2
Reactor Number one: Part two
Cloud swept around from the gawking pair to peer over the railing of the platform he was standing on. As he took in the familiar surroundings – ignoring the crumpled figure on the bottom – with a sweep of his gaze, hazy memories began to waft into his thoughts. The metallic walls, high ceiling, and the many pipes and machines were all too familiar, even the lazy buzzing of the reactor working. It seemed that he could remember this place quite well, despite his long absence from it. Like he had explained earlier to the women, as a Soldier, he was hardly ever near a reactor. The thought was disturbing for some reason.
Soon his gaze trailed to a small pair of doors far below, just where it had always had been. Cloud turned to his employer, and the dark man was still wide eyed from what he had just witnessed, staring at the bodies as if they were the most interesting things in the world.
"We're wasting time Barret, shall we get going?" He asked in deliberate patience. The man's head jerked up, then he suddenly seemed to realize how much of a fool he looked like, gawking like a bird, and straightened, his usual scowl back on his face.
"Shit man, wha' tha hell did they feed ya' in ShinRa?" he growled disbelievingly "Yore a monster, ya' hear me? Even I can't wield the big piece o' tin of yores, and look at you!"
A monster was he? The fool should have taken a good look at himself in the mirror before saying that with a damn gun hanging off his arm. And a big piece of tin? His Buster Sword was more than just a piece tin. It was a state of the art design for current Soldier weapons and probably could shear the fool in half like paper. Well, there could be an exception for the big oaf's thick skull.
Cloud managed to maintain a smooth face despite his inner musings and merely shrugged.
"The door down there leads to the heart of the reactor" he said, pointing to the door below. "Let's not waste anymore time. There could be more guards around."
He gestured to the set of stairs on the side, winding down towards the level below. Barret seemed to have regained his old self and roared orders to move out, but Jessie seemed to be still in shock while they raced down the flight of steps, a mixture of awe and horror etched in her look.
As soon as they reached the floor, they raced across the quiet empty space that seemed not needed, past the splattered body of the guard – where Jessie blanched visibly – and to the set of doors Cloud had indicated. Barret pushed the doors open, and they were soon bathed in the room's dim red light.
They were standing on a walkway, and far below he could see platforms and ladders leading down into eerie bluish green glow.
"It's down there" Cloud told them, as he peered down into the lengthy fall below "That's where we'll be able to see the actual current of the Lifestream."
Barret's expression shifted to sudden unease as he saw the ladders. It became worse when he stepped up to the edge of the walkway.
"Frickin' hell! That's a bloody long way down man!" He exclaimed in a wary tone, peering down. Cloud couldn't understand the abrupt change in the man's demeanour.
"What? You got problems with heights?" he asked with a frown, and was answered right back with one. Then the dark man's setback finally snapped into him, as Barret waved his gun-arm in annoyance.
This time, a smirk could not been hidden behind his mask of cool, and it set Barret into another tantrum of rage.
"You wouldn't have problems with a simple ladder, would you now?" Cloud taunted, ignoring Barret's indignity. "You're a tough guy. You should be able to handle this with only one hand, right?"
He was answered with a dignified "Of course!" before he set off in his descent. Barret was right about what he had said though. The way down was incredibly long, and a fall from here would mean an obvious death.
After the first few rungs of the first ladder, Barret joined him, cursing and growling the whole way. Every few rungs, he would yell out in frustration about one thing or another, with very inappropriate words. But down the whole way for Cloud, he was only worried about the big fool slipping and sending both of them plummeting to their deaths. He suddenly wished he could have waited for Barret to go down first.
The ladders and platforms seemed to stretch down forever, but soon enough, the floor slowly grew in size and he leapt off the final ladder, landing with a soft thud. Then quickly remembering the lumbering danger above him, he leapt out of the way just in time as Barret crashed down to where Cloud had stood a second ago, with rolls of sweat pouring down his brow.
"Bloody hell! Wha' were these people thinkin', huh? Why didn' they jus' make another elevator or some shit!" Barret growled "And to think that I have to go back up the frickin' thing!"
Cloud had enough of his whining, and just ignored it. Instead, he saw that the women – what was her name, Jessie? – was missing.
"I tol' Jessie to stay up there as a sentry." He said, as if he had read Cloud's mind "Good thin' too. Wouldn't wan' her going up an' down this shit anyways."
Cloud nodded, and turned to find himself on a narrow walkway stretching all the way to the other side of the circular chamber. He could hear the sound of gently sloshing water, as the ex-Soldier took in the surroundings. The ceiling and walls of the chamber was glimmering with an eerie, green radiance reflecting off from below. He heard Barret's grunt behind him and leaned over the railing.
The bright turquoise Mako, life source and blood of the Planet, was shimmering gently below, swirling around the platform and streaming out of the chamber by another opening on the other side.
The sparkling fluid's hue of deep emerald green and turquoise gave it a mystical look; the sheen was such a glittering wonder that anybody who even glimpsed it would think it beautiful and awe inspiring. And to think that this wondrous, life giving gift from the Planet stretched further in every direction under the soil was a marvellous thought.
It had been a long time since Cloud had last seen this place, and the current of a Lifestream. The swirling stream of blue-green always reminded him of Soldier, his old occupation in ShinRa. Soldier was an elite group of specially trained warrior men, whom had superior strength and fighting skills from those of others. Under the administration of ShinRa, they were deployed for special occasions, which were those that normal soldiers could not handle. In order to be accepted, the men had to meet certain requirements of physical capability and mental discipline, and once chosen by senior members and staff, they would go into a procedure known as the 'Mako Shower'.
As its name suggested, the procedure was literally immersing the members in fine sprays of Mako, thus enhancing their already superior physical stature. Some who were chosen had died due to the high exposure of Mako also known as Mako-poisoning, because their bodies weren't able to take the strain of the Mako and the sudden changes inside them. This also meant only the strongest survived.
The Mako Shower was the reason for the peculiar glow in Cloud's eyes. Once you managed to become a Soldier, you were marked out as one for the rest of your life, by the Mako-enhanced iris that anyone could recognise.
And there was one more thing, although it was very hazy to him. After the Mako shower, Soldiers were injected with a special serum. Some sort of cells… but there seemed to be some kind of a wall in his head, blocking some of his memories.
Barret leaned over the railing next to him, the haunting glow of the Mako turning the big man's small head green.
"Yeah that's Mako alright!" he said "Shit! Look at this Cloud! We're fightin' to save this! And to think that those damn bastards in ShinRa are burnin' it up for their frickin' money!"
Cloud glanced at him, and saw the look of wonder on the man's face. It was odd to see his usual scowl missing, and it suddenly came to the ex-Soldier why a person like this would appreciate the Planet and its Lifestream so much, that he would do something crazy as to go against the world's strongest organization and blow up things. And by what Barret had stated, he had obviously seen Mako before.
"So you've seen Mako before?" Cloud voiced his thoughts to him.
The big man seemed to have not heard, but for a fleeting moment, Cloud thought he saw a slight flicker of the man's dark eyes to him, and miniscule change in Barret expression, from the wonderment to a darker look. It went as fast as it came, but it had definitely been there.
Barret swept around from the railing, and shouted to the ceiling "Common Man! We gotta job to finish!"
Cloud straightened. He was right though, job at hand first then maybe questions later.
As they neared the centre of the walkway, Cloud stopped once more. Right there in the middle of the walkway was a Materia, just like the exact same jewel like green orbs set into his Buster Sword. Maybe someone had dropped it.
"What's the hell is that? You playin' wid jewellery now Spikey?" Barret said mockingly, walking up from behind.
"Can't you recognise a Materia when you see one?" Cloud shot back in an annoyed fashion.
"Ya' mean those pretty little gems made of Mako? Shit, I don' even wanna touch those things man. It's like we're abusin' the Planet wit those things, usin' it as a weapon ya' know? Besides, don't know how to use them" The big man added in as an afterthought with a shrug.
Abusing the Planet? There was no other use for a Materia, a condensed form of solid Mako, other than a weapon. And he didn't know how to use them? Most terrorist made catching them cumbersome with those tiny, magic bestowing orbs.
"You don't even know how to use them? How sad." He said pityingly. "Don't worry though, you'll receive your first lesson with an expert after we're done with this, free of charge!"
To Cloud's displeasure, Barret said nothing with only a slight deepening in his scowl. The dark man then suddenly plunged his left hand into his vest and pulled out a dark spherical object roughly the size of a tennis ball. Cloud immediately recognised what it was.
"Here Spikey," Barret yelled, suddenly tossing the sphere to him. "S' time to prove yourself to Avalanche. I'm givin' you the 'onour of blowin' up our first reactor."
Cloud caught the small explosive deftly out of the air and smiled sardonically "What an honour it is then. It'll be my pleasure."
Tucking the Materia he had picked up safely in his pocket, the ex-Soldier started off for the end of the walkway on the other side of the wall of the chamber, where a small computer like machine was set into it. So he still didn't trust him, fearing mutiny perhaps. Well, at least the man's was cautious and not entirely thick skulled. Cloud couldn't imagine the personal shame that he would have brought down to himself if he was working for someone who had brains of a goat.
He tossed the bomb dangerously high up in the air and caught it on the tip of his finger. Cloud turned around to see Barret, and saw his eyes aflame, his teeth grinding together in fury.
The fool of a man needed keep his cool. He was too quick to his temper, and way too hot headed like a teenage child. Calmness and keeping your cool was the way to do things, and escape irrational decisions and actions. Barret's temper would one day, put him in hot water.
Cloud bent down on his knees to the floor, his fingers poised above the small red button on the bomb...
Watch out! This isn't just a Reactor!
He felt cold metal hard against his cheeks. The resonance of the mysterious voice still echoed in his dizzy head as he found himself sprawled on the floor, the bomb still positioned in his outstretched hands.
"What the hell are you doin' man? You sick or somethin'? Collapsin' like that."
Barret trudged towards him, with an actual look of genuine worry. "You were twitchin' and shit, clutchin, yore head an' all."
Cloud picked himself up, shaking his head vigorously. What in the world was that? It just happened all so fast. One moment he was ready to set the bomb, and the next he was down in a flash, and not to mention the echoing of the strange voice. Had he heard the voice somewhere before? Or was he just really sick?
"It's... it's nothing." He said and clicked the tiny button on the bomb. The small red dot began to flash. Cloud stood and turned to the waiting Barret.
"Nice job Cloud! Now let's get the hell outta here before-"
He was immediately cut off by a sudden wail of sirens; the lights around the chamber began flashing red, plunging the whole room deep crimson. Overhead, the top of the ceiling broke off and plummeted towards platform where Cloud was standing. Thinking quickly, he snatched the bomb from its place and leapt away just in time as the ceiling crashed onto where he had been standing.
Cloud immediately got to his feet to see if Barret had managed to avoid the ceiling, but his worries completely vanished.
The thing standing on top of the ceiling was gigantic. It stood on short but powerful, hooked legs, three on each of sides of its armoured body with two short, rifle mounted arms stretching out from either side of its torso. Arched above its back was its long tail with a very lethal looking pointed tip. The Guard Scorpion was not to be taken lightly as a foe, although outwardly it did look very slow and clumsy.
Without warning, the mechanical arachnid raised one of its rifles, aiming directly at Cloud. He immediately leapt out of the way, just avoiding the hail of bullets that rained down on where he had stood before, but it was not finished there.
Before even his feet could touch the ground, the Scorpion's long tail came at the ex-Soldier at a wide swing, catching him in his chest at a full force. Cloud was sent flying back by the devastating blow and crashed hard into the railings on the side, winded and dazed. With black and white spots dancing in his vision, Cloud forced himself up, completely aware that the Scorpion was not done with him yet. He was also very aware of the bomb that he still miraculously held in his hand and lucky it was still there. If anything happened to it… well he did not want to think about it. Carelessness would be a fatal mistake.
Once back on his feet, Cloud tucked the bomb away in the same pocket as the new Materia and drew his Buster Sword. Holding his weapon firmly in front of him, the ex-Soldier turned to meet his foe. The Guard Scorpion spun slowly; its tail raised high above its head and began to crawl towards its prey.
A close-up combat seemed out of question, unless he could get under the scorpion and strike its unprotected underside… then get crushed under the huge weight of the robot. No, definitely out of question. Cloud glanced at the green orb set into his bracelet. There seemed to be only one way.
Sheathing his sword swiftly onto his back, Cloud tensed to leap aside and at the same time began to concentrate on the green Materia set in his bracelet. The Guard Scorpion reacted like lightning to the ex-Soldier's sudden movement and raised its rifle arm, then…
"Yahhh! Take this ya' big heap o' metal scrap!"
Cloud caught himself in a comical stance with his legs stretched tautly, already in a half leap. At the same time his arms were waving madly in mid air as if in a desperate attempt to fly. He stumbled forward clumsily, his concentration on the green orb broken. He looked up from the ground to see Barret charging towards the Guard Scorpion, yelling madly with his gun-arm spewing bullets towards it. The robot staggered slightly, although it didn't seem to have taken even a slightest dent from the assault. Nevertheless the Guard Scorpion's attention turned to Barret and away from Cloud, giving him a chance for an attack.
"Don't just stan' there! Get yo' spiky ass movin'! Do somthin'!" Barret roared as he threw himself aside from the incoming swing of the Scorpion's tail.
Whether the big man was depending on him to destroy the robot or not, Cloud compromised. He raised his arm towards the distracted scorpion, his finger outstretched and once again focused on the contents of the Materia on his bracelet. The green, jewel like orb began emitting a soft glow, with its emerald surface swirling mysteriously just like its owner's sapphire eyes. The ex-Soldier could feel the odd tingling sensation as the condensed orb of Mako glowed more fiercely this time, surrounding him in an aura of pure green.
A sudden surge of wild electricity rushed through his whole body in an instant second, pulsing from the small Materia. Cloud began a quick mental exercise in his mind, and pictured grasping the current of energy with his hands. As he did, the untamed electricity gushed towards his outstretched hands.
The air seemed to intensify with heat, as the tips of his fingers cackled fiercely with sparks. With a yell, the ex-Soldier balled his hands into fists and launched his bolt of thunder towards the Guard Scorpion. The jagged line of brilliant, blue lightning streaked towards its target and hit home with a thundering crash, surging through the metallic armour to the inner machinery. The Scorpion shuddered violently as the current of electricity heaved through its body, short-circuiting the internal system.
Cloud did not waste any time to launch another bolt at the Robot. The arachnid jolted more violently as another lance of electricity stabbed through it and staggered sideways into a crazy, lopsided dance. Now was the opportunity for a close-strike, maybe the finishing move. But before even he could grasp the hilt of his Buster Sword, something happened.
There was a bright flash of light then a sudden blast, as the whole side of the Guard Scorpion's body exploded to pieces. The robot toppled to the floor in a mess of smoking, metal plates and wires. Cloud lowered his shielding arms from his eyes to see Barret with his left arm holding up his smoking prosthetic gun-arm… which looked very different.
The big leader blew out heavily in exertion and turned to Cloud, a large grin playing on his lips.
"Charged Particle cannon." He said proudly as he hefted the slightly larger single barrel attached to his prosthetic instead of the many small barrels of his gatling gun. "I callit the Big Shot. You can see why I call it that, eh spikey?"
The ex-Soldier had to admit, the new weapon packed quite a punch. Maybe the big oaf wasn't so much of it after all. Of course, Cloud would never admit it outright.
"Where was it in the first place, huh?" He scoffed instead and turned away "It could've saved us much trouble you know."
Barret scowled his usual, as he ejected the Big Shot cannon from his arm and replaced it with his old Gatling gun. "Hey, don'tcha even know how ta' say thanks?" he growled "And s'called the right timin' ya' know? I was jes' choosin' the right time to-"
As Barret's device clicked in, something else clicked into Cloud. He turned to face Barret in his mid sentence with an unnatural look of uneasiness "Barret, how long was the bomb set to detonation?"
The big man's dark eyes widened in alarm. "Shit! Do ya' even have it with ya'?" He asked; panic definitely ensuing in his voice.
Cloud fished the beeping bomb from his pocket in a hurry, and to his horror, saw that there was less then ten minutes to get out. They had to get out of there now, unless they wanted the Lifestream as their grave.
"Ten minutes," Cloud said. Barret swore loudly.
Cloud positively threw the bomb onto the floor before he and Barret dashed down the narrow walkway to the ladder. The ex-Soldier leapt onto the rungs and began to haul himself up through the ways leading upwards to the exit in a lightning pace. As he leapt to the topmost walkway to the door, he found Jessie crouched down on her knees.
"My leg's stuck!" She groaned miserably as she attempted in vain to pull her leg out of a crack in the walkway. As soon as he pulled her leg free, Barret clambered on to the walkway. He was red faced and sweaty, but Cloud was just glad he had managed a quick climb by himself.
"Thanks Cloud!" Jessie said smiling at him "That took awhile though-"
"Common, we have to get outta here." Cloud cut her off none too gently "We got less then ten minutes to get out." He turned to Barret, crouched over and still breathless from the climb. "You okay big guy?"
The dark man straightened immediately and scowled. "Course I am! Watchoo think yore doin' eh? Get the hell movin'!"
Cloud lead the group out of the room without further ado and into the large, high ceiling chamber. They ran up the many stairs and dashed to the elevator, not even giving the dead bodies a glance. Cloud reached the button to the elevator first and tapped the button repeatedly in desperation. The pair of doors slid open slowly, too slowly for the ex-Soldier's liking, but opened nevertheless. As soon as Cloud stepped onto the elevator the others followed suit in a hurry, followed by Jessie immediately reaching for the glowing red arrow pointing upwards.
The ascent back to the upper world seemed to be tenfold slower, the speed of the elevator almost taunting its occupant's haste. The minutes it took seemed stretch to the ten minutes they had to get out. For that long, frustrating wait, Cloud had to endure Barret's incoherent growls and grumbles while he himself tried hard to keep his cool over the situation. Jessie was just in a pure state of agitation, biting her nails, tapping her feet and looking down at her bare wrists occasionally, then realizing she had no watch on, shook her head vigorously only to repeat it few seconds later.
After what seemed like an eternity of anxiety and waiting, the elevator shuddered to a stop. Cloud and two Avalanche members burst out as soon as the doors split open, only to be stopped in another time wasting confrontation.
"What tha' hell are you doin' on this side of the door, huh?" It was Biggs who Barret was shouting at. Slumped on the ground with his back to door, the lean man jolted to his feet as soon as the trio entered the small room. The look on his face was not a happy one, and the reply he gave answered why.
"The alarm must've been triggered" He said "and about half a dozen guards turned up so I had to jump in here and lock the door with the decoder Jessie used. They probably don't know the password or else I would be dead meat by now." And sure enough, there were voices on the other side of the door, sounding angry and heated. The cover of the security panel lay on the floor as if it was ripped off the wall in a hurry then thrown across the room, and the innards of the security panels were connected to the small decoder. "It'll only be a matter of time before they send a technician to open it."
Barret let out a stream of words so colourful, that Cloud could almost feel his ears starting to rot. However Cloud couldn't help but feel for the guy, as his own cool was diminishing rapidly as well. Time was wasting, and by estimation, there was less than three or two minutes to get out. He had to do something fast and there was no time for a carefully structured plan.
"You said there were about half a dozen?" he asked Biggs while taking his Buster Sword off his back. The lean man nodded in response. "Then get the door ready to open. And get ready to run as fast as you can."
Biggs nodded and ran straight for the security panel while the other two crowded behind him.
"Ya' think you can go 'gainst more o' them this time?" Barret said doubtfully. The ex-Soldier did not respond and instead shrugged nonchalantly. If they were all guards, yes. If there was even one from Soldier in them, then it would be a problem.
Cloud felt for his Materia once more, but this time, for the one set to his Buster Sword. He concentrated, and as the green aura surrounded him, Cloud did not feel the sudden pulse of electricity in him as he did before. Instead, the temperature began to drop around him, as if the air around him was cooling rapidly, and the doors opened.
There were six guards in total just as Biggs had said, all crowded near the elevator and cramped between the desks and equipments. They all turned in surprise as the door opened and raised their rifles, yelling loudly. Yelling was the last thing they could do.
Cloud charged forward and swung his hand in a wide, arc like motion. The icy coldness encircling him jumped to the guards to and materialized into true frost, freezing half of them solid in a case of ice. The rest screamed in pain as they were partially encased, cold knives of frozen moisture cutting into their flesh.
"Run!" Cloud shouted, but the three were already ahead, rampaging through the desks and computers to the other side of the room. He sped after them in a hurry, leaving the frozen guards screaming and leapt over the mess the others had made to the door. Soon he was out into the narrow corridor, running behind Jessie and the rest in a mad dash.
How much more time they had, only god could know. A minute? Seconds? It could have been right then, as the ex-Soldier rushed out the reactor entrance to the walkway outside. He heard Barret's frantic shout for Wedge to open the door over their rattling steps. The fat little man was exactly where he had been left, crouching by the large door to the next sector. He immediately leapt to his feet and obliged to Barret's orders, the doors slid open upwards, revealing a tunnel.
It was then, that it happened. It first began with a rumbling and a thundering explosion as the walkway they were standing on shook violently. Cloud was thrown off his feet as the platform rocked sideways, almost falling over the side below to nothingness. He saw Jessie beginning to tip over the side as well and lunged for her arm just before she fell. Swinging her bodily onto his shoulder, Cloud ran for the exit where the others were already waiting. Another eruption fired, accompanied this time with the sound of roaring flames. Cloud felt intense heat behind his back, and dared not turn. With the last ounces of strength left in his leg, he leapt the last few metres between him and the door, and soared through it. As he crashed to the floor with Jessie still in tow, he heard Barret's roars to shut the door over more sounds of blasts behind.
It was the last thing the ex-Soldier heard before the tunnel shook and crashed to the floor, and darkness consumed everything.