Final Fantasy VII: A Novelization
Chapter 1: Introduction
Everything may be different in its own little way, but everything was the same, wasn't it? The stars in the sky seemed so distant and unrelated to the small Planet but was life on one of those celestial bodies so dissimilar to life here? Perhaps living beings everywhere had problems, even if their tribulations were unlike her's.
Those were some of the thoughts that went through the young florist's mind as she stood in the alleyway during the chilly night the battle for the Planet began. The woman knew she should be heading home but that would mean leaving the warmth that the small artificially-created spring of Mako gave her. She had spent most of the day in Sector 1, selling her flowers to those who lived on top of the plate. Although she wasn't fond of being so close to Shin-Ra's headquarters, it was easier to earn money up here than it was in the slums. Not only was there a total lack of money where she was from but those who lived on the plate worked for Shin-Ra and the company was known for having employees that regularly sinned. And sinning meant flowers would need to be bought to make up with wives. The florist let out a wry laugh. No matter how good of a person she tried to be, she still got by in life because of the corruptness of others. Not that she made too much off of it.
The woman stood out in the darkness of the narrow lane, often seeming not to be a part of the cruel city itself. The city may have had its fair share of beauties, but none of them had the innocent look that this woman had. She was dressed in an outfit that matched the mostly red and white carnations in the wicker basket she had hung over her right arm, a light pink dress that was unbuttoned from below the knee as if the girl could not feel the nippy wind or else didn't care. Over the dress was a red leather jacket that seemed much too short for her; it didn't even reach her waist and its short sleeves were lined with what looked like aluminum. Her long chestnut hair reached down to her waist in a thick braid that was tied at the end by a deep red rubber band. Her face was framed by not only two long pieces of hair but shorter bangs that fell into her eyes, even though her hair was being held by a large pink bow. Around her neck was a tied black string and on her feet were brown boots that had grown dirty from walking through the Midgar streets all day. Around her wrists were shiny silver bracelets, the only expensive-looking accessory on her.
Sighing, the woman finally began walking out of the green light, stopping for a moment to pick up a long silver stick that had been propped up against the wall. She had kept the Guard Stick with her for so long now; she was almost certain her mom wouldn't allow her to leave the house without it. The girl looked thoughtful for a moment: She hadn't come home for dinner tonight and Elmyra would not go to bed until she was sure her daughter was safe at home. Quickening her pace, the flower girl reached the corner between Addison's Nightclub Theater, where Loveless would apparently be performed in a few months, and the Goblin Bar. She stopped as an automobile, made by Shin-Ra, drove by. It seemed like Shin-Ra made everything these days. More cars followed this one, and the girl sighed again, knowing she was in for a long journey home. Trying to ignore the roar of engines and the chattering of those around her, she thought of what the Planet had told her earlier that day.
Whistles shattered the relative quietness of the night as the Midgar passenger train made one of its various nightly runs into the station of Upper Sector 1. Unlike the slums of the city, those who lived on top of the plate could physically see when it was night and day, although they still couldn't see the sky clearly through the smoke that never abated. That was the problem of Mako energy: it made life easier to live, but it had consequences that had ruined the lives of many all around the Planet. This was why Cloud Strife found himself jumping off the top of the formerly mentioned train, his Buster Sword in his right hand and ready to swing. Well, it wasn't really his reason for being there, but it was the cause. He was a mercenary, one who would do anything anybody asked of him as long as they paid the right price. Looking around the platform, Cloud could see two of the station's guards already unconscious on the ground, no doubt due to attacks by Biggs and Jessie. It couldn't have been Wedge; he had known Wedge since they were both little boys and Cloud was certain that the slightly older man couldn't fight without using a weapon. Cloud swept some of the yellowish blond hair that had fallen into his glowing blue eyes to the side of his face, where a few other long strands stood. The rest of his hair was piled onto the top of his head into a mess that resembled a bird's nest, or at least he had been told so in the past. Cloud could have laughed at the irony of the situation: here he stood in his purple SOLDIER 1st Class uniform preparing to blow up a Mako reactor.
"C'mon newcomer. Follow me." Cloud rose up from the ground and looked at his leader for the night. The huge man promptly ran off of the platform, leaving Cloud behind to collect himself. He checked the Buster Sword one more time, although he already knew what he would find there: two small Materia orbs that he always carried around with him. Cloud was strong, nobody who saw the muscles in his arms could doubt that, but he was a relatively small man who happened to be quite fond of staying alive. Cloud walked over to the nearest station guard, who seemed to be breathing normally, and reached into his jacket. Out came a potion, which Cloud promptly put into his own pocket. Cloud had a conscience, yes, but it often took the backseat when it came to doing what would be good for him. Cloud began walking towards the other guard, who was lying on his back with his mouth slightly open, when he heard footsteps. He gripped the Buster Sword a little tighter, knowing it wasn't an AVALANCHE member coming back. Within moments, two members of Shin-Ra's military police were running towards him. The one that got to him first got a good punch in straight to Cloud's face but Cloud, who had been hurt much worse before barely staggered and cut the man down with his sword. The second M.P. acted much more cautious. He punched Cloud, but moved out of the way before Cloud could counter. Cloud went after him but felt himself tripping over something. He only had time to see the red uniform of the second train guard before his head hit the floor. Hearing the safety being turned off of a gun, he raised his sword in front of him. The bullets from the M.P.'s machine gun bounced off of the Buster Sword. When the M.P. paused to see if Cloud was harmed, the young man took the opportunity and struck him down. He grabbed a second potion off the guard he had tripped over before beginning to walk off the platform. A few moments later he returned before kneeling to kneel in front of the dead police. A little bit of searching and counting was done, and Cloud left the platform 20 gil richer.
The layout for this Sector sucks, Cloud thought to himself, as he walked straight out of the station and found himself a few meters away from the Sector 1 Reactor. Yes, it was probably convenient for Shin-Ra employees, but it was also convenient for small groups of rebels who wanted to destroy certain conglomerates. Ignoring Wedge, who kept glancing in all directions to see if any enemies were coming, Cloud went to stand by Biggs and Jessie. He wasn't interested in talking to either of them, but he was trying to figure out how they were related. Neither had a ring on their finger so they weren't husband and wife, but they looked too different to be siblings. Jessie was pale with light brown hair and hazel eyes, while Biggs was dark with dark brown eyes and hair. Then there was the fact that Biggs looked like he was quite older than the woman. But Barret had introduced both of them as having the last name Darklighter; maybe they were cousins. Resolving to ask them later, Cloud watched as Jessie, AVALANCHE's, self-proclaimed head of technology, did something that looked extremely complicated to Cloud on the lock of the door to the reactor.
"Wow! You used to be in SOLDIER, huh?" Biggs asked. Cloud turned to him. He hadn't talked at all to the older man on the train ride here, but he had seen Biggs looking at the Mako-enhanced blue of his eyes throughout the whole trip. Cloud nodded disinterestedly. Biggs looked impressed, before continuing in an accent that showed the fact that he had lived in this area all of his life. "Not everyday ya find one in a group like AVALANCHE." Jessie's head shot up to glare at Cloud.
"SOLDIER? Aren't they the enemy or have I been misinformed once again?" Cloud noticed that she had at least one similarity with Biggs, the same tone of voice. Although Biggs had lacked all of the hostility that Jessie's voice was filled with. "Isn't it stupid to be bringing him on an AVALANCHE mission?" Biggs rolled his eyes and used his left hand to push Jessie's head back in the direction of the door's lock.
"He was in SOLDIER, Jessie," he said exasperatedly, while giving Cloud an expression that seemed to be saying, 'Can you believe her?' "But he quit and is with us now." Cloud didn't even bother retorting that he was most definitely not a member of the rebel group and, unless they had much more money than they had let on, would never be one. Jessie looked at Cloud once again, but this time her expression had softened a bit, before beginning her routine with the door once again. Biggs gave a bored sigh before speaking up to Cloud once again. "Didn't catch your name," he said as he put out a hand. Cloud looked down at it for a moment.
"Cloud," the blonde replied, although he ignored Biggs' hand. It wasn't that the twenty-two year old wasn't friendly. He could be social enough when he wanted to. But tonight was all about business, and he was fairly certain that AVALANCHE wouldn't be able to afford him in the future, meaning this wasn't the time to go making friends.
"Cloud, eh?" Biggs said, taking back his hand but not looking too upset. "I'm-" Cloud shook his head.
"I already know all your names. You don't need formal introductions. Once this job's over," he said shortly as if to show that tonight would be a success. "I'm out of here." An awkward pause followed, but was soon broken by the leader of AVALNCHE returning from his lookout, with his usual look on his face: anger.
"The hell you all doin'!" he hissed, looking around at the four of them. "I thought I told you never to move in a group." Cloud wanted to point out to the man that there was no way for them not to move in a group as the passageway was barely large enough for them to fit into crushed together, but decided against it after taking a second glance at the man's large frame and gun-arm. The leader gave a quick glance around to make sure no one was watching before continuing in a low voice. "Our target's straight north of here. We'll meet on the bridge in front of it." A few moments later Jessie had the door open and the three younger members of AVALANCHE ran through it. Barret, the leader of the group, turned to Cloud for a moment.
"Ex-SOLDIER, huh?" he said with a hard edge to his voice. "I don't trust ya!" Cloud felt like shrugging, but did not feel like making the large man angrier than he already was. The muscles on Barret's black arms looked bigger than Cloud's hair and Cloud was fairly certain that the tattoo Barret had on his left shoulder could have been based on the last man to have pissed the leader of AVALANCHE off. The scars on Barret's face, the dog tags around his neck, and his all shaved except for the top haircut showed him off as a former member of some military group. All in all, Barret Wallace, in his camouflage-colored pants and boots cut a very intimidating figure, even to Cloud, who was a self-proclaimed pompous person. Barret opened the large silver belt he had around his stomach and took around a hundred large bullets out and placed them in the Gatling Gun that was placed on his right arm. He gave one last look at Cloud through dark brown eyes before giving a last command, "Hurry ya ass up!" and running in the direction of the reactor. Cloud looked up at his destination: the Midgar Sector 1 Mako Reactor, with large floodlights upon the giant number one it had on its front. It looked to be a few city blocks away.
Five minutes later, Cloud had arrived at the door to the reactor. His eyes came upon Biggs, who was looking nervously up at an electrical sign hanging down from the wall. The red danger sign was going on, with the word 'intruder' right under it. Gritting his teeth, Cloud ran onto the bridge in front of the reactor, Biggs right ahead of him, hoping that the reactor was small enough to get to the core before a Shin-Ra employee realized what was happening. While most of the group turned right to run straight into the reactor, Wedge kept going straight and stopped in front of a metal wall towards the end of the bridge where a small door stood. He took a wrench from his belt and began to work on the hinges of the door, a look of enthusiasm on his pudgy face. The last thing Cloud thought before joining the rest of AVALANCHE in the reactor was that he sincerely hoped Wedge had the door open within five minutes or else one of the grenades that Wedge held was going to find itself blowing open that wall; Wedge Antilles was not known for his patience.