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.

SOLDIER 1st Class Bradley, SOLDIER 2nd Class Eli are original characters.

Part III: Demons

Chapter 67, The Longest Day Part 2

June 21st [ ν ] – εуλ 0008, 2:15 PM

Rosso grinned as she aimed her weapon at Cloud's head. "Don't vorry Cloud Strife. Tifa Lockhart vill be joining you in the Lifestream soon enough. I vill cherish seeing your body broken and drenched in red for a long time to come."

"I think we'll pass," At that moment, he saw the flash of a black sneaker make contact with Rosso's right arm, knocking her weapon onto a nearby rock. Tifa pressed her attack, turning out of the spinning side kick and directly into a roundhouse punch which Rosso only barely deflected a few inches from her face. At that point, the Tsviet backed slightly away from the cliff, trying to make it back to her weapon, as she and Tifa traded a series of punches and kicks.

Cloud stabbed the First Sword into the side of the cliff and hopped onto it, before pulling out the notched blade and repeating the process, using the blades almost like pitons to maneuver over to a slightly lower ledge. Once he was on solid ground, he put the swords back in his sword harness and hopped up to the next ledge before locating a series of handholds that would get him back up onto the plateau, back to where he could help Tifa with their opponent.

Finally, he reached the summit again and pulled himself up over the side, and he was relieved to see Tifa was still holding her own, pushing Rosso's defense to the limit with a powerful flurry of punches. The Crimson Tsviet finally let out a scream of rage, and moved to push the martial artist to the ground. Tifa dodged but the Tsviet grabbed her arm, using it as leverage to slam her into a nearby rock before rushing to grab her weapon again in order to shoot at the martial artist while she was down. Cloud only got there in time to parry before Rosso could shoot anything. She returned his assault with five powerful strikes with her two blades. Cloud found he had to work to deflect them quickly enough and on the final strike, he felt something sharp connect with his left arm. As blood trickled down the length of his bicep, he delivered another right handed slash across the Crimson Tsviet's chest with the First Sword.

The Tsviet backed away. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to prevent Cloud from cutting a gash along her body. She reflexively clutched at the line of darker red that was starting to stain her clothes and glared at him. Tifa had recovered and was coming closer when Cloud stopped her. "Do you yield?" he asked.

The anger in Rosso's eyes suddenly changed. As though an animal had been let out. "Not until I've painted this entire cliff vith your blood." A shockwave triggered across the plateau and as Cloud and Tifa tried to regain their footing the Tsviet charged, yelling her rage. Cloud was about to pull them both out of the way but Tifa sidestepped in the other direction, ducking underneath the Tsviet's blade and landing a hard kick to the back of the other woman's head. Rosso staggered, before trying to rush at her, her blades flying, but Cloud got there first, blocking with the First Sword, and stabbing her through the gut with the notched blade. Blood dripped from the second wound as she backed away. There would be no continuation of this fight. "Someone… stronger… than… Absurd…" Rosso's voice dripped with as much scorn as her body dripped with red.

"If you move anymore, you're going to die," Cloud said coldly.

Rosso ignored him, the bloodlust in her eyes disappearing in favor of a proud and furious arrogance. She limped back, clutched her wounds, the blood dripping down her body and leaving little puddles at her feet. "Absurd!" she said again before her face became eerily calm. "Our time here together is done," she said. "I shall not grant you the pleasure of defeating Rosso the Crimson."

"What are you doing?" Tifa asked.

She glared at the martial artist as though she was an idiot before looking at Cloud. "You and your voman haven't defeated me Cloud Strife. No vone ever vill ever stand above me! No vone!" She raised her hand and red energy began to glow within it before it flew out as a blade and sliced at the ledge.

"No vone!" She exclaimed, slicing at the ground again. "No vone!" The ledge gave way under a final strike, and the Tsviet dropped into the gully below, laughing maniacally.

The area was filled with an eerie silence, only punctuated by explosions in the distance before Cloud finally broke it by drawing a breath and turning to the martial artist, checking her over. "When she slammed you into that wall… I thought…" He began.

She smiled. "Don't worry about me," she said. "I'll probably be a little bruised, but I'll be fine. I was more worried when she knocked you off the cliff." She glanced down at the trickle of blood that was forming a line along his arm. "We should probably use a Cure on that," she said.

Cloud looked over the edge before shaking his head. He could see the woman's body as the dust was beginning to clear, her head at an odd angle and her own blood pooling under the darkening clouds. Ironic, considering she had wanted to do the exact same thing to him, under the open skies of the wastes. He could hardly think of a more pathetic way to go, and the green mists forming around her confirmed what he already knew. "So pointless," he said quietly, the disgust evident in his voice. Finally, he turned to Tifa. "Let's get back to Fenrir."

She nodded solemnly before reaching for her Restore material and casting as they walked.

Vincent fired several shots as the Behemoth monster Azul had changed into charged at Zack. The swordsman was poised to spring, the Buster Sword extended in his left hand and the gunman watched as he charged, pulling himself up by one of Azul's horns, cutting a long gash along the Tsviet's side before momentum sent him careening off the other end. He was a hair's breadth from being hit by the monster's tail and Vincent fired again before ducking behind a rock to reload. Zack was a professional fighter, he was more than capable of running interference.

Once fresh bullets were in place, he pulled back over the side, firing again before being forced to duck away as one of Azul's claws slashed across his cover, reducing the rock to rubble. He cast a fire spell directly into the Tsviet's face, scrambling away as the beast man roared. Zack took that moment to summon Odin, and the thunder god tore across the field at his opponent, lightning flashing in his wake.

Azul was nearly bowled over by the summon and when it vanished into the smoke he turned his ire back onto Zack, and getting down into a crouch, he sprang, attempting to pin the SOLDIER beneath his weight. Zack rolled out of the way just in time, getting to his feet and whirling around to slash at the Tsviet again. Unfortunately, this time he didn't see Azul's tail. It connected directly into his chest, pounding him against the wall of the cliff.

Vincent cast a Wall in Zack's direction as a peal of thunder filtered down from the skies above them before running across the battlefield one more time, attempting to head for the ravine and cover, firing several more strafing shots as he went, but Azul whirled around again, slashing with his claws and this time, one of them hit home. Vincent was flying in the opposite direction when he felt his body begin to change, the iron control with which he kept his inner demons at bay was weakening, and Chaos was straining at his chains.

The final impact against a nearby rock was all that it took. His body began to reshape itself, his skin turning dark and his cloak giving way to ragged red wings, his eyes glowing a distant and alien gold. He could see Zack in the distance, blocking another one of the Tsviet's swiping claws before rolling under the monster and attempting to slash at him from below, coming out from under him, evading his horns, barely missing getting mauled by Azul's sharp teeth.

At that point, Chaos rushed in, its claws plunging directly into the chest of the beast. Zack's eyes widened in surprise as the demon backed away and Azul changed back into his normal form. As he did so, Chaos lifted the Tsviet's handcannon, hefting it as though it were nothing.

Azul had barely looked up, mouthing his recognition of the beast that had broken free with a whispered "Chaos…" when Vincent threw the weapon as though it were a javelin and the barrel speared its way directly through Azul's chest, pinning him to the wall. Zack barely had the chance to get out of the way, before Vincent felt a power rising within him and a blood lusting smile spreading across his transfigured face. He could do nothing to stop the power coalescing between his hands before it released itself as a powerful beam of energy, blasting the Tsviet deeper into the cliffside.

With that, Chaos withdrew, and Vincent staggered, dropping to his hands and knees as he fought to regain control.

Outside his mind, in reality, his senses detected an eerie silence in the surrounding area, only punctuated by the occasional distant clap of thunder. Zack regarded the remains of the Tsviet with a combination of relief and surprise before turning to cautiously approach where Vincent was crouched on the ground. "Vincent…?"

He was in another place… green… a dull burn… but one the owner of this memory was long accustomed to. Scientists walked by outside, monitoring their subject's progress even as she silently wished it could end. She would do anything to make it end, but for now, all she could do was let herself go numb…

"Vincent?" He blinked, his vision clearing and he saw his own hands, one gloved and one in the familiar golden claw in front of him. He looked up to see that Zack was watching him with some concern and he shook his head.

"I'm all right," he said, pulling himself to his feet, and collecting Cerberus off the ground.

Zack relaxed his shoulders slightly in relief before turning around to visually scan the area for anyone else who might potentially attack. "Okay, just checking. Was that Chaos?"

Vincent inclined his head in confirmation. "That was the first time you've actually seen him wasn't it?"

Zack looked back in his direction and nodded. "We should probably get going. Now that Azul's down we ought to be able to get a bit further. Once we're past the canyons all that's left is open ground before Midgar."

"Don't forget what comes after that," a voice said from nearby. The two of them looked up to see Argento standing atop the cliff, with Genesis next to her. "We still need to retake the city," the Silver Tsviet continued.

"That's true," Zack said. "The sooner we get there, the better.

"I'm surprised you've made it this far. Perhaps you didn't need me after all," Genesis suggested.

"Every little bit helps," Zack secured the Buster Sword back over his shoulder and walked out into the open. However, their reprieve was short lived. Almost at the same time, Vincent could hear another squad of Deepground soldiers coming their way, and as he readied Cerberus and the Tsviet and the WEAPON gathered together with them for the next onslaught, he heard another, much louder sound from overhead.

Once he saw what it was, he gestured that Zack look up and the swordsman glanced away from the sound of enemies for a brief moment. That was when all four of them saw the origin of the louder noise, as the shadow of the Highwind flew by overhead, her engine smoking as it was flying lower and lower to the ground. Zack drew a breath and the two of them traded glances before he spoke to what was on both their minds. "Cid's been hit!"

June 21st [ ν ] – εуλ 0008, 2:30 PM

It had been just a minute or two before when Yuffie got a call from Zack that she and Nanaki needed to find Cid, and now, the two of them were running to the coordinates Shalua gave them for the location where his signal was still transmitting. Nanaki leapt lightly from rock to rock a few feet ahead, only pausing occasionally so the ninja could catch up. The location should only be over the next hill. At last they reached the summit and the sight that met their eyes was catastrophic as it was heart breaking. In a last ditch effort, Cid had attempted to shift the Highwind into jet powered mode, but Yuffie could already see a gaping hole where the engines were supposed to be. Whatever had done this had ripped the Highwind's propulsion system out entirely.

Running down the hillside, the Planet's guardian and the ninja soon spotted a familiar man, cursing a blue streak as he attacked the flames near the remains of the engine with a fire extinguisher. Blood was dripping down the side of his face, but he wasn't paying it any attention. "Cid?!" Yuffie called out to him.

"Don't just $%*&#^$ sit there ya idiot! We got crew in there that might still be alive!" The pilot shouted. Yuffie and Nanaki sprang into action at that point, digging through the wreckage for any sign of any of the crew members. About an hour passed as they worked. Cid had managed to land somewhat smoothly under the circumstances, but that being said, a somewhat smooth crash landing was still a crash landing. The navigator and the man at the primary com station on the bridge had definitely not made it.

Yuffie was in the process of patching up one of the intelligence officers who had survived by virtue of being in the meeting room at the time, when Cid finally got the fire out and was able to carve his way deep enough into the engine room to pull Shelke out. The girl looked a little singed in places, though it was hard to tell the true extent of her injuries from a distance.

Yuffie finished tending to the man and hurried over. "Shelke?" she asked.

The Tsviet opened her eyes. "It was Nero…" she said. "He specifically came to take the Highwind out of commission."

"So why didn't he go after the Gelnika?" Nanaki asked. "Or the other airships?"

"I don't know," Shelke said. "We fought, but… he seemed to have been distracted by something else." She shut her eyes again. "Tired…"

Yuffie reached for her Curaga materia and cast it. It seemed to help a little but Shelke said quietly "I am not injured very badly. What I need is Mako. I expect the adrenaline rush from the crash and the heavy use of my abilities accelerated the dispersion rate. I will need another dose within the next few hours in order to continue functioning."

"In that case, we should probably get you back to Kalm," Nanaki said.

"It may have to wait. Until the emergency trucks get here, we're on our own and we've gotta keep looking for survivors," Cid said, already turning his attention back to what remained of his airship.

Yuffie considered for a moment, taking into account what resources they had at their disposal and her thoughts drifted to a single materia sitting within her bangle. Cloud had been able to control Bahamut to a certain extent, right? "I think I have an idea," she said. Walking a short distance away, she focused on her Leviathan materia and started casting. The area around her suddenly felt incredibly wet and when she looked up, the sea serpent looked down at her curiously, as though not entirely sure why it was being summoned since it had not been asked to send a tidal wave at anyone. Yuffie turned her attention to Cid. "Is there anyone else that needs to get back to Aerith?"

"We got a couple of people," Cid confirmed, though he looked equally uncertain of what Yuffie had in mind.

"All right then," Yuffie hopped up onto the back of her summon and to her immense relief, Leviathan did not attempt to buck her off. "Anyone who can ride, get on behind me. Nanaki can stay with you, and I'll take some people back."

On the inner side of the gate to Sector 5, Cissnei was surveying the area. The operation planned for a few hours from now could mean the difference between success or failure in the push to retake the city. Once the slums were opened, it would be possible for GUARDIAN and Shinra's forces to fight their way to the center of the city.

She was observing her target through a pair of binoculars from a sheltered and shadowed collection of old debris, determining where the best places were to plant explosives. Legend was off scouting the patrol routes to know when the safest time would be for her to plant them. He should be back in a short while. The others were scattered about the city, also making preparations…

She spotted something moving out of the corner of her eye. One of the guards seemed to be headed in this direction. That couldn't be good. Doing her best to be inconspicuous, she slipped away from her hiding place and headed towards a nearby alley to hide behind another building. She waited with baited breath as the Deepground soldier walked down the road. Had she been seen? After a moment, she saw him reach for a communicator clipped to the collar of his uniform. She watched as the guard spent a few more moments talking into the communicator before walking back down the alley. Once she thought the coast was clear, she left her hiding place to sneak towards the safe house she and Legend had established deeper in the slums. She had made it down a small side street and was about to turn into one of the more rundown neighborhoods when she felt a presence that had not previously been there, but was disturbingly familiar.

Reaching for her rekka, she glanced around warily, and then suddenly felt a prickling at the back of her neck. Diving forward to avoid whatever it was, she rolled up into a crouch and her rekka flew at whatever it was. She caught sight of a puff of black mist before she caught the rekka in the air, uncertain whether it had scored a hit or not.

"Ah, so this is what our sentries were getting so excited about," a soft voice echoed along the street before a dark figure appeared out of nowhere.

"Nero," Cissnei let out in a breath. She stood at the ready in case a fight broke out, knowing full well she could not take the man in front of her alone. Even if she did manage to defeat him, there would be other soldiers coming, but the alternative of getting consigned to those transport crates going down to Reactor 0 was even less of an option.

"The game is up, Cissnei of the Turks. You know very well there is nowhere to run. Whether you die here or surrender yourself to Omega is your decision, but nothing you do will result in you leaving here alive."

"That's what you think," Cissnei replied. A Bolt 3 flew from her hand a half second later and the renegade dashed down the street towards an abandoned square where she had room to move. She caught sight of the black mist again directly in front of her and dodged to the right, narrowly avoiding being grabbed before she threw her rekka at him again. It flew through the mist and came out the other side before she grabbed it out of the air, and sprinted across the square, hearing a line of bullets pelting along her trajectory behind her. Sliding behind a pile of rubble, she cast another Bolt spell and electricity crackled where she thought Nero might be.

The man quickly withdrew into his darkness again and Cissnei moved again, this time hurrying down another side street. Her only chance depended on him not being able to predict where she would be next, otherwise, she could count on a one-way trip to the Lifestream.

Not if she could help it.

Kicking off a building to round a street corner she ducked between a couple of boards before hopping over a fence. Barely avoiding a guard dog that waited within, she leapt up and grabbed the other side of the fence, vaulting over in a smooth motion and landing an alley. Not good, she had to get out of here before he realized he could cut her off.

She went into a full on sprint, headed for the open area that was closer to the safe house. She wasn't going to lead Nero there of course, but if she could just lose him… Right at the entrance of the alley, a black mist was starting to form, blocking her off. Seeing it closing in, she triggered her Exit materia in her bangle and used the momentum to race up the wall itself. More mist waited at the roof and she flipped away from it before it could engulf her, grabbing onto a pole sticking out from the opposite building and swinging further out into the main street before landing in a crouch. It was at that moment when something exploded behind her.

She stumbled but kept right on running, tearing the green cardigan that was part of her plainclothes disguise on a nail that had come loose as she sprinted too close to one of the buildings. She didn't care at this point. She just needed to escape. Up ahead, she spotted more black mist forming, but this time, luck was with her. An old drum used for carrying fuel stood right next to it. Activating her Bolt material one last time, she aimed it at the container which promptly exploded. The mist dissipated but she didn't slow down. Instead, she kept going, leaping through the flames with the grace of a Golden Chocobo at the races, before rolling to put out any flames that might have caught on her clothes and continuing to sprint away.

She didn't spare a moment to catch her breath until she was back at the safe house. Only then did she slow to a walk. As she approached the apartment building she and Legend were using, she spotted her fellow renegade approaching from an alley, carrying a hat in his hand and dressed in a messy but other-wise neutral grey suit sporting none of the trappings that would identify him except for his shades. "There you are," he said. "I saw what happened. Good thing I let loose a couple of grenades when I did, otherwise you'd have been history."

"That was you?" Cissnei asked calmly.

"Sure was, you're lucky I was there," The older man adjusted his sunglasses.

Cissnei sighed. "I could have made it all right on my own… but thanks anyway."

With that, the two of them headed into the building. They had some bombs to prep.

June 21st [ ν ] – εуλ 0008, 7:00 PM

Zack stood outside of an overhang, just within view of the city, and around him, though he couldn't see them, there were numerous improvised fortifications, in canyons, under rocks and anywhere and everywhere that might be sheltered from bombs and missiles. Sentries patrolled around the perimeter and planes and airships patrolled overhead, but thus far there had been no sign that Deepground was attempting to press their assault further. There hadn't been any further reports from Kalm either. They had left a garrison to guard the town, just in case, but chances were, they would see the Dragonflies coming miles away if Weiss decided any airstrikes were in order. The White Tsviet's ground units had been maintaining skirmishes, but a lull in the worst of the fighting had occurred. Deepground still had the city though, and as long as they had it, they had access to the reactors, and Midgar's people.

His eyes narrowed at that thought. He hated waiting, but they needed the signal from the renegades. Each one of those within the city walls were running a terrible risk. Even though planes were already attacking critical targets above plate from the air, they would also need the slums secure so the enemy would have nowhere to run… except back into their own hole. He let out a breath and turned around to rejoin the others who were sheltering with him. Cloud and Tifa were sharing a meal together near one end of the overhang while Kunsel was talking quietly with Nanaki about something. Having determined that the Highwind was completely scrapped, Cid hadn't deigned to join them, instead choosing to go back to Shera and get to work on gathering a crew for another airship in the fleet that was still functional. Nero had gone after a few others in the time since Cid had gone down, but he apparently hadn't been able to go after every single aircraft. The Gelnika which had hung back a bit, had managed to avoid a visit from the Ebon Tsviet, thank goodness.

Yuffie had returned once she'd delivered Shelke and the other crew members back to the safety of Kalm. The line had progressed considerably since this afternoon, and he could see Aerith sitting near Elfe and Shears. The three of them had come up to help provide support on the final assault once it was clear that the push through the wastes was more or less over. Vincent and Freya also sat by the fire, and though Barret had stopped in not that long ago, he and Liz had gone back out to assist the patrols. Argento would also be returning shortly, though it was anyone's guess where Genesis had gotten off to.

Aerith smiled as he took a seat next to her. "I'm really glad to see you," he said quietly.

"Me too," she said. Looking up at his face, she reached into a pocket and retrieved a hankerchief. "You look like you've been swimming in mud," she added, reaching up to wipe a bit of grime from his face."

"War is dirty work," he said.

"That's for sure," Kunsel added, apparently having overheard the conversation.

Zack offered his friend a tired grin. "But we're getting closer. Last I heard, some of our patrols were able to get up almost to the gates to the slums without too much interference."

"We've really been cleaning their clocks!" Yuffie exclaimed.

"Absolutely," Shears agreed. "Though once we get into the city, you'll need to be on the lookout. That's when you'll start having to worry about soldiers entrenched among the civilians."

At the curious look Zack gave him, Shears sighed. "It was a classic AVALANCHE tactic back in the day when we were fighting Shinra. Set your strong points where there are lots of people, make it as costly for the other side as possible. It seems like a probable strategy."

"It does," Freya agreed. It was a sign of just how much had changed from those days that nobody questioned the two former AVALANCHE leaders further on that revelation. The present was enough of a burden without continuing to drag the past into things again.

All further conversation at that point was halted however when Zack heard his PHS buzz. "Yeah?" he answered.

"General Fair, this is Veld. We have received the signal from our operatives within the city. The next phase will occur in two hours."

"Confirmed, the next push will begin as soon as the fireworks start," Zack said. Veld ended the call and Zack pocketed the PHS. "All right guys, get what rest you can, we need to be in position in an hour and ready to move out in an hour and a half."

The others nodded and the overhang visibly cleared out as most of the others left to make preparations.

In order to help make sure the last three chapters of Part III are completed with the same quality, there will be a break week next week. Chapters will resume at Midnight EST, Thursday, July 25th/Friday, July 26th, see ya then!