Arthur is on the train heading to his last destination. The train stops and Arthur sees two agents, he and the person in front of him waiting and watching their customers do the work.
"Get off, mercenaries." Said a tall, muscular man with dark skin. He wore several metal bands around his waist and a tattoo of a skull on his left shoulder. His hair was cut short on the sides and trimmed on top of his head. He had a thick beard, as well as two dog tags around his neck. He has three scars on his right cheek. He was also wearing a silver earring in his left ear. He was wearing a dirty brown vest, green pants and tall brown boots, as well as several metal ties on his free arm, and on his other arm is a machine gun as if it replaced half of his arm.
He was accompanied by three other people.
A young man of 20 years old with a strong build, light skin, medium-length black hair held back by his bandana and blue eyes. He was wearing a red bandana, metal shoulder pads, a beige shirt, a brown leather belt, dark blue shorts and armored boots, a leather harness, a shoulder strap on his chest and grenades on his belt.
A 25-year-old man with a lean build. He has tanned skin, light browns, short, branching black hair and a light beard. He was wearing a red bandana, an olive shirt, a leather harness, a black belt and a brown belt, a hip pocket, dark green cargo shorts, armored boots and brown fingerless gloves.
A 23-year-old woman with a slim build, fair skin, brown eyes and reddish-brown medium-length hair tied in a ponytail. She wore a red headband, a metal breastplate, a blue undershirt, brown metallic gloves with red stripes, a brown leather belt and holster, and armored boots, as well as a black shirt under her breastplate, black bracelets and silver earrings.
Arthur and the young man in front of him jumped out and landed on the train platform as two officers exited.
"Halt!" Says a security guard.
"Who goes there?" Says his colleague.
"It's yours." Says the man with the pistol arm to the two young men still on the roof of the train.
They all run in front of the officers while Arthur and the young man pull out their respective swords and look at them. Arthur disappears and suddenly appears behind one of the two officers while the other mercenary does the same. The two officers fall and the two mercenaries sheathe their swords, they run towards the station seeing other officers.
"What the...?" Says a third security guard.
"Put your hands where I can see them!" Says another security officer.
The four quickly run after the two officers who have passed two mercenaries pull out their swords and Arthur quickly appears in front of one of the officers and tackles him against the wall holding him by the neck. He turned and looked at the other officer who was standing there, cowardly, the other mercenary appeared behind him and knocked him out. They jumped over the passenger identification terminals as two other guards ran down the stairs.
"Drop your weapons!" Said a new security guard.
The others quickly run ahead of them while the two officers are distracted by Arthur and the second mercenary. The two officers fire at them but they simply deflect the bullets with their swords. Arthur ran and kicked the officer in the face and he went flying and hit the pillar. While his colleague hit the side of the other officer's head and knocked him out. Another officer comes out of nowhere and tries to tackle Arthur, but he is knocked down and Arthur punches him in the face several times, knocking the officer out. the two mercenaries went up the stairs and ran to the bridge. They saw the three people working on the door while Barret stood aside from the others. They approached them and Wedge waved to them to wait, so they stood there and waited.
"Hey Biggs... Isn't it weird that a SOLDIER is helping us against his own side? Did he cut his career short? And his name, and the name of the mercenary he's with, what was it again?" Asked the woman.
"'Former' SOLDIER, he said. And his name is Cloud Striffe. The other one is Arthur, they didn't tell us his last name. In the case of an armed operation, it is better to get professional help. And since Barret didn't tell us why he hired Arthur." Said the slim young man known as Biggs, looking at the muscular man who turned out to be Barret.
The heavyset man gives Arthur a thumbs up.
"I'm not here to make friends. After this mission, we don't know each other anymore." Says Cloud.
The muscular man walks over and pushes Arthur and Cloud aside as Wedge walks over to him.
"Come on, no one would do something this crazy just for money. I'm sure you're worried about the future of the planet too, at least as much as..." Said Wedge before he made himself
"I don't care." Said Cloud.
"Uh... what about you Arthur?" Asked Wedge.
"I have a score to settle with the Shinra... and I need to find someone." Arthur replied in a tone of voice that was not really invested.
Jessie unlocked the door as she and Biggs ran through it, Barret turned around.
"Wedge!" Says the muscular man.
Wedge runs through as Barret looks at Arthur.
"You better be good. We're paying you a small fortune." Said Barret.
Arthur rolled his eyes and followed them just as Cloud did, the others waited by the wall as an officer and a guard dog ran out of the room. Arthur quickly killed the guard dog while Cloud took out the officer in less than a second and they both fell to the ground. Another guard and a guard dog run out of the room, the two mercenaries turn and throw their swords into the officer's chest, the guard dog lunges at Arthur but Cloud slices him before he can reach the other mercenary, and the latter does the same to the officer who attacked Cloud. Arthur pulled his sword from the officer's chest, and they entered the room and saw the others running.
"Arthur, Cloud, the elevator is over there. Hurry!" Said Wedge.
Arthur and Cloud get on the elevator, Arthur presses the button and the elevator goes up. The door opens and Arthur and Cloud follow as Biggs blows a giant hole in the cage door. Just as Arthur is about to crawl through, Biggs looks at him.
"Not so fast. We have company." Biggs warns.
Arthur and Cloud turn around as two officers and a guard dog appear behind them. Cloud quickly eliminated the two guards while Arthur struck the dog with the hilt of his sword. They followed the trail and saw two more officers as the others ran past them. Arthur hit the officer in the chest and sent him into the boxes, Arthur looked at the other officer and Cloud quickly appeared in front of him and uppercutted the officer's chin landing on the floor. Arthur flips the switch to open the door and follows the others.
"You know what to do now." Said Barret.
"See you later!" Said Wedge
"Let's go!" Says Jesse
Wedge heads in the opposite direction while Arthur and Cloud follow the others.
"SOLDIERS can attack on command, but I hear they also make good watchdogs. I bet you've seen a few reactors. So how are we going to get to the bridge over the Mako storage? You're not holding out on me, are you? Is Stamp afraid to bite the hand that fed him? Or is he a loyal little dog?" Said Barret.
Cloud's head starts to hurt and he quickly grabs at his head.
"Have it your way, mutt. We can do it with you, or we can do it without you. The mercenary can handle the guards by himself." Said Barret.
"Different reactor, different layout. It depends on when it was built. I've never seen one like it, but I'll figure it out." Says Cloud.
"In three, two... Shit, I'm good." Says Biggs
The door opens as four security guards are inside. Arthur and Cloud enter and they quickly close the door behind them, leaving the others waiting on the other side.
"It's over!" Says the Security Officer.
"That's my line." Cloud retorted.
Cloud drew his sword.
"There are only two of them, we can take them! Said the Security Officer.
As soon as the officer said that, three of the officers standing next to him were already down, knocked out by Cloud. He turns around and sees Arthur standing in front of him. Arthur grabs him by the neck and lifts him into the air, choking him. The officer stops moving and Arthur drops him to the ground.
"We're back!" Says Jesse.
"Then let's go." Says Arthur.
"He always knows what to say!" Said Jessie.
"Stop it!" Says Barret.
"It's a good thing I know someone who can get us the access codes. Too bad no one else in command will talk to us, but what can we do? And we're good!" Said Jessie.
The door opened.
"Careful in there. I'll take care of this place." Said Biggs.
Arthur, Cloud and Biggs enter the room, Arthur and Jessie press the button at the same time.
"So, Cloud...you know Tifa, right? It's not really any of my business, but are you guys close?" Says Jessie.
"Tifa, and I..." Said Cloud.
The door buzzes and it opens as Barret pushes Cloud to the side. They enter in the elevator and Barret closes the door.
"The only purpose of this pump is to empty the planet. While you are sleeping, eating, shitting, it is there, sucking up Mako. It doesn't rest and it doesn't care! You do realize what Mako is, don't you? Mako is the living blood of our world. The planet bleeds green like you and I bleed red. What do you think is going to happen when there's nothing left, huh!? Answer me! Are you going to stand there and pretend you can't hear the planet screaming in pain? I know you can!" Barret explained.
"Do you really hear that?" Cloud asked.
"Oh hell, yes!" Replied Barret
"Go get help." Said Cloud.
"Say that again!" Says Barret.
Cloud looks at him and the elevator stops.
"I'd worry less about the planet and more about the next five seconds. Save the screaming for later." Says Cloud.
They step out of the elevator.
"Our lives are at stake now." Says Barret.
He points his turret at Cloud, then at Arthur.
"Are you listening, mercenaries? One wrong move..." Says Barret.
He fires ahead and a sentry beam falls to the ground, but the mercenaries didn't even flinch.
"And it happens." Says Barret.
"Well, too bad if it's Arthur and Cloud doing all the fighting. There are places a sword can't reach..." Jesse began before running to Arthur. "Just... take care of them for me, will you?" She finished.
"You should have asked for more money." Sighed Cloud.
Arthur smiled at his fellow mercenary's remark, and looked at Jessie, he knew exactly what to do about her. Even though he was not romantically interested in her, he wanted to save her so that she could continue her dream.
He walked ahead of them, suddenly he heard a beeping sound and looked up at the sentry. Barret intervenes and destroys the sentry with his turret while Arthur and Cloud deflect the sentry's laser. Barret destroys the second sentry and he destroys the last one with his turret. Arthur turns around and three monodrives come out of nowhere but Arthur was quick enough to destroy them one by one. Arthur, Cloud and Barret go down the stairs to see Jessie at a sign.
"Look what we have here." Says Jessie.
"A laser security system... Great." Said Arthur.
"These things will hurt more than your pride if you're careless. But I guess you've done this kind of thing before." Said Jessie to the two mercenaries.
"Yes, you have to figure out the timing of the lasers. Then switch to the movement where they go off." Cloud explained.
"Exactly! I'll go first. Nothing like a little danger to get the blood flowing!" Said Jesse as he passed the Lasers during the time they are stopped.
"Hey!" Said Arthur with concern.
"Watch me carefully, I'm going to get it all over your beautiful eyes!" Said Jesse.
Arthur, Cloud and Barret run in front of the lasers after discovering their timing. They follow Jessie after she runs down the stairs. This time there were more lasers with a little more challenge, but Cloud followed by Arthur passed the lasers while Barret had a little trouble figuring out. They joined Jessie downstairs.
Arthur, Cloud and Barret join Jessie after going through all the lasers.
"Look. They don't call these things Cleaners for nothing. They can wipe out an entire squad in seconds." Said Jessie.
"Not if you clean them up first." Cloud.
Arthur runs towards the cleaner, which slides right into him. Arthur jumps over as Barret shoots him with his turret and Jessie helps him. Arthur uses the fire spell on the sweeper and sees an opening in the sweeper. Arthur and Barret together attack the cleaner who begins to weaken. Arthur stabs the cleaner with his sword and he thrusts his sword deeper with his palm and the sword goes through the cleaner destroying it immediately. Arthur grabbed his sword and placed it on his back.
"How old are you, twenty-something?" Barret asked.
"First." Replied Cloud.
"Huh?" Said Barret.
"SOLDIER: First 't go into your 20s." Cloud explained.
"What are you talking about? I'm talking about your age, not your fucking rank!" Said Barret.
"I, uh..." Cloud began.
"Although, for all I know, a SOLDIER's rank could be the same as his age... Mm-hmm. I guess that makes you a one year old, huh? Live and learn!" Said Barret.
"I had forgotten how much of a pain in the ass Barret was at that point in history." Arthur thought.
They run up the stairs as the door opens. They look down from the railing to see the reactor.
"This is our target. The reactor core. We need to place the bomb at the bottom. Let's go down there." Says Jessie.
They climb down the ladder and follow Jessie.
"Heads up, guys, the end is in sight. I'll leave the rest in your capable hands. Good luck!" Says Jessie.
Arthur, Cloud and Barret go down the ladder as three monodrives were waiting for them. Arthur quickly runs past the monodrives destroying them with his sword and they all fall to the ground while Barret destroys the sentry. Arthur, Cloud and Barret run up the stairs and down the ladder, they finally got to the lower level, they both walk towards the core, Barret walks past Arthur.
"All right. Let's see if little Stamp can really bite the hand that feeds him..." Says Barret.
He takes out the bomb.
"Go ahead. Do the honors. Prove to me that you are the man Tifa says you are. That you are one of us." Said Barret.
"I never said I was. I'm just here for the paycheck." Says Cloud.
"Then do the damn job!" Says Barret.
Cloud grabs the bomb and approaches the reactor core. He puts the bomb down and his head starts to hurt as he quickly grabs onto it. Cloud looks to his right and suddenly sees a black feather land on the ground, then it disappears. He looked at the ground in confusion not knowing that Arthur had also seen the feather.
"What is it?" Said Barret.
"It's nothing. What about the timer?" Cloud asked.
"Your call, Merc." Said Barret.
Cloud set the bomb for twenty minutes.
"Rather arrogant, isn't it?" Said Barret.
Cloud was about to activate the bomb when he heard a sudden noise. He turned and looked around the room. Barret points his turret at him.
"Are you doing a double-take?" Said Barret.
"Heads up!" Warned Arthur having also noticed what alerted Barret.
"What the hell is this?" Said Barret.
A scorpion sentry appears in front of them.
"Hey how can we fight this thing?" Said Barret.
"It has reinforced armor but the inside can be overloaded. With the lightning spell." Said Cloud.
Barret uses his light magic on the scorpion sentry and Arthur and Cloud attack it from different angles on the body. The scorpion sentry jumps on the wall and lands on the other side, Arthur and Barret quickly chase it. Barret uses his lighting again and Arthur attacks its core. Arthur damages the core and the scorpion sentry starts to burst into flames, Barret pulls on his core and it starts to weaken. The scorpion sentry jumps back to the wall and shoots rockets at the ceiling, pieces of the ceiling fall and the scorpion sentry jumps to the other side. The scorpion sentry prepares to shoot its tail at Arthur and Barret.
"Don't get hit by its tail. Hide behind the debris." Says Cloud.
Arthur, Cloud and Barry hide behind the debris as she fires her laser at Arthur but only destroys the debris. Arthur rushes in and begins to attack the core while Barret stays back and shoots at the core. She is ready to fire her laser again, Arthur, Cloud and Barret hide behind their blankets again, she shoots Barret's and destroys the debris. Arthur and Cloud rush in again and Barret uses lightning magic again. Arthur attacks the core and does serious damage to the scorpion sentry. Arthur cripples the right leg while Barret cripples the other leg. Arthur, Cloud and Barret destroy the core together while the scorpion sentry fires the laser at them both but misses and hits the reactor. The laser starts firing back and forth and pieces of the room start falling off.
"Shit! The bomb!" Said Barret.
"Twenty minutes to detonation." Says a synthetic voice from the bomb.
The scorpion sentry falls into the Mako and explodes.
"Hah, do you hear that? That damn thing showed you how it's done!" Says Barret.
"Come on, we need to move." Says Cloud.
Arthur, Cloud and Barret run quickly and climb the ladder. They run to the stairs and quickly climb the next ladder. A giant pipe falls and breaks the cats walk, a big rock lands on Jessie's leg and Arthur quickly grabs onto a metal bar, Arthur quickly moves towards Jessie and he jumps onto the platform.
"Are you okay?" Arthur asked.
"Do I look okay? Will you help a girl?" Asked Jessie.
Arthur lifted the stone and Jessie stood up.
"My hero!" She said.
"Hey! We'll meet you there! Take care of Jessie!" Said Barret.
"Come this way! This road should lead us directly to Barret! Probably!" Says Jessie.
Arthur and Jessie climb down the ladder and Arthur follows Jessie. They run onto the platform and jump over the railing, Jessie climbs the ladder and Arthur does the same. He looks over to see Jessie climbing again.
"Why are there so many ladders here?" Arthur thought.
Arthur climbs the ladder following Jessie, he looks to his right to see Barret climbing too. Arthur and Jessie jumped across and joined Barret.
"Barret!" Jessie shouts.
"I'll cover for you. Find us a way out of here!" Says Barret.
"But then..." Said Jessie.
"Don't worry, we'll be fine! I have the little SOLDIER and the mercenary with me!" Said Barret.
Jessie quickly walked through the door before it closed.
"Ex-little SOLDIER." Arthur clarified with an amused smile.
Arthur quickly eliminated the officers while Barret destroyed the monodrives. They go through the door and a broom comes out but Arthur cuts it in half and destroys it instantly.
"Shit... Why didn't he do this earlier... ?" Barret thought.
Arthur, Cloud et Barret montent les escaliers en courant. Arthur voit les monodrives apparaître et il les fait tomber instantanément au sol d'un seul coup sans même les rater. Arthur et Cloud monte les escaliers tandis que Barret détruit tous les rayons sentinelles et ils courent dans l'ascenseur. Soudain, le bâtiment tremble alors que l'ascenseur monte.
"Go...go, go, go!" Says Barret.
Barret looks at Arthur who has his eyes closed. The elevator door opens and they all step out to see Jessie opening the door.
"The door is open!" Says Jessie.
They quickly run to the door, Arthur is running behind Jessie when part of the ceiling falls and lands right next to Jessie who also falls.
"Can you walk?" Arthur asked.
"If I couldn't, believe me, you would be the first to know." Replied Jessie.
"I'll take that as a yes." Said Arthur.
As they ran, a giant pipe landed in front of Arthur as the bridge broke.
"Arthur!" Jessie shouted.
Arthur jumps on the pipe and he jumps off the pipe and lands next to Jessie.
"Okay, that was pretty cool." Said Jessie.
Arthur sketched a small smile.
"All right. Come on!" Said Jessie.
The entire factory explodes, causing a blackout in the entire city. A giant blast of Mako shot through the top of the factory. Arthur and the others escape into the underground after the factory explodes.
"It looks like we made it. And with nothing but a few scratches to show for it..." Said Barret.
The ground shook.
"You think you overdid it?" Said Barret.
"I followed the instructions to the letter. Maybe it triggered a reaction with the Mako?" Said Jessie.
"Well, let's hope the city is still in one piece." Said Barret.
"But it's the planet that counts, right?" Says Biggs.
The ground shakes.
"I mean... that must have helped a little." Says Biggs.
"After all this, it better be. Anyway, let's get going. Are we in sector 8?" Says Jessie.
"It's right down there!" Said Wedge.
"All right, then. Lead the way." Says Barret.
"You got it!" Says Wedge.
Wedge leads the way and everyone follows.
"Watch out for the electrical wires. They're everywhere." He said.
"Ugh, the air in here stinks. I can't wait to get out in the open! Man, what's that? I've never smelled anything this bad." Said Biggs, feeling himself. "Aw, it's me. I need to do something about this, and soon." He said.
"I hope he knows he's talking to himself." Arthur thought.
The ground shakes.
"I felt it in my gut..." Says Wedge.
They keep coming.
"We have to get out of this place." Says Barret.
"Was it the density of the Mako? The primary explosive? The explosive agent?" Says Jessie.
"Hey, we can find that later." Says Biggs.
"I'm running on empty here..." Said Wedge.
"You'll be able to refuel at the base." Said Barret.
"Next time, I'll have to bring a little pick-me-up." Says Wedge.
"How much further is it?" Says Jessie.
"Not too far!" Said Wedge.
"Do they really talk that much?" Cloud thought.
"It's as good a place as any." Said Wedge.
"Back off then. I'll plant the bomb." Says Jessie.
"I can't wait to see you Marlene." Said Barret.
"I can't wait to take a hot shower." Says Biggs.
Jessie sets the bomb at the door.
"It's ready to go!" She says.
They step back a little and Cloud and Arthur turn around and cover their ears.
"Look out, the bomb is going off!" Jessie shouted.
The bomb exploded and destroyed the doors.
"You did say to those doors." Said Biggs.
"Let that be a lesson to anything that gets in my way!" Said Jessie.
They come out to see a burning building.
"Attention all citizens. Attention all citizens. This is an alert from the Shinra Emergency Operations Center. Unidentified intruders have detonated a bomb in the Mako 1 reactor. Multiple explosions have been confirmed, as well as fires in progress. In response, a disaster advisory has been issued in sectors 1 and 8. The structures in the area are at high risk of collapse, making the entire area unsafe." Says a voice over intercom.
"No... No way." Said Jessie.
"It couldn't have been us...could it?" Said Biggs.
"But what if it was... ? " Said Wedge.
"What's done is done." Said Cloud.
"Mercenary is right. It's not pretty, but we can't stop now. That was just the first reactor. And the planet won't be safe until we get the rest back." Said Barret.
Yeah... We always knew it was going to be a mess.
"And this is just the beginning..." Said Wedge.
"You all have to look at the big picture here. Nothing worth fighting for has ever been won without sacrifice. Even if you don't scream, I know you're suffering, and so is the planet. But that's okay, because I'm here for you! To help you take the weight off your shoulders! Your fears... Your worries... Your concerns... And yes, your fees... Whatever your problem is, I've got you." Says Barret.
"So, what's our next step, boss?" Asked Biggs.
"That's easy enough! We get our asses home!" Said Barret.
The four of them ran for the stairs while Cloud went his own way in a direction advised by Arthur who watched them go.
"Now we just have to find her." Said Arthur as he went his own way.