced an incoming transmission, startling them all to their senses. Reno and Aria moved toward the screen.
A strong young man with jagged white hair addressed his captive audience in a monologue:
At last. The time has come to cleanse this world. The pure will be spared for the cause. While the tainted will be hunted down and exterminated. They shall be slashed, strangled, and slaughtered...Beaten, stabbed, and crushed. Garrotted and impaled, shot and executed without mercy. The time has come to cleanse this world.
The speech ended in laughter before the transmission cut off. Reno was the first to respond.
"Fuck."
But for the steady rainfall, Edge was quiet when they returned. Vincent and Aria each took respective glances toward their apartment, hoping to find their part of the city undamaged. Reno seemed to direct his gaze toward the construction of the new Shinra building, and more directly, to the estate beyond. Vincent noted the distracted state of the group and decided to act.
"This city is important...for all of us. Be careful, be smart...split up, and check out the divisions. Reno, you take the north side, Aria, take the south, and I will head for the WRO building." His eyes stayed on Aria's. "We'll meet in two hours, unless we contact each other," he suggested before turning to Reno. "Your help would be appreciated, but I can't expect you to dive into this. I certainly was not prepared to."
"It's my city, too. I'll be around. There's a conversation that needs to happen, and I think I'm qualified to start it."
Aria liked the idea of getting Rufus involved more than she cared to admit. He could not ignore this problem any longer.
The areas surrounding the WRO building proved equally quiet, a fact that further raised suspicion in Vincent. He fingered the butt of the Cerberus as he paced around the front perimeter, a steady rain beginning to weigh him down. He leaned against the corner of the building, surveying the abandoned city streets, planning his entrance into the headquarters. It was then that light footsteps approached and he spun, coming face-to-face with a woman in a white lab coat. Her drawn pistol nearly grazed his cheek, and his did the same.
They stared each other down, his gaze shifting from her single open eye to the badge on her coat.
"You're WRO?" he asked. Her response was curt.
"Who's asking?"
He sighed and introduced himself. She did the same.
"Shalua Rui, of the WRO. The commissioner has told me much about you."
"What happened here?" he asked, glancing once again at the empty city.
"That's what I'd like to know," she replied. "I'm here on other business, but something's not right. It's too quiet. I've seen no trace of Deepground, or the squads that were sent in to fight them. Also, where are the five hundred people who are supposed to still be living here?" At this, Vincent looked southward toward his own new home.
"Well, this is getting us nowhere. Like I said, I have business to attend to," she announced, before heading toward the entrance to the WRO building. "The commissioner keeps telling me I'm wasting my time...my time searching."
The enigmatic response caught his attention. "Searching for what?"
As she turned back to him, he noticed the mechanical arm resting at her side beneath the left side of her coat.
"For my reason to live."
With that, she stepped away, disappearing around the building's corner.
Vincent spent the next half hour roaming the area, looking for survivors, residents, WRO employees, or anyone with an explanation for the town's desertion. He came instead upon the sound of labored breathing in an alley. He expected the worst: Deepground soldiers torturing a WRO soldier, hounds waiting to tear apart a body. Instead, as he cautiously approached the source of the sighs, he found a single member of the WRO forces, wounded and waiting for death. The soldier's dark eyes barely lightened as Vincent kneeled before him, and he used his last choking breaths to convey what little he knew.
"Ambush...by soldier...in red. Squad...wiped out. Warehouse...on edge of town. ...They were...gathering civilians."
Vincent did not know how long death had waited for the man, but he was grateful for its patience.
Aria kept to the alleys as often as possible as she traversed the streets of Edge. The southern sector felt as quiet and deserted as any she had seen, which both confused and encouraged her. The familiar buildings were not damaged; the streets no worse than when she left. Even the building that served as home appeared stable, if abnormally still. She wiped the rain from her cheeks before climbing the stairs toward her front door. A quick glance upward left her breath caught in her throat. She reached for the grip of her gun and climbed the remaining steps, looking cautiously into bright blue eyes.
"You don't have a spare key hidden out here."
She narrowed her eyes. "Glad you took the time to check."
"Where's Vincent?"
"In the city. What do you want, Cloud?" She had made a conscious decision to call him by his first name.
His eyes narrowed at the question. "I suppose I was just wondering if you guys knew something about these Soldiers that just rounded up half the city's population."
Aria recoiled at the tone, though she knew she deserved it for such a question. "Deepground, they're called. A group of soldiers that was developed by Rufus's father and his administration. An entire operation was happening beneath the old Shinra HQ."
"In the ruins?"
She nodded. "They had survived, and continued growing. Someone connected to them sought me out."
"What? Why?" he asked, his neck stiffening.
Her gut told her to lie. "I don't know. I guess my old connection to Shinra. I haven't totally figured it out yet."
A distance overcame his gaze. After a pause, he shifted his weight and exhaled. "Well, when you do...I mean...we have Marlene and Denzel. Our responsibilities have changed."
She knew what was coming, but stayed silent, allowing Cloud to carry the uncomfortable admission alone.
"We're leaving town. I can't get involved."
Aria let the words hang between them for a beat before turning toward the door. He started toward the steps, then turned.
"I don't know what's coming, but...it's not in me anymore. I just want quiet."
"You deserve it," she replied, pocketing her key. He nodded once, then disappeared down the stairs and around the corner. She sighed to herself. "But who gets what they deserve anymore?"
With still an hour left before meeting Aria and Reno, Vincent headed to the warehouse named by the Deepground victim. Upon stepping through a loading dock doorway, he felt a charge run through his veins, followed by a cold chill. His fingers wrapped around the butt of his gun, and for good reason.
Waiting in the warehouse were several Deepground soldiers, following a massive, heavily-armored leader. They attacked immediately, and proved a challenge to overtake. More than once, Vincent had to duck behind crates and pillars to escape their seemingly endless barrage. With careful shots, he isolated, then crippled the leader, and approached him cautiously as he lay fading on the floor.
"What you carry...will not protect you for long…" the man choked out before his eyes lost focus forever.
Vincent had taken several blows, and ended the battle with a bruised rib and wavering confidence. The confusion brought on by that comment left him cursing the decision to divide his small group, even going so far as to pull out his phone. After all, he figured, if chance encounters had led him into this much danger, who could say what Aria and Reno had run into? But the device made it only so far as his palm before returning to its pocket. Faith in his comrades would have to suffice another hour. He climbed metal stairs toward the roof, lightly touching his side and wincing as his mind conjured images of a red soldier. It seemed likely that such a murderous being would look similar to the large man he had just defeated. That thought did not comfort him.
As he approached the door to the roof, he reloaded his gun and left it in hand. He pulled a small vial from his pocket and drank its contents quickly. The pain in his side faded. With a deep breath, he pulled open the heavy door and stepped out into the rain.
The red soldier had waited for him. His brow furrowed as he crossed the roof. He knew she had detected his presence, but she did not turn to face him. He stopped only steps away and heard her take a deep breath. He did the same.
"You know," she began in a heavy Mideel accent, "this is the first time I have ever felt the rain on my skin. But then again, I hadn't even seen the sky until a few days ago." She paused, letting a small pool of rain drain from her dark gloved palm. "So you're Vincent Valentine, keeper of the Protomateria." She dropped her head and faced him.
Vincent's brain went into overdrive, making and unmaking connections at the sight of her face and sound of her voice. He struggled to keep up with the conversation momentarily.
"Proto...materia?"
"Yes," she cooed, suddenly walking toward him. "The key to controlling Omega. We know you have it. Hand it over now, and I'll kill you quickly."
The offer made no sense to him, but the Restrictor's message suddenly did. At his silence, she continued.
"Not one to bargain, are you? Then I'll make sure you suffer." She could not have sounded more pleased with this result. Before he could react, she had rushed behind him and drawn her double-sided blade from her shoulders.
"Time to die," she announced, before attacking. Adrenaline helped him to dodge each strike, but did not help him feel better about the sudden realization that he was going to have to kill her.
Unsurprisingly, she was relentless, and clearly set on destroying him. But the sight of her seemed to set a fire to his chest. A familiar, daunting feeling grew in his throat as he sped out of her reach. The heat spread up his neck and through his jaw as his vision flashed white, then went impenetrably black.