Chapter VII: Reno
The Shinra Tower was filled with activity today. The usual squabbling of politicians aside, there were members of SOLDIER, high ranking generals in the Shinra Army, and all of the Turks had been recalled from their missions. Tonight there was going to be a big meeting regarding the "next phases of Shinra Inc." and everyone wanted to be the first to hear what the big-wigs had to say.
Reno sat in his relatively small office, one that he had until a year ago shared with his comrade Rude. Reno had been promoted in the ranks of the Turks, so to speak, and now held a position second only to that of Tseng, the leader of the Turks. Sure there was more paper-work and he didn't get to go out in the field quite as often, but on the plus side he was called into any matter of great importance almost right away and had a hot secretary to boot.
His suit had a look about it. Not exactly professional, but it still gave him a somewhat sophisticated air. He had declared it "business casual" to his superiors, although they were not entirely supportive of it. His top two shirt buttons were unbuttoned, he refused to wear a tie, and his jacket was flat-out missing the buttons. He also frequently slouched, didn't iron his shirt, kept his hands in his pockets even when reporting to superiors and wore an absurd hairstyle. The spiky red hair was claimed to add intimidation to his opponents, but Tseng knew the only reason Reno wore it was to pick up girls.
There was a knock at his door.
"Come on in, yo," Reno shouted.
It was Tseng. He was the exact thing that Reno tried to avoid. Proper, well-dressed, and a kiss ass. True, to maintain his position of authority Reno had to be those things himself from time to time, but he detested it. Not that he didn't like Tseng; he just chose not to share those character traits.
"Well, you look a mess as usual," Tseng chuckled. "You bored?"
"Why, what have you got for me?" Reno asked.
Tseng was holding a brown envelope with a black tip. There was also a red tracer just underneath the black line, which meant this was both an assassination mission and a mission of extreme urgency. While this was the kind of mission Reno liked to undertake, he always got specifics before agreeing to any mission. What was the point of being able to turn down missions if you didn't exercise it?
"We're crushing the terrorist group AVALANCHE in one fell swoop," Tseng explained.
"Oh so they're finally giving that job to us Turks, yo?" Reno grinned.
Tseng nodded. "This will require both of us and Rude. Go over the file and meet me at the helipad in twenty minutes."
Tseng began to walk away and Reno stood up. "Wait a minute, no briefing?"
"Due to the top secret nature of this mission, a spoken briefing was discouraged. Rude has an identical file. When you are done, shred it and empty your shredder immediately," Tseng explained.
Reno nodded and began to peruse the file. This was the ultimate in assassination missions. He would be killing every single person in the Sector 7 Slums.
Of the many deleterious circumstances which Cloud had considered before entering Don Corneo's mansion, ending up in the middle of a sewer after falling from a trap door never crossed his mind. The air smelt of rats, machinery, and of course, sewage. Cloud lifted his head, and spit out some of the foul, dark liquid which had been forced into his throat upon landing. He searched his pockets for anything to dull the taste, but there was nothing.
He looked around, expecting his comrades to be near him. Tifa had somehow fallen a few yards away from him, near a gate. She had tried to utilize her martial arts talent to dull the pain of the landing by bouncing off of something, although Cloud had no idea what. He looked behind him and saw Aeris, lying next to a ladder. She seemed to be uninjured, but Cloud wasn't about to take any chances.
"Tifa!" He called. "Are you okay?"
Tifa got up. She had a deep laceration on the back of her left arm, and several other bruises along her legs. "My head is killing me, but other than that I think I'm okay." Tifa pulled a bandage out of her hip-bag and began to wrap up her arm. "Go check on Aeris."
Cloud lifted up Aeris. He knew this was stupid, all of his SOLDIER training told him to never move an injured person until you were certain there was no head or neck trauma, but he had to see for himself. She had seen better days, but of the two Tifa was the more injured. Aeris only had a minor scrape on her palm and bruises in similar places as Tifa. She was still unconscious though. Probably because she wasn't as used to being hurt as Tifa and Cloud. That was actually a little sad, Cloud thought.
"She's just unconscious. I can't tell if she has internal injuries or not, but we did fall about a hundred feet. We should get her checked out as soon as we get back," Cloud said.
"Back to where?" Tifa asked. "We're too late. Sector 7 is probably gone by now."
"Well we won't know until we actually go there, now will we? Come on, if I trust anyone to hold off Shinra, that Barret guy can do it," Cloud said.
Tifa sighed. "You don't really believe that."
"No. All the more reason we should go give him some back-up," Cloud replied.
Tifa laughed and wiped her eyes. Cloud turned away; he knew that Tifa didn't like to be seen crying. He understood that. Cloud chose to take this time to survey the sewers and try to find a way out. Near the ladder where Aeris lay was a walkway. It took them up and over the gate to another ladder that led out of the sewers. Cloud's internal compass said west, which meant that ladder would bring them out at least near Sector 7. If the plate had already fallen, this would be one short trip.
He went over to Aeris and began to shake her. "Come on Aeris, time to wake up!"
Aeris grunted and leaned up. "My prettiest dress ever, all ruined," she laughed.
Tifa smiled. "You're tougher than you look."
Cloud nodded. Aeris wasn't complaining about her injuries at all. Even some 1st Class SOLDIER members would bitch after falling from that height.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Cloud asked.
"How many times are you gonna ask me that question today?" Aeris smiled standing up. She stumbled a bit, but quickly got her footing back. Cloud grabbed her shoulder to support her. "I'm fine Cloud, stop trying to cop a feel." Aeris laughed, but she didn't push him off. Cloud looked down. Aeris was favoring her left side. A sprained ankle, most likely. A broken bone and she wouldn't be standing.
"Are you going to be able to get up that ladder?" Cloud asked.
"I'll be fine," Aeris sighed, and began to climb. Tifa went after her and Cloud brought up the rear. Aeris leaned against the wall as they walked. Tifa took the lead and Cloud was in the back.
"Sahagin like to dwell in the sewers," Cloud explained. "And they never attack from the front."
Sahagin were a strange tribe of creatures who seemed to be genetic descendents of the Adamantoise. They had a hard shell on their back, but had arms and legs like a human. They wielded sharpened pikes which they often used to attack an enemy from the back.
They didn't encounter a Sahagin, although they heard hisses, and the padding of small feet on water. Every time Cloud turned around, he swore he saw small shadows ducking into cover. They reached the ladder and began to climb up to whatever remained of Sector 7.
The other side of the metal manhole cover, was a site of wreckage. However, this was a wreck that had already been there.
"We're in the train graveyard," Tifa said. "That means Sector 7 is still okay!"
"We need to hurry, though. We might not have long," Cloud ordered.
Navigating the maze of decommissioned trains proved a task in-and-of itself. Aside from the fact that these cars had not been in the best of shape when they had been brought here, and that over time they had been beaten, bludgeoned, moved and vandalized, it was amazing that they could be dealt with at all. Technically, the train graveyard culminated an area that spanned across Sector's 6, 7, and 8. However the only occupied space, so far, lied in Sector 7. It was almost full though, and Tifa couldn't help but fear that most of these trains were damaged by terrorist groups such as her own.
So much wasted life; no wonder people chose to side with Shinra.
"I think we've just about made it," Cloud said, pointing to a train car that still seemed to be in moveable order. "I just need to bring that train closer to the one over there and we can climb out of this mess."
"Do you know how to drive a train?" Aeris asked.
"Not really, so stand back this might get interesting." Cloud cautioned.
Despite a few shaky starts, Cloud managed to move the train forward, close enough to their escape route. He jumped out of the train and helped Aeris get to the ladder near the back. They jumped off of the train over a smaller, broken one and arrived at the train station.
There was a massive group of people waiting here, apparently waiting for a train. Tifa knew that it wasn't coming though. No way Shinra would bring one of their trains here now. The sound of gunfire resonated off in the distance, which appeared to be the source of the mass's sudden migratory urge.
"Shinra is attacking the pillar that supports the plate!" Cloud shouted. "There's no train coming! You have to head to the gate to Sector 6 and get in there. If security guards try to stop you, knock them over or you'll all die anyways. If the gate is locked try the one at Sector 8. If that doesn't work, then get into the basement of the sturdiest building you can find and pray!"
The mass began to panic now, knocking each other over, some running in the direction of Sector 6, others in the direction of Sector 8. A few people didn't believe Cloud and stayed put, vainly hoping for a train to arrive. Cloud didn't have the time to reason with them. He ran to the pillar, with Aeris and Tifa following close behind him.
"Aeris, you can't fight," Cloud said.
"Why not? I've only known you for a day and I've been through my fair share of fights," Aeris argued.
"Your leg. You'll just slow us down," Cloud said.
Tifa patted Aeris on the shoulder.
"Aeris, could you do me a favor?" Tifa asked.
"Of course," Aeris smiled, turning to Tifa.
"I own a bar here, called Seventh Heaven. In it, there is a little girl named Marlene. Her father is up there fighting, so he can't do it, but can you please take her to safety?" Tifa asked.
Aeris smiled. She knew this was exactly what Cloud wanted, but at least now she could be helpful. She wondered why a person who just met her was so concerned with her well-being. Well, her physical well-being at least. Maybe he really did consider her a burden, or maybe he just felt responsible for her. Either way, it was not exactly a quality she found attractive, but she was grateful that he was trying to keep her safe. So she decided to indulge him this one favor, more for Tifa than him, of course.
"Alright, leave it to me. And don't worry, if any security guards or monsters show up," Aeris kicked up the back of her staff. "Bam!"
Aeris walked off towards the bar.
"You know, I don't want you in danger either, so if you want to skip this one out-" Cloud was cut off by Tifa laughing.
"Like hell, you think I'm going to miss the best fight against the Shinra we've ever had?" Tifa grinned and tightened her gloves.
Cloud nodded and ran through the gate that blocked the pillar area. The pillar was a massive metal and concrete beam that was strategically centered on the weakest focal point of all the plates. Directly on the narrow ends fulcrum. The outer edges were supported by a massive metal ring that had been arbitrarily been drawn around the city when it first came under construction. However, despite this fail-safe, if the pillar was destroyed, the exterior ring would not hold it. The force of the narrow side collapsing would degrade the integrity of the outer edge, until it broke apart, a process which would take only a few minutes at the most.
Everyone underneath the Plate would be crushed, and those on top would experience a mild earthquake. Maybe a few casualties and a handful of injuries. Life in Midgar was great, if you were an overworlder.
Cloud's thought process was shattered by the vision of Wedge falling from the top of the pillar and landing on the bottom set of stairs.
"Wedge!" Cloud shouted. He ran over to the body of his comrade. His body was pierced by several bullets and his skin looked as though it had been run through a 10,000 volt charge.
"Cloud," Wedge chuckled, spitting out blood. "You remembered my name. Thought you didn't care..."
"Hold on Wedge, we're gonna get you help, save your energy," Cloud began to fish through his pockets for anything to help. "No, it's too late. I'm lung-shot. Barret's at the top, help him."
"Damn it Wedge, don't give up," Cloud ordered.
"I'm not as tough as you EX-SOLDIER. Help those who you can. You can't help me... always thought you didn't care," Wedge's eyes closed and his pulse faded.
Cloud smashed his sword against the railing of the stairwell, ripping it from the foundation. "Damn it!"
He began to run up the stairs, with Tifa following close behind. The Shinra soldiers on the way up posed absolutely no threat to Cloud and Tifa. They had already taken down more than their fair share in the two Mako Reactor explosions, and both of them were filled with rage, sorrow, blood lust. Passing by the corpse of Biggs on their way up only heightened that fury. They reached the second-to-top level and saw Jesse, bleeding badly and hanging onto a sub-machine gun.
"Damn it, Jesse, not you too," Cloud shouted.
"Those Shinra bastards know just where to shoot, you know? Most guys aim for center mass, but these guys. Arteries, major organs. They must have taught you too, Cloud," Jesse gasped out from the pain.
"Yeah, they did. And I'm going to make sure they all suffer for this!" Cloud said.
"Give them hell Cloud," Jesse smiled. Even with her wounds and scarred face, she looked beautiful. Cloud picked up the submachine gun from Jesse's hands and tossed it to Tifa. Tifa almost missed it, trying to hide her tears. "I'm sorry."
"You've done nothing to apologize for," Cloud said. "You fought well."
Jesse leaned up to Cloud and kissed him on the cheek. She then fell back onto the metal grating. Cloud closed her eyes and patted her shoulder. He then ran up the final stairs. Tifa and Cloud were both exhilarated to see that Barret was still alive and shooting his gun-arm at a passing helicopter. It flew around another minor support pillar, but it was just getting ready for a second attack.
"About time you two showed up," Barret shouted. He then turned away from them. "How are the others?"
"They didn't make it," Cloud said, hanging his head.
"They didn't have much of a chance, I suppose. I never should have gotten them involved. This is all my fault," Barret cursed.
"Get a hold of yourself Barret. You were a leader, you had to make a risky decision that led you men to their deaths. But you know what. Not a single one of them regretted it. They were proud to give their lives. They didn't follow you because they knew you would keep them safe. They followed you because they believed that if they did fall, you would get the job done or die along side them. One way or another," Cloud said.
Barret nodded and wiped his face. "You're right. Besides I still got three people in this world that I gotta protect. Tifa, Marlene and even your spikey-headed ass!"
"We're with you all the way, Barret!" Tifa smiled.
Cloud simply nodded.
"It's coming around for another attack run. That helicopter isn't armed, but the guys inside it sure as hell are. It's Turks, and they know what the hell they're doing," Barret said. "Stay low and try to get them before they get you!"
Reno was piloting the helicopter. While the SA-930 wasn't exactly the chopper he was used to, it had some nifty features. Though it lacked weapons, it made up for it by being able to support 30 passengers for emergency deployment. It also featured something revolutionary called "auto-pilot" which allowed Reno to jump right into the fray at any time. The helicopter's auto-pilot would automatically track the pilot and circle around him, while avoiding obstacles on the way. The best feature of all, in Reno's mind, was that the pilot directly controlled the two grappling hooks this chopper had attached to its base and tail-section. He'd have to ride one of these around town later so that he could literally say he went around "picking up" chicks.
It was jokes such as this one that distracted Reno from the horror he was about to unleash upon Sector 7. He had to keep his mind occupied and think of it as simply a mission. Otherwise, he would have gone mad long ago.
"Hey Tseng," Reno called out. "I think there's something down there that you might want."
Reno was referring the girl in the pink dress that he had chased around just yesterday, walking towards Sector 5 with a little girl.
It was the Ancient.
"I see her. Let's land this baby and offer her a ride home," Tseng grinned.
The grappling hooks deployed onto two metal beams to help Reno land softly and navigate the narrow trenches that were Sector 6. The second they touched down, Aeris and the girl began to run, but it was too late. Tseng and Rude grabbed her arms. The little girl ran up and kicked Rude's knee, but she was then picked up by Reno. She tried to bite him, but Reno lifted her up by her arms.
"Relax, kid. You can't get me. I had a niece about your age once," Reno said.
"Please, don't hurt her," Aeris cried.
"Yo, lady, I'm not about to hurt a little girl," Reno dropped Marlene. "You on the other hand," Reno smacked her hard across the face. "You injured three of my best men."
"And you tried to kill me. If they didn't want to be hurt they shouldn't have chased me," Aeris replied coldly.
Reno's anger melted from his face and he began to chuckle. "Well I don't feel so bad. You're about to meet my friend Hojo. That sick fuck will do to you what you did to my men."
"Are you done, Reno?" Tseng asked.
"Yes, sir. What are we going to do about the kid?" Reno asked.
"We don't need her as a hostage. Let her go," Tseng ordered. "As for this one," Tseng handcuffed Aeris. "Let's get back and finish the job."
The helicopter soared over Cloud's head. "He's coming down on this side!"
Tifa began firing wildly at the chopper with the sub-machine gun Cloud handed her. Most of the shots were missing, and soon the clip was out of ammo. Barret's shots, while more properly aimed, barely dented the personnel carrier. Suddenly, the pilot's door burst open and out of the chopper leapt a man in a dark suit, though poorly maintained, with spikey red hair.
"What's up, yo?" The Turk grinned. "My name is Reno of the Turks, and I'll be your host for this night's performance of Armageddon."
Reno pressed a button on the bomb that was attached to the pillar.
"Damn it!" Barret shouted. He pointed his gun-arm at Reno and began to fire. Reno lifted a large rod with a tazer on the end of it and created an electromagnetic shield in front of him which blocked the bullets.
"Whoa, I'd thought you'd be running like the rats you are. Guess I underestimated you. Don't think about trying to disarm that bomb, either. If anyone but my buddy Rude tries to disable it, it'll go up in your face," Reno explained. He jumped over the edge of the pillar and landed in the pilot's seat of the chopper. He brought it back up and the door opened. Tseng stared Barret in the face.
"You know, you should stop shooting that. You wouldn't want anything to happen to our guest," Tseng grinned, lifting up Aeris.
"Aeris!" Tifa shouted.
"You bastard!" Cloud cursed.
"Tifa! She's alright. She's safe!" Aeris cried before being shoved back Tseng.
"I should thank you for both assuring the destruction of AVALANCHE in total, but also by leading the Ancient here as well. You performed spectacularly Cloud," Tseng smiled.
"Go to hell!" Cloud shouted.
"After you," Tseng smiled as the initial explosion near the top of the pillar went off. "Think you can still make it out alive? Please try, it will be amusing to watch you squirm." The chopper lifted up, above the plate towards the Shinra building.
"What do we do now?" Tifa cried.
One of the support wires that connected the plates together fell loose from the plate. Barret grabbed it as it fell. "We'll use this! Come on!"
Cloud grabbed the bottom section and Tifa grabbed a portion while sitting on Barret's shoulders. They used this wire to swing over the gate and into Sector 6, just as all hell broke loose and Sector 7 was crushed.
