Disclaimer: All Final Fantasy 7 characters, places and things all belong to Squaresoft and other involved companies. I own none of them. This fanfic is purely for the fun and enjoyment of others and myself. I make no money from it.
SHARDS COLLIDE
CHAPTER 13
Perhaps one of the best qualities of Midgar was its peacefulness at night. The skies, though clouded with the smog of mako during the day, were usually quite clear at night and offered a seldom kind of solace to the area below. The city was crowded with thieves and robbers and all of the usual sort however even they would remain quiet throughout the better half of the night. It was almost as if they too felt the overwhelming force of rejuvenation the night brought and would not cause too much noise so as not to disturb its work.
Unfortunately, tonight was not one of those nights. The Midgar train came to an abrupt stop directly in front of the sector four reactor. Immediately, one of the openings from the top of the train burst open. Barret quickly pulled himself from the locomotive and hopped down to ground level. He was soon followed by Jessie, Biggs and Tifa.
One of the Shinra officers noticed the commotion and ran towards them. "Hey! Stop right were you are!"
Suddenly the side door to the train burst open and Zack rushed out impaling the man with his buster sword before he could say anything else. Zack eased the man's, now dead, body to the ground so as not to cause too much noise. Cloud, Wedge and Aeris quickly filed out of the side compartment after Zack.
"I don't know if anyone was alerted by his shout." He said, quickly wiping the blood from his blade and sheathing it.
Barret nodded his reply. "We'll have to assume the worst. I want everyone in that reactor in five minutes. Let's move people!"
Barret led the way as they all rushed down the sector block deeper into the heart of the reactor. They sprinted as fast as they could through winding corridors and through all kinds of different partitions.
Barret ran up to the latest partition and slammed his back into it. "Jessie! Biggs! I need you both down here on the double." He hollered. "Get this thing open right now!"
In no time at all, Biggs and Jessie were at the front line. Jessie punched in a series of command, then she ran to one side of the partition while Biggs ran over to the other side.
"On three!" she said to her Avalanche team member. "…Two…one! Go!"
They both pressed the switch at the same time, causing the terminal to open up. Unfortunately, a pair of Shinra guards were waiting for them on the other end. Barret and the others swiftly spun to the side as bullet fired rained out from their automatics.
"$hit!" Barret seethed. "I guess they heard his scream after all."
Once he heard an opening in their attack, Barret swung around and let loose with the gattling gun. He sprayed left then right. He then swung his head to the others. "Come on! Let's move!"
As the others ran through, Cloud and co. were surprised to see that both men were dead with several bullet holes punched into their bodies. Aeris cringed inwardly at the ghastly sight.
"I guess we better not get on his bad side." Zack muttered,speading up after the Avalanche leader.
As they ran further, more Shinra guards ran out in front of them, blocking their path.
"We can't afford to be slowed down by them!" Barret shouted then trained his gun arm towards the oncoming threat and opened fire.
Jessie, Biggs and Wedge also opened fired on the Shinra troopers. At some points they would jump to the side to take cover from oncoming bullets. However Barret was unheeded and continued his relentless assault.
"That damned fool is going to get himself killed!" Cloud quickly ran up along side the dark skinned man and hacked at the nearest Shinra soldier. Two others quickly ran to either side of him and opened fire. Cloud deftly dodged to the side, weaving through their rain of bullets with lightning speed. Then he swiftly closed in on the man to his right and sliced his gun in half. The man continued his attack by pulling out a dagger and lunging for him. Cloud parried the attack with his huge sword then brought it down in a diagonal slice. The man fell limply to the ground.
Cloud heard the sounds of a gun cocking and he quickly dodged to the left just as a few bullets passed dangerously close to his shoulder. Cloud ran in a zig zag pattern towards the gunman until he was right up on him. The poor man desperately pulled out a hand grenade and tossed it at him. Cloud moved to the side then preformed a horizontal strike, cutting the man in half.
He scrambled for cover as another rain of bullets were fired in his direction. Cloud wiped the blood from his buster sword and prepared to charge again when the bullets suddenly stopped. He peered from his cover only to see Barret standing there with his gun arm smoking. "We got em! Let's go!" He shouted then ran off once again. Jessie, Biggs and Wedge ran after him, trying their best to keep up.
Cloud got up from his cover as Zack, Tifa and Aeris ran past him. "That guy's got a death wish." Cloud grumbled then followed up along side Zack.
****
President Shinra sat back lazily in his plush chair. Life was good. He was a rich man in control of one of the most prominent cities on the continent. He could give any order at the wave of a hand and he would get away with it. He was in total control. Yes nothing was better then this, in his mind.
He opened up one of his side drawers and pulled out a fresh cuban cigar. Lighting it with his thousand-dollar lighter. He flipped a switch opening a line to his secretary.
"Yes sir? May I help you?"
He smiled back at the beautiful red haired woman staring at him from her terminal. It wouldn't be so hard possessing her. All he needed to do was give the order. He fully intended on carrying out this order however he decided to bide his time. He was sure the young woman knew of his hunger for her. He wanted her to dread it every day of her life. He wanted her to wait in fear until his declaration. He loved the fear others had of him. He was in control. Whatever he wanted, he always got. Fortunately for her, today he was not looking for sensual amusement.
"Janice," He said with his usual half smirk half smile. "Make a note, I'm thinking about raising taxes again. Let's say… by about 15 % this time eh?"
"Yes sir, very good sir." She said in the usual dead pan voice, which she struggled to sound cheerful with.
Shinra closed the connection laughing cruelly to himself. 'She hates me.' He thought to himself in amusement. 'Good… Everyone should hate me! It's easier to control them that way. It's easier to know they fear me that way!'
Suddenly there was a beep coming from the left side of his desk. Shinra sighed in annoyance then flipped the switch opening his second terminal screen. "What is it?" He hissed in an annoyed voice.
There was a skinny looking Shinra officer on the other end. The man looked frail and puny to Shinra's eyes. He absently pondered firing the man. He honestly didn't know how these weaklings were able to get into his army at all.
"I'm sorry to disturb you sir!" The man said in a slightly fearful voice. "But we have a situation down here that greatly requires your attention."
"What is it now?" He asked angrily.
"Well sir… it seems that the renegade Avalanche group has attacked again. They are currently attacking our sector 4 reactor."
"Damnit!" The President hissed in anger! "It's time I took care of that meddling group once and for all. If they succeed in destroying our reactor, it will be the third one they've hit so far."
"Your orders sir?"
A crude smile slowly formed on Shinra's face. "Do what you can to stop them."
"Should we deploy our heavy artillery sir?"
Shinra frowned. "No, you will not get any extra support. Use the resources you have and stop them!"
"But sir-"
"They are not worth the money my artillery costs! And if you can't stop them with your current numbers then you're not worth my costs either! Now don't bother me again!"
Shinra smiled inwardly to himself. He knew the Shinra guards couldn't hold off Avalanche. They would lose. Yet that was what he wanted. He would use them as bait. Once Avalanche succeeded in their mission he would be waiting for them. He would personally make sure that they no longer posed as a thorn in his side.
He wanted to laugh then and there at the expression on the poor trooper's face.
"Y-yes sir…" The man stuttered. "We'll do our best to hold them off."
"I expect more from you then your best Soldier! You will stop them! That's what I pay you for! Now get off my line!"
"Yes sir." The man said fearfully.
"Oh and one more thing." Shinra said before closing the connection. "After you relay that order you might as well pack your bags. You're fired." Shinra closed the monitor, laughing loudly in his office.
****
"Move it! The entrance is right up ahead!" Barret hollered. They were now in the main entrance block of the sector 4 reactor core. The whole area was a long narrow strip towards the towering heart of the reactor.
Barret raced towards it at full tilt while the others followed closely behind. Suddenly a loud scream rang out in the air followed by rapid gunfire.
"They're here!" Wedge screamed, opening up on the intruding Shinra soldiers with his M16 automatic. Biggs ran to his aid, giving him cover fire.
"We can't worry about them!" Barret screamed. "We need to keep moving or they'll box us in!"
"Too late!" Tifa yelled. Directly in front of them, another swarm of Shinra troops ran towards them from in front of the reactor.
"No place to go now but forward." Zack said silently as he brandished his sword.
"MOVE!" Barret yelled suddenly. "WE'LL CUT THROUGH THEM!"
The Avalanche members ran forward fighting relentlessly to break through the defensive.
One of the Shinra troops brandished his sword and jumped high into the air from behind them. Aeris looked back in alarm as the man came swooping towards her with his sword gleaming in the light. There was no time to react. Aeris closed her eyes as she prepared herself for the painful attack.
Aeris eyes widened as the man's blade, just inches away from her face, was suddenly blocked by a huge silver buster sword.
Zack was locking swords with Aeris attacker, effectively shielding her from the rest of the Shinra invaders as well. "Move it!" He yelled, straining against the soldier's strength. "I'll hold them off here. You all get to the reactor core and take it down!"
"But Zack!" Aeris protested. "You can't hold them all off by yourself!"
"I'll stay and back him up." Cloud said, moving towards Zack.
Barret quickly grabbed his shoulder. "No! You're skill will be better spent down in the reactor core. Biggs, you and Wedge back him up. The rest of us will head down to the reactor and make sure it's taken out." Barret leaned in close to Biggs ear. "And keep an eye on him too, got it."
Biggs nodded then walked alongside Wedge to aid the black haired mercenary.
"Ok then." Barret said in a serious voice. "Lets move people! Time's wasting."
As they ran off towards the Reactor core, Aeris looked once more towards Zack who was now facing off with 5 Shinra soldiers at once.
"Be careful…" Aeris said silently into the wind.
::::::::::To Be Continued::::::::::
Author's Note: Thanks for reading and please stay tuned for chapter 14.