Having collapsed in exhaustion, the five members of the AVALANCHE rebel terrorist group staggered back to their feet in a small, gloomy tunnel, each of them exhausted from running through it while the explosion occurred outside it, but they were all extremely relieved to find themselves somehow alive and safe, with the mission successfully completed.
The bad news, however, was that the ceiling in front of them in the tunnel had collapsed as a result of the Reactor explosion, and blocked up the entrance to get out, and it was also their way to the Sector 8 upper city.
"Shit, now what the heck do we do, the whole exit's been blocked off! Damn it, this was not part of the plan!" cursed Barret, slamming his only remaining fist on the side of a wall in frustration.
"And with the Reactor in ruins and the bridge wiped out back there, it's way too dangerous for us to go back the way we came," said Wedge, grimly.
"Hey, hold on a minute people, we can get out of this. I've brought along something just as we left the hideout, before the mission even began, in case that this sort of situation would happen," said Biggs, and he slowly withdrew from his backpack another bomb, similar in size and shape to the last one that was used on the Mako Reactor.
"What the hell are you thinking, you stupid dumb-ass!? We just narrowly escaped from getting blown to bits by one bomb, we don't wanna get blown up by another one!" snapped Barret, furiously, incredulous at the very suggestion of it. Biggs sighed wearily, and tried to explain patiently, while the others also listened carefully as well.
"Listen, this bomb may look similar to the last one, but it's got a lot less firepower and devastation behind it. In fact, compared to the other bomb, this one's got no more bang than a firecracker. But it should have enough power to destroy the debris blocking the exit leaving us with a way out, and we won't be harmed by it as long as we stand at the opposite end of the tunnel while it explodes," explained Biggs, calmly. Barret considered this plan thoroughly, but he still looked rather doubtful all the same.
"But what if the people right outside this tunnel notice this explosion, it'll draw far too much commotion to us, and it would be enough for them to figure out that it was us who destroyed the Mako Reactor," said Barret, grimly. Wedge abruptly shook his head, disagreeing.
"Actually Barret, from what I know of the navigation of Midgar and this city, the area just outside the tunnel is nearby the Mako Reactor, and the explosion earlier would have wiped out all areas nearby it, including this one. So there won't even be anyone around here to notice the explosion anyway," explained Wedge.
But he and everyone else looked remorseful rather than relieved about this obvious fact, though they only did what needed to be done to help the Planet. But they wondered about it all the same…
"Before this all happened, I did point out the fact that these consequences would happen if the Mako Reactor blew up, so don't feel sorry about it now, what's done is done," said Cloud, coldly, looking indifferent about the whole thing. Barret glared furiously at him, his fist clenched.
"But that doesn't make it any less tragic or regretful, does it, ya selfish git!? We'll do what needs to be done, but that don't make this whole thing easy to deal with, no way!" snapped Barret, angrily. Cloud raised an eyebrow in response and shrugged, but said nothing, keeping silent.
The others were all looking downcast, all of them, even Barret and perhaps even Cloud, feeling truly guilty for their actions, but they would carry on with them, or Shinra would make things far worse in the long run if they weren't stopped. It was a heavy price to pay, but they HAD to pay it.
"Alright then, so what's it going to be, Barret? Do we go through with this plan I've suggested, or do we stay back here trapped, doing nothing while Shinra search around the area for us?" asked Biggs.
"Alright then, fine! Go through with this plan at once; let's just get the hell out of here at once before those Shinra bastards show up! Come on, get to it!" ordered Barret, sharply, impatient once again, but Biggs only nodded in response, and turned to face Jessie, the bomb in his hands.
"It's your job to sort out all the technical settings, right Jessie? You think you can sort them out on this bomb too?" asked Biggs, curiously. Jessie nodded, looking confident.
"Sure, this will be just a cinch to do, especially when compared with the complex settings required for the last bomb back there. Setting this one's going to be no problem next to that," said Jessie, with a shrug.
Biggs nodded and handed Jessie the bomb. But as Jessie took it and stepped forwards towards the caved-in exit, she stumbled and nearly fell over on her sprained leg, still injured from falling hard on the Reactor bridge. Biggs caught her before she could fall, and to his relief, the bomb didn't fall either, and it therefore suffered no damage.
"Hey, you alright?" asked Biggs, concerned.
"Yeah…I'm fine. Just a small injury…" said Jessie, shaking her head quickly, not wanting them to think her weak, but Wedge stepped forward and kneeled down.
"Just hold still for a moment, Jessie," said Wedge, as he carefully bandaged up her leg, and soon he was done. Jessie smiled gratefully.
"Thanks, I can program the settings by myself, don't worry about it," said Jessie, insistently, as she limped over to the tunnel exit and placed the bomb there, and she quickly got started on programming its settings.
They were all in agreement now that the only way out was to blow up the debris covering the exit with a small bomb, and it was definitely lucky that Biggs had supplied one, as Jessie continued to confidently program its settings.
"(Always pays to have one of those around. I'd been wondering if we might need it after the Reactor blew up, with all the debris the explosion was bound to cause, and it looks like I was right after all,)" thought Biggs, smugly, but also intensely relieved that they had all escaped the Mako Reactor safely, and without any serious injuries or setbacks either.
As she programmed the settings, Jessie was planning to use the small bomb to blow up the debris and rubble blocking the exit, so that they could escape to Sector 8, and then it would also set the tunnel on fire behind them so that no one would be able to follow them from the tunnel.
Jessie bent over a pile of mouldy rubble, still setting the small charge, though it would not take much longer to do. Wedge shifted nervously and managed a small smile, while Barret and Cloud were both quiet and lost in their own thoughts, as Biggs sighed in relief.
"Well, that should keep the Planet going for at least a little longer. At least I hope that the life of the Planet will sustain for a little while longer now after that Reactor blew up. It will save some of the Planet's energy from being sucked up at any rate," said Biggs.
"Yeah, but we're lucky the walls of that Reactor and this tunnel held themselves intact during the explosion or we would have been killed for sure, although we did hope that the tunnel ceiling would hold, and not block the exit like this," replied Wedge, nodding.
Barret simply nodded in response, and surprisingly made no comment about it this time, but Cloud saw things very differently to the others.
"(Fools…about all we did here was nearly get ourselves killed, and you say we won. Nothing's changed. Shinra will just build another Reactor to replace the one we just blew up. The next one will be made tougher-made than before and won't be so easy to take out, and you won't have me there to hold your hand the whole time, either,)" thought Cloud, darkly.
Cloud sighed and glanced at Barret, who also seemed to have realised the same thing as Cloud, and was being unusually quiet for once. He seemed to know how little his team had really done tonight. But aside from that though, there was also something else in Barret's eyes, something that Cloud just couldn't understand. It was hope.
How could Barret EVER hope to defeat the mighty Shinra? It thoroughly baffled Cloud. Barret was vastly undermanned and outnumbered. His little resistance wouldn't stand any chance against SOLDIER, and Cloud was willing to bet that the next time Barret and his friends tried this stunt again, Shinra would be ready and waiting for them.
Shinra may be cold and unsympathetic, but they're also intelligent and cunning as well, and they were anything but stupid or careless. While Cloud thought about this, Jessie was finishing the settings for the small bomb.
"Hurry it up, will ya? This is taking too long and we've been here long enough as it is," said Wedge, impatiently.
"Hold on, I've almost got it…" said Jessie, as she concentrated intently on the bomb's settings.
"They're gonna be checking this area any time soon, you know!" warned Biggs, also getting impatient.
"I know, I know, just settle down while I…okay, its ready, now everyone get back at once, it's going to blow in ten seconds," warned Jessie.
They all ran to the other end of the tunnel, though they didn't have to hurry as quickly or as urgently as before. The small bomb suddenly exploded, wiping out the debris and rubble that stood in the way of the exit and setting the tunnel on fire, though compared to the Reactor explosion, this one was indeed no more than a small firecracker.
As soon as the bomb's explosion soon died down, Cloud, Barret, Biggs, Wedge and Jessie all quickly leaped out of the flaming tunnel, rushing through the flames as quickly as they could before they could get any burns or injuries from it.
Wedge's jeans were on fire, however, and he quickly ran around like mad in a panic and rolled over on the ground, which quickly put the fire out, although it had still left him with some burns, though not serious, and he looked thoroughly shaken and scared none the less. They all gathered together as Barret spoke up in a commanding tone.
"Alright, we've all done real good here tonight, so we're off to a good start. We can't discuss our plans out here, with Shinra patrols on the loose, so we're heading back to the Sector 7 Slums, and to the hideout. Split up and meet on the train at the Sector 8 train station, and then we'll go back to the hideout and discuss our next mission plans. And don't any of ya be late," ordered Barret, glancing at Cloud in particular.
"(So this whole bunch of clowns actually has some brains after all…amazing. And here I was thinking that they were all lost causes in this suicidal rebellion,)" thought Cloud, dully, and then the thought of his money struck him intensely.
Biggs, Wedge and Jessie all obeyed at once, and took different directions to the train. Biggs, Wedge and Jessie were loyal and always obeyed Barret's orders and never argued with him, even though they sometimes might have disagreed with his orders, they still carried them out anyway, without question or second thought. Cloud, on the other hand, was anything but faithful or loyal to anyone, and of all people, that especially included Barret.
"Hey, wait just a minute, we need to talk right now. The job's over, and you're not getting out of paying me for it that easily," protested Cloud, sharply, stepping out in front of Barret, and stopping him in his tracks. Barret turned around to face him, looking impatient and exasperated.
"Look, if this is just about your money, then just wait and save it until we get back to the hideout, it's too dangerous to talk about it here with Shinra on the lookout for us. Go on the train and accompany us to the hideout, and you'll get your whole payment then," replied Barret, and without waiting for an answer, he quickly ran off to the train, without another glance back at Cloud.
Cloud realised that Barret was right, and he reluctantly decided to head to the train with them as well. Taking another path to the station, Cloud ran over to a ladder, climbed it, and he ran along the path to the Sector 8 upper city…or at least what might be left of it…
********************************************************************************************************
Meanwhile, at the Shinra Headquarters, President Shinra himself had noticed and seen Mako Reactor N0.1's explosion from the windows of the building, on the 70th floor (which was the top floor of the building), when the Mako Reactor N0.1 had blown up.
President Shinra had blue eyes, and he had a small amount of curly blond hair on his otherwise baldhead. He had a curly blond moustache, and he was dressed in a posh crimson red suit with a black tie, and all his clothes looked neat, posh and tidy, not one bit out of place, and with not even a speck of dust on them whatsoever.
President Shinra was fairly fat and round, and he very regularly smoked a cigar in his mouth. Not one person could even remember him without it.
President Shinra was the founder and leader of Shinra, and he was enormously, unbelievably wealthy, as he was the richest man on the entire Planet. The only things that he cared about were money and power.
Other people's lives simply meant absolutely nothing to him, perhaps explaining why Shinra Incorporated was so feared by so many people and why Midgar was such a dark and dreadful place from being run by it. His bright crimson two-piece suit fitted him snugly, his figure retained from such things as waving and simple gestures.
Blonde hair streaked with silver covered his balding scalp, and his bushy blonde moustache was neatly trimmed. An expensive moonstone ring adorned his middle finger, and magically shimmered whenever his hand moved.
The president's dark blue eyes stared uninterested at Midgar through black, thin-rimmed glasses. Although the President of Shinra Incorporated was not the most menacing figure, he was nevertheless the most powerful man (in terms of wealth) on the Planet.
President Shinra had seen the explosion of the Sector 1 Reactor outside his large office window, and he knew instantly that AVALANCHE was behind it. He was not very pleased at all, but (as usual) he did not show his anger, and remained calm and casual about it.
"(What hopeless fools they are. They think that they can defeat Shinra with such minor acts as this? They clearly have no idea what they are up against. We can easily just build another stronger, more efficient Mako Reactor in no more than a few months. Such small terrorist vermin like them are easily dealt with. But…maybe I should pay them a visit myself, in person,)" thought President Shinra, thinking the situation over.
Coming to a quick and final decision, he walked over to a radio on his desk, which allowed him to talk to his personal secretary, and he spoke to it, after alerting his secretary to the fact he was about to issue an order.
"Secretary, make an urgent appointment for tomorrow afternoon for me to visit the rebel terrorist group, AVALANCHE, in person. Send someone to be on the train tomorrow morning, perhaps the manager, to find out where it is that they will strike next. And tell Scarlet to bring the Airbuster robot along too, and a unit of Shinra soldiers," ordered President Shinra.
"Yes, sir, I shall get right on it at once. But sir, if I may ask, why do you want to see them yourself anyway? Isn't that too dangerous?" asked the secretary, curiously.
"Oh, I just want to see the great AVALANCHE rebel group in person for myself. To see them just before they die, in our little trap. And to prove that no one can stand in Shinra's way. I want to see what kind of fools that we are dealing with. Their fireworks are good, but otherwise, they are weak," said President Shinra, coolly.
********************************************************************************************************
Meanwhile, eleven floors below the President's office, was the office of the Turks. The Turks were a small, but very highly skilled and fully trained group of very selective agents who were hired by Shinra for missions like spying, kidnapping, murder, sabotage, and all sorts of horrible things. The Turks completed all of these missions with ease, and they had never failed even one mission before.
The Turks had been with Shinra since the founding of the corporation, and as long as Shinra paid them extremely well, which they did, then the Turks did absolutely anything for them, no matter what the consequences.
Standing on the 59th floor of the Shinra Headquarters building was their main office. It was here that the leader of the Turks stood observing the brightly lit city below him from the large window in the north wall, facing the ruins of what had been Mako Reactor N0.1 only an hour before.
He stood in the closed office section of the Headquarters, which was less formal then the black-marble floored, fine wood furnished reception area of the office, though no less expensive-looking. Another Turk was also in the room with him, looking down at the dark city as well.
The leader of the Turks wore a dark blue suit that was neat and tidy, and not even a bit dusty or messy, or out of place. He had fairly long black hair, dark eyes, and a small mark scarred on his forehead.
His name was Tseng, and he was the very leader of the Turks. Tseng had been born from Wutai, but he had been banished from there as a kid, and he went to Midgar, and joined Shinra, where he quickly rose through the ranks and soon became the leader of the Turks. Tseng was one of the most experienced Shinra executives in the whole company.
The other Turk with him was dressed in a messy, scruffy dark blue suit, had shaggy red hair, blue eyes and also wore a blue headband.
He wore a dark blue suit like Tseng, but unlike Tseng's, it was very scruffy as though it had been slept in for days, and he also wore dark blue jeans, black shoes and dark sunglasses on his forehead, all of this equally scruffy and messy.
His name was Reno. Reno's red hair and dark blue suit always seemed to be very scruffy and messy, as if he just didn't care about being tidy or clean, and Reno was thin and very lanky, although he was still tough and cool. Reno had been a member of Shinra and the Turks for only four years.
"So, exactly when do we go for that girl again, and what sort of plan have we got to try and actually catch her for good this time?" asked Reno, curiously.
Reno quickly noticed that a cold, dark shadow seemed to pass over Tseng's face at the mere mention of that girl for some reason that Reno had no idea of, but Tseng then spoke calmly and without emotion.
"All I know for sure is that it's likely it will be in the next few days, Reno. The President will inform us of the exact time of its occurrence," replied Tseng, coldly, still staring out the window, which Reno noticed, with a snort.
"Just what the heck's so interesting out there, anyway, Tseng? You've been standing here, staring out there for fifteen whole minutes now. The fireworks are already over and done with, you know," said Reno, coolly. Tseng shook his head wearily, not removing his sight from the vast view outside the large window.
"I'm not sure why I'm looking out here. I just have this feeling that something down there is not right. It feels like there's something wrong. Something that we should know about," said Tseng, slowly. Reno raised an eyebrow, looking rather sceptical.
"(Why doesn't the guy try making sense for once, it's not as if there's anything more important to this whole thing. The Reactor's exploded, some stupid rebels have bombed it, and they are an enemy and need to be dealt with at once. It's as simple as that, and at the end of the day, it's nothing for Shinra or the Turks to be worried about,)" thought Reno, unconcerned about the whole situation, confident that AVALANCHE would be easily dealt with, as he then spoke up, attempting to abruptly change the subject.
"Yeah whatever, Tseng. So, where's Rude anyway? How long ago did he leave on his next mission?" asked Reno, curiously, referring to the only other Turk currently in Shinra Incorporated. Tseng finally withdrew his gaze from the window, and turned to face Reno.
"He left a few days ago for Junon. In fact, he should be back here any time now. I told him to meet me down in the First Floor lobby of the building. You should come with me to meet him there. What I have to say concerns both of you," explained Tseng.
"Wait a minute, Tseng, just what do you have to tell us?" asked Reno, sharply and curiously, wondering just what it was that might concern them, and whether or not it had anything to do with the latest predicament with AVALANCHE.
"Recently, due to AVALANCHE'S actions, I have decided that our numbers are too few, so we are expecting a new recruit soon to help sort this situation out. Just come with me, and you'll find out all about it, and the person who's joining, chosen among a selected group of candidates," replied Tseng, getting slightly annoyed and impatient. Reno shrugged, but felt a little irritated as he noticed that Tseng was staring out the window again.
"Just what are you staring at now?" asked Reno, with clear exasperation and impatience.
Tseng turned back to face Reno, with a grim frown on his face, wondering how to answer so that Reno would actually take it seriously. Providing that he ever would take anything seriously at all, of course.
"(It's been a long time since Shinra Incorporated has met with any serious enemy threat like this, not since the war against Wutai years ago. So this bombing comes as a surprise, but we will still be prepared for them soon enough. I hope Heidegger will come up with a useful new candidate for the Turks; we may well need more assistance. And since the public can be easily turned against AVALANCHE, that gives another advantage to us. But still…why would an enemy finally stand up to Shinra after all this time, and why would they bomb a Mako Reactor to do it?)" thought Tseng, pondering the situation intently, trying to sum up his thoughts as he spoke.
"It's something about the Mako Reactor N01. I'm wondering about exactly why it was destroyed…the full reasons and circumstances behind it. No…forget it, Reno, it's nothing. Come on, let's just get going," ordered Tseng, deciding not to indulge the subject any further for now.
Reno merely shrugged in response, still confident and unconcerned, while Tseng remained deep in thought, and with that they both walked out of the Turk's office in silence, to make some preparations elsewhere in the building towards retaliating against AVALANCHE.
Little did AVALANCHE or the Shinra know, however, that was would only be the very beginning of a great, long struggle that would take place between them, and little did any of them know that there would be other great threats to them along the way as well…