Chapter Three: New Plans
Cloud did not go into the Seventh Heaven at once.
For one thing, the memory of the flames were still on him, and he was interested in taking a look around. He had been here for some time, but much of it was spent unconscious or semi-conscience. When Tifa had found him, he'd been half-starved and covered in wounds.
He hadn't been able to remember anything but keep a grip on the Buster Sword and get to Midgar. Once he got there, he just collapsed by a train station and waited. If he'd collapsed anywhere else, he'd have been eaten by monsters for sure.
But Tifa had found him and nursed him back to health.
She hadn't had to do it, even if they had been friends and he owed her. So he'd agreed to help her. It had started by hunting some monsters in the outer reaches; there were way too many of those.
Then he'd been recruited for this.
"Did you hear," said a man. "They blew up a Mako Reactor above us."
"Yeah, I heard it from here," said another. "No more than Shinra deserves."
"Yeah, but it's gotta have killed some people who weren't in Shinra," said the other.
"It's a war," said the first. "The planet is literally dying slowly; we can't even grow food anymore. And Shinra is forcing us to be completely dependent on them. Mayor Domino's been completedly shuffled to the side; all he can do now is organize records.
"The second we outlive our usefulness, they'll let us starve down here.
"They'd already shut down most of the medical facilities Reeve set up here during the war. Yeah, we've got healing materia, but it can't fix everything, and most people can't afford it. And monsters are getting more numerous.
"The Planet is angry.
"If we don't do something soon, it'll be angry at us."
"Shinra's already beaten the planet," said the other. "The only places they don't run is Spira. And that place is covered in snow and just isn't worth keeping. Hardly anybody lives there except for a few villages in the southern reaches."
"If Shinra beats the planet, we all die," said the other. "So if they have, Barret is doing the only thing that can save us. If Shinra runs out of money, the executives might cut and run. Then we'll be able to break it up and maybe shut down some of these reactors.
"But to do that, we have to kill their profits.
"Blowing up Mako Reactors would be a logical way to crater the stock. It costs them a lot of money, forces massive repairs, and shuts down other businesses. Barret has probably done more damage than the entire Genesis army ever did.
"Lazard just wanted the company for himself."
"Zack was always good to us, though," said another. "He hunted a lot of monsters down here. I gave us breathing room."
"Yeah, and we all know what happened to him," said the other. "Goes off with Sephiroth off to Nibelheim. Pretty convenient the whole expedition gets killed by a Genesis army ambush.
"Whole thing reeks of a coverup."
Then they looked at him. "You uh... you were with Barret, right?"
"I don't talk about my contracts," said Cloud. "So don't even ask. And why are you talking about this so openly?"
"Nobody talks to the police," said one. "If they, they disappear."
Cloud sighed. "Fine."
"...Isn't that the sword Zack used to use," said a man.
Images came to Cloud of what had happened before.
"Where did you get that?" asked one.
"I don't have to tell you people anything," said Cloud simply.
"Yeah, you're Tifa's childhood friend," said another. "That's a good one."
This was ridiculous.
He should just get out of Midgar now. This whole place was about to go up in flames, and he had to leave before it was locked down. Only another part of him suggested that Cloud should at least say goodbye to Tifa.
Why the hell did he have to say goodbye? He'd done her a favor, and now he was probably on a most-wanted list. And realistically, he probably was not in a state to realize the implications of what he was doing. She'd manipulated him. She'd used their old friendship as a tool to wedge him into acting against his own best interests.
But, said another part of him, he was already on a most-wanted list. And if Barret did enough damage, disappearing would be easier. To this, the more ruthless side of him noted that disappearing was very easy when the town had been burned down. Shinra didn't care who he was, he hadn't been that high in SOLDIER, and anyone who knew him personally was dead anyway.
Where would he even go? And what would he do there?
...It looked like he was going nowhere. Everyone he knew was dead and buried except Tifa, and he could hardly remember anything about her. Cloud couldn't remember when they had first met. He couldn't remember any times together. In fact, he could hardly remember anything. Whatever had happened to him out in the wastes or wherever it had messed with his head.
The truth was, he didn't really have any guarantee that anything he had been told was accurate. For all he knew, Tifa was just some random person who had picked him off the street and told him a pack of lies. But, somehow, Cloud doubted that anyone would do that for a stranger in a place like this.
Then something awoke in Cloud, something which was from neither side of his mind.
It was a desire, a lust to see rare sights, to walk beyond the circles of this blighted and vicious city. He had the idea of walking in far green countries. To see the great mountains and scale them, as he had once done long ago. How many lands were there beyond Midgar, beyond this place, that he had never laid eyes on.
Suddenly, he wanted to see them all.
Hadn't Tifa worked as a mountain guide at one point?
Well, that settled it. The remnants of his old life had, for now, won. Cloud turned and walked back to the Seventh Heaven, intended to get information. He found Barret waiting at the entrance, and the man wordlessly stepped aside.
Cloud found Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie sitting around a table, playing cards and drinking. And there was Tifa, changed from how he remembered. She'd been pretty when they were kids. Now drop-dead gorgeous would be a disservice. It was as if you took every cliche and ideal of the ideal woman and mixed them into a single whole.
Tifa had a serene expression, red eyes, and long, brownish dark hair that gave a girl next door impression. However, she was also wearing combat boots and a short black skirt that bared her legs. Her gloves were red and fingerless, with brass knuckles on them, and her arms were toned. Oh, and she had gigantic breasts that were trapped in a skintight shirt that bared her midriff.
This was quite deliberate.
Tifa owned a bar, and her neckline was a major source of profits.
"So," said Tifa, shifting. "Did you fight with Barret?"
What was she, his Mother? Actually couldn't really remember his Mother all that well. He couldn't remember anything. Pausing, he remembered the flower and raised it. As he did, Barret's daughter Marlene came forward.
"Oh, I flower for me?" said Tifa, smiling.
Cloud considered Marlene. Then he decided the supermodel with giant breasts was the person he'd rather be invested in. The children of the world didn't have a future anyway, so why waste resources on them?
So he gave it to Tifa, and she took it.
"So, how did things go?" asked Tifa, and Cloud went over to the bar.
And Cloud explained the entire thing.
Tifa listened to the story at length. Apparently, she had heard most of it already. But his description of what happened after he left the Midgar area interested her.
"You mean, you were facing an army of Shinra soldiers, and you decided to kill them all?" asked Biggs.
"More air for the rest of us," said Cloud.
"That's a little ruthless," said Wedge.
"And stupid," said Biggs. "You left a trail of bodies."
"They'd already spotted me anyway," said Cloud. "And you blew up a Mako Reactor in the middle of a crowded city. It's a miracle we don't have a kill count in the thousands.
"You really think anyone is going to care about a few dead war criminals?"
"Well," Tifa shifted. "You would draw attention to the railway lines."
"So what?" asked Cloud. "Those railway lines run all the way through the entire city. And we went straight into a tunnel.
"Even if they figure out it went into the slums; anyone could tell you this would be the staging area. And they'd have to search through dozens of different stations. Granted, they could interview the people on the train.
"But none of them saw me, and we only went out among them when we were already there.
"So the most I've done is give Avalanche a lot more credibility. It's called a publicity stunt."
"Yes," said Tifa, looking annoyed. "And now they know something about you. They know you're reckless."
"They already have my psych profile anyway, somewhere," said Cloud. "And the other side has total superiority in this war. You can't win by playing it safe.
"If we Shinra a thousand times, they might survive it. If they beat us once, we're dead.
"The only way to win is to do what Barret is doing. Go after expensive, exposed targets without regard to collateral. Destroy a couple of dozen Mako Reactors, and maybe you'll make the company go under.
"But if you're not going to go all on this thing, you might as well just go home."
"We can't go home," said Jessie. "They burned it down. Twice."
"Well then," said Wedge. "Good thing our lives aren't getting any better then."
Everyone actually laughed at that.
"Hey," said Biggs. "You want a drink?"
"I don't drink," said Cloud.
"What, are you too good to drink with me?" asked Biggs, angry.
"No," said Cloud. "I don't drink because I'd never stop."
"Lay off him, Biggs," said Jessie. "It's probably better if someone stays sober anyway." She looked miserable.
At that point, Barret came in through the door. "Where's my baby girl?"
"Daddy," said Marlene, running forward. "I missed you, Daddy."
"Yeah, I know," said Barret. "But we gotta save the planet. We should be back here for a bit."
"...That was good," said Biggs.
"Let's take out another one," said Wedge.
"Are you talking about drinks or Mako Reactors?" asked Tifa.
"Both?" asked Biggs.
More laughter.
"Why not?" asked Biggs. "We've got the momentum. Let's use it. We should be able to hit another one before they get it locked down."
"At which point Shinra kills everybody here," said Cloud.
"This ain't North Corel or Nibelheim," said Barret. "If Shinra Corporation comes down here, we'd use hit and run tactics to take em out. By the time they found us, their casualties would be enormous."
"Don't fool yourself," said Cloud, urged by something. "Shinra would never commit to that kind of operation.
"They'd probably do something much more grand and deadly."
"Like what?" asked Jessie.
Cloud paused. "I don't know... they might firebomb the slums after they got our general location. As long as they limited the damage to our general location, it would be no financial loss.
"They could just transfer in more workers after they burned the bodies."
"Cloud," said Tifa. "North Corel and Nibelheim both had a couple of hundred people in them at most. There are tens of thousands in this section alone, many of them long-term employees. You don't really think-"
"You look me in the eye, Tifa," said Cloud. "And tell me that Shinra Corporation isn't ruthless enough to do something that stupid."
"...They might be planning it right now," said Jessie forlornly.
"Not necessarily," said Tifa. "Shinra would do it. But it would be expensive. So they would probably only do it if they thought it would cost less than taking the hit and adding more security."
"Right now, they might think the Mako Reactor is a one-off," said Wedge, taking out some paper and pen. "So they'll probably just beef up security and hope to kill us off then go back to normal."
"They might think we've already high-tailed it," mused Barret.
"Daddy," said Marlene. "I drew a picture. Can I show it to you?"
"Sure," said Barret. "Let me see it first. Wedge, run numbers, I've got to go draw with Marlene."
"Remember to turn the safety on your left hand off this time," said Cloud. "Don't want to put a hole in the ceiling."
"Blow off, Cloud," said Barret, doing exactly that.
And so the conversation ended.
Cloud turned to Tifa, who faced him in turn. There was silence. "Tifa, we need to talk."
"What is it?" asked Tifa. "About what?"
She seemed surprised he was even saying it. They went to one side, and she leaned against the wall, hands under her breasts. "Is something wrong?"
"If we do another operation like that," said Cloud. "I expect to be well paid. You got it."
"Why are you bringing this up now?" asked Tifa.
"Because you asked me for a favor," said Cloud. "And now I'm part of a terrorist cell."
Tifa blinked.
She obviously had not thought of things in that light before. Was she surprised that he had a will of his own? The manipulative little witch had probably assumed she could threaten him. No doubt she'd move up to blackmail.
Cloud decided those thoughts made no sense.
"Cloud," said Tifa. "You said you wanted to see some action, and I gave you some."
"I don't think I was able to give consent on this Tifa," said Cloud. "I can't even remember the last two weeks." Vaguely he remembered lying on his back, hardly able to process anything. "Look, you obviously didn't know that.
"But if you want me to go around blowing up private property, I'm not going to do it for fun. I'm putting my life on the line for an organization I am not part of. Our actions have already endangered numerous civilians, just like Shinra did to us.
"And if we keep going like this, we're all gonna die.
"Even if we win, what do we do then? Shinra will be out for blood and everybody they made rich. Of course, nobody is going to thank us for this, even if it works.
"So, I expect to be well-paid if you want me to do any more commando operations."
"Alright," said Tifa, but she seemed taken aback. "That makes sense; I probably should have waited longer before asking you.
"Do you have anywhere you can go?"
Cloud paused, considering things. "...No.
"At the moment, I'm going to hunt monsters for the bounty. Shinra pays for that bounty system, and if the company collapses, it won't exist anymore. So I'm going to do some hunting and drain off some of their profits."
"Right," said Tifa. "You can still stay here, you know."
"Thank you," said Cloud.
"Alright, I've got it," said Wedge. "I did some averages. If Shinra beefs up their security at all the Mako Reactors we can hit, it'll be very expensive. And if they keep the security upon the trains, which they've probably locked down, it'll be worse.
"The post-Wutai disarmament meant they decreased their standing forces. And the Genesis War cut down on those. Not as many people are signing up these days, so they'd have to shift people around. Transportation on short notice...
"Well, it'd be less expensive than what you were talking about, Cloud. I think.
"But only if it was for a short time. Drag it out and blow up another Mako Reactor and things shift. Based on imperfect rough estimates and factory failures, um.."
"Yes?" asked Cloud.
"It becomes more profitable to murder everyone in the slums," said Wedge.
"What about the PR cost?" asked Jessie. "It won't look very good for them if they start firebombing civilians in their capital. It would wreck their reputation."
"I was assuming they would cover it up," said Wedge. "But yeah, that makes sense.
"Still, I think it makes a bit of sense to lay low. We can't hit a reactor when the whole city is on alert. And we wouldn't be able to get in the same way anyway."
"We have a plan for that," said Biggs.
"We'll talk to Barret about it," said Jessie. "Cloud isn't a member yet."
"Right," said Wedge. "Sorry, Cloud."
"I really don't care," said Cloud. And he stood up. "I'm going to go hunt monsters. You guys talk about whatever you want." And he walked toward the door.
"Cloud," said Tifa. "I'm coming to this time."
"Sure," said Cloud. "Just don't slow me down."
And they headed out.