A continuation of the previous chapter, broken up because.. well.. I'm lazy.. :) Thanks for all the favs, reviews, and views. I'd like to thank my visitors from outside the U.S; and thanks for letting me know exactly what countries everyone is from.

Disclaimer: same as usual


A stiff breeze ruffled the loose locks of hair around Tifa's face as she squatted on a thick tree limb. From her vantage point in the tree she could see a number guards for other groups. Her battle training told her it would be beneficial and easy to kill each of the men posted on guard duty, but the General had given her under an hour to scout five miles and back. Tifa had sprinted the first three miles there; she had found no signs of their enemies within that range. It was on the the last two miles that she came across the guards. The other groups had stopped short possibly waiting for another to move first so they could attack the rear. As she sneaked past the guards, Tifa formulated a new plan. She could easily play the remaining three groups against each other. If she could get two of the three to believe that the third was moving first it would result in those two rushing towards the hill, only to meet each other in battle. The third would believe it had the advantage of attacking bother from the rear and wait out that fight for a little before rushing in. One one team would be the victor, at which time her well rested team could attack.

There was no need to move her team just yet; this battle had become a mixture or red rover and king of the hill. Moving silently through the treetops was not an easy task, but with the help of a usually useless float materia Tifa crept on. She used an equipped dispel materia and dropped down to snap the neck of an almost slumbering guard. Quickly she removed part his uniform, using it to disguise herself. Tifa did her best impression of a gruff male battle cry, alerting the fallen guard's team that others were moving on the hill. Just as she had planned the two camps within immediate earshot burst alive with a flurry of activity. Camp life equipment was left behind as armlet, bangles, and weapons were primed. Both camps departed for the hill at about the same time. Tifa disappeared back to her treetops to watch the scene, wary that she could only stay for a bit due to her time constraint. Once she was sure she had heard the sounds of battle, she discarded the clothing of the fallen guard and rushed back to her own camp. Sephiroth was waiting outside of his tent for her.

"What have you discovered?" he demanded, rising from the rock he had been seated on. Tifa's eyes danced with mirth as she smiled at her General. Realizing that her attitude was not befitting of a Soldier, her face fell into the stoic look she had stolen from Sephiroth.

"Fighting and disarray," she responded with a salute. She paused to get her rapid breathing under control.

"How so?"

"I simple misdirection and the three teams fell upon each other, fighting for the high ground. They're too concerned with each other to bother our camp for the night," she said after relating her previous discoveries and subsequent actions. Sephiroth did not nod in approval, nor did he scowl with displeasure. "By dawn, there should only be one team remaining."

"Zach Fair," Sephiroth shouted into the camp. The raven haired Soldier appeared from his tent. Though his hair was disheveled from lying down, there was no weariness in his eyes or movement. He had not been asleep, merely lying down until he received new orders from his commander. Sephiroth had Tifa relate her scouting adventure to Zach. After she had finished he asked, "What is your plan of action?"

"To move now. Half of our camp may be tired, but we can't give them the chance to rest after fighting each other," he responded. Sephiroth glanced between the two, Tifa and Zach. The two seemed to have a perfect grasp on what it took to succeed. He was not fond of how they would willingly take tired soldiers into battle, but then was only a training exercise... well, sort of. They were the two strongest of all, it was almost unfair to have them on the same team, especially with him. Then again, Sephiroth had done more to handicap their team than help. He had killed all of their scouts and the better of the materia users, they had been weak of mind and that could not be tolerated.

"Do you agree," the General asked Tifa.

"Yes, sir."

"Then lead your troops," was all Sephiroth said retreating to his tent. Zach and Tifa stopped and stared at each other for a moment. Had the great General Sephiroth relinquished his command over the team and given it to them. Were they to share or pick a leader between them.

"Wake everyone who is sleeping, we move out in a few minutes," Tifa commanded Zach, easily falling into the role she had been waiting for years for. Her voice took on the icy quality that Sephiroth's had and Zach thought for a moment that the General was magically speaking through Tifa. He laughed and clapped her on the shoulder.

"Leave the stragglers," he said more as a statement then a question or command.

"It's a competition after all," Tifa said, breaking her Sephiroth impression to smile at Zach. The two had become friends before the final exercise and would remain so until they were pitted against each other in the final showdown. Zach laughed and rushed through the camp waking up slumbering comrades. Within the following two hours a tough fight was fought as the remainder of the recruits were pitted against each other. Tifa and Zach had each dispatched a number of men and were left the last two standing. On the top of the hill the faced off against each other as Sephiroth stood by to watch. It was a tough battle for each, neither had any clear advantage, though Tifa had been handicapped by her adverse reactions to the injection of Jenova cells she had received before the final exercise. She would have easily been the victor had it not been for that, but still Sephiroth found both to be 1st class soldiers.

After watching the two battle on for a while, he stopped the fight.

"That's enough, you're both assets to the Soldier program," said in a bored tone. Tifa and Zach, minds still lost in battle fury, could not stare at him with confused expressions on their faces. Sephiroth saw the confusion written plainly on their faces. "You've both passed. You're being promoted to Soldier 1st class."

With his last words, the fight was forgotten and confusion was erased. The two let out raucous victory cheers and embraced each other. Their dreams had come true. Tifa was overjoyed at being the first female to become a 1st class soldier.


Short, but I didn't feel like writing out all the battle scenes. I'm not good at battle strategy (Halo, U.S Navy Seals, Call of Duty all elude me) so I kept it to the very basics. Who knows if Tifa's plan would have worked in real life... it doesn't matter now, what's done is done. And well, I couldn't kill Zach... not yet anyways. It's possible that all the events unfold as they did when Cloud was going to be a Soldier... major difference, Tifa actually is a soldier.. unlike Cloud (okay so I hate the guy.. sue me)

Anyway, I've gotten get more details ready for this actual Breeding program. After all, that's what this fic is about. I see babies in the distant future. Cute, red eyed, silver haired, test tube babies!