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.

Matt and Alistor are original characters.

Part IV: Stigma

Chapter 82, Caught by Surprise

April 13th [ ν ] – εуλ 0009 1:15 PM Corel Mountain Time

Kunsel moved their regular troops into position across the railroad tracks leading to the reactor while Cid stood on the overlook above him, watching the contingent of troops, or what he could see of them from this distance. Vincent waited at a vantage point under the overlook, observing their movements patiently even as he directed the other snipers in their unit to their locations. The regular troops were in the process of setting up defense barricades out of sandbags when he heard Cid comment "Looks like we got us a few Deepground rebels in that battalion out there."

"So it seems," Vincent agreed.

Kunsel turned his attention down the hill, narrowing his eyes against the sunlight and he could definitely see from this distance that there were a few wearing the all too familiar mako-suits among the enemy's number. There was something odd about their behavior though. He stood, going a little closer, to stand next to Vincent. "That's not a standard attack formation," he said at last.

"It's not?" Nanaki padded up after him, following his gaze down the rails.

"No," Kunsel murmured. "If anything, it looks like they're waiting for something…"

"I don't like it," Cid said after a moment. "I'd feel a lot better to just charge'em and get rid of 'em."

"But what if that's what they want?" Cissnei replied, having just joined them from the position near the rear of the overlook where they had set Aerith up with the emergency response crew.

"The question is, what are they waiting for?" Vincent murmured.

The mood was tense as they oversaw the construction of the remaining barricades.

Zack stepped into the darkness of the passageway leading deeper into the reactor, noting the rails continuing below his feet as Yuffie looked around ahead of him, a flashlight in her hand, with Freya right next to her. The lady Turk paused as she took in the cramped hallway leading towards the antechamber where he expected the elevator was. "Have to say," she commented "I never expected to be back here again, though it looks a lot less busy than I remember."

Zack drew level with her as Cloud and Tifa walked in from the sunlit tracks and he spotted a train sitting apparently unattended in the antechamber ahead of them. "Really?" he said.

Freya nodded and he saw the muted glow from her eyes dim slightly as they narrowed. "I ended up fighting my way to the door last time. The hallways weren't that busy on the way in, but on the way out? Completely different story. There were Ravens everywhere. It was like there was no end to them, and the reactor had just been blown too, so the supports were crumbling around us as we ran."

"You and Shears, you mean, right?" Tifa asked.

Freya nodded. "He threw me across a precipice about twenty yards behind us to get me the last of the way out. It wasn't the first time he cheated death." She stepped forward into the chamber with the elevator. "If we take this, we should get down to the level with the observation platform. Hopefully from there, we'll find what we're looking for."

"And that's where I come in!" Yuffie exclaimed. "I'll have that Materia in the blink of an eye!"

"As expected of the White Rose of Wutai," Freya said with a chuckle.

"Of course! I'm an expert Materia hunter after all!" Once the five of them walked into the elevator and Freya started working the controls, Yuffie leaned against the wall of the elevator car, basking in her own self-confidence. As the elevator began to descend, Zack did his best to shake the disquiet he felt. It was probably just the enclosed space, and he could deal with that, but didn't something about this feel a little too easy?

After a moment it hit him. "Hey, did anyone notice anything odd on the way in?"

"Like what?" Tifa asked.

"Well, outside of Midgar where there were regular technicians and cameras, it could sometimes be pretty tricky to get inside if you needed to investigate one of these things back in the day. When we entered, wasn't there something missing?" Zack gave everyone a significant look.

It was Cloud who answered first. "The door wasn't locked," he observed.

Zack reached for his PHS and hit one of the first numbers on speed dial. It wasn't long before he heard Kunsel on the other end of the line. "Yeah Zack?"

"You may have already thought of this, but you might want to post a couple of guards by the door," Zack said.

"It's okay, we've got you covered. I'm just wondering what's up with that platoon out there. They're not… …ing any…"

"What was that? Sorry, I didn't catch it?" Zack said.

"Don't wo… …just… …that materia."

That was good enough for Zack. "Okay, see you outside." He hung up. Dead zones sure were a pain. He saw the elevator doors open in front of him, and soon they were navigating another series of corridors. It wound around for quite some time before opening out onto a large platform suspended over the mako reservoir below. The level of the acrid and heavily processed substance had drained significantly once the reactor was no longer pulling Lifestream out of the ground judging by the level at which it bubbled away below them. He walked to the edge of the platform, taking in the cavern and pipes strung along the interior of the reactor like veins of some gigantic organism. "So let's see where this huge materia is," he said. Everyone fanned out along the platform, scanning the walls for any sign of the thing.

A moment or two later, he heard Freya speak again. "That catwalk down there…" she murmured. He and Cloud both glanced where she was pointing. It was almost directly below the platform on which they stood.

"What about it?" Cloud asked.

"It probably isn't exactly the same, since they rebuilt this place, but that was where Shears and I fell from here."

Zack grimaced when he saw how narrow the lower platform was. "Just a little to the left or the right and you'd have been a goner."

"I know," Freya commented. "And there were Chimeras down there too. If Shears hadn't taken the brunt of it, I still might have done worse than mako exposure and a few bruises. As it was, it put me in a coma for three years."

"Shears sure was a tough guy, wasn't he?" Yuffie commented from where she was scaling a girder that extended up into the ceiling.

Freya nodded, continuing to search as she talked. "He didn't get out of that unscathed either. He definitely broke a couple of bones. But he was just as determined as I was to get out so he could save Elfe. That was probably when we first really started respecting each other."

"But even at the end of that, he still sacrificed himself to save you and the support materia," Cloud pointed out.

"Because that was the best he could do to make sure his goal would be achieved," Freya commented. "And really, he didn't give up. After he threw me out and the reactor collapsed the rest of the way, there's not a doubt in my mind that he never once stopped climbing. Even after he'd done what was required, he was still going to keep trying until he couldn't try anymore. After all, if you don't have to die, why should you? If you have to go, it should be for something worthwhile, right? Otherwise, you may as well have died for nothing."

"I think I can get behind that," Zack agreed.

Their conversation was interrupted when they heard Tifa call from the other side of the cavern. "I think I've found something!"

Everyone gathered around her as she pointed out a deposit of yellow crystals along the wall's surface, just out of arm's reach of the platform. "Do you think this might be it?" she asked.

Zack looked up at it. "It might be," he turned to Yuffie. "You want to climb over there and take a look?"

"Of course!" Yuffie replied she walked to the edge of the platform and looked down before pulling out a rope and securing it to the railing. Once that was done, she rigged a make-shift harness and started making her way across a nearby girder. They waited as she carefully pulled herself along before hopping to a a spot just below the crystal formation and began examining it. "Huh," she said after a moment. "This is weird…"

"What?" Zack asked.

Yuffie frowned. "It almost looks like… there was something here and someone knocked it loose…"

At that moment, they heard a very loud noise echoing from far above them and Zack had a bad feeling. "Hey, did that sound like a train to anyone?" Yuffie called across the gap.

Zack looked over at the ninja and then at Cloud and the other two women. "We need to go."

Yuffie shimmied back over to the platform like it was nothing and then they all started running back towards the elevator.

As though a signal had been given, several of the Deepground SOLDIERs in the opposing force advanced, firing rifles at the GUARDIAN barricades. Kunsel lifted his gunblade, shouting that fire be returned. Vincent fired the sniper rifle a few feet away when suddenly they all heard a rumbling sound behind them. Kunsel glanced over his shoulder and suddenly saw something that made his eyes widen. "Get off the tracks!" he shouted.

As bullets from the opposing force hailed around them, everyone cleared off the rails just in time before a freight train quite literally rammed the sand bags many of their troops had been sheltering behind to pieces. As it flew by them and towards the enemy force, Kunsel caught sight of the man at the controls, and saw something glinting yellow in the afternoon sun. He signaled to Cid above him that he was about to jump aboard and reached up, grabbing onto the side of the last freight car. Barret seemed to have had the same idea, since he had grabbed onto the other side. The wind was nearly blinding as the two of them raced towards the enemies. Kunsel climbed up on top of the freight car with Barret right behind him. Once they'd gained purchase on top of it, they both crouched down low on top of the car, well aware that behind them the reactor was getting farther away and that they were flying ever closer to the enemy soldiers ahead of them.

"Did you see it?!" he yelled to the gunman over the sound of the wheels.

"See what?! Barret yelled. "If we don't stop this train, it's gonna crash straight inta North Corel!"

Kunsel cursed when he saw that they were almost to the contingent of enemies. "I don't think that's our problem until after this thing goes through all those soldiers! But the driver's got the Huge Materia!" As if on cue, a series of grappling hooks suddenly flew over the sides of the freight cars ahead of them. Barret reciprocated by getting up on his knees and turning to let loose a barrage of bullets at the men that were trying to climb aboard the train to their left. Kunsel looked to the right, taking his gunblade and knocking one man back off the side of their car with a single blow before opening fire on two more that were trying to pull themselves in. he heard the report of a bullet making contact with bone nearby and saw a man in an old Shinra uniform drop just as he'd managed to climb over the rear of their car. Probably Vincent's doing, he guessed. But that didn't matter. A couple of men in Deepground SOLDIER garb were coming in their direction from the next car.

"We need to get to the engine!" he shouted over the clickety clack of the rails below them. Barret nodded, and once he had dispatched the last trooper that had tried to climb over the side, the two of them hurried to the front of their freight car. Barret opened fire on the man on the left, while Kunsel leapt the gap, landing on top of the next car and parrying a blow from the other SOLDIER before cutting him down with a quick swish of his blade. Barret caught up to him raising his normal hand to cast a Bolt spell at another trooper that was trying to get the drop on them from where he'd been hiding behind the wall of the next freight car. Kunsel knelt, firing his gunblade at another enemy that was trying to get at them from where he'd been hiding on the side of the car on which they stood before looking ahead of them. Two cars left.

As he made this observation, Barret ran ahead of him, leaping onto the next car in a crouch channeling a limit against another Deepgrounder. A powerful explosion went off directly in their enemy's face before he went flying off the train. Taking advantage of the distraction, Barret moved into a powerful roundhouse punch against a Deepground Elite with his normal left hand. Kunsel raced ahead of him and leapt onto the final car. He could see the man in the trooper uniform in the cab of the train behind three more men who had set up a guard formation in front of him.

He cleaved his opponent to his left in to before parrying the attack of the man in the middle, driving him towards the front of the car. It wasn't long before the man's strength gave way under the sheer power of his sword and his knees buckled, sending him over the side of the car, probably to his death.

"Hey…!" Barret called up to him, but he had already spun to block the other trooper, catching his enemy before the man could come at him with a knife. The blade was knocked free and the man crumbled to the roof of the car.

"Move and you're dead!" Barret yelled at their enemy as Kunsel hopped down to the cab of the engine, aiming his gun at the trooper who had been controlling the train.

"Same goes for you!" he told him over the tumultuous noise of the train continuing to fly down the tracks. The mountains were starting to become foothills as they drew nearer to the bridges that he knew would take them straight into the town.

The trooper simply grinned and went for his machine gun. Barret gave him no time to answer, but opened fire. He was barely on the floor of the cab before Kunsel had hopped inside and started looking over the controls. This didn't look good. He had suspicions on where the brakes might be but there wouldn't be a lot of time to experiment.

"What the hell ya standin' there for?" Barret yelled, pushing his way in.

"Hang on!" Kunsel exclaimed, as Barret reached for one of the levers, "We don't know what that does!"

Too late, Barret pulled it down and almost immediately the train began to pick up speed. This definitely didn't look good. Not that there was any time to freak out right now. Kunsel tried to pull the other lever, and felt his panic mount when he realized the train was continuing to go faster. Up ahead through the the front window of the cab, off in the distance, he could see the ruins of North Corel starting to become visible on the horizon. Well, if both the levers wouldn't work… Wait a minute…

"Barret, at the same time, we're going to pull the levers both in the same direction! Now!" With as much strength as they could muster, the two of them each pulled as hard as they could on the two levers. At first, it felt like they might be speeding up, but they could both feel the resistance as the brakes screeched so loud it made both their ears ring. That had to count for something. Little by little, they felt the wind begin to die around them as the train began to go slower… and slower… until it pulled to a stop, barely an inch from a truck that would have been thrown askew if the train had been going full speed.

It was only when he felt the hot dry breeze wafting over his face that Kunsel realized he'd been holding his breath. He opened his eyes and glanced around as he released the brake. Looking next to him at Barret he grinned. "Nice job…" he said, hoping he didn't sound too breathless.

Barret let out a loud laugh and offered his normal hand. The two shook hands on a job well done, and then Kunsel looked over the dead trooper who had been driving the train, at last pulling a large yellow crystal from his pocket. "We got it," he said.

Barret nodded and then after a moment, he lumbered past Kunsel to jump down to solid ground before letting out a triumphant shout, thrusting his fists into the air as he did so. "Whoo! Did we just kick some #$%!"

As Kunsel was in the process of following him down to the ground, he noticed several of the townspeople approaching through the rubble, having apparently noticed the noise. As the two of them stepped away from the train, someone asked "Were you the ones that stopped that train? If it hadn't been for you, that thing would have destroyed our lives again. It might be full of junk, but this is the only home we got, Barret!"

Barret seemed taken aback by the fact that someone from his own hometown was talking to him like he wasn't the scum of the Planet. "Of… of course! We're all born and raised in the coal mines! No matter how tough it gets, our hearts burn bright red like coal!"

Kunsel looked up as the rest of the town was assembling to see the Shera and the Gainsborough flying closer overhead. As they cheered, he heard his PHS buzz and answered it. "It's okay Zack, we got it."

Zack let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness, it would have been really embarrassing to let Scarlet get away with this."

"Sure would have," Kunsel agreed. "I don't think I could stand to show my face in public."

He was about to walk over to a clear space to guide the airships in when he noticed a young boy walk over to Barret and hand him something that looked a lot like a green materia. Barret nodded in thanks and reverently placed it in his gunarm as the crowds began to cheer. For him. "Something up?" Zack asked.

"Not really," Kunsel said. "I'll tell you about it when you get down here."

April 14th [ ν ] – εуλ 0009 9:00 AM Mideel Central Time

Denzel was helping Marlene prepare tables when he spotted Alistor outside with Matt in front of him. Matt came inside followed by the ex-SOLDIER and Denzel noticed that his expression looked very grave. It wasn't until they were inside that he saw the girl from yesterday was standing next to him clutching a moogle doll in her arms, tears streaking her face.

"What's wrong?" Marlene asked.

Matt looked helpless, as he gestured half-heartedly towards the girl. "Sasha's brother died last night." Denzel saw his friend's lip tremble. "Just like Bri…"

Almost immediately, Denzel noted that Jessie had pulled out a mug and looked like she was preparing a hot drink at the counter while Marlene walked over to the girl and without so much as a question, pulled her into a hug. The girl seemed taken aback by the gesture, but then accepted it, bursting into tears again. Alistor knelt down next to them while everyone tried to provide what comfort they could until at last the sobbing subsided and Sasha was ushered into the living area that had been built onto the side of the bar opposite the garage. There wasn't a lot of talking until Jessie came in with a mug of hot cocoa and sat down next to her. But that was when the girl spoke again.

"Where are those men that said they had a cure?" she asked.

"I don't know," Jessie replied. "But we don't even know if its true. We still have a long way to go before we have one ourselves I'm afraid."

"We should find them," Matt said standing up. "They might be able to help!"

"What if they can?" Denzel said. "Shouldn't we go look for them?"

Alistor looked even more troubled as he shook his head. "It's too dangerous right now," he said. "You remember what Cloud told us."

"Not if we stay around town!" Matt argued. "There's guards! And the wharf isn't too far away!"

"I… want to look…" Sasha said after a moment, wiping the last few tears from her face. "I don't want to die… and I don't want anyone else to either…"

Alistor considered for a moment and Denzel held his breath as he and the other children pleaded with their eyes. Finally his expression softened and his shoulders drooped in resignation "We'll look, but only where there are guards, and I'll be coming with you. Okay? If I let anything happen to you kids, I doubt Barret and Tifa would ever forgive me. The others wouldn't either for that matter."

"Remember, if any of you starts feeling sick again, come straight back," Jessie said, "I don't want any of you getting worse over this okay?"

Denzel nodded. "We will." That decided, he stood up and walked to the door. Behind him, he saw Marlene holding hands with Sasha as they followed after him with Matt. Alistor was a short distance behind, a quiet and very tired looking guardian. The air was chilly as he stepped outside and waited for the others to catch up before walking towards the docks. He could taste the crisp salt tang in the air as the villagers went about their business around him. Widblain was as close to a haven as he could think of. When Cloud and Tifa had first brought him back after the battle of Midgar, he had asked if Cloud would show him around once things quieted down. This he had done, keeping mostly silent as the two of them had walked the dusty roads. Occasionally, he had pointed out various establishments, but for the most part, the man who had saved him from falling to his death had been very brusque and short in his descriptions of the place.

"The fishing boats come in here," he'd told him when they'd walked to the docks. And that had been all.

That was fine in Denzel's opinion. When Cloud was around, he felt safe, even if his hero didn't have much to say. Nearby, he heard Matt and Marlene talking to one of the sailors about the appearance of the man who had been spreading the rumors about a cure, but something else caught his eye too. Near the docks, he could have sworn he'd caught sight of a man in a dark suit. His head was bald, and he also wore a pair of sunglasses. He looked vaguely familiar, though Denzel couldn't quite place why…

April 13th [ ν ] – εуλ 0009 10:00 PM Corel Mountain Time

The bonfire had been burning near the base of the Gold Saucer for some time as people celebrated. Not that Cloud could blame them. Since Scarlet had burned the town to ashes the first time, they had had precious little to celebrate. GUARDIAN had mostly been occupied tracking down the remaining stragglers from the platoon that had been sent to retrieve the materia, and it had taken a good bit of the day to be sure they no longer inhabited the area. Now, he stood on the outer deck of the Gainsborough, watching the goings on below as Barret retold the story of his and Kunsel's successful retrieval of the runaway train, occasionally bringing a large heavy hand down on the swordsman's shoulder whenever he wanted him to help describe something. They couldn't stay too much longer. Reeve had asked that they go to Junon until it could be decided what the next move was.

Cloud wanted to leave too. His arm was starting to ache again and he suspected Zack and Aerith had already retired to their cabin to take care of his shoulder. The pain could be staved off for a while, but it came back eventually.

He let out a sigh. He was really tired of everyone getting on his case. Not that he planned on leaving because of it. He would help if asked. But he still couldn't figure out what use he'd be in this state. He spotted Cissnei on the other end of the deck. She had just hung up her PHS, apparently having just finished speaking with someone. Upon seeing his eyes on her she walked over with a wry smile.

"Mao wanted to make sure we were okay. Apparently he just heard about what happened in Mideel," she said with a sheepish smile, "Peace of mind can be a wonderful thing when you don't have a lot of it."

Cloud shrugged and didn't say anything. The katana-wielding Turk had been working with Veld to assist Reeve since the battle of Midgar. He supposed he could understand the man's concern. "Maybe," he said.

Down below, he could see that Kunsel was headed in their direction, Barret behind him. They were almost to the main hatch when he heard the door open behind him and saw Zack, holding his PHS in his hand. "Guys? We've got to move again."

"What's wrong?" Cissnei asked.

"I just got a call from Reeve," Zack said. "Apparently the yellow huge materia wasn't the only target. There was a red one the WRO had stored on a sub that was docked in Costa Del Sol, and someone's trying to hijack it."

"We're the closest to it, aren't we," Cissnei observed.

Zack nodded. "Legend and Kemp are there already, but apparently the Deepground SOLDIERs that are part of the group are making things difficult. We need to get a move on."

I am not kind to the kids in this story. I feel kind of bad about that.

On another note, as you've seen, I've given the Moogle Girl a name. After all, I can't exactly call her Moogle girl without it sounding weird now can I? I hope that's okay.

See ya next week!