Muzzle flashes illuminated the dark corridors. The reptilian feline like creature tried sprinting away from their gunfire only to be cut down by bullets and buckshot. As it bleed a translucent orange on the cold cement floor they cleared the other corners the gun mounted flashlights. They checked the floor walls and ceilings. As Barret shined his light on the ceiling another monster opened its maw to greed him dropping down. Like a cat it managed to land feet first and sprint for him. Barret maneuvered the shotgun but it moved like a cheetah quickly closing the distance. It lunged at him and slashed. Barret turned away and shielded his face with his gun.
Its claws tore into his shoulder ripping through the layers of his winter jacket spilling blood and stuffing. He slammed it off with his metal arm knocking it to the floor. Cissnei was ready with her MP7 firing a short burst straight into the creature's skull bursting it apart.
"Thanks." Barret said returning his focus back to the hallway where more growls where sounding. "Cover me!" Cissnei said grabbing her materia. Lighting sparked from her as dozens of electrical bolts arced outwards finding the concealed creatures in the dark zapping them with ten thousands volts killing them instantly.
Reaching for his belt Barret grabbed a flair and lit it. He tossed it down the half and let the red glow illuminate the path before them. "No fire?" Barret asked looking at the dead creatures on the floor the old remnants of Shinra's bio-weapons program.
"Underground?" Cissnei asked. "Do you want me to burn out all our oxygen and suffocate to death?"
"Never thought of that." Barret said grabbing some shells from his pocket and loading then into the Remington. "There's definitely more monsters down here." Barret said. "I'm sure they've been breeding down here for a while. They looked reptilian so they must be doing something to stay warm down here."
"More than likely the geothermal generators." She answered. "This place has plenty of volcanic activity going on under the ice." They looked at the icicles forming in the cracks in the ceilings the dripping water freezing downwards onto the slick cold floor forming a barrier of icy bars. Barret slammed the frozen cage with his metal arm shattering the ice. He held his arm out inviting the redhead to take point.
"What a gentleman." She teased walking past with her SMG leveled. The flashlight illuminated all before them. Barret struck another flair and tossed it past her bathing the old forgotten labs in red light.
As they surveyed the desks and shelves they listened to every little sound they could in the dark. "You know… I never thought to ask exactly what we are looking for." Barret said pulling open an old filing cabinet. "Every lab before this one was stripped clean."
"Anything we can." Cissnei said. "Files, Disks, hard-drives, whatever works. Anything that looks like it could involve that little girl or Hojo."
"It's isn't right." Barret said grabbing a dusty old floppy disk off a shelf as the redhead got on her knees dismantling an old computer to strip out the hard-drive. "Cloning that girl just to get his disgusting hands on her… it makes me sick."
"I know how you feel." Cissnei said blowing several years' worth of dust out of the computer. "I never liked Hojo… or most of the Shinra scientists."
"You don't seem like most Turks I met in my day." Barret said. "Reeve told me you left the company a few years before its collapse."
"That's right." Cissnei said. "I left and went into hiding."
"What happened?" Barret asked.
"It's a long story." Cissnei said.
"There the best kind." Barret said opening a stack of files. He pulled out his camera and started snapping pictures the flash lighting the room a second at a time.
"I discovered one of the company's dirty little secrets." She explained. "I was unable to perform my duties and I learned that the company had hurt someone very important to me… he died and I left the company behind I looked after his parents now and then. The company didn't seem to have much interest in them however."
"I see." Barret said. "I'm sorry to hear about that."
"How's you lose the arm?" She asked.
"Shinra." Barret chuckled as if that explained everything.
"Figures." Cissnei sighed. "So what are you planning to do once this is all over?" she asked.
"You mean after that second vacation you suggested?" Barret joked. "I've been looking at getting a place in Edge… to be honest I don't like the idea of moving to the city but Denzel and the rest of Marline's friends are there so I'm planning to keep her close."
"Don't like cities?" She asked pocketing the hard drive.
"I'm just not found of Edge. It's too close to Midgar… but I'll adjust… maybe get myself a job in construction."
"Hmm." Cissnei said getting on her hands and knees inspecting the drawers in one of the desks. "Any idea of where you're going to take Marline on her second vacation?"
"Someplace warmer." He said with a chuckle. "Maybe Wutai or Costa Del Sol." He reasoned. "A nice beach sounds nice."
"Wutai is nice this time of year." Cissnei said. "The cherry blossoms should be arriving any day now… it's a terrific sight."
"I've never seen." Barret said. "Wasn't around during the spring."
"I could show you if you like?" She offered.
"I think I might take you up on the offer." Barret said flicking the ash off his cigar. "I could use a tour guide."
She smiled towards him. "It's a deal then." She said. "Sure you won't be sick of me when this is all over?" She asked.
Barret grinned at her cigar clutched in his teeth the red light of the flair. "What makes you think I'd get sick of you?"
A loud crack sounded from down the halls and the air in the room turned frigid as the cold winds began blowing through. The rattle of gunfire reverberated down the passageways. Cissnei grabbed her submachine gun. "Enough flirting." She said getting into cover. "Looks like our mystery lab raiders are here." She whispered to him looking down the hallway. "They must have come in through a back entrance."
Barret grabbed his shotgun and clicked off the light as well not eager to give away his position. "Whoever they are they're making a lot of noise." Barret said listening to the automatic fire. He smelled the air breathing in the sulfur crisp in the cold air they were burning through a lot of ammunition.
"They're probably finding the same monsters we did." She whispered. The sigh of flashlights down the corridor made them pull their faces back.
"Clear away!" One of them shouted Barret and her peeked out to see a heavily armed man ignite the hallway with a blast of a flamethrower.
"I thought you said fire would suffocate us down here?" he said seeing the flames roar down the corridor.
"It would have." She said. "But that door or hatch or whatever they blew open is letting air down here. It can still suffocate us if we're not careful."
"So the big question do we fight them or avoid them?" He asked opening the gate of his shotgun and loaded in one of his special shells.
"It'll be hard to avoid them." She reasoned grabbing one of her flashbangs holding the safety down she pulled the pin and clutched it in her left hand holding her SMG in the other. "Let's take the flamethrower down first."
She tossed the flashbang down the corridor and waited for the white blinding blast. She popped out of cover and sprayed the hallway. The armor piercing rounds pierced through his bullet proof vest and sent him to the ground the others behind him stunned by the flashbang she managed to cut down and wound several of them. The strays managed to hit and puncture the fuel tanks on the man's back spraying fuel everywhere.
Despite what movies may show simply shooting the fuel tank for a flamethrower. That was where Barret came in. He leveled his shotgun and fired. Fire erupted from the muzzle and sprayed the hallway with burning incendiary pellets. Dragons Breath round are magnesium coated shotgun pellets an effective way to turn a simple shotgun into a light portable flamethrower.
The flaming pellets struck the tank and ignited. The fuel caught fire and flames burst out filling the corridor burning anyone still alive. They felt the air shift getting sucked in by the roaring inferno. Cissnei grabbed her materia and blasted the hallway with ice putting the fire out.
Barret pressed forward shotgun raised. He fired and pumped a new shell into the chamber every time he saw someone peek out from cover. The shotgun clicked dry and he dropped it. He drew his pistol and fired more determined to keep the enemy pinned. His arm transformed as he pressed his advantage he stopped firing his pistol and let them peek out to meet his Gatling arm.
He strafed the corridor the bullets cutting through steel concrete and kevlar and flesh. Cissnei followed close behind loading in a fresh magazine into her MP7. She picked his shotgun up and slung it over her shoulder.
Barret continued to lead the way his massive gun arm leaving behind a trail of hot brass on the floor. He was leaving behind a very distinguished trail of brass, blood and bodies.