Final Fantasy 7

Emerald Princess of Vernea

Chapter Two


The group of three then fell silent as the lift continued to move deeper into the reactor building. All the while Barret refused to look back at Cloud, for he was fuming by Cloud's lack of concern for the safety of the Planet.

Quite frankly Cloud couldn't care less about Barret and his team. He knew far more about the Shinra and its reactors – far more than the likes of Barret did, and would ever know. He knew what sort of security Shinra had within the reactor buildings, and no matter how much research Barret and his cronies did, they would never understand the true scale of Shinra's reactors.

At that moment the lift gave a sudden shudder as it came to a stop on the level below, and the door slid open. Straight away Jessie ran through to the section beyond. Barret glared at Cloud and nodded his head towards the door. He wanted Cloud to go first so he could keep an eye on him. Cloud sighed heavily and shook his head almost pitifully, and then ran through the door of the lift, with Barret following closely behind him.

The next area was part of the main reactor system. There was a large metal structure in the middle of the hall, rising up until it almost touched the ceiling. There were a number of large, round pipes flowing all around the area, going into the walls and the floor, pumping power throughout the whole facility. The whole place was a booby trap in itself, which was why the reactors and maintenance was so important. One thing could go wrong in the building, and the whole place would explode.

A set of stairs wound their way down the side of the metal structure, and Jessie, Barret and Cloud were hurriedly making their way down those stairs. Time was of the essence, since they had no idea when the guards in the building would be alerted of their presence. There was a single door based at the bottom of those stairs, leading into another chamber, and the three intruders kicked the door open and ran through.

Now they were in the real bowels of the reactor chamber. The way they had entered was almost like a back passage, since the only way through was by going across a number of grids crossing about twenty metres above the ground. Jessie had managed to hack her way into the Shinra database and knew the outline of the reactor pretty well, so she led the way as they entered the reactor itself and began to run across the grids. The only way further down into the reactor was by going down a number of angled ladders towards over criss-cross grids.

Jessie's stop was around here. As they climbed down the first ladder and onto the next level, Jessie ran over towards the other end and stopped by another ladder. She nodded at Barret, who nodded back at her. Now it was Barret's turn to lead the way down towards the reactor, whilst still keeping a close eye on Cloud.

The AVALANCHE leader jumped up onto the next ladder and began to slide down towards the pipes below, and then ran across the bulky, spherical pipes that crossed over the ceiling above the main floor. Cloud followed him across the pipes and down the final ladder, until they finally reached the level where the reactor was based.

Together Barret and Cloud walked down the long walkway towards the reactor. On either side where the bridge ended, there was a long drop towards the bottom. More pipes were gathered there, and clouds of red-hot steam prevented them from seeing what lay at the very bottom.

The reactor lay just ahead of them. It wasn't very big in itself, for it was just a large cylinder half embedded in the wall, with faded, burnt writing scrawled over its surface. Of course within the wall there would be numerous contraptions designed for sucking out the Mako and converting it into energy to power the city, but that wasn't what they were interested in. It was the reactor that they wanted.

As they approached, Cloud spotted something out of the corner, laid on the grated floor just a few metres from the reactor. It was a small green ball about the size of a tennis ball, and looked at first like a giant marble, although there was a strange kind of shimmer to it. Cloud knew what it was straight away. It was known as 'Materia'. It was a ball of compressed Mako energy that had been released from the reactor. Each bit of Materia had a different use. Cloud actually had two pieces of similar-looking Materia himself, slotted in special slots the black armlet he wore around the base of his black gloves. Two more slots were embedded on the blade of his sword.

Barret also spotted the Materia on the floor, just after Cloud. He took a quick glance at the ex-SOLDIER, before he swiftly reached down and picked the Materia up, putting it safely in his pocket so Cloud could not get it. Cloud looked back at him blankly, not really bothered. Barret glared at Cloud angrily, and then walked up towards the reactor in front of them.

"When we blow this place, this ain't gonna be more than a hunka junk!" he said to Cloud as he looked up at the reactor. There was a strong sense of hatred in his voice as he spoke about the reactor; similar to the way he spoke to Cloud. Barret turned around and pointed to Cloud. "Cloud, you set the bomb."

"Shouldn't you do it?" asked Cloud.

"Just do it!" Barret shouted suddenly, waving his strong arms angrily in the air. "I gotta watch to make sure you don't pull nothin'!"

Cloud sighed heavily. "Fine. Be my guest," he muttered.

He took a step forward, but all of a sudden he stopped. He froze to the spot, his muscles tightening almost until they hurt. A wave of cold ran through his veins, although he was not afraid. At the same time a high- pitched whistle began to ring in his ears.

Watch out!!

This isn't just a reactor!!


The whistling faded, and Cloud felt his muscles relax and let him breathe once again. Surprised, Cloud stepped back and shook his head, shaking off that peculiar feeling that he had just experienced. There had been no voice the way he would describe a voice, and he wasn't sure whether he had heard anything at all. Barret clearly hadn't heard anything, for he was looking at Cloud with an impatient look on his angry face.

"What's wrong?" he demanded.

Cloud looked up and blinked. "Huh?"

"What's wrong, Cloud, hurry up!" Barret ordered him, growing very annoyed with Cloud's stalling.

"Yeah... sorry," Cloud apologised.

He shook his head again and blinked. The feeling had disappeared now, and he could no longer hear the dreadful whistling in his ears. Whatever it was that had startled him so suddenly had gone now. Barret was becoming more intolerant of him by the second, so Cloud walked forward towards the reactor. Barret reached into his pocket and pulled out a small device, and passed it to Cloud. It was a bomb, one that clearly had been made by AVALANCHE themselves, and not one they had got professionals to make. Jessie was an expert in those kinds of matters, and she had made this bomb herself. It was small and fragile, but would be very effective against the reactor. Cloud took the makeshift device and knelt down beside the reactor.

He placed the bomb at the foot of the reactor, pushing it right against the wall in its darkest crevice so that no one would spot it and disarm it before it could go off. There was a small keypad on the front of the bomb, to input a time limit. Cloud typed in 10:00. Ten minutes would be all they needed to make their way out of the building again, giving time to fight off any security that came their way.

All of a sudden, a loud siren went off, ringing loudly throughout the reactor chamber. Barret looked up in surprise as a red light flooded the chamber. They should have known planting the bomb on the reactor wasn't going to be that easy. A loud grating noise suddenly began to reverberate throughout the chamber, and Cloud stood up and looked behind him.

"Heads up, here they come!" shouted Barret.

Coming down the corridor towards them was a rather nasty-looking robot. It looked like a giant, chunky scorpion made of red metal, standing on two thick legs that ended in pointy tips, digging into the metal grating as it stomped its way down the path towards Barret and Cloud. On either side of its body were two stocky arms, and over its chest was a metal plate bearing a searchlight, which was waving around frantically as it searched for the intruders. Its face was just a chunk of metal with flashing lights on the front, but rising up behind the robot was a large metal tail that was relaxed at that moment, and was tipped with a laser. Apart from SOLDIER, this was Shinra's most deadly weapon: a Roboguard.

Barret raised his arm and cocked the gun embedded there, filling its chamber with a number of bullets. Cloud reached up behind him and drew his monstrous sword, holding it strongly in front of him with both hands.

The Roboguard came storming up towards them, guided by its searchlight as it swept over the two intruders. It stopped on the path just a few metres away from where they were, and spread its arms wide. The robot was so huge that it blocked the path completely, leaving Cloud and Barret with no means of escape.

Barret lifted his arm and aimed his gun at the robot. The gun was attached to certain nerves in his arm that allowed him to control the gun without a trigger, and as Barret desired it the gun suddenly fired, releasing a chain of bullets into the air. The bullets hit the robot's hard plated surface and penetrated instantly, ripping their way through the metal towards the robot's inner circuitry. The Roboguard shuddered violently as the bullets hit it, and fell to its knees, but it wasn't defeated that easily.

The Roboguard pushed itself back up and dug its pointed feet hard into the metal grating. In return the Roboguard popped open a plate on its chest, revealing a small gun. The Roboguard fired at Barret. Hurriedly Barret jumped back to dodge the bullets, and Cloud dodged swiftly to the side. The bullets sailed past and hit the floor around the reactor. Large holes were punched through the metal as the bullets collided, missing Barret only by inches. Barret found himself cornered in the corner of the reactor, with Roboguard staring at him angrily through its flashing lights.

Barret was safer than he realised, though. The Roboguard knew that it couldn't fire on the reactor, so it couldn't fire on Barret while he was there. It hesitated for a second, and then began to turn a little towards the other viable target: Cloud.

Cloud lifted his sword up and held it in front of him, grasping the handle tightly in both his hands. The Roboguard turned towards him, although it was unable to move much because it was in the slim width of the metal path. However it turned just enough to face Cloud, and raised its long metal tail up in the air. Once it was raised up above its head it stiffened and began to quiver slightly, as though trembling in anticipation.

Cloud did not move, for he knew what the Roboguard was doing. He glanced over towards Barret, who was just raising his gun-arm to fire on the robot while it seemed frozen.

"Barret, be careful," Cloud warned him hurriedly. "Don't attack while its tail's up! It's gonna counterattack with its laser."

Barret glared at Cloud with an angry look. He was still unsure as to whether he could trust him or not, since he was a former enemy. Cloud looked back at Barret with a serious look in his eye, and Barret finally listened and withdrew, and together they waited as the robot stood in front of them, its tail poised.

Finally, the tail began to slacken and fall back down behind the robot, and the Roboguard finally began to relax a little.

Straight away Barret raised his gun-arm and fired a series of bullets at the Roboguard, and it made a hideous screaming sound as the bullets struck its hard armour. It even withdrew a little, though not by much, for it was surprised by the attack, and not harmed.

Cloud turned to Barret and signalled for him to cover him. Barret caught Cloud's signal and nodded his head, and watched as Cloud turned to the robot.

The ex-SOLDIER spun his sword behind him and put it back in its strap on his back. He then turned to the robot and ran forward, falling on his back as the Roboguard swung one of its arms round to hit him. It missed Cloud by inches, and he skidded on the metal ground until he was underneath the Roboguard's body. As soon as Cloud was safely underneath the robot Barret began to fire again, and more screeching screams came from it as the bullets hit their targets.

Underneath the robot, Cloud found himself looking up at the underside of the Roboguard. He flipped open a small hatch on the underside of the robot to where the main controls was hidden. Inside there were a number of flashing lights. While the robot shuddered and stamped its feet around him, Cloud began to punch a few of the buttons, trying to find the one that would deactivate the robot. Eventually he found it, and pushed it.

There was a huge sigh from the robot as its power supply was cut off, and it sagged suddenly against the ground, nearly crushing Cloud as he slid out from under it. The robot's arms fell down onto the ground, and the lights on its 'face' went dark and empty. Now the robot was like a corpse blocking their path, no longer a threat. Barret went over to the robot and looked it over, a look of disgust on his face. He suddenly kicked the robot angrily.

The alarm was still going on around them. There was no doubt now that the soldiers in the building knew where they were, and it would only be a matter of time before soldiers came to take the place of their fallen robot guard. Cloud looked at Barret.

"Come on, let's get outta here," he said. Barret looked back at him and nodded.

He and Barret both clambered over the powerless robot, and began to run down the corridor back the way they came, heading for the exit. There was only about ten minutes left on the bomb they had set, and no doubt Jessie, Biggs and Wedge would be getting anxious with the building ready to blow at any minute.

The two threw themselves on the ladder and began to climb up at top speed to Jessie's lookout spot. As they reached the top Barret immediately turned and ran for the next ladder to head out of the building. Cloud was about to follow him, when he suddenly saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned back and saw Jessie still standing by her lookout. She had her back turned to him and appeared to be tugging on something.

"You all right?" Cloud asked, running over to her.

As he neared her he saw that Jessie had caught her leg in a piece of broken metal grating, and she was trying to tug it free.

"My leg got stuck," Jessie replied, and Cloud knelt down beside her to help pull her leg out of the grate. It came away quickly, and Jessie stood up. "Thanks."

She and Cloud then turned and began to follow Barret up the ladder. Barret, of course, was already out of the building and halfway up the stairs towards the lift. As he expected there were a few soldiers running down the stairs after him now, but Barret very easily disposed of them, either by shooting them with his gun-arm or simply by throwing them over the sides of the stairs. Even as Cloud and Jessie followed further down, they had to fend off the soldiers coming up the stairs. None of them wanted to be in that building when it blew.

They eventually made it to the lift. Barret ran in first, followed by Cloud and Jessie. Jessie ran straight to the button and pushed it repeatedly to make it go up, and the lift doors shut tight as the lift began to shakily go up. As the lift went up Jessie looked at her watch impatiently, counting off the seconds in her head. She glanced up at Cloud and gave a shaky smile. She was anxious, but was still enjoying the thrill of what she was doing.

The lift finally stopped and the three poured out onto the corridor. Biggs was waiting for them at the end, standing by the door that had shut as the alarm sounded. Jessie tore on ahead of Cloud and Barret and rapidly punched in the code to open the door. It was a different code now, but she had done her research well and was prepared.

"Code deciphered!" she shouted over the sound of the siren. The doors opened and they all fell through, where Biggs ran to the next door and punched in his own code.

"Code deciphered!" he yelled as the doors opened, and the group ran through.

The AVALANCHE members darted out of the room and back onto the T-Junction corridor. Wedge was still waiting for them impatiently at the door on the opposite side to where they came in, looking around anxiously as the alarm sounded around him. He looked up in relief as he saw the others running his way, and he kicked open the door to let them through.

One by one the group dashed through the door, with only a few seconds left before the bomb would blow. As they ran Jessie suddenly tripped over her boot and fell onto the ground, lying stunned until a pair of strong arms suddenly pulled her roughly up off the ground. It was Cloud. Once she was up she began to run again, with Cloud close behind her, and through the door.

As they ran through the door a loud explosion occurred from within the building they had just left, and a giant ball of flames suddenly burst through the doors and into the corridor as the bomb exploded. The entire building shook violently as though struck by an earthquake.

Then the main explosion occurred. Outside the reactor suddenly exploded, sending a large shockwave of energy hurtling through the air and across the city of Midgar. A ball of flames rose up into the air, followed by a mushroom-shaped cloud of smoke. The smoke rose quickly into the air, blending into the dark land around it. Bits of metal from the exploded reactor fell out around the sector where it had been built, and down into the city below. No doubt the whole city heard the explosion, and the flames could be seen for miles around.