Chapter 10: Sector Six



There was a calm in forgotten ruins of the once spectacular metropolis. Specters of the past lurked in the facade of each still standing building, while the broken skeletons of other structures lay scattered across the ground. Nothing moved in this once bustling city but roaches and a few stray animals. Even the wind seemed to have died in the clearings. The triumph of Shinra was nothing more then broken dreams and memories. It was here that his journey would begin.

"Caden! You kick ass!" Bowden exclaimed in a jubilant and euphoric manner. Caden was able to navigate through the maneuver with far less trouble then he first had. It was clear to everyone that he made a convincing show, throwing off any potential assailants.

Caden began leveling the Windwalker out over a clearing between two of Midgar's large Mako Reactors. "Please don't yell, Bow. I have a headache from the spinning." After performing the routine pre-landing procedures, Caden set the plane down with little more then a slight bump. "We have reached our final destination, Midgar. Population, one less 'crisis from the skies' once were through."

"Who died and made you tour guide?" Marlene rhetorically asked. Caden did not respond at all, but rather looked back at Marlene questioningly. Marlene smiled, and tried to look as innocent as she could. "Well, you going to let us out or not?"

"You gonna quit it with the stupid comments?" Caden immediately asked.

"Hell no," Marlene responded promptly. "What'd be the fun in that?"

Caden opened the cockpit canopy and removed his restraints. "Just checking." Before exiting the plane, Caden removed his helmet and put his hair back into its normal pony tail. Bowden reached the ground first and walked over to the hatch that would release Marlene, Sephiroth, and Swift. No one could figure out how the chocobo could fit through the narrow hatch, but at that moment, the question was trivial. Right now, the five of them were deep in hostile territory with no escape. Swift was stuck with them for the duration of the mission. "Alright, we only have a few hours to complete this mission," Caden said charismatically. "The Windwalker should be fine here. Bow, Swift, take out those reactors, but avoid as much combat as you can. When you return to the Windwalker, wait until we return or after five hours, whichever happens first. Mar, Sephiroth, you're with me. Mar, we'll need you to take out distant targets we can't get around. Sephiroth, we'll need your unique knowledge of the city." Caden pointed to the tower in the distant shadows. "Our target is in that building, somewhere. Sephiroth, do you have any idea where Jenova would be?"

"Do you ask for my opinion as someone with knowledge of the building or the beast?" Sephiroth asked, unsure of the true nature of Caden's query.

Caden shrugged, as he thought the question was straight forward. "I guess both. Right now, you are the most knowledgeable person alive when it comes to Jenova."

"In that case, probably the sixty-sixth floor," Sephiroth said assuredly. "It is the highest floor with a view. As far as I can tell, the floors above sixty-six are either too damaged or missing altogether. Jenova is the type that would want to see everything."

"That means he probably knows a plane went down," Caden said, concerned with this development. "Let's hope he doesn't know it was a hoax." Caden picked his sword up from out of the plane and secured it to his back. "Alright, everyone. Let's move."

Bowden carefully took his pack and daggers from the plane, securing both to him. "Caden, you, Mar, and Sephiroth take care. Swift and I will have this place nice and dark soon enough." Bowden walked over to Swift, but the chocobo was hesitant to go anywhere that Caden was not.

Caden saw that Swift was reluctant to leave him. "Swift, Bow needs your help. Helping Bow will help me. Ok?" Swift "warked" his response, agreeing to follow Bowden. He was obviously not happy with the decision, but Swift was willing to do it for Caden. "Good. Take care of him." Swift "warked" again, in his way giving his word to Caden. "Ok everyone, we're all going back home after this. Non of you are allowed to break my promise. Got it?"

"Shit, I'm not staying in this hell hole longer then I have to," Bowden responded first. "And I'll make sure Swift comes along for the ride."

Marlene nodded, determined to return with everyone else. "I'm not dying here."

"What about you, Sephiroth?" Caden asked, turning to the old general. "Are you going to break my promise or not?"

Sephiroth closed his eyes. "I do not make promises unless I know I can keep them. This is not some exercise. The enemy is using real bullets and blades, and Jenova's power is greater then anything ever seen on this world. Even if it is just sitting in a tube..." Sephiroth looked at Marlene and Bowden, seeing the unease he had instilled in them by his words, and changed his tact. "Hold onto your perception, that may be the only thing that will save you from him."

"Ok, then I'll have to make sure you come back with us," Caden replied, unfazed by Sephiroth's grim outlook. "We'll make it back here before time runs out. Now let's move out before some sentry comes after us."



Caden, Marlene, and Sephiroth trekked through the ruins of sector six with little interference. What little there had been were just small patrols that they were able side step. Much to the surprise of Caden, there were very few human patrols. Most of what they encountered were old security robots from the Shinra days. There was only one unit that had a human combatant, but he seemed to be more of a technician then a warrior. They had passed by the halfway point when they came across a single human sentry blocking the only passage. Caden ducked behind a pile of rubble while Marlene and Sephiroth found cover as well. "Mar, you think you can take him out?"

Marlene did not wait for Caden to finish before nocking an arrow. Standing up and aiming quickly, Marlene fired the shot through the sentry's helmet. The sentry was dead before he hit the ground. "Yes," Marlene said confidently, not turning to address Caden.

"Umm... nice shot, Mar," Caden said, rising from his position. He scanned the debris field that was once a residential center. The crumbling facade of buildings surrounded Caden, but there was not much else. Marlene had taken the opportunity of silence to walk down to the dead sentry and relieve him of his weapon and ammunition. "Mar, what are you doing?"

"I only have so many arrows," Marlene responded, slinging the riffle around her shoulder and placing the clips in her quiver. "If we get into a fire fight, I'll run out pretty damn quickly. At least this way ammo is easier to find."

Caden contemplated what she was saying, finally concluding she was right. "Alright, but the idea is stealth. We can't afford a fight out in the open." Caden looked about the ruins around him, spying to see whether it was safe to move. "Sephiroth, how far is the entrance to the tower?"

Sephiroth pointed in towards the center of the city. "Just over a kilometer in that direction. If the infrastructure surrounding the tower is in tact, there will be a check point two-hundred meters from a tunnel leading to the sector six entrance. It will likely be guarded."

"Alright then, we'll have to stay on our toes there," Caden said, trying to contemplate the best coarse of action from that point. "For now, let's just move on."



Cold and stagnant air permeated the metal catacombs of Mako Rector I after so many years of being unoccupied. Despite the dark and dank casket of the building, Bowden was in astonishment. He had always been studious to learn every little detail about the Midgar Reactors, but never thought he would ever see the inside of the planetary succubae. Bowden was beside himself with awe as well for the ancient scars from the last attack on this facility. Now he would follow in the example of AVALANCHE and plant a bomb in the heart of the Mako Fusion Unit. The resulting explosion would optimally level the mass of steal and crystal materia. "So this is where AVALANCHE made themselves known..." Bowden said under his breath in utter amazement. In his pack, Bowden still carried over a kilogram of explosive. He walked swiftly and silently through the shadows, trying to create as little noticeability to him as humanly possible. He was alone, deep in enemy territory with only one escape. He needed to be quick and almost invisible. After much shadow walking, Bowden made it to the heart of the reactor. "Ok this is it. Now where is the... ah, there it is." Bowden moved his hand along a pipe connecting to a larger container. Taking a small amount of the explosives, Bowden secured it with a radio controlled device to where the pipe and the container connected.

Finish with his work on the container, Bowden stood and looked at the old reactor. Along the gantry and the walls were the charred remains of the previous reactor, destroyed twenty one years before. However, something on the reactor caught his eye. "Wait a minute... What the hell's up with these values? It doesn't make any sense..., but it's not important now." Again, Bowden took to the shadows in order to escape.

Back outside of the reactor, Bowden ducked behind a pile of rubble and whistled. From behind another pile of rubble, Swift bounded out. Bowden quickly mounted the young chocobo and spurred him on. "Alright, four down. Let's get this done. I hope you didn't have any unwanted company." Swift 'warked' and Bowden noticed a few chewed wires in the chocobo's mouth. "I guess you did have company." Swift 'warked' again, and the two sped towards the next reactor in silence.



"There it is. The Sector Six checkpoint," Sephiroth said, pointing to the lightly guarded outpost. Beyond the checkpoint by about two hundred meters was the tunnel that led to the tower.

"Well, a direct assault now would be a bad idea and snipping them isn't an option," Caden said, assessing the situation. "So how do we get in?" The three stood where they were, trying to decide a course of action.

Without warning, the guards began to take defensive positions. "I don't think that's a problem anymore," Marlene said in light of the guards' behavior. "Do you think they spotted us?"

"No, that's why," Caden said, continuing to watch the scene unfold. The guards opened fire at what looked like a lightly armored man wielding two swords. One of the blades held behind him like normal, but the other looked as if it were a part of his fore arm. With speed and agility, the man dodged the guards' fire and struck two of them with his blades. They were killed instantly by the strike. Several other guards heard the commotion and came to replace their fallen comrades. The man easily dispatched them as well. His skill withe the two blades was comparable to that of Caden or Sephiroth, both of whom watched intently. Wave after wave of sentries fell to the slash of the blades of the man in their vain attempt to contain him. The remaining sentries began to back off as a new figure approached the stranger. From their position, Caden could see that it was a woman, but the left half of her face and her left arm were completely covered with a shawl. The man charged at the woman, but he was stopped short of his target by a bright green flash and sent flying backwards to the ground. "What the hell?" Caden asked in complete surprise.

Sephiroth smirked at Caden's remark. "Precisely." Caden was confused by the old general's remark. "That would be Hel."

"What?" Marlene ask, caught off guard by Sephiroth's conclusion. "You mean that woman is one of Jenova's guardians?"

Sephiroth prepared Masamune and checked his materia. "Yes. It is Jenova's guardian Hel. She looks appears to be a formidable magic user." Armed with Masamune, Sephiroth stood ready to charge. "We need to help him. Besides, the guardian cannot remain alive."

"You're right," Caden concurred, preparing to attack as well. "Sephiroth and I will go help him. Mar, give us some cover fire." Marlene checked the riffle she procured earlier from the sentry and set her materia as well. Armed and ready, Marlene took to a sniping position, leaving Caden and Sephiroth rush down and assist the mysterious man.

"Just watch your back. We do not know if he is friend or foe," Sephiroth cautioned. The two flanked the stranger and readied to fight.

The man looked over his two new companions, trying to make sense of their appearance. "Who are you?" he asked Caden, but still readied himself to attack the strange woman in his mist. "Are you one of them?"

"Don't worry, we're allies," Caden said, much to the man's relief. "We'll take out this thing first and talk later. Is that alright with you?"

The man took a stance where his backwards handed sword was in front of him and his normal handed sword was behind him. "Sounds fine to me."

The creature laughed at the sight. "You would sacrifice yourself for a pathetic creature whom you do not know? How foolish. It is no wonder why my master has been able to control your kind like dogs." Caden was startled by the development. He had never thought that a guardian of Jenova would be able to have free will, let alone speak so freely. Hel looked at Caden and saw the young man's surprise. "What? You find it hard to believe I am more then a puppet? Well Sephiroth knows better. Don't you, Sephiroth?" Hel faced Sephiroth with seemingly demonic eyes.

Caden looked at Sephiroth, waiting for a response. "Yes, Mala. I do know differently," Sephiroth said cold yet defiantly. Much to Caden's surprise, Sephiroth knew Hel in a different light. Again, Caden waited for Sephiroth to explain. "During the Shinra days, Hojo had an assistant named Mala Nifel. She is the creature in front of us."

"How long did you know she was a guardian?" Caden asked with displeasure and suspicion. It seemed odd that he knew this 'woman' from years before and never said a word after fighting Fenir.

"Just now. I was not sure until she appeared here," Sephiroth said, not moving from his position. "So did Jenova send you to watch me all those years ago?"

Hel laughed at Sephiroth's query. "Foolish child. The truth is beyond your grasps. You shall never know it." Hel thrust her left hand out, forcing the shawl that covered her body to fly from her form. Beneath the cloth was a sickening mass of dead flesh and bone. While the right half of Hel was that of a vibrant and beautiful woman, her left half was that of a rotting corpse. "I cannot allow you to harm my master. Now is your time to die!" The power and voracity in Hel's voice rang throughout the ruins. There amidst the crumbling buildings of a once mighty corporation, Hel stood facing down Caden, Sephiroth, and the stranger. It was Hel who struck first, summoning a powerful gust of wind against Caden. Caden tried to resist the power of the gale, but he eventually fell back.

Rising to his feet again, Caden charged with his sword and struck Hel. However, about a meter before striking Hel, Caden noticed that he had to use twice as much of his strength to break through. Retreating back to his previous position, partially to keep some distance between him and the creature he fought, Caden watched the stranger strike with an equally useless attack. "Watch it! She has a barrier up," Caden said, keeping his cool. "Figures, and here I am without my destroy materia. Sephiroth, you have anything?"

Sephiroth shook his head. "No, I do not have anything to take out her barrier." Left with no other option, Sephiroth guided Masamune through the barrier, but without any significant damage caused. "What about you?" Sephiroth asked the stranger.

"I have a level three destroy materia equipped," the stranger said. "De-Barrier!" On the stranger's command, Hel's otherwise invisible barrier began to glow white. The blinding light soon appeared to shatter like glass. Hel was exposed.

Caden took the opportunity strike. His blade cut deep into Hel, but the wound healed much like Fenir's injuries. Hel laughed at Caden's attack. "Yet again proving you are but a child. I am immortal. It was a gift from my master long ago." Hel raised her arm and struck Caden into the stranger. "Sephiroth, child, why do you bother with these failed experiments. You could be so much more then this. So much more powerful. My master has always wanted as much for you."

"I am who I am, what is before you," Sephiroth responded. "Fire!!!" By Sephiroth's command, Hel was consumed by a massive inferno.

Hel's hideous laugh rang above the roar of the blaze. "I tried to warn you, I am immortal. I guess you must learn as they have." From the flames, Hel struck Sephiroth with her arm. Sephiroth was thrown back several meters by Hel's blow.

Caden watched Sephiroth being thrown down and prepared for his next attack. "Command the power of your ancestors, child of Ifalanoe," the mysterious voice that Caden had heard before said. "Command and Holy will serve you."

Hel approached Sephiroth, and picked him up. With her free arm, Hel began to thrust towards Sephiroth's heart. However, a single riffle shot to the head incapacitated Hel for a moment. Temporally injured, Hel dropped Sephiroth and stepped back until she healed. Marlene remained hidden, but now Hel knew she was there. Sephiroth staggered to his feet and looked at Caden. Taking the rare chance, Sephiroth yelled out to Caden, "Caden, Holy may be the only thing that will defeat Hel."

"I know," Caden responded, staring at Hel. Caden closed his eyes and began to concentrate on the sealed ability he needed to summon. He began to feel a surge of power enter him, much the same as when he fought Fenir. "Holy!" Without delay, the surge Caden felt entered through the hilt of his sword. The influence of Holy turned the steel of Caden's katana a glowing blue. "Everyone! Attack now!" As if by clockwork, Caden struck into Hel with a blue arch and moved out of the way in time for Sephiroth and the stranger to strike and fade. Hel, now weakened, staggered backwards, but was stopped by a volley of gunfire from Marlene.

Hel began to scream a blood curdling cry. Her immortality was at an end. "What have you done!? Master, I failed you!" In her compromised state, Hel's body began to turn to dust and ash. Eventually, only her bones were left, but even they disintegrated.

Exhausted, Caden turned to watch Marlene race towards him. With the four of them accounted for, Caden turned his attention to the stranger. "So who exactly are you and how the hell did you get here?"

The stranger stepped back and sheathed his two swords. Now that they were no longer in direct combat with anyone, Caden could see the two swords were of Wutai design. One being katana length and the other a wakizashi. "The name's Loki Hojo." Sephiroth stared at the stranger upon hearing the name, but said nothing. "I came here to find an escaped scientific sample known as Jenova," Loki continued. "I'm to destroy it after collecting a cell sample. I entered in a few days ago, hiding in a transport. Up until a few hours ago, I had no trouble getting around. Then the friggin' Wutai-Shinra war started up again all around me. I spent the last few hours fighting off armed resistance." Loki stared down Caden, Sephiroth, and Marlene. "So I guess I will ask you the same thing. Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

"I'm Commander Strife of the Nibel Air Command. With me are Lieutenant Commander Wallace and Lieutenant Commander Capulet," Caden said, pointing to Marlene and Sephiroth respectively. "Our aircraft crash landed in Sector Six and we are trying to escape through the central tower."

Loki turned and looked up at the tower before him. "Unfortunately, the emergency elevators in the tower are locked. Only top Shinra executives ever had access to it." Loki once again turned to face the others. "You will have to override the security on the fifty-ninth floor. I have a code that should override the security, but I will need your help destroying Jenova before I can enter it. The code will work only once and is only effective for a few minutes."

Although the answer was obviously 'yes' to Loki's request, Caden still had to make it look like he was only trying to escape Midgar. "You're asking us to defy orders to escape a hostile situation by going after someone's sick science experiment?" Caden asked, convincingly angered by such a request. "My duty is to my crew and my nation."

"If that's the case, then you should help me," Loki said, changing his tact in convincing Caden. "I'm going after Jenova before I enter the code. If I die, the code goes with me. Your only choice is to help me. Besides, we're talking about some nasty shit here. This thing is a major threat to the world. My father was trying to figure out a way to permanently contain it and others of it's kind."

"Hold on, are you trying to tell me there are more of them out there?" Caden asked in surprise.

"Yeah, all the former members of SOLDIER are at risk of becoming like Jenova," Loki said with utter seriousness. "If any of them turn, we need to be able to put them down."

Caden thought for a moment. Like it or not, it made sense. Now he was worried for Cloud and the other former members of SOLDIER. It did not cross his mind immediately that he to could turn into a creature like Jenova. "Alright, we'll help you destroy Jenova. However, judging by how quick Hel disintegrated, you will have to be quick to get the sample you need."

"We better hurry then," Loki said, pointing again to the tower. "From what I know, the most likely place Jenova is hiding is at the top of the tower. It's the perfect place for it to watch everything within the city."

Caden looked up the tower, trying to size up the best way to get in, but he could not. Turning instead to Loki, Caden motioned for him to take the lead. " Lead the way, Loki."