"Every man has his own destiny: the only imperative is to follow it, to accept it, no matter where it leads him."

Henry Miller

Vincent crouched on Junon's wall, silent and unmoving. He knew Cloud and the others would be arriving some time after nightfall, but as for exactly when, he had no clue. It was past midnight, but Vincent sat patiently, ready to wait all night if he had to.

He let his eyes drift for a minute towards a section of stone at the base of the wall. Vincent had spent the last two weeks or so chiseling out a chunk of the wall so that it could be pushed away when needed, but not be noticed by Junon guards.

However, Vincent wasn't sure that he should worry about the Junon guards any longer. Recently, Junon had been in a state of complete chaos. Everyone had been denied access to the main building in which the president resided, Vincent included. Because of this, Vincent had no idea what was causing the state of disarray.

He had heard the rumors though. Vincent frowned as he scanned the horizon. The word on the street was that President Kale had gone mad, and all the other SOLDIERS were missing. No one could understand what had caused this sudden insanity, but Vincent had a dark suspicion that the combination of stress, Mako, Jenova cells, and too much power had finally caused their brains to snap.

One thing was for sure though: Junon was not going to last for long. Someone, Heidegger probably, was trying to make it seem as though nothing was wrong, but it was a feeble illusion. Recruits had abandoned their duties days ago and returned to their families. A few brave civilians had even left Junon, trying to make their way home again.

Vincent was confident that the mission Cloud and the others were executing later that night would be easier than they had previously expected. The weak government that President Kale had set up was already crumbling; it wouldn't take too much to destroy it completely. This would all be over very soon.

Suddenly, Vincent's eyes narrowed in on several shapes in the distance. It appeared to be six figures on chocobos. Vincent knew it must be them, but waited an extra minute, until he could make out Cloud's spiky head. Yuffie was right behind him on her chocobo, the Turks behind her, and in the back, Barret, who always traveled rather slowly on chocobo.

Vincent remained still for a minute, until Cloud raised his hand, signaling that he had seen him. Vincent raised his hand likewise, and silently jumped down the wall, disappearing from their view for a minute. One clawed hand, and one normal hand ran over the wall, carefully feeling over the crevices between the stones.

Finally, he felt where the mortar had been chiseled away, and he pushed against it with all his strength. After a minute, the chunk of wall popped out of place, and began sliding, causing the chocobos on the other side to wark disgruntledly as they moved out its way. When there was at least four feet of space to pass through the wall, Vincent stopped pushing, and look to the others.

They had all dismounted from their chocobos, and were looking towards him, faces serious. Cloud's huge swords was strapped to his back, and the others had their weapons at hand also. Vincent silently motioned them to come in quickly. Cloud gave Yuffie a gentle push, and she went first, closely followed by the others, Cloud bringing up the rear.

Once inside, they remained silent still. Vincent began walking in towards the city, and could hear the soft footsteps of the others following him. He would guide them through the numerous, poverty-stricken streets of Junon city, until they reached the old part of Junon fort where President Kale was waiting. Then it would be up to them.

This is much worse than last night... Tifa thought miserably. She was curled up in a chair near her bed, not even bothering to attempt sleeping. The sky was pitch black that night, and she hoped that it would help hide Cloud and the others as they sneaked into Junon. This thought caused her heart to flutter anxiously, and she closed her eyes, trying to keep her breathing steady.

Eyes still closed, Tifa went over the plan. She knew the plan as well as Cloud, Yuffie, Barret, Reno, Rude, and Elena. She had attended nearly all the meetings. Now, however, she wished that she didn't know anything at all about the plan, because it was replaying in her head over and over again.

In her mind, she imagined Cloud and the others meeting Vincent at the wall, and being guided through the city. Then, instead of taking the elevator, the Turks would lead them to the back staircase that was rarely used, and few knew of. Tifa imagined Cloud running up the many stairs, ignoring the inevitable complaints that would come from Barret, Yuffie, and Reno. Rude would probably just roll his eyes, but Elena probably wouldn't be able to restrain herself from making a snappy comment to Reno about not being able to handle a few stairs.

With or without the complaints, they'd reach the top of the staircase. The top door would be locked, but there was a control box nearby, and Elena knew how to dismantle the lock-system. Elena would work quickly and efficiently as always, as the others looked on, Rude glaring at Reno to keep him from saying anything to distract Elena. Barret would probably be adjusting his gun-arm, still grumbling under his breath about the unnecessary amount of stairs. Yuffie would be hopping from foot to foot, an anxious ball of energy. Cloud... Tifa smiled. He was probably calm as always, keeping an eye on the others, making sure that no one was going to have a break-down at the last minute.

Finally, Elena would look up from the control box and give Reno that triumphant look she always gave him when she did something he thought she couldn't do. He'd open his mouth to make a rebuttal, but Rude would cut him off with a glare. They'd open the door...

In her mind, Tifa saw the SOLDIERS lined up outside the door, waiting for them. Cloud and the others weren't expecting them to be there, giving the SOLIDERS the advantage. Even though Cloud, Yuffie, Barret, and the Turks would recover quickly from the unpleasant surprise, they would still be outnumbered. Cloud would turn to the others, telling them to run for it, and in that moment of vulnerability, the SOLDIERS would stab at him, causing him to fall to the floor, bleeding and dying...

Tifa's eyes sprung open, her heart pounding out of control and her breaths coming in panicked gasps. Her hands were clenched in tight fists, her nails digging deeply into her palms. She felt the baby kick in her stomach over and over in response to her distress.

She carefully unclenched her hands, and began rubbing her bulging stomach slowly, forcing herself to regain calm. She took careful deep breaths, reminding herself that it wasn't good for the baby if she kept getting so worked up.

That's not the way the plan's supposed to go... she reminded herself firmly. There's no reason for President Kale or any of the SOLIDERS to expect an attack. Even as she told herself this, she couldn't ease the anxious knot in her chest. She remembered how terrified she had been of Kale when she had been imprisoned in Junon... It seemed like so long ago. We've made it out of Junon- against all odds- several times before... Tifa thought, relaxing slightly as the baby's persistent kicks ended. Cloud and the others can do it again.

Tifa sighed. She needed to find a distraction before she ran out of reassuring things to tell herself. She grabbed the armrests of the chair and hoisted herself slowly to her feet. The extra weight of pregnancy made her pause for a moment, wrapping a supportive arm around her abdomen.

Once she felt sufficiently balanced, she left her room, pulling on a robe as she did so. She closed her door quietly and made her way down the hall. As she left the darkened hallway, she was surprised to find that the lights were on in the kitchen, and Marlene and Mrs. Elmyra were up and talking. Mrs. Elmyra's eyes widened in shock as she saw Tifa.

"Tifa!" she gasped, coming forward to help her into a chair. "We didn't wake you up did we dear?"

Tifa gave Mrs. Elmyra a small smile shook her head.

"I just couldn't sleep, that's all." Tifa said softly, eyes lowered slightly.

Mrs. Elmyra nodded in understanding, and turned back to the teakettle. Marlene got up from her seat and moved to the one next to Tifa, looking up at her with wide-eyed adoration.

"I couldn't sleep either Tifa." she whispered. "I wanted to come in and sleep with you again, but Mrs. Elmyra said I should let her make me a hot drink instead."

Tifa smiled and Marlene and looked over to the empty cup next to her.

"Did it work?" Tifa whispered back. "Did it make you sleepy?"

Marlene giggled and shook her head vigorously. Tifa almost felt herself smiling again. At least I'm not alone... she thought, gratefully accepting a warm cup of tea from Mrs. Elmyra. As soon as Marlene saw that Tifa had tea, she demanded that her cup be filled too, and they all sat around the table together sipping tea, talking cheerfully despite the anxiety in their hearts.

"I got it!" Elena whispered, eyes glimmering in triumph.

She smiled at the others, and the others gave her approving nods, except for Reno, who yawned in boredom. She pointedly ignored him. Everyone's eyes met, and all of the sudden, there was a thick tension in the air. Cloud slowly looked over everyone, meeting their eyes and making sure they were ready.

Cloud nodded shortly, and everyone nodded in return. They followed quietly to the door, eyes trained on his hand as he fiddled with the doorknob. After a minute there was a clicking noise and the door opened a crack. Cloud paused a minute to give Elena the thumbs-up before gently pushing the door open.

Empty... Cloud thought, scanning the hall. A wave of relief swept through the small group as the others saw that everything was going as expected. The hallway was dark, but Cloud noted with relief that the emergency lights were on. It wouldn't have been good if they were forced to run around blindly as they had last time. Elena, Reno, and Rude must have been having similar thoughts; they were glancing at the lights gratefully.

They began walking cautiously down the hall. Cloud stepped gingerly, trying to minimize the sound of his footsteps as much as he could. The silence was beginning to get eerie. He listened carefully, but all he could hear was the footsteps of the others. Yuffie poked him in the shoulder.

"Hey Cloud..." she whispered, in a voice shockingly quiet for Yuffie. "Why's it so empty and quiet?"

Cloud just shook his head and motioned for her and the others to continue on. Anxiety was mounting again. Cloud remembered what Vincent had told him about the recruits in Junon shirking duty, and SOLDIERS disappearing... but Cloud couldn't believe that Junon fort was be completely abandoned.

The small group kept going, not making a sound. Every now and then, one of the Turks would nudge Cloud and point down a hall, directing him in the right direction. Kale's office was the first place they were going to check.

Just as they spotted the heavy doors that led to the president's office, Elena gave a strangled scream. Cloud turned around so fast it made his head spin, sword already in hand. But by the time he turned around, everyone was silent again, their eyes trained on Elena.

One hand was pressed firmly around her collarbone, where a cut snaked down from her neck, and the other hand was gripping her gun tightly, pointing it at Heidegger's forehead. The hand holding the gun was steady, even as blood stained the top of her blouse.

Cloud rushed forward, placing his sword at Heidegger's neck, as Reno and Rude pulled Elena back. He watched the three Turks out the corner of his eye. Elena was weakly trying to push the other two off her as they fussed over the cut. It was deep, and Elena was pale and shaky, but it didn't seem as though she were in any immediate danger.

Cloud refocused his eyes on the pathetic man in front of him. As Cloud narrowed his Mako-eyes menacingly, Heidegger gulped, and dropped his blood-stained dagger to the floor. It clanged loudly through the silent hall as it landed. Heidegger closed his eyes at the loud noise. His knees were shaking. It seemed as though stress had taken any scrape of nerves he had. Nevertheless, Cloud kept his sword pressed firmly to his neck.

"Where is everyone?" Cloud asked lowly and clearly.

Heidegger took a few trembly breaths before answering.

"They won't come up here." he whispered.

Cloud quickly exchanged glances with the others.

"Why not?" he asked, unable to keep the curiosity out of his voice.

He didn't answer. Barret grumbled impatiently and adjusted his gun-arm menacingly. Heidegger eyes darted throughout the group. His eyes rested on Yuffie for a minute, who seemed to be the least frightening, but she quickly gave him a wicked grin and fingered the sharp blades of her Shruiken. Heidegger didn't even bother to look towards Reno and Rude, who were carefully supporting Elena and glaring at Heidegger with looks that could burn.

A sudden crashing noise caused everyone's heads to whip behind them. Heidegger took their momentary distraction, and ran down the hall. He was surprisingly quick for someone of his stature. Reno angrily made to chase after him, but Cloud put out an arm and shook his head.

"He's not worth it." Cloud told him firmly.

Reno looked from Heidegger's pathetic waddle to Elena's bloodstained shirt, and slumped his shoulders, sighing. He walked back over to Elena and Rude. Once Cloud was sure that Reno wasn't going anywhere, he looked over to Yuffie and Barret, who were searching for the source of the crashing noise.

"What was that?" he whispered.

Barret looked up from where he was crouched.

"Somethin' knocked over this locker..." he grunted, motioning at the knocked over locker.

Cloud looked at the row of lockers. Yuffie was fiddling with the handle of one.

"Maybe there's someone hiding in here?" she said quietly. "If only I could get this door op-"

She stopped abruptly as the door swung open. A second later, she shrieked shrilly, running to the opposite side of the hallway and pressing herself against the wall. The others followed her as a bunch of scurrying furry things scrambled across the floor.

"Ugh rats..." Elena whispered weakly yet disgustedly.

When the rats had passed, they all exchanged confused and slightly disgusted glances.

"Why are there rats?" Reno asked.

Cloud, Elena, Yuffie, and Barret just shrugged but Rude spoke up grimly.

"Something is feeding them..." he said.

His words caused shivers to crawl up the spines of the others as they considered the gruesome possibilities of his words. Yuffie's nose was wrinkled up in disgust, but her eyes were big with fear. The other's while not quite as expressive as Yuffie, were beginning to feel fear seep into them. Cloud shook his head.

"There's no reason to be scared." he told them firmly despite his own disgust. "Whatever is feeding the rats... is no longer a threat to us."

The others nodded to show they understood, and tried to regain composure. They walked to the heavy double doors of Kale's office, apprehensive about what they would find inside. They all readied their weapons. Cloud opened the doors.

The first thing that hit them when they walked in the office was the smell. They gagged loudly hands immediately pulling their shirts over their noses, doing anything the muffle the smell.

"Lights!" Cloud gasped, feeling sick.

There was a muffled scrambling behind him and then suddenly the office was filled with light. Reno gave a strangled shout as he realized that he was standing barely a foot away from a decaying body. Yuffie had both hands pressed over her mouth, her weapon dropped to the ground forgotten. Barret and Rude just shook their heads, looking sickened. Elena had shut her eyes, face covered with her jacket.

"Let's get out of here!" Yuffie choked.

The others seemed to agree with her, and Cloud had to admit that it was a tempting idea, but they couldn't leave until they were sure.

The other's watched Cloud disbelievingly as he strode up to Kale's desk. Kale was slumped over it, unmoving. When he was close enough to reach out and touch him, Cloud stopped. With the tip of his sword Cloud lifted up Kale's torso.

The other's let out a simultaneous moan as they saw Kale's face and Cloud let him fall back down to the desk. He turned away, nausea creeping up his throat.

They now knew what the rats had been eating.

"Let's get out of here." Cloud managed to choke out.

He didn't have to tell them twice. They scrambled out the door as quickly as they could, and Cloud could hear them gasping for clean air as he followed them. Before he closed the door behind him, he gave the room one last glance over. This is awful... he thought, sickened. How could anyone let things get this bad? He pushed the door shut slightly, but stopped as he noticed an envelope sitting in the doorway. He picked it up, and slammed the doors closed.

Everyone was leaning against the wall opposite the door, breathing air in big gulps, still looking slightly green.

"That was sick!" Yuffie groaned, making an involuntary retching noise.

The other's nodded; they didn't seem to want to risk opening their mouths. There was a long silence until Rude notices the envelope in Cloud's hand.

"What's that?" he asked, pointing.

Cloud held the envelope in both hands, examining it.

"I don't know..." he said. "I picked it off the floor."

Reno snatched it out of his hand and looked at it, ignoring Cloud's glare as he did so.

"It's a message to President Kale." Reno said, ripping the envelope open.

"Heidegger must have been delivering it..." Elena stated as Reno's eyes scanned the message. "That's why he was up here."

Everyone was watching Reno.

"Well what's it say?" Barret asked impatiently.

Reno's eyes flicked back and forth.

"New weapon... blah, blah..." he read. "It blows stuff up..."

Cloud and the others grunted impatiently

"Okay, okay..." Reno said, putting his hand up defensively. "Just give me a minute."

His eyes scanned farther down the letter, and all the sudden, his entire body stiffened, and his face was drained of color.

"What?" Cloud asked quickly.

"There's an attack tonight..." Reno answered, eyes glued to the paper. "All the SOLIDERS were ordered to take the new weapon and execute an attack on..."

Reno looked up from the paper and gave Cloud a frightened stare. Cloud felt as though his stomach had dropped to his feet.

"Stop looking at me like that." he said, mouth dry. "Where are they attacking Reno?"

Reno opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Heart hammering out of control, Cloud reach towards the paper.

"Cosmo Canyon!" Reno blurted out as Cloud ripped the paper from his grasp. "They're attacking Cosmo Canyon any minute now."

The paper floated to floor.