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 spin-offs That honor goes to Square-Enix.
Part III: Demons
Chapter 61, Blasting Off Into Uncertainty
June 19th [ ν ] – εуλ 0008, 4:00 AM
Cloud felt like he'd been fighting for hours when at last, a man in a black cloak appeared at the window and a voice echoed over the training room. "Hold Argento. The Professor has gained all the data he wants."
The silver Tsviet backed off and lowered her weapon, while Cloud remained on guard. Argento had been as good as her word. He'd been so busy defending himself against her there'd been no real opportunity to look for an exit, but perhaps an opportunity could still present itself. He'd still need to find Vincent, but that could come once he was no longer under the Deepground soldiers' watchful eyes.
"Lower your weapons Cloud Strife," the Restrictor intoned.
The swordsman paused. He had not heard this voice before. But still, he wasn't about to leave himself vulnerable again…
"Did you not hear what I said?" the Restrictor continued. "Lower your weapons or that chamber will be gassed."
"You had best do as he says," Argento said. "I cannot claim responsibility for what they might do while you're unconscious."
Cloud looked up at the viewing window and saw that the soldiers up there were already preparing a couple of canisters. Grudgingly, he lowered his switchblades.
"Good," said the Restrictor. "Place them on the ground." The swordsman did so very slowly and then the Restrictor turned his attention to Argento. "Bind him."
The Tsviet walked over to the gurney on which Cloud had been brought in and produced a pair of SOLDIER handcuffs. He heard her walk up behind him and noticed she was looking over his shoulder at the two switchblades in front of him. "Those swords of yours…" she commented, as she began securing the cuffs around his wrists behind him. "I can see they are not of a traditional design, but they are definitely Wutaian in make."
"Does it matter?" He asked, glaring across the room.
"Just that you are clearly a very discerning warrior with an eye for quality. Those are fine blades beyond all doubt, and a custom job if I've seen one. It would be a shame for them not to be reunited with their mates." For a moment, her cool demeanor was replaced with another hint of a smile, but it fled just as quickly. He supposed it would make sense that she could tell they were part of a set, since she had claimed to be a swordsmith, but he was too occupied with his current situation to care right at the moment.
He watched resentfully as she retrieved his weapons, and then waited for the Restrictor to enter the room. Finally the doors opened and what appeared to be a minor level Tsviet approached him, taking a position behind him to escort him out of the room. Argento led the way as the other Tsviet led him down the hall back to the elevator, and it was then when he saw a woman clad in red and he realized her eyes were glowing the color of blood. This new woman was leaning against the inside of the elevator, a strange bladed weapon on her back and the Restrictor behind them took a position next to her.
"So this is the legendary Cloud Strife," she said in a heavily accented voice. The elevator started to rise and the woman came a little closer, looking him over as a Cuahl might look at new prey. "He doesn't look like much to me. Although I hope he can put up more of a fight than those vomen."
That got Cloud's attention and his eyes met hers, trying to determine if his worst fears were true. "Who are you? What happened to Tifa?" he demanded.
The woman laughed. "Rosso the Crimson, darling. As to those cowvardly harlots, they all ran avay. But ve'll find them soon enough." She was directly in front of him now and he wished he could step back, but there was nothing behind him aside from the guard rail and the wall of the service elevator. "On second thought… it's a shame the professor vants to keep you alive. Because I think I vant you for myself." She leered at him as she took his chin in her hand even as he tried to back away from her. "Such a handsome face. I vould love the chance to cut it to ribbons."
The restrictor knocked her hand aside. "Rosso, now's not the time," he said.
"It's never the time!" she snapped, and Cloud found himself forced to duck as she went for her weapon, but the Restrictor quickly brought up a barrier that she couldn't breach.
"That's enough. You will behave. Otherwise I'll deal with you myself." The Restrictor intoned.
Rosso backed off as her hand went away from her weapon, but she smiled as though the idea was exciting. "So vhat if I long to bathe in his blood. It vould be so beautiful, ya?! A pool of red under the clear blue vasteland skies, Coach! You could let us out just for a little vhile. Who cares if Sephiroth vants him?!"
At that point, Cloud heard something click before a burst of energy flowed through the red Tsviet's body and she dropped to the floor like a stone.
Cloud felt a moment of immense relief as the elevator doors swung open and neither the crimson Tsviet nor the restrictor disembarked with him, Argento and his guard. It was only after the two had long been left behind that Argento said "I think she likes you."
Cloud did his best to keep his thoughts private on that remark, though most of them involved wondering if every single one of the Tsviets were that deranged. Up until this point Argento had been almost cordial to him, but did that just mean she had a different point where she would snap?
They walked back through the halls until at last they reached the Science Department again. Another restrictor was waiting for them, and this one appeared to be Dart, judging from the scimitar at his hip. Upon seeing them enter, the restrictor gestured that Argento hand him Cloud's weapons. As she gave him the two switchblades, Cloud's guard directed him into the tube at the center of the lab. The unnamed Tsviet did not release his handcuffs but instead waited at the entrance. Cloud's attention was directed to the equipment that had been brought here while he'd been gone. Vincent was being carried over to the tube from where he'd been lying underneath a large bell-shaped structure and he looked completely drained, almost as if… had the gunman channeled a limit break in Cloud's absence?
That was when he looked over and saw Shelke looked much the same. She had removed a piece of strange-looking headgear and appeared as though she was exhausted from a physical fight, as she was leaning back in a reclined chair, breathing heavily.
That did not stop Hojo from appearing to be furious. He stood at a terminal and he suddenly let out an annoyed growl. "You call yourself a Tsviet! This information is way too corrupted to get any use out of!"
"I can easily make sense of it… once I've had time to clean up the white noise…" Shelke began, not moving.
"Then get on it, girl! I want it ready by the time I return in a few hours!" Hojo demanded and stalked out of the room. After he left, the girl let out a breath but otherwise remained resting in the chair, her eyes closed, though whether it was from a headache or exhaustion, he wasn't certain.
Vincent was brought into the tube and one of the Deepground soldiers carrying him gestured with his gun that Cloud sit down before cuffing Vincent so that they were chained back to back with one another.
"Isn't that a little extreme?" Cloud wondered aloud.
The Deepground soldier didn't answer, instead backing out of the tube and allowing the door to slide closed. Across the room, Cloud could see that Dart had walked over to where Shelke lay regaining her composure, and appeared to be threatening violence if she didn't move to do what the Professor had ordered.
"Vincent," Cloud turned as best he could to check on the gunman. It was a very awkward position, but it was the best he could do under the circumstances. "What happened?" The other man was leaning forward, his eyes closed, but after a moment, he opened them and tried to straighten his posture so he could look over his shoulder at the swordsman.
"I believe I know what happened to Zack and Kunsel's friend…" Vincent started.
Cloud gave him a worried look. "What?"
"That girl, she can manipulate minds through her computer network. I… think she got the Black Materia's location from me…" he finished.
Cloud considered what he'd heard from the Professor just a moment ago. "Sound's like there's still a chance they didn't get it," he whispered. "Are you all right?"
"Lucrecia…" Vincent muttered, and Cloud could have sworn his normally calm tone of voice had acquired a shaken quality to it.
He gave the the ex-Turk a questioning look and after an extra long silence, Vincent shook his head. "Whatever I saw, it's not important now." He didn't seem to care to elaborate further, because he instead asked "What about you?"
"They had me sparring with Argento," he said.
"I see," Vincent murmured.
Cloud looked outside the tube to take stock of who was there and who wasn't. It seemed the restrictor had exited the room along with Argento and all but one of the guards, leaving Shelke to her own devices. After being forced to stand by the restrictor she had walked over to the computer terminal and was now keying something onto the screen. He also noticed that his swords had been placed next to his materia on a table across the room. Vincent's equipment seemed to have also been left on the same surface. "Any ideas?" he asked the Turk.
"Make sure my hands are hidden," Vincent instructed. "I'm not sure, but I may have a wire I can use."
Cloud didn't bother questioning the Ex-Turk, but moved to cover their hands so the man could get to work.
Vincent seemed to have decided to go into mission mode for now and Cloud felt him examining the handcuffs. "These are SOLDIER class restraints. They seem to have a more modern locking mechanism I'm unfamiliar with…" Cloud felt his wrist being lifted as the ex-Turk examined the lock on the cuff with his right hand, feeling out the details by touch. "They might still be of the kind that requires a key. It could take time but…" The man considered. "Is there anyone looking this way?"
Cloud checked. "Shelke looks busy and that guard seems more worried about her."
"Examine the lining near the strap on my right glove," Vincent instructed. "It seems they neglected to check for it."
"All right," Cloud carefully started trying to bend his arms up as far as they would go and attempted to locate what Vincent was talking about. He felt cloth between his fingers. Casting a furtive glance over towards the Deepground soldier that was supposed to be guarding them, he gently eased his finger underneath the strap.
June 18th [ ν ] – εуλ 0008, 8:00 PM Nibel Mountain Time
The sun was just above the western horizon when the Highwind reached Rocket Town and Nanaki disembarked with Cid next to him. Barret was waiting for them at the base of the airship dock. "'Bout time ya got here. Havin' all them Shinra scientists around here's makin' me edgy."
"How close are we to launching?" Cid asked.
"The techs say if all the tests come back right, we'll be ready in an hour," Barret said.
Cid chuckled. "If the tests check out… Don't they know we've got a city to save?"
They walked across town towards the rocket, and Cid could see that Rufus had been true to his word. There were very few troopers in the area. It was still easily under GUARDIAN's control, but there were quite a few more technicians than there usually were and they were running around the rocket, making preparations while several pieces of heavy machinery that had been used to set old No. 26 back in a position sat nearby.
They passed over the bridges that had been built over the pipes and Cid started climbing the ladder. Barret lifted Nanaki over his shoulder before following him up and soon they stood on the catwalk leading towards the main hatch. As they passed, technicians saluted Cid and those who were with GUARDIAN nodded in respect to Nanaki and Barret. Cid led the way to the cockpit where several technicians hard at work on finalizing the equipment checks.
"How's the rocket?" Cid asked.
One of the technicians stood from where he was working at the console. "Just a few bugs in the system Captain, but we'll have it ready before the operation commences."
Cid checked his watch. "#$%&, we need that satellite in orbit before the mission starts! Get on it you #$*%*^! I want this firecracker ready to launch when they give the order! No later!"
June 19th [ ν ] – εуλ 0008, 5:15 AM Midgar Standard Time
Zack was sleeping on the couch in the safe house living room when the alarm on his PHS went off. It had been agreed that everyone would try to get a little bit of rest before the infiltration so that they could at least be somewhat fresh but now, it was time. He quietly crept around Aerith, who could still sleep a little since she was supposed to stay here and help Reeve and after pulling on his boots, he carefully secured the Buster Sword to his back and his dark steel broadsword to his hip.
"That's going to be a lot of weight, are you sure it wouldn't be better to leave it here?" he looked up to see Kunsel next to him, already prepared with the Gunblade sheathed behind him.
Zack shook his head. "I'll be fine. I'm not going without it."
Kunsel decided it would be best not to argue, and the two SOLDIERs walked outside. It was a little further to the new command center Rufus had set up and outside of it, they found Shears and Elfe already waiting, along with most of the Turks, and not just the current ones. Reno and Rude stood near the entrance, but Mao and Cissnei were there, along with Freya and Tanjuu. As they came closer, Zack also recognized Valerie and Allen, Liz, Rod, Lou, and two others. One he knew to be a martial artist and ex-private investigator from Costa Del Sol by the name of Kemp, and the other was a demolitions expert, whom he'd heard the other Turks call Legend. He'd never been told why, but he expected he might find out if things went to plan.
Yuffie was also there. He was starting to regret it, but after walking into the room shortly after Luxiere's death she'd talked her way into helping Freya's team.
"Are we all set?" He asked.
"You bet we are!" Freya said. "We'll teach those Deepgrounders a lesson, won't we?!"
"We're definitely ready to take our city back, yo," Reno agreed.
"It'll be just like when we took on Sephiroth," Cissnei said.
"I guess it will," Zack agreed with a small smile. Kunsel followed him inside and the two swordsmen walked through what had been the largest house in town until they found the basement. A set of computers had been installed there fairly quickly, and Rufus stood in the middle of the communications center near where Reeve was using a couple of his Cait Sith units to help with networking while he was going over a set of papers. Tifa was standing next to him and Zack saw she was wearing her black gloves. As they approached she looked up at him seriously. "You ready?" he asked.
She nodded. "There's no way I wouldn't be ready for this." She punched her fist into her open palm, cracking her knuckles for emphasis. Zack had tried to talk her out of coming, but she had insisted. "Don't think I'm not going with you Zack, we're both going to find them, and that's all there is to it." And looking at her now, he could see that conversation was long closed.
At that moment, one of the technicians looked up from his terminal. "Mr. Shinra? Rocket Town says the rocket is set to blast off."
Rufus looked up and nodded. "Tell them we'll be ready to give the order in a few minutes," his attention was now on Zack. "I must say, I am surprised we're not behind schedule."
"And I'm surprised you aren't too proud to agree to work together and not try to kill us, but that's a whole different conversation," Zack said.
Rufus simply smiled. "There will be plenty of time for our own disputes once Midgar is retaken. I may be proud, Zack, but I am no fool. We still have our last briefing to conduct before the mission gets underway, correct?"
Tseng approached at that point with a series of papers which he placed on a nearby table behind them and Zack nodded before turning to Kunsel. "It's time to bring everybody in."
His friend went back outside and soon everyone who had been waiting out there was gathered around the table, where Tseng had spread out a map of Midgar and for a moment, most of the computer technicians were only working quietly nearby. Once all the chatter died, Zack took the floor. "All right. We all know why we're here. So let's talk about how we're going to get rid of Hojo and those restrictors…"
June 19th [ ν ] – εуλ 0008, 5:30 AM
Miraculously, the wire was indeed right where Vincent said it was, and Cloud had quickly retrieved it, placing it in the gunman's hand while being careful not let his own be visible. The ex-Turk had been working patiently, using touch alone to guide the wire through the keyhole on his cuffs, though his efforts had been so far hampered by the fact the cuffs were indeed an unfamiliar model, and he couldn't see what he was doing.
Cloud watched their guard in case he happened to look their way, but the Deepground soldier had remained standing where he was, watching the Tsviet work away at the computer. It had been quiet for a long while, and though occasionally the Deepgrounder did look in their direction, he hadn't seemed to notice Vincent working. All the better. They could catch them by surprise when they tried to get out.
At last the Tsviet finished her work and stood, wandering over to the tube. Cloud nudged Vincent to let him know she was approaching and he immediately desisted. She stopped at the glass, observing them with a flat emotionless gaze.
Cloud stared right back at her, waiting to see what she would do, when finally she spoke. "I don't understand why you would do what you did," she said at last. "That woman was clearly meant to trap you, yet you came anyway. Why did you let yourself be so easily manipulated?"
Cloud raised an eyebrow. "I think the answer speaks for itself," he said coldly.
"If it is so self-evident, then I don't see why your behavior or Dart's would confuse me…" she said.
Vincent glanced over Cloud's shoulder. "I don't know about others," he murmured. "but when people care about each other that much, such a sacrifice is the least they can do… Perhaps it's part of what makes us human." He looked away from her again and Cloud was for all intents and purposes left alone with the girl as she considered the Ex-Turk's words.
Finally she turned her attention back to Cloud and asked "And that made it worth it for you?"
Cloud was considering whether or not he should answer that question when the conversation was abruptly ended because everyone's attention was directed towards the guard who had suddenly dropped like a stone, a bullet hole in his helmet.
Cloud looked up to see a figure drop onto one of the catwalks from a ventilation shaft above them. Shelke looked up at the intruder, preparing to go for a weapon and he heard the click of a pistol almost immediately after the thump of combat boots as the figure dropped down to the ground. Then he heard a low female voice. "Don't move."
Shelke paused, her eyes narrowed as the woman walked into the light and out of the shadows. Cloud's mouth fell open. What was Shalua doing here!?
The two women stood no more than ten paces apart, regarding each other over the barrel of Shalua's gun. "I knew it," Shalua said at last. "It really is you… Shelke?"
Cloud distantly registered that Vincent was back to work on the handcuffs while the Tsviet was distracted.
"I have no acquaintances in GUARDIAN," Shelke intoned.
Shalua seemed uncertain of this and her voice wavered a moment. "We've both changed so much… no… you haven't changed at all… not in eight years…"
Shelke seemed uncertain, almost haunted by that statement and Shalua continued, lowering her gun slightly. "Shelke, it's me! Shalua! I've been searching for you, for so long…" She tried to come closer, but Shelke leapt away from her, grabbing what seemed to be a pair of javelin-like poles from a nearby table. As Shalua neared her she activated them somehow. Her eyes began to glow orange and the poles were extended into two similarly colored energy beams connected by a stream of energy behind her. She held one in front of her to keep the other woman at bay.
"Don't take another step," she ordered. "You were foolish to come here. Even if you did fire your weapon, it would only bring a hundred other soldiers to investigate."
At that point, Cloud felt a lock click behind him and Vincent pulled his arms in front of him to begin working his other wrist loose of his bindings. "And that doesn't matter," Shalua said, her voice cool and even lest it draw the attention of more guards, though Cloud could tell she was fighting tooth and nail to keep her composure. This situation was dangerous for all of them. If she lost it here, it might get her killed. "Even if it has been eight years, you're still Shelke, my only sister," she said.
Shelke lowered her weapons for a moment, and the energy died, but she gave Shalua a look of utter contempt. "Eight years…" she said, turning away to look meditatively at the ground, completely ignoring the woman with the gun. "Has it been that long? The day they came to take me away, I was told I had potential, but those words were nothing but a precursor to years of suffering. They manipulated my mind until I was a shadow of my original self. The pain, the fear, for eight years I lived in hell far deeper than any you could imagine. But look at me. I should be seventeen this year. If I don't receive my daily dose of mako, this body wouldn't last a day."
Cloud heard another click as Vincent finished working on himself and then felt him begin to pick the lock on his own handcuffs as Shelke looked up at Shalua again, her expression a cool tempest of hatred under a mask of tranquility. "However, I don't consider myself the least bit unfortunate, except that for so long I held onto a foolish thread of hope that someday, someone would come to save me."
Shalua looked pained, but even so, in the seriousness of the situation, she remained firm. "I'm sorry Shelke. Believe me, I am. But I never stopped looking… all this time. Come back with us. No one will hurt you…"
Vincent seemed to be taking Cloud's handcuffs more quickly now that he seemed to have figured out what to do and Cloud felt the first cuff click open, before the Turk began working on the last one.
"There is nothing for me there," Shelke said coldly.
Shalua was falling apart fast and looked like she was on the verge of crying. "Even after all the trouble… I-I went through?" She lifted her prosthetic arm. "After you left, I joined AVALANCHE trying to find you. My arm isn't the only thing I lost. I nearly died more than once… but the one thing that kept me going… was the possibility that you were out there… Do you think I'm just going to lose you again?" She blinked away her tears and lifted her gun again. "Even if it means taking you back by force, that's not happening!"
Cloud felt the final lock click and he and Vincent both stood to examine the door of their prison. Shelke seemed too preoccupied with Shalua to try and do anything about them right now. Vincent tapped at the glass. "It's tempered," he said softly. He put his normally clawed hand against the barrier and Cloud saw energy crackle under his palm. "There's a barrier field here. Probably reinforced to prevent stronger specimens from breaking out."
"Like us, you mean," Cloud observed.
Vincent didn't answer but started walking around the the cage before looking up and Cloud noticed a metal grate at the top of the enclosure's steel cover. It must be for ventilation, but had also afforded them the ability to hear more clearly what was going on outside. He leapt into the air, grabbing a handhold on the rim and took a closer look. "Hojo secures his specimens well," he muttered. "It's welded shut."
At that moment, Cloud noticed Shelke had rushed forward to lunge at Shalua and the woman weaved to the side to avoid the girl before landing a kick to her back. "You really thought I'd fall for that?" the woman asked. "I don't remember you being able to win any of our fights, do you?"
"That is irrelevant. I'm going to kill you," Shelke replied, turning and taking stance again.
"Go ahead and try, I dare you," Shalua said, bringing up her normal hand and gesturing that Shelke come at her.
The two women stood apart from each other for a moment before Shelke leapt into the air to try and come at Shalua from above, but the hacker ducked and rolled, rising up into a crouch before raising her gun and firing at the sprinkler system above their heads. Water began to spray all over the room and equipment sparked around them as Shelke's weapon promptly shorted out. Cloud felt a change in the energy levels around him as the barrier field enclosing the tube suddenly died and he and Vincent quickly went for the door, using their combined strength to slide it open.
Shelke had attempted to come at the older woman again when her weapons died and Shalua had blocked them both with her prosthetic arm. "I don't think so," she said.
Shelke whirled away, headed towards a desk where several other weapons had been laid, but by that point, Cloud and Vincent had managed to open the door. Cloud had already scanned the room and located the spot where his swords had been place. To his relief his materia were there too, along with Vincent's weapon and equipment. The two of them raced over to the table and they both slipped on their bangles before Vincent cast Stop from a Time materia and Shelke froze in place.
Shalua ran over to where they were gathering the rest of their equipment. "Thanks," she said before looking at the girl in front of them.
"We may have no choice but to knock her out if you want to take her with us," Cloud said.
"I know," Shalua said. "I hate to do it but…"
"I'm afraid I can't let you," A female voice sounded from across the room. The three of them looked up and saw another restrictor standing next to a giant of a man with blue hair and clothes, and eyes that glowed golden. From what Cloud could tell, this Restrictor was shorter than the others. "The professor should have known better than to leave the Transparent Tsviet to her own devices. Maybe if Dart had stayed rather than going back to overseeing his Sectors, this lab wouldn't have gotten so crowded."
"So what's the word?" the giant asked. "Can I eat them?"
The Restrictor with the female voice laughed. "You can have the woman, Azul. The other two are going back into their cage."
The man in blue raced forward but Cloud pulled Shalua to the side just before he could make contact, picking her up when she tried to resist. That was when several more Deepground soldiers appeared from the hall, apparently having been drawn by the noise. "We need to get out of here," Cloud muttered.
Vincent nodded and followed him to some stairs down into the lower portion of the lab.
"Shelke!" Shalua cried as the two of them ran.
"I'm sorry," Cloud muttered, firmly keeping her still as he ran. "But if we don't move we won't get away at all."
"I don't care!" Shalua desperately tried to fight her way out of his grasp, but eventually she broke down completely. "It's not right…"
They were past another set of specimen cages and a particularly large yet empty tank when they found another hallway. They ducked into what looked like an office when they heard the sound of more combat boots coming from both the way they had come and the way they were trying to go. It wouldn't be long at this rate before they were overwhelmed. Shalua had stopped struggling by now, and Cloud awkwardly let go of her. "Sorry…" he mumbled again.
Shalua didn't say anything as Vincent moved a desk in front of the door. "We'll need to find another way out of here," he said. "That won't hold them for long."
"Then where…?" Shalua asked, though she was too distraught to finish the question.
There answer came when another vent cover fell open and they heard a heavily accented voice. "Psst! Over here you three!"
Cloud looked up. "Cait Sith?"
The little cat looked down at them from the ventilation shaft he'd just opened and gave them a little salute. "Number 6 at yer service! New come on! Let's get oota here! I'll explain things later!"
June 18th [ ν ] – εуλ 0008, 9:59 PM, Nibel Mountain Time
Search lights were trained on the rocket as men and women worked furiously to have it ready. It wouldn't be long now. Cid looked out the front window of the cockpit, as they worked with Shera beside him. Barret was staying behind to oversee things on the ground, along with Nanaki.
"Captain, the countdown is set to begin in 30 seconds," one of the technicians said over the speaker.
"Standing by for launch signal," Cid Confirmed. "Tell Zack and Rufus we're ready when they are."
June 19th [ ν ] – εуλ 0008, 5:59.45 AM Midgar Standard Time
Zack stood next to Rufus at their headquarters in Kalm, watching the preparations commence. He'd never in his life expected to be privy to an event like this, much less under these circumstances. Though it was understandable. At the time of the first Rocket Launch, he and Cloud had been pickling away in mako tubes under the Shinra Mansion. Even so, this was an incredible event.
Every single person who had volunteered for the infiltration mission had been given a seat in the adjacent room where they had two television screens showing what was happening in here and what was going on in Rocket Town. Unfortunately, no one outside of this building had been permitted to tell the world. It was a shame that such a momentous occasion couldn't be revealed, but there was too much of a chance that the Deepgrounders might attempt sabotage, and they couldn't have that.
Still, they were about to send a man into space, to save the world no less.
"Permission to begin countdown?" One of the technicians asked.
"Granted," Rufus confirmed.
The technician reached for the mike on his desk. "Initiating final countdown, launching in Ten… Nine… Eight… Seven… Six…"
Zack felt his heart begin to race as the rockets engines started billowing smoke and fire on the launch pad…
June 18th [ ν ] – εуλ 0008, 9:59.55 PM Nibel Mountain Time
"Five… Four… Three…" Cid felt the rocket begin to lift underneath him as he pushed the throttle forward. It was slowly going higher, higher, and still higher, defying the pull of the Planet's surface and as he looked up through the window of Shinra No. 26, he could see the clear sky ahead of him. It was everything he had loved about flying. That call to soar up into the heavens. This was it, this had been his dream. Even though he never would have admitted it to anyone, he felt a tear trickle down his cheek, as the last of the countdown finished and G-forces started taking hold. "Two… One… Liftoff! We have liftoff…" He couldn't hear the radio too much after that as he was too busy keeping the rocket steady.
For what seemed like a long time, he saw the sky coming down to meet him, slowly getting deeper and clearer as his body grappled with the G-forces that were threatening to flatten him into his seat. Stars that had been only somewhat visible on the ground became so much clearer and he soon felt like he could look out there and see the entire universe from his ship. The sun peeked over the horizon more and more the further out into orbit he got, and off in the distance, he could see the moon, so much more clearly in the brighter light of the celestial orb. It was so beautiful, even a bitter man like himself could have his breath taken away. He looked to his right, and saw that Shera was looking around her in wonder.
Finally, the pull of the rocket ceased, and he heard the radio click back in. "Captain Highwind? What's your status? Captain Highwind, do you read?"
He grinned as he noticed that a cigarette that had been knocked free from the strap of his aviator goggles had started floating in the main cabin. "Keep your britches on! I read ya loud an clear. I should be pulling into a regular orbit pretty soon, and then we'll see if we can line this puppy up with Midgar. Let's tell the professor 'Strife Delivery Service' needs its couriers back!"
June 19th [ ν ] – εуλ 0008, 7:00 AM Midgar Standard Time
Zack couldn't help but feel a little nervous about leaving Rufus unattended in Kalm, but at the same time, he knew Reeve would keep Aerith safe. And apart from the Cait Sith combat units, he had come with their at-large company of regulars, many of which were veterans of the Fort Condor conflict, and several more of the defected SOLDIERs who had joined their ranks in the last couple of months. Not to mention, they had Eli and his contacts to rely on. Between everyone he knew he could trust, hopefully, any backstabbing Rufus resorted to would be minimized.
He knelt with Kunsel, Tifa, and Tseng at the crest of a hill overlooking the Sector 8 gate. The day was mostly overcast, thank goodness, but they were still doing their best to lay low.
At that moment, he heard someone come up behind them and recognized SOLDIER 1st Class Bradley. While he had only distantly known the man before Nibelheim as a 3rd, he definitely seemed the professional type, and he seemed pretty loyal to Shinra. "Everything is set," the SOLDIER confirmed. "We've got all of our diversion units in place."
"Good," Tseng acknowledged. He turned to Zack. "You had better get going. I don't know how long we'll be able to distract them."
Zack nodded and walked back down the hill to where everyone was gathered, with Elfe, Shears, and the renegades disguised in plainclothes. "All right," Zack said. "This is it. You all have your orders, so let's move out. If we do this right, it could mean we'll be able to put this thing to bed for good. So let's do this!"
There was a nod from each of the renegades, and Tseng pulled out an old radio. "Commence Operation."
Zack heard Bradley's confirmation as the SOLDIER 1st returned to his unit, and soon afterward, there was the sound of several loud explosions at the Sector 8 gate as they moved to attack.
Elfe and Shears came up in front of Zack as they led the way towards the small and carefully camouflaged hole leading into the sewers of Midgar's slums. It had been a while before the AVALANCHE leaders had been willing to reveal this secret for how they were able to get in and out back during and shortly after the Wutai war, but now that the entire city hung in the balance, there was little time to be picky about which allies knew of these secret paths.
The tunnel was accessed by way of a hole that Shears easily uncovered, and soon Zack saw the evidence of a crudely constructed tunnel leading down towards the main portions of the outer sewers. He was the third person down, followed by Tifa, And then Kunsel and the rest of the renegades. While they were all descending, the two former terrorists pulled out flashlights. As the last of the sounds of clashing swords and explosions died away as they continued deeper into the dark, only to be replaced by the rank smell of decay, and the sound of water flowing down through the tunnels.
For several minutes the group walked in silence, until at last, Elfe revealed a ladder going topside. Shears climbed it first, before signaling that the first group could come up. Freya stepped forward, followed by Tanjuu, Yuffie, and Mao. The four of them climbed the ladder and disappeared. They had the shortest distance to go, being that their wait point was an old AVALANCHE hideout that had been set up in Sector 8.
A few minutes passed and then Elfe signaled that Shears had given the all-clear for the next group. Liz stepped forward to climb the ladder, followed by Lou, Rod, and Kemp. They were bound for Sector 2.
More time passed, as next Cissnei, Reno, Rude, and Legend left for Sector 6, and then finally, Elfe signaled the all clear for Zack, Tifa, and Kunsel to make their move on the Shinra building, leaving the two AVALANCHE leaders with Allen and Valerie to head for Sector 4. "Be careful out there," Shears said as Zack moved to lead the way for his group out of the alley.
"You do the same," Zack returned. "I want us all coming back alive, you hear?"
"Likewise," the man answered. Zack pulled the Buster Sword free of its harness with his left hand, putting the flat of the blade to his brow. They were going to make it. He'd swear his honor on this… Finally, he replaced the blade on his back, and gripping the lighter broadsword, he led the way out into the city. All they had to do now, was wait for Cid.
June 19th [ ν ] – εуλ 0008, 8:00 AM
Cid worked the controls with a steady hand, maneuvering the rocket into the correct orbit so that it was properly lined up with the tiny wheel. It was so far away, it may as well have been a small blemish on the planet's surface, but even so, the coordinates were right.
"How's it coming No. 26?" Reeve's voice echoed through the radio.
"Just about in position now," Cid replied. "Slowing to orbit speed in Three… Two… One… Perfect… I'll be opening the cargo hatch right… now…" He pressed the button and looked out the window. It had taken a little rigging on the part of the rocket techs, but now he could clearly see them show their work. A small device rigged to the wall of the cargo bay gently pushed the satellite into the void, and Shera carefully used a smaller set of controls to pull it into position. The small jets on the thing maneuvered in response to her hand for what seemed like an agonizingly long period of time.
"Can't you go any faster?" he prodded. He knew she wouldn't, and for something like this, precision was paramount, lest the satellite fall into the atmosphere in a conflagration of flash-fried metal and rocket fuel. That was precisely why she had volunteered to come.
"No, I can't Captain," she answered patiently, not taking her eyes off her work. "Everyone's depending on this being done right."
He glared at her, but didn't say anything. She'd gotten a little braver since she'd had his back during their last stand against Rufus's forces at the base of the rocket, and maybe she'd developed more of a backbone for it. She'd even told him off from time to time and perhaps he'd relent on occasion, but even so, they had yet to really truly reconcile. On occasion he had felt a little guilty for treating her the way he had, but then he'd remember what she'd done to him… and… well he hadn't quite worked up the courage for the final step yet.
Finally, she gave the control stick one last little push and stayed perfectly still. "I think that's done it," she nearly whispered before speaking louder. "Mission control? The satellite is in position. Activation commencing now." She reached for a switch on the control panel and Cid drew a breath as he watched a nearby screen for signs of a signal.
After less than a minute, he caught it as a blip on the screen. "Mission control? We have a transmission. Are you receiving it?"
"That's an affirmative 26, we're receiving a signal and we're confirming tracking devices on all four targets as we speak. It's time to come home," Reeve replied.
"Roger that," Cid ended the communication and after closing the hatch, he pushed forward on the flight stick. Barely half an hour later, they were over top of the vast Western sea that spanned the gap between Wutai and the Eastern Continent.
"Let's get out of here," he said.
The two of them moved towards the ladder, floating through the air in free-fall down into the depths of the rocket. As the dimmer lights of the lower part of the piloting module took the place of the star-studded view of the cockpit windows, Cid found himself feeling unusually reflective. This was it. He'd gone into space and lived his dream. He felt lighter than he ever had, and it had nothing to do with the weightlessness of outer space…
He was passing the oxygen tanks when suddenly something sparked next to him. He barely had time to blink before a huge metal plate flew free, pinning him against the wall.
"Captain?!" When he opened his eyes, he saw she had pulled out her tool box and was already working on a tangle of wires, trying to pull him free.
He looked over at the wall where the oxygen tank used to be. "Tank Number 8 blew up…" He considered that and then he remembered, looking at Shera with an uncharacteristically pained expression. "So Tank Number 8… really was malfunctioning… You were right…"
Shera didn't reply but continued working with a set of pliers to untangle the mess so she could pull it free. Cid considered for a moment. "Don't worry about me. Go ahead and go…"
She shook her head, her expression carefully blank. "Don't say that Cid."
"Don't you look at me like that, hurry up and go you *&#!^$#&#^%!" She simply looked back at him, unperturbed by his outburst and then went back to work on trying to cut him out of the debris.
Cid finally allowed his anger to settle and he looked down at the ground. For the first time in his life, he felt a little ashamed. "…Sorry," he said at last.
Shera shook her head. "It's all right Captain." There was quiet for a little while longer as she finished working her way around and finally pulled the plate free.
Not long after, they were floating towards the escape pod. Upon entering it and strapping himself in, Cid spoke. "Shera… you know… you don't have to call me Captain all the time…"
She smiled and reached for the control panel in order to jettison the pod with a gentle smile. "I know…"
He chuckled a little. "So, does this pod really fly?"
She nodded. "It'll be OK. I checked it thoroughly before we took off."
"…Then I'm relieved."
Shera adjusted her glasses, but he could have sworn he caught the glint of a couple of tears in her eyes. "…Thanks."
As she threw the lever that jettisoned the pod, Cid looked out the window, watching as the stars floated past them. "So this is…outer space…Man… It's the real thing… I'm really here in outer space…" He chuckled a little more at the wonder of it all, and craned his neck to take one last look at the ship that had carried his unfulfilled dream for so long, and had at last born it into fruition. "So long, Shinra No. 26…"
June 19th [ ν ] – εуλ 0008, 8:30 AM
Zack led the way, wary of any sign they'd been spotted. Tifa and Kunsel were behind him, both also on the lookout as the three of them crept through the upper-plate sewers. They had found a couple of Deepground regulars, but the fact that many of them were running around in chaos showed that their distraction at the gate had definitely had an effect.
He heard the sound of someone screaming above them and looked up out of the grate. A woman was backing away from what appeared to be a strange humanoid being. They were definitely in Deepground equipment, but seemed to be running around on all fours.
Kunsel was already on it. As the woman backed off the grate and the beast that was a mockery of a human crawled over top of where they were hiding, he cast the most powerful Bolt spell he could manage. The grate cover, and by extension, the mutant on top of it was blown several feet in the air by the electricity. It growled angrily, but Zack and Tifa were using its momentary distraction to leap up into the air in unison to use the side of the now opened hole to swing up onto the street level. Zack drew his broadsword, but Tifa had already rushed in, landing a hard punch to the mutant's stomach, before leaping in the air to deliver a painfully accurate downward kick to its neck. The thing dropped to the ground from the sheer power of the martial artist's attack.
Seeing the danger was temporarily past, Zack looked back at the woman who was cringing against a building in terror. "Are you all right?" he asked. She nodded and Zack said "You might want to get inside, ma'am. It's too dangerous out here." She nodded and hurried across the street to a door where two children were watching.
He turned back to the others, "Come on, we need to get to the Shinra building…" It wasn't far now. Loveless Avenue was just down this street. He knew it well, and from there, all they had to do was make it past the guards and in. Then they could find Cloud and Vincent.
"Right," Kunsel agreed.
The theater on the main street came into sight, and soon, Zack could see evidence that the Deepgrounders were milling about, on duty. After a moment, Zack signaled that the others wait in the alley before he crept across the street. They didn't seem to notice.
Finally, he signaled that the others come after him and first Kunsel, and then Tifa hurried across to take shelter in another alley.
"Do you get this weird feeling this is a little too quiet, now that we're away from the gate?" Kunsel asked after a moment.
"Maybe," Zack agreed. "But whether it's quiet or not, it won't be long before the Turks carry out their part of the plan.
"Psst! Zack!" He suddenly heard a heavily accented voice from a grate below him.
He looked down and his eyes widened in surprise. "Cait?"
The little cat gestured that they walk down the alley and soon they found a manhole cover which Kunsel easily lifted before they joined the little feline out of sight below. "What are you doing here?" Zack asked as the little cat led the way along a path away from Loveless Avenue.
"Lookin' for you, that's what," the little cat said. "Reeve had me sittin' in the ventilation shafts over Rufus's office for a while, thinkin' he could get some intelligence that way, but when communications died, he lost contact. I've been explorin' ever since, thinkin' if I foond anythin' and was able to get it back to ye, it might be helpful in figurin' oot what's what."
"Have you seen any sign of Cloud?" Tifa asked frantically.
Cait Sith gave her a smile. "It's all right lass, I found him, Vincent, and Shalua, up in the level below the main Science Department and got them oot. In fact, they're restin' in an abandoned house in the residential district over near the Sector 8 reactor right now." Seeing the worry in everyone's eyes, he quickly added "Don't worry, they're fine." He turned around at started scurrying away from them, calling over his shoulder "The professor's doin' some pretty terrible stuff tho'. It wouldn't go amiss to put a stop to it if we can!"
The three of them all started running after him.
Welcome back everyone, and thank you for your patience. Next week we will continue as scheduled, and I can promise that some big developments are in the works. I can hardly wait!
See ya soon!