Chapter One: Bombing Mission
It was a calm and unseasonably warm night over the city of Midgar. It was the middle of winter, and yet it was warm enough to comfortably walk outside in shorts. Actually, most pedestrians walking the streets were dressed in their casual summer attire. It would have been a wonderful night to just sit up and look at the stars, if those people hadn't lived in Midgar. Light pollution made that all but impossible in the city.
The roads were basically packed, although that was nothing out of the ordinary. Midgar was the busiest city in the world, and of course it never slept. It could be 2:00 in the morning and there would still be people on the roads going somewhere. Huge trucks and small cars of every size and shape streamed across the busy roadways and bridges, making it a dangerous prospect to be a late night pedestrian.
The night sky over the great city glowed with a faint green hue from the eight power reactors that were stationed at equidistant points along the outside of the enclosed circle that was the city's outer wall. Providing power to the entire construct, they were the most important of the city's infrastructure. They were giant, cylindrical structures, with extraction lines extending deep into the surface of the Earth to draw out the essential fuel for everything in the city. They formed the very heart of the city, and when something must be destroyed, you always go for the heart.
At the center of the circular city was the tall and foreboding Shinra Headquarters. A marvel of architecture, it extended far above the outer wall of the city and could be seen from miles away. It was a testament to the power of the company that held its residence there.
At the downtown level of the city was where the car and pedestrian traffic formed. Most of the streets circled around the entire city, so that every part of the city was easily accessible. Tiny shops and street stands dotted the streets, so that a needed item was never far out of reach. Markets had sprung up just about everywhere, selling almost anything imaginable. On one street that was relatively near the first of the eight reactors, a young woman was even selling flowers.
As another, more practical form of transportation, trains were in constant operation on rails that actually extended on top of the circular wall surrounding the city. These trains connected every reactor, and also extended into the slums beneath the upper plate. It was late at night, but most of the more important trains were still running their routes. However, only one was still running a route to the reactors, which had been closed down to general personnel for the night. The train was making a final pickup for any technicians that had yet to go home. Unfortunately for any other personnel still working in reactor number one, the train carried with it other, less reputable, cargo.
* * *
As the train pulled into the station in front of the reactor, a Shinra guard stood stance and prepared to greet the conductor. He was wearing a shiny, cleanly pressed, red Shinra City Guard uniform. He walked with the regal presence of a man who was a veteran to his profession, and had dealt with every walk of life that resided in Midgar. But he was not prepared for what greeted him as he approached the train.
It came so quickly that even the greatest of Shinra soldiers could not have avoided it. In a blur, a form jumped out of the top of the train and landed next to the guard. Without even thinking, the guard whipped out the rifle that he had been carrying on his back and prepared to fire. He was far too late. The form that was now recognizable as a human being reached forward and snapped the guard's neck. The guard's limp body fell to the ground, his gun dropping to the tracks beneath the train.
His murderer smiled, and whooped to his cohorts in the train. They leaped out of the hatch in the top one by one. Soon, a group of five people was standing in front of the body. They didn't say a word, but it was obvious that the rest of the group approved of the fine work that the first had done. They glanced around quickly at their surroundings. There didn't seem to be any immediate threat, and the leader of the pack motioned for them to proceed to the door at the end of the station.
The last of the group to finally follow the leader was still hanging back, his entire body motionless and waiting. Only the leader had seen him do this before. He had heard something, and suspected danger. Sweat beaded on his forehead just below the long tufts of blonde hair, and dripped down the side of his slender face. It happened almost as quickly as the demise of the first guard. Two Shinra soldiers, dressed in blue military attire, burst out of a door on the far end of the station. They immediately saw the source of their loss of contact with the downed guard and lifted their rifles to open fire.
The mercenary who had been slow to follow the leader acted like a flash of lightning. In the blink of an eye, he had his sword in his hand. It was a gigantic sword, and it was so encumbering that it would be awkward for the strongest man to hold with both hands. But this mercenary wielded it like it was an extension of his body. With the precision and grace of a master swordsman, he slashed both of the soldiers cleanly in half before they had any idea what had happened. Again, the others nodded their approval, but they had no time to dwell on small victories. Their mission was far more difficult.
The leader was once again gesturing for them to proceed to the door that would lead them out of the station. He was a tall, stocky, black man who commanded the respect of everyone around him. He stood out in a crowd as it was, but it was his one very unique feature that could inspire fear into his enemies. Instead of having a right forearm, he actually had a machine gun attached to the area of his arm where his elbow would be. It was, of course, fully functional, and he was just itching to use it. He knew, however, that patience (especially in his current mission) was a virtue.
As they five of them went through the door and rounded the corner just outside the station, they were greeted with a glimpse of the enormous reactor. More than one gasp of amazement could be heard amongst them. None of them had ever seen a reactor that close before.
The man who had been privileged with breaking the neck of the first guard gestured to the other mercenary who had cut down the second two guards.
"Hey, you. Aren't you the one who used to be in Soldier?" He asked. There was a great deal of admiration in the way he said it. He had never actually met a real member of Soldier (the elite armed forces of the Shinra) before, and he was truly amazed by the way the man had easily destroyed the two guards. The man turned to face the other who had just spoken.
"My name is Cloud, not hey you. And my past is none of your business, so shut up and keep your voice down."
The leader ran back to them from the position he had taken just outside the entrance to the reactor.
"I told you sorry bastards not to stay in one place!" He yelled at them. "Come on, let's get going, Wedge!"
Wedge, the short, plump man who had talked to Cloud, hung his head down. He was obviously ashamed, especially for having been criticized by the man that he respected most in his life.
"Sorry, Barret." He answered sheepishly. Cloud didn't say anything, but gave Barret a hard stare. He shook it off easily, though, and soon the entire group of them were headed for the front entrance to the reactor.
The huge Shinra reactor towered over them, seeming almost majestic as it stared over the city. On the front of the huge tower was a huge number "1", indicating the number of the reactor. Wedge continued to stare at it in disbelief as they neared it, despite Barret's commands to pick up the pace.
As they reached the front entrance, Barret gestured to the group to come closer.
"Biggs! Jessie! Come over here!" He yelled to them. The final two members of the group ran over to their beckoning leader. They were the demolition and hacking experts, and their skills were about to be put to the test.
Without saying a word, the two of them knelt in front of the large door separating them from their goal. Biggs pulled the plastic explosives out of his backpack, and Jessie began punching a code into the detonator. They moved quickly, and Biggs had the explosives fastened to the door before Jessie had even finished entering the code.
"Stand back, everyone!" Biggs yelled, clarifying the obvious. They did, and as Jessie activated the detonator they knew that Biggs' bomb had done the trick. With a loud bang, the once heavily armored door was reduced to rubble, leaving a large gap for them to enter. They had secured both their entrance and exit and they were ready to push forward.
Barret leaned in close to the rest of them.
"That was louder than I had hoped." He whispered, with more than a little anxiety in his voice. "I hope we don't bring the whole fuckin' city down on us. Let's do this quick, and watch out for guards."
The rest nodded, and followed their staunch leader into the artificial lighting of the reactor. A lone guard had rushed to the noise of their entrance and was quickly mowed down by Barret's gun-arm. The coast was clear after that. A short walk led them to the first of the security checkpoints. It was time for Jessie to show her talents at hacking.
"So this is what the inside of a Mako Reactor looks like." Wedge said, looking around in wonder at the technological machinery that surrounded him. Empty computer consoles surrounded the walls of the narrow hallway. There was a camera on the wall watching them, but they knew it wouldn't be long before the camera and its footage would be incinerated.
Cloud turned to Wedge and looked at him with disgust. He looked at the man as an inexperienced inferior.
"What the hell were you expecting?" He asked with contempt.
Wedge frowned at having displeased the powerful young man, and backed away to allow Cloud to walk to Jessie and Biggs. Jessie was busy hacking into a console next to the door through which they wanted to pass. Biggs was kneeling beside her, busily rigging another bomb. This one, however, was much larger than the last and had a timer attached to it. Cloud admired the large bomb from behind Biggs. Barret was standing behind them all, facing the direction from which they had come and watching for resistance.
"Done!" Jessie finally said with satisfaction. She pressed one final button, and the door in front of them slid upward. They looked through it, only to find another identical door and a very surprised guard. The guard was the easy part, falling easily to Cloud's blade. The door, however, took only a little shorter to open than the last. When it finally slid upward, the group was relieved to find that there were no more doors ahead. They had cleared the security checkpoint area, and had now reached the main elevator.
It was surprisingly deserted around the elevator, and Barret was a little nervous. It was extremely quiet, and only a faint humming could be heard around them. It seemed to reverberate from every direction, and it bounced off of every wall. The result was an eerie effect that made it seem almost as if the entire reactor was breathing. It did little to calm the nerves of the five intruders.
The elevator opened at the push of a button and opened without incident. The five of them stepped into the crowded space, and Jessie entered the correct floor.
"How long is this going to be?" Cloud asked impatiently, as the ride downward seemed to take forever.
"As long as it takes!" Barret answered irritably. "This is an important job, and we're going to do it carefully. If we don't take out this reactor, than we won't be able to take out the others either. These monstrosities are killing the planet, Cloud!"
Cloud shrugged nonchalantly.
"I don't care what happens. Let the planet die, it doesn't affect my life. Just make sure I get paid when this is all over." He said, completely ignoring the fact that he knew it would piss off Barret.
"What the hell do you mean this doesn't affect you? Of course it does! It affects all of us!" Barret yelled at him. He got very angry whenever he argued about this, and he tried to relieve some of it by punching the wall of the elevator. It didn't help. Meanwhile, Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge watched in dismay as their leader thoroughly lost his temper.
"How fucking stupid can you be?" He asked Cloud, in all seriousness.
Cloud shrugged again. He was completely unphased by the anger he had instilled in Barret, mostly because he had meant every word he'd said. As far as he was concerned, this whole crusade had nothing to do with him. He just wanted a hefty payoff when it was all over. Seeing how little Cloud cared made Barret even angrier, but he didn't say anything. He knew that his preaching was falling on uncaring ears. Reluctantly, he gave up.
The elevator ride that had seemed to take forever finally ended, and Jessie opened the door to allow them out. Barret was still pissed off, but he tried to place it in the back of his mind as he checked the area for resistance. He found none, and was actually disappointed that he had nothing to take out his anger on.
They quickly went down the stairs that had appeared outside the elevator. They wound around the wall of the reactor, occasionally intersecting with a flat maintenance walk. They continued downward by way of the stairs, and soon they reached their destination.
They were now deep within the bowels of the Mako reactor. It was a very tall and very wide, circular room. The ceiling was domed, and seemed so far above them that they were no longer so surprised at how long the elevator ride had taken. The green haze that they had become accustomed to being in the air of Midgar now hung thickly around them. They had entered the extraction point.
"Wow!" Wedge exclaimed in amazement. He had been impressed before, but now he was completely blown away by what lay in front of his eyes. He had wandered up to the catwalk that stretched from the area right in front of the elevator to the other side of the room.
He was looking at a gigantic pool of green liquid that was flowing beneath the catwalk. It filled the entire bottom of the room. The green haze rolled over the top of the liquid like tiny gusts of wind. The liquid was so brilliantly reflective of the artificial light that illuminated the room that it appeared to glow.
"What is it?" Wedge asked to anyone that could hear him.
Barret walked up next to him, now thoroughly convinced that the area was just as deserted as it had been upstairs. He felt it was safe to stop and admire the scene, at least for a little while.
"That, my friend, is Mako." He answered Wedge's question. "The very lifeblood of the planet. If we don't destroy the Midgar reactors, the Shinra will suck it out until the planet dies. We can't allow that to happen."
Wedge nodded distantly, still staring at the glowing liquid. Cloud, Jessie, and Biggs had gone to the other side of the catwalk to look, but Cloud was the first to look back up again. He was not impressed.
"Can we just get this over with?" He asked.
Barret was about to yell at him again, then thought better of it. Cloud was insolent and impatient, but he was right. They needed to get moving.
"All right, let's go, Cloud!" He said, making it very clear that it was his decision and not Cloud's. "Everyone else go back up to the elevator and wait for us. We'll do this as quickly as possible."
Biggs handed his bomb to Cloud, almost sad that his creation would be vaporized in a short time.
"You know how to use it, right?" Biggs asked, seriously unsure of whether Cloud did or not. He had never actually showed him, but it was a pretty simple bomb to use. It only needed to be attached and set. Once that was done, they would wait until they had safely made it out of the reactor before remotely detonating it. As backup to that, it could also be set for a ten-minute delay. That was only for an emergency, though. Ten minutes wasn't much time to escape, and if they didn't get out in time, they would become very unlikely (and unwilling) martyrs.
Cloud nodded, but said nothing. He could have easily insulted the question that he found pretty stupid, but he respected Biggs far more than he respected Wedge. Biggs was skilled at designing almost any kind of weapon. Wedge, on the other hand, had no particularly useful skills as far as Cloud could tell. To Cloud, Wedge was completely useless.
Barret walked toward the opposite end of the catwalk, and Cloud followed. The others started back up the stairs. Barret walked up to the end of the room, to a console that occupied an area of about 100 feet by 60 feet. It was the biggest array of view-screens and buttons that he had ever seen. It was a little intimidating, but he tried not to let it bother him. He turned around to see Cloud staring at nothing. He seemed disturbed.
"What's the matter?" Barret asked, without any real concern in his voice.
Cloud shook his head, and his senses seemed to return to him.
"Nothing. Sorry." He answered blankly. "This place just brings back some less-than-pleasant memories."
"I thought that before we came here you said you had never been in a Mako reactor before."
"No, I've been in one before. It just wasn't this one."
"Oh. Well, let's get this over and done with."
Cloud stepped up to the console and stared at the bomb in his hands. There was no real art in doing what he was about to do. All that was required was to fasten it to the console and set the remote antenna. Still, he felt a little apprehensive about it. He leaned up close to the huge console, trying to decide exactly where to put it. He decided on a spot at about the center. The goal was to set a chain reaction that would take down the entire reactor, and it comforted him to get it exactly in the middle of the console. He walked to it and attached the bomb as carefully as he could, letting the adhesive backing stick as best as possible.
"Ready?" He asked Barret. Barret nodded expectantly. Cloud pushed a switch on the front, and it was done. He walked away from the console and sighed with relief for the first time since they had gotten off the train. That contributed greatly to his surprise when an alarm suddenly started sounding.
"What the hell?" He shouted. He ran back to the bomb and checked it thoroughly. He gasped in horror at what he saw.
"It's set for ten minute delay!" He yelled to Barret over the din of the alarm.
"What the fuck?" Barret answered him with a question, both angry and scared at the same time. "We better get the hell out of here!"
Cloud nodded, and they both broke into a dash for the stairway. They climbed furiously upward, Cloud beneath Barret. The stairs suddenly seemed a lot vaster than they had before. They made it up the first ladder without incident, but when they reached the first maintenance catwalk they found Jessie desperately pulling at her pant leg.
"I'm stuck!" She yelled to them. "The others ran ahead to try and take out the guards that are gonna show up now that you set off the goddamn alarm."
Cloud ran ahead of Barret and reached downward to the area where Jessie was stuck. Her foot was caught between two of the many intersecting girders that formed the walk. He reached between them and gently removed her foot from its trap.
"Thanks!" She said gratefully, and then ran to the next ladder. Cloud and Barret followed.
"How much time do we have left?" Cloud asked about halfway up the next ladder.
Barret glanced at his wristwatch.
"It's been about three minutes since you started the alarm." He answered.
Cloud nodded, then decided to respond.
"I didn't start it. It just happened. It's not my fault!"
"Whatever, let's just get out of here!" Barret yelled.
Jessie, who was well above the two men on the ladder, nodded her agreement. They were silent for the rest of the way up the stairs. They were panting with exhaustion when they reached the elevator. As they entered the elevator, Barret checked his watch again. They had five minutes left. He prayed silently that they would make it out of this alive as they began to rise with the elevator. He wasn't even that concerned with the fact that he would die. He was more concerned that no one would finish what they had now begun. One reactor was not enough to stop the Shinra. Every last one had to be destroyed.
The elevator ride seemed shorter this time, perhaps since it was silent. No fights broke out this time, and they made it without incident. When they stepped out, they had three minutes left. The three of them ran straight through the security checkpoints that had held them up before, and as they rounded the corner beyond them they almost smacked into Wedge and Biggs. In front of them was a large group of dead Shinra bodies. The two of them were holding Shinra rifles. It didn't take a genius to see what had happened.
"Good work, boys." Jessie said as she ran past them. "Biggs, do you have any more explosives?" She asked when she had reached the wall beyond them.
"I might." He answered, immediately opening up his backpack to check. He pulled out a small bomb that looked relatively small and harmless. "I have a concussion grenade." He said holding it up for her to see. "But that won't do any real damage." He was actually quite puzzled. He wasn't sure what she wanted it for.
"That'll do fine." She said reassuringly. "We should be able to blow through this wall with that. That will bring us outside, and I'd much rather go out this way than the front entrance. As soon as this place burns, the cops are gonna swarm the place. And this alarm doesn't help things either."
Suddenly, the alarm that they had already become accustomed to seemed much louder. Biggs tossed her the grenade, and she quickly pulled out the pin and ran toward him and the others. After a five-second delay it exploded, leaving a good-sized hole in the wall. Flames jumped out at them from around the rubble, but they ignored them. Jessie smiled, and ran through it. The others followed, running as fast as their legs could carry them. Barret didn't say anything, but a quick glance at his watch showed him that they had less than a minute to get as far away from the reactor as possible.
The hole that they had come through had led them the to the waste dump behind the reactor. They dodged through piles of garbage and scrap metal as they tried desperately to reach the main streets that ran directly in front. They had looped around the side of the reactor, and they all knew that the street was a far enough distance to be safe when the building blew. Each of them ran as fast as was physically possible, drawing strength from the adrenaline that was coursing through their bodies. Wedge was running so hard that the wind put out the fire that had caught to the underside of his pants when he had ran through the hole.
It seemed like forever before they reached a large waste container next to the sidewalk. It had actually taken them about fifty seconds. Jessie reached it first and dove behind the metal container. The rest dove into spots behind it, using it for cover. Barret was the last to dive behind, just as Jessie yelled, "Get down!"
Just as Barret hit the ground, the bomb exploded. A shock wave ripped through the console on which the bomb had been attached and vaporized it. It exploded against the walls of the reactor and reduced them to rubble with its sheer force. Every mechanical and concrete component of the reactor was incinerated. The force of the explosion hit against the five mercenaries that had caused it and knocked them on their backs.
The huge reactor crumbled in on itself as a fireball blasted out of the hole at the top. It lit up the night sky and shook the entire city. Pieces of debris flew everywhere, leaving craters in the ground where they hit. One landed on the train that brought the intruders and destroyed it in an instant. The entire reaction took less than ten seconds, leaving the reactor a dead skeleton of what it had been just minutes before. The explosion was like the concussion wave of a nuclear bomb, and the light and sound reached every part of the city. Not a single soul in Midgar went through those ten seconds without realizing that something major had just occurred. Barret and his companions had left their first mark on the city. It would not be their last.
* * *
Cloud didn't realize that he was in pain until he attempted to lift himself off of the pavement on which he was laying. Every bone in his body ached from exhaustion, and he was completely winded. A cursory glance around him showed that the others were suffering as well. He slowly got to his feet to look into the distance at the reactor that had just ceased to exist. The alarms of police cars were already flooding the night silence. The cars had circled around the reactor, along with maintenance crews and (of course) news reporters.
Barret had also gotten to his feet, and was already preparing for the final part of their mission: escaping. He brushed himself off and checked to make sure he wasn't seriously injured. He had taken a hard fall when he had jumped to the ground. Everyone else seemed okay, and he decided it was time to get moving.
"Come on guys. The cops are gonna show up soon. We gotta get out of here before they start wondering." He said. "Let's split up. We'll meet in ten minutes at the main train station. The train there will take us into the slums. I doubt they'll have recovered enough from this to start thoroughly checking people as they get on."
Everyone else seemed to agree, since no one objected. Barret started off to the road leading to the right, and Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie went the same way, although they stayed far enough from Barret and each other so as not to be conspicuous. Cloud decided to go to the left. The road circled around the city and going either way would eventually lead to the passage that led to the main train station.
As he approached the downtown area of the city, Cloud was almost surprised by the amount of commotion the reactor had caused. Maintenance crews were running around everywhere, and commoners were standing idly just staring at the wreckage. Traffic had come to a complete halt, since everyone seemed to be more interested in seeing what was going on than actually getting where they were headed.
He walked along the sidewalk next to some run-down shops, and constantly glanced at the wreckage just as everyone else was. He was actually a little proud of himself at how well he was blending in with everyone else. Actually, he really was interested in seeing the reactor, though not as much as the other people standing around him. Unlike them, he knew what had actually happened. His knowledge made him even more self-satisfied.
Unfortunately, he was paying more attention to the reactor than he should have, and clumsily walked right into a young woman that was standing in front of a tiny flower shop. He immediately reached down to help her up.
"I'm really sorry about that, Miss." He apologized politely. "I wasn't paying attention I guess." He looked at her objectively as he said it. She was an attractive young woman, no more than twenty or so, and her face seemed to glow with friendliness. He didn't know why, but there was something very captivating about her. She was dressed in a pink dress, and her hair consisted of a long pony tail hanging behind her head with a pink ribbon, and two very large bangs that draped down either side of her face.
She was carrying a basket of flowers that had nearly spilled over when Cloud knocked into her. She reached into the basket and pulled one out. Cloud briefly wondered where she had gotten the flowers from, but then forgot about it.
"It's okay." She said. "I'm not hurt. Did you see what happened over there? You seem pretty interested in it, and everyone here is in a commotion over it."
He opened his mouth as if to say something and then closed it again. Finally he answered her.
"I have no idea what happened. You should get out of here you know. You might get hurt with all this chaos happening around you."
"I think I'll be fine." She answered, which threw him off a bit. He was sure that she would quickly agree with him. "By the way, would you like to buy a flower?" She asked, holding up the flower that she had taken from her basket. It was small, and the petals were slightly wilted, but it was an acceptably pretty flower. "It's only one Gil." She urged.
He couldn't deny the poor girl, especially for only one Gil. He quickly put his hand into one of his pockets and withdrew five small coins.
"I'll buy the flower, but I can't give you less than five Gil for it. It just wouldn't be right." He said charmingly.
As soon as the exchange was made, she smiled. Cloud was immediately taken aback. Before she had been attractive, but she was nothing incredible. But she had by far the most beautiful smile that he had ever seen. Suddenly she seemed like an angel in his eyes. He tried to contain himself, but his composure was completely lost.
"I'd better get going." He said sheepishly, and turned around with the flower in his hand. He walked away from the girl, turning only once to smile at her one last time. Then he carefully put the flower in his pocket, and picked up speed. He had been set back by the girl, and he certainly didn't want to miss the train.
He rushed at a very brisk pace to the passage that led to the main train station. He had actually made it the overpass that ran over the train tracks when he was stopped by two Shinra soldiers in front of him. They gestured for him to remain where he was. One of them called out to him.
"Stay where you are and don't move. Keep your hands where I can see them. You will be questioned on the reactor disaster that has just recently occurred." The soldier yelled to him.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Cloud yelled back, trying to seem stupid. The soldiers were now running toward him, and he didn't like the situation at all. They were now within a short enough distance that they could see the huge sword that he had strapped to his back. Again, the soldier yelled to him.
"Remove that sword from your back and place it on the ground in front of you." He yelled, as intimidatingly as he could. It was his fatal mistake. Cloud reached for the sword and unsheathed it, but he did not place it on the ground. Both soldiers had their guns pointing at him, but they had no time to fire before Cloud had slashed them both and their bodies had slumped lifelessly to the ground.
Nearby soldiers that were patrolling the streets had seen Cloud murder their friends, and were rushing to apprehend him. At first they attempted to shoot at him, but those that did were quickly cut down by the enormous blade of Cloud's sword. Soon, the soldiers began to simply close in on him in an attempt to overbear him. They had him backing against the edge of the overpass, and he was quickly loosing his advantage of surprise. They knew how powerful he was now, and they were being cautious.
Cloud could hear a familiar whistling noise as the soldiers came ever closer. He waved his sword in front of him to keep them at bay. The whistling was getting closer. He wasn't sure whether the soldiers couldn't hear it or if they were simply ignoring it, because they had not responded in the least to the sound.
He knew he couldn't keep them away for long. He would be captured and tortured, and he knew he would probably give the others up pretty quickly. He felt a little bad about it, but he had a good idea of what Shinra torture was like, and he knew his own willpower. The whistling was definitely getting closer. In fact, now he could hear the screeching of metal against metal. It was actually approaching a deafening roar now, but the soldiers still ignored it. They continued to advance on him.
He knew he only needed to hold out for a little longer. He made a final wave of his sword, which pushed them back just far enough. As the whistling and sound of metal on metal final approached the overpass, Cloud knew that he had won. He took one final look at the soldiers in front of him, and then turned his back to them. He took one long breath, closed his eyes, and made a leap of faith.
It was a calm and unseasonably warm night over the city of Midgar. It was the middle of winter, and yet it was warm enough to comfortably walk outside in shorts. Actually, most pedestrians walking the streets were dressed in their casual summer attire. It would have been a wonderful night to just sit up and look at the stars, if those people hadn't lived in Midgar. Light pollution made that all but impossible in the city.
The roads were basically packed, although that was nothing out of the ordinary. Midgar was the busiest city in the world, and of course it never slept. It could be 2:00 in the morning and there would still be people on the roads going somewhere. Huge trucks and small cars of every size and shape streamed across the busy roadways and bridges, making it a dangerous prospect to be a late night pedestrian.
The night sky over the great city glowed with a faint green hue from the eight power reactors that were stationed at equidistant points along the outside of the enclosed circle that was the city's outer wall. Providing power to the entire construct, they were the most important of the city's infrastructure. They were giant, cylindrical structures, with extraction lines extending deep into the surface of the Earth to draw out the essential fuel for everything in the city. They formed the very heart of the city, and when something must be destroyed, you always go for the heart.
At the center of the circular city was the tall and foreboding Shinra Headquarters. A marvel of architecture, it extended far above the outer wall of the city and could be seen from miles away. It was a testament to the power of the company that held its residence there.
At the downtown level of the city was where the car and pedestrian traffic formed. Most of the streets circled around the entire city, so that every part of the city was easily accessible. Tiny shops and street stands dotted the streets, so that a needed item was never far out of reach. Markets had sprung up just about everywhere, selling almost anything imaginable. On one street that was relatively near the first of the eight reactors, a young woman was even selling flowers.
As another, more practical form of transportation, trains were in constant operation on rails that actually extended on top of the circular wall surrounding the city. These trains connected every reactor, and also extended into the slums beneath the upper plate. It was late at night, but most of the more important trains were still running their routes. However, only one was still running a route to the reactors, which had been closed down to general personnel for the night. The train was making a final pickup for any technicians that had yet to go home. Unfortunately for any other personnel still working in reactor number one, the train carried with it other, less reputable, cargo.
* * *
As the train pulled into the station in front of the reactor, a Shinra guard stood stance and prepared to greet the conductor. He was wearing a shiny, cleanly pressed, red Shinra City Guard uniform. He walked with the regal presence of a man who was a veteran to his profession, and had dealt with every walk of life that resided in Midgar. But he was not prepared for what greeted him as he approached the train.
It came so quickly that even the greatest of Shinra soldiers could not have avoided it. In a blur, a form jumped out of the top of the train and landed next to the guard. Without even thinking, the guard whipped out the rifle that he had been carrying on his back and prepared to fire. He was far too late. The form that was now recognizable as a human being reached forward and snapped the guard's neck. The guard's limp body fell to the ground, his gun dropping to the tracks beneath the train.
His murderer smiled, and whooped to his cohorts in the train. They leaped out of the hatch in the top one by one. Soon, a group of five people was standing in front of the body. They didn't say a word, but it was obvious that the rest of the group approved of the fine work that the first had done. They glanced around quickly at their surroundings. There didn't seem to be any immediate threat, and the leader of the pack motioned for them to proceed to the door at the end of the station.
The last of the group to finally follow the leader was still hanging back, his entire body motionless and waiting. Only the leader had seen him do this before. He had heard something, and suspected danger. Sweat beaded on his forehead just below the long tufts of blonde hair, and dripped down the side of his slender face. It happened almost as quickly as the demise of the first guard. Two Shinra soldiers, dressed in blue military attire, burst out of a door on the far end of the station. They immediately saw the source of their loss of contact with the downed guard and lifted their rifles to open fire.
The mercenary who had been slow to follow the leader acted like a flash of lightning. In the blink of an eye, he had his sword in his hand. It was a gigantic sword, and it was so encumbering that it would be awkward for the strongest man to hold with both hands. But this mercenary wielded it like it was an extension of his body. With the precision and grace of a master swordsman, he slashed both of the soldiers cleanly in half before they had any idea what had happened. Again, the others nodded their approval, but they had no time to dwell on small victories. Their mission was far more difficult.
The leader was once again gesturing for them to proceed to the door that would lead them out of the station. He was a tall, stocky, black man who commanded the respect of everyone around him. He stood out in a crowd as it was, but it was his one very unique feature that could inspire fear into his enemies. Instead of having a right forearm, he actually had a machine gun attached to the area of his arm where his elbow would be. It was, of course, fully functional, and he was just itching to use it. He knew, however, that patience (especially in his current mission) was a virtue.
As they five of them went through the door and rounded the corner just outside the station, they were greeted with a glimpse of the enormous reactor. More than one gasp of amazement could be heard amongst them. None of them had ever seen a reactor that close before.
The man who had been privileged with breaking the neck of the first guard gestured to the other mercenary who had cut down the second two guards.
"Hey, you. Aren't you the one who used to be in Soldier?" He asked. There was a great deal of admiration in the way he said it. He had never actually met a real member of Soldier (the elite armed forces of the Shinra) before, and he was truly amazed by the way the man had easily destroyed the two guards. The man turned to face the other who had just spoken.
"My name is Cloud, not hey you. And my past is none of your business, so shut up and keep your voice down."
The leader ran back to them from the position he had taken just outside the entrance to the reactor.
"I told you sorry bastards not to stay in one place!" He yelled at them. "Come on, let's get going, Wedge!"
Wedge, the short, plump man who had talked to Cloud, hung his head down. He was obviously ashamed, especially for having been criticized by the man that he respected most in his life.
"Sorry, Barret." He answered sheepishly. Cloud didn't say anything, but gave Barret a hard stare. He shook it off easily, though, and soon the entire group of them were headed for the front entrance to the reactor.
The huge Shinra reactor towered over them, seeming almost majestic as it stared over the city. On the front of the huge tower was a huge number "1", indicating the number of the reactor. Wedge continued to stare at it in disbelief as they neared it, despite Barret's commands to pick up the pace.
As they reached the front entrance, Barret gestured to the group to come closer.
"Biggs! Jessie! Come over here!" He yelled to them. The final two members of the group ran over to their beckoning leader. They were the demolition and hacking experts, and their skills were about to be put to the test.
Without saying a word, the two of them knelt in front of the large door separating them from their goal. Biggs pulled the plastic explosives out of his backpack, and Jessie began punching a code into the detonator. They moved quickly, and Biggs had the explosives fastened to the door before Jessie had even finished entering the code.
"Stand back, everyone!" Biggs yelled, clarifying the obvious. They did, and as Jessie activated the detonator they knew that Biggs' bomb had done the trick. With a loud bang, the once heavily armored door was reduced to rubble, leaving a large gap for them to enter. They had secured both their entrance and exit and they were ready to push forward.
Barret leaned in close to the rest of them.
"That was louder than I had hoped." He whispered, with more than a little anxiety in his voice. "I hope we don't bring the whole fuckin' city down on us. Let's do this quick, and watch out for guards."
The rest nodded, and followed their staunch leader into the artificial lighting of the reactor. A lone guard had rushed to the noise of their entrance and was quickly mowed down by Barret's gun-arm. The coast was clear after that. A short walk led them to the first of the security checkpoints. It was time for Jessie to show her talents at hacking.
"So this is what the inside of a Mako Reactor looks like." Wedge said, looking around in wonder at the technological machinery that surrounded him. Empty computer consoles surrounded the walls of the narrow hallway. There was a camera on the wall watching them, but they knew it wouldn't be long before the camera and its footage would be incinerated.
Cloud turned to Wedge and looked at him with disgust. He looked at the man as an inexperienced inferior.
"What the hell were you expecting?" He asked with contempt.
Wedge frowned at having displeased the powerful young man, and backed away to allow Cloud to walk to Jessie and Biggs. Jessie was busy hacking into a console next to the door through which they wanted to pass. Biggs was kneeling beside her, busily rigging another bomb. This one, however, was much larger than the last and had a timer attached to it. Cloud admired the large bomb from behind Biggs. Barret was standing behind them all, facing the direction from which they had come and watching for resistance.
"Done!" Jessie finally said with satisfaction. She pressed one final button, and the door in front of them slid upward. They looked through it, only to find another identical door and a very surprised guard. The guard was the easy part, falling easily to Cloud's blade. The door, however, took only a little shorter to open than the last. When it finally slid upward, the group was relieved to find that there were no more doors ahead. They had cleared the security checkpoint area, and had now reached the main elevator.
It was surprisingly deserted around the elevator, and Barret was a little nervous. It was extremely quiet, and only a faint humming could be heard around them. It seemed to reverberate from every direction, and it bounced off of every wall. The result was an eerie effect that made it seem almost as if the entire reactor was breathing. It did little to calm the nerves of the five intruders.
The elevator opened at the push of a button and opened without incident. The five of them stepped into the crowded space, and Jessie entered the correct floor.
"How long is this going to be?" Cloud asked impatiently, as the ride downward seemed to take forever.
"As long as it takes!" Barret answered irritably. "This is an important job, and we're going to do it carefully. If we don't take out this reactor, than we won't be able to take out the others either. These monstrosities are killing the planet, Cloud!"
Cloud shrugged nonchalantly.
"I don't care what happens. Let the planet die, it doesn't affect my life. Just make sure I get paid when this is all over." He said, completely ignoring the fact that he knew it would piss off Barret.
"What the hell do you mean this doesn't affect you? Of course it does! It affects all of us!" Barret yelled at him. He got very angry whenever he argued about this, and he tried to relieve some of it by punching the wall of the elevator. It didn't help. Meanwhile, Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge watched in dismay as their leader thoroughly lost his temper.
"How fucking stupid can you be?" He asked Cloud, in all seriousness.
Cloud shrugged again. He was completely unphased by the anger he had instilled in Barret, mostly because he had meant every word he'd said. As far as he was concerned, this whole crusade had nothing to do with him. He just wanted a hefty payoff when it was all over. Seeing how little Cloud cared made Barret even angrier, but he didn't say anything. He knew that his preaching was falling on uncaring ears. Reluctantly, he gave up.
The elevator ride that had seemed to take forever finally ended, and Jessie opened the door to allow them out. Barret was still pissed off, but he tried to place it in the back of his mind as he checked the area for resistance. He found none, and was actually disappointed that he had nothing to take out his anger on.
They quickly went down the stairs that had appeared outside the elevator. They wound around the wall of the reactor, occasionally intersecting with a flat maintenance walk. They continued downward by way of the stairs, and soon they reached their destination.
They were now deep within the bowels of the Mako reactor. It was a very tall and very wide, circular room. The ceiling was domed, and seemed so far above them that they were no longer so surprised at how long the elevator ride had taken. The green haze that they had become accustomed to being in the air of Midgar now hung thickly around them. They had entered the extraction point.
"Wow!" Wedge exclaimed in amazement. He had been impressed before, but now he was completely blown away by what lay in front of his eyes. He had wandered up to the catwalk that stretched from the area right in front of the elevator to the other side of the room.
He was looking at a gigantic pool of green liquid that was flowing beneath the catwalk. It filled the entire bottom of the room. The green haze rolled over the top of the liquid like tiny gusts of wind. The liquid was so brilliantly reflective of the artificial light that illuminated the room that it appeared to glow.
"What is it?" Wedge asked to anyone that could hear him.
Barret walked up next to him, now thoroughly convinced that the area was just as deserted as it had been upstairs. He felt it was safe to stop and admire the scene, at least for a little while.
"That, my friend, is Mako." He answered Wedge's question. "The very lifeblood of the planet. If we don't destroy the Midgar reactors, the Shinra will suck it out until the planet dies. We can't allow that to happen."
Wedge nodded distantly, still staring at the glowing liquid. Cloud, Jessie, and Biggs had gone to the other side of the catwalk to look, but Cloud was the first to look back up again. He was not impressed.
"Can we just get this over with?" He asked.
Barret was about to yell at him again, then thought better of it. Cloud was insolent and impatient, but he was right. They needed to get moving.
"All right, let's go, Cloud!" He said, making it very clear that it was his decision and not Cloud's. "Everyone else go back up to the elevator and wait for us. We'll do this as quickly as possible."
Biggs handed his bomb to Cloud, almost sad that his creation would be vaporized in a short time.
"You know how to use it, right?" Biggs asked, seriously unsure of whether Cloud did or not. He had never actually showed him, but it was a pretty simple bomb to use. It only needed to be attached and set. Once that was done, they would wait until they had safely made it out of the reactor before remotely detonating it. As backup to that, it could also be set for a ten-minute delay. That was only for an emergency, though. Ten minutes wasn't much time to escape, and if they didn't get out in time, they would become very unlikely (and unwilling) martyrs.
Cloud nodded, but said nothing. He could have easily insulted the question that he found pretty stupid, but he respected Biggs far more than he respected Wedge. Biggs was skilled at designing almost any kind of weapon. Wedge, on the other hand, had no particularly useful skills as far as Cloud could tell. To Cloud, Wedge was completely useless.
Barret walked toward the opposite end of the catwalk, and Cloud followed. The others started back up the stairs. Barret walked up to the end of the room, to a console that occupied an area of about 100 feet by 60 feet. It was the biggest array of view-screens and buttons that he had ever seen. It was a little intimidating, but he tried not to let it bother him. He turned around to see Cloud staring at nothing. He seemed disturbed.
"What's the matter?" Barret asked, without any real concern in his voice.
Cloud shook his head, and his senses seemed to return to him.
"Nothing. Sorry." He answered blankly. "This place just brings back some less-than-pleasant memories."
"I thought that before we came here you said you had never been in a Mako reactor before."
"No, I've been in one before. It just wasn't this one."
"Oh. Well, let's get this over and done with."
Cloud stepped up to the console and stared at the bomb in his hands. There was no real art in doing what he was about to do. All that was required was to fasten it to the console and set the remote antenna. Still, he felt a little apprehensive about it. He leaned up close to the huge console, trying to decide exactly where to put it. He decided on a spot at about the center. The goal was to set a chain reaction that would take down the entire reactor, and it comforted him to get it exactly in the middle of the console. He walked to it and attached the bomb as carefully as he could, letting the adhesive backing stick as best as possible.
"Ready?" He asked Barret. Barret nodded expectantly. Cloud pushed a switch on the front, and it was done. He walked away from the console and sighed with relief for the first time since they had gotten off the train. That contributed greatly to his surprise when an alarm suddenly started sounding.
"What the hell?" He shouted. He ran back to the bomb and checked it thoroughly. He gasped in horror at what he saw.
"It's set for ten minute delay!" He yelled to Barret over the din of the alarm.
"What the fuck?" Barret answered him with a question, both angry and scared at the same time. "We better get the hell out of here!"
Cloud nodded, and they both broke into a dash for the stairway. They climbed furiously upward, Cloud beneath Barret. The stairs suddenly seemed a lot vaster than they had before. They made it up the first ladder without incident, but when they reached the first maintenance catwalk they found Jessie desperately pulling at her pant leg.
"I'm stuck!" She yelled to them. "The others ran ahead to try and take out the guards that are gonna show up now that you set off the goddamn alarm."
Cloud ran ahead of Barret and reached downward to the area where Jessie was stuck. Her foot was caught between two of the many intersecting girders that formed the walk. He reached between them and gently removed her foot from its trap.
"Thanks!" She said gratefully, and then ran to the next ladder. Cloud and Barret followed.
"How much time do we have left?" Cloud asked about halfway up the next ladder.
Barret glanced at his wristwatch.
"It's been about three minutes since you started the alarm." He answered.
Cloud nodded, then decided to respond.
"I didn't start it. It just happened. It's not my fault!"
"Whatever, let's just get out of here!" Barret yelled.
Jessie, who was well above the two men on the ladder, nodded her agreement. They were silent for the rest of the way up the stairs. They were panting with exhaustion when they reached the elevator. As they entered the elevator, Barret checked his watch again. They had five minutes left. He prayed silently that they would make it out of this alive as they began to rise with the elevator. He wasn't even that concerned with the fact that he would die. He was more concerned that no one would finish what they had now begun. One reactor was not enough to stop the Shinra. Every last one had to be destroyed.
The elevator ride seemed shorter this time, perhaps since it was silent. No fights broke out this time, and they made it without incident. When they stepped out, they had three minutes left. The three of them ran straight through the security checkpoints that had held them up before, and as they rounded the corner beyond them they almost smacked into Wedge and Biggs. In front of them was a large group of dead Shinra bodies. The two of them were holding Shinra rifles. It didn't take a genius to see what had happened.
"Good work, boys." Jessie said as she ran past them. "Biggs, do you have any more explosives?" She asked when she had reached the wall beyond them.
"I might." He answered, immediately opening up his backpack to check. He pulled out a small bomb that looked relatively small and harmless. "I have a concussion grenade." He said holding it up for her to see. "But that won't do any real damage." He was actually quite puzzled. He wasn't sure what she wanted it for.
"That'll do fine." She said reassuringly. "We should be able to blow through this wall with that. That will bring us outside, and I'd much rather go out this way than the front entrance. As soon as this place burns, the cops are gonna swarm the place. And this alarm doesn't help things either."
Suddenly, the alarm that they had already become accustomed to seemed much louder. Biggs tossed her the grenade, and she quickly pulled out the pin and ran toward him and the others. After a five-second delay it exploded, leaving a good-sized hole in the wall. Flames jumped out at them from around the rubble, but they ignored them. Jessie smiled, and ran through it. The others followed, running as fast as their legs could carry them. Barret didn't say anything, but a quick glance at his watch showed him that they had less than a minute to get as far away from the reactor as possible.
The hole that they had come through had led them the to the waste dump behind the reactor. They dodged through piles of garbage and scrap metal as they tried desperately to reach the main streets that ran directly in front. They had looped around the side of the reactor, and they all knew that the street was a far enough distance to be safe when the building blew. Each of them ran as fast as was physically possible, drawing strength from the adrenaline that was coursing through their bodies. Wedge was running so hard that the wind put out the fire that had caught to the underside of his pants when he had ran through the hole.
It seemed like forever before they reached a large waste container next to the sidewalk. It had actually taken them about fifty seconds. Jessie reached it first and dove behind the metal container. The rest dove into spots behind it, using it for cover. Barret was the last to dive behind, just as Jessie yelled, "Get down!"
Just as Barret hit the ground, the bomb exploded. A shock wave ripped through the console on which the bomb had been attached and vaporized it. It exploded against the walls of the reactor and reduced them to rubble with its sheer force. Every mechanical and concrete component of the reactor was incinerated. The force of the explosion hit against the five mercenaries that had caused it and knocked them on their backs.
The huge reactor crumbled in on itself as a fireball blasted out of the hole at the top. It lit up the night sky and shook the entire city. Pieces of debris flew everywhere, leaving craters in the ground where they hit. One landed on the train that brought the intruders and destroyed it in an instant. The entire reaction took less than ten seconds, leaving the reactor a dead skeleton of what it had been just minutes before. The explosion was like the concussion wave of a nuclear bomb, and the light and sound reached every part of the city. Not a single soul in Midgar went through those ten seconds without realizing that something major had just occurred. Barret and his companions had left their first mark on the city. It would not be their last.
* * *
Cloud didn't realize that he was in pain until he attempted to lift himself off of the pavement on which he was laying. Every bone in his body ached from exhaustion, and he was completely winded. A cursory glance around him showed that the others were suffering as well. He slowly got to his feet to look into the distance at the reactor that had just ceased to exist. The alarms of police cars were already flooding the night silence. The cars had circled around the reactor, along with maintenance crews and (of course) news reporters.
Barret had also gotten to his feet, and was already preparing for the final part of their mission: escaping. He brushed himself off and checked to make sure he wasn't seriously injured. He had taken a hard fall when he had jumped to the ground. Everyone else seemed okay, and he decided it was time to get moving.
"Come on guys. The cops are gonna show up soon. We gotta get out of here before they start wondering." He said. "Let's split up. We'll meet in ten minutes at the main train station. The train there will take us into the slums. I doubt they'll have recovered enough from this to start thoroughly checking people as they get on."
Everyone else seemed to agree, since no one objected. Barret started off to the road leading to the right, and Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie went the same way, although they stayed far enough from Barret and each other so as not to be conspicuous. Cloud decided to go to the left. The road circled around the city and going either way would eventually lead to the passage that led to the main train station.
As he approached the downtown area of the city, Cloud was almost surprised by the amount of commotion the reactor had caused. Maintenance crews were running around everywhere, and commoners were standing idly just staring at the wreckage. Traffic had come to a complete halt, since everyone seemed to be more interested in seeing what was going on than actually getting where they were headed.
He walked along the sidewalk next to some run-down shops, and constantly glanced at the wreckage just as everyone else was. He was actually a little proud of himself at how well he was blending in with everyone else. Actually, he really was interested in seeing the reactor, though not as much as the other people standing around him. Unlike them, he knew what had actually happened. His knowledge made him even more self-satisfied.
Unfortunately, he was paying more attention to the reactor than he should have, and clumsily walked right into a young woman that was standing in front of a tiny flower shop. He immediately reached down to help her up.
"I'm really sorry about that, Miss." He apologized politely. "I wasn't paying attention I guess." He looked at her objectively as he said it. She was an attractive young woman, no more than twenty or so, and her face seemed to glow with friendliness. He didn't know why, but there was something very captivating about her. She was dressed in a pink dress, and her hair consisted of a long pony tail hanging behind her head with a pink ribbon, and two very large bangs that draped down either side of her face.
She was carrying a basket of flowers that had nearly spilled over when Cloud knocked into her. She reached into the basket and pulled one out. Cloud briefly wondered where she had gotten the flowers from, but then forgot about it.
"It's okay." She said. "I'm not hurt. Did you see what happened over there? You seem pretty interested in it, and everyone here is in a commotion over it."
He opened his mouth as if to say something and then closed it again. Finally he answered her.
"I have no idea what happened. You should get out of here you know. You might get hurt with all this chaos happening around you."
"I think I'll be fine." She answered, which threw him off a bit. He was sure that she would quickly agree with him. "By the way, would you like to buy a flower?" She asked, holding up the flower that she had taken from her basket. It was small, and the petals were slightly wilted, but it was an acceptably pretty flower. "It's only one Gil." She urged.
He couldn't deny the poor girl, especially for only one Gil. He quickly put his hand into one of his pockets and withdrew five small coins.
"I'll buy the flower, but I can't give you less than five Gil for it. It just wouldn't be right." He said charmingly.
As soon as the exchange was made, she smiled. Cloud was immediately taken aback. Before she had been attractive, but she was nothing incredible. But she had by far the most beautiful smile that he had ever seen. Suddenly she seemed like an angel in his eyes. He tried to contain himself, but his composure was completely lost.
"I'd better get going." He said sheepishly, and turned around with the flower in his hand. He walked away from the girl, turning only once to smile at her one last time. Then he carefully put the flower in his pocket, and picked up speed. He had been set back by the girl, and he certainly didn't want to miss the train.
He rushed at a very brisk pace to the passage that led to the main train station. He had actually made it the overpass that ran over the train tracks when he was stopped by two Shinra soldiers in front of him. They gestured for him to remain where he was. One of them called out to him.
"Stay where you are and don't move. Keep your hands where I can see them. You will be questioned on the reactor disaster that has just recently occurred." The soldier yelled to him.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Cloud yelled back, trying to seem stupid. The soldiers were now running toward him, and he didn't like the situation at all. They were now within a short enough distance that they could see the huge sword that he had strapped to his back. Again, the soldier yelled to him.
"Remove that sword from your back and place it on the ground in front of you." He yelled, as intimidatingly as he could. It was his fatal mistake. Cloud reached for the sword and unsheathed it, but he did not place it on the ground. Both soldiers had their guns pointing at him, but they had no time to fire before Cloud had slashed them both and their bodies had slumped lifelessly to the ground.
Nearby soldiers that were patrolling the streets had seen Cloud murder their friends, and were rushing to apprehend him. At first they attempted to shoot at him, but those that did were quickly cut down by the enormous blade of Cloud's sword. Soon, the soldiers began to simply close in on him in an attempt to overbear him. They had him backing against the edge of the overpass, and he was quickly loosing his advantage of surprise. They knew how powerful he was now, and they were being cautious.
Cloud could hear a familiar whistling noise as the soldiers came ever closer. He waved his sword in front of him to keep them at bay. The whistling was getting closer. He wasn't sure whether the soldiers couldn't hear it or if they were simply ignoring it, because they had not responded in the least to the sound.
He knew he couldn't keep them away for long. He would be captured and tortured, and he knew he would probably give the others up pretty quickly. He felt a little bad about it, but he had a good idea of what Shinra torture was like, and he knew his own willpower. The whistling was definitely getting closer. In fact, now he could hear the screeching of metal against metal. It was actually approaching a deafening roar now, but the soldiers still ignored it. They continued to advance on him.
He knew he only needed to hold out for a little longer. He made a final wave of his sword, which pushed them back just far enough. As the whistling and sound of metal on metal final approached the overpass, Cloud knew that he had won. He took one final look at the soldiers in front of him, and then turned his back to them. He took one long breath, closed his eyes, and made a leap of faith.