Cloud, Barret and Tifa all had to quickly travel across the train tunnels in the railway for a while to get to the entrance that led to the Mako Reactor N05.
Finally though, there were signs of the Mako Reactor N05 being close, just a bit further down the tunnel, and they knew that they weren't too far from the Mako Reactor now. Barret breathed a sigh of relief.
"Good, so far everything's going as planned. That sure was damn well close back there on the train, though. I thought we were gonna get caught for sure. Anyways, there's a path leading to the main Reactor core that we can take if we go this way. Better not let ya guard down until we get to the Mako Reactor. Biggs, Wedge and Jessie have got everything ready for us, and they've done very good with the planning, so let's move it. The Reactor's just down this tunnel. Jessie, Biggs and Wedge will secure the entrance to the Reactor. They're waiting for us there. If there's a problem, they'll blow the whole entrance up. We'll hear that in this area, no matter where we are in it," explained Barret.
"Why didn't we all just go together to the main Reactor core in the first place, instead of splitting up into two groups like this?" asked Cloud, surprised and rather bewildered about this aspect of the plan. Barret looked at him irritably.
"Now you listen here, ya damn bloody fool! You've already made it plain enough to everyone else that you're just the hired help around here, so why worry about the plan now, when all you cared about the last time was ya damn payment?" asked Barret, sharply.
"Because me and Tifa are both involved in the Mako Reactor mission this time, and I don't want either of us to get hurt on it because of some fault with the plan," replied Cloud, firmly, and Barret nodded in acceptance.
"Alright then, I'll tell ya the basic situation here that involves the plan. We've only got one bomb left at the moment. It's not as powerful as the last one, even though I'd hoped it would be better...but it'll still be big enough to take out the whole Mako Reactor, if we use the same bombing plan we did last time, placing it right at the core. The explosion won't reach the nearby city this time, due to the bomb's less power, but the Reactor will still be completely destroyed. We can't waste this bomb over nothing. Jessie and the others are making sure we don't lose this bomb by checking the entrance first and eliminating any possible security so that we don't walk right into an ambush. Now, come on," said Barret, and continued onwards through the tunnels without another word, as Cloud and Tifa both followed.
The train tunnels were dimly lit by soft red lights that hung next to ventilation shafts. The slow, steady dripping of water was echoing through the empty steel hallways and was almost in tune with the thuds that Barret's boots made as he tromped on through the train tunnels.
Pipes of all shapes and sizes lined the whole tunnel ceiling, dripping with either freezing cold water or sizzling hot Mako energy. The tracks and walls shook as trains passed overhead and to the sides, sending the team scrambling for cover, thinking that another train would come down on them any second now from around a corner.
They then went further along the train tunnels until they came to a wall of large and painfully bright light beams blocking the path of the rest of the train tunnel in the middle of it, so that they couldn't go on any further on. Cloud studied the light beams, knowing full well what they were.
"Those light beams are Shinra's security sensors. We'd get fried if we tried to cross, or even touch it. After coming this far, only an amateur would get caught by a security sensor like this. We can't go on any further. Some plan you've got, Barret," said Cloud, with a snort.
"Shut ya damn mouth, Cloud! This weren't here yesterday. They must have added it when they changed the security checkpoints. There's gotta be another way in. Look around for something we can use to sort this thing out," said Barret.
As Cloud and Barret searched, Tifa peered down an air vent and looked inside. A rush of warm air that stank like dead souls and rotted cheese blew from the depths of the shaft, and she stepped back, waving an arm and coughing.
When she could see straight again, she grabbed the mesh wire and pulled. Tifa yelped as she was knocked back with the grate in her hands. Cloud turned around in time to see Tifa fall over with the vent cover in her hands, and grinned.
"Well, it looks like you're good for something on this mission after all," said Cloud, smugly.
Tifa snorted, and had him help her up. Barret poked a head into the shaft and looked around. As another warm gust of air blew from inside, he cursed and backed out, blinking.
"Damn, it reeks in there. Smells like raw Mako," growled Barret, irritated.
Cloud, Barret and Tifa walked towards the small hole. It did indeed have a nasty smell of raw Mako energy, Cloud quickly noticed. Tifa covered her nose from the smell.
"Hey, you don't think that this leads to the Reactor, do you? I mean that would explain the horrible smell and all," said Tifa, pointedly.
"That's one damn tiny hole. You're telling me to squeeze into that hole to get to the Reactor? You think I can squeeze down this tiny thing? No way! Cloud, What are we gonna do? There ain't no other way of getting to the Mako Reactor N05 except through here," said Barret.
"There doesn't seem to be anything inside the vent that will get us stuck down there. But it's only one way. We won't be able to get back up to these tunnels again," said Tifa.
"Then in that case, we're going down that vent," replied Cloud, firmly.
"It's one damn tiny hole, but I guess we gotta try it, don't we? But damn man, that thing sure gives me the chills," complained Barret, furiously.
Cloud and Tifa nodded and crawled down the hole, followed by Barret, who was rather reluctant to enter the hole, but he still did it anyway, knowing full well that they had no other choice.
The vent was thick with dust and was covered in spiders and insects, and Cloud, Tifa and Barret were not at all happy about these big ugly things crawling around all over them.
More than once, Tifa had to stop to swipe bugs off her arms and legs in a panic. Barret had to squeeze past every corner. He was simply too big for the vent.
Cloud, however, had little trouble since he was exactly the right size for the vent and he had almost no problem with the bugs at all.
When the shaft ended, and when they climbed out of it, there was a short series of ladders that led to the bottom-most area of the Reactor, where all the maintenance equipment, spare parts, and other such things were kept.
Wedge (back in his regular clothes and out of his disguise) was down there, poking around in boxes and whistling tunelessly when Cloud, Barret and Tifa showed up and they walked up to him, seeing him there. Wedge turned to face them, looking startled and astonished to see them there.
"(Wow, they're all here, and it looks like none of them are hurt either, from that leap off the train. If it was me, I certainly wouldn't have had so much luck...but then again, I would have been too afraid to make the jump in the first place,)" thought Wedge, as he spoke up to Cloud and the others.
"How did you lot all get into here!?" asked Wedge, looking rather surprised.
"You might say that we just took a short cut through a vent in the tunnels. But that's not important right now," replied Barret. Wedge nodded in understanding.
"Well, at least you're all safely here at last. I'm glad to see you all made it out the train without getting hurt in the process. How did the jump feel, anyway?" asked Wedge, curiously.
"Madness, sheer madness. The floor of the tunnels is so rough after all, so jumping from a moving train like that would seem like suicide to some…oh well, never mind, we are where we needed to be anyway, and it was mostly due to luck that we were unharmed, of course. What happened with you guys?" asked Cloud.
"We were near the next train station when the check went off early. A few minutes later we all acted like we were train guards who had been attacked, they dragged us clear and made the mistake of leaving us alone. We sneaked past them and vanished into the tunnels after that, then we found a hidden passage and sneaked into here," explained Wedge.
"Clever, so have any of you guys found the correct route to the Mako Reactor?" asked Cloud, as Wedge nodded.
"You bet we have. Notice the two vents that are in this room? Well, either one of them will lead you into a small room where Jessie awaits you. There, she will give you some access cards you will need to get inside the Mako Reactor from this side. Then use the ladder on the level below where you come out and you should find yourselves on a wooden bridge where Biggs awaits you. He'll give you final hints on the tunnels around that side of the Reactor," explained Wedge.
"Thanks a lot, Wedge," said Tifa, gratefully, and Wedge nodded in response.
"Okay, wait for the others, then get outta here, and head straight back to Tifa's bar. We'll see ya all back there later as soon as this is over," ordered Barret.
"Gotcha, we'll see you back over at the hideout then," said Wedge, and then he quickly ran off.
Cloud, Barret and Tifa climbed up the ladder, and they came to a small passage and they found Jessie standing further along the passage.
She was back in her regular clothes and was out of her disguise. Jessie turned to face Cloud the moment she noticed him arrive along with Barret and Tifa.
"The Mako Reactor's this way, guys. Oh, and I…I'm sorry; the ID scan problem on the train was all my fault. I made your ID card special, so that's why it happened. I thought that I would be able to make one that would pass the new plate security check just in case...but I ruined it by not making sure it would pass the regular checkpoints first. I put my heart into making it, but I failed. I made our new cards so they would be co-coordinated with Shinra, but I could not activate all of them before we left for the train. Next time, I'll give you something more decent. I'll be back at the hideout in my research room working on it," said Jessie.
"So, Shinra's security sensors managed to detect the ID card anyway? Don't blame yourself, Jessie. I think we left at the right time with all this new security. These things just happen sometimes. There's no need to worry about it, we haven't been caught, and the mission is still going to be a success. Now then, Wedge said that there are some access cards that you had for us?" said Cloud.
"Yes, I do. This card is the one that the site manager uses to check out the Mako pools, so you will need this to breach the access tunnel. Go through that duct over there, and it will lead you to the Reactor," explained Jessie, handing each of them a small, plastic card.
"Hey, just wait a damn minute! Are you telling me that because the ID card was specially made, it couldn't pass as real?" asked Barret, suspiciously. Jessie didn't answer, her head bowed in guilt.
"Well, don't worry about it. Like Cloud said, these things just happen. Don't beat yourself up over it, Jessie. We all made it out okay anyway," said Tifa.
"Anyway Jessie, go find Wedge, then wait for Biggs, then all three of ya head back to the hideout. You three will be no longer needed here, just remember to activate the bomb at the right moment," ordered Barret.
Jessie nodded and she quickly ran off, and hurried after Wedge. Cloud, Barret and Tifa soon walked further along the passage and they climbed down another ladder leading over to another passage.
This passage led to another ladder where Biggs was standing just nearby. He was in his regular clothes, having also got out of his disguise, and spoke up with a grin as he saw them coming.
"Well, I'm glad to see that you all made it. We're going to pull out now, but we'll meet back at the hideout. The Reactor's just down this tunnel, straight through this duct, so just be careful. I'm leaving here with the others. Cloud, we're counting on you to blow the Mako Reactor up. See you guys back at the Seventh Heaven. Good luck," said Biggs.
"Wait, what's the security around the Mako Reactor like?" asked Cloud, curiously.
"Well, Cloud, I must say that the security around here is rather light. There were no guards around here, and the light beams were recently deactivated," explained Biggs, while Tifa looked quite puzzled.
"That does seem rather odd. Did Jessie have anything to do with deactivating the light beams, then? She is our resident mechanics genius, after all," said Tifa, and Biggs just shrugged in response.
"I don't think that she came past this way. I think she somehow got into the main Shinra server from her computer and secretly deactivated the light beams so that we could get through here without being found out," explained Biggs.
"I don't like this at all, it's way too fishy. Why would there be no security around here? If anything the security would be tighter, wouldn't it?" asked Cloud, rather puzzled about it.
"Well, don't forget that Shinra don't exactly know which Mako Reactor we'll strike at next, so they've had to split their security between them. And I did say that security around here was light, but remember that we raided the front bridge of the Mako Reactor N01 last mission, so they might be sniping around there, expecting to find us over there," explained Biggs.
"That means it will be difficult to escape from this bloody place! Damn Shinra!" cursed Barret, shaking his fist angrily.
"It is a pain, I know, Barret, but there's nothing at all that we can do about it, unless you want to abandon the mission?" asked Biggs, curiously.
"Don't be stupid, Biggs! We ain't gonna pull out now, no way! Alright, you go and find the others, then the three of you pull out, there's no need for you to wait around here for us. Is Jessie ready with the remote detonation?" asked Barret.
"Yeah, she hasn't let the thought of it slip out of her head at any time whatsoever," replied Biggs, confidently.
"Good, tell her to wait for the signal of us being on the bridge, however, make sure she doesn't press the detonation until we're at the bridge gates. If that bomb goes before then, we might get caught by the explosion," explained Barret.
"Okay then, Barret, sure thing, whatever you say," replied Biggs, quickly saluting, before he obeyed and left.
Biggs then ran off, back to the other ladder and climbed back up the ladder to go back the way that Cloud, Barret and Tifa had came in.
Cloud, Barret and Tifa climbed up the other ladder, which led to some stairs and a slide leading straight to the Reactor, as they were quite high above the ground. This Mako Reactor was just as huge as the one before, with exactly the same size, appearance and the same whole structure in general. Barret looked around the place, bewildered about its similarity.
"Are we in a different Reactor or not? This Reactor looks no different from the last one!" exclaimed Barret, and then Cloud spoke up in answer.
"I have an explanation, Barret. As we all know that Shinra Incorporated are extremely rich, but they're also very greedy, and so they try to keep as much of their own money as possible. They pay their soldiers pathetic pay and do all they can to save money for themselves," explained Cloud.
"So, what's that got to do with this Reactor, Cloud?" asked Tifa, curiously.
"They pay their maintenance team to design and build the whole of Midgar, so to make sure that they work efficiently, they made Midgar's Reactors exactly the same, meaning that the crews had no excuses for failing to properly maintain it," explained Cloud. At this, Barret was fuming.
"Damn Shinra! Typical, but I expect no less from a bunch of corrupted bastards like them. Too busy counting all their ill-gotten money to even care about the people. Oh well, never mind, now they got to worry about us, don't they? So where's the main core?" asked Barret.
"Since the design of the Mako Reactor is basically the same as before, the core will probably be in the same place as last time, down that spiral stairwell just across here, and through a door at the bottom. Like I told you, this place is no different than the last one," explained Cloud, calmly.
"Right, so how the hell do we get over there anyways? We must be fifty feet high from here, and I don't fancy trying to jump all to the way to the spiral staircase. It's too far away," said Barret.
"I agree, so let's scout around here, and see what we come up with to get down there safely," said Cloud.
The three split up and scanned the area. After a while, it was Tifa who once again had found another way to get further to the Mako Reactor core.
"Cloud, I've found a way, but it's kind of risky," said Tifa, pointing to a pipe that looked like a slide that went all the way down to the ground.
"Tifa, you've gotta be kidding. You think we should slide all the way down from this height?" asked Cloud, doubtfully.
"I don't see any other way, do you?" said Tifa, evenly, turning to face Cloud curiously. Cloud shrugged and didn't answer, knowing she was right.
"Alright then, now we've got a clear route to go down there to the Reactor core! Let's go, guys," ordered Barret.
Cloud looked down the slide, which was pretty high up, and he thought of Tifa's safety, concerned for her, so he turned to face Barret.
"Hey, that's a pretty steep slide, you know. Let's try to find a rope down, so we could use…" began Cloud, but Barret interrupted him, impatiently.
"There ain't no more time for that crap, ya dumb ass! Just get going!" shouted Barret, and without warning, he abruptly shoved Cloud down the slide with his one large hand.
Yelping, Cloud slid down the slide, which was a very steep drop, flipping Cloud off the slide of it in mid air. Cloud crashed straight into hard metal and plastic boxes with a loud smacking sound and got up, and staggered back, feeling very dazed.
Cloud looked up, and he saw Tifa come down the slide, hit the end of it, leap off, and she did an amazing triple back flip into the air, and she landed back on her feet without stumbling or harming herself in the least. Tifa turned to Cloud, and grinned at him smugly from ear to ear.
Barret went down the slide, simply jumped off at the end of it and skidded to a halt behind Cloud, who was too dizzy to even glare at him.
"(I guess I didn't have to worry about Tifa, after all. I really forget how much she's grown since our childhood, how much stronger, agile and more independent she is now,)" thought Cloud, dizzily, but he recovered quickly enough.
Cloud, Barret and Tifa then walked along a path in the Reactor, until they came to a door beside some stairs. They walked through the door, jumped over a hole and climbed down a ladder, which led to another catwalk towards the main core of the Mako Reactor.
Just as they reached the catwalk, however, a loud noise from behind them forced them to turn around. A fairly large robot stood poised from behind, ready to attack at any moment's notice.
Cloud, Barret and Tifa each dived in opposite directions as the robot shot around the area with its machine guns, the bullets missing their targets as a result. The three of them each took cover behind some metal poles, but Cloud could clearly hear the machine stomping towards them.
"Listen up, I've got a plan! I can't equip any more Materia, since all my weapon and bracelet slots have been used up. Tifa, I'm going to throw you a Materia orb, so grab it and then equip it," said Cloud.
"What should I do then, Cloud?" asked Tifa, curiously, alert and listening intently to what Cloud had to say.
"Use it to summon a lightning bolt and it should fry its circuitry. Barret and I will then both attack it in full force after that," explained Cloud.
"Okay I understand, now just throw it over here, Cloud," said Tifa, urgently.
Cloud picked up the Materia from a slot in his large sword, and he threw it over to Tifa, praying that she would catch it, since there would be no other chance. She caught it with only one hand with ease, and placed it in one of the slots in her fighting glove weapon.
Green light burst from the ground beneath Tifa's feet as she grasped the Materia slotted in her glove, and it glowed brightly at once. A bolt of lightning appeared from above them, and struck the robot hard, destroying its circuitry and completely disabling it.
Barret leapt out and had his assault gun-arm fire dozens of bullets at the metal robot in front of him, causing the machine to topple forwards and giving it many dents and holes in its metal armour.
Cloud dashed out from behind it and slashed his sword straight through the middle of the machine, slicing it right in half, as the bottom half toppled over the edge off the catwalk and fell into the boiling Mako pit below, melting there at once, on impact.
Summoning up the Materia again, green light burst from the ground at Tifa's feet, as a bolt of lightning appeared out of nowhere and struck the remaining half of the machine, blowing it to pieces, sending it flying off the catwalk and causing it to explode in mid air.
Luckily, it had already fallen quite far down from the catwalk, so the explosion caused by it did not reach and damage the catwalk, so neither Cloud nor the others had any serious concerns about it.
"Well now, that wasn't so tough, was it, huh?" said Barret, smugly, raising his one fist in triumph.
"You'd call that tough in the first place? That was almost as easy as just beating up a Shinra employee," said Cloud, with a snort of scorn.
"I did just say it wasn't so tough, didn't I? That was a taster, but nonetheless, it was unexpected. Come on, the platform below will take us to the main core," said Barret, and they continue on.
They walked along it and then climbed down another ladder. This led to a big pipe that they would have to use as a path. They walked to the end of the pipe and climbed down another ladder.
This led to a long bridge leading to the main core valve of the Mako Reactor N05 itself. They all walked across the bridge and they arrived at the main part of the Reactor, now standing right in front of it, ready to set the bomb.
Suddenly, Cloud's whole vision went blood red, a loud beeping sound appeared in his head, giving him a pounding headache, and he fell to the floor of the bridge, clutching his head in agony, and as he blacked out, he suddenly remembered a moment in his dark, horrifying past from five years ago...
It was five years ago, at the Mako Reactor in Mount Nibel, which was nearby Cloud's hometown, Nibelheim.
Cloud watched helplessly as Tifa (fifteen years old at this time) was kneeling over the body of her father, who was lying motionless on the floor.
He was dead, with a massive sword wound in his chest, and was surrounded by a pool of his own blood.
Tifa was sobbing uncontrollably, crying, and shaking her father's dead body desperately, unaware that Cloud was standing behind her, watching with a grim, haunted expression on his face.
"Papa…oh god no, please no, oh god. Wake up, papa. Please wake up," said Tifa, desperately, depressed, upset and in floods of tears.
Then suddenly, in an instant, rage and anger quickly overcame her, as she began to realize exactly what had just happened to her father.
"It was Sephiroth, wasn't it!? Sephiroth was the one who did this to you, didn't he, dad!? He did this to you, and he will pay for it!! Sephiroth, SOLDIER, Mako Reactors, Shinra, everything, they all did this, and they'll all pay for this, father, I swear it!! I HATE THEM ALL!!!!" screamed Tifa, and roughly brushing her tears off her face, she quickly got up, filled with intense rage and desire for vengeance, as she ran off to the core of the Reactor, where…
Cloud suddenly re-awoke and he found that everything was back to normal. His vision was normal, no longer red, and the loud beeping sound in his head was gone along with his headache.
It was just like what had happened at the last Reactor, but this time he was remembering dark moments from his past rather than receiving strange telepathic messages. Cloud stood silent and still for a moment, shocked and stunned. Just what the hell was going on here?
"(Why is all this stuff happening…? I've never experienced anything even remotely like this before…so just what the heck is happening to me…?)" thought Cloud, confused, in disbelief.
"Damn it man, get a bloody hold of yourself for god's sake!" barked Barret, sharply and impatiently, which brought Cloud back firmly to his senses.
"Cloud, what's wrong? Are you alright?" asked Tifa, far more worried and concerned for him than Barret was.
"Tifa…" began Cloud, slowly, wondering how on earth he would be able to tell her that he had just relived the moment when she discovered that her father had been murdered.
"Yes, Cloud?" asked Tifa, listening intently, looking rather anxious about him. Cloud hesitated, and then he shook his head slowly, choosing not to mention what he had just seen to her, deciding it was for the best if he said nothing about it.
"No…just forget about it…come on, let's hurry! The Mako fumes…I get dizzy sometimes around them…but I'm okay now. So let's just hurry and get this whole thing over and done with," said Cloud.
Tifa looked concerned and doubtful towards his words, but she chose to say nothing else about Cloud's sudden collapse, guessing that she wouldn't get a proper answer about it from him anyway.
Cloud and Tifa both casually walked over to the main core valve of the Mako Reactor, while Barret stayed behind on the bridge, standing still and watching. Cloud sighed wearily as he noticed this.
"I know, you're staying there to be my watch, in case you think I'll do anything suspicious, right?" said Cloud, flatly.
"Damn straight I am, Ex-SOLDIER. You may be Tifa's old friend, and she may have convinced me to be a little politer to ya for a favour towards her, but that still ain't good enough for ya to earn my full trust. I'll believe that you're trustworthy when I see more convincing proof of where your true loyalties lie," replied Barret, firmly.
Cloud shrugged, took the bomb from Barret, and he walked over to the main core valve and placed the bomb firmly on the middle of the main valve.
"There's no timer detonation on the bomb this time round, right, Barret?" asked Cloud, curiously. Barret nodded grimly, and quickly explained.
"That's right, this time there's none, as Shinra have changed their security from detecting remotes to doing timers instead, which means we're gonna have to do a remote detonation this time. So instead, Tifa's gonna access the bomb's codes and then Jessie will pick up the signal and trigger the bomb by remote as soon as we're out of the area. And I reckoned this plan would be a damn sight safer too, seeing as how we nearly got killed ourselves in the last Reactor mission," explained Barret.
Tifa ran up to where the bomb was placed, and had her fingers dance over the small keypad in the side of the bomb, pressing in a secret code, and then the bomb glowed orange and the word confirmed appeared in the bomb screen.
"The bomb's all set, and ready to blow at any time, Barret. Jessie's got the signal, so all we've got to do is leave this place, and she'll blow it up right after that," informed Tifa. Barret nodded, satisfied.
"Good, now let's get the hell out of here quick, the faster we leave, the more chance we'll have of blowing the Reactor before Shinra's security find us or disarms the bomb!" said Barret, urgently.
Cloud, Barret and Tifa quickly ran back the way they had come. They climbed back up the ladders and ran along the catwalks until they reached the big stairs.
Just as they were about to reach the ladders upwards however a group of nine Shinra soldiers ran from the doorway at the end. The three rebels stopped and prepared themselves for combat.
"Stop where you are, terrorist scum! Drop your weapons and lie down on the ground, you are all under arrest!" shouted one Shinra soldier. Cloud merely snorted.
"Hey guys, this moron here has just ordered us to behave and surrender, but somehow I don't feel like doing that, do you?" said Cloud, scornfully. In response to this, a single gunshot fired and a bullet slammed into the floor right beside Cloud's foot.
"Be silent, you terrorists! Try to do anything and we will shoot you, you are outnumbered and are under arrest!" shouted another Shinra soldier.
Cloud didn't care in the least and was not concerned, the bullet had just caught him off guard, that was all, and he knew that two could play at this game.
"Under arrest? Yeah, right!" said Cloud, and he sprang forwards to attack, his massive sword readied and held tightly in his hands.
Charging forwards, Cloud executed a perfect forward twisting flip, a move that stunned all the guards and further more allowed him to kill three of them at the same time without warning with just one slash of his sword, slicing through their necks, effectively decapitating them, as blood flew everywhere and the corpses fell with a thud to the floor.
As the other guards all looked on in shock and fear, Barret took his chance and opened fire on them, killing all but one of them, the others falling dead, with bloody bullet holes.
The last guard smiled nastily, and aimed his gun straight at Cloud, who wouldn't be able to put up a defence or evasion in time for the shot. He had him, the guard had thought. The arrogant and cocky spiky haired terrorist was going to get what was coming to him, as he prepared to pull the trigger, less than a second away from doing so.
That illusion was quickly shattered though, as Tifa locked her slim but strong arms right around the soldier's throat from behind, cutting off his air and choking him, and then using her arms and hands with flabbergasting strength, she quickly twisted and snapped the soldier's neck like a twig with a nasty cracking sound.
Grimacing in revulsion, Tifa then let go of her victim, and the dead soldier fell to the ground in a heap at her feet, his head at a freakishly odd angle from his body.
"You know, Cloud, you really shouldn't just leave yourself open and so exposed to attack like that. That's pretty careless," said Tifa, grinning with satisfaction and pride at her skills.
"(So it really was a good thing that I came along after all, I had a feeling I would be needed this time. It's sure surprised me though, that I've saved Cloud's life. I really I am glad I came along now, who knows what would have happened otherwise,)" thought Tifa, as Cloud looked at her gratefully.
"Thanks a lot, Tifa. I never knew you could do things like that so easily with just your bare hands," said Cloud, clearly impressed by her skills, she was definitely a lot stronger than she had been back in their childhood.
Barret, who was far more used to seeing Tifa's skills from the last few years that they had known each other and become sort of like an older brother and a kid sister to each other, said nothing about it, and was rather quiet for once. Tifa smiled at Cloud, pleased by his compliment towards her.
"Well, that's true martial arts strength for you, Cloud. I certainly practiced really hard at it these last few years, and my teacher, Zangan, always said that I had great potential in the martial arts. Anyway, are we ready to continue our way out of here?" asked Tifa.
"Yeah, definitely. Let's get going," replied Cloud, nodding, and he, Tifa and Barret continued onwards through the path of the Reactor leading to the exit.
Even though that group of guards had appeared before, Cloud, Barret and Tifa found no more resistance coming for them as they made their way up the spiral stairwell and back up towards the front of the Mako Reactor.
The lack of Shinra resistance really unnerved Cloud rather than relaxed him, they couldn't possibly have timed it so well that the guards were all taking breaks or whatever, this place just had be guarded somehow, even if Shinra didn't know what Reactor was under threat.
They came to a small area of the Reactor, walked over to the locked security gate at the end of it, and they walked to the left of the gate until they came to a machine with six yellow buttons on it (four buttons on one side of it and two buttons on the other).
Cloud walked to the side of the machine with two buttons, while Barret and Tifa went to the other side. They could each handle two buttons using both their hands (Barret only had one hand, but he could just use his gun-arm for his other arm to press the other button anyway).
"Jessie said that we all have to push all these buttons at exactly the same time in sequence. At least that's what she told me," informed Tifa.
They soon all pushed the buttons at exactly the same time, and sure enough the gate opened, leaving the way to the bridge clear, and from there they would leave through a secret passage, while the Reactor would explode behind them.
Cloud, Barret and Tifa walked through the gate, walked along the path and they came to the bridge with a left and right route at the middle, one of them leading to the exit where they could get away safely.
They walked along the bridge and they came to the left and right turns on the bridge. Cloud was looking around the Mako Reactor, wide-awake and alert.
"Everyone, be on your guard. This has all been just too easy somehow. It wouldn't be this easy to just infiltrate a Reactor and place a bomb on it without hardly being attacked or threatened at all," said Cloud, readying his sword.
"Haven't you ever heard of good luck, Cloud?" asked Tifa, grinning at him, but Cloud's grim and serious expression didn't fade in the least.
"Yes, but this is Shinra we're up against here, and you can't ever rely on good luck against the likes of them. As evil as they are, they always attack and squash any bug in their path, and they would never let anyone do something like this, and just let them get away with it. They have absolutely no mercy or compassion for anything at all. I know what it was like in the war, they used so many dirty and savage tricks that it could make people sick, killing millions of people just to satisfy themselves. They wouldn't just let us in here with barely any security around to guard it. We have to be on our guard," said Cloud, very seriously.
Tifa's smile quickly faded, and she nodded in agreement, looking worried. Barret also agreed with Cloud, as Barret knew perfectly well what Shinra Incorporated was like, in fact, he had an ever bigger idea of what evil Shinra would be capable of doing than Cloud did.
"(Damn it, Cloud could be right about this, this whole thing might have been some damn trap of Shinra's, some game of theirs, and we could be playing right into their rotten corrupted hands. I damn well wouldn't put it past those bastards,)" thought Barret, as he spoke up, fully cautious and alert.
"Are ya saying that this might just be some sort of trap or something?" asked Barret, curiously, looking around the Mako Reactor cautiously and raising his gun-arm, as though he thought something would suddenly come out of nowhere and spring on him at any moment.
"I don't know, but I do know that Shinra are up to something. I mean, when we came in here, we met little resistance at all. Where are all the many other soldiers and the robo-guards that guard this place? Even if they are divided between the Reactors, why aren't there more of them here? I mean this is a Mako Reactor; they can't afford to have these down, it means that Shinra can't line their golden pockets. I think we should all be on our guard here," said Cloud.
"Yeah, you've got a good point about that. Alright, everyone keep on your guard and just be careful, in case something does happen," ordered Barret.
"Come on then, let's just get out of this Reactor as quickly as possible before anything bad can occur over here," said Tifa, urgently.
Cloud and Barret nodded in agreement, and then Barret pointed to the left exit out of the two ways off the bridge at the other end, opposite each other.
"We gotta go this way! We need to take the left, and then head into the tunnel passage, and from there we go into the Sector 4 upper city!" shouted Barret, and he started to go left as soon they reached the opposite end of the bridge.
Suddenly, eight Shinra soldiers, (dressed in red uniforms), entered onto the bridge from the same passage, and stopped right in front of Barret, their guns all aimed right at him, as he found that he was clearly trapped, and slowly backed away to where Cloud and Tifa both stood, his eyes wide.
"Shinra Soldiers!? Shit, just what the bloody hell is going on here!?" yelled Barret, surprised and clearly alarmed by their sudden situation.
"I was right all along. It's just what I've suspected this whole time. It's all been a cleverly planned out trap by Shinra. Our escape exit's blocked off, and there's no way that we can make a move to resist or escape, or we'll be shot down right now," replied Cloud.
"No shit, ya thick dumb ass, but we still gotta figure a way out of this mess, or else it's all damn well over, and hell if I'm gonna be outdone by these bastards!" snarled Barret, cursing furiously.
Suddenly, there was the clear sound of footsteps coming from opposite them, and a man appeared at the other end of the bridge having come out of the Reactor, and this was a very, very important man indeed.
The man's face, well known and feared across the Planet, showed no sign of fear or compassion at all, only clear calmness, in a completely cold but overly casual manner.
Cloud knew exactly who the man was, and so did Barret and Tifa, but were they all still shocked and stunned to see him there, in person.
All of them simply gaped in disbelief, unable to get any words out for a moment, all of them thinking the very same thing. What was HE doing here…?
During the last forty years, many powerful companies had witnessed Shinra Incorporated rapidly rise through the years from a pitiful weapons manufacturer to a mega world ruler corporation of vast influence and power, dwarfing all others effortlessly in comparison.
Soon, everyone from little children playing with their toys to old elderly men sitting in rocking chairs knew the vast importance and great power and respect that the name Shinra Incorporated bore.
Not surprisingly, Shinra Incorporated had made many enemies and critics as its power hungrily soared to unbelievable, and seemingly unsurpassable new heights.
President Shinra or the 'Shinra Jackal' as every one of his critics had nicknamed him, astonished his enemies with his shrewd, cunning, ruthless brain, and his total lack of compassion or mercy towards them.
Within three years of becoming a world ruler, he had effectively destroyed all rival companies and other current organizations. During the Wutai war, around fifteen years ago, Shinra Incorporated establishments in cities and towns had become significantly larger than the existing governments themselves.
Since the established governments were very inefficient in power, size and wealth compared to Shinra Incorporated, the entire Planet's population came to rely on Shinra for more and more things that they usually turned to the government for, such as schools, roads and law enforcement, and many various other things.
Any other nations that had existed just faded away within a year or so. Shinra had taken over all governments along with the armed forces, and then they had effectively taken over the entire world.
President Shinra himself, the most wealthy man on the entire Planet and the ruler of the whole world, walked slowly across the Reactor bridge, stopping at the opposite end of it to Cloud and the others. He simply regarded the AVALANCHE terrorist rebel group opposite him as nothing more than a bunch of naive, stubborn, foolish children, and he shook his head in pure disgust.
"I'm afraid that I cannot allow any of you terrorist scumbags to go any further beyond here. This is where your petty little rebellion ends," said President Shinra, breaking the long, stunned silence.
"P-President Shinra…" gasped Barret, in amazement, his eyes flaring wide as he saw his main adversary in person, face to face, for the very first time.
"Why is the President here?" asked Tifa, also rather surprised, and dimly aware that neither Cloud nor Barret had even the slightest answer to her question.
"So, we finally meet at last, face to face. Since your first and last bombing, I've been wondering a lot about what sort of people would dare to assault my Mako Reactors. After all, it's very clear to me that you three must all be part of…what was it? What was that name, again?" asked President Shinra, coolly, mockingly, taking out a cigar and lighting it.
Not one person on the whole Planet could remember the President without a cigar stuck either in his mouth or between his fingers.
Cloud knew perfectly well that President Shinra already knew what the name of AVALANCHE was, and was just saying otherwise to get them angry. In Barret's case, he was certainly succeeding, as Barret roared furiously at him.
"AVALANCHE!!!! And don't ya ever forget it, 'cause it'll be the word that spells your own downfall! And you're the big shot asshole President of Shinra, huh!?" yelled Barret, angrily, deeply enraged at even the sight of him. President Shinra looked completely unfazed By Barret's words.
"Yes, I am indeed the ruler of Shinra Incorporated, and of this whole Planet. And judging by your demanding attitude, you are the leader of AVALANCHE, I presume? At last, I've caught you, and your rag-tag servants. Did you honestly think for even a moment that after that stunt you pulled before with the Mako Reactor N01 the other day, that we would just let you get away with destroying yet another Mako Reactor? But even if you had thought you could do it, it is of no matter now, as this moment will be the end of you all," said President Shinra, coolly, clearly confident.
"(So this is the damn bastard that's been responsible for all the misery, corruption and devastation that's been going on in the Planet these last few decades. Well, that asshole's gonna pay, if it's the last thing I do!)" thought Barret, furiously.
Barret was now shaking with uncontrolled rage; his one large fist clenched tightly, and he raised his gun-arm, aiming it straight at the President's head, ready to fire and put an end to him at any moment's notice, knowing that if he did, then Shinra was finished, and the rebellion would have succeeded because of it. President Shinra stared back calmly, however, without any fear or anxiousness at all.
"Don't be a fool. There are at least twenty guards each to the left and right of you who would all happily place several bullets in your chest at the slightest sign of any threat or resistance," said President Shinra, coolly. Barret only snorted in response.
"Yeah, whatever, Mr head of all bastards! At least I'd die with the immense satisfaction of killing you!" snapped Barret, just about to fire, when Tifa suddenly stepped right out in front of him and his gun-arm for the second time that day. Barret's hand slipped off the trigger at once, as he looked startled at seeing her block his aim of killing Shinra once and for all, at gaining the ultimate victory for AVALANCHE.
"Barret, NO, don't it! You'd get yourself killed too! Think of Marlene! What would she do if you were dead, how would she react to it, and how would she get on with the rest of her life!?" protested Tifa, and she too could never bear it if she had to watch her dear friend get killed right in front of her.
Barret looked shocked at this realization due to Tifa's words, and also immensely horrified at the very thought, and he slowly lowered his gun-arm in reluctant and heavy defeat, and even his dark, immense hatred for Shinra Incorporated was overshadowed by the love and care he felt towards his daughter, Marlene.
For the first time in their occurring encounter, there was now a different emotion on the President's face other than his icy calmness, as he now seemed rather surprised, and quite taken aback for once, then he slowly spoke up.
"So…there is someone out there who could affect you so much after all. Too bad I have no idea who it is. Then I'd know how to truly make you suffer," said President Shinra, with a dark grin.
Before Barret could rage furiously at the President yet again, Cloud calmly took a step forwards across the bridge towards the President of Shinra, without any fear or anger whatsoever.
"Long time, no see, Mr President. Don't do this if you want to escape here with your life intact," said Cloud, warningly. President Shinra raised an eyebrow at the comment, puzzled by it for a moment.
"Long time, no see...? Oh yes, I remember now…it's you. That glow in your eyes…and that large sword of yours. Yes, you're the one who quit SOLDIER and joined AVALANCHE, the pathetic little resistance movement. Well, that's just too bad. I knew that you'd been exposed to Mako energy from the glow in your eyes. Tell me then, traitor, what is your name?" asked President Shinra, casually.
"Cloud Strife," replied Cloud, coldly, looking rather icily at the President, who nodded slowly, thinking to himself, before answering.
"Ah yes, that was it. Of course, I faintly remember it now. Forgive me for asking, but it's not every day that some pathetic, treacherous loser like you leaves the great army SOLDIER for a mere mercenary job. Especially against the very corporation that gave him everything he wanted. And besides, I can't be expected to remember each and every single person's name. That is…of course…unless you become another Sephiroth…" said President Shinra, coolly, clouds of smoke visibly blowing from his cigar.
Cloud's glowing blue eyes widened suddenly, and he felt as if his heart had stopped, frozen in his chest, in fear and horror, at the mere mention of Sephiroth.
To Barret's surprise and Tifa's concern, the normally cold, uncaring, cool and emotionless Ex-SOLDIER was now shaking widely in pure fear and terror, as horrible memories were beginning to emerge in his mind. President Shinra just shook his head and sighed.
"Yes, the great and all powerful SOLDIER, Sephiroth. He was truly brilliant, perhaps too far brilliant for his own good, as it turned out…" said President Shinra, calmly.
"S-Sephiroth...?" stuttered Cloud, surprised, horrified, and taking a few shaky steps back in terror as terrible, haunting memories began to take place in his mind.
Thoughts of burning, intensely hot flames, seemingly hotter than the flames of hell, and of a low, cold, insane and purely evil laugh took place in his mind…
Barret quickly stepped out in front of Cloud though, and his loud, angry shouts brought a thoroughly shaken Cloud back to his senses.
"Don't give a damn shit about none of that crap! None of that matters now, ya fool! I've got a few words that I want to say to ya! In a few minutes, this whole place will blow, ya hear me!? This place is going up with a big bang soon! You're too late! We've already set the bomb! This whole place will soon be dust! It serves ya all right!" yelled Barret. President Shinra just laughed casually.
"Ha, ha, ha. What a farce. My technicians are inside there right now, currently trying to disarm the very device that you planted. And what a waste of good fireworks it is, just to get rid of vermin like you," replied President Shinra, coolly, mockingly, but something about that comment seemed strange to Cloud, and he glanced at Tifa, who seemed to notice the same thing, but Barret just raged on, not noticing.
"(What a waste of fireworks to get rid of us…? What's he talking about, isn't it us who are doing the bombing on their Reactor? Or does he have something else in mind? I don't like the thought of it…)" thought Cloud, as Barret raged on.
"VERMIN!? That's all ya can say, ain't it, vermin!? You just shut the damn hell up! Shinra are the vermin around here, killing the Planet! And that makes you King Vermin! So you just shut the hell up, ya damn jackass!" roared Barret, angrily, getting very mad indeed, and shaking with rage.
President Shinra simply yawned dully, mocking Barret, and gave him a look of scorn in response, which predictably made Barret even madder.
"You're all beginning to bore me now, you're all of no entertainment or use to me anymore. I'm a very busy man, you know, so if you'll all excuse me now, I have a very important dinner that I must attend," said President Shinra, coolly, his calmness still clearly mocking the AVALANCHE group.
"Dinner!? Don't you give me that crap, ya rotten bastard! I ain't even started with you yet!" roared Barret, getting even angrier than usual, madder than either Cloud or Tifa had ever seen him before, and that was really saying something. But President Shinra still looked unconcerned.
"But don't any of you worry, you won't be left out. For you all see, I have made some previous arrangements for a little…playmate…for you all to deal with," said President Shinra, smugly, with a nasty smirk that Cloud found foreboding.
As if it were a signal right on cue, President Shinra clicked his fingers loudly, and suddenly they heard a strange sound and realized that something was coming towards them, fast, until it finally arrived just in front of them to the side of the bridge. It was a heavily armoured robot on tank tracks and it was black and red with no robotic arms, but it had plenty of guns.
"(This ought to sort them out. Their petty attack is at an end, and this Reactor shall become their grave. How fitting indeed, that they should die at the very place they attempted to destroy. And I know that there are three others members elsewhere, so we will hunt them down too, and kill them. The pathetic resistance movement, AVALANCHE, shall be no more,)" thought President Shinra, smugly, as he then spoke up.
"Meet Airbuster, a new techno soldier of ours. Our Weapon Development Department, lead by Scarlet, created him. I'm confidently sure the data that he'll extract from your dead bodies will be of great use to us in future experiments, and in finding your three friends, so we can deal with them too," said President Shinra, with an evil grin, full of smugness.
"Techno soldier...?" said Cloud, confused, as he stared at Airbuster, which towered above him and the others, menacingly aiming its guns at them.
Suddenly, right at that moment, a Shinra helicopter arrived and hovered right next to President Shinra, right beside the bridge, as the side door of it flew wide open for the President to enter inside of it.
"Now then, if you'll all excuse me, I must go and attend that dinner…" said President Shinra, with a nasty smirk, and he quickly got on the Shinra helicopter, and then the helicopter quickly flew off.
"Wait, President!!" shouted Cloud, but President Shinra had already gone and escaped, and the Shinra helicopter was soon out of sight.
The Shinra soldiers all quickly ran away into the exit passages, leaving Cloud, Barret and Tifa alone with Airbuster on the Reactor bridge, which was at least a hundred feet above the slums below.
If any of them fell off the bridge, then they would likely fall to their death, a handicap that President Shinra had no doubt relied on, which was why the ambush had taken place on the Reactor bridge.
"Cloud, get your damn ass over here right now! We've gotta do something about getting through him!" shouted Barret, urgently, pointing to Airbuster.
As if responding to this, Airbuster moved on its tank tracks with surprising speed towards Tifa and Barret, raising and aiming its guns, and it looked ready to attack.
"Come on, help us, Cloud! Just what is this thing? This is from SOLDIER?" asked Tifa, in disbelief. Cloud shook his head firmly, as he put his full attention towards Airbuster.
"No way, it's no SOLDIER! It's just a machine, that's all. It's no more than a tin can as far as SOLDIER are concerned. It has no soul," replied Cloud, taking out his sword, and holding it tightly in his hands.
"I don't give a shit about what the hell it damn well is!! What matters is that I'm gonna bust this thing up!" shouted Barret, aiming his gun-arm right at the large machine, as the Airbuster raised its own rifles, and prepared to fire…
Meanwhile, inside the Shinra helicopter, President Shinra smirked confidently, smoking his cigar as usual, while the helicopter flew on its way back to the Shinra Headquarters, and it was a fair distance away from the Mako Reactor N05 now. Tseng and Reno were both also on the chopper.
"Well, that ought to keep those stupid brats pre-occupied for quite a while," said Reno, coolly. Tseng nodded in confident agreement.
"Yeah, permanently," replied Tseng.
President Shinra sniggered darkly at this comment, before remembering something else that urgently needed to be done, as he spoke up to Reno about it, deciding to send him on this new assignment rather than Tseng, who had already done this mission several times and had been unsuccessful at each attempt. It was the only thing he ever had failed at, but perhaps Reno could succeed at it instead.
"Oh, and Reno…I'm sending you out on the newest mission to capture the girl. And it is absolutely essential that she must be taken alive," said President Shinra, strictly.
"What do you mean, sir?" asked Reno, puzzled, having been informed of nothing about him doing a new attempt to capture the girl. President Shinra frowned at this, and turned to face Tseng.
"Tseng, didn't you speak to him the other day about doing a new assignment towards capturing the girl?" asked President Shinra, annoyed. Tseng hesitated, then he slowly replied.
"No, sir…" replied Tseng, quietly.
"I strictly instructed you to inform him about trying to capture the girl! So do it right now, because in a few hours, the mission will be carried out, now explain it to him!" demanded President Shinra, sharply.
"Yes, sir. Reno, listen up…" said Tseng, hastily, and he soon began to fully explain the whole situation of their newest assignment.
Meanwhile, back on the Reactor bridge, Cloud, Barret and Tifa all quickly attacked Airbuster. Barret and Tifa were facing the front of it, while Cloud was facing the back of it, and there was no way to get around to the other side of the robot on the Reactor bridge.
Airbuster was a big robot, not as wide or as long as the Guard Scorpion was, but it was even taller. Tifa used her fists and feet as her weapons. She had been taught Martial arts as a kid, and she was strong and tough. All of them had Materia in use as well, and therefore each of them had Magic to use against Airbuster.
"(This definitely isn't good. I refuse to believe this robot is on the same level of skill as the likes of SOLDIER, but it's still going to be tough to defeat, otherwise President Shinra wouldn't have been so confident towards it, he's anything but stupid after all,)" thought Cloud, as Barret then urgently spoke up.
"Listen up! We gotta take out this tin shit right now, or they'll be no chance to escape, and Jessie and the others will have no choice but to blow up the Reactor before those technicians can disarm the bomb, otherwise the mission will be a complete failure. They'll be wondering what's taking us so long, but they might not wait around a lot longer than this, they know what's at stake. So we gotta move it quickly to get out in time," said Barret, urgently.
"We will, I'll make sure of that. I didn't come here this far just to get killed and not receive my payment for this damn job. There's no way anything's going to stop me from getting it," said Cloud, determinedly, his sword readied and held tightly in his hands.
"But we've still got to be careful to avoid falling off the bridge in the process of battling this machine, otherwise we'll be dead for sure. So we really have to be cautious to avoid that fate, and it's going to be very difficult doing that while concentrating on destroying this robot and getting out of here at the same time," said Tifa, anxiously, looking worried. Barret growled viciously, and glared hard at Airbuster.
"Damn those Shinra! Those bastards will pay for this, I swear to God, they will! I'll make them suffer for this, just they wait and see! That stinking President's gonna regret counting on only this thing to deal with us, 'cause I'm gonna blast it to bits!" roared Barret.
Screaming with rage, Barret suddenly opened fire with his gun-arm, firing several bullets aimed straight at Airbuster with hard force, all of them hitting it directly, but like with the Guard Scorpion, the metallic armour of Airbuster was well built and constructed, so that the bullets just bounced off it without much effect on it.
The bullets rebounded off the armour just above the group, so there was no danger of getting struck by them, as they flew past them overhead.
But suddenly, in startling speed for something that was on tank tracks, Airbuster sped forwards in a flash across the Reactor bridge at full speed, heading straight for Barret, who couldn't do anything to avoid it in time on such a narrow bridge, as Airbuster filled the width of it.
As a result of this, Airbuster rammed hard into Barret, slamming directly into him on impact, then abruptly stopping on the spot. Barret was sent flying backwards, and landed back down hard onto the bridge with a loud bang as his head struck the bridge floor, and lay still on the bridge floor, unmoving and fairly close to the edge. He had clearly been knocked out unconscious by the sheer strength of the impact of Airbuster, as he wasn't moving.
"Barret!!" screamed Tifa, in alarm and frantic concern, as she quickly rushed across the bridge to his aid, but the scream had alerted Airbuster to her presence at once, as it aimed one of its rifles at her direction, and Tifa, too busy concentrating on getting over to Barret, had not yet noticed, but Cloud certainly had, with immense horror.
"Tifa, watch out!!" screamed Cloud, frantically, knowing helplessly that there was nothing he could do to get around Airbuster to its front and stop it from firing at Tifa, he was stuck facing it from behind where he couldn't even get to the rifle to destroy it in time.
Tifa spun around on the bridge to face Airbuster just as it fired its rifle right at her, but it wasn't bullets that came from it, it was a small bomb heading straight for her, and Tifa knew this meant nothing good. President Shinra hadn't been lying, this thing really was capable of killing them, and it was the machine's sole purpose as well.
With no other options to do in time, she quickly kicked the small bomb into mid-air as it reached her, but it exploded quicker than expected as an explosion burst in mid-air just above the bridge.
Tifa was sent flying backwards by the sheer force of the explosion, her body slamming hard against the metal railing of the bridge, before she fell with a loud thud on the bridge floor and didn't move, clearly too injured and bruised by the attack to get back up, as Airbuster moved in for the kill.
Deep rage and anger suddenly consumed Cloud as he saw the big machine prepare to continue its assault on his dear childhood friend that it had dared to hurt like this, and he wasn't going to let that thing get away with it, no way.
"You're no SOLDIER, you're just a stupid bucket of bolts, now let me show you how SOLDIER really fight like!" yelled Cloud, as he sprang into action and charged towards the back of Airbuster before it could turn around.
Cloud quickly raised his sword and leaped into the air, and then he swung his sword straight at Airbuster, as it pierced right through the metal of the back of Airbuster, leaving a long sword slash in it, and slicing the armour wide open, exposing and slicing through some of the circuitry at the back.
Cloud landed back down onto the bridge comfortably, noticing the large hole in the back of its armour that he had just caused, and knew he had just made a weak spot to destroy Airbuster entirely.
He was about to attack it from behind again, to finish it off for good, when Airbuster suddenly spun right around to face him, sensing the danger that had been about to occur. Cloud cursed angrily at the realization that he had just missed out on his chance at victory, as Airbuster focused its attention towards him now, its rifles aimed right at him. Cloud prepared himself to avoid the small but deadly bomb that would come from it, but he was in for an unexpected surprise.
Suddenly, instead of using the rifles, which had been a misleading act all along, Airbuster sped forwards on its tank tracks with startling speed, meaning to ram right into him, just like it had done with Barret earlier.
Due to his SOLDIER training and enhanced reflexes and senses, and due to being infused with Mako energy in SOLDIER though, Cloud was alert and ready for the attack. He could see no way around Airbuster on the bridge to avoid the attack, which meant there was only one way he could avoid it, but it was a big risk.
As Airbuster charged quickly towards him, Cloud suddenly withdrew his sword into its metal locks, and leaped off the edge of the bridge. Immediately, he reached out and grabbed the railing just in time with his hand, and swung himself back onto the bridge as Airbuster went past and abruptly stopped, sensing that Cloud had just dodged it. Cloud leaped back onto the bridge, and quickly charged towards Airbuster's exposed back to quickly finish it, quickly reading his sword.
Cloud suddenly leaped onto the top of Airbuster's back, and quickly plunged his sword down, deep into the machine, slicing through the back armour at the top of it as well. Before he could deal the final blow though, Airbuster quickly shook him off by moving quickly again, and then braking abruptly, to send Cloud flying off it.
Cloud landed back safely onto the bridge as Airbuster spun around to face him. Once again, it was separating him from Tifa and Barret, who were behind it, while Cloud was facing the front. If only one of them could get up and attack it from behind, the battle would be over, but both of them looked down for the count at the moment.
But just then, Tifa suddenly groaned in weary pain, shaking her head, as she staggered back up onto her feet on the Reactor bridge. She quickly looked down at one of her gloves, urgently checking the Materia that were attached firmly in the slots.
With immense relief, she soon noticed the Restore Materia attached to one of her gloves, and feeling as though she were about to collapse, she quickly grasped the Materia tightly, and concentrated hard on it.
Green light burst from the ground beneath her feet at once, and some magical blue-white energy suddenly appeared out of nowhere in mid-air, and went straight towards her and then touched her, fully healing all her injuries and fully restoring her health. Feeling cured and refreshed, Tifa sprung back into action, facing the back of Airbuster.
Seeing this, Cloud sighed in relief, but this turned out to be a careless mistake. As soon as Cloud had let his guard down, Airbuster aimed its rifles at him, and suddenly fired a small bomb from one of its guns right at Cloud in a flash. Cloud had barely enough time to spin around in surprise and jump backwards as the small but deadly bomb exploded just above him in mid-air.
Cloud was sent flying backwards across the bridge by the force of the explosion, and fell with a loud clang on the bridge, landing right on one of his arms, which twisted behind his back, and the bone broke at once. Cloud yelled out in sudden pain as his left arm broke, and there were marks all over him from the explosion that had occurred nearby him.
With the smoke cleared, Cloud slowly staggered to his feet on the bridge, his left arm hanging limply at his side, as he was clearly injured, hurt and bruised from the explosion, and one of his arms was now broken, as Airbuster towered over him, aiming its rifles right at him, sensing the kill, and prepared to finish him.
From behind Airbuster, Tifa saw that Cloud was in great danger, and in an instant, she was suddenly filled with great rage towards Airbuster, and desperation to save Cloud, as she quickly shouted out to the tall machine.
"You leave him alone! You dare touch him, and you'll get pounded into scrap metal! I won't let you harm any of us, you're going down right NOW!" yelled Tifa, as she charged forwards just as Airbuster spun around on the bridge to face her, sensing her coming but was unable to react in time to do anything about it, as she sped quickly towards it.
Reaching the front of Airbuster, Tifa let her full rage and strength loose onto the machine with astonishing effect and speed, as she punched it hard several times across its robotic head and front, even knocking it around a few times, before she let loose a powerful punch, and knocked one of its rifles right off, and then the other. Both of them fell off the bridge and fell to the ground many meters below.
Its bomb rifles completely gone, and its front armour now completely battered and dented from the sheer force of Tifa's attacks, Airbuster had clearly been weakened, as Tifa leaped backwards onto the bridge in front of it, panting for breath after her quick and tough series of fist attacks.
Tifa expected it to counter attack against her, and she prepared to try and avoid the attack that was no doubt going to come, expecting it to try and ram hard into her.
But instead, Airbuster suddenly changed direction, spinning around, and it charged at full speed towards Cloud, who would not be able to avoid it or put up a resistance in time with a broken arm, and this time Airbuster intended to run right over him, to crush him to death.
Letting out a cry of dismay, surprise and horror, Tifa quickly tried to rush after Airbuster across the bridge to help Cloud, but knew she wouldn't be able to outrun it in time to save Cloud from the attack. Suddenly, she heard a loud, familiar and most welcome voice shout out from behind her.
"TIFA, GET OUT THE WAY NOW!!" bellowed Barret, in urgent warning, apparently fully alert and back comfortably on his feet, his gun-arm aimed right at the behind of Airbuster, and it was fully charged up, but Tifa was blocking his aim.
Ignoring her startled astonishment at seeing Barret suddenly look perfectly alright now despite the attack against him earlier, Tifa quickly leaped up and somersaulted out of the way into mid-air as Barret fired and unleashed an orange ball of energy from his charged up gun-arm.
The ball of energy flew with lightning-quick speed, flying right below Tifa just before she landed back onto the bridge, and it flew straight towards the exposed part of armour at the back of Airbuster that Cloud had cut open earlier.
Sensing sudden danger, Airbuster stopped on the bridge just five feet in front of Cloud, but before it could turn around, the ball of energy from Barret's fully charged up gun-arm suddenly struck it directly at its exposed back, and immediately exploded on impact, completely reducing the back armour and inner circuitry of Airbuster to pieces in a massive bang.
As a result of the attack, the whole of Airbuster suddenly blew up into pieces in a huge explosion of blazing heat and blinding light, and it took out the part of the bridge that it had been on, but it also took out the nearby part of the bridge that Cloud had been standing on as well.
Suddenly finding himself with no bridge below him, Cloud suddenly fell, but just managed to grab the ruined end of the bridge with his unbroken arm before he could fall, but could not pull himself up, as his other arm was broken from Airbuster's bomb attack earlier. There was a hole now in the middle of the bridge, and Cloud was hanging for dear life on one of the sides of the hole, unable to pull himself back up.
Barret and Tifa were at the opposite side of the hole on the left, and then they saw that the whole Reactor was about to explode, since warning alarms suddenly sounded in the whole Reactor, indicating that it was about to blow.
This meant that Jessie had pushed the remote detonation switch, having no more time to stall for it with technicians trying to disarm the bomb, and the Reactor could now blow up at any near moment.
In great desperation and despair, Tifa tried frantically to reach out for Cloud, leaning across the hole to try and grab him, but she just couldn't reach him, no matter how hard she tried to. He was just too far away, and she couldn't do anything to help him. Barret shouted out in clear alarm.
"Shit, the Reactor's gonna blow! Let's go, Tifa, come on, we need to get out of here right now, the thing's gonna explode any second!" shouted Barret, with clear urgency.
Tifa looked back at Barret, frantically shaking her head, tears beginning to form in her beautiful brown eyes, and she was still crouching down nearby the hole, where Cloud still hung to the edge of it on the other side.
"Barret! Can't you do something to help him, anything to save him…please?" asked Tifa, desperately, pointing to Cloud, and trying in vain to reach him.
Staring over at Cloud, who was still hanging helplessly on the edge of the bridge at the other end of the hole, Barret looked very grim indeed, and shook his head slowly, knowing reluctantly that there was nothing he could do to help either, and he felt sorrow for Tifa and guilt towards Cloud.
"(Since that damn Airbuster robot attacked me, and knocked me backwards across the bridge, I was injured by the attack, but I was always conscious and silently waiting on the floor, charging up my gun and biding my time for a chance to attack and finish the machine for good. The damn thing forgot about me because of it, and the plan worked out, but now…now I'm not so sure it was the best thing to do…maybe it's my fault that Cloud's in this situation…and after seeing him defy the President like that…maybe I judged him too harshly after all…)" thought Barret, gravely, as he spoke up to Tifa, who he knew would be devastated by this, and he dreaded to think how on earth he was going to help her get through this disaster.
"I can't do a damn thing to help him out either, Tifa…I-I'm sorry…I can't reach him from here, and neither can you…so there's nothing we can do to help him. That hole is at least fifteen feet wide, there's no way either or us can get to him," replied Barret, shaking his head hopelessly, looking clearly regretful about the fact that he and Tifa had no choice but to leave Cloud behind to die. Tifa still clearly refused to accept it though, as she screamed at Cloud frantically.
"Cloud, just hang on, don't let go! Please don't die! You can't die, you just can't! There's still so much that I want to tell you, so much that I haven't said to you yet, so much that I want you to know!" shouted Tifa, desperately.
"(Cloud can't die now, he just can't! He can't have gone through all this just to get killed now! And I didn't watch out of him these past few days just so he would d-die! If he dies, then it will be all my fault, I should never have persuaded him to come along on this mission. The only thing I've done because of it was to unknowingly sign his death sentence…!)" thought Tifa, in overwhelming despair and grief, refusing to accept that this was happening, refusing to believe that this moment might be the last one that she would ever see Cloud.
Cloud slowly raised his head and smiled faintly at her, but his eyes were filled with panic and horror at his situation. He couldn't pull himself up, and the others couldn't reach him, the Reactor was about to explode, and he was hanging in mid-air with the slums hundreds of feet below him.
"(Damn it, looks like I'm done for this time…I knew I should never have stayed in AVALANCHE any longer after the first mission. Too late to think about that now…they'll be no payment this time…no, I refuse to believe this is my fate! There has to be a way to survive…but for now, the others had better get out of here, before the Reactor blows up…)" thought Cloud, alarmed and fearing for his life, as he shouted to Tifa.
"I know there's things you wanted to say, Tifa, but there's no time for that! Now, get out of here, leave this area! You'll get fried if you don't! This place could blow any second!" shouted Cloud, urgently. Barret spoke up anxiously, his previous intense distrust and irritation towards the mercenary Ex-SOLDIER seemingly forgotten.
"Hey Cloud, what about you? Are ya gonna be alright?" asked Barret, fully aware that this was a stupid question, but he could think of nothing else to say, his tone of voice and the expression on his face actually showing concern for once.
"Shit! I'm not sure I can hold on anymore for much longer, my broken arm's really getting sore! Barret, if you're going to do something, then just hurry!" shouted Cloud, urgently. Barret sighed wearily, and shook his head.
"Don't you go start crying like a woman, you should have figured it out by now that there's nothing I can do for ya here to help ya. You've gotta do it for yourself, it's the only way for ya to survive," replied Barret, though he doubted that Cloud had any chance of survival from this situation.
"Alright fine, but do me a favour! You just get Tifa out of here now! Just at least make sure that she's safe! You guys worry about yourselves! I'm all right, but take care of Tifa!" shouted Cloud, urgently. Barret nodded grimly, while tears were clearly running down Tifa's face.
"Yeah, I'll take care of her, Cloud. And it might not mean much to ya now, but I'm real sorry…about all of this. We'll meet one day where all brave warriors go," said Barret, solemnly, and Cloud shouted out furiously at him.
"Stop talking like this is the end!" shouted Cloud, sharply, as Barret shrugged, deciding to act as if Cloud really was going to survive this, for his sake.
"Okay then, we'll see ya later then, I guess, Cloud. Just make sure hold on," said Barret, without much conviction in his voice, seriously doubting that he or any of the others would see Cloud alive and well again.
Without warning, the Mako Reactor suddenly exploded, the force of the explosion was massive, and as a result of it, Cloud lost his grip on the edge of the Reactor bridge, and fell right off the bridge, and fell to the slums far below.
Tifa tried to reach out to him over the edge and might have even willingly fallen after him, but Barret stopped her, grabbing her by the shoulders, hurling her back up to her feet, and he ran off, dragging Tifa along with him, who was trying desperately to go back, but when she knew it was too late, she wept as Barret led her and himself out of the Reactor area.
As soon as they had left, the whole Reactor bridge was quickly consumed and destroyed by the huge flames of the explosion, which had completely destroyed the Mako Reactor as planned, as it exploded in a huge ball of fire and a bright flash of light, leaving only ruins of a destroyed Mako Reactor, thick clouds of smoke and flames rising from it. The upper city of Sector 4 nearby had not been harmed or reached by the explosion though, unlike the last mission.
Cloud fell hundreds of feet to the slums far below, until he suddenly crashed straight through the wooden roof of a church in the slums, and he hit the floor of the church hard above the wooden planks of the roof that had come down with him, and darkness took him instantly, leaving no more thoughts or consciousness, as everything suddenly went black…