After running hard up four flights of stairs, Yaz's legs were beginning to burn. If she survived her visit to Midgar, she resolved to do more cardio work when she returned home. The mysterious spectres had disappeared out of sight after the first couple of floors, leaving Yaz literally chasing shadows. Every now and then, the pillar echoed to the sound of gunfire and the occasional blast. There had been a near miss with a loose piece of metal on the lower floor, fortunately Yaz had quick enough reactions to dodge out the way.
Arriving on level 5, she spotted Biggs taking aim at one of the helicopters. The dark haired man was favouring his left shoulder and she could see traces of red on his green shirt. Spotted some refuge nearby, she sprinted towards Biggs making sure to keep her head down, "What the hell are you doing here?" he shouted over the sounds of gunfire.
"Seems like a good idea about five minutes ago," she cried back, "I had a run in with some black smoke creatures downstairs."
"Not those things again," Biggs grunted, ducking out from his hiding place long enough to fire a few rounds, "that's all we need."
A round from the gunship whistled past his face, sparks flew off the metal framework in the process. He grimaced with pain after having to move so quickly, "You're hurt," Yaz stated and raised her wrist to use the healing materia.
"Don't waste that on me," Biggs waived her off, "the fighting will be worse at the top, save it for one of them."
Yaz suddenly realised that she was effectively trapped in the pillar, the exit at the bottom was probably heavily guards by now and there didn't appear to be anywhere to go other than up, "Is there an emergency exit from this place?" she asked Biggs in hope.
The dark haired man took a few deep breaths to help ease his pain before replying, "Heard there was an emergency cradle that runs through the centre of the structure," he replied, "wouldn't surprise me if Shinra didn't make it accessible from every floor though." Yaz shook her head, she was beginning to hate Shinra just as much as AVALANCHE. "All you can do is go up," he continued and pointed at the stairway, "I'll cover you, just run and don't look back."
The police officer muttered her thanks to Biggs and when he opened fire, she sprinted for the stairway. She climbed higher up the pillar, frantically searching for access to the emergency cradle Biggs talked about. When she reached level 8, she spotted a lift door but to her frustration, it was blocked by several metal crates. There was no way she would be able to move them by herself so all she could do was keep going.
Unfortunately, access to the cradle was similarly blocked on the next four levels. It was too much of a coincidence to be a case of negligence, someone had deliberately blocked any available exit route. This attack wasn't opportunistic, this was a staged operation that had been carefully planned.
She was nearly at the top, looking up she could only see a couple more levels. Looking over the side, she could see the lights of the slums far below, she was easily hundreds of feet in the air. Yaz also spotted more trouble, another helicopter gunship approaching for another run on the pillar. She could also hear a voice on the level above, together with the sound of gunfire. Yaz immediately recognised the voice, "Jessie," she gasped under her breath and sprinted towards the stairs.
Yaz arrived on level 13 just as Jessie was launching a grenade towards the helicopter. She wasn't an explosives expert but even Yaz knew the chopper was too close to the pillar and the resulting shockwave would damage the structure. Moving as fast as her legs could carry her, she grabbed Jessie by the waist, dragged her away as far as she could before pulling her to the ground. Less than a second later the grenade detonated, taking the helicopter down but also dislodging tons of metal and concrete from the pillar and the surrounding floors.
Her ears were ringing from the blast and Yaz couldn't even hear her voice call out to Jessie. The brunette looked dazed and confused and even worse, she had several bullet holes in her legs and a couple had pierced her armoured plate. The buzzing noise slowly cleared and Jessie's eyes became slightly more focused, "Remind me not to do that again," she grumbled, "so, I'm not dead then?"
"Not yet," Yaz replied, "despite your best efforts. What were you thinking, throwing a grenade at close range?"
"Took a chance, desperate times and all that," Jessie coughed a couple of times, "think one of those bullets hit something important."
Yaz slowly rolled Jessie onto her side, there was an exit hole in her back from one of the round, "I'm not a doctor but I'd say it's gone strange through your lung. If it had hit anything else, you'd be feeling much worse."
"Cause I'm feeling so healthy right now," Jessie joked, "I'd say use your materia but it's still low level, it would like plugging a sinking ship with a piece of tape." She shifted onto her back, "In my pants there's a vial of Hi-Potion, it won't put my lung back together but it will help for now." Yaz did as she was instructed and handed the bottle to Jessie which the AVALANCHE member swallowed in one go, "Disgusting," she grimaced.
The sounds of boots on metal came from the stairway and Yaz jumped to her feet, ready to defend Jessie from attack. When the new arrivals stepped on to her level, she spotted the blonde haired man with the giant sword that she'd seen in the park. With him was a dark haired woman in a white tank top, black skirt, long black stockings and red boots. It took Yaz a couple of moments but she finally realised it was the woman last seen in the back of the carriage, "Who are you?" the man asked bluntly.
"Cloud, be nice," Jessie replied, "this is the woman who saved my life."
The new arrivals looked over Yaz, until the woman spoke, "I know you," she began, "you were at the Sector 7 gate admiring the Chocobo." She searched behind Yaz like she was looking for someone, "Wasn't there a blonde woman with you?"
"Yeah, the Doctor," Yaz replied, "she went out with Barret, haven't caught up with her since."
"What kind of name is the Doctor?" Cloud asked.
"I don't think a bloke called Cloud should ask that question," Yaz snapped back, drawing a snort of laughter from Jessie, followed back a cough.
When the coughing fit subsided, Jessie continued, "Knew there was something I liked about you," she smiled. "With Mr-Grumpy-Pants you've got Tifa," she continued, "if we survive, you can see how much better she makes a Mideel cocktail than me."
"Fascinating as this conversation is, we need to continue," Cloud interrupted, "I hope you have an exit plan as the stairway below has collapsed."
Yaz cursed under her breath, running back down the stairs was always her last resort but now that had been taken away. She really had to put all her faith in the emergency cradle. Like the lower levels, the access door was blocked. The explosion though had moved some of the crates, "Can you help me move those crates," she asked Cloud and Tifa, "if I can access the door, we should be able to get down."
The pair looked sceptical but agreed to help Yaz, Cloud forced most of them out the way with minimal effort, "How are you two planning on getting down?" she asked.
"Stop the bomb and figure the rest out from there," Cloud replied just as he pushed the last crate over the edge, "speaking of the bomb, we really have to go."
"Thank you for helping Jessie," Tifa added, "if we get out of this, drinks are on the house." The pair gave Jessie a quick farewell before continuing their ascent of the pillar.
With the crates moved, Yaz was able to look through the door to assess the state of her escape route. The lift cables appeared to be intact but there was no sign of the cradle. Crossing her fingers, she pushed the call button next to the door. Over the sound of gunfire, she could hear the motor whirring. Letting out a small cry of victory, she returned to Jessie, "Are you able to stand? I've found the emergency lift, we just have to hope that everything hold together long enough."
"Talking about me or the lift," Jessie joked and tried to stand. Unfortunately, her legs gave way before she managed a step, "Little help might be needed."
Hooking Jessie's arm around her neck, Yaz half guided, half dragged Jessie towards the lift. The seconds felt like minutes as the cradle slowly rose into position. Yaz tugged furiously on the door but the safety catches took ages to disengage. Finally, she was able to pull the door and practically threw Jessie inside.
Pressing the descend button frantically, Yaz slowly felt the cradle move. She counted off the levels but the whole thing was moving far too slowly for her liking. She glanced over at Jessie, the brunette wasn't looking so good. Her head kept dropping, almost like she was struggling to stay awake, "I don't suppose you have anything to keep you awake?" she asked.
"Nope," Jessie gave her a slightly awkward grin, "don't worry about me," she continued, "just leave me and save yourself." She sniffed a couple of times, "Perhaps, dying here today is what I deserve for creating those bombs, like the Planet's way of balancing the scales."
Yaz crouched down next to Jessie, "I didn't come all this way to leave you to die," she said firmly, "we're both going to get-" Her sentence was interrupted as the lift lurched violently downwards before continuing it's steady descent. A few seconds later, the cradle did the same thing, "That's not good," she gasped.
"Something tells me that we've lost," Jessie mumbled, "the integrity of the pillar must be compromised." Unfortunately Jessie's theory was confirmed seconds later as huge chunks of debris flashed past the window and crashed into the ground below.
The floor counter on the lift read '4' and slowly changed to '3', still going much too slowly for Yaz, "If they've triggered the plate release, how long do we have?" she asked Jessie.
"No more than five minutes", the brunette replied, "could be less if the structure of the pillar doesn't hold."
Suddenly the lift lurched again only this time it didn't slow down again. With a solid crunch, it crashed into the ground, shattering the glass window and warping the door. Fortunately it had only dropped a couple of levels, any further and the women would've been in trouble. Yaz was shaken, a little sore but nothing seriously damage. The same continue be said of Jessie, the brunette was barely conscious and was sprawled on the dented metal floor.
Yaz tried the door and thankfully, she managed to open it with a few firm kicks, "Jessie, wake up," she shook the brunette as hard as she dared. She tried a couple of times, however, Jessie wasn't stirring. Finally after an age, she opened her eyes, "Five more minutes Mom," she mumbled.
"Sorry Jessie but I need you to direct me out of here," Yaz scooped up Jessie with difficulty, the woman was almost a dead weight, "And she said I weighed 120 pounds."
"Heard that," Jessie giggled deliriously, "secret tunnel to Sector 6, direct you I will."
Ignoring Jessie groggy syntax, Yaz moved as quick as she could through the twisted maze of pathway that made up the Sector 7 slums. Her footsteps were muffled by an ominous rumble from overhead, surely it was a matter of when, not it, the plate came down.
The streets were empty, either the Doctor or someone else had been successful in clearing everyone out in time. It came as a surprise when Yaz spotted an old woman with large grey hair standing in the middle of the road, "Are you the last ones?" she asked with a gruff voice. Yaz wasn't sure but she nodded in reply, "Quickly get in here," the woman practically push them into a metal tunnel leading off the street.
Seconds later, a much louder explosion came from the pillar followed by a creaking sound from above, "Get moving girl," the woman cried, "the plate's coming down."
Yaz sprinted but it was hard work with Jessie in her arms. Out of sight, it sounded like the whole world was coming down on their heads. Without warning, a gust of air and dust pushed Yaz along. It was too powerful to resist and she found herself stumbling. She crashed to the ground and Jessie slipped out her arms just as Yaz's world was buried in dust before going black.