Authors Notes: - Blah! The NEXT chapter is when stuff picks up. But at least crap happens in this one. :)

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Cid buckled himself in securely and began turning on screens, instruments and various other items around him in the cockpit. After checking to make sure everything worked he turned on the intercom.

"Is everything green Shera?"

One of the screens in front of him flickered and showed the image of Shera. She smiled at the camera and nodded. "Everything is green; I'm exiting the craft now."

"Good..." He paused. "Where's Vincent?"

"He's on the launch pad, waiting for me." She said her voice garbled from the static.

"Then both of you get going so I can take off." He ordered gruffly.

After a moment of silence Vincent's voice cut into the cockpit. "Are you sure you want to do this alone? It is dangerous."

"I'm touched by your concern Vincent." Cid remarked sarcastically. "I'll be fine, I've been ready for this day my whole damned life."

"If something goes wrong-"

"Then something goes wrong and there won't be shit anyone can do about it. So just get the hell of the launch pad and let me accomplish my dream damnit!" Cid countered angrily.

Shera took the comm. back from Vincent. "Be careful Cid, come back to us." She said insistently, her voice amazingly clear for a moment.

"If I can help take on Sephiroth and live, I think I can handle a simple rocket launch." He chuckled. "Besides, I'll only be in orbit for a few hours, then I'll simply reenter the atmosphere and land in the ocean, so make sure you have that damned boat ready for me!"

"Will do captain!" Shera said as she and Vincent rushed off the launch pad.

He quickly did several checks of his instruments and nodded in satisfaction as everything seemed to be working perfectly. The rocket was where it had been built, right in the middle of where the barn used to be. After it's completion he and Vincent had dismantled the barn and built a makeshift launch pad. It wasn't as fancy as the one Shinra built but it would do. Cid hesitated for a moment and made sure his helmet was on properly. He took a deep breath and began the countdown.

"Ten..." He rechecked everything again, still green.

"Nine..." One of the cameras was pointed directly at the pair of small figures standing in the middle of the field just off of the launch pad.

"Eight..." Gerda dashed by the two, Vincent grabbed her reigns and pulled her to a stop, almost falling over. Cid chuckled and kept counting.

"Seven..." He pulled on his seatbelts and was satisfied when they didn't give an inch.

"Six..." The soft rumble of the engines grew louder, almost drowning out his voice.

"Five..." For a second fear tugged on the edge of his mind. Thousands of things could go wrong, he just hoped they waited until he was in space.

"Four..." If he could just reach orbit, he could die a happy man.

"Three..." Shera, he could possibly never see her again. For a moment he almost felt like stopping it all, just to tell her how sorry he was for being such an ass.

"Three..." His voice wavered. Everything was changing, it was really happening, he as going to finally capture his dream.

"Two..." He could feel the dampness of a few stray tears on his cheeks.

"One..." The engines roared even louder and the whole rocket lurched, forcing him back into his seat suddenly.

"ZERO!" He screamed, pulling back on the throttle. The whole ship surged upwards, thundering into the heavens.

The next few moments became a blur. Everything shook and rattled, he felt like an insect clinging to the windshield of a plane in flight. His body was pressed harder and harder into the seat, like a giant hand was trying to crush him. It became harder and harder to breath, he started to become lightheaded and spots appeared before his eyes. Cid gritted his teeth and stubbornly forced himself to stay conscious, he wouldn't miss the next few moments for the world.

All at once everything stopped. The pressure forcing him down suddenly disappeared and he could feel his body lifting up slightly, only to be stopped by the straps holding him in place. He slowly turned his head and looked out the window. Something massive and blue was filling the whole window. It took him a moment to realize it was the planet. Cid watched in awe as he slowly pulled away from it and the planet grew smaller.

"I made it..." He whispered to himself, his voice shockingly loud in the silence.

The only noise around him was the soft creaking and groaning of the ship and the occasional computer related sound. He looked to the screens around him and found them all to be full of static.

"It's so beautiful." Cid looked around him, and saw out of the other window absolute blackness dotted with tiny motes of light.

The ship abruptly heaved and electricity surged across the control panel in front of him. The almost silence was suddenly filled with an explosion.

"Fuck!" He screamed, looking at all of his instruments, trying to figure out what was going wrong.

The electricity dancing around him didn't look right, it was a brilliant green and seemed familiar, and in his panic he didn't place it right away. One by one the green lights went red and alarms blared around him, too many to pinpoint one single problem. Green dots of light rose up from the panel and floated around him. He stared in confusion at the beautiful site they made. Again the ship pitched, throwing him to the side, but he remained in his seat, thanks to the straps.

"The... materia...!" He whispered quickly punching in a command. One of the screens above him flickered to life. The screen showed the grainy images of the engine room. Inside wires connected to massive chunks of materia. Jagged cracks were forming in the colorful stones and green light was seeping out.

"What the fuck went wrong!?" He snarled in frustration. Another explosion rocked the ship and as he watched on of the chunks of materia cracked in half. A second later the screen was filled with brilliant green light, almost blinding him, then went blank. He turned slightly and looked towards the door. Green lighted cracks formed in the door as it bowed inwards. He screamed in fear and rage as his whole world was suddenly filled with nothing but green warmth.

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