Disclaimer: Final Fantasy 7 and all is associated characters, location, etc… are property of Square Enix.
Author's Note: Correspondence by review and author's notes; this'll be fun! It's true that setting the story 700 years in the future offers me a great deal of freedom; heck, that's one of the reasons I chose it. Now I can warp the story and its characters to my heart's content! Mwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
Seriously, though; my changes are bound to make someone angry, so I'll take this opportunity to ask all my readers to proceed at their own discretion (it's kind of late to be issuing a warning but oh well). You have been warned…
Peace's End
By tfa1
Chapter 10: A Real Pain
Nimbus grinned as he walked over to stand by Taefis. Despair slung over his shoulder, he stared into the gloom ahead of them as machinery continued to work inside. Light from the room they stood in illuminated a part of the floor of the other chamber, but it wasn't enough to see what kind of robot was waiting for them inside.
"Well then," he uttered, "let's see just how tough this thing is."
They stepped forwards together, Taefis gradually regaining her composure. Inside, a pair of crimson lights, like eyes, stared at them from the right. Light erupted around them as a set of machine guns unloaded their projectiles aimed for the friends.
Nimbus and Taefis dodged, using the light produced by the shooting to figure out where the guard-bot was. Darkness engulfed the chamber once again as the robot's clip emptied, and the distinctive sound of reloading could be heard emanating from the great machine.
From the quick glimpse he had managed to catch, Nimbus deduced that the six-legged robot was about two stories high and armed to the teeth with guns, rockets, and various other instruments of death. It became fairly obvious, as it unleashed another barrage of bullets, that the manually-operated machine was equipped with night-vision. It resembled one of those Guard Scorpions utilized by the Shinra organization 700 years ago, with much more bang.
Nimbus charged, careful to sidestep the bullets aimed for his vital centres, and tried to swipe at one of the mechanical legs with his sword. The light subsided as he approached, and his swing met nothing but air as the leg moved out of the way. Taefis heard a hiss as a heat-seeking rocket was loosed upon her, and she managed to roll out of the way just as it was about to make contact. It met the floor instead; the blast sending Taefis careening forwards and under the scorpion. The machine's legs gave way as it moved to crush her, but Nimbus, his eyes now adapting to the darkness, swiftly picked her up and ran.
Brandishing Despair anew, Nimbus charged at another of the robot's legs. Having learnt his lesson, Nimbus didn't slash at the leg as it moved out of the way, but rather he threw his weapon at a neighbouring leg and watched it pierce its target. Grabbing on to the handle, he pulled out Despair and swiped the knee-joint as he fell, severing the leg from its body.
Backed against a wall and distracted by Nimbus, the scorpion did not pay attention to Taefis as she pushed off from the wall and landed on the machine's main body. Nimbus threw his sword to her, hoping she'd be able to catch it in the darkness. Her hand clasped around the massive sword, and she proceeded to dismember one of the scorpion's machine gun-equipped arms. The robot attempted to stomp on Nimbus with its five remaining legs as its arm fell to the ground, but the bald man proved too quick.
Taefis Locke climbed up the machine's torso, heaving the sword along as she did so. Reaching the top, she plunged the weapon into the robot's 'head,' but the electric shock sent her flying into the nearby wall. The sword did the trick, however, and soon the scorpion could no longer function. The operator, still armed with his sub-machine gun, emerged from the now-damaged head and began firing wildly, having no night vision of his own. Now unarmed, neither Nimbus nor Taefis were able to attack him, but impeccable timing by Smith proved his downfall. A single gunshot from the miniscule cat rendered the guard lifeless.
The feline strode over to where Taefis and Nimbus were panting, and smirked. "All in a day's work, friends."
Activating the flashlights in his eyes, he continued on through the darkness as the human pair returned to the other room to get their friends.
- - -
Past the room with the Guard Scorpion was a dark laboratory. Computer terminals lined the walls, and at the far end of the lab was a gigantic hollow tube with a space shuttle nestled inside it. A great deal of machinery was scattered along the laboratory floor, but none of the members of ROCKSLIDE knew what any of it was for. A small group of three scientists fluttered about from terminal to terminal, like moths in the gloom.
Captain Highflier collapsed to the ground and stared at the rocket ship before him. "What I would give to fly in that…" he muttered.
Rockslide rounded up the scientists and began questioning them as Smith accessed the computers. "What's goin' on, 'ere? Why does the Emperor care so much 'bout this place?" demanded the large man.
A blonde scientist resisted, but the other two were more than willing to answer. They looked like they hadn't slept in months. "We've been developing technology for the Space Program," answered a youngish brunet. "The Emperor is obsessed with seeing his ship completed on time."
"What kinds o' technology 'ave ya been developin'?"
"Primarily," the brown-haired man continued, "we've been working on a brand-new propulsion system; one to rival all others to date. Tell me; are you here to bust us out? I can't stand another one of these sleepless nights!"
Rockslide shrugged, but Nimbus knew that, deep down, the big guy wouldn't confine another human being to this fate. Despite his gruff appearance, the guy had even more heart than Nimbus. "What's so special 'bout this propulsion system?"
The third scientist, a red-haired female, answered. "It goes fast; really fast. It cuts the ETA from here to the sun down to a matter of hours."
Rockslide grew red in the face as he realized the truth of the matter. All this security, all the secrecy – it was all for a fast engine. What a pain, he thought. He stared, dumbfounded, at the rocket. He sighed, "Why? Does he want to win a race?"
The woman shrugged. "Ask him yourself, we know nothing of his plans. For all we know, he just wants a nice view of the planetary alignment."
Sid's gaze was torn away from the rocket ship as the scientist piqued his interest. "Planetary alignment?"
"Yeah, our deadline for the completion of the rocket is set for a couple of days before the alignment. We've no other explanation for this engine other than that," the brunet said.
The rebel leader sighed. "Well, this is what we came for. Time to blow stuff up!" He pulled the dynamite out of his pocket and set it at the edge of laboratory, near the rocket. Sid Highflier sat silent, choking on his own protests.
The three scientists screamed out against the big man's actions. The blonde finally spoke, "No, don't! The system is highly unstable! You'll kill us all!"
Rockslide did not relent. He had come here to destroy the Emperor's prize and that was what he was going to do. "This bomb's goin' off whether ya like it or not. So, methinks we ought to get moving… now!"
(Author's Note: From what I understand, the distance between the sun and earth is so vast that it could take days, maybe even years, to travel between them. I really don't know if it's physically possible to cut that time down to hours, but for the sake of this fic, I'll pretend it is.)