By a Fraction of a Degree
A FFVII Fanfiction work by findthetiger129
Rated T for Violence and Language.
I do not own Final Fantasy VII, or any of the characters, trademarks or likenesses from Final Fantasy VII or its spinoffs. That honor goes to Square-Enix.
Now that's out of the way...
Part II: Reunion
Chapter 14, Airbusted
December 10th [ ν ] – εуλ 0007
It had taken some pushing to fly back to the lodge, but everyone had agreed that the less time spent with a stolen helicopter near Shinra's secondary center of power, the better. With that in mind, once everyone had an hour's rest, Valerie discreetly drove them back to their landing site, and soon they were underway. Hopefully, it would be a while before they heard from Veld again. This time had been a special case, Zack had decided. If something hadn't been done, the WEAPON would have most likely come after him anyway, but one thing he wanted to make clear to the former Turk director was that the next time there was a job, he would expect to be paid. Veld would also have to have a very good reason for calling on him to do the job, because quite frankly, he felt uncomfortable with the idea of working for the guy who had organized his and Cloud's extended stay in the basement of Shinra Manor.
They'd landed in the early morning hours, and after helping their resident renegade Turks re-pitch the camouflage netting around the chopper, everyone had hurried inside, eager to get what sleep they could before the sky started to lighten.
Now however, Zack cracked an eye open as a wonderful smell wafted into the room. Judging from that delicious aroma, someone was making breakfast. He noticed that Cloud was still asleep in the other bed, so he quietly dressed and headed downstairs. He found Rayleigh and Elmyra in the kitchen, but the two women were talking about something on the news, which he could hear playing on the TV, from where it was situated by the fireplace.
"What's going on?" he asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he went for the coffee.
"Something happened in Midgar," Rayleigh supplied. "Apparently there was a terrorist bombing at one of the reactors last night."
"What?" Zack glanced into the living room to see that a reporter was standing in front of a line of yellow police tape outside of what had clearly been an area cordoned off around the reactor. "Which one?"
"Number 1," Rayleigh answered him. "It seems there weren't any casualties in the reactor itself because it happened after hours but there were some civilians and soldiers caught in the blast."
"At least that's what they say." Zack poured himself some coffee.
"If there are civilian casualties I'm sure they'll be playing them up." Rayleigh walked over to the oven to check the progress on what looked like a batch of muffins. "After all, it would show how ruthless the terrorists are."
"I don't doubt it." The ex-SOLDIER went for an apple from the fruit basket and took a bite out of it chewing thoughtfully.
Elmyra busied herself with food preparation. "So did everything go well last night?" she asked.
"It was a long fight and we were pretty tired afterward but we stopped it." Zack wandered into the living room, leaning against the wall separating it from the kitchen as he listened to the newscast.
"…Reports are that the terrorist group AVALANCHE is claiming responsibility for this attack. While no suspects have been publicly identified at this time, Shinra Military Police units are on the scene along with fire crews who are still working to contain the flames. The area has been sealed off to prevent mako exposure though no cases have yet been reported…"
"AVALANCHE?" Zack murmured to no one in particular. That couldn't be right. AVALANCHE was gone. Fuhito was dead, and he was pretty sure any other original members were no longer active. Even so… "I wonder if Shears knows anything about this."
Tifa felt the wind on her face as the door on the outside of the train slid open. The alarms were blaring due to a faulty I. D. and she and Barret would have to abort their ride a little earlier than planned. She heard Barret saying something behind her before she steeled herself for the impact with the ground and pushed herself out of the moving train. Gravel crunched underneath her shoes as she landed in a crouch, and Barret landed a little bit ahead of her, before they picked themselves up.
"You all righ' Tifa?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine." As the huge man with the gun arm walked along the tracks she caught up with him.
"Stick close," Barret said. "We can't let our guard down before we get to the Number 5 reactor. Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie already got everything ready for us, and the reactor should be right down this tunnel."
The martial artist nodded and took a position in the rear so she could check that they weren't being followed as they walked. It wasn't long before they reached a wall of sensors blocking their path.
"Well $%&#. How're we supposed to get past this?" Barret wondered aloud as they cast about for a way forward.
After a moment, Tifa spotted a grate. She knelt down to examine the inside before looking up at Barret. "I think if you can get this open we might be able to get through. We probably won't be able to come back this way, but…"
Barret nodded. "The idea of slidin' down that thing give me the chills, but we can't be sticken aroun' here either. All right, get out of the way and I'll see what I can do." She stood up and Barret reached in his good hand to pull the grate up. Without waiting, Tifa slid down the hole and soon she heard the larger man coming after her. After crawling through some ducts they found themselves on some scaffolding that weaved its way through some girders. The two them soon found their way towards another grate and a pipe, and Jessie and Wedge. Biggs joined them at that point since according to the blueprint there was a lock that would require three people to clear. The other two signaled they would stand guard until the signal to retreat was called.
With that, the three of them slid down the pipe and found themselves in the belly of Reactor 5, right on top of the door that would lead them to the catwalks at the heart of the facility. It took them several minutes, silently going down ladders, deeper and deeper into the reactor. But no one spoke as they went, for they all understood the danger they were in. There might be interference this time.
Surprisingly, they made it to the core unhindered, and as Biggs set the bomb Jessie had constructed, Tifa looked down into the swirling vat of mako below, wondering if they would be able to take out every single one in the city before they were caught and probably killed. Would the planet be saved? Would the pain she felt over Nibelheim be extinguished? She couldn't say, but at least she could say she had done something…
She was brought back from her thoughts as Barret tapped her on the shoulder. It seemed Biggs was finished. The three of them trooped silently back along the catwalk and hurriedly retraced their steps up, towards fresh air, and sky. Biggs slipped along one of the pipes at one point, but otherwise, they made it to the elevator with no incident.
They hurried to the three person lock and released it, making their way out onto the bridge. "This way!" Barret called to them. But that was when everyone stopped. Tifa could now see that their escape route was being guarded by MPs. "SHIT! What the hell's goin' on?" Barret demanded.
Tifa found herself hearing light footsteps, the delicate clicking of very feminine high heels. As she looked, she heard Barret speak in absolute disbelief. "Who's this broad?"
A woman clad in a red evening gown was walking down the bridge over which they'd just come, and she was accompanied by a couple of troopers. She paused about thirty feet away. "If you must know who I am, my name is Scarlet, and you must be that group of terrorists… um… AVALANCHE was it not?" she said airily.
"And don't you forget it!" Barret roared. "I don' give a rat's ass who you are! This place's goin' up with a BANG soon. Serve's y'all right."
The blonde woman laughed as she examined her nails. "Kya hahaha. Actually, I'm afraid that would be too much of a waste. Especially when I could get so much good data from you."
"Data?" Biggs raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Don't worry, you'll find out soon." She snapped her fingers and suddenly Tifa heard a whirring noise from behind her. Barret looked in her direction and his eyes widened.
As she turned around and saw the giant floating robot headed in their direction, the woman in red laughed again. "Meet 'Airbuster', a techno-soldier. One of my creations, actually. I'm sure the data he'll gather from catching you will be most informative."
As she spoke the robot floated ominously in their direction, and Barret unloaded his gun arm at it. Tifa took a fighting stance and prepared to meet the floating monstrosity as Biggs took the position next to her.
She heard Barret pause and the two of them raced in. She leapt from the ground, sending the floating robot back a little with a flying kick and flipping backwards before it could grab her as Biggs went in with a hard punch to its hydrofoil. The robot floated there for a moment before suddenly, an explosion rent the area around Barret and he let out a growl of pain. At that point the robot barreled over top of them and Tifa was knocked to the ground. Biggs had been thrown to the side and Tifa suddenly noticed that he was bleeding where he'd been scraped against the grating that covered the path between Sectors 5 and 6.
With the grace of a professional gymnast, she pulled herself over the fence. Not daring to look down at the Sector 5 slums below, she swung herself to the spot where Biggs was lying and pulled herself back onto the bridge. She handed him a potion as Barret unloaded his weapon at the robot again. Biggs stood and prepared to go in again, this time, pulling a knife from his pocket to try and puncture the hydrofoil with something sharp as Tifa ran in to let loose a Beat Rush, pummeling the robot with three precise strikes and then she was forced to dodge away as a clawed arm reached for her.
On the other side of the robot, she heard Barret let out a snarl before he fired off a Big Shot on the back of the robot. As he finished the robot suddenly let loose another wave of explosions, this time under Tifa's feet. She gritted her teeth as debris exploded around her before falling to the ground.
"Tifa!" Biggs called out to her. She looked around her from the spot where she lay and saw that Barret was attempting to get around Airbuster in order to get to her. "Biggs, get out of here…" She moaned.
"I can't leave you guys…"
Biggs trailed off as Barret let out a roar, pushing past the robot with strength not found in most normal men. "Yes you can. We'll be right behind ya, all right?"
Biggs gave them one last look before he bolted. "Sorry Tif," Barret muttered as he picked her up. "I know it hurts." He proceeded to follow Biggs along the bridge when suddenly he let out a grunt as the robot knocked them both to the ground. Before they could pick themselves up, the machine had taken hold of both of them like a child holding a pair of dolls. Tifa felt like she could barely breathe as the robot carried them over to where Scarlet stood and held them in front of her.
"A bit disappointing," Scarlet said at last, "I'll need to recalibrate some of its attack patterns. It didn't take nearly as short a time as I'd hoped." As the two terrorists glared at her she smiled. "Now, don't look so angry. You just took part in a very important test run, and in a few days, you'll even get your five minutes of fame. After all, I'll be making sure everyone knows it was my invention that captured the masterminds behind AVALANCHE's reactor bombings."
"You're sick," Barret growled.
Scarlet narrowed her eyes and the smile she wore dripped with poison. "As if I care what you think. Take them to the Shinra building's main prison block."
One of the MPs spoke tentatively. "Ma'am? What about the one that escaped?"
Scarlet gave him a look of utter disdain. "Don't worry about it. According to our intel, this man is the ringleader. Without him they'll fall into our hands easily. It's only a matter of time." As Scarlet walked away, a couple more MPs came forward with handcuffs, and frisked them for weapons before the robot let them down and the two terrorists were led away.
December 11th [ ν ] – εуλ 0007
It was late evening and Shears was walking through an abandoned warehouse in the slums of Sector 4. Veld had not been pleased when he and Elfe decided to investigate some of their old hideouts in the city to see what copycat had decided to set himself up under the name for their original group, even though he had conceded that the information might be useful. Shears had to admit he wasn't sure what he and his fellow former AVALANCHE leader would do about it once they had that information.
Were they going to tell them to stop? It was a bit late now, considering the leaders had been captured. Was it curiosity? Maybe some old feelings of solidarity with those who were fighting to try and save the planet? He was sure it wasn't that. He'd had his fill of crazy zealots with Fuhito. If anything, if he met any of these people he'd be more likely to tell them to knock it off and get lost before they did something even more stupid.
He paused in the center of the empty warehouse, looking up at the rafters and remembering a time when this place used to be active. It had been early in AVALANCHE's existence, when they were first getting a foothold in the city. He'd been here a couple of times, back when their main base had been in Wutai. Those were simpler days, he reflected nostalgically. Back before he'd seen Fuhito for what he was and the fight against Shinra had been all that mattered. He'd still been a relatively new member then, having just had his life spared by Elfe and had only just started to work his way up the ranks… his PHS rang at his hip and he answered it.
"Yes?"
"Shears, I'm over by the old fallback spot in the sewers. Have you found anything?" Elfe's soft voice echoed through the speakers.
"Not a thing. Wherever they are, they definitely didn't find the plans for those bombs in Sector 4."
Elfe thought about it for a moment. "We'd been creating new hiding places all over this city over the last few years… how many other locations are left?"
Shears considered the question. "Maybe about five big ones, I think. There was the place in Sector 1, and then… let's see here… Sector 8… 2… above plate in Sector 5… oh yeah… and below in Sector 7."
Elfe was quiet for a little longer before she spoke again. "You take the locations in Sectors 2 and 1, and I'll go to 5 and 7. We'll meet in Sector 8, all right?"
"Got it. I'll see you in Sector 8." The PHS clicked and Shears reflected Elfe must have picked up the habit of hanging up abruptly from her old man. She had been very weak from her ordeal with Zirconiaide for quite some time, but now that she had some of her strength back, he'd found himself noticing that the two of them were alike in more ways than he'd realized.
Dr. Rayleigh had just returned to the lodge. Over the last month or so, she'd been working under a pseudonym at a local clinic to keep her skills up and so she could have access to the laboratories that were on-site. It had taken some work to get herself established, but the resources it made available to her would be invaluable, should she ever wish to continue her work. Her efforts to protect Cloud in Midgar had at long last earned her Zack's trust though both of them were still understandably leery of anything medically related. For now no further progress had been made on gaining any semblance of understanding of Hojo's goals. She was content to let things sit for now, as long as no complications came up, though she had mentioned to Freya and Cissnei that if a trip to Nibleheim could be made in the future, she wanted to find out more about that laboratory basement.
She walked up the stairs, depositing her belongings in her room which stood at the far end of the hall to the right, before returning downstairs to find Elmyra in the kitchen. The television was on again in the living room.
"…A second bombing at Mako Reactor 5 was thwarted by Shinra's latest technological development, Airbuster, a high powered security robot intended for the apprehension of suspects. Scarlet, the head of Weapons and Technological development will answer a few of our questions in an interview later on this program, but for now, let's talk about the terrorists…" Two photos appeared behind the newscaster as she spoke, that of a gigantic black man and a young woman with dark hair and wine colored eyes. Rayleigh listened as the two were identified as Barret Wallace and Tifa Lockhart, respectively though relatively little detail was given to where they had come from or who they were aside from being terrorists. Tifa… Where had she heard that name before? As the newscaster turned to less dramatic pieces of news, the doctor thought about it for a while, but couldn't place it.
Finally she shrugged it off and asked "So where is everyone tonight?"
"Apparently they found some work that took them up to one of the more northern islands. Zack said they'd be back in a couple of days," Elmyra answered.
"The girls went too?"
Elmyra nodded. "Aerith didn't have to but she wanted to go along with them."
Rayleigh acknowledged her answer before asking "Is there anything I can do to help?" There wasn't any sense sitting around here doing nothing after all.
Two figures crept towards the Shinra building. Biggs led the way with Wedge bringing up the rear. Jessie had wanted to come too, but it had been mutually agreed that she would stay behind with Marlene. If anything happened to her, they all knew Barret would never forgive them. Biggs cracked his knuckles as Wedge checked the ammunition in his gun and bandolier. This would be a difficult mission, but if they could only succeed... They'd bribed an informant to give them a blueprint of the floor they needed and hopefully they could get to the cell block quickly.
Nodding at each other to show they were both ready they hurried into a back alley that led to a set of stairs up into the Shinra building. The main cell block was supposed to be on the 20th floor. There were rumored to be others, but Scarlet had her workshops on level 21, so most of her troopers used this particular block.
The two of them raced up the stairs as fast as they could, taking some of them two at a time. 17… 18… 19… Biggs could hear Wedge losing his breath behind him as they reached the last landing and they paused to allow him to catch it again before he pushed open the door onto the 20th floor of the skyscraper. On the other side however, what he saw made him want to slam the door shut again. Ten troopers led by what looked like a SOLDIER were standing there waiting. That was also around the time he heard the sound of combat boots hurrying up the stairs. He cursed, but as he and Wedge looked at each other he realized this was the end of the road.
Biggs swallowed hard. They may not be able to get out of this, but they were going to take at least a few of those bastards down with them. They threw open the door and charged as the troopers peppered the area with bullets. When all was said and done, the two men lay still on the floor.
December 12th [ ν ] – εуλ 0007
Jessie was cleaning the bar at Seventh Heaven nervously as Marlene sat nearby, holding a doll she sometimes played with. She had tried to tuck the little girl in for the night but she was too upset to go to sleep. It had been several hours since Biggs and Wedge had left and Jessie had heard nothing. She hadn't bothered opening the place to customers. She was too worried about the others, but there was nothing wrong with making sure the place was clean for them when they got back… They would, she was certain. They had to. Even so… she looked at the clock. Biggs had told her that if they weren't back by 2:00 AM to assume they weren't coming back, and it was now 1:30. In half an hour she was supposed to assume that no one had survived. In that case, they had decided she would go into hiding with Marlene and take care of her. It was the most she could do if there was no one else left.
She didn't want to believe it was over. It couldn't be. Everyone would come through that door any moment, and they would get right back to trying to save the planet. That was when she noticed Marlene standing at her side. "When's Papa going to come back?" She asked.
"I don't know sweetheart," Jessie answered her.
"It'll be soon right?"
Jessie looked at the clock. Fifteen minutes left. "I hope so." They had been waiting all night for news and now that it was coming down to the wire, she didn't know what to do. "Hurry everyone!" She begged the darkness in the windows to show familiar faces as she watched the door.
Ten minutes to 2:00… No one came… She chewed on her lip nervously as she moved around the familiar tables and chairs, cleaning surfaces she'd already gone over. Five minutes…
She heard footsteps outside, and then a gentle tapping at the door. It couldn't be the others. That knock was way too soft and she would have heard Barret out there if he were present. She walked to the swinging doors and looked outside to find herself facing a woman a few years older than her with grey eyes, short brown hair, and wearing a long grey cloak over a worn green outfit with blue trim that looked vaguely like a uniform.
"Umm… can I help you?" Jessie asked.
"Perhaps," the woman said. "I apologize for intruding so late, but by any chance, are you familiar with a group known as AVALANCHE?"
Jessie automatically backed away from the door, preparing to fight if the woman was a threat. The woman looked in through the door, tired eyes taking in the bar and the old familiar pinball machine that was a secret entrance to the hidden room below, and let out a sigh. "I guess this is the place…" She looked back at Jessie. "I don't intend to harm you, I only wish to talk."
"Who are you?" Jessie asked warily.
"A former member. You may call me Elfe." She glided into the bar and as she stood in front of Jessie, she saw that the woman carried a katana at her hip. She didn't need to be an expert on physique to see that Elfe had been a very powerful fighter once, but she carried the slightly frail look of someone who has only recently recovered from a very bad injury or illness.
"It couldn't have been of this AVALANCHE because we only just started a month or so ago," she said.
"I know. I speak of the original AVALANCHE." Elfe offered Jessie a soft smile. "Where are your other members."
Jessie hung her head. It was after 2:00 now. "They're gone," she said sadly. "If they were coming back, it should have been by now."
As she spoke, she heard Marlene behind her. "Daddy?" The girl asked tentatively.
Jessie walked over to the little girl and held her. "I'm sorry Marlene. It's past the time when they should have come back."
The little girl looked up at her as her eyes filled with tears and then she buried her face in Jessie's shirt. "Daddy!" she sobbed. Jessie held her close as Elfe watched the spectacle calmly.
"I take that to mean one of your comrades was her father?"
"He was our leader." Jessie said, fighting back her own tears as she glared at the woman.
Elfe did not flinch under her gaze. Instead she pulled out a PHS and dialed a number. After it rang for a moment she spoke into the receiver. "Shears, it seems our copycats were located in Sector 7… No, there are only two of them left. The authorities will probably come to this place soon, I expect… Yes that is exactly what I am suggesting. I can't just leave them here… I don't care what my father thinks, go to the safe house and tell him I'll have company."
Jessie wasn't sure of what she had just heard, and she stared at the woman curiously as she ended the call. Elfe didn't seem put off by the stare, but instead spoke with authority. "It's very likely that Shinra will be searching for you, and you shouldn't stay here. If you come with me, I have a place where you will be safe."
December 13th [ ν ] – εуλ 0007
In the early morning hours in a nondescript holding tank on the 67th floor of the Shinra building, a strange metamorphosis was taking place. Prior to today, anyone looking into this particular vessel, would have seen the visage of a grotesquely mutated woman, beheaded, and immobile. Of course, prior to now, the only use she served to most members of Shinra's science department had been as a source of Jenova cells. Now, in the silent dark of the vacant laboratory, that disgusting visage was changing, disconnecting itself from collection tubes, pulling tendrils into itself as flesh and sinew knitted into a new and ominously frightening figure. The glass of the window of the tank smashed open, and nearby specimens quaked in their cages as it opened, the floor splattering with liquid. A ghost from the past stepped out into the lab, still dripping the mako it had been resting in and blood from its still shifting form, as well as some from an orderly whom it had quickly killed when he had tried to see what was going on in the tank.
Alarms triggered, but the ghost ignored them. As he walked, Sephiroth felt his familiar leather coat form around him, directed by his control of his mother's body. His actual sword still floated in the Lifestream, but it was no issue to use Mother to recreate the blade as it formed in his hand. He continued onward, toward the lift that would take him to the upper level of the lab, and the elevators. He passed a cage with an animal resembling a cross between a dog and a lion with a fiery tail and the number XIII branded into its side. The creature watched him guardedly, but he paid it no mind. He had other things to attend to. As he came to the stairs, two more orderlies appeared to investigate what was happening and he cut them down without hesitation before moving on.
Reaching the top of the stairs, he glided along the once familiar catwalks, his sword clutched in his hand and silvery hair trailing behind him. He walked with purpose even as a couple of guard robots lumbered into view to block his path. These too, he cut down without even blinking. He was an unyielding force, pressing forward, and onward, leaving rivers of blood as he continued until finally he arrived at the entrance to the President's office.
The doors gave way under his sword like butter before he walked up the left set of stairs. A malevolent smile crossed his lips as he saw the President at his desk, eyes tracking his as he walked up the steps and approached.
"General Sephiroth…" The man breathed out. "I thought you were dead. How…?"
The former general did not answer at first. In a movement too quick even for most SOLDIERs to see, he rushed at the president, leapt into the air, and impaled the man into his desk with the sword, even as he still sat in his office chair. "Mother sends her regards." He intoned. With a dramatic swish of his leather coat, he walked out the door to the helicopter pad and leapt off the side of the building, another sword forming in his hand even as he landed lightly on the first ledge, continuing his journey downward into the mako city.
Cloud was dreaming again. At first it had been about Nibelheim, but somewhere along the way, he'd found himself trapped in a very dark place, barely able to breath, suffocating in a sea of deep, unrelenting, burning green. It wasn't the Lifestream. It was very different from that. Here, the whispers were louder. Loud enough that along with the burn, the experience was maddening, as though every voice was trying to force itself into his mind and overpower him. It wasn't just his skin that burned either. Every vein and artery in his body burned with the dull fire. Every heartbeat was more painful than the last, each beat pounding with the pulse of that aching throb. There was nothing he could do to escape it. He couldn't even move…
Cloud's eyes fluttered open and it took him a second to orient himself before he realized he was looking up at the familiar folds of the inside of their tent. He took a moment to catch his breath and look around. Kunsel was sleeping soundly on the other side, but Zack's bedroll was empty. He wriggled out of his own sleeping bag, pulling on his sweater and crawled toward the tent flaps, being careful not to rouse the other man as he went. As he stood, he saw the night was still awash with stars even as the first shades of sunrise were starting to show on the eastern horizon.
He breathed in the night air and looked around, spotting Zack by the embers of their campfire. His friend sat, watching the glowing coals, as though deep in thought, but on hearing him approach, he looked up. "Trouble sleeping?" He asked.
Cloud shrugged. There was no sense hiding the obvious, so instead he sat down next to his friend and asked. "You too?"
"Yeah." Zack reached out with a stick and stirred the coals a little so they flared slightly, sending up a few sparks. "Nightmares?" He ventured after a moment.
Again Cloud shrugged. They sat in silence for a while, as the eastern horizon slowly began to lighten.
"Well, you know you can talk to me about it. If you remember something… or if something's bothering you… right?" Zack turned to look him in the eye as he said it.
Cloud nodded. "I know." They were quiet for a little bit longer, as the lighter shades of sky to the east started changing to redder hues, lighting up a fire to replace the dying one they were sitting by. Cloud knew he wasn't the only one who was dealing with this. Zack put a good face on it, but he'd have had to be blind to not see his dark haired friend had also been affected by their ordeal. It was probably even worse for him since he actually remembered what had happened. Finally, Cloud spoke again. "You know I'm here too… right?"
"Yeah, I know." Zack reached over and ruffled Cloud's hair.
"Hey!" Cloud fended him off, but before long they were both laughing. The seriousness of the moment had been broken.
When the others awoke, it didn't take long for everyone to get packed up and return to the town where their contact had met them. The job had been completed the night before. A particularly nasty monster had been hiding out in the woods and making off with the local livestock. It wasn't long after Kunsel and Zack finished negotiating with their contact that everyone had their pay, and they were headed back home to the lodge. The morning passed in pleasant company, and soon they were crossing over one of the larger bridges that spanned the channel between two of Mideel's islands. It was even less time before they reached the path leading back into the woods.
"You know," Zack said as they walked along. "This kind of reminds me of some of the missions I did back at SOLDIER."
"Which ones?" Kunsel asked.
"Well, lots of 'em," Zack said. "There was always trouble with monsters back then, wasn't there?"
"Yeah, seems like we were always getting shipped off to who knows where," Kunsel agreed. "There was the odd Wutai rebel or AVALANCHE cell to take out, but most of them were just straight up hunting." He looked at Freya. "You probably would have liked it."
"Is that how you learned to track?" The huntress asked curiously.
"You have to, otherwise, some of the more elusive ones are never going to show," Kunsel replied.
"It's a good thing he figured it out before we got our commissions too," Zack said. "I don't think I would have done nearly as well without him." He clapped a hand on Kunsel's shoulder. "Do you remember that time we got lost in the mountains near Kalm when we were still cadets and you had to track our squad just to get us back out?"
Kunsel groaned good-naturedly. "How could I forget? That was just before we made 3rd."
"Yeah, good thing we found them before it got dark, otherwise we might have had to sleep in the woods." Zack chuckled.
"What other crazy things did you guys get up to?" Cissnei wondered.
Kunsel laughed. "Where do I start?"
"Start with how you met," Aerith requested.
"Hmm… all right. It was before we took the SOLDIER exams. We ended up in the same bunk room for basic and we both knew we wanted to make it in. Of course, you know Zack, he was going around talking to everyone about how he was going to make 1st class, and be a hero. In the end, we got assigned as bunkmates, and he would not stop. Talking, I mean. So eventually, I made this bet with him that if he could figure out how to talk his way into being a hero, I'd give him ten gil…"
It wasn't long before the group saw a familiar looking building in the distance, and as they walked around to the front door and came inside, they saw Elmyra busying herself in the kitchen, making lunch.
"Glad to see you're all back," She said.
"Yes, and it's also good that we got paid," Zack added. "We're probably good for a few months at the rate we're going."
"That's wonderful." The older woman smiled. "As you can see, I've fixed up some stew so grab a bowl and help yourselves."
"All right!" Zack hurried to the cabinet where the bowls were kept, though he noted that the TV was on again in the other room. His enhanced senses picked up that there was another report but with everyone else in the room, he couldn't make out the details. As the others lined up behind him, he noticed that Cloud had disappeared. Not that he was particularly competitive where food was concerned to begin with, but still…
"Zack!" He almost dropped his bowl in surprise. He hadn't heard Cloud call his name like that since Midgar.
"What? What is it?" He hurried to the door to the living room to see Cloud wearing an expression of complete shock as his eyes were fixed on the television.
The next words Cloud spoke were soft and wavering, as though he couldn't believe he was saying them. "It's Tifa…"
Zack turned his eyes to the screen and his mouth fell open as he read the ticker tape rolling by on the bottom, underneath the news anchor who was backed by photos of Cloud's friend and a black man he didn't recognize. "…AVALANCHE TERRORISTS IN REACTOR BOMBING ASSASSINATE PRESIDENT SHINRA…"
A/N: No new limit breaks this chapter, but for those of you who like to keep track of such things, the Sector Seven plate would have dropped on December 11th.
See ya space cowboys! ^^